Twin Victory Gambling House, Arrows Hidden in the Sleeve

Twin Victory Gambling House, Arrows Hidden in the Sleeve

The target Zhao Ya had set his sights on this time was the Twin Victory Gambling House.

Since ancient times, vice and gambling had gone hand in hand.

Naturally, the Twin Victory Gambling House had backing. It belonged to a small gang called the Double Victory Gang.

Though the Double Victory Gang was small, it specialized in gambling operations and raked in money by the day.

If it merely ran gambling houses, there would not have been much to say about it.

After all, these were chaotic times, where people readily fought to the death. Compared to that, gambling away some money was hardly worth mentioning.

The problem was that the Double Victory Gang used especially despicable methods.

Whenever it found someone wealthy but without much backing, the gang would go to every length to lure them into gambling, then devour them like fat pigs until nothing remained.

On top of that, the Double Victory Gang also lent usury loans.

Usury loans were lent at nine and repaid at thirteen. It was said that even immortals would be skinned alive if they got entangled in them, let alone ordinary folk.

After borrowing a tael of silver, the interest would compound upon itself until they could no longer repay it. Countless families had seen their wives and daughters sold into brothels by the Double Victory Gang.

That was why Zhao Ya had targeted them.

The reason Zhao Ya had not acted earlier was because the Double Victory Gang's leader knew full well how many evils he had committed, so he kept several martial-world thugs by his side as guards at all times.

Though these thugs were not especially skilled, Zhao Ya had refrained from acting rashly for the sake of caution.

Only now, after breaking through to the second realm and greatly increasing his strength, did Zhao Ya begin his operation.

Over the next few days, Zhao Ya went to the Twin Victory Gambling House every day to play a few rounds.

He won some and lost some, but Zhao Ya did not care. Instead, he secretly observed the dealers and attendants at the gambling house.

Hard work paid off. Zhao Ya finally figured out how the Twin Victory Gambling House operated.

The Twin Victory Gambling House normally stayed open all night, but every five days, it would close its doors in the latter half of the night and turn away customers while it settled the accounts from the past few days.

At that time, the Double Victory Gang's leader would also appear. After the accounts had been checked, he would leave with the silver.

And that was when Zhao Ya would make his move.

Zhao Ya had investigated the residence of the Double Victory Gang's leader, Xu Ying.

As it turned out, Xu Ying was extremely cautious and had many places to stay. No one knew which of those hideouts he would appear at on any given night.

So Zhao Ya simply abandoned the idea of striking directly at his lair and chose to act at the Twin Victory Gambling House instead.

The day the Twin Victory Gambling House was due to close soon arrived.

That day, Zhao Ya went nowhere. He returned home early, finished his daily training, then lay on his bed with his eyes closed, feigning sleep.

At the second watch, Zhao Ya quietly got up, changed into dark clothes, gathered all the necessary items, and left home only after checking that nothing had been overlooked.

Before long, Zhao Ya arrived in a small alley not far from the Twin Victory Gambling House.

Peering out, he saw that the gambling house had indeed closed its doors. Only the second floor was still lit.

Zhao Ya did not approach from the main street in front.

The Double Victory Gang was not stupid. They would surely have men posted to keep watch.

If he simply walked over, he would expose himself.

Zhao Ya retreated deeper into the alley, lightly leaped onto the rooftops, then bounded from roof to roof until he quickly circled around to the rear of the Twin Victory Gambling House.

He was now very close to the gambling house's rear window.

Zhao Ya crouched in the darkness without moving rashly, listening quietly.

From inside came the rapid clatter of an abacus. Someone was clearly doing the accounts.

Only after a while did someone say, "Reporting to the gang leader, the accounts have been settled. Over these five days, we made a total profit of seventy-eight taels, three qian, and nine fen of silver. Everything has been checked. There are no mistakes."

"Mm, very good!" a deep voice replied.

"Pack all the profits into the chest."

"Yes!"

Hearing that, Zhao Ya narrowed his eyes slightly. Then he slowly approached the rear wall and climbed up to the back window like a gecko.

Through the thick window paper, Zhao Ya could vaguely make out the shadows moving inside.

One, two, three...

Zhao Ya counted and found that there were seven people in the room.

The one sitting by the window should have been the accountant. The others standing around were all guards.

Zhao Ya focused on the person seated farthest from the window.

Though he could not see the man's face, his shadow showed that he was very tall.

And Xu Ying, the leader of the Double Victory Gang, was a tall man.

Zhao Ya silently noted everyone's position, then took out a bag of upgraded lime powder from his deerskin pouch.

Zhao Ya quietly steadied his breathing. The sinews throughout his body tightened like bowstrings. Then he suddenly smashed the window and hurled the bag of lime powder inside.

Bang!

The bag burst open, and the lime powder mixed with chili powder instantly filled the room.

Chaos immediately erupted inside. Someone shouted, "Enemy attack!"

But the next instant, they were all coughing violently from the quicklime.

At the same time, Zhao Ya charged into the room like a ferocious tiger.

He had soaked the cloth covering his face with peppermint oil and placed a thin veil over his eyes, so he had no fear of the lingering cloud of lime dust.

The moment he entered the room, Zhao Ya rushed straight toward Xu Ying, who was seated at the farthest end.

Xu Ying had also been badly choked, but since he was farthest away, he had suffered less than the others.

When he saw a man in black pouncing toward him, Xu Ying cried out in fright.

"Stop him!"

He did not even need to give the order. Two thugs had already rushed forward.

These men had long roamed the martial world. Though they had been caught off guard, a single bag of quicklime was not enough to deal with them.

After only a brief moment of panic, two of them regained their composure and rushed up to Zhao Ya, raising their weapons to stab at him.

Both wielded short spears.

In truth, not many people in Great Yan's martial world used swords. Though sword techniques were fierce, they required instruction from a famous master and years of hard practice before they could become lethal.

There were quite a few who used sabers, but they were limited to martial artists with family wealth and inherited techniques.

After all, a good longsaber was expensive.

Most low-level martial artists used weapons such as short spears.

They were simple and direct. As long as one practiced thrusting at wooden posts for a while, one could be considered initiated.

Though simple, these weapons were by no means weak.

Once struck, one would either die or be badly injured.

Facing the two short spears stabbing toward him, Zhao Ya flicked his wrist, and a flash of saber light swept out.

Clang! Clang!

With two crisp rings, the spearheads fell to the ground.

Terror immediately appeared on the two thugs' faces.

It was obvious that the man in black held a treasured weapon.

And anyone who possessed such a weapon could not possibly be ordinary.

The two thugs were filled with regret, yet their movements were not slow in the slightest. They turned to flee.

Naturally, Zhao Ya would not let them go.

In fact, from the moment Zhao Ya drew the Meteoric Iron Saber, everyone in this room had to die.

Another slash swept forth.

With two wet sounds, two heads fell to the ground.

By then, Zhao Ya had already reached Xu Ying.

But at that moment, Zhao Ya suddenly felt alarmed. He saw a vicious look appear on Xu Ying's face as he raised his left hand and aimed it at him.

The Grass-Treading Flight he had practiced so long finally came in handy. Zhao Ya flashed aside.

At the same time, two arrows shot through the spot where Zhao Ya had just been standing, embedding themselves in the two unlucky men behind him.

Sleeve arrows!

Zhao Ya's heart tightened, and his saber swung in a smooth arc.

With a muffled slash, Xu Ying's left hand was severed.

"Ah..." Xu Ying screamed.

But Zhao Ya still did not feel reassured. He cut off Xu Ying's right hand and both feet as well, only then feeling somewhat at ease.

(End of chapter)