Death from Overwhelming Joy

Shoushan Town was not large, but it had all the vital organs.

Every trade and profession was present.

Even the entertainment houses and pleasure quarters found only in great cities were not lacking here.

Jinglan Street was precisely such a place where illicit trysts gathered and scattered with ease.

There was a gambling house on this street, called Guangyuan.

It operated day and night without rest.

Yet today, when the sun was already three poles high, a young Daoist unexpectedly entered.

The Daoist had red lips and white teeth, with an air of nobility pressing upon all around him. Clad in a blue Daoist robe, he truly resembled an enlightened master of the Dao.

What a pity that he had come to this den of filth and vice, needlessly tarnishing the pure reputation of the Three Pure Ones.

The gamblers found the sight rare and could not help looking at him a few more times.

Upon closer inspection, however, they discovered that this Daoist's luck had declined to an absolute low.

After taking his seat, he lost every bet.

In less than the time it took for an incense stick to burn, he had already lost a string of copper coins.

"Ah, little Daoist, you're having rotten luck today!"

"Little Daoist, don't gamble anymore. When luck leaves, it crashes down like a mountain—there'll be no stirring up waves again."

The surrounding spectators discussed animatedly. Seeing that the young Daoist was fair and handsome, several gamblers took a liking to him and spoke up to advise him.

"What the hell do you know? The worse one's luck gets, the more one has to gamble. That's called reaching the end of misfortune and turning toward fortune!"

Amid the clamor, a vicious and menacing voice rang out.

Following the sound, they saw that the Chai family's three brothers, local street toughs, had arrived.

The man in front had the back of a tiger and the waist of a bear, his fury like the clay vajra in an earthen temple, inspiring exceptional fear.

It was none other than Old Biaozi of the Chai family!

He slapped the table and drove away the gamblers playing against the Daoist. "Go on, go on. You've played long enough. It's about time you gave us a turn."

The three gamblers were winning happily and naturally did not want to leave.

But seeing that the newcomers were the Chai family's three brothers, fear rose in their hearts. They could only console themselves that it was best to quit while ahead, then stood and left.

Speaking of the Chai family's three brothers, they were well-known thugs in Shoushan Town!

They were adept at everything from stealing chickens to pilfering dogs.

If anyone offended them, their household could forget about peace.

Stolen chickens and ducks were a small matter. The real fear was one of them suddenly appearing outside the window in the dead of night and scaring someone to death.

"Little Daoist, as they say, every cloud has a silver lining. No one can stay lucky forever, and no one can stay unlucky forever. How about the three of us play a few rounds with you?"

Old Biaozi asked with his mouth, but both hands were already clasped around the dice cup.

"Sure. Changing opponents might change my luck."

The young Daoist smiled lightly, utterly unconcerned with the string of copper coins he had lost.

"That makes sense!"

The Chai family's third brother chuckled, waggling his brows at his two brothers as though he had already eaten this unlucky fool alive.

The four men seated at the Eight Immortals table briefly discussed matters, then placed their bets, shook their dice cups, and opened them at the same time.

"Eleven points! Nine points! Three points! Three points! Ah, little Daoist, yours is the highest!"

"The little Daoist won!"

"Whoa, could the little Daoist be turning his luck around?"

Among the onlookers, someone with nothing better to do counted the points one by one. Once the count was complete, the room immediately erupted in uproar!

The young Daoist, who had lost more than ten rounds in a row, had actually turned his luck around!

The Chai family's three brothers' faces darkened. They exchanged looks and shouted, "Again! Again!"

The young Daoist smiled faintly. After paying the gambling house's cut, he placed another bet.

"Eight points! Five points! Five points! Four points! Ah, the little Daoist is highest again!"

"Tsk, tsk. His luck really has turned."

A roaring clamor burst forth. Every cry of "turning luck around" drove the Chai family's three brothers' eyes bloodshot.

"Again, again!"

"..."

"Whoa! The little Daoist won again!"

"What round is this?"

"I've been counting. It's the eighth round."

"He lost every round at the last table, but he's won every round at this one. Could changing opponents really change one's luck?"

"When luck comes, nothing can stop it—you can beat tigers and become an official!"

No one knew how many people in the vast gambling house had gathered around to witness this rare scene of consecutive losses followed by consecutive victories.

"Are you three still playing?"

After the eighth round, the young Daoist looked at the Chai family's three brothers with a smiling face.

"Play!"

"What? You want to leave after winning money? No chance!"

"Again, again!"

The Chai family's three brothers were so anxious that fury attacked their hearts, blood flooding their eyes. Their expressions were so savage that they seemed ready to choose someone and devour them!

"Fine, fine, again, again."

The young Daoist nodded repeatedly.

The four placed their bets and shook their dice cups again. The instant the cups were opened, the entire hall fell silent.

The surrounding spectators stood on tiptoe, craned their necks, clutched the shoulders of those in front, and peered desperately inward.

"Three points, nine points, seventeen points, fourteen points!"

"Ah, the little Daoist lost!"

"The Chai family's three brothers are about to turn their luck around!"

The spectators standing closest inside announced the result at once, and the crowd immediately boiled over.

The Chai family's three brothers did not need to look, but after looking once, then reciting the results once more, they excitedly slapped their thighs and threw back their heads in wild laughter.

"Haha, we won!"

"It was about time us three brothers turned our luck around!"

As they laughed, the three suddenly stiffened and toppled sideways. Looking closely, their jaws were clenched tight and their faces had turned waxen white.

"H-hey, hey, what... what happened?"

Someone reached out to test their breathing, then immediately pulled back his hand like lightning and shouted in terror.

"They're dead! The Chai... the Chai family's three brothers are dead!"

"Did they die from overwhelming joy?"

The gamblers instantly descended into chaos. Those in front recoiled in terror, while those behind crowded forward in excitement. When the two sides collided, people and horses alike went sprawling.

Some even took the chance to snatch the copper coins from the table.

No one saw that, at the very moment the Chai family's three brothers died suddenly, the smile vanished from the young Daoist's face. He swept up the money on the table and quietly left the gambling house.

Once outside, a cool breeze brushed his face, and all killing intent swiftly subsided.

As the saying went: Why use blades and swords to kill? A sliver of tiny bone sends a life to the Yellow Springs.

Dying at the gambling table could be considered dying in the right place for the Chai family's three brothers.

"What a pity. I didn't make a fortune."

Mo Chuan strolled down the street. Regret hung from his lips, but a faint joy stirred in his heart.

Killing was not worth rejoicing over. What delighted him was that his enlightenment had borne fruit.

He had only tested it casually, never expecting that the Art of Ascending and Copying could even magnify something as intangible and ethereal as luck.

What an unexpected delight!

"Then it seems that talk of fate and fortune is not groundless after all?"

Mo Chuan fell into thought without slowing his steps, heading toward Eagle Strike Cliff in Shoushan.

As for having flicked his fingers and killed three men just now, it was as though he had merely brushed away dust—too insignificant to be worth dwelling on.

Eagle Strike Cliff lay in the far west of Shoushan. One could reach it by taking the trail through Lone Cloud Peak, but this place counted as one of Shoushan's rare forbidden zones.

The reason was nothing else but the ferocity of its hawks and falcons.

With their wings tucked in, they dived like arrows. Skimming close to the ground, their talons could smash skulls and kill men.

Thus, few stonecutters came here in search of unusual stones.

Walking along the mountain path and seeing that human traces were scarce, Mo Chuan simply dropped his concealment. With the Art of Ascending and Copying, his body became as light as a swallow. He climbed the rugged mountain path as though walking on level ground.

In less than an hour, he reached Eagle Strike Cliff.

Though called a cliff, it looked more like a great rift valley!

Only the rocks on the opposite side slanted into a slope, covered in flowers, grass, and trees. Their lush greenery instead made Eagle Strike Cliff appear all the more steep and terrifying.

Mo Chuan's eyesight was extraordinary.

Once he deliberately began searching, he circled beneath the cliff once and identified his target.

That fruit tree had rooted itself in the sheer cliff face. Perhaps because no other trees competed with it for sunlight, it had grown especially strange and striking. Amid its sparse branches and leaves, several unripe fruits could faintly be seen hidden among verdant foliage.

"Looks like they aren't ripe yet?"

"Never mind. If I wait until they ripen, they may no longer make it into this poor Daoist's stomach."

Mo Chuan drew a breath, bent his knees slightly, and abruptly leaped. With the Art of Ascending and Copying, he shot upward like an arrow!

Looking down, he had already leaped more than ten feet into the air.

When his momentum began to fade, he lightly tapped the cliff with his toes. His body immediately rose again like a great swan spreading its wings, floating upward as though riding the wind.

The hundred-zhang cliff was like level ground beneath his feet!

In just two or three breaths, he neared the fruit tree. As he reached out to pluck the fruit, his heart stirred, and his gaze swept across the sky.

He saw a gray blur streak through the heavens as a hawk came swooping down like thunder!

Prepared long ago, Mo Chuan remained utterly calm. He brought his palms together, and a pair of bronze Nabo suddenly flashed into existence from within them.

"Daaang—"

A sound that pierced clouds and split stone soared into the sky!

Dazzling golden Baleful Intent blazed up from his palms, seeking to contend with the blazing sun!

For a moment, the sky was washed clean and the mountains fell silent.

The tree-guarding hunting falcon, swift as lightning and arrows, no longer possessed its shadow-chasing, wind-pursuing form. It dropped straight from the sky.

"Immortal... an immortal—"

At the same time, within the lush mountain forest, a group of stonecutters raised their heads at the sound. What they saw left them gaping in shock, and they cried out involuntarily.