"Big! Big! Big!"
"Small! Small!"
"Four, four, six. Fourteen points. Big."
"How has it come up big seven rounds in a row?"
"I won! I won!"
Inside the Silver Hook Gambling House, the largest gambling establishment in Baihui County under Pingyang Prefecture, gamblers shouted and hollered over their bets.
One Man in Blue had lost over a thousand taels in less than an hour, yet he did not seem to care in the slightest.
At a table beside him, two men bet on big or small while secretly keeping an eye on the Man in Blue.
The Man in Blue soon lost everything. He immediately called over an employee of the gambling house. "Go get me five thousand taels."
Hearing this, the manager walked over and looked at him. "A loan is no problem. Our rule is nine out, thirteen back. But what will you put up as collateral?"
They always welcomed borrowers. Sometimes a single day's interest earned them more than an entire gambling table did.
The Man in Blue took a gold coin from inside his robe. "I'll put this up."
"That gold coin weighs barely four mace. It isn't even worth five taels of silver. Are you joking?"
The Man in Blue slammed the table with a bang. "Are you blind? Look at the words on it!"
The manager examined it closely. The words "Command Ghosts, Communicate with the Gods" were stamped on its surface. His expression changed at once. "You're from the Golden Coin Gang?"
The Golden Coin Gang was the fastest-rising gang in the Great Ming martial world of late. Its leader, Shangguan Jinhong, ranked second on Bai Xiaosheng's Weapons List. The manager could not afford to offend him.
The Man in Blue looked haughtily at the gambling house staff. "Can you lend me five thousand taels or not?!"
"Yes. Someone bring this gentleman four thousand five hundred taels and prepare an IOU for five thousand. Repay it today, and you owe only five thousand. Tomorrow, it'll be six thousand five hundred."
The Man in Blue could not be bothered with any of that. He pressed his thumbprint onto the IOU and took the banknotes worth four thousand five hundred taels. Just as he was about to resume gambling, a commotion rose at the entrance.
"What are the Jinyiwei doing at the Silver Hook Gambling House?" The manager glanced toward the door and immediately went over. "Gentlemen, the Silver Hook Gambling House is a law-abiding establishment. What brings you here?"
Lin Lang pushed the manager of the Silver Hook Gambling House aside. "Do you believe that bullshit yourself? The Jinyiwei are conducting an investigation. Everyone uninvolved, stand aside!"
A fucking gambling house, claiming to be law-abiding?
Even if the Great Ming permitted gambling houses and moneylending, a gambling house was bound to have committed plenty of crimes while collecting debts. Many of the women in places such as the Jade Green Pavilion and the Fragrant Pavilion had been sold there by the Silver Hook Gambling House.
It was only because the Silver Hook Gambling House had someone backing it that no one had ever moved against it. With branches in every prefecture of the Great Ming, and even every county town, its backer had to be a high-ranking court official with numerous martial arts experts under his command.
With that, he shook open a wanted notice. "Li Fei, on the eighteenth day of the second month three years ago, you slaughtered all twenty-eight members of the Sun Family in Xihua Prefecture. Since you dare set foot in my Pingyang Prefecture today, come spend some time in the Thousand-household Office's prison."
Li Fei shot Lin Lang a glance. "The Sun Family swindled me out of my money back then and went into hiding. When I tracked them down, they couldn't pay me back. So they could only pay with their lives."
"You court hawks and hounds, get the hell out of my way! Interrupt my gambling again, and I'll kill every last one of you!"
It was not as though he had never killed government men before. Who could catch him?
Had they come from the Dragon Guard Manor or the Eastern Depot, he might have felt a little wary. But the Jinyiwei? He had never heard of them having any experts.
Lin Lang clasped his hands behind his back. "Court hawks and hounds? Write that down. Add another charge: contempt for an imperial official."
Wang Wu immediately nodded beside him. "Sir, I've noted it. Not only has he shown contempt for an imperial official, he's openly resisting arrest. Under the law, he may be killed on the spot."
"Li Fei, why haven't you surrendered before Lord Lin? If he makes a move, we'll have to drag you out."
Li Fei casually scooped up a handful of dice from the table and hurled them at Lin Lang and the others using the hidden-weapon technique Flowers Filling the Sky.
Anyone struck by his hidden weapons would be gravely injured, if not killed. He would see who still dared interrupt him while he won his money back.
What he had not expected was that Lin Lang would advance instead of retreat, charging straight to his side.
The dice struck Lin Lang's body and crumbled into powder. Lin Lang seemed utterly unaffected.
Li Fei's expression changed. Damn it! His Iron Body Training is this advanced!
He flicked his hand, sending a short sword sliding from his sleeve, and thrust it at Lin Lang's throat.
Iron Body Training always had a vulnerable spot. The body was easy to train; the throat was not.
Lin Lang suddenly vanished before Li Fei's eyes. Li Fei instantly dodged sideways, but he was already too late.
He felt his Jianjing Acupoint go numb. His grip failed, and the short sword fell straight to the floor.
Then Lin Lang's fingers rapidly struck several points on his body, sealing his acupoints.
Li Fei's eyes widened. He considered his movement skills, swordsmanship, and other abilities among the finest of any Martial Arts Master, yet he had failed to withstand even a single move from Lin Lang.
Could this man be a martial arts Grandmaster?!
Since when did the Jinyiwei have a martial arts Grandmaster? And such a young one at that?
Faced with that uncanny footwork and formidable Iron Body Training, he felt he would not have the slightest chance of victory even if he attempted a surprise assassination.
Even his Mute Acupoint had now been sealed. Not only was he unable to move, he could not speak either.
Lin Lang beckoned to Wang Wu. "Take him away!"
Only then did the manager look at Lin Lang in terror. This Jinyiwei officer's martial prowess was unfathomable. Anyone carrying a Golden Coin Gang gold coin had to be one of its core members, at least a Martial Arts Master.
Yet a man like that had failed to withstand even one move from Lin Lang before being captured alive?
Capturing someone alive was several times harder than killing him!
"Sir, we had no idea he was a fugitive wanted by the court. Please forgive us." The manager cupped his hands toward Lin Lang. "This is a little something for everyone's tea. Please accept it."
Lin Lang glanced at the banknote the manager offered. One thousand taels-more than a year's salary for a Deputy Thousand-household like him.
But he slapped it aside. "Are you insulting me?"
This gambling house takes in at least twenty thousand taels a day. One thousand? Does he think he's tossing scraps to a beggar?
"Where's the item he just pledged to you? It's evidence. I'm taking it."
The manager immediately had someone fetch the gold coin. "Sir, that Li Fei just used this Golden Coin Gang token to borrow five thousand taels from me. Since you've arrested him and are taking the token as well, then the money he borrowed..."
Lin Lang cut him off. "Don't you have an IOU? Go collect from the Golden Coin Gang."
That's my spoils of war, and you want it back?
Do you think traveling this far on official business costs nothing?
The manager was dumbfounded. How the fuck would I dare go asking the Golden Coin Gang for money? Looks like I'm definitely taking this loss.
Lin Lang saw that the manager still failed to catch on. I said I didn't want that thousand-tael banknote, and you actually took it back?
But that's fine. If you won't offer it, I can take it myself.
There did not seem to be any provision for confiscating gambling funds in the Great Ming, but he could invent a reasonable excuse to confiscate all this money.
I've got it!
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