Chapter 89
Xuanyuan San Guang was glowing and he rubbed his hands in glee, “How much are Misses betting this time?” The young lady in purple said with a smile, “You may trust us, but we do not wish to break the rules of your gambling den. Besides, there’s not much fun in betting verbally. We may have lost our money, but we have not lost our people.”
Xuanyuan San Guang was stunned, “People!”
The young lady in purple smiled, “People, can sometimes be used as bets as well. If a gambler were to get a good set of cards, he would even want to lie on the betting table and use himself as a bet. You have gambled for fifty years, don’t you understand even this?”
“Excellent, excellent, I have gambled across the world, and only today have I finally found my match. How does Miss want to bet, just speak freely, I will surely oblige.”
The young lady in purple said, “Our bet is very simple as well, betting one for one.” Xuanyuan San Guang took a look at the three of them and laughed loudly, “But for someone like Misses, I really cannot afford the loss.”
The lady in purple said, “If we win, either one of you will just have to leave with us.”
Xuanyuan San Guang’s eyes grew bigger, “What if Misses were to lose?”
The lady in purple smiled slightly, “If we lose, naturally one of us sisters will have to leave with you.”
Once these words were spoken, a commotion erupted in the gambling den again. Everyone felt that with a bet like that, Xuanyuan San Guang will be having the upperhand. If they can win such a dainty beauty, naturally they will get to enjoy her beauty, even if they lost, to leave with three people like that, is akin to walking into a bevy of beauties.
Bai Kai Xin stared and asked, “Have these three taken a liking to this Compulsive Gambler? Or else why would they want such a bet?”
Du Jiao Jiao furrowed her brows and said, “Now even I am getting more and more confused, I really cannot figure out what they are here for.”
Xuanyuan San Guang laughed aloud without stopping, “Of course, of course, it is but of course…” The lady in purple waited for him to finish laughing before asking calmly, “So this means that, you have agreed to our bet?”
Xuanyuan San Guang replied with a laugh, “What is there for me not to agree?”
The lady in purple asked, “What about your partner then? Does he agree?” Although she was asking Xuanyuan San Guang, but her eyes have flitted over to that quiet, unpredictable and mysterious skinny, tanned man. Only when the dice was being revealed, his face would show some excitement, his eyes will give heated looks, but at other times, he will always sit there in a daze, expressionless, like he is detached not only from the people in this noisy gambling den, but totally detached from this world.
Xuanyuan San Guang laughed, “This brother of mine has the same problem as me, he doesn’t like anything else but gambling, as long as gambling is involved, he will agree to anything.”
The young lady in purple rolled her eyes and said, “But I still want to hear it from himself.”
Xuanyuan San Guang tapped him on the shoulder and said, “All right, you tell them yourself. If we lose, are you willing to go with them?”
The skinny dark man replied without a thought, “Fine.”
The young lady in purple immediately pressed her question, “No matter where, you are willing to go?”
The dark skinny man heaved a long sigh and replied, “It doesn’t matter where, to me, everywhere is the same.”
Xuanyuan San Guang laughed, “Don’t think that this brother of mine looks a little stupid, actually he’s a true man, as long as he has said it, he will never go back on his words!”
The lady in purple beamed, “I definitely believe that.”
Xuanyuan San Guang laughed loudly, “Since that is the case, Misses please place your bet.” He swept up the broken bowl, stared at the lady in purple and asked, “Are you betting on odd or even this time?”
The young lady in purple replied, “Even!” She is still betting on even, as if she is not afraid of losing.
The crowd can’t help but sigh, everyone seems to have decided that this time she will definitely lose again.
There was a ‘bang’, and Xuanyuan San Guang has put the bowl down, but his large hands is still covering the bowl, not opening it yet.
When he was shaking the dice, he was not anxious at all, because once a gambler hears the crisp sound of the dice moving, he will immediately forget everything. But now, the dice have stopped moving, he can’t help but feel a little nervous, no matter how he sees it, this bet is really big.
But these three beautiful young ladies looked calm, with a hint of a smile, as if they do not care about the outcome of this bet. Even Xuanyuan San Guang can’t help but feel a little admiration for them. Others were all holding their breath, the whole gambling den was so quiet that one can hear a pin drop.
Suddenly there was a loud shout, “Open!”
The dice that was revealed, were all red again, it’s a pair of four, the young ladies finally won this time!
Some people in the crowd can’t help but cheer. Gamblers are humans after all, and humans will always pity the weak, and gamblers will mostly pity the losers, as long as the winners are not themselves. Xuanyuan San Guang stopped being nervous instead, and laughed instead. If he can’t afford to lose, how can he still be considered a gambler!
He laughed loudly and said, “Good, good, good, the God of Gamblers is now accepting disciples, so he must let you win once. If you keep losing, you will never have fun gambling in future.”
The young lady in purple smiled. “So it seems that we have won this round, then the banker should pay!”
Her finger is already pointing at that skinny dark man, and continued with a smile, “Would you please come with us then.”
The dark skinny man was silent for a moment, and suddenly stood up and took a huge step forward.
Xuanyuan San Guang grabbed him and asked, “You… you’re really leaving? The money here, half of them is yours.”
The skinny dark man replied, “You can have it all.” He does not even care about his own life, much less material goods!
Xuanyuan San Guang sighed, the skinny dark man walked around the gambling table and stood straight in front of the young ladies. The young lady in purple smiled, “Don’t worry, you will not be disadvantaged if you follow us.” The skinny dark man seemed to be already in a daze, unable to hear anything at all.
Xuanyuan San Guang kept staring at them, and suddenly called out, “Please hold!” As he shouted, his huge body was already flying up, like a large bird. He flew to the door and blocked the path of the three young ladies.
Xuanyuan San Guang smiled coldly, “Only now did I realize that you three are here because of my Brother Hei, what do you want with him? Where are you bringing him?”
The young lady in purple smiled icily as well, “This, is none of your business. You said so yourself that one ‘can gamble shrewdly, gamble slyly but not cheat’, now that you have lost, are you trying to cheat your way out?”
Compulsive Gambler’s face seemed to have turned a little red, and suddenly asked, “If you lost, would you really have come with me?”
The young lady in purple said nonchalantly, “If we sisters were to lose, naturally someone will follow you, anyway we have lots of sisters at home…”
Xuanyuan San Guang’s eyes suddenly formed into a straight line and looked up and down this young lady a few times, asking, “You really have a lot of sisters? Are there nine?”
The young lady in purple was silent for a moment before replying slowly, “No more, no less, exactly nine.”
Once these words were spoken, Xuanyuan San Guang’s eyes shot open suddenly, and his stare was as large as copper bells. That zombie looking skinny dark man’s body shook, his face suddenly turned red, as if all the blood in his body had rushed up to his head. He also stared at the young lady and said, “You.. you are Murong…” The young lady in purple smiled and said, “I am Qi Niang (7th Lady), this is my 6th sister… this is 8th sister.”
The two young ladies next to her smiled as well, and the slightly older one said, “You may not have met us, but we have known about you long ago.” The skinny dark man’s face suddenly paled, and took a few steps back.
Murong Qi Niang smiled and said, “We also know that you are a man of your words, and will never renege, since you have lost, you will certainly follow us.”
Xuanyuan San Guang suddenly lifted his head and laughed heartily, “Rumors in the martial arts realm says that not only did the nine Murong sisters find the best husbands, but the nine sisters all have some skills. Those in the martial arts realm also know that the best in martial arts among the Murong sisters is the 2nd sister Murong Shuang, the most capable is Qi Niang, but the smartest and prettiest is the youngest sister Murong Jiu.”
Once he heard the name ‘Murong Jiu’, the skinny dark man’s face flushed red suddenly again.
Xuanyuan San Guang continued, “I also know that this Miss Jiu is not as lucky as her eight sisters, one year she suddenly disappeared, and although her eight brothers-in-law are descendents of famous families, and have friends all over the world, but they still can’t find her after searching for a few years. But this Brother Hei of mine found her, and like a fool escorted her back. Who would have expected that others were not grateful to him at all, and instead thought that he was the one who kidnapped Murong Jiu, and interrogated him like a thief for two, three days, stopping short at slapping his butt or using torture.”
Miss Murong Qi replied, “2nd and 3rd Sisters were not interrogating him, they harbor no ill intentions towards him, but just want to find out what has happened to 9th Sister these past few years.”
Miss Murong Ba (Ba = 8) added, “That’s why when he left, they insisted on thanking him generously.”
Xuanyuan San Guang replied, “That’s right, when he left, they insisted on giving him five thousand taels of gold. This is really no small sum, if it was given to beggars, it can be given to at least ten or twenty thousand of them.” His face has turned green, and now he suddenly jumped up and yelled, “But Brother Hei is not a beggar. Because of your 9th Sister, he almost lost his life a few times, and who knows what other suffering did he go through, and did he do these for those few rotten metal of yours? You sisters are smart, do you really not understand his intention?”
Murong Qi Niang sighed and said with a bitter smile, “It’s not that we do not know, but…”
Xuanyuan San Guang laughed icily, “But the Murong Sisters all married rich men, Brother Hei is neither rich or powerful, nor is he the descendent of some famous respectable family, so naturally you can’t let Murong Jiu marry him.” As he spoke, he jumped up again and roared angrily, “But in what way is Brother Hei not worthy of her? He may not be rich, but he is a true man. If your sister can marry a husband like that, it’s because your ancestors made some merit!”
He was pointing and thrashing, screaming and yelling, his pointing finger almost touching Murong Qi Niang’s nose, but Murong Qi Niang was not upset at all.
Instead she sighed and said, “We know he is a good man as well, and will not be a disgrace to Sister Jiu…” Xuanyuan San Guang replied with a cold laugh, “From what I know, when Brother Hei sent her back, there was already some improvement in her condition, you must have thought that she will certainly recover from her illness, that’s why you can’t bear to let her marry him.”
Murong Qi Niang sighed, “At that time we really thought that she will recover, because at that time she seemed to have recognized Eldest Sister, but who would have expected that after this Hei… Brother Hei left, her condition took a turn for the worse suddenly, and not only does she not recognize Eldest Sister anymore, but she stopped speaking a single word for the whole day.”
Murong Liu Niang (Liu Niang = 6th Lady) sighed as well, “Once she opens her mouth, she will certainly ask, ‘Is he gone?’, but later she stopped asking even this question, and just sits there crying everyday.”
That skinny dark man naturally is the proud and reclusive Black Spider. He stood there like a log, and once he heard all these, his wooden expression suddenly twisted, as if someone had pierced his heart with a needle.
However Xuanyuan San Guang laughed loudly, “So it turns out that Miss Jiu is also a sentimental person, Brother Hei have not treated her well in vain.” Murong Qi Niang sighed, “Only now do we realize her feelings, and naturally we know that everything in this world can be forced, but only the word ‘feelings’ cannot be forced.”
Xuanyuan San Guang agreed, “So you’re not that muddle headed after all.”
Murong Liu Niang sighed, “Sister Jiu is already so seriously ill and yet she can feel his love, obviously he must be very much in love with Sister Jiu. We are all soft hearted, at a time like this, no matter who the other person is, we will not disapprove of him.”
Murong Ba Niang added, “That’s why we came out to look for him. But we also know that he has always been elusive, and were just worrying how we can find him. Luckily at that time our Fifth Brother-in-law happened to pass by Wu Han, and happened to see you gambling with him.”
Murong Qi Niang smiled and said, “Our Fifth Brother-in-law is ‘Godly Eyes Scholar’ Luo Ming Dao, and has seen you once many years ago. As long as he has seen a person once, he will never forget that person. Fifth Brother-in-law did not recognize him at first, but to find him, Third Sister has drawn many portraits of him. Once Fifth Brother-in-law saw the painting, he immediately remembered where he had seen this person.”
Murong Ba Niang continued, “Once we heard what Fifth Brother-in-law said, we immediately rushed to Wu Han, and luckily your gambling has gained fame around this area, that’s how we found you so quickly.”
Xuanyuan San Guang stared at them, “But don’t you make a mistake, this Brother Hei of mine is different from me. He’s not a compulsive gambler, it’s just that he gambled because he is in low spirits.”
Murong Qi Niang smiled, “We understand his feelings very well, and we also know that he is a proud person. If we were to come looking for him, he will certainly not leave with us, that’s why we thought of gambling.”
Xuanyuan San Guang can’t help but ask, “But what if you lost, what will happen then?”
Murong Qi Niang said, “If we lose, one of us sisters will have to leave with you, right? So if we lose, we’ll get Sister Jiu to leave with you. We know that you will never treat her badly, as long as she is happy, does it matter who leaves with who?”
Xuanyuan San Guang laughed loudly, “As long as I can witness the wedding between Brother Hei and that Miss Jiu, can drink his wedding toast, I won’t mind even if I have to stop gambling for three months.”
He suddenly stopped laughing, and shook his head, “No, no, I’m afraid I cannot attend this wedding. The wedding of the young lady of the Murong family, the guest list must be full of respectable and famous people. If I, Compulsive Gambler were to suddenly barge in, won’t it spoil everything.”
Murong Qi Niang smiled, “Don’t you worry, you will certainly be invited. Even if we do not invite anyone else, we will certainly have to invite you.”
Xuanyuan San Guang clapped his hands and chortled, “All right, if I do not attend, then I am the son of a turtle.” He suddenly waved his hands and said, “Take it away, take all those silver away, don’t leave even a tael behind.”
Murong Qi Niang asked, “This… why is this so?”
Xuanyuan San Guang laughed, “To attend a wedding, naturally gifts will have to be sent. If you do not accept it, then you’re looking down on me, then you do not intend to invite me to the wedding.”
Murong Qi Niang beamed, “Since that is the case, you should at least keep a little to use as your stake.”
Xuanyuan San Guang replied, “Please don’t leave any. My character is that I won’t stop until I have lost everything, so ever since I became wealthy, I have not had a good sleep. The more I want to lose everything, the more I am unable to, now that I have the opportunity to send it away, and if you don’t take everything, I’ll have to suffer again.”
Black Spider finally smiled, and suddenly said quietly, “Xiao Yu’er must be in the mountains, if you see him, please don’t forget to tell him…” Xuanyuan San Guang laughed, “Don’t worry, if I see him, I will certainly tell him to attend your wedding.” It turns out that they became good friends not because of gambling, but because of Xiao Yu’er, because they have always thought of Xiao Yu’er as a good friend.
Xuanyuan San Guang sent him to the door and suddenly smiled, “Miss Qi, if your hands start to itch in future, please don’t forget to come and look for me. I really have not seen much gamblers like you in my life.”
This chapter is updated by freew(e)bnovel.(c)om