Chapter 33

Slap!

It had seemed like a fleeting instant, yet also like a long time had passed.

When Li Zhuiyuan opened his eyes, he found himself lying in bed.

He sat up and carefully looked around. He needed to confirm not only whether this was his room, but also whether he was dreaming.

After a long while, Li Zhuiyuan confirmed that this was reality.

Yet the crisp sound of Great Grandfather's palm slapping the talisman onto the tiles seemed to linger in his ears.

Then, everything had gone black.

Li Zhuiyuan could not remember what happened next.

He did not even remember when the Fortune-Transfer Ritual had ended, nor how he had left Great Grandfather's room and returned to his own bedroom.

Lowering his head, he looked at the blanket over his knees. Every night, his blanket was pulled up over his stomach, and he had his own way of folding it in half.

That meant Great Grandfather had not carried his unconscious self back to bed, because he had folded this blanket himself.

He got out of bed and checked the clock. It was five in the morning. A Li generally would not come over until around six.

After Yin Walking too many times, the groggy period right after waking inevitably left a trace of unease and palpitations in his heart, making him instinctively want to confirm what was real and what was illusion.

It was like suddenly stopping after walking some distance from home and anxiously wondering whether he had locked the door.

Whenever he opened his eyes after waking and saw A Li sitting in the chair, though, he could skip that step.

His mouth was a little dry. Li Zhuiyuan walked to the desk to get some water, only to discover that the cup was full of paper ash.

He immediately checked his notebook. Though it had been cleaned up thoroughly, he could still see traces of pages having been torn out.

But what had been torn out was not something he had written.

His gaze shifted to the pen holder on the desk. There were four pens inside, arranged according to his habits, but the ink level in the pen he used most had dropped considerably.

An image surfaced in Li Zhuiyuan's mind:

Late at night, he was asleep in bed while a stranger sat at his desk, using his pen to write something in his notebook.

In the end, that person tore out what had been written, set it alight, and tossed it into the cup.

Li Zhuiyuan opened the drawer. His remaining loose change was inside, and not a single cent was missing.

The books, exercise books, and pen holder had all been arranged according to his habits. Coupled with his missing memories of the Fortune-Transfer Ritual the night before, Li Zhuiyuan could not help suspecting:

Could the person who had sat here writing last night have been himself?

But if it had been him, why would he burn what he had written?

Was there something he could not let himself see?

Moreover, the very act of burning it showed that last night's self seemed to have foreseen that this portion of his memory would be missing.

Li Zhuiyuan flipped through the books on his desk. He did not expect to find clues in them, because he did not have the habit of scribbling in books.

But when he picked up the second volume of The Righteous Path to Subdue Demons and turned to the last page, Li Zhuiyuan noticed a change. One character had been crossed out, and another had been written beside it.

—Written by Wei Zhengdao.

It had been changed to:

—Written by False Zhengdao.

Li Zhuiyuan frowned. He could now almost certainly conclude that the person sitting at the desk last night had been himself.

Because neither his family, a thief, a pervert, nor some filthy thing would fit such a pointless act.

Only he would have made that somewhat mischievous association with "destroyed for the righteous path."

"What exactly did I do?"

Li Zhuiyuan walked to the wardrobe. His face was reflected in the mirror on its door.

The moment he met his own gaze in the mirror, Li Zhuiyuan suddenly felt intense panic and immediately looked away.

That icy sense of emotional detachment rose from the depths of his heart again, and this time it came with exceptional ferocity.

He clutched his head in both hands, endlessly murmuring the names of people in his social circle. This time, he called A Li and Great Grandfather's names the most. As for the others, including his father and mother, he only mentioned them in passing at the end.

At last, the feeling receded.

Li Zhuiyuan lowered his hands. Still crouching on the floor, he turned to look at himself in the mirror. The "two of them" were panting together.

Once he had completely calmed down, Li Zhuiyuan stood, picked up the washbasin, and prepared to wash up so he could clear his head.

As he opened his door, the door next door opened at the same time.

Li Zhuiyuan and Li Sanjiang emerged from their rooms almost simultaneously.

"Cough..."

A cool early-morning breeze blew into his face, and Li Zhuiyuan could not help stopping to cough.

Plop! Plop!

"Damn it!"

Two birds happened to fly side by side overhead, and at the same time, they dropped gifts from nature.

Li Zhuiyuan looked at the bird droppings on the ground in front of him. If he had not stopped to cough just then, they would have landed on his head.

Li Sanjiang touched his head, looked at the white residue on his fingers, brought it to his nose for a sniff, and frowned as if he might vomit.

He instinctively wanted to wipe it on the wall, but then remembered this was outside his own bedroom in his own home. He could only walk to the Water Vat on the terrace, wash his hands first, then scoop up water to wash his hair.

"Great Grandfather, I'll get you some hot water. Washing your hair with cold water will make you catch a cold."

"Little Yuanhou, get Great Grandfather some laundry detergent, and bring a dry towel too."

Li Zhuiyuan fetched the items first, then lifted the thermos and poured hot water into Li Sanjiang's washbasin. After that, he brushed his teeth beside him.

"Damn it, I'm really unlucky today. Bad luck."

"Great Grandfather, just take it as magpies bringing you good news."

"Great Grandfather has noticed that you're the best at sweet-talking people."

"Great Grandfather, when did you go to sleep last night?"

"I went to sleep as soon as the ritual ended. I slept early, so I got up early today too."

"Great Grandfather, do you remember what you did after the Fortune-Transfer Ritual?"

"What else could I do? Of course I went to bed."

"I mean after you slapped the Talisman Papers onto the floor. Do you remember that, Great Grandfather?"

"I remember. How could I not? I didn't drink last night, so I wouldn't have blacked out."

"You really remember?"

"Little Yuanhou, what's wrong with you?"

"Great Grandfather, did I say anything to you after the ritual ended last night?"

"You said good night to me, then went back to your room. What's wrong? Did you have another nightmare?"

"No, no. Maybe I slept too comfortably last night, so I can't remember some things clearly."

"That's perfectly normal. Forget a child—even adults can be like that. Sleeping comfortably is good. It means the Fortune-Transfer Ritual worked."

As they spoke, Li Zhuiyuan saw A Li come up the stairs. She was dressed in a maiden's outfit today, looking both demure and adorable.

As Li Sanjiang dried his hair, he smacked his lips and said, "I have to say, Little Yuanhou, this girl really is pretty. Great Grandfather used to think 'born beauty' was just polite flattery, until I saw this girl."

Li Zhuiyuan nodded. "A Li is indeed pretty."

In the past, one of the old folks' greatest pleasures had been watching young boys and girls playing together and randomly trying to pair them up.

But Li Sanjiang merely shook his head and sighed. "It would be so nice if she weren't sick."

The old man still remembered how the little girl had suddenly erupted after he stuffed candy into her hand.

"Great Grandfather, A Li isn't sick."

"Fine, she isn't sick. You're sick, all right?"

"Mm."

Li Zhuiyuan knew that he really was sick. He had only just had an episode that morning.

"Oh, right, Great Grandfather. Brother Run Sheng is going back to Xiting Town to see Grandpa Shan today. I want to go with him."

"Then go. Oh, wait here. I'll go back inside and get you some money so you can buy something to bring along."

"Great Grandfather, you're really good to Grandpa Shan."

"I'm afraid that Shan Pao will gamble away all his money and starve to death."

Li Sanjiang went inside to get Li Zhuiyuan some money, then headed downstairs, shouting, "Tinghou, make breakfast early today. I'm hungry!"

Li Zhuiyuan looked at the money in his hand, then added the rest of his pocket money to it and smiled. His starting capital was enough.

A Li looked at the boy, then at the money in his hand. Her eyelashes fluttered slightly.

In the courtyard, Liu Yumei was making tea.

Li Sanjiang came downstairs, stretched lazily, and remarked, "Oh, the weather should be nice today. It'll be a bright sunny day."

Liu Yumei responded, "Then aren't you going out for a stroll today?"

"What's there to stroll around for? Weather this nice is perfect for lying in a rattan chair, basking in the sun, and taking a nap."

Liu Yumei smiled without saying anything else. Instead, she lifted the teacup with the ring finger and index finger of her right hand.

Just as she raised it into the air, the cup suddenly swayed, spilling some tea.

Ignoring her fingertips, reddened from the scalding tea, Liu Yumei stared incredulously at the cup in her hand—or more precisely, at the tea inside, of which only half remained.

"How did so much spill out all at once?"

Though the moon waxed and waned and tides rose and fell, there were generally patterns to follow. One could find stillness amid change, so such drastic fluctuations usually did not occur.

What exactly had happened?

At that moment, Li Zhuiyuan and Qin Li came downstairs.

Liu Yumei's gaze naturally fell on the boy. As she carefully observed his face, the fingertips of her left hand, hidden within her sleeve, lightly touched one another in turn.

As though trying to make the girl laugh, Li Zhuiyuan pulled a face at A Li.

Liu Yumei had no choice but to stop calculating with her fingers, because his physiognomy had changed.

Li Zhuiyuan turned to Liu Yumei and politely greeted her. "Good morning, Grandma Liu."

"Morning, Little Yuan."

Li Zhuiyuan went into the kitchen to help Aunt Liu carry out the porridge and pickles.

He noticed quite a lot of newly made incense drying in the northwest corner of the courtyard and asked, "Aunt Liu, could I trouble you to make some short incense sticks for me?"

"Of course. How short?"

"About the same length as the cigarettes in a cigarette pack."

"But what could incense that short be used for? It'll burn out in no time."

"It doesn't need to burn for long. As long as a cigarette takes."

"All right, Auntie will make them for you."

"Thank you, Aunt Liu."

After breakfast, Li Zhuiyuan set out with Run Sheng.

Run Sheng was very excited to be going home. Every now and then, he let go of the handlebars with both hands and sang.

He sang many songs, but he usually only knew the most iconic few lines from each one. Sitting behind him, Li Zhuiyuan felt as if he were listening to a song medley.

Xiting Town was not too far away. Run Sheng's singing did not stop him from pedaling quickly, and before long, they had ridden up to his home.

Li Zhuiyuan looked at the house. Compared with the other homes he had seen when entering the village, it was truly rundown.

After Run Sheng went in and called out several times without receiving an answer, he came back out and said to Li Zhuiyuan:

"Little Yuan, my grandpa isn't home. He's probably playing cards, but there's still rice and flour at home, so we'll have lunch, hehe."

"Then let's go find Grandpa Shan."

"Come on, I'll take you to him."

There were several gambling dens in the village, all operating out of private homes. Small ones had three or four tables, while larger ones had ten or twenty.

By unspoken rule, anyone playing cards there had to pay tea money. If they won big, they also had to give the owner a cut of the celebration money.

Besides providing tea, sunflower seeds, and peanuts, the owner also had to help gather people to make up card games. This ability determined whether the gambling den could grow.

It was still summer, so it was not the busy season for gambling dens. The true busy season was around the Lunar New Year.

Those who worked away from home all returned to the village for the New Year.

Many of them scrimped and saved while away, but after returning home with the hard-earned money they had saved over the year, they immediately put on new clothes, sat down at the card table, lit up the good cigarettes they had bought especially for the New Year, struck a pose, and began sweeping through the competition.

Of course, most of the time, they were the ones being swept away.

After all, nearly every village had a small group of people who did not hold proper jobs and spent their days playing cards to get by. They counted on the New Year season to make a killing and win the next year's living expenses.

Those who worked away from home rarely had many chances to play cards, so their skills were already inferior to those seasoned village gamblers. On top of that, they might encounter rigged games.

That was why people often lost all the money they had earned over a year within days of returning to the village. Some not only lost everything but also fell into debt. Worse still, before the New Year was even over, they had to pack up their bedding in disgrace and head back out to work.

Run Sheng told Li Zhuiyuan all this along the way.

Because Run Sheng had heard Little Yuan say that he wanted to play cards this time, he was telling him all this to dissuade him.

Li Zhuiyuan found Run Sheng to be a truly remarkable person. Honesty and simplicity were in his nature, but he also had a perceptive side; otherwise, he would not have understood these things. Of course, the side of him that came out when he fought was even more startling.

"Brother Run Sheng, you know Grandpa Shan often loses at cards. Why don't you try to persuade him?"

"He's my grandpa, so I have to listen to him. Just like you're my little brother, so I have to listen to you."

"You're the older brother."

"My grandpa says I'm stupid, and that I can only listen to two kinds of people in this life."

"What two kinds?"

"One kind is my grandpa himself. He says he's actually stupid too. Listening to him might make me suffer alongside him, but at least he won't harm me.

"The other kind is smart people. Smart people might harm me, but before they do, they'll let me enjoy myself first."

Grandpa Shan was playing cards in a small gambling den at the western end of the village. There were not many people, just one table, playing four-player Fight the Landlord.

When Li Zhuiyuan and Run Sheng entered, Grandpa Shan had just set down his cards and was paying up.

"Oh, Runsheng Hou is back."

"Runsheng Hou, long time no see."

"Your grandpa was just talking about you."

The card players clearly all knew Run Sheng and greeted him warmly.

Grandpa Shan also stood and touched Run Sheng's arm, smiling. "Good. Just as expected, you've been eating well at Li Sanjiang's Home. You look even sturdier now."

He looked exactly like someone seeing his well-behaved cattle or sheep that had run off to eat in the neighboring family's fields.

"Grandpa, Little Yuan came too."

"Grandpa Shan."

"Mhm, Little Yuanhou." Grandpa Shan reached for the money on the card table, hesitated, then said, "Taking money while playing cards brings bad luck. Wait until tonight, and I'll buy you some cooked dishes."

"Okay, Grandpa Shan."

Li Zhuiyuan glanced at the little stack of money in front of Grandpa Shan... Well, it was already too shallow to call a stack.

They began drawing cards. With a cigarette hanging from his mouth, Grandpa Shan felt out his cards while chatting idly with Runsheng Hou.

Li Zhuiyuan stood quietly to the side and watched.

Before long, Grandpa Shan had lost three rounds—twice as landlord and once as a farmer.

The sample size was too small. Li Zhuiyuan could not yet determine whether Grandpa Shan truly had bad card luck, but he had confirmed one thing: Grandpa Shan was genuinely terrible at cards.

Card players who were both bad and loved to play were welcome everywhere.

However, Li Zhuiyuan had no intention of joining in here. Fight the Landlord moved too slowly and also required coordination. The efficiency for making money was too low.

Li Zhuiyuan tugged at Runsheng Hou's arm. Understanding, Runsheng Hou said, "Grandpa, I'll take Little Yuan back first."

"Mhm, go ahead." Grandpa Shan waved without turning around. He was losing with growing enthusiasm.

Runsheng Hou pedaled his tricycle and took Li Zhuiyuan to a large gambling den. A canopy had been set up outside a residential house, with eight tables of people playing inside. Some were playing Fight the Landlord, some bridge, while nine people were playing Three-Card Brag at the largest round table.

Three-Card Brag was only fun when there were lots of people. That was the only way anyone could really bluff.

"Brother Run Sheng, do you remember what I told you before?"

"Mhm, I remember." Runsheng Hou patted his chest, then walked over to an empty seat at the round table and sat down. "Count me in."

The others at the round table froze for a moment, sizing Runsheng Hou up.

Xiting Town connected in all directions. Small gambling dens were mostly frequented by people from the same village, while larger ones attracted people from other villages, so quite a few of them did not know Runsheng Hou.

The main issue was that Runsheng Hou's age was awkward. Calling him a child did not feel right given his build and age, but calling him an adult felt off too, since he still looked somewhat immature.

People at card tables did not like playing with children. First, it sounded bad if word got out. Second, children usually did not have much money in their pockets.

The owner of the gambling den was a short, fat man. He waved at Runsheng Hou. "Runsheng Hou, stop messing around. Your grandpa isn't here. Go look somewhere else."

"I said I want to play!"

Runsheng Hou deliberately put on a cold expression, then slapped all the money Li Zhuiyuan had given him onto the table.

Seeing Runsheng Hou's posture and the money he had brought out, everyone at the table silently nodded. The owner said nothing more and turned to pour tea, muttering, "Like father, like son."

Runsheng Hou was nervous, but he kept his face taut.

The current round had not ended yet. Three players were still playing blind.

Li Zhuiyuan's gaze swept across the nine people around the round table, memorizing every one of their faces.

Three-Card Brag only used three cards. It required far less skill than Fight the Landlord, and luck—card luck—was the dominant factor.

Logically speaking, it was not wise to play this game if one wanted to win steadily.

But Li Zhuiyuan had his own method. Once he had memorized their faces, no microexpression would escape his eyes when they looked at or took their cards.

Clever old gamblers were good at hiding things and even deceiving others, but that did not matter. The massive collection of facial-reading illustrations in Yin Yang Physiognomy Explained was like an enormous database built inside Li Zhuiyuan's mind.

No matter how good someone was at disguising himself, he could not possibly leave no flaws at all. Such masters surely existed in this world, but Li Zhuiyuan believed he would never encounter one in a village gambling den. They would not be as bored as he was, coming to a village den to make money.

When the round ended, Runsheng Hou paid the ante.

For three consecutive hands, Runsheng Hou looked at his cards and immediately folded. He did not even play blind, and every time he folded, he deliberately revealed his cards instead of hiding them.

Li Zhuiyuan had asked him to do that. He needed to enrich his samples, such as matching different hand strengths with their corresponding microexpressions.

Of course, Runsheng Hou's cards in all three hands were terrible. None had been worth following.

All right, the sample data had been collected, and it was very detailed. The people at the table also liked revealing their cards when folding rather than concealing them.

Li Zhuiyuan quietly edged closer to Runsheng Hou, who shifted his buttocks aside.

When the next hand was dealt, the cards were dealt almost directly in front of Li Zhuiyuan.

Quite a few people at the table noticed this. They were somewhat displeased. Runsheng Hou could still barely count as a young man, but the child beside him was simply too young.

Still, since the two were sitting together, it was inconvenient to say anything. After all, plenty of fathers held their sons in their arms while gambling and let them touch the cards.

Li Zhuiyuan picked up some money, tossed it in, and followed with a small blind bet.

"Whose kid is this? He's so fair and tender."

"His clothes are nice too. Pretty fashionable."

The people at the table began commenting on Li Zhuiyuan.

Li Zhuiyuan gave them a shy smile.

What they did not know was that from this moment on, everyone at the card table was playing with their cards face-up before the little boy.

This was not cheating, because reading expressions and reactions was part of how Three-Card Brag was played.

After one round of blind betting, some players looked at their cards and folded, while others looked and continued following.

Li Zhuiyuan flipped over his cards. He had a pair of fives, an awkward hand. But of the two people who had looked at their cards and followed, one was bluffing with a small hand, while the other had a hand lower than his.

Three people had looked at their cards and followed, so the rest stopped playing blind and began looking at their cards as well.

Li Zhuiyuan relaxed inwardly, because he had "seen" that his hand was the biggest at the table.

In the end, the only remaining player tried to raise the stakes to scare a child, but failed. When they revealed their cards, he lost. Runsheng Hou stood up and raked in the money, then asked the player below him to shuffle and the player above him to cut and deal.

Li Zhuiyuan was too short, and Runsheng Hou's hands were too clumsy to even deal smoothly.

At the same time, this was to avoid any trouble that might arise after they won money.

Next round.

After playing blind for one hand, Li Zhuiyuan looked at his cards. A pair of aces.

Then, every player who looked at his cards had his expression fall into Li Zhuiyuan's eyes. Four rounds later, five people remained.

What surprised Li Zhuiyuan was that the other four all had big pairs above tens. Still, he was not worried. After all, pairs were under his control.

Because everyone had decent cards, they held on for several more rounds before revealing against one another. In the end, Li Zhuiyuan's pair of aces beat every other pair.

The pot was substantial. When Runsheng Hou rose to collect the money, even his excited breathing trembled.

Third round. Same routine: play blind for one hand, then look at the cards.

A flush—and a straight flush at that.

What was there even to say about a hand like that?

But after several rounds, Li Zhuiyuan found that there really was something to say. Excluding himself, among the remaining five players, two had straights and three had flushes.

Li Zhuiyuan could not help sighing inwardly. Were they really going to cooperate this much?

This round, everyone put in more and held out longer. In the end, without surprise, Li Zhuiyuan won.

When the cards were revealed, Li Zhuiyuan even asked with an innocent expression:

"Is there lucky money too?"

Runsheng Hou stood up, almost shouting in his heart: So much money, so much money!

In fact, holding a big hand did not necessarily mean winning much in this game. Sometimes nobody followed a big hand and everyone folded, leaving one with only the ante.

Only when several players had good cards could the pot grow fat. After a bloody struggle, the winner could feast on the spoils.

Next round, one blind bet, then look at the cards.

Li Zhuiyuan's expression remained shy, but waves still rose in his heart.

Three sixes. Three of a kind.

His card luck today was a little too good.

Then, as everyone began looking at their cards, Li Zhuiyuan "confirmed" that among the other five players still in, two had straight flushes, two had flushes, and one had a straight.

This...

There was no avoiding it. A vicious bloodbath erupted.

In the end, Li Zhuiyuan revealed cards with the last player who dared to challenge him. Everyone at the table was dumbfounded. Even people from nearby tables left their games to come watch.

Three of a kind was not especially common, but neither was it rare. A showdown built up like this, though, was truly unusual.

"Beginners have blazing luck, it seems."

"This kid's luck is really good today."

"Whoa, how much has he won already?"

Everyone began talking at once.

Even Li Zhuiyuan found it strange. His card luck today really did seem exceptionally good.

Runsheng Hou had already emptied the sunflower seeds from a bag beside him and was using it to hold the money.

A question suddenly came to him: were Little Yuan and his own grandpa gambling on the same thing?

Ever since he had been old enough to understand, he had barely experienced what winning felt like, much less winning like this.

Next round. Again, one blind bet, then look at the cards.

Li Zhuiyuan realized something was off, because he had drawn three aces.

Then three rounds passed. Everyone looked at their cards, yet not a single person folded.

Li Zhuiyuan "looked" at their cards and became certain that something was very wrong.

Among the nine other players, five had three of a kind and four had straight flushes.

Li Zhuiyuan suspected he had been cursed.

He touched the Talisman Papers he had drawn in his pocket. He really wanted to stick one on his forehead and see whether it changed color.

What followed was no longer a bloodbath at the card table, but a calamity sweeping the martial world.

For one thing, nearly everyone had bled money to Li Zhuiyuan in the previous rounds. Now that they held these cards, they all felt as though destiny itself had chosen them.

No one held back, showed mercy, or kindly advised anyone else to quit while they were ahead.

The maximum stakes were thrown in round after round without hesitation.

Several people did not have enough money on them, so they showed their cards to spectators standing behind them and let them buy in for a share of the profits.

Li Zhuiyuan felt that even his arm had grown sore from putting money into the pot. Only then did the round finally come to an end.

After several players who had looked at their cards folded one after another, the atmosphere around the table became somewhat oppressive.

When the three aces were finally laid out, the last player nearly collapsed to the ground, trembling.

Someone wanted to mutter that they were cheating, but could not say it aloud. Neither of them had shuffled their own cards; the players above and below them had done it for them, and those two players had lost the most.

Yet the reason the scene remained relatively quiet was because Runsheng Hou stood up.

Runsheng Hou sensed the threat. Winning so much money had also put him in an excited state. His eyes were beginning to redden, and he radiated the same aura he had when dealing with those two thugs possessed by ghosts yesterday.

Li Zhuiyuan had dared to win money here partly because Runsheng Hou was beside him.

Still, he had not expected things to develop this way, because all the methods he had prepared were, in hindsight, completely useless.

Li Zhuiyuan asked, "Still playing?"

He intended to deliberately lose some money back. If he lost too slowly, he would return half of it later.

"Play. We'll keep playing. But these cards are old today. Bring out a new deck." A middle-aged man with a large beard at the table gestured for everyone to sit down, then exchanged looks with the players seated above and below Li Zhuiyuan.

They normally would not cooperate when playing cards. If they ever did, it would be around the New Year. But today, they had no choice.

A new deck was brought over. The player below shuffled, the player above cut, and then dealt the cards on everyone's behalf.

As usual, Li Zhuiyuan played blind for one hand, then looked at his cards. Three queens. Three of a kind.

His opponent's expression, however, told him that he held the biggest hand.

They had cheated.

They did not know that what they considered a perfectly discreet exchange of glances was as loud as shouting to Li Zhuiyuan.

"I'm out."

Li Zhuiyuan turned his cards face-down and directly shoved them into the deck, scattering it in the process.

"What?" Big Beard abruptly stood up and pointed at Li Zhuiyuan. "You cheated!"

By cheating himself, he had proven that Li Zhuiyuan really was cheating. Otherwise, who would throw away three of a kind like that?

"Brother Run Sheng, take out money for the table, the teacups, and cleaning fees."

"Huh?" Runsheng Hou was confused, but he obediently did as told. After estimating the amount, he took money from the bag and placed it on the table.

Li Zhuiyuan stood up, stepped away from the table, and said:

"Smash the table."

Bang!

A fist came down, and the table shattered.

This was not an ordinary table flip, nor was it someone slapping the table in emotional anger. The scene of that large round table being smashed apart with a single punch stunned everyone present.

Li Zhuiyuan calmly looked at the wreckage scattered across the floor. He was not the one cheating, but did he need to explain himself?

He did not.

"Let's go, Brother Run Sheng."

"Yeah!"

A grim smile appeared on Runsheng Hou's face. He even raised a hand and pointed at everyone present.

He had learned it from God of Gamblers, which had aired on the county channel the night before last. It was a shame Little Yuan did not slick back his hair with pomade, or he would have been Chow Yun-fat in Runsheng Hou's heart.

Big Beard did not dare step forward, but he stood where he was and said in a trembling voice, "We're calling the police!"

It was ridiculous. Gambling dens like this went unnoticed so long as no one reported them, but if anyone truly pursued the matter, it would certainly be illegal, and all gambling funds would be confiscated.

Li Zhuiyuan stopped and looked back at him.

"Tan Yunlong from the town Police Station is my uncle."

After saying that, he continued walking outside.

Runsheng Hou carried a bag of money, hopping along as his shoes dragged against the ground in the gait girls favored these days.

Li Zhuiyuan, meanwhile, seemed calm, even somewhat grave.

After getting onto the tricycle, he immediately pulled out Talisman Papers and stuck them all over his forehead, shoulders, arms, and thighs, like a Death Collapse preparing to kill himself.

After a while, he checked every one of them. Not a single paper had changed color.

He put the Talisman Papers away. Li Zhuiyuan sighed, then murmured as he understood:

"Fortune-Transfer Ritual."