"Monkey Demon" Yuan Qu

How could this bastard be here too?

When Sha LiFei saw the person above, the skin on his face twitched, and he took several steps back.

This man was Yuan Qu, the leader of the White Ape Gang.

He had been born with strange features, and his mother had been a half-open-door prostitute. He had suffered no shortage of abuse, so he had mixed around on the streets and learned all kinds of vicious tricks.

At a young age, he had already been given the nickname "Monkey Demon."

Unlike the leader of the Iron Saber Gang, Yuan Qu had learned nothing but low, underhanded street-fighting techniques. Even after becoming Zhou Pan's disciple, and despite having decent aptitude, he had entered the path late. Coupled with ruining his foundation through wine and women, he had only barely reached Hidden Strength.

Although his martial arts ranked last among the Eight Great Vajras, his reputation was not inferior in the slightest. He was notorious for being full of vile schemes.

East City was the White Ape Gang's territory. It was rumored that a young master from Chang'an City stood behind this gambling house; even the yamen officials did not dare come here to extort money, so the White Ape Gang naturally would not either.

Sha LiFei had deliberately chosen this place, never expecting to run into Yuan Qu after all. He could not help cursing his luck inwardly.

At the same time, Yuan Qu listened to a few whispered words from the man beside him. A sinister smile immediately spread across his face. "It has something to do with that kid? Go. Bring him back so we can have a chat..."

"What are you doing!"

The moment Sha LiFei heard that, he began shouting, "Disciples and grand-disciples of Zhou Pan, are you planning to use underhanded tricks before the match? Fellow martial artists, you all saw this, didn't you!"

"Damn it, you're courting death!"

Yuan Qu's eyes instantly turned vicious.

Just then, another person walked out of the room. He was an old man dressed in an official's robe, short and stout, with a white beard and a smiling face. He looked kind and benevolent.

Stroking his beard, he smiled. "They're just small fry. Why should Leader Yuan get angry?"

"Besides, this is Jinbao Gambling House. The man's voice was merely a little loud, and he hasn't broken any rules. If Leader Yuan starts shouting about killing people, this old man will have trouble explaining himself..."

His words were polite, but in truth, he gave Yuan Qu no face at all.

Sha LiFei hurriedly nodded. "That's right, that's right. I was born with a loud voice. What, do I deserve a beating just for being loud?"

The old man stroked his beard and smiled. "Which gambler in a gambling house keeps his voice down? The guests are enjoying themselves. They can shout however they like."

"The guests want to bet on the arena. As it happens, this old man is interested too."

"A Fu, display the boards!"

As soon as he spoke, a cold-faced man stepped out from behind the old man. With one hand supporting himself, he vaulted over the railing and landed steadily after a forward flip.

His body did not sway, his breath did not quicken, and even his feet made no sound.

"Excellent skills!"

There were plenty of martial artists in the gambling house, and they immediately cheered in unison.

The man's expression did not change. He cupped his fists toward everyone around him, then went to the main platform at the back of the hall. He took down two boards and, with strokes that flew like dragons and snakes, wrote the names "Li Yan" and "Zhou Bai," along with the odds.

Li Yan wins: bet one, receive one.

Zhou Bai wins: bet one, receive five.

The White Ape Gang's leader, Yuan Qu, had calmed down by now. With a smile that did not reach his eyes, he said, "Boss Wu, you're not playing very big here..."

He had received some information that the backer of Jinbao Gambling House had run into trouble, so he had rushed over to discuss buying it before someone else could snatch up the fat meat.

Who would have thought that the manager would refuse him outright and even deliberately provoke him?

Although he was furious inside, he did not want to fall out with him just yet, lest something change and become difficult to clean up.

After all, this behavior did look a little like taking advantage of someone's misfortune.

Manager Wu still wore a benevolent smile. "We're just joining in the fun and making the guests happy. What, does Leader Yuan want to place a bet too?"

Yuan Qu had been about to refuse, but his eyes shifted. He suddenly smiled and said, "Since Manager Wu wants to play, I naturally must oblige."

"I'll bet two thousand taels. Does Manager Wu dare accept it?"

The smile on Manager Wu's face did not change. He waved a hand, and someone below immediately wrote out a betting slip, then ran upstairs with hurried footsteps and respectfully presented it with both hands.

"Leader Yuan is generous!"

"Manager Wu is magnanimous!"

After a round of verbal sparring, Yuan Qu saw that Manager Wu was not angry. He shifted his target and fixed his gaze on Sha LiFei below, sneering. "Big fellow, since you have such confidence in that kid, how much are you planning to bet?"

Although Sha LiFei was frightened inside, he forced himself to slap his chest. "Yan XiaoGe will definitely win. I, Old Sha, will naturally bet my entire fortune!"

As he spoke, he pulled a heavy money pouch from his clothes, went to the back, and slapped it onto the counter.

The clerk keeping the accounts was startled at first, but after carefully opening it, his expression immediately turned strange.

Most of it was copper coins, with barely a few bits of broken silver.

The clerk was speechless. After quickly counting it, he shouted, "Guest's bet, a total of nineteen taels and five qian..."

Before he could finish, Sha LiFei took one tael of silver back out and muttered, "I almost forgot. I still need to keep some money for food."

The clerk helplessly said again, "Eighteen taels and five qian!"

"Hahahaha!"

For a moment, the entire gambling house erupted in laughter.

Even Yuan Qu could not hold back his amusement. He sneered, "You poor bastard, and you still came here pretending to be generous. How about I lend you a few hundred taels to play with?"

"No need!"

Sha LiFei had thick skin and did not care in the slightest about the crowd's mockery. He put away his betting slip and, without another word, walked straight out of the gambling house.

Having roamed the martial world, how could he fall for such a trick?

Losing the money on his person would be no more than starting over, but if he borrowed money from these people, life would become worse than death.

The saying "borrow nine, repay thirteen" was still the respectable version.

Some scoundrels made a living from this. When the time was about right, they would go to someone's door every day and make a racket, refusing to leave until they had squeezed out some spending money. They would not even count it as interest, calling it tea money or a courier fee.

Some small-time merchants had been driven mad by such people.

Of course, those tricks were meant for ordinary commoners.

When they encountered martial artists, they would specifically seek out someone with consumption who had only a few days left to live, then pester him relentlessly.

If the martial artist lost his temper and killed someone, he would fall straight into their trap.

At that point, the slippery yamen clerks would join in too, like two ghosts pounding on the door, tormenting the victim until life became worse than death.

Besides, the two sides already had a grudge, so Sha LiFei naturally stayed on guard.

The moment he left the gambling house, he broke into a run and vanished like a wisp of smoke...

Inside the gambling house, Yuan Qu found it boring when Sha LiFei did not take the bait. He turned to the manager beside him and said in a low voice, "Manager Wu, please think it over again."

"My offer is low, but it's still hard silver. If things truly reach that point, I won't be the only one trying to walk away with the wolf's den for free!"

With that, he gave a faint smile and turned to leave.

Behind him, Manager Wu's smile remained unchanged, but his eyes were dark and deep...

Meanwhile, inside the gambling house, the white-clad Conman from the Hua Family suddenly rolled his eyes and shouted, "Oh, a Life and Death Arena! Betting on people's lives is much more exciting."

"Zhou Bai is the pillar of the next generation of the Zhou family. If you bet on him and win, you'll make half again as much. If you want to play big, bet on Li Yan. You can double your money in no time!"

"Come on, don't miss such a good opportunity! The quick get it, the slow go without!"

"What? You don't have enough money? Come to me..."

Among the martial artists, some grew more afraid of death with age, but more of them wore their heads on their belts and had an enormous appetite for risk. They immediately began scraping together money to place their bets.

Those present included coachmen from the Carriage Guild, hard laborers from the Cao Gang at the docks, matchmakers who mixed around the city, and even bandits concealing their identities.

Dragons and snakes were mixed together; every kind of person was there.

The news of this match soon spread throughout Xianyang City...

Elsewhere, the White Ape Gang's leader, Yuan Qu, had just left the gambling house when a subordinate stepped forward and lowered his head. "Leader, that slippery bastard Sha LiFei got away."

"Let him go. He isn't important."

Yuan Qu shook his head and said solemnly, "What did you find out?"

The man replied in a low voice, "We got the details. That kid once went to Zhang Clan Martial Hall, and after he came out, Zhang YuanShang began making arrangements."

"But they exchanged hands behind closed doors, so our people didn't see anything."

"I see..."

Yuan Qu pondered this, then said solemnly, "This matter may not be reliable. Go, invite Mister Chen here. Then find Zhou Bai. I'll make a trip to my master's place."

At his command, the group split into three parties and left.

Yuan Qu brought his men to a large residence in the western part of the city. He ordered his subordinates to wait outside while he respectfully asked someone to announce him.

"Is Master here?"

"He is. Uncle-Master Yuan, please come in."

Not long after entering the large residence, Yuan Qu came back out.

Behind him followed a horse-drawn carriage.

On the carriage was a massive iron cage covered with red cloth. It kept clanging and shaking, and the muffled roars of a beast came from within...