Where Did They Go?

Behind Xinglong Gambling House stood the Blood Wolf Gang. That was definitely bad news.

The Blood Wolf Gang had a thoroughly evil reputation in Nanli City. They had done no shortage of bullying men and women and running wild.

If Peach Blossom had fallen into their hands, the consequences would be unthinkable.

"Miss Ruxue, thank you. I'll repay you for your kindness today."

After learning where Xinglong Gambling House was, Lin Fei hurried to head there.

Li Ruxue asked with some concern, "Are you going alone? Should I send someone with you?"

"I'll go find out what happened first. If I need help, I'll come back and trouble you."

Lin Fei left the Thousand Gold Pavilion, hired a carriage on the way, and headed to Yulan Street in South City.

Lin Fei had his reasons for not bringing anyone from the Li Family.

Although the Li Family was one of the Three Great Families of Nanli City and had a formidable reputation, the Blood Wolf Gang was also one of the five major powers. The two sides had always stayed out of each other's affairs.

If he brought people from the Li Family, he might alert the Blood Wolf Gang. They could simply deny everything, which would make it harder for him to find out what had happened to Peach Blossom.

"Peach Blossom, please be all right..."

More than an hour later, Lin Fei arrived at Yulan Street.

He put on the Wish-Fulfilling Mask, changed his appearance, and found Xinglong Gambling House.

The gambling house was a noisy crush of people. The gamblers were worked up: some had gone wild with rage, some were shouting excitedly, and others sighed and cursed without pause.

Here, you could see the greedy, ugly side of human nature.

"You punk, you actually dared to cheat? Looks like you don't want to keep that hand!"

"I didn't..."

"You're still denying it? Cut off his hand and see if he dares to cheat again!"

Two men with black wolf-head tattoos on their arms dragged a gambler toward the back. Before long, a scream rang out.

The gambling house fell silent in an instant, but the gamblers' shouts soon drowned it out again.

The gambler who had been caught cheating was dragged back out. One of his hands had been chopped off, and blood streamed from the stump. They tossed him straight out of the gambling house.

Passersby hurried out of the way, but no one stepped forward to help. It seemed they had long since grown used to this.

"Ah... my hand..."

"It hurts so much!"

The gambler rolled on the ground in agony. After a while, he finally managed to recover enough to get to his feet and leave.

Seeing this, Lin Fei immediately followed him.

The gambler didn't go to a clinic. Staggering, he made his way into an alley and slumped to the ground.

"Your injury is severe. If you don't stop the bleeding, you might lose too much blood and die."

Lin Fei walked up to him, looking at him with a mix of pity and disgust.

"Who are you? What's it to you... Just..."

The gambler sucked in a sharp breath from the pain. Though it was a sweltering day, his face was pale and his forehead slick with sweat.

"Get lost!"

Lin Fei took out a gold coin, immediately drawing the gambler's attention.

"I want to ask you something. Whether you know the answer or not, this gold coin is yours."

The gambler stared fixedly at the coin and nodded repeatedly.

"Fine. Ask."

"Were you at this gambling house five days ago?"

"No."

At his answer, Lin Fei furrowed his brows, unsure whether the man was brushing him off.

"Think carefully."

"I really wasn't. Five days ago, I was still hauling cargo. I'd just gotten paid, so I came to try my luck—and ended up losing it all again."

Lin Fei was a little disappointed. He tossed the coin onto the ground and turned to leave.

The gambler picked it up, his face alight with excitement.

"I've got money! Great, now I have stake money again."

He looked at Lin Fei's retreating figure, then suddenly called out, "I wasn't at the gambling house five days ago, but some of my friends might have been."

"What are you trying to find out? I can ask around for you."

Lin Fei stopped and turned to look at him.

"Five days ago, a woman from a certain household went to the gambling house with some people. She must have been there to redeem someone. She's now missing. If you can find out what happened, I'll give you another ten gold coins."

The gambler's eyes darted about as he greedily said, "I want a hundred gold coins!"

"Fine, but don't go spreading this around. Otherwise, someone else might give me the information, and you'll miss out on the money."

Lin Fei was worried the gambler would make a big fuss about it, so he warned him to keep quiet.

"If I find out, where should I meet you?"

"Right here."

With that, Lin Fei left.

The gambler got up, gripped the coin tightly, and headed back toward the gambling house.

Halfway there, apparently deciding his life mattered more, he turned around and went to a clinic first.

Using the Wish-Fulfilling Mask to change his appearance, Lin Fei followed the gambler in secret.

After getting his wound bandaged, the gambler went straight back to Xinglong Gambling House.

Lin Fei waited outside for a long time. It was nearly dark before the gambler finally came out.

The gambler cursed as he walked, apparently having lost all his money again.

He headed to the same alley as before and sat down on the ground.

Lin Fei watched for a while. Once he saw that no one was following the gambler, he went over to speak with him.

"How did it go? Did you find anything out?"

As soon as the gambler saw Lin Fei, he smiled like he'd spotted the God of Wealth.

"Huh? Why does your face look different..."

"Cut the nonsense. Answer me!"

The Wish-Fulfilling Mask didn't always change his appearance the same way. The results were somewhat random.

The gambler didn't answer right away. Instead, he asked, "What about the hundred gold coins? Are you ready?"

Lin Fei took out a banknote worth a hundred gold coins.

The gambler reached for it, but Lin Fei pulled it back.

"Tell me first. Then I'll give it to you."

"I asked around. Five days ago, a rather pretty woman did come to the gambling house with some people. She came to redeem an old gambler's life."

The gambler grinned as he spoke. "I've seen the old gambler before. Everyone calls him Old Sun. I heard he'd gambled away everything he owned, and his wife and daughter had nearly been sold off."

"A kind, wealthy person took his whole family in and made sure they had food and clothes. He even gave the old man wages every month. But the old man couldn't kick his gambling habit. He lost all his money, then borrowed from loan sharks, so his daughter had to come redeem him."

Lin Fei pressed him, "Get to the point. Where did the woman who came to redeem him go? Did the gambling house give them any trouble?"

The gambler stretched out his severed arm, only then remembering that his hand was gone.

He held out his other hand instead, his face full of greed.

"Give me the banknote first!"

Lin Fei tossed it to him and urged, "Hurry up!"

After confirming the banknote was genuine, the gambler's face flushed with excitement.

"I heard the woman came to redeem him, but she didn't bring enough money, and her husband wasn't home. So she agreed with the gambling house that she'd come back in a few days to pay. They let her take Old Sun away first."

"Before leaving, she even pawned some of her gold and silver jewelry at the gambling house. So they let them go."

Lin Fei looked puzzled. So Peach Blossom and the others had left the gambling house safely. Then why hadn't they gone back?

"Are you lying to me?"

"I'm telling the truth. If you don't believe me, you can ask at the gambling house yourself. Lots of people saw it."

The gambler seemed afraid Lin Fei would take the banknote back. He scrambled to his feet and ran off.

Lin Fei couldn't be bothered to chase him. He just wanted to find out what had happened to Peach Blossom as soon as possible.

"Where did they go?"