Der Mond scheint hell über den leeren Bergen, und Blumen füllen den Himmel

Kapitel 33

"If you could have fought your way there, I suppose you would be dead by now," Tang Tianshu said with a smile. "So I must send you there beforehand, lest I break my promise."

"Thank you so much." Wan Yuyue smiled. "I would cry for you if you died."

"What are those two saying that's making them want to cry? It's disgusting." A voice suddenly interrupted from the side. Sheng Xiang had somehow gotten behind Wan Yuyuedan without anyone noticing. Not only did Tang Tianshu not notice, but Wan Yuyuedan didn't notice either.

When did he arrive? Wan Yuyue exclaimed "Ah!" and laughed, "You gave me quite a fright."

Shengxiang glanced at Tang Tianshu and praised, "You're Tang Tianshu? You look very clever. Here's what we'll do." He clapped his hands and suddenly had a brilliant idea, "How about we play chess? Awan, you, me, Rongrong, and Yumutou, let's play chess and see who's the smartest."

Tang Tianshu was dumbfounded. "Play chess?" He was a prisoner of Bi Qiuhan's side. Why would Shengxiang want to drag him to play chess?

“We don’t mistreat prisoners of war. Come on, we’re all bored anyway, everyone else is busy repairing houses.” The “everyone else” that Shengxiang referred to were the Wudang Taoists who were working hard to put out the fire. “Let’s play chess. I’m sure I’m smarter than you, you believe me?”

Does this person have no sense of right and wrong? Tang Tianshu glanced at Wan Yuyuedan with a ridiculous expression, and seeing that he smiled slightly as if it were nothing out of the ordinary, "If Shengxiang wants to play chess, then let's play chess. But how can five people play chess?"

"Five people... uh... let's play cards then." Shengxiang's eyes lit up. "Shall we play cards?"

"Playing cards?" Tang Tianshu asked in astonishment.

“Rongrong Yu, that blockhead, definitely won’t play cards. Awan, you have to play with me. And you, Tang Tianshu, are a prisoner and can’t have any objections. We’re one short…” Shengxiang clapped her hands, “Let’s call Tong Toutuo to play cards. He’ll definitely do it.”

"Shengxiang, I can't see..." Wan Yuyuedan still hesitated a little about "playing cards," "Why don't you find someone else?"

"No way, you're smart anyway, you'll definitely find out what cards they are. You can draw them even if you don't know!" Shengxiang rolled her eyes at him unhappily. "We're going to gamble, and you and he are the richest, how can we not play?"

Oh—so Shengxiang dragged Wan Yuyuedan and Tang Tianshu to play cards just because they were rich?

Wan Yuyue and Tang Tianshu looked at each other in bewilderment. Shengxiang had already gone to find Tong Toutuo in high spirits.

"It's one thing that I can't see, but you can't even move a finger now. He's just trying to extort you," Wan Yuyue muttered to herself.

"Is he really the most dishonest person in the world?" Tang Tianshu smiled bitterly. "I think he's quite honest."

This strange bet quickly spread throughout Wudang.

Master Qingjing has been lured away and has not returned. Master Qinghe, though cured of the poison, remains unconscious. No one has spoken up about the gambling on Wudang Mountain. Furthermore, Rong Yin and Yu Xiu remain secluded and deaf to the commotion. The group, relaxed after the great battle, are only increasingly curious.

The end result was that several circles of people were densely packed around the table of mahjong tiles, watching.

"Young Master Tang, do you want to flip the cards or eat the feet?" Two skinny old men with an insatiable gambling addiction stood next to Tang Tianshu, who couldn't move a single finger, and were there to fetch the cards for him.

Tang Tianshu glanced at the gambling table and said, "Flip the cards."

“Young Master Wanyu, you’ve made a mistake. These three tiles, one wan, three wan, and five wan, are called the Three Musketeers. You can just place any one of them in the middle. You played the one wan, and now you’ve got the two wan, so you’ve obviously made a mistake.” Wanyu Yuedan also had his master giving him pointers.

Wan Yuyue was not offended and smiled, "I'm not very good at gambling."

“That’s because he’s too rich, so rich that he doesn’t know the pain of being poor,” Shengxiang interjected. “He only needs to lose. If I win, I’ll treat everyone to drinks down the mountain.”

"Great!" Many people laughed. "Then I'll still stand on Shengxiang's side."

"Eight of Bamboo - Pong!" Copper Monk stared intently at the cards in his hand, then revealed a pair.

Saint Incense tapped the back of Copper Monk's hand innocently and said, "Tong Monk, what are you doing taking out 80,000 to try and win the Eight Trigrams? Pay up!"

“Ah—” Copper-Headed Monk scratched his head in frustration. “I’ve misread it. It’s here.” He was about to take out another pair of cards.

“No way, that would cost you money—” Sheng Xiang laughed heartily. “One game costs one tael of silver. I can see you’re very poor and will soon have to sell your crescent shovel. Don’t worry, I’ll help you find a pawnshop with good prices.”

A burst of laughter erupted from the crowd.

Inside the room.

Rong Yin sat cross-legged to regulate his breathing; his spirits had been low ever since his resurrection. Yu Xiu, though in the next room, was protecting him.

Rong Yin paused to adjust his breathing for a while, then listened to the laughter outside. "What is Sheng Xiang doing?"

Yu Xiu smiled, a rare occurrence. "He's acting like a bandit leader, gambling in Wudang Mountain, and even calling his friends to go down the mountain for drinks later."

"He has a heart condition, so it's best if he doesn't drink alcohol," Rong Yin said calmly.

“Since meeting Qi Yang, he seems to be doing much better. He’s been in good health for so many days,” Yu Xiu said casually. “He always has a way of making everyone happy.”

“That’s his skill.” Rong Yin closed his eyes. “We’ll leave Wudang tomorrow, and it’s best to resolve the Li Ling Banquet matter as soon as possible. I noticed that Bi Qiuhan and Sheng Xiang looked strange when they returned today; he must have found out something.”

"If he knew the truth, would you kill him, Rong Yin?" Yu Xiu asked calmly.

Rong Yin did not answer, but after a while said in a chilling tone, "Yes."

"Hmm." Yu Xiu next door responded faintly and didn't say anything more. For Rong Yin, nothing was more important than the overall situation.

Chapter Ten: A Night of Kindness and Grace, All Accompanied by One Other

A chaotic battle erupted at Wudang Mountain. Li Lingyan escaped, leaving behind a staggering 253 wounded archers, men in black, and others. When Chief Qinghe awoke, he lamented the dire situation; such a large number of wounded would surely bankrupt Wudang Mountain. Fortunately, Wan Yuyue had left behind three ingots of gold, totaling thirty taels, otherwise Wudang Mountain might not have even been able to afford medicine. Upon questioning, the archers revealed that Li Lingyan had kidnapped the military commander of Jingzhou, forcing a small force that was storing grain to come and form an army. The men in black were mostly second-rate thugs from the martial arts world, eager for riches; some were even completely unaware of their actions, having been tricked into joining the fray.

These people must be healed and then properly repatriated. The sheer number of people Li Lingyan used is astonishing. He didn't train his men during the Blood Sacrifice Ceremony; instead, he resorted to deception and coercion at the last minute, suddenly summoning a large group of clueless individuals. These people know nothing about Li Lingyan, and dealing with them is pointless.

After finishing his business here, Yu Xiu needed to head west back to Jiangling Prefecture to meet up with the others who were recuperating from their injuries. Nan Ge accompanied him to meet Nan Pu. Rong Yin, however, chose to travel with Sheng Xiang, thus parting ways with Yu Xiu.

Bi Qiuhan had also traveled with Diuxiang. Ever since Shengxiang uttered the words "let's perish together" that night, he hadn't had a moment's peace. The real culprit was the Emperor Taizu, and he understood that this matter was no small thing. But Shengxiang had decided that if taking the blame failed, they would perish together. He didn't understand why someone like Shengxiang would choose such a drastic outcome; he only knew that it was absolutely wrong.

His nature cannot tolerate anyone suffering unjustly, so he has become much more haggard in just a few days due to sleepless nights.

Qinghe and the others had intended to publicly reveal that Shengxiang's parents were the masterminds behind the murder of the four top masters, but Shengxiang and Bi Qiuhan had saved them, making them embarrassed and hesitant to speak out. These past few days, when they saw Shengxiang, they only nodded reluctantly, unsure of where to begin. Tong Toutuo, completely clueless, knew that after that night's gambling, he had lost everything except a pair of underwear—although Shengxiang hadn't forced him to pawn his crescent shovel, he had declared that all his clothes and weapons were borrowed from the young master Shengxiang. If he disobeyed, the young master Shengxiang would immediately take them back. This kind of joke worked very well on the straightforward Tong Toutuo; from then on, he feared the young master Shengxiang like the plague.

Tang Tianshu neither won nor lost that night. Only Tong Toutuo and Wan Yuyuedan lost; all the money went into Young Master Shengxiang's pocket. Wan Yuyuedan didn't care about losing ten taels of silver; to him, the difference between ten taels and ten copper coins was probably negligible. Tong Toutuo lost fifteen taels of silver, his face flushed and sweating profusely—even Wan Yuyuedan could see it—but Tong Toutuo, with a face full of indignation and righteous indignation, said he didn't want it. Gambling is gambling, and being forced to pay your gambling debts by your fellow gambler is undoubtedly more humiliating than anything else. Hearing him say this, Wan Yuyuedan had no choice but to give up, but Tong Toutuo truly lost everything.

Tang Tianshu was extremely clever; he neither won nor lost, offending no one, and it was unclear whether his wins were due to luck or deliberate manipulation. In short, he neither won nor lost a single point. He had played mahjong all night, and this morning he fell into Yang Zhen's hands. How Yang Zhen would "treat" him was unknown to others. But Shengxiang remembered instructing Fu Guan to steal him back from Yang Zhen in a couple of days to see if he was still alive. This man and Li Lingyan had plotted and killed many people, and countless people hated him to the core, but his Leshan treasure had saved his life. He himself was clearly aware of how many people coveted his treasure, hence his calm and fearless demeanor.