Chapter 1 The Gambling Emperor Lodge

The Gambling Emperor Lodge was founded in the late Qing Dynasty. At first, it was just a small gambling den on the street. It wasn't called "Gambling Emperor Lodge" then, but simply "Gambling Lodge."

It was said that the owner of the Gambling Lodge was a former monk who had learned an incredible gambling art from somewhere. After returning to secular life, he started this business that ruined families.

Today, the name of this monk owner is lost to history. People used to call him "Monk," but now they call him "Gambling Monk" or "Old Ancestor."

Perhaps because he had been a monk for so long, the Gambling Lodge's owner, even in this shady business, didn't forget to add some monastic rules.

In the Monk's gambling den, everything had to be "absolutely fair." Anyone caught cheating or conspiring to defraud others would be immediately exposed by the owner and revealed in public. The lighter punishment was to be kicked out of the gambling den and never allowed back; the heavier punishment was to be beaten half to death and thrown into the street.

The psychology of gamblers is very delicate. The vast majority of them can't afford to lose, but they don't want to admit it, which is why they lose even more.

And the Gambling Lodge… gave them a place where they could "lose convincingly." Those who came out of there, even if they were penniless, could only blame their bad luck and had nothing to say.

For gamblers, that was enough… as if it wasn't they who had lost, but fate.

Over time, the name "Gambling Lodge" spread.

Finally, one day, the Gambling Lodge's reputation reached the ears of a local official, who was also an avid gambler. The next day, he disguised himself and entered the gambling den.

Unfortunately… this Lord Liu's gambling skills and luck were not good. He lost all his money shortly after entering the Gambling Lodge.

Logically speaking, a corrupt official like him, who had a good reputation for corruption, should have just lost and left. Anyway, it was money he had squeezed from the people. However, this Lord Liu's gambling demeanor was also terrible. After losing, he immediately revealed his identity and shouted that the house was cheating him out of his money.

So, the shop assistants called the owner… the Monk. The Monk listened to the story, smiled calmly, and proposed to gamble with Lord Liu again.

In this game, he used his entire fortune to bet on a single sentence from Lord Liu.

If the Monk lost, he would lose all his wealth. If Lord Liu lost, he would only lose one sentence, which was—"I, Liu, admit defeat today."

Lord Liu agreed to the gamble and quickly lost.

But… he did not fulfill his promise, he just waved his sleeve, snorted coldly, and left the Gambling Lodge.

Little did he know… that this departure would cost him his life.

The next night, this Lord Liu died suddenly at home, his death was tragic and the cause of death was unknown.

Although the death of a local official was not a small case… it was at the time when the Boxer Rebellion was at its height, coupled with the corruption of the court, both internal and external troubles, the court had no time to investigate this matter in detail. As the local law enforcement agencies investigation yielded nothing, this matter was dropped…

However… although no one was investigating it officially, the rumors about this matter were getting worse and worse among the people.

In less than half a year, the story of "Gambling Monk killing corrupt Liu" was known to every household in Jiangsu and Zhejiang provinces, and everyone's version would add their own embellishments, making it more and more mysterious.

The name "Gambling Lodge" also spread along with the story, which led to the rapid development of the Gambling Lodge's business, quickly turning it from a small gambling den into a large casino.

Soon after, many gambling masters came to challenge the Gambling Monk, but no one could beat the Monk. Moreover, after losing, they were all impressed by the Monk's gambling skills and demeanor, becoming either friends or disciples… As for the stories of these gambling matches, they all became urban legends circulating in the streets.

Later, a chance encounter changed the future fate of the "Gambling Lodge"…

That time, the owners of the other two casinos had a conflict and wanted to gamble to determine who was superior, but neither of them trusted the people designated by the other, which prevented the gambling game from starting. Finally… someone said, "Why don't you ask the Monk from the Gambling Lodge to host it for you?"

As a result… they actually went to invite him, and the Monk really went. Due to his principle of "absolute fairness," the entire gambling process was carried out flawlessly. After the gambling game, the loser handed over the bet and left without saying a word…

In this way, it opened the precedent of "Gambling Lodge hosting gambling games for others"…

From then on, more and more gambling games came to the Gambling Lodge for fairness. The Monk alone was undoubtedly too busy, so those masters he had met and recruited also came forward in the name of "Gambling Lodge" to host gambling games.

By 1920, when the Monk passed away, the Gambling Lodge was no longer a casino, but an organization that specialized in hosting gambling games for others and extracting a commission from them.

The second-generation owner revered the undefeated "Gambling Monk" as the Ancestor and renamed the Gambling Lodge "Gambling Emperor Lodge," meaning the Monk was the Emperor of Gambling.

Time flew by, and in the 1920s and 1930s, there were many concessions and rampant gangs in Shanghai.

At this time, the Gambling Emperor Lodge was at its peak. The objects they served were rarely ordinary people… In those days, to be able to invite the "Gambling Emperor Lodge" to host a gambling game, you had to be at least a gang leader, a socialite, or a military and political figure.

And the content of the gambling game was usually a huge amount of property, or… life.

Gambling is like this, as a person loses more and more chips, the weight of life in his heart becomes lighter and lighter.

At this time, things like "credit" become very ridiculous. It's like… a gang leader with a dozen brothers gambling with an unarmed commoner… as long as the amount the latter wins reaches an amount that the former cannot accept, what awaits him is inevitably breach of contract and murder.

The existence of the Gambling Emperor Lodge is to supervise and prevent this from happening. As long as there are people from the Gambling Emperor Lodge as witnesses, the loser must pay the price he bet… no matter what that price is.

If the loser breaches the contract, then the people from the Gambling Emperor Lodge will be responsible for "collecting the other party's chips" for the winner. Money or life, no matter who that person is, what he lost… the Gambling Emperor Lodge has a way to make him pay what he should pay, and there is never an exception.

This… is also the purpose that everyone who knows the existence of the "Gambling Emperor Lodge" needs to understand.

…………

A century later, in the office of a well-known entrepreneur in Shanghai.

"You… actually know the Gambling Emperor Lodge?" Jiang Daode asked in a deep voice.

He didn't mean to feign ignorance, because he understood that the other party couldn't have named those three words out of thin air. What Jiang Daode wanted to know was… how did the kid on the other end of the video know that he was connected to the Gambling Emperor Lodge, and how many details did he know?

"That's because…" Feng Bujue said with a smile, "I'm also a member of the Gambling Emperor Lodge."

"You… what… did you say?" A shocked expression involuntarily appeared on Jiang Daode's face.

"Is that strange?" Feng Bujue asked.

"You?" Jiang Daode then sneered, "Hmph… based on you?" He paused for half a second, "Do you know how much a membership to the 'Gambling Emperor Lodge' is worth on the black market?"

"About thirty million RMB, I guess." Feng Bujue replied calmly, "However… this kind of valuation is useless, because their membership is currently saturated and no longer sold to the public. And existing members cannot privately buy, sell, or transfer their membership." He lazily stretched in front of the camera, "Of course… you can use your membership as a bet in the presence of a 'Supervisor'… and gamble with others. As long as the Supervisor approves of this gambling game, a transfer may occur."

"It seems that you really know the rules of the Gambling Emperor Lodge…" Jiang Daode said, suddenly realizing something. He immediately exclaimed, "Wait… could it be that you…"

"That's right, my membership was 'won'." Feng Bujue spread his hands and continued, "Hehe… speaking of which… I feel a little sorry for the guy whose qualification I took away, because I haven't exercised the rights of a member once in all these years."

After saying this, Feng Bujue paused for two seconds and added, "Oh, right, I can also tell you another question in your mind…" He said leisurely, "You must be thinking, even if I really am a member of the Gambling Emperor Lodge, members may not necessarily know each other, so how did I know your identity?"

Jiang Daode didn't speak, silently watching the screen, waiting for Brother Jue's answer.

"Hehe… actually, that was also an unexpected gain." Feng Bujue said, "When I was investigating your private life and personal history, I inadvertently discovered that you were related to a missing person case from twenty years ago… So, I found a few news sources (Bao Qing) who have a good relationship with me, and retrieved some information from that time, and roughly deduced the ins and outs…" He tilted his head and pointed at Jiang Daode through the video screen, "You are not Jiang Daode at all."

The moment these words came out, Jiang Daode seemed to have been poured a vat of hot oil on his head, and he jumped up in shock.

"If I'm not mistaken…" Feng Bujue continued, "Back then, the real Jiang Daode had a game with you and lost his 'everything'."

"You… you exactly…" This "Jiang Daode" was now completely surrounded by fear, and the huge psychological pressure made him stutter.

"After the gambling game, the Gambling Emperor Lodge disposed of Jiang Daode's body and arranged for you to have secret plastic surgery. A year later, they arranged a car accident to eliminate Jiang Daode's parents who were far away in South Korea. In this way, you got his identity, education, appearance, inheritance… in short, his entire life." Feng Bujue was still saying, "And you yourself… became a 'missing person', am I right? Feng…"

"Enough!" The "Jiang Daode" in front of him didn't let Feng Bujue say his original name. He quickly shouted, "You…" He glared at Brother Jue, then pointed at Ouyang Jian, "...and you! You'd better figure out who you're dealing with!"

"Hmph… is that another meaningless threat? What? Do you want to kill me?" Feng Bujue said, "To be blunt, I don't think you have the courage and ability to personally use violence. If you want to use other methods, then go ahead. I'd like to see… when fighting with me, whether you die first or I die first, hehehehe…" As he said this, his face already showed a terrifying smile.

"You…" Jiang Daode sat back in his office chair, trembling all over as he stared at the screen and asked, "...what exactly do you want?"

"I said… just playing a game with you." Feng Bujue said, "I've already called the 'Supervisor'. We'll start as soon as he arrives."

Knock knock knock—

It really was speaking of the devil, the moment he said that, the door of the chairman's office was knocked on.

"I'll get it." Ouyang Jian said as he stood up from his chair and walked towards the door.

Jiang Daode didn't have the mood to care about these things at this moment. A series of sudden mental blows had turned his thoughts into a mess.

Bang—

After the knocker entered the room, Ouyang Jian slammed the door shut.

The newcomer was a man in a light-colored Tang suit. He looked about thirty years old, with shiny short hair slicked back, and wore a pair of cloth shoes without socks.

"Mr. Jiang, hello. We meet again." As soon as he entered the room, he went straight to the desk and greeted "Jiang Daode."

"How did you…" Jiang Daode wanted to ask how the security guards on the first floor let him up with this outfit, but after saying half a sentence, he felt it was unnecessary to ask, "...Never mind, pretend I didn't say anything." He paused, "Hello, Mr. Kujo…"

Obviously, this Supervisor, Kujo, was not the first time he had come to host a gambling game in which this Mr. "Jiang Daode" was involved.

"I'm really honored…" Kujo said, turning his gaze to the briefcase on the table and looking at the screen, "Mr. Feng, a member who never asks for our services, actually contacted the Supervisor today, and clearly stated… 'Please choose a Supervisor who is more familiar with Mr. Jiang'."

Hearing this, Jiang Daode involuntarily glanced at Brother Jue again. The weird smile hanging on this kid's face was getting more and more terrifying…

"I just thought it would be easier to find a Supervisor he knows, so as to avoid him suspecting that I just found a friend to pretend to be someone from the Gambling Emperor Lodge." Feng Bujue responded, and then continued, "Alright, Mr. Kujo, I don't have much time. Now that you're here, how about I start explaining the rules?"

"Wait!" Jiang Daode immediately shouted, interrupting, "How can we start the gambling game without you being present?"

"Heh… what's impossible about that." Feng Bujue shrugged and smiled, "As long as my 'absence' doesn't cause any factors that are beneficial to me in the rules and the content of the gamble, what's wrong with that?"

"He's right." Kujo continued, "There's no rule that the gambling parties must be face-to-face to start the gambling game. We often encounter remote gambling. If there are loopholes in the rules that he can exploit, I won't let the gambling game start."

Jiang Daode hesitated for a few seconds, and then said, "Okay… let's put the rules aside for now. You say first… what do you want to gamble with me?"