Chapter 1 A Gambling Den

The Daohui Si's (Taoist Association Office) gate was tightly shut. Inside, a Daoist official in green robes was gambling with a group of idlers.

The doorway, which should have been inscribed with "Purity and Non-Action," instead bore black cloths like a gambling den. On the left were four characters, "White Jade Enters," and on the right, "Azure Butterfly Flies In." In the center, another four characters: "Massacre All Sides."

"Come on, come on, deal the cards!"

These people were playing a type of card game called Ma Diao Pai (Mahjong).

This kind of gambling card game was played by four people. Each person took eight cards first, and the remaining eight were placed in the middle of the table. The four took turns playing and drawing cards, playing cards to beat smaller ones. Playing Ma Diao Pai was divided into the Banker and the Players. The Banker wasn't fixed and could rotate, determined by rolling dice. The three Players worked together to attack the Banker, causing them to lose their position.

If the Banker won, they could continue as Banker; if they lost, the role rotated to the next player.

When playing, the four took turns playing and drawing cards.

The principle of playing cards was to beat the smaller ones. Among the suits, the order was "Cross," "Ten Thousand," "String," and "Cash," with "Cross" being the largest and "Cash" the smallest. Within the suits, larger cards beat smaller ones, except for the "Cash" suit, where smaller cards beat larger ones. That is, "No Cash" was the largest, followed by "Half Cash," and "Nine Cash" was the smallest.

One round of play was called "one diao." Winning in this round meant winning one diao. Getting two diao meant breaking even, three to five diao meant winning one table, and six diao meant winning two tables. But the most crucial was the last round, the eighth diao. Even if you lost all the previous seven diao, as long as you won the eighth diao, you could achieve complete success, turning defeat into victory, called "grabbing the conclusion."

This feeling of turning the tables from a desperate situation was deeply loved by gamblers!

But clearly, this Daoist official had lost.

He had lost everything, and there was no turning the tables in the last round. So he collapsed on the ground, his face full of terror.

"Brother Yingcai, you're done for."

"Where does he have any money? He'll have to take off his Daoist official robes and give them to us to pay off his debts!"

The green-robed Daoist official, called "Brother Yingcai" by the hoodlums, had a note pasted on his forehead and didn't look like a member of the Daoist sect at all. His collar was open, and he looked distraught.

Among the hoodlums, one approached the Daoist official and whispered, "Brother Yingcai, it doesn't matter if you don't have money. You can go to the Mi Long (Bewildering Dragon) Casino again... borrow from there..."

"After borrowing, gamble a few more rounds at the Mi Long Casino, and the silver will come back, right?"

Yan Yingcai's mind was a bit muddled, and he just kept nodding, seemingly agreeing with the hoodlum's words.

At this time, a Daoist page came in and told the green-robed Daoist official, Yan Yingcai, that someone was looking for him outside.

Yan Yingcai's face was ferocious, and his tone was unkind: "Don't see them! I'm busy. Who has to come now? Is it the county magistrate coming to ask for talismans? If he's here to ask for talismans, give him the talismans I drew before, remember, ten taels of silver per talisman!"

"Otherwise, don't provoke me, or I'll use my magic to fix him! It just so happens that I don't have any gambling money recently!"

The young Daoist shook his head and said to Yan Yingcai, "No, it's someone from the Daolu Si (Daoist Records Office), here to buy talisman paper."

"People from the Daolu Si? How could the superiors from the Daolu Si appear here? Really?"

Yan Yingcai was stunned. He tore off the note on his head, his expression strange. After asking about the other party's attire several times, he suddenly perked up and said to the gambling friends around him:

"I went to the East Great Vehicle Temple yesterday and made a wish for wealth. I didn't expect someone to really come and send money today!"

"Please be patient, everyone, and wait for me to get the gambling money!"

Yan Yingcai smiled obsequiously, his eyes shining, and his gambling friends booed: "Brother Yingcai has gambling money again, shouldn't you treat us to a few more rounds at the Mi Long Casino?"

"Definitely, definitely, we'll go as soon as we get the money here!"

Yan Yingcai bowed his head and lowered his waist, his expression fawning, with a hint of excitement as if he saw hope.

.........

When Yan Yingcai saw Ji Xiang, his eyes lit up.

Of course, in addition to the light of greed, there was also some daze and fear. This was normal. After all, anyone who encountered a Daoist covered in military firepower would be a little confused.

"I am the head of the Daohui Si here... I don't know how much talisman paper you want, sir?"

"Thirty jin."

"Thir, thirty jin? To eat..... cough cough, I mean, you are really not ordinary people!"

Yan Yingcai quoted a price to Ji Xiang. Of course, he was also afraid that Ji Xiang would not pay, but he did not expect that Ji Xiang paid very readily, and said that everyone was a fellow Daoist, and the Daolu Si relied on selling talismans to make money. Wouldn't it seem too stingy for a Daoist official from the capital to be in debt?

Yan Yingcai was overjoyed when he got the silver. Ji Xiang told him to send the talisman paper to a certain boat at the Jin Ferry. Yan Yingcai just nodded repeatedly, saying that he would definitely do it, but his eyes were full of money and could not accommodate anything else.

After negotiating the price with Ji Xiang here, the three of Ji Xiang left directly, and Yan Yingcai stared at Ji Xiang's clothes, thinking that this noble black Daoist robe could be sold for a lot of money.

With money, there was gambling money, and he could gamble again.

At this time, his hoodlum friends came out and saw the back of Ji Xiang leaving. The few people quickly exchanged glances.

This Daoist official was actually carrying firearms, and was generous, and wore expensive clothes. This was definitely a big rich man, and maybe a good fighter?

However, Daoist officials all knew some spells. These hoodlums also knew that they couldn't rob him by force, and the end would definitely not be good. They had to rely on others with abilities. So immediately a hoodlum grabbed Yan Yingcai and left. The latter was a little angry, but the hoodlums told him that he had a good thing coming.

"Go back to the casino and tell the Third Leader that a noble person has appeared."

The hoodlums were all local mortal informants, working for the Mi Long Casino, and this casino was extremely magical.

........

In a dark world, seemingly not in the mortal realm, there was a noisy casino, with people and demons, Daoists and monks, ghosts and earth gods, all coming and going.

This was the Mi Long Casino.

The owner of this casino was called Mi Long. He liked to collect rare treasures and valuable things, and was extremely greedy.

"Yo, Little Liu, you're here again, have you brought the gambling money?"

"I brought it, this is the corpse of my wife, and my daughter."

A young man, as if possessed, dragged a fresh corpse of a woman, and carried a sack on his shoulder. He entered the casino, and many monsters were playing cards inside. When they saw him coming, they not only did not eat him, but greeted him warmly.

The young man threw his wife and daughter on the card table as gambling money, grasped the Ma Diao Pai, stared at the dice in front of him, and just shouted:

"Open the gambling, open the gambling!"

"Haha! Not bad, not bad, the flesh of women is tender and delicious. Your wife has paid off the previous gambling debt. This time, if you lose again, are you really willing to part with your daughter?"

"Open the gambling!!!"

This person just slapped the table, haggard, and the surrounding monsters laughed and started playing cards.

A monk giggled foolishly, excited because he won a round, and a Daoist mourned, having lost everything.

In the casino, there was a guard deity. At this time, the hoodlums rushed over, and also brought Yan Yingcai.

Learning that another noble person had appeared, the guard deity grinned and chuckled. He immediately called out a few names. In the casino, some demons, ghosts and gods appeared... these strong people who could not repay their debts had to work as fighters for the Mi Long Casino.

Ji Xiang and the little fox, covered in military firepower, and wearing noble black Daoist robes that almost no one had seen, and a pile of magic weapons, and gold and silver on their bodies, how could they easily let go of this fat sheep?

They must be invited to sit in the casino.

"Invite monsters and immortals to rob you of your money, and then bring you into the casino to lend you money to gamble. If you don't want to gamble, then you can only die. If you don't want to die, you have to gamble. After gambling, you owe debts, and if you owe debts, you have to repay them."

"The Daohui Si, the government, and the landlords here are all my subordinates, how can you fight me? An official from the capital? Isn't that even better? Controlling a Daoist official from the capital can help us break into the inside. Prince Lu will be happy to hear this news...."

"We are not afraid that you will not win in the gambling game, we are just afraid that you will not come! The corruption and depravity of anyone is not achieved overnight!"