Chapter 214: Qian Men Meeting

Chapter214: The Qimen Conference

"The setup of this 'Pai System' Huangliang Dream is truly fucking tacky. Back when I was holed up in the Nanyu District earning blood-and-sweat money, it looked just like this bird's nest of a place. Now that I've entered the Zhongyu District, nothing's changed."

He Zangjia lowered his head to glance at the black round-collared patch uniform on his body. The patch on his chest was neither a golden pheasant nor a peacock, nor a cloud goose or yellow oriole, but a single domino tile—one red, three black.

It was precisely his tile face from the Sichuan-Chongqing Gambling Convention: 'Harmony Tile'.

"A bunch of cheats still fucking learning to wear official robes like everyone else, who knows what they're jerking off to in their heads."

He tugged at his patch uniform in disdain. He Zangjia raised his eyes to look ahead, only to see a forest path of green stone winding beneath his feet. On the tree branches to either side hung oil lamps, one by one.

At the dim end of his vision stood a black stone tower over thirty meters high. Between its layered flying eaves hung eight large red lanterns in symmetrical pairs.

From a distance, it looked exactly like a domino tile stood on end.

Aside from this tower, the rest of this realm was nothing but a stretch of thick darkness.

"That fatass Jin Shenghuo is truly shameless, actually changing the headquarters' decoration into his own tile face."

He Zangjia cursed silently in his heart.

"Who the fuck is occupying the access point and not moving? Hurry up and clear out, don't you know the meeting hour is arriving?!"

From the vast, misty void, a drifting voice entered his ears.

He Zangjia hurriedly lifted his leg from the spot he occupied and walked along the green stone path toward the black stone tower.

This was the headquarters of the Sichuan-Chongqing Gambling Convention's 'Pai System' within the Huangliang Dream. He Zangjia had entered this time at the summons of the Pai System's Three Generals, come to attend a meeting.

As for the meeting's content, he didn't know either.

But since yesterday, when he learned from Yuan Mingfei that most of Chief General Qi Huai's assets had been swallowed up by the 'Pai System', He Zangjia felt more and more upon reflection that the 'Pai System's' behavior recently was deeply strange.

That feeling was like all the good things had been snatched up by their own people—luck so good it gave one an uneasy feeling.

You have to understand, gambling arts are also called game theory. Among them, there isn't half a point of relation to luck.

To outsiders, winning money at the casino makes them think their fortune pressed past the opponent's.

But to them, these people of the Thousand Gates, they only say the victor's skill is a notch higher, the loser's skills exhausted.

The more skilled at gambling, the less they believe in any 'blessed by heaven' rhetoric in this world.

In this feast of dividing the spoils, did the 'Pai System' really win against the 'Que System' and 'Shaizi System' by luck?

Bullshit.

"Today's meeting, I'm afraid it won't be that simple."

The forest stone path wasn't long—or rather, in this Huangliang Dream's settings, you only needed to take a few steps to reach the end.

Standing close, one could increasingly feel the black stone tower's majestic solemnity. On the stone gate nearly three meters wide were carved two ancient characters: Qimen.

The so-called Qimen was precisely the Thousand Gates.

Whether which faction in the Sichuan-Chongqing Gambling Convention, all were Qimen disciples, venerating Fuxi as their ancestral master.

Stepping through the stone gate, one could see a lavishly decorated grand hall. Two carved handrail staircases on the left and right stretched to the second floor. Facing the entrance, a statue of Fuxi draped in red robes, holding the Eight Trigrams, stood upon a shrine.

Right now it was nearing the meeting hour, yet before the shrine there were still quite a few people gathered, clasping hands in salutes, devoutly offering incense.

Cheating in the mortal world, worshipping gods in the Huangliang.

Seemingly absurd, but this Fuxi god was the only shared faith of the Sichuan-Chongqing Gambling Convention's motley crew of cheats.

Returning to headquarters and first offering a stick of incense to the ancestral master was also an unwritten rule in the Gambling Convention.

In the past, He Zangjia didn't care for this rule, but this time he unusually didn't rush to enter the conference hall on the second floor. Instead, he walked before the shrine and respectfully clasped his hands.

"Qimen disciple He Zangjia pays respects to the Ancestral Master. May the Ancestral Master bless me: safe login, smooth return home."

As his waist and back bent, the Eight Trigrams in the statue's hand suddenly spat out a beam of bright yellow light, unfurling in the air, shaped like a ranking list.

He Zangjia's name suddenly jumped from the bottom of the list to the middle, followed by a line of small text.

"'Harmony Tile' He Zangjia, offered ten thousand Baocao."

That's right, He Zangjia donated ten thousand Baocao.

Of course, this money wasn't just for this line of text and ranking. It would serve as the 'Pai System' headquarters' maintenance fund, specifically used to maintain this Huangliang Dream.

"With this much sincerity from me, the Ancestral Master should protect me, right?"

He Zangjia had just straightened his back when he suddenly saw the donation rankings on the list fluctuate. A name similarly killed its way up from the bottom of the list, landing neither left nor right—precisely atop his head.

"'Plum Blossom' Li Zu, offered ten thousand and one Baocao."

This motherfucker is here to pick a fight.

He Zangjia narrowed his eyes and glanced sideways, colliding with a pair of eyes containing provocation.

"Li Zu, what do you mean? Trying to suppress me a head in front of the Ancestral Master?"

The Li Zu in He Zangjia's mouth was a man with hollow cheeks, an aquiline nose, triangular eyes. He wore the same black patch uniform, but the patch on his chest was a domino tile carved with ten black dots.

"I'm also being filial to the Old Ancestor. I just like adding a fraction when I donate, seeking an 'abundance year after year' auspicious sign. Is that not allowed?"

Li Zu sneered: "Or does our Gambling Convention now require donations to follow tile face seniority too?"

At this moment, all the Pai System's figures of Mixed Color rank and above had already entered the black stone tower. Li Zu's voice wasn't low, naturally drawing all surrounding gazes.

With excitement to watch, not watching makes you a bastard.

These people were all the type to watch excitement without fear of things blowing up. Seeing the 'Harmony Tile' and 'Plum Blossom' two major tile faces seemingly in conflict, they immediately surrounded them without a sound.

A tall tree catches the wind. He Zangjia's promotion to 'Harmony Tile' made many eyes red. This Li Zu was one of them.

No other reason. Before He Zangjia's promotion, almost all major and minor tile faces in the 'Pai System' believed the 'Harmony Tile' position would be Li Zu's pocket item.

"Donations naturally don't look at tile face size, but they do look at wallet depth. You're a Dark Tile who makes a living killing people—I'm just feeling heartache that your bit of blood-and-sweat money didn't come easy."

Inexplicably bitten by a dog, He Zangjia naturally wouldn't have any magnanimous thoughts.

He waved his hand, and his ranking on the list leapt forward another big step.

"'Harmony Tile' He Zangjia, offered fifty thousand Baocao."

Someone in the surrounding crowd read out He Zangjia's donation amount in a clear voice.

"Thanks, brother, for the announcement. I've long wanted to suggest adding a voice function for the Ancestral Master. Otherwise, money donated in dead silence—no fun at all."

He Zangjia clasped his hands toward the source of the voice in thanks, not concealing a trace of his dandy arrogance, eyes tilted as he looked at Li Zu.

"You following or not?"

"I thought the great 'Harmony Tile' would play some big hand. Just this little money, still need to ask?"

Li Zu retorted with sarcasm. The ranking on the list jumped with his words.

"'Plum Blossom', fifty thousand and one."

The announcement voice here had just fallen when the list's changes rose again on that side.

"'Harmony Tile', five hundred thousand—ah!"

That final 'hundred thousand' carried aaa' carried a trembling note of excitement.

This was five hundred thousand Baocao—enough to package a top courtesan on Hongya Mountain for a month. Now it had just become a ranking on the Ancestral Master's list.

Even at the price He Cangjia bid, there were still quite a few names listed above his!

While the onlookers enjoyed the spectacle, they couldn't help but marvel inwardly: even among the elite, there were tiers of difference.

"So? Still following? If not, I'm heading upstairs for a meeting."

He Cangjia stood with arms crossed, his gaze sweeping disdainfully over Li Zu's darkening face.

"Trying to pull a hackneyed stunt like this against me? I'll clean out your pockets until the lint screams!"