Chapter 230: The Biggest Bet

Chapter 230 The Greatest Gamble

Vermilion Bird was reluctant to casually suspect her own Twenty-Eight Mansions, yet she was very willing to trust Zhao Changhe’s judgment.

Perhaps it was because Zhao Changhe had been quite effective in solving several cases, making people instinctively rely on him?

In truth, upon later reflection, those two or three cases weren’t due to any remarkable investigative ability on Zhao Changhe’s part… His reasoning seemed decent, and his attention to detail was good—that was the premise—but the main method of solving cases was merely to presuppose a result and then verify the guess.

This approach, if the verification didn’t match, would force him to switch to a different guess and gradually grope in the dark… but each time, the verification happened to yield the desired result. That too was a kind of fate, or perhaps his initial guess was exceptionally sharp and accurate.

She hesitated for a moment, then asked softly, “So what do we do now?”

“I need to go somewhere. You’d better do nothing and go back to Pinghu Assembly to rest. If you’re caught sneaking out in the middle of the night, it’ll arouse suspicion instead.”

Vermilion Bird’s eyes widened: “So you really do see me as a burden.”

“Not at all.” Zhao Changhe smiled ingratiatingly. “You’re the main combat strength I rely on. I’m just a weakling.”

“Is that so? Then call me good sister.”

“Good sister.”

The pig-headed one nodded in satisfaction and stood up: “Since you called so sweetly, I’ll reluctantly cooperate with you. Let’s go.”

A fragrant breeze swept by, and she was gone.

Zhao Changhe looked out at the bright moonlight through the window, thinking that this sister’s strength might not be so simple either.

The Four Symbols Sect truly had hidden dragons and crouching tigers. He had originally thought Wan Dongliu was formidable, but now it seemed that his place among the Twenty-Eight Mansions alongside these others was mostly due to his youth; his actual strength was far inferior.

The key information brought by this young lady was that Han Wubing had indeed not been captured by Yan Lianping. This further corroborated many of Zhao Changhe’s ideas, and now he was almost ninety percent certain where Han Wubing was.

He pondered for a moment, hid the Dragon Sparrow in the room, and went out empty-handed.

After a while, a dark-faced man appeared at the entrance of the Kangle Gambling House. The doorman glanced at him lazily and paid no attention.

Such gambling houses forbade carrying swords or blades inside, otherwise there would be brawls every day. Zhao Changhe had anticipated this and came unarmed. As long as the weapons weren’t too obvious, and he concealed some small items on his person, these guards had long grown lazy and wouldn’t bother to stop and search him, since they had business to run.

Entering the gambling house, the interior was spacious. But no matter how large, it couldn’t accommodate the crowd; this was the time of night when gamblers were most frenzied. Looking out, there was a sea of people, every gambling table surrounded by throngs, the noise deafening. Anyone with weaker senses could hardly hear anything clearly here.

Around the hall were countless private VIP rooms, their contents hidden from view. Zhao Changhe paid them no mind, his gaze falling on the huge gambling table at the far end of the hall. A young dandy stood at the banker’s position, shouting loudly, his face flushed with excitement.

The gambling house banker was dressed like a rich young master, which felt somewhat incongruous, and his name was even more so.

Sha Qiye of the Kangle Gambling House—by all accounts, it should be a rough, underworld figure, but here he was, this young master. He wasn’t on any rankings, extremely low-key, yet he was well-known enough in Jianhu City that Zhao Changhe only had to grab a random passerby to learn Sha Qiye’s traits.

All around were countless gambling house guards, many with bulging temples, indicating considerable cultivation, all gathered in this single gambling house… This wasn’t just a gambling den; it was a gang with powerful backing.

Zhao Changhe’s eyes swept over the waist knives of these guards, silently estimating whether he could escape if they all rushed him at once.

Seeing a stranger enter and look around, someone approached: “Sir, what would you like to play?”

Zhao Changhe withdrew his gaze from the guards’ waist knives and nodded toward Sha Qiye: “What’s the game over there with Seventh Master?”

“Oh, it’s just betting on triple dice. Would you like to join, sir?”

“Do I need to exchange for chips?”

“You can exchange for chips, or use gold, silver, or items, or even mortgage deeds.”

“Fine.” Zhao Changhe strolled over leisurely. Over there, Sha Qiye was shaking the dice cup with a flushed face: “Place your bets, place your bets now!”

“Slap!” Zhao Changhe slapped all the loose silver he had taken from the Kangle Gambling House thugs during the day onto the “triple sixes” area: “I bet on triple dice.”

No one paid much attention to such a small amount. Sha Qiye opened the cup: “Two, two, four—small! Sorry, folks!”

“Wait.” Zhao Changhe reached out to stop him from gathering the chips: “What two, two, four? Aren’t these triple sixes?”

Everyone looked down; the dice that had just shown two, two, four had somehow become triple sixes.

The crowd buzzed with excitement, their gazes at Zhao Changhe turning playful.

A neat trick of silently changing the dice faces with inner force… This was a provocation.

Sha Qiye’s manic expression stiffened slightly. He tilted his head and looked at Zhao Changhe with a half-smile for a long moment: “Not bad, it’s triple sixes. You win. Want to bet again?”

Zhao Changhe said, “Sure, but gambling for money is boring. How about we bet on something else?”

Sha Qiye’s expression grew wild again, extremely excited: “Bet on what? Your head?”

Zhao Changhe said, “I bet the Ji family’s property on Taiping Street. If I lose, the property is yours. If I win, you do me a favor.”

Sha Qiye asked curiously, “What gives you the right to bet the Ji family’s property? Don’t tell me you’re the young master Ji who’s rushing back?”

Zhao Changhe said, “Why can’t I be Young Master Ji?”

Sha Qiye looked him up and down for a while, then laughed: “How do you prove you’re Ji Bochang?”

Hearing those three words, Zhao Changhe paused for a moment, glanced down at his crotch, and said: “This… we could find a room and prove it privately?”

Everyone was momentarily stunned. No one had thought of anything improper, but with this hint, they all caught on and burst into laughter.

Sha Qiye laughed so hard he pounded the table: “Fun, fun!”

Zhao Changhe’s expression didn’t change—in fact, with his disguise, he couldn’t change color even if he wanted to: “So, Seventh Master, would you like to verify it with me in private?”

“Fine, fine, fine!” Sha Qiye laughed breathlessly: “Come to the VIP room, you and I will start a private game.”

People were doubled over with laughter, but beneath the laughter, their hearts were wary.

This so-called private room was certainly not for verifying Ji Bochang’s length, but for a private high-stakes gamble.

Everyone knew about the Ji family’s upheaval. Could it be that the real Young Master Ji had returned, bringing the Kangle Gambling House into the conflict between Pinghu Assembly and Xingyi Gang?

There was going to be a good show in Jianhu City.

Quite a few people secretly slipped away, rushing to report to Pinghu Assembly.

Meanwhile, Sha Qiye left the banker’s position, made a gesture inviting Zhao Changhe, and walked toward a nearby VIP room. Zhao Changhe smiled faintly and followed.

Originally, they had been separated by a wide table about ten feet across, but as they walked together toward the VIP room, they gradually converged and drew closer. At the same time, countless burly men surrounded them on both sides, watching closely with vigilance.

Neither seemed to care about this. As they drew nearer, Sha Qiye chuckled: “I didn’t expect Young Master Ji to have such guts, coming to my Kangle Gambling House. Aren’t you afraid we’ll swallow you whole, skin and bone, and you’ll get nothing?”

Zhao Changhe said calmly, “If I were swallowed by Pinghu Assembly, I’d get nothing either. A gambling house is still a gambling house. Since you said it in public, Seventh Master at least has to go through the motions of a fair bet, or it’s bad for business, right?”

“True, true.” Sha Qiye laughed. “But without a deed as collateral, this bet is hard to make. How about you offer another stake? For instance, some martial arts you learned from the Divine Flame Sect—we’d be quite interested in that.”

As they spoke, both arrived at the VIP room door, less than a foot apart.

Zhao Changhe said calmly, “If we’re changing the stakes, why not just switch the whole bet?”

Sha Qiye glanced at Zhao Changhe’s hand, then at the guards whose blades were half-drawn, laughed heartily, and entered first: “Fine, go ahead, young master.”

Zhao Changhe followed, saying slowly: “For instance…”

Suddenly, his right hand shot toward Sha Qiye’s nape: “Betting your life…”

“Clang!” Several waist knives thrust toward Zhao Changhe’s back and neck. At the same time, Sha Qiye’s body twisted oddly, dodging Zhao Changhe’s grab, and his elbow shot backward, aiming for Zhao Changhe’s chest.

Zhao Changhe took the blow without flinching, his hand blooming like a lotus, seeming to create a thousand illusory shadows.

Sha Qiye’s twist proved utterly useless; Zhao Changhe’s hand had already clamped around his throat.

At the same time, the gambling house guards’ knives were pressed against his neck and back.

Sha Qiye went still, and for a moment, silence reigned at the door.

Zhao Changhe, as if completely unaware that he too had knives at his throat, tightened his grip on Sha Qiye’s neck and finished his sentence: “For Han Wubing’s life.”

Seventh Master Sha stood still for a few breaths, speaking with difficulty as his neck was gripped, yet still smiling: "Is this not a life-for-life exchange between you and me?"

Zhao Changhe said calmly: "Before these blades cut my throat, Seventh Master's throat will surely break first. You can fully trust my grip strength. For Seventh Master, you have only this one life; whether I accompany you in death is meaningless."

"You also have only this one life." Seventh Master Sha sighed deeply: "Is it worth such a gamble?"

Zhao Changhe revealed a hint of a smile: "Is this not a gambling house? Betting one's life is the greatest gamble. Don't you find it thrilling, Seventh Master?"

"I asked if it's worth it, not if it's thrilling. Just for... a friend?"

"Are those two words not heavy enough?"

Seventh Master Sha was silent for a moment, then burst into laughter: "As expected of Zhao Changhe, the Bloodthirsty Shura. Men, bring Han Wubing."