spoiled brat

Chapter 14. Eliminating Evil (Part 14)

sleepy.

Huang Qian propped his forehead up with his hand to keep himself from falling asleep at the gambling table.

The gambling den was noisy, filled with shouts and curses, as well as the clucking and tearing sounds of roosters fighting each other.

Just as Huang Qian was about to fall asleep, a clear male voice rang in his ear:

"Master Qian, how about we take a gamble?"

These words energized Huang Qian. He was invincible in the casino, and had countless defeated opponents. Who would dare to gamble with him?

A sidelong glance revealed a young man in a blue robe with narrow sleeves, holding a dice cup and shaking it loudly.

I've never seen this person before.

Xiao Duo smiled provocatively: "Is Master Qian sleepy, or is he too scared?"

No man can stand hearing such words.

Huang Qian didn't care whether his mighty and invincible general won or lost. He pointed to the empty table next to him, indicating that they should go and gamble.

"What are you gambling?"

Xiao Duo placed the dice cup on the table: "Let's bet on big or small."

This is the simplest and easiest way to cheat at gambling. Those who like to play this are usually wealthy people who just want to have fun regardless of winning or losing.

Huang Qian, with droopy eyelids, lazily scanned Xiao Duo from head to toe, noting that he didn't look wealthy at all.
"What are you betting on?"

"I'll bet silver." Xiao Duo laid out a few pieces of silver, then magically produced a jar of wine: "You bet this."

He pays money when he loses, but drinks when he loses?

Huang Qian was puzzled and couldn't understand where this brat came from, or what he was after in this kind of gambling.

However, he was really bored at night, and he hadn't met anyone interesting in a long time, so he didn't bother to figure out what Xiao Duo's intentions were and started rolling dice with Xiao Duo.

Xiao Duo lost three games in a row, and Huang Qian laughed, "Little brother, are you here to give away money?"

"not necessarily."

Xiao Duo took the dice cup, shook it until it jingled, and got three sixes.

Huang Qian, true to his word, picked up the wine jar and gulped down a large mouthful. The wine was very strong, burning his heart and lungs with a searing pain.

Fortunately, he had a good alcohol tolerance; his head was spinning but he hadn't gotten dizzy yet.

Xiao Duo asked with a smile, "Master Qian, another round?"

"Come!"

Few people can beat Huang Qian at the gambling table, but Xiao Duo can outmaneuver him.

The wine jar was empty, and Huang Qian was drunk, but a man cannot afford to lose; face is more important than life.

He let out a hiccup, pointed to the nighttime drinking stalls outside the gambling den, and laughed:
“Let’s gamble by the wine jar… Unless you lose everything, unless I get drunk, you’re not leaving.”

Sitting at a gambling table and sitting at a liquor stall are completely different experiences. After eating a few bites of braised beef and drinking a few sips of horse urine, the two opened up and started chatting about everything under the sun.

Xiao Duo is a shrewd person; there's no man he can't talk to. After just a few words, he made Huang Qian regard him as a confidant and get all sorts of information out of him.

"Brother, you drink first." Xiao Duo laughed drunkenly, pointing to the bamboo grove outside the liquor stall:

"I'm going to use the restroom."

After saying that, he left and did not return for a long time.

Drinking alone is no fun, so Huang Qian called out a few times towards the bamboo forest, but didn't hear a response from Xiao Duo. He suspected that Xiao Duo had either been bitten by a snake and passed out, or had fallen and knocked himself unconscious. In any case, it couldn't be a good thing, so he had no choice but to go into the bamboo forest to look for him.

The night was still, the bamboo forest was dense, and the moonlight, scattered like snowflakes, fell on the ground, creating a cool and serene atmosphere.

"Little brother?"

Huang Qian's voice faded into the night wind.

But then he heard a rustling sound coming from deep within the bamboo forest, like someone crying. Huang Qian stepped inside.

Under the moonlight, by the pond, a girl in white stood with her back to Huang Qian, gazing at her reflection in the water, softly weeping and feeling sorry for herself.

A gust of wind came and stirred the jade pendant at her waist, making it ring with a clear, crisp sound.

Amidst the ringing of bells, Huang Qian seemed to have his mind captivated, and long-buried memories flooded over him. The girl before him overlapped with Xie Shu, whom he could never forget, and for no reason, his eyes welled up with tears.

"...Shu'er?"

He tried calling out, but his words seemed unable to reach the girl, so he had no choice but to walk closer and closer.

One step, two steps, three steps... so close, he trembled as he raised his hand, wanting to stroke her head as he used to, but then abruptly pulled it back.

He was afraid of shattering reality and discovering that the person in front of him was nothing more than a drunken delusion.

Suppressing his emotions, Huang Qian whispered, "I've missed you so much all these years..."

The girl replied in a sweet voice without turning her head, "Brother Qian, I miss you too."

Then she suddenly turned her head around.

The thick darkness blurred the vision, but a terrifying face could still be vaguely seen.

No eyes, no nose, covered in scars, with an expression that seemed to be both crying and laughing:
“I never betrayed you. I was forced by Zhao Si… My father openly forced me to die, but secretly dumped me on Zhao Si.”

"I've been locked in my old house all this time, living a life worse than that of pigs and dogs..."

"You have such a cruel heart... You never even thought of saving me all these years..."

Huang Qian was so frightened by that face that he was completely terrified, and the warm feeling of alcohol in his mind turned as cold as ice.

By the time he came to his senses, the terrifying-looking girl had already vanished several steps away like a ghost.

"Who are you?" Huang Qian asked.

The girl, supporting herself on the green bamboo, smiled eerily: "I'm someone who died a long time ago."

After thinking it over, Huang Qian realized that he had fallen into a trap set by someone else.

"Playing tricks," Huang Qian said coldly. "You have quite the nerve to use my loss of my wife to unsettle me!"

The girl smiled without saying a word, then turned and left, her white dress fluttering like a butterfly in the night.

A tinkling sound of bells drifted on the wind. Huang Qian hesitated for a moment, then followed the girl's retreating figure.

*
Yin Shi.

Dark clouds obscured the moon, dimming the light, with only a few stars emitting a faint glow.

Zhao Zhao, dressed in all black, moved through the night like a nimble cat.

She had a small pot in her hand, filled with oil, which was flowing out in thin streams.

The oil line gleamed slightly, flashing with a silvery light, and circled Zhao Si's house perfectly.

That's it.