“Ugh!”
Brother Jiu was caught off guard and cried out in pain.
He clutched his face and stumbled back, nearly knocking over a stool.
“Hiss… Young Master, you… you — ” Brother Jiu bared his teeth in pain, his speech slurring.
Half of his face was visibly swelling, the bruise turning a deeper shade of red and purple.
It looked excruciating.
He finally understood.
‘This “grievance” is real. The Young Master is truly brutal!’
“Alright, it looks authentic now.”
Ling Huan shook his wrist and nodded with satisfaction at Brother Jiu’s miserable state.
“Remember, you are now a guard of the Ling family who was beaten for no reason by a profligate young master. You have a belly full of fire and plan to vent it through gambling. Do you understand?”
“Resentment! You have to act out all your dissatisfaction with the Ling family and me, Ling Huan! The more realistic the performance, the better! The more Spirit Stones you’ll get later!”
Brother Jiu clutched his throbbing cheek, gasping from the pain.
‘Our Young Master is only 10 years old! How can he hit so hard? I’m at the 4th layer of Qi Condensation!’
But looking at the pile of dazzling Spirit Stones on the table, he took a deep breath and forced a defiant, indignant look into his eyes.
“I… I understand, Young Master! This servant… feels very aggrieved! I want to be angry; I want to spend money! That dog Ling Huan treated me unfairly! He’s a bully who uses his family’s power!”
“Excellent!”
Ling Huan patted him on the other shoulder, looking at him with great satisfaction.
“Go, ‘Master Jiu.’ Tonight, you are the most domineering yet aggrieved man in the casino! Remember our goal.”
Brother Jiu bit his lip and straightened his back — though the movement jarred the wound on his face, making him shiver — and tried to put on an “I have money and I’m pissed” posture.
He said in a muffled voice, “Rest assured, Young Master. I’m going now.”
He turned, pushed open the door, and walked out with long strides.
Under the moonlight, the dark bruise on his face was particularly striking.
His steps carried a deliberate, exaggerated resentment, as if he intended to vent all the indignity he suffered from the Young Master tonight onto the gambling table.
Destination — the Cailai Workshop in Qingmu City.
Cailai Workshop was the largest and most chaotic gambling den in the back alley of Vermilion Bird Street.
It was shrouded in smoke and deafening noise.
Being near Black Wind Hall, there were bound to be many of their eyes and ears here.
As soon as Brother Jiu entered, the thick air — a mix of sweat and the smell of rusted coins — hit his face.
He frowned, not because of the smell, but because the heat made the injury on his face throb even more.
He deliberately tilted his head up so the light from the lanterns at the entrance clearly illuminated the fresh, hideous bruise on his face.
“Oh! If it isn’t Master Jiu from the Ling Mansion! A rare guest, indeed!”
A gambler he knew greeted him with a grin.
“Hmph!” Brother Jiu snorted coldly, his voice intentionally loud and filled with disdain and resentment.
“Don’t you damn well mention the Ling Mansion! Such bad luck!”
He shoved his way through the crowd, his movements crude and his gaze fierce as he scanned the room.
Everyone’s attention was immediately drawn to him.
Brother Jiu was somewhat famous in Qingmu City.
The Ling Mansion’s guard units were mostly composed of cultivators.
With such a luxurious lineup, how could they stay low-profile?
Although he wasn’t high-ranking within the mansion, outside, he was the well-known Brother Jiu.
Who wouldn’t give him a bit of respect?
Today, his face was swollen, his attitude aggressive, and he was cursing his employer.
It was truly abnormal.
“Brother Jiu, your face…?” someone asked cautiously, pointing at his injury.
“What are you looking at?”
Brother Jiu glared, pointing at the bruise.
His voice carried uncontrollable anger and grievance.
“Who else could it be? Our ‘good’ Young Master! Over a tiny matter, he just started swinging! Damn it, does he think I’m some pushover? I’ve been with the Ling family for years. If I don’t have merit, I at least have the toil! Just because I couldn’t handle one little task, he had someone beat me!”
“The brat is used to being arrogant. Now that someone finally isn’t afraid of the Ling family, he doesn’t dare seek trouble with them. Instead, he takes it out on us, the people who serve him faithfully! A real little bastard! Don’t look at how polite he seems usually.”
“That’s all a damn act! Once he’s back at the mansion and no one’s around, he turns into a beast! Only 10 years old, yet he’s greedy and lustful! You could find that little bastard’s handprints on the backside of every maid in the mansion! If he weren’t still a hairless brat who can’t get it up, those maids definitely wouldn’t still be virgins! And he’s incredibly stingy! We agreed on a monthly salary, but he’s owed it to me for three months now! I think the Ling Mansion is going to be ruined sooner or later!”
He spoke with such agitation that spit flew from his mouth.
He looked completely like a man who had been mistreated by his master and was utterly disheartened.
Bang!
He slammed his storage bag heavily onto the nearest gambling table.
The bag’s mouth was slightly open, revealing a glimpse of the brilliant Spirit Stones inside.
“Hell! I’m not serving them anymore! I’m going to have a good time today!”
Brother Jiu’s eyes were red as he roared, “Dealer! Open the table! Change my chips! Give me the biggest ones!”
He dramatically grabbed a large handful of silver pieces and smashed them onto the table.
That domineering attitude and reckless posture, combined with the fresh wounds on his face and his blatant resentment toward his master, instantly ignited the atmosphere of the casino.
“Whoa! Master Jiu is generous!”
“That’s right! Why take that crap when you have money!”
“Come, come, give Master Jiu the best wine!”
The surrounding gamblers cheered.
Brother Jiu grabbed the dice cup, shook it vigorously, and began to dominate the table!
Brother Jiu’s gambling session started off smoothly.
He mimicked the style of an old gambler, shaking the cup hard and slamming it onto the table.
Amidst the cheers of the crowd, he opened the cup — it was triple sixes! 6-6-6!
Immediately, a small mountain of silver was piled in front of him.
The gamblers’ eyes turned red with envy, shouting, “Master Jiu is on a roll!” and “Again! Beat the house!”
But this good luck came quickly and left even faster.
After a few rounds, Brother Jiu’s luck took a sudden turn for the worse.
The numbers he bet on became smaller and smaller, and the dice seemed possessed, specifically working against him.
He bet on “Big,” and “Small” came up.
He bet on “Odd,” and “Even” appeared.
The silver flowed back into the dealer’s pocket like water.
Sweat broke out on Brother Jiu’s forehead, and the bruise on his face looked even more hideous under the dim oil lamps of the casino.
He grabbed a bottle of strong liquor nearby, tilted his head back, and downed half of it in one go.
The spicy liquid burned his throat and scorched away his last bit of sobriety.
As the alcohol kicked in, the figures in front of him blurred.
All he could hear was the clattering of the dice and the dealer’s cold announcement: “4, 2, 3. Small! The house wins!”
“Damn it!” Brother Jiu was enraged.
His eyes were bloodshot as he suddenly slapped the table.
“Put it on my tab! I don’t believe my luck can stay this bad today!”
“Alright, Master Jiu! It’s been recorded. I wish you prosperous luck!”
The dealer picked up a brush and scribbled a few lines on a piece of paper.
The alcohol numbed Brother Jiu’s nerves.
He had long forgotten Ling Huan’s instructions, feeling only that the “resentment” in his chest had turned into a desperate gamble.
The more he lost, the more anxious he became; the more anxious he became, the more he lost.
Once he ran out of silver, he bet Spirit Stones.
Even after the Spirit Stones were discounted, they soon ran out as well.
On that white paper, more and more black ink filled the page with his debts.
Even the ruffians watching from the sidelines clicked their tongues.
“Brother Jiu, give it a rest! That amount… is enough to buy half a street!”
Brother Jiu was deaf to their words.
He only wanted to win!
…
By dawn, the clamor of the Cailai Workshop had faded, leaving only a mess on the floor.
He was slumped by the gambling table, still clutching the last die, his eyes dull.
“Master Jiu, you owe a total of 3,700 taels. Three days is the limit. If you can’t pay… you know the rules.”
The morning breeze seeped through the cracks of the door, carrying a bone-chilling coldness.
Brother Jiu stumbled to his feet, pushed away the person trying to help him, and staggered out of the gambling house.
He sat down on the stone threshold, his hunched shadow stretched long by the rising sun.
The alcohol hadn’t worn off yet, and his head throbbed painfully, but the fear of debt gnawed at his heart like a poisonous snake.
He held his head, digging his nails into his scalp, and repeatedly muttered, “It’s over… completely over… my money… my money…”
Just then, a well-defined hand patted his shoulder firmly.
The palm was broad and powerful, with calluses from years of holding a blade.
The pressure was neither heavy nor light, yet it made Brother Jiu freeze.
He jerked his head up.
Through his blurry, drunken eyes, he saw a tall figure standing against the light.
The newcomer wore an unremarkable gray cloth outfit, but his eyes were as sharp as a hawk’s as he watched him.
“Brother, are you all tapped out?”
Brother Jiu had been on battlefields before, so he was more than familiar with danger — he was practically sensitive to it.
The feeling this person gave him made him want to bolt immediately!
‘Did someone really come looking for me? I thought I’d have to wait at least two or three days. Instead…?’
Brother Jiu’s drunkenness vanished in an instant.
‘The fish has taken the bait.’