Chapter 9 – Wagering People Not Lives (1/2)

Chapter 9 – Wagering People Not Lives

Part 1

August 17th. Night.

Lanterns had been lit, just now. One hundred and nighty-six exquisite cinnabar lanterns.

Big Boss Tang of the “As You Wish Gambling Hall” paid close attention to pomp and ceremony, and believed that people liked brightly lit places. If people were going to spend money, they would likely spend a bit more in a well-lit location.

The interior designer who decorated the gambling hall had recommended ninety lanterns, but Big Boss Tang had insisted on one hundred ninety-six.

It was not a mistake.

As You Wish Gambling Hall brought in more income than any other seven or eight gambling halls combined.

Big Boss Tang rarely made mistakes, and as of now, didn’t actually need to do anything.

The only thing he needed to do was sit at home and count the silver flowing in. If silver didn’t flow in, gold flowed in.

The light of one hundred ninety-six lamps was sufficient. Underneath that amount of light, even the wrinkles on a carefully made up thirty-five year old woman could be seen clearly.

But it seemed as if Xiao Jun saw nothing.

People filled the gambling hall, people both good looking and bad.

All sorts of things happened in the gambling hall, things both good and bad.

But Xiao Jun saw none of them.

Of course all sorts of people came here to gamble, even if it were at the risk of losing a wife.

No one knew what Xiao Jun was doing there, and no one dared to ask.

His facial expression was just too fearsome, and underneath the bright light, it grew even more terrifying.

It looked almost transparent.

Part 2

Just as the lanterns lit up, Frogboy arrived with Wu Tao and Ingot.

Of course, many of the people in the gambling hall knew him.

He was no prince who abstained from drinking, feasting, women and gambling.

He was a close friend of Big Boss Tang.

Anyone in Jinan who ran this kind of business needed to be a friend of the Flowered Flag Sect, otherwise as soon as one hundred and ninety-six lanterns were lit in the grand hall, they would be smashed to pieces.

And so Frogboy made quite a grand entrance. Even people who didn’t really know him wanted to call out a greeting.

One needed to have quite a bit of face to call out a greeting to Frogboy, and even more to be able to call him “Frogbro.”

It seemed quite a few people had the face to greet him. Not a few called out, “Frogbro, what are you going to play today?”

“I’m not playing today,” he replied with a shake of his head. “I brought two friends here today, they’re going to play. They’re my guests.”

Only people with a lot of face could earn the right to be called Frogboy’s friend, and even though Wu Tao and Ingot didn’t seem that type, people had no choice but to look at them in a favorable light.

Xiao Jun didn’t notice.

He didn’t notice them and they didn’t seem to notice him.

He seemed to only be able to see the things in that other world in which he resided.

And the pai gow tiles in front of him. [1]

Pai gow is very fun, as long as you don’t lose.

Most gambling is like that, fun as long as you don’t lose.

Unfortunately, he had won eight times and lost nine times.

—Or perhaps was currently losing the ninth.

“What game would the two guests like to play?”

“Pai gow.”

Frogboy’s two guests were immediately led to the largest pai gow table in the house.

“Which position would the two guests like to assume?”

“Heaven position.”

The player currently occupying the Heaven position immediately left.

The dealer was not an employee of the gambling hall.

Those who run gambling halls cannot do any gambling themselves, lest the gambling hall itself be lost.

The dealer, a fat man with gigantic stomach, had an enormous coin purse, and a reckless air.

How could you be a dealer in a gambling hall unless you were the type of person willing to spend recklessly?

***

Ingot immediately produced Frogboy’s bag of wealth, then looked up at the dealer.

He hoped the dealer would look back at him and display some sort of admiration for his bold extravagantness.

The only thing the dealer wanted to do was knock this young beggar aside and grab back the person who had just vacated the Heaven position.

But he dared not.

Who would dare to be disrespectful to Frogboy’s friends?

The dealer rolled the dice, and they came up three. Heaven Position would go first, the dealer third.

The third place dealer unexpectedly played a club of panthers. [2] If the young beggar hadn’t interfered and messed things up, the dealer could have won about two thousand silver from the Heaven position with this play, since that position’s pieces were crap.

Ingot had lost, and was completely cleared out.

Then, he was the only person who hadn’t place a new bet on the table. Everyone waited, even the dealer, looking like they weren’t sure whether they wanted to laugh or cry. What would he bet?

The only thing he had left to bet, was himself.

“Why don’t you put yourself down on the table?” said Frogboy. “Don’t tell me you forgot that you’re an ingot?”

The dealer gaped.

Now that Frogbro had suggested it, what would they do if the young beggar actually laid down on the table?

He never imagined that the “ingot” would suddenly shake his head and say: “No, I can’t do that.”

“Why not?”

“Because this ingot is far too valuable. I don’t think they could afford to match up against me.”

The dealer let out a sigh, as did everyone else. But Frogboy didn’t give up. “What are you going to wager this round, then?”

“Some gold.”

“Gold?” A young beggar, he clearly didn’t have a single scrap of gold. Frogboy couldn’t help but ask: “What gold?”

“Nearby. There’s gold everywhere,” he said nonchalantly. “I just need to go grab it. I can any time.”

“When do you plan to do that?”

“Right now.” He strode toward the exit. “Just hold on, I’ll be back in a bit.”

Please wait?

Did anyone believe that he could really get his hands on some gold? Did anyone believe that he would bring it back?

The dealer laughed loudly. “It looks like the Heaven position is now empty. Who would like to come play a few rounds?”

Wu Tao suddenly stood up. “Me,” he said. “I’m here, you leave.”

Choking down a laugh, the dealer said, “Why do I have to leave?”

“Because,” replied Wu Tao coolly, “You can’t afford to bet what I will be betting. And you can’t afford to lose if you did.”

The dealer stared in shock. And then suddenly, he heard a voice from behind him say, “I’m here, you leave.”

He turned around to find himself looking at a face as pale as a corpse’s, as pale a corpse that had been sitting in an icebox for three months.

Who would dare to offend a person such as this?

The dealer left, as well as the two players in the other positions on the table. They got as far away as they could.

Everyone could tell that these two people would be doing some incredible gambling.

Of course Frogboy, didn’t leave. He knew exactly how incredible this round of gambling would be. Incredible to the point of death.

The only thing he didn’t know, was whose death it would be.

Part 3

In an instant, it suddenly seemed as if all one hundred ninety-six lanterns shone onto two faces.

The faces really did look like the faces of corpses.

Wu Tao sat in the Heaven position, Xiao Jun took the dealer’s spot.

“You’re here, as am I,” said Xiao Jun. “You want to gamble, I’ll join you.”

“Good.”

“Am I worthy?”

“You’re worthy,” said Wu Tao. “What I wish to gamble, only you can afford.”

“What do you want to wager? Lives?”

“Wager lives? How many lives do you have?”

“Just one,” said Xiao Jun. “One is enough.”

“No, it’s not.”

“Why not? Perhaps before you had more than one life, but at the moment, you only have one left.”

“It’s precisely that way: I have only one life. It’s not enough,” said Wu Tao. “Therefore, we can’t gamble.”

“Why?”

“Because if you lose even once, you have no chance to recover your losses. That’s neither fun nor satisfying.”

“Then how do you want to gamble?”