Slaying the gambling ghost

Xu Da could command the many ruffians and hoodlums of Crouching Dragon Township not only because his fists were hard, but because he knew every walk of life and everything about both sides of the law.

He played the simplest game: rolling dice and guessing big or small.

It was also the fastest and most thrilling. Once the dice cup was lifted, victory or defeat was decided!

In the short span of an incense stick, fifteen or sixteen rounds went by, and silver and copper coins covered the table before him.

He immediately won over half the gamblers.

Xu Da rubbed the silver coins with his hand and chuckled. "This lord can go into town and help those girls with no parents again. Seventh, how much karmic merit do you think I can earn this time?"

Wang Qilin held his sharp saber and smiled without speaking.

That does sound a little tempting.

The dice cup was lifted again. Four, four, five. A matching pair, big!

The gamblers surrounding Xu Da cheered again.

One table away, Ma Qiu put down his teacup and waved. A refined-looking scholar replaced the sweating dealer to shake the cup.

Xu Da exchanged a look with him, and for a moment, they appreciated each other as worthy opponents.

An evenly matched contest, needle point against wheat awn!

After shaking the dice cup, the scholar slapped it down and softly recited, "A humble little bone, turned into hearts on every face. Ever since receiving its spots, tossed about until today..."

Smack!

Xu Da slapped the table. "Are we taking the scholar's examination here? Why are you reciting poetry and matching couplets? Cut the crap and lift the cup!"

The scholar's expression changed. "Once your bets are placed, hands off! No touching the table again!"

Xu Da grew impatient. "Lift it! Small! Small! Small!"

The gamblers, their eyes red with gambling fever, howled along. "Lift it! Hurry up and lift it!" "Small, small, small!"

The scholar lifted the dice cup. Four, four, one. A matching pair, small!

The gamblers cheered again. Xu Da smugly cupped his hands to either side. "Betting on a pair and small this time, I admit there was an element of gambling involved..."

Ma Qiu's expression immediately darkened.

The scholar's roll should have been four, four, six, a big result. Xu Da's slap on the table had flipped a six into a one.

That single move told him his subordinate was no match for this brute.

But he was in no hurry. He leisurely turned the jade thumb ring on his thumb.

A blurry black shadow emerged from a corner.

A gambling ghost!

Before they came, Xie Hama had said he knew the inside story of this gambling den. What he knew was that it kept a ghost!

Ghosts could drain people's yang energy and fortune, and gambling ghosts were particularly skilled at this.

Ma Qiu kept a gambling ghost. Whenever he spotted someone on a winning streak, he sent the ghost to drain their luck. That way, the gambling den could win money endlessly without cheating.

Unless a ghost had attained success in its cultivation and was willing to manifest, ordinary people could not see it. In principle, keeping a ghost to drain fortune was far more discreet than cheating.

But Wang Qilin was no ordinary person. Born with yin-yang eyes that could see ghosts, he had been recruited into the Heaven-Listening Bureau as a Wandering Star. The same went for Xu Da. To join the Heaven-Listening Bureau, one at least needed yin-yang eyes or cultivation.

The ghost's shadow emerged, and the saber's shadow appeared!

The blade flashed, dazzlingly bright!

The Lunar Soul-Severing Saber was supremely yin, supremely supple, and supremely swift. One slash became ten, each successive slash faster than the last.

Holding his saber in a reverse grip, Wang Qilin turned and closed in along the wall after the gambling ghost. Like a butcher chopping pork ribs, he hacked away with a clang, clang, clang, thoroughly dealing with the gambling ghost.

The gambling ghost was a minor ghost that could only drain people's fortune. Facing the unending Lunar Soul-Severing Saber, it twisted and fled in terror.

But the swift saber pressed its advantage without mercy!

Wang Qilin leaped like a tiger, his saber leading the way. Blade light filled the air, sweeping up yin energy and sending it flying everywhere. It was as though a snowy winter wind had blown into the dim teahouse, making everyone's clothes flap noisily.

A gambler shouted, "What a strange wind! It's stripping off my clothes!"

Terrified at the sight, Ma Qiu's eyes nearly split at the corners. He threw out the jade thumb ring and shouted, "Retrieve!"

A long arm extended, and a large hand intercepted it. "All right, then this lord won't stand on ceremony. I'll take it."

Xu Da caught the jade thumb ring and stuffed it into his robe.

Being an official is sweet.

Red mist rose from the black shadow. Wang Qilin chased it, hacking and slashing wildly, each stroke faster than the last.

Finally, he brought down a Mount Hua-Splitting Chop. His sharp saber shattered, and the black shadow turned into a column of red smoke.

The Furnace of Creation flew out. Wang Qilin no longer needed to concern himself with what followed.

The gamblers huddled together, hugging for warmth. Ordinary people could not see the ghostly shadow, but they could guess what had happened.

Seeing the gambling ghost he had painstakingly raised vanish into smoke, Ma Qiu exploded on the spot. "Motherfucker! Brothers, get them! Chop them up for me!"

Wang Qilin stripped off Niu Er's outer robe, took out his bloodwood seal, and slapped it onto the table, barking, "Heaven-Listening Bureau business! Who dares step forward?"

The ruffians and hired thugs about to swarm him hurriedly stopped when they saw his exposed black brocade uniform. One fool asked blankly, "Big brother, why's everyone stopped?"

Wang Qilin said coldly, "Under the laws of the New Han Dynasty, what is the punishment for running an unauthorized gambling den?"

Xu Da grinned savagely. "Death by beheading!"

Ma Qiu went deathly pale and slumped into his seat. "My lord, that's too harsh. My teahouse merely offers a few games. How could it count as a gambling den? Besides, besides, I cleared setting up games in my teahouse with the county magistrate and Constable Dou."

"I'm with the Heaven-Listening Bureau. The county magistrate and constable have nothing to do with me!"

Ma Qiu hurriedly cried, "But does the Heaven-Listening Bureau have anything to do with local affairs?"

The Heaven-Listening Bureau was not an all-purpose institution. Under the rules established by the emperor, it dealt only with demons, monsters, ghosts, and spirits, and was forbidden to interfere in local human affairs.

Wang Qilin smiled. "If you hadn't kept a gambling ghost, it wouldn't have much to do with us. But you actually dared to meddle with ghosts? Seize him!"

Xu Da immediately pounced like a hungry tiger on shit.

The ruffians turned and fled.

Ma Qiu hurriedly begged for mercy. "Spare my life, my lord! Let me off! My lord, you-you took my death jade. It's a treasure! Let me off!"

Xu Da glared at him. "What bullshit is that? Does this lord look like some corrupt bastard of an official who takes bribes and bends the law?"

Ma Qiu shouted, "Then give me back my death jade!"

Xu Da said, "I got this jade through my own abilities. Why should I give it back?"

"If you don't give it back, you're taking bribes and bending the law!"

"Taking bribes and bending the law? Bullshit! This lord doesn't take bribes and bend the law! I only took your jade without doing anything for you. That's just taking bribes, not bending the law! Wahahaha!"

Hearing this, the fleeing ruffians secretly admired him.

Sure enough, all the truly formidable ruffians had been recruited by the imperial court.

Niu Er's youngest son was locked in a side room. Wang Qilin rescued him and took him home.

Seeing his son return and Ma Qiu and the others dragged off in bonds to face the authorities, Niu Er was immensely grateful. He then climbed onto the roof, uncovered a roof beam, and took a ghost-head saber from inside it.

The ghost-head saber was about half a person's height, with a broad blade, a thick spine, and a curved tip. It was heavy in the hand and looked somewhat cumbersome.

Its handle curved, with a ghost's head carved into the end. Unfortunately, after years of disuse and poor maintenance, the blade was covered in rust.

Holding the saber, Wang Qilin felt no warmth despite the midday sun. A chilling aura traveled from the hilt to his shoulder and spread throughout his body.

Now I can have ice water in summer!

He looked at the flat of the blade again.

Amid the patches of rust, several hideous ghost faces flashed and vanished.

Xie Hama tapped Little Niu's forehead, and Little Niu suddenly became listless.

He told the bewildered Niu couple, "My lord won't take advantage of your family. I have jolted the hidden essence among Little Niu's three souls, so he will lack energy for the next year. But the hidden essence governs desire. This way, he won't have much desire for anything for a year, allowing him to quit gambling."

Niu Er's wife was forthright. She knelt and kowtowed. "My lord, you are merciful! A Buddha reincarnated!"

Finally, Niu Er asked, "Then can my son's hidden essence soul return to normal on its own?"

Xie Hama nodded. "Yes. If you want him to recover faster, feed him things like pig penises and bull testicles. Your household has no shortage of those, does it?"

Niu Er smiled guilelessly. "No shortage, no shortage..."

"If there's no shortage, eat them yourself. Don't give any to this little bastard. Let him behave himself for a year!" Niu Er's wife said.

Xu Da rubbed his chin. "Well, could you get me some to eat?"

Niu Er hurriedly said, "Just a moment, my lord. We happen to have a fresh set of pig testicles and a pig penis. You can have them all."

Wang Qilin waved his hands. "I don't need them. I don't."

Xu Da said, "Nobody's asking you to use them. You're supposed to eat them!"