The hall of Ruyi Gambling House was brightly lit.
The gamblers who had battled through the night had long since left, or been thrown outside by the gambling house thugs.
A burly, dark-faced man sat arrogantly beside a gambling table, tearing into a cooked lamb shank with great bites while watching his subordinates tally yesterday's accounts.
The surrounding tables were already piled high with copper coins and silver.
Under the lamplight, the money looked especially tempting!
Yet no one dared sneak even a handful.
For beside the dark-faced man lay a broad battle axe that gleamed with cold light.
That axe had once chopped off the hands of more than a hundred people.
Its victims included cheaters at the gambling tables, thieves with sticky fingers, and those who defaulted on usurious loans.
There had been both gamblers and gang members among them.
The fearsome reputation of Jiang Zhong, Jiang the Chopper, was known to everyone in the streets and markets!
Not only was he the manager of Ruyi Gambling House, he was also a hall master of the Fierce Tiger Gang.
Who had the gall to stroke this lord's tiger whiskers?
"Master Jiang."
A shifty-eyed accountant hurried over and said with fawning nods and bows, "The accounts have all been settled. Please inspect them."
Jiang Zhong casually glanced at the account book presented to him. "Fine. Pack it all into the boxes."
The subordinates immediately loaded the counted copper coins and silver into separate chests.
Then they affixed seals to them.
Jiang Zhong appeared unconcerned, but in truth he watched them closely.
He did not dare pocket even a fraction of the gambling house's daily takings, nor did he allow his subordinates to lay a finger on them.
Otherwise, if anything went wrong, his cushy post as gambling house manager