Heaven Official's Blessing: Tian Guan Ci Fu (Novel) Vol. 2(14)

“No wonder yer like this. What a pig! If ya have a problem, why didn’t ya say so sooner? Tsk!”

Not far behind them, the boar butcher chopped down again and yelled, “Fuckin’ slut! What’s that you say? What’s wrong with pigs?!”

The female ghost wasn’t scared and yelled right back, “Ya, what’s wrong with pigs?! Fuckin’ animals!”

Soon, the long street was filled with shouting and squawking and people hollering.

“That ghost woman Lan Chang is startin’ shit again!”

“Butcher Zhu is choppin’ ghosts!”

The two sides rowdily started tearing into each other, and in the midst of that pandemonium, Xie Lian was finally able to slip away. After he’d put some distance between them, he looked back toward the crowd and heaved a sigh.

Xie Lian walked a bit more, and soon he came upon further commotion ahead. He stopped in front of a gigantic red building.

This building was extraordinary in its grand and imposing style: its columns, roofs, walls, and everything were painted a magnificent bright red, and the floors were covered in thick, exquisite carpet. If it must be compared, this building was on par with Heaven’s palaces. The only difference was one of aesthetics: this place was more spectacular and sumptuous than stately and dignified. Crowds flowed in and out of the doors, and loud, excited voices boomed from the inside—very lively. Upon a closer look, Xie Lian saw that this place appeared to be a gambler’s den.

Xie Lian walked up to the doors, and on the two pillars at the entrance, there was a set of couplets. The left said “Money Over Life,” and the right said “Gains Over Shame.” On the top horizontal beam, it said “HA HA HA HA.”

“…”

The lines were vulgar and crass, not worthy of being entrance couplets. The calligraphy was also wild, clumsy, and frenzied—a disgrace to call it calligraphy at all! It was as if someone took a brush while drunk and scribbled with foul intent, and then the words were blown over by a blast of evil aura to form it. Xie Lian was once heir to the throne, and he was taught calligraphy by the finest teachers in the land. The characters he saw before him now were a real tragedy. In fact, the characters were so hellish that Xie Lian started to think they were kind of funny and shook his head. The Wind Master wouldn’t be hanging around here, he thought. I’ll have a better chance searching the beauty parlors for female ghosts.

He certainly should have just moved on, yet inexplicably, after only a few steps, he turned back around and went inside.

In the main hall of the Gambler’s Den, the crowd was packed in from wall to wall. Innumerable heads were moving, and laughter and desperate cries alike choked the air. Xie Lian had only descended a few steps when he suddenly heard screaming, and when he looked to where it had come from, four masked bouncers were walking over carrying a guest.

That man appeared to be in excruciating pain, writhing and howling while being carried, gushing blood that he left in his wake. Both of his legs had been cleanly cut off at the knees, and blood was spewing everywhere. A small ghost followed closely and greedily licked up all the blood on the floor as it went.

It was a horrifying sight, yet no one in the Gambler’s Den spared it a glance. They continued to shout and cheer, rolling about. Of course, most who gambled here weren’t humans, and if they were, they were no ordinary humans.

Xie Lian twisted in place to let the four bouncers carrying the man pass by, and then he continued deeper into the den. A petite attendant in a laughing mask approached to welcome him.

“Gongzi, are you here to play?”

Xie Lian replied with a smile, “I don’t have money on me. Mind if I just look?”

In his experience, the moment you said those words in any establishment, you’d get booted. Why would you enter without money? Yet the petite attendant just giggled.

“No money is not a problem. Those who come here to play don’t usually use money to gamble.”

“Really?” Xie Lian asked.

The petite attendant covered her mouth. “Really. Gongzi, please come with me.”

She waved at Xie Lian, beckoning him, and sashayed away. Xie Lian followed her without a word but carefully observed all around him.

Inside and out, this Gambler’s Den was exceedingly extravagant and stylish but not at all tacky; it was a building rich with taste. The petite attendant brought Xie Lian to the very back of the main hall to a long table that was packed like sardines with guests.

Xie Lian had only just approached when he heard a man cry, “I bet my arm!”

There were too many onlookers. Xie Lian couldn’t get through and could only listen from the outskirts of the crowd. Suddenly, he heard another voice lazily respond.

“No need. Never mind your arm, even your shit life is worthless here.”

Hearing that voice, Xie Lian’s heart suddenly jumped.

He silently mouthed the name, “San Lang.”

He’d indeed just heard the voice of that young man. Yet it was slightly deeper than he remembered, which was precisely why it sounded even more pleasing to the ears. Despite being surrounded by boisterous brouhaha, the voice still rang loud and clear, and cut through the cacophony of the Gambler’s Den to reach him.

Xie Lian looked up. Only then did he notice that behind the long table there was a screen curtain. And behind the curtain, he could see a faint red figure lying back, lounging on a chair.