This wasn't Chen Yan's first time stepping inside.
The cries and clamor from the outer hall came rushing at him. The clatter of dice against the bottoms of celadon bowls mingled with the jingling of Spirit Stones dropping into pouches, as if thousands upon thousands of poisonous insects were crawling across his eardrums.
"What would you like to play, Immortal Master?"
Chen Yan had barely stepped past the screen separating the gambling house from the entrance when a waiter hurried over. The ingratiating smile, crinkled with fine lines at the corners of his eyes, looked like a sheet of crumpled paper.
After returning to the sect from Taiyun City last time, Chen Yan had happened to hear some other disciples talk about the gambling house.
He knew that the waiters who latched onto customers the moment they entered were called "guide rats," and gamblers also referred to them as rats.
The rats at the gambling house were often especially enthusiastic toward customers like Chen Yan, who came alone.
Part of it was that the waiters had to maintain a proper attitude toward customers; another reason was that lone gamblers were easier to squeeze for money.
"I'm looking for someone," Chen Yan said.
"Who would you like to find, Immortal Master?"
"Steward Ding."
At the name, the rat's expression changed slightly, but he quickly composed himself.
"May I ask who you are, Immortal Master...?"
Chen Yan glanced around. After making sure no one nearby was paying attention, he took a wooden plaque from his robes and brushed his fingertip over the four characters carved into it: Empty Mountain Empty Fate.
"Y-You're an Inner Sect Disciple of the Empty Mountain Sect..."
The rat began to stammer.
His reaction wasn't surprising.
The Empty Mountain Sect loomed over all of Taiyun City like a