Episode 76. The King of Martial Duel Gambling 3
As I was looking around the Phoenix VIP Room with my hands clasped behind my back, a woman in white approached from behind.
“Young Master, I will attend to you. My name is Bai Zhao’e.”
When I turned around, a woman stood there who could hardly be taken for a maidservant.
She was clad entirely in white, her hair ornaments and jewelry all white as well, and her face was quite beautiful.
All the lodgings here were in the form of tents, and the Phoenix VIP Room was one of the largest. Inside the spacious tent, the bedding, dining table, bathtub, and so on were divided into sections by screen-like partitions.
I had gone in and out of smaller tents often enough myself, so it was not an unfamiliar place.
Bai Zhao’e said,
“Please tell me if there is anything you need. Clothes, whatever weapons you desire, food, even wine—we can accommodate nearly anything according to your tastes, Young Master. As long as it is not too difficult.”
I asked with an indifferent expression,
“There’s no poison in the food?”
“Yes. There is none.”
I watched Bai Zhao’e’s expression as I asked,
“Why not? Dongfang Yan has to keep winning for you people to make more money.”
“What help would an undefeated martial artist continuing to win be to the show?”
“No. Because there is an undefeated martial artist, even more gamblers gather. They bring martial artists raised by gamblers, invite outside experts, ask acquaintances to challenge Dongfang Yan. All sorts of riffraff gather and offer up their money.”
Bai Zhao’e replied with a smile.
“I see. If a meal makes you uneasy, shall I bring some wine instead?”
“I only drink Dukang wine.”
“Of course we have it.”
“Is it free?”
“Of course.”
“And no poison?”
“Yes.”
“Bring it.”
“I will be right back.”
Bai Zhao’e was leaving when she turned back at the entrance of the tent.
“Ah, Young Master? What about women?”
“What women?”
“They will attend you while you drink. But they are not necessarily girls who will sleep with you, Young Master. Most only want to serve wine, but who knows? There may be a woman who takes a liking to you. Shall I simply bring a pretty girl, in my judgment?”
I pondered for a moment before replying.
“If you’re going to.”
“Yes.”
“Bring someone who can drink well.”
Bai Zhao’e replied with her head tilted.
“Understood.”
***
Sitting before the drinking table, I looked at the woman Bai Zhao’e had brought.
“Can you drink well?”
“Yes. Ah, Young Master, my name is Hei Xiaoling.”
This woman was clad entirely in black, even down to her hair ornaments. This was my first time looking closely at the two women.
“Were there people with the surname Hei?”
“It is my childhood name.”
Hei Xiaoling poured Dukang wine and held the cup out to me. Without taking the cup, I lowered my head and smelled it.
I sat cross-legged for a moment before the drinking table and closed my eyes. Then, using the qi I emitted as a reference point, I perceived Hei Xiaoling with my mind’s eye.
With Hei Xiaoling recognized as another person’s qi, I expanded the range of my perception, and sensed a qi nearby outside that seemed to be Bai Zhao’e. This was a mental art belonging to the Jingui Xiaoyao Gong called Xiaoyao An.
I opened my eyes and looked at Hei Xiaoling.
Hei Xiaoling asked me,
“What did you just do?”
From the circumstances, I came to know that the only women sent out as a honey trap were Bai Zhao’e and Hei Xiaoling. Even in my previous life, these two had been rumored to be the most beautiful women here.
To be honest, I had wondered if there might be some impressive honey trap and had looked forward to it, but the result was terribly disappointing. Bai Zhao’e and Hei Xiaoling were both rare beauties, but to begin with, even in my previous life, I had had no interest in them whatsoever.
I already knew that though these women were beautiful in appearance, they hid snakes within, for they had somehow brought challengers to ruin.
When I looked with Xiaoyao An, the two had cultivated the same martial art.
Bai Zhao’e and Hei Xiaoling were talents who possessed considerable martial skill, had received training enough to maintain calm expressions, and had even been trained in drinking, song, and dance.
I personally poured wine for Hei Xiaoling, then handed her the cup.
When Hei Xiaoling reached out to take it, I deliberately dropped the cup.
The moment Hei Xiaoling caught the falling cup, her expression turned dismayed. At the same time, I struck her Jianjing acupoint and mute acupoint with the Mujie Finger Method.
Tap!
Hei Xiaoling’s body froze while she held the wine cup.
I praised Hei Xiaoling’s reaction speed.
“You’re quite skilled.”
Even though her acupoints had been hit, Hei Xiaoling looked at me with calm eyes.
“……”
I examined the frozen Hei Xiaoling, then removed her hair ornament and looked it over this way and that. While examining a round black pearl, I slipped my fingernail into the center and flicked it, and the black pearl split in half.
Inside it was some unknown powder.
“What’s this? Powdered medicine. I wonder what kind of powder it is. If you eat it, will you die? Or not die? What’ll happen? I’m curious. I’m dying of curiosity. Ah, hell, who knows.”
I shook all the powder inside the black pearl into Hei Xiaoling’s wine cup, then looked at her.
“Miss Hei, shall we have a drink?”
“……”
I tapped Hei Xiaoling’s chin to raise her head, then gripped her jaw. After opening Hei Xiaoling’s mouth, I slowly poured in the wine mixed with the powdered medicine.
The wine fell with a trickling sound.
Hei Xiaoling’s throat bobbed.
I lowered Hei Xiaoling’s head again, then observed her with my arms crossed.
“If it’s a poison that kills, you die. If it isn’t, then that’s fortunate. Let’s see.”
Hei Xiaoling’s eyes, which had been so calm, were trembling violently.
I whispered into Hei Xiaoling’s ear.
“Well now, it doesn’t seem to be a poison that kills. You were a good girl after all. Still, it must be an important powder if you kept it inside a pearl, right?”
When I looked at Hei Xiaoling again, tears were streaming down her face.
Watching those tears, I thought it was fortunate I had struck her mute acupoint.
Because crying is noisy.
I got up, made no sound with my footsteps, then went to the entrance of the tent and stood still in a suitable position.
Silence passed for a while.
The silence continued even after enough time had passed to call it “a while.” Suddenly, the entrance of the tent was flung open to either side, and Bai Zhao’e appeared.
“Young Master?”
I struck Bai Zhao’e’s Jianjing acupoint and mute acupoint in succession, then grabbed her by the nape and dragged her over, seating her beside Hei Xiaoling.
When I removed Baek Soa’s hair ornament, the white pearl, and opened it, there was powder inside that as well.
I dissolved the powder in my wine cup, then fed Baek Soa the same thing.
After loosening up a bit, I checked on the two of them, and both were streaming tears.
“What kind of drug is this? Why are you crying? Ah, damn it, I’m the sort who can’t stand being curious. This is a problem.”
It really was a problem.
Baek Soa and Heuk Soryeong’s eyes were gradually rolling back.
“Uh-oh?”
Their faces were flushed, yet strangely enough, they wore an expression of something like anguish.
Only then did I realize what the powder was.
“Ah, it’s an aphrodisiac (春藥). I wondered what it was.”
Since they had swallowed a powdered drug that aroused lust along with wine while their bodies were tied up, of course they had no choice but to shed tears.
“You won’t die from taking an aphrodisiac. Even if you do, it’s none of my business, so I’ll go have a drink. The two of you should keep your heads on straight.”
I had no intention of touching the food, water, wine, or snacks provided by the organizers. And since I knew from the start that they were using a honey trap, I had no intention of touching Baek Soa or Heuk Soryeong either.
I left the tent and went to the inn where Ilbo the waiter was.
***
As expected, the best place to drink was an inn where you could watch idiotic customers, watch fights, and see all kinds of people gathered together. When I entered, Ilbo specially brought me wine for free.
I asked Ilbo.
“No poison?”
Ilbo said,
“If I put poison in that, I’d get beaten to death by the gamblers too.”
“What the hell are you talking about? I’m checking because anyone can put poison in it.”
“Is that so?”
Ilbo, who had been looking around at the situation, sat across from me with a grave expression and spoke in a solemn voice.
“Young Master, but you see.”
“What.”
“Should I bet my entire fortune tomorrow?”
“Who do you think will win?”
Ilbo stroked his chin and replied with a cautious expression.
“You, Young Master.”
“Why?”
“That’s the thing. That’s the problem. I feel like you’ll win, but I don’t know why. Just a waiter’s intuition? Ah, I shouldn’t bet my entire fortune on a feeling like this. It’s too dangerous.”
“Ilbo.”
“Yes.”
“Will you do as I say?”
Ilbo replied with a bright expression, as if he had just heard delightful news.
“Yes.”
“Really?”
“Of course.”
I said to Ilbo with a serious expression.
“Quit gambling.”
“But if I win this time, my life will change.”
“You think money like that will change your life?”
“You’re telling me to be a waiter for the rest of my life, aren’t you?”
I grinned at Ilbo’s words.
“Isn’t it that you don’t have the courage to do anything else? Say it properly.”
“I need money to do something else.”
I poured Dukang wine for Ilbo and said,
“That’s not true. It’s because you haven’t tried to find what you like, what you want, and what you want to do. What is it you truly want? You don’t know.”
“Do you know, Young Master?”
“Don’t ask about other people’s stories. Ask yourself.”
Ilbo and I glared at each other with the most serious expressions in the world, then drank together. But soon another customer came in, and Ilbo rose with a complicated expression.
“Welcome.”
The party of customers who strode into the inn realized that Ilbo had been drinking and immediately swung a hand, smacking Ilbo across the head. With a thwack, Ilbo’s head snapped to the side. Was this the combination of a guy who hit every time and a guy who got hit every time? The hitter’s action looked extremely natural.
The customers laughed and said,
“This crazy waiter bastard is drinking again.”
Ilbo smiled bitterly and pointed inside.
“Please sit wherever you like.”
“You drank, didn’t you?”
“Something good happened today, so I had a cup. I’m sorry. Please go in.”
After skillfully ushering the customers inside, Ilbo suddenly stared blankly at me.
“……”
I watched Ilbo’s expression and laughed out loud. Then Ilbo, who should have gone to take their order, looked at me, laughed, and spat out a curse.
“Fuck, this is bullshit.”
Ilbo was struggling with deadly seriousness over whether he should suppress the anger surging up inside him or explode.
One of the customers who heard Ilbo’s curse stopped walking and looked back.
“Did you curse?”
When Ilbo stayed still, the customer looked at me this time.
“Was it you?”
I nodded slightly.
The three men who had been about to sit down came back and approached, as if blocking my way.
One of them said to me,
“Why would you curse like that, you son of a bitch. Huh?”
I rose from my seat, looked at the three of them, then stretched out both hands and struck two of them on their Jianjing acupoints before grabbing the neck of the man in the center with my left hand.
“Kek!”
I glared at him while gripping his neck tightly.
“Why would you hit a waiter as you please, you son of a bitch. Huh?”
I readied a forehead flick with my right hand, then breathed hot air into it and struck the man’s forehead.
With a crack, the man went tumbling backward. He rolled around on the floor, clutching his forehead with both hands and screaming. I gave the guys whose acupoints I had struck a forehead flick each as well.
Crack!
One guy kept screaming, and the other two fainted after being flicked on the forehead.
Ilbo, who had been watching, asked me,
“Young Master, it’s hard to learn that forehead flick, isn’t it?”
“Very hard.”
“There’s nothing easy in this world. I can’t even learn a forehead flick.”
With an attitude that suggested he had given up to some extent, Ilbo came over, sat across from me again, poured himself a cup of wine, and drank.
Ilbo said to me,
“But Young Master, have we met before?”
“No.”
“Right? You feel strangely familiar. If I quit this place, where should I go to find you, Young Master? Somehow, even if you win tomorrow, I don’t think you’ll be here.”
“I can’t tell you.”
“Why?”
“Because you’re too weak.”
“That’s only because I haven’t learned martial arts.”
I took a sip of Dukang wine, then said in an even tone.
“Even before I learned martial arts, I never once thought of myself as a weak man.”
“Really? How did you manage to think that?”
I poured the remaining wine for Ilbo.
“Thanks for the drink.”
“You’re leaving already?”
“Their acupoints should be loosening soon, so I need to go.”
When I stood, Ilbo pleaded as if clinging to my trouser leg.
“Young Master, please save me. I’m not saying I want to become a man of the jianghu, but I’m telling you honestly because I think even a life serving as your attendant would be better.”
“Then shall I give you just one task?”
“Yes.”
“Go to the Black Cat Gang and tell their elite experts to gather here by the Shen hour tomorrow. In particular, tell them to bring every bundle cloth, box, wagon, and cart they have for sweeping up money. Can you do it?”
Ilbo nodded.
“Understood.”
I left the inn and returned to the Phoenix VIP Room, then checked on the condition of Baek Soa and Heuk Soryeong with my hands clasped behind my back.
They had sweated so much that their long strands of hair were stuck all over their faces, and the women’s powdery scent and body odor mingled with sweat stung my nose.
I drove the Flash Dagger into the table, then glared at the two of them.