The casino

The Supervision Bureau.

"Old Li!" Shen Heng took the initiative to greet Li Jianguo.

Li Jianguo looked up, saw Shen Heng, and asked with a smile, "School's out?"

"Yeah!" Shen Heng nodded in response, though it felt rather strange. It had been a long time since anyone had greeted him that way.

"Woof! Woof!" Dahuang barked twice beside them, though it was unclear whether he was reminding Shen Heng that he had overlooked him or greeting him.

Shen Heng chuckled softly. "I almost forgot about you. Good evening, Dahuang!"

Dahuang nodded his canine head, looking thoroughly satisfied.

This... if I didn't know this dog had been alive since before the otherworld invasion, I really would think he was a Calamity Beast... Shen Heng thought as he looked at Dahuang's remarkably human expression.

After saying goodbye to Old Li, Shen Heng went straight to the training room he had used yesterday.

Considering that his Origin Power was already fully replenished, he took his stance and began practicing the Five Animal Fist.

Tiger Form, Crane Form, Ape Form...

A little after seven that evening, in the dining hall.

Everyone gathered in the dining hall to eat. Compared with yesterday's welcome banquet, today's dishes were much more ordinary, though still plentiful.

"Hey, Shen Heng, come play cards with us later!" Han Ling said as she ate a piece of pig's trotter.

Shen Heng declined. "You guys have fun. I'll keep cultivating and try to enter the ranks as soon as possible!"

"Young man, cultivation never ends!" Wu Cheng said, sounding exasperated at his failure to live up to expectations.

Shen Heng smiled without saying anything.

"Enough. If Shen Heng wants to cultivate, let him focus on it. You two, on the other hand, are getting lazier by the day!" Wang Hai reprimanded them in a low voice.

At that, Han Ling and Wu Cheng both ducked their heads, not daring to say anything more.

After dinner, Shen Heng made his now-familiar way to the training grounds.

Just like that, Shen Heng settled into an orderly routine.

During the day, he practiced breathing and rested. At night, he alternated between the Five Animal Fist and the Heavenly Cycle Breathing Technique. Once he had absorbed his fill of Origin Power, he practiced the Five Animal Fist to guide it into tempering his body, and once it was exhausted, he resumed his breathing exercises.

The days passed like this, one after another.

Several days later.

Night.

Apartment 201, Building 3, Emerald Garden Residential Complex.

After returning home from evening self-study, Shen Shuning headed toward her room out of habit.

She opened the door and took two steps forward, then abruptly stopped.

Turning her head, she looked toward that tightly shut bedroom door.

After a moment's thought, she switched off the living room light and looked again at the gap beneath the door.

It was still pitch-black, which meant the room's occupant was not inside.

She frowned slightly, then turned and went back into her own room.

Half an hour later.

With another click from outside her room, Shen Shuning emerged.

"Mom, you're back!" Shen Shuning said softly.

"Yes. Xiao Ning, are you hungry? Want me to make you a late-night snack?" Xu Yuqin asked, smiling at Shen Shuning.

"No, I'm not hungry!" Shen Shuning shook her head and asked, "Mom, do you know what Shen Heng's been doing? It seems like he hasn't come home these past few days?"

A smile appeared on Xu Yuqin's face. "Xiao Heng found himself a night-shift job!"

"Oh!" Shen Shuning nodded.

"See? You do care about your little brother, don't you?" Xu Yuqin said with a smile.

"I don't care about him. I'm just worried he's dead!" Shen Shuning said coldly.

Xu Yuqin smiled. "Why don't you two make up? I feel like Xiao Heng really is different this time. He really has grown up!"

Shen Shuning fell silent for a moment.

"We'll see!"

In the basement of an abandoned warehouse in a remote urban village in Linhai City.

The dim lights were shrouded in layers of smoke, as though they might go out at any moment.

The air was thick with the pungent smell of smoke and sweat, mixed with the sour, rotten odor of cheap alcohol; on the walls, water stains wound downward like tear tracks, and large patches of plaster had peeled away, exposing the mottled, damp concrete beneath.

A dozen or so tables were scattered around the warehouse, heaped with playing cards, dice, loose banknotes, IOUs, and the like. Around them gathered people who looked dispirited, excited, or calm.

Huang Shaohua was sitting on a sofa against the wall, holding a hand of cards as he played Fight the Landlord with two thugs.

"Pair of queens!"

The tall, skinny thug glanced at his fellow peasant beside him, hesitated, then took out two cards and pressed them onto the table.

"Pair of kings!"

"Pair of aces!"

After playing his pair of aces, Huang Shaohua glanced at his sole remaining card, the big joker, then looked up at the cards in the two peasants' hands.

One had four cards left, while the other still had fourteen.

The corners of Huang Shaohua's mouth rose involuntarily as he waved his last card.

"I've only got one card left. Looks like I've won this round!"

The tall, skinny thug looked at the card in Huang Shaohua's hand, then at his own cards, and couldn't help frowning slightly with a "Tsk."

Hearing that "Tsk," Huang Shaohua's grin widened.

Just as he was feeling thoroughly pleased with himself, the other thug, a fat man beside him, said in a low voice, "Not necessarily!"

"Oh? You're saying you can finish me off with fourteen cards?"

The fat thug nodded seriously.

Huang Shaohua grinned. "If you can finish me off with fourteen cards, I'll treat you guys to a foot massage when you're off duty!"

"Really?" The fat thug's eyes lit up.

"Of course!" Huang Shaohua nodded.

At that, the fat thug immediately pulled out two cards and slapped them down.

"Pair of twos!"

"Airplane!"

"All out!"

Huang Shaohua opened his mouth, staring at the twelve cards the fat thug had thrown down together.

"No, what the hell is this? How does that make any sense?"

The fat thug chuckled. "Young Master Hua, I want masseuse number 76!"

Huang Shaohua clicked his tongue, leaned back against the sofa, and lit a cigarette. That comeback defeat seemed to have dampened his interest.

"Well, Young Master Hua, still playing?" the tall, skinny thug asked.

"No. It's kind of boring!" Huang Shaohua waved a hand.

"How about Bullfight?"

"No. Just as boring!"

"Young Master Hua, masseuse number 76!"

"Then how about betting some money?" The tall, skinny thug's eyes shifted.

Huang Shaohua paused slightly in the middle of smoking. He turned and scanned the warehouse, then sat up straight, looked at the tall, skinny thug, and asked:

"My dad isn't coming today?"

"Heh..." The tall, skinny thug chuckled. "I overheard during the day. Uncle Huang's going to discuss business tonight. He won't be back until noon tomorrow at the earliest!"

"Young Master Hua, masseuse number 76!"

Hearing that his father would not be coming today, Huang Shaohua immediately perked up and smiled.

"Come on, Bullfight!"

"Young Master Hua, masseuse number 76!" the fat thug reminded him again.

The corner of Huang Shaohua's mouth twitched, and he said impatiently:

"All right! All right! Just ask for her yourself when the time comes!"

At that, the fat thug broke into a chuckle.

The three each drew a card to determine the dealer, who then began dealing.

Before long, each had five cards.

Huang Shaohua glanced at his cards.

4, 6, 2, 10, 7.

4 + 6 + 10 = 20, a multiple of ten, making a bull.

2 + 7 = 9.

Bull nine!

This round's in the bag. Only a bull bull beats a bull nine! Huang Shaohua rejoiced inwardly.

He spread his cards out and was just about to speak when a yellow-haired thug suddenly walked in from outside.

"Young Master Hua, I found the person you asked me to look into!" Yellow Hair walked over to Huang Shaohua.

Huang Shaohua's eyes lit up. Forgetting all about the round, he quickly turned to Yellow Hair and asked, "What's her name?"

"Shen Shuning. Shen Heng's older sister. She goes to the same school as him. She's in her last year of high school and will graduate soon!" Yellow Hair said.

"Shuning? Shuning, what a lovely name!" Huang Shaohua murmured to himself.

"Man, looking into her wore me out. Shen Heng and Shen Shuning are both pretty well-known at school, but nobody knew they were related. It took me days!" Yellow Hair pulled over a stool and sat down.

"Heh... if I had a little brother like that, I wouldn't want anyone knowing we were related either!" Huang Yong said with a disdainful laugh.

"Yeah, it wore me out. In the end, I had to secretly stake out the building where Shen Heng lives, then follow her to the school gates and ask around before I found out!" Yellow Hair rolled his shoulders.

Huang Shaohua looked at Yellow Hair and took the hint.

"All right, all right. I'll transfer you a thousand later! Anything else about her?"

"Hehehe... thanks, Young Master Hua!" Yellow Hair chuckled and handed over a phone. "Here's her photo!"

Huang Shaohua took the phone and looked at it.

"Young Master Hua, she won't be easy to win over. She's very cold, and her grades are good. I asked around, too. The son of the boss of Hengtai Manufacturing here in our city is in her class. He's been pursuing her for ages, but she still hasn't said yes!" Yellow Hair added.

"But I have an advantage he doesn't!" Huang Shaohua said.

"Oh? What advantage?" Yellow Hair asked in surprise.

"Shen Heng still owes me money. Once the interest keeps compounding, she won't have a choice but to agree!" Huang Shaohua sneered.

"But what if Shen Heng borrows money somewhere else to pay you back?" Yellow Hair asked.

"That does remind me."

Huang Shaohua thought for a moment.

"Here's what I'll do. I'll call the other loan sharks in Linhai and ask them to give me some face and not lend to Shen Heng!"

"Brilliant, Young Master Hua!"

Huang Shaohua smiled, lowered his head, and looked once more at the photo on the phone.

The photo seemed to have been snapped at the school gates after classes ended. Heads crowded the frame, bustling figures overlapping.

Yet anyone looking at that photo for the first time would find their gaze involuntarily drawn to one particular girl.

She was a girl wearing a backpack, her right hand raised to grip the strap in front of her shoulder, her shoulder-length hair fluttering slightly behind her head...