Zhao Suo Xiang

Zhong Shan ordered the best dishes, not even looking at the menu. He just ordered a few things directly. The serving waiter immediately knew that the two people in front of him were definitely rich and noble, and he diligently recorded the order.

Before long, the food and wine were served.

Tian Ling'er took a couple of bites casually, then her eyes fixed on the scene below. Every shout from the gamblers below seemed to be constantly telling Tian Ling'er that they were playing a very, very fun game.

Looking at Tian Ling'er, Zhong Shan shook his head and smiled. It was everyone's first time in a casino, and they were all like this. But little did they know, this casino was the most dangerous place.

"Hurry up and eat!" Tian Ling'er urged immediately.

Just as Zhong Shan was about to say something, he frowned and looked at a table not far away. He felt that the people there had been staring at him earlier.

Staring at him?

The food and wine on that table were no worse than theirs. A man in a white robe sat at the table, looking about thirty years old, with a heroic face. On the table lay a spear, a silver-white long spear?

A magic treasure?

Zhong Shan recognized it at a glance. Was it a magic treasure made from a Void Spirit Pearl?

The man was currently holding a cup of wine, looking at Zhong Shan, his brows slightly furrowed. Suddenly, the man spoke, somewhat uncertainly, "Zhong Shan?"

He called out his name? He looked like he was in his thirties? Even his adopted sons, if it were a year ago, wouldn't have recognized him, right?

Zhong Shan looked at the man solemnly, and suddenly a thought flashed in his mind.

Fifty-one years ago.

Zhong Shan went through countless difficulties and dangers, and finally, he arrived before an Immortal Sect, begging to be accepted into the sect. He knelt at the entrance of the Immortal Sect for three days and three nights, but no one was willing to take him as a disciple.

At that time, it was just when the Dragon Gate Meet, held every fifty years, was taking place.

People from the Immortal Sect kept returning with newly accepted disciples, but they completely ignored Zhong Shan.

At that time, the person in front of him, also in a white robe, was luckily chosen at the Dragon Gate Meet. When he returned to the Immortal Sect with his master, he happened to see Zhong Shan kneeling at the mountain gate.

"Master, you said he's been kneeling here for three days and three nights?" the man said.

"This person named Zhong Shan has poor bone structure. It will be difficult for him to achieve anything in his lifetime," the master said.

"But his perseverance is good, and he's been kneeling for three days, Master. Why don't you take him as a disciple? Whether he succeeds or not is up to him," the white-robed man said.

"Shut up, Zhao Suo Xiang. This is an Immortal Sect, not your mortal battlefield. Perseverance alone is not enough," the master scolded angrily.

"Yes," Zhao Suo Xiang nodded and said, shaking his head and sighing as he followed his master into the Immortal Sect.

It was that day that Zhong Shan suddenly remembered. In the past, when he visited many Immortal Sects, only this person had ever advised the people of the Immortal Sect to help him. Although it was unsuccessful, Zhong Shan could not forget him.

"Zhao Suo Xiang?" Zhong Shan immediately stood up and looked at him.

"Haha, it really is you, Zhong Shan." Zhao Suo Xiang immediately picked up his spear and walked over. Very directly, he sat down next to Zhong Shan.

"Zhong Shan, who is he?" Tian Ling'er immediately asked.

"Iron Spear Sect, Zhao Suo Xiang," Zhao Suo Xiang immediately introduced himself to Tian Ling'er.

"Kaiyang Sect, Tian Ling'er," Tian Ling'er replied. After all, since they had reported their sects, this was the necessary etiquette for meeting people from Immortal Sects.

"Kaiyang Sect?" Zhao Suo Xiang looked at Zhong Shan with some surprise.

He couldn't understand it. Zhong Shan, who couldn't even enter the lower Immortal Sect in the past, was now accepted into the upper Immortal Sect, Kaiyang Sect.

"Brother Zhong Shan, congratulations," Zhao Suo Xiang immediately congratulated him.

"Same to you," Zhong Shan replied.

"Zhong Shan, eat slowly. I'm going down to take a look." Tian Ling'er finally couldn't hold back. She said this to Zhong Shan and rushed down the stairs.

Seeing Tian Ling'er's appearance, Zhong Shan shook his head and smiled, letting her go. He figured it would be fine if he just stayed up here.

"Brother Zhao, why are you here?" Zhong Shan turned to look at Zhao Suo Xiang.

"I was originally a general of the Great Song Kingdom. Fifty-one years ago, I was fortunate enough to enter an Immortal Sect. Now, I'm out for training. I passed through this city and happened to encounter some things, so I stayed. Today, I came out for a stroll and didn't expect to see Brother Zhong here," Zhao Suo Xiang said with a hearty laugh.

"I really didn't expect it. I still clearly remember the matter of Brother Zhao persuading the senior at the Iron Spear Sect back then. Although I didn't enter an Immortal Sect at that time, Zhong Shan still thanks Brother Zhao for his help that day," Zhong Shan said solemnly.

Zhong Shan was a person who clearly distinguished between gratitude and grudges. Although the matter back then didn't succeed, Zhao Suo Xiang had the intention to help him, and Zhong Shan kept it in his heart.

"Haha, it didn't succeed anyway, so it doesn't count as thanks. Besides, if it had succeeded back then, Brother Zhong wouldn't have had the good fortune to enter Kaiyang Sect," Zhao Suo Xiang laughed.

"There's no need for formalities between us. You can just call me Zhong Shan," Zhong Shan said with a smile.

"Okay, you can call me Suo Xiang, or Zhao Suo Xiang, either is fine," Zhao Suo Xiang said.

"Suo Xiang, please." Zhong Shan nodded, picked up a cup of wine, and toasted Zhao Suo Xiang.

Zhao Suo Xiang also picked up his wine, very generously, and the two of them drank it down in one gulp.

"This time, your Kaiyang Sect's training is also for that person named 'Hao San', right?" Zhao Suo Xiang suddenly said.

Hearing Zhao Suo Xiang say this, Zhong Shan frowned. This tone sounded as if everyone was looking for Hao San. He originally thought only Kaiyang Sect was searching, but now he realized that wasn't the case.

"That's right. Who is this Hao San?" Zhong Shan asked.

"I'm not sure, but I heard my master say that on that day, all the sects knew about this person Hao San and were all looking for him. Regardless of whether he's alive or dead, if he's caught, the sect will give a heavy reward. Now, it seems like everyone who cultivates knows about this person," Zhao Suo Xiang said, shaking his head.

The two of them were talking to each other.

Downstairs, in the first-floor hall, at the entrance, a black-robed man with a sword on his back slowly walked in, respectfully led by a few guides.

The person at the door, who was originally preparing to step forward to greet him, was stunned when he saw the few guides. This was because one of them was the owner of this Golden Brick Building, the owner who was full of arrogance in the past. How could he be so respectful to a black-robed man today?

"Where is Zhao Suo Xiang?" the black-robed man with the sword on his back asked indifferently.

"He's on the second floor, eating," the owner of the Golden Brick Building immediately said.

"Mm." The black-robed man with the sword on his back nodded and was about to slowly follow the owner of the Golden Brick Building upstairs.

Halfway up the stairs, the black-robed man suddenly frowned and looked at a gambling table not far away in the first-floor hall.

The gambling table was surrounded by a group of people. A young woman in red, with an extremely beautiful appearance and smooth skin that looked like a porcelain doll, had a stack of silver notes in front of her at this moment. There were also a large number of silver ingots, and she was gambling heavily with the person opposite her.

That stack of silver notes had at least a hundred bills. One bill was worth a thousand ingots, which was ten thousand taels of silver. A hundred bills, a million taels?

What a huge sum.

However, what was surprising was that the young woman in red kept losing money, and the more she lost, the more anxious she became, and the more anxious she became, the more she lost.

But she had a lot of money. A million taels. When she took out a stack of silver notes and placed them on the table, everyone around the table left. At the same time, they all looked at that stack of silver notes with greedy eyes, watching as the dealer opposite won them one by one.

The surrounding gamblers stopped betting. A once-in-a-thousand-year opportunity, a million taels of silver, just to come here and lose money?

"Miss, are you still betting on small?" the dealer asked.

"Yes, I'm still betting on small, I'll only bet on small." Tian Ling'er pouted and took out another ten thousand taels, throwing them over.

"Alright, bets are placed, hands off. Four, five, six, fifteen points, big." The dealer opened the wooden bucket, revealing the three dice in the wooden trough below.

"No, I want to see the dice." Tian Ling'er immediately cried out.

Then, she carefully examined the dice. There was nothing wrong with them. The dice had six sides, and all six sides were different! Why, why was it big every single time?

"Again." Tian Ling'er, not believing in bad luck, threw another silver note over.

On the stairs, the black-robed man with a sword on his back saw Tian Ling'er losing money and his eyes suddenly lit up. It wasn't because he saw the silver notes, but because he saw Tian Ling'er's bracelet.

A Storage Bracelet?

Seeing that item, the black-robed man with a sword on his back immediately leaned over and whispered a few words to the owner of the Golden Brick Building beside him.

"Yes, Young Master Tang, just watch me." The owner of the Golden Brick Building immediately said excitedly.

"Mm." The black-robed man with a sword on his back immediately nodded and followed the owner downstairs.

Two sticks of incense later, Zhong Shan was having a pleasant conversation with Zhao Suo Xiang upstairs. Zhong Shan felt that Zhao Suo Xiang was someone worth getting to know deeply. Based on his many years of experience in the mundane world, Zhong Shan determined that Zhao Suo Xiang was a person who valued integrity and kept his promises. Therefore, the two of them talked very happily.

Downstairs, Tian Ling'er was anxious at this moment. Zhong Shan had given her a million taels of silver before. Although he hadn't told her what a million taels represented, she knew that she had lost a huge amount this time and kept wanting to win the money back. However, every time, every single time, she lost. Was she really that unlucky?

As Tian Ling'er was feeling anxious, she suddenly caught sight of the expressions of the onlookers beside her: pity, regret, mockery.

Although Tian Ling'er was a bit naive, she wasn't stupid. She immediately realized that there must be something fishy going on.

They're cheating me out of my money? There must be a problem, but where is the problem? I didn't see them doing anything sneaky!

In front of her, there were still two silver notes, twenty thousand taels, while the other side, opposite her, had a thick stack, ninety-eighty thousand taels.

"Miss, would you like to continue?" The owner of the Golden Brick Building opposite suddenly asked with a smile. Beside him stood the dealer and the black-robed man with a sword on his back.

Tian Ling'er looked at the group of people in front of her, feeling as if they were all bad people, all trying to cheat her out of her money. But she just didn't know what was going on. What should she do? The money Zhong Shan had given her was about to be completely lost.

Tian Ling'er was extremely anxious.

"How about this, Miss? If you have anything valuable, like that bracelet of yours, as long as the item is valuable enough, it can be used as a substitute for cash," the owner of the Golden Brick Building said.

"Substitute for cash?" Tian Ling'er frowned. There were some good things inside her Storage Bracelet, but would they recognize them?

"Yes, I presume you are the same as me. Here, I have a Void Spirit Pearl, plus these ninety-eighty thousand taels of silver. If you have something good, we can gamble one more time," the black-robed man with a sword on his back suddenly spoke.

The black-robed man with a sword on his back speaking meant he was telling Tian Ling'er that he was also from an Immortal Sect and could recognize good things if she had them.

Looking at the stack of silver notes, Tian Ling'er gritted her teeth. To be honest, Tian Ling'er didn't care about the Void Spirit Pearl, but she did care about that stack of silver notes. She didn't know their value, but they were Zhong Shan's after all. Zhong Shan had told her to spend them as she pleased, but Tian Ling'er didn't want them to just disappear like this.

Tian Ling'er didn't want to, she really didn't want to.

Should she gamble? Before, she had won a few times. Perhaps, perhaps next time, she could win. Tian Ling'er struggled internally. With a troubled expression, Tian Ling'er didn't want to lose her few treasures, and at the same time, she wanted to get back that stack of silver notes.

"Void Spirit Pearl? What a grand gesture. I'll do it."

Just as she was feeling anxious, a cold laugh from Zhong Shan suddenly came from behind Tian Ling'er.

PS: I have something today, so I'm uploading early. There will be another update tonight. Remember to vote.