Chapter 88
Translator: TrueDetective
Chapter: 88
Chapter Title: 25. Is It Okay to Gamble? Even Monks? (2)
Cheonma and I finished up our afternoon schedule and returned to the CEO's mansion.
We'd set the vacation period for the second week of October.
Cheonma, Tang Sa-cheon, and Baek Na-han would head to Shiwan Dashan.
The other Nine Factions and Eight Schools members decided to spend their break in China.
Apparently, Cheonma had promised them a tour of the Central Plains.
Anyway.
The location of Lion CEO's casino, [Shiwan Dashan], was surprisingly in Korea.
I was almost scared to imagine what kind of place it could be.
"It might be good for this seat to visit Shiwan Dashan as well..."
While I was feeding Garung, Cheonma kept muttering the same thing over and over.
After petting Garung's head as it cheerfully chomped through a raw chicken bones and all today,
I told Cheonma firmly.
"No."
"I haven't even asked you to take me yet!"
"You're just going to summon me if things go south. I'm not a portal."
Cheonma had tested the summoning incantation by traveling separately from me.
The moment we got back to the CEO's place and I uttered Cheonma's true name, it was summoned right in front of me.
At this point, there was no choice but to believe I was the summoner... but I had no idea how it was even possible. It was driving me insane.
"Why not? There's no reason the Heavenly Demon shouldn't go to Shiwan Dashan."
"You're just curious about the casino, Lord Heavenly Demon."
"That obvious?"
"You think it wouldn't be?"
"You brat! In the past, you'd have just thought it to yourself!"
Now that Cheonma knew we were life-bond mates sharing a lifeline, there was nothing to fear.
While Cheonma and I bickered, Garung finished its meal with satisfying crunches and leaped onto my lap, curling up into a ball.
Come to think of it.
"We should take Garung on vacation too."
"You're bringing this thing along?"
"If we both go on break, who's going to look after it?"
"The CEO will."
"How can I trust a guy who got his throat nearly bitten out on first sight with Garung?"
"Then this seat will take it."
"We were planning to, since we've got Na-han on our side."
Cheonma scoffed with a look of disbelief.
"After seeing Garung lick that monk's shaved head? It might end up with a real monk cut."
"In terms of raw power, our group is better suited to care for Garung than theirs."
"Hah. Fine, the monk maybe, but didn't you say you and Garung alone is a no-go?"
"Tang Sa-cheon will stick to me like glue."
And we planned to call in some outside help too.
Cheonma clicked his tongue softly.
"You... aren't you too soft on small, fragile things?"
"What about me?"
"It's truly exasperating. The righteous sects' worship of the weak..."
I was from the Shadow Gate, so calling them out as unorthodox probably wasn't the time.
These days, the "righteous sect fools" Cheonma referred to—
When they saw me, they were reminded of his late comrade.
I vaguely sensed it was the "Mount Hua Sword Saint."
That must be why Cheonma doted on Ja-ha so much too—because Ja-ha was from Mount Hua Sect.
Well... he called it doting, but he taught him demonic arts...
"I'll take you to Shiwan Dashan once things wrap up."
"When will that even be?"
"Once the Shadow Gate is established?"
Cheonma sighed and shook his head.
"Forget it. I'll give up."
A very Cheonma-like conclusion from someone who joined the Nine Factions and Eight Schools because he couldn't wait a year for a solo debut.
"But, Lord Heavenly Demon."
"What?"
"I... well, I heard from Lady Chang-hye."
That he'd lost his power and was regaining it.
That he'd massacred ten thousand righteous sect folk.
That I might be his summoner.
Cheonma had confessed all of it to me—except for one thing.
He still hadn't told me.
"Why haven't you told me I've been acupoint-sealed?"
Surely Cheonma hadn't failed to notice I was under an acupoint seal.
So why had he stayed silent all this time?
Cheonma's answer was surprisingly straightforward.
"The first time I saw you, I hadn't regained my power yet. I wasn't in a state to recognize Chang-hye's seal."
"And after you did?"
"Acupoint seals aren't something others casually undo. I just left it alone."
Cheonma crossed his arms and furrowed his brow slightly.
"You... are you interrogating this seat now?"
"I felt a bit wronged being treated like an ignorant country bumpkin."
"That's why I asked you last time. Don't you want to learn martial arts?"
So that's why he asked?
"If you really wanted to learn, I was going to force the seal open."
"You can force it open?!"
"Of course. Though there's a fifty percent chance you'd fall into qi deviation."
"...I don't want to gamble with my body."
Yeah, better leave breaking the seal to my sunbae.
Sunbae had definitely said whether he'd release my restrictions depended on what I saw at the CEO's mansion...
-If you come back having made your decision, I'll release your restraints too.
'The decision sunbae means...'
Back then, I was too shocked about being a once-in-a-century martial prodigy to ask for details.
What decision was I supposed to make?
That Cheonma wasn't the dangerous being sunbae thought he was?
Or the opposite—that I should realize Cheonma was dangerous.
"Anyway."
Cheonma, who had been gazing at me quietly, asked softly.
"Do you really have to break the seal?"
"Pardon?"
"You've come this far without a scrap of inner energy. No need to step into the jianghu now, I think."
What was this now?
Not long ago, hadn't he said he couldn't protect me forever?
"Didn't you complain about using me as a defensive whistle?"
"You're the one summoning this seat for every trivial thing."
"You know I'm always the first target."
"You've got 'hidden expert in the crowd.'"
"Even that has limits."
Cheonma raised one eyebrow and tilted his head slightly.
"Don't you think... up till now, the CEO's been lenient because you've been an ignorant country bumpkin?"
"Lenient?"
"You've poked at the CEO's secrets multiple times. He got angry each time but never harmed you directly. But if you become a jianghu person, his treatment will change. You'll have to be ready to kill or be killed. Like the others."
Suddenly, Shin Tae-eul's situation flashed through my mind.
If I started building inner energy, I'd become a potential sacrifice too.
"Then all the more reason to break the seal."
"What?"
"I can't make those kids risk their lives alone."
Cheonma's expression grew subtle.
"...You haven't forgotten you share a life with me, have you?"
"I said I'd risk it, not waste it recklessly."
"You've already used it recklessly enough. With power, you'll do it more."
"Why are you so against me learning martial arts?"
"......"
Cheonma's red eyes seemed to darken for a moment, then he muttered softly.
"...There's no guarantee you won't end up like the Sword Saint."
Was he suddenly getting anxious that I might turn out like the Mount Hua Sword Saint?
From what I'd heard so far, the Sword Saint had been quite the meddler too.
Even so.
"Lord Heavenly Demon, I'm not the same as the Sword Saint."
"This seat knows that."
"I won't end up like him. No matter the situation, I promise to prioritize my life. And it's not just mine."
"...You really mean that?"
"Yes. I swear."
I even swore, but Cheonma's face showed no emotion, just staring at me impassively.
As if he already knew such promises meant nothing.
* * *
Second week of October.
The Nine Factions and Eight Schools' public jianghu activities wrapped up.
Wi Taeksi announced a one-week summer vacation notice, and we set off on our pre-planned breaks...
「十萬大山」
"......"
I was speechless, staring up at the massive neon sign.
Following the map on Lion CEO's invitation, we'd arrived at Shiwan Dashan.
It was a grand pleasure house straight out of a wuxia novel,
but decked out with flashing lights as dazzling as Las Vegas.
Staring at the glowing red "Shiwan Dashan" sign made me exhausted instantly.
"Should we just turn back?"
"What are you saying?"
Tang Sa-cheon, his blue hair slicked back tightly, lowered his sunglasses slightly and looked at me.
"Now that we're here, we don't leave till we've doubled our capital."
No, it'd be better to buy lotto tickets and have Cheonma use void grasp to rig the numbers.
You want me to walk into a building that looks this shady from the outside?
"The place looks pretty swanky."
Saying that as he stood beside me with Na-han was Sunbae Hyeonseong.
Before heading to Shiwan Dashan, I'd asked sunbae for help.
We'd be working together in the Shadow Gate going forward,
and I figured I needed at least one proper jianghu expert for a ridiculously suspicious place like 'Shiwan Dashan.'
Sunbae agreed readily when I said Cheonma wasn't coming.
"But is it really okay for a monk to come to a place like this?"
"Past lives are just that—past. In this life, I've even committed murder, so I'm no longer a servant of Buddha."
Didn't sound right coming from someone with a mini Buddha statue in the Silver Forest and prayer beads on his wrist.
Na-han, with Garung perched on his head, met my eyes and silently pressed his palms together in greeting.
...Was it really okay to bring these two into a casino?
"Don't overthink it, hyungnim."
Tang Sa-cheon said brightly.
"This is Shiwan Dashan. We're righteous sect folk here to fleece them of their money. The Lion CEO's got our backs anyway, so we just use every bit of qi we've got—inner or not—to win big."
No, the very idea of using martial arts to cheat at gambling made us demonic cultists already.
"But do you and Na-han even know any gambling games?"
"Gambling? I play a bit of Harr× Poker."
Harr× Poker isn't gambling.
Na-han muttered softly.
"Rummy×......"
We didn't come to Shiwan Dashan to play board games.
"You, Tang Sa-cheon?"
When I asked, he chuckled as if it was a stupid question.
"Me, the Tang Clan head and genius idol hopeful, gamble? No booze, no smokes, no gambling!"
This punk?
"H-Hyungnim, calm down."
As I grabbed his collar, Tang Sa-cheon said calmly.
"Strictly speaking, we're not here to gamble—we're here to scam. You gamble, hyungnim, and we rig the outcomes."
"You think I've gambled before?"
At best, mahjong.
Even that, I only learned for schmoozing clients because the cult CEO occasionally gathered mahjong buddies.
"Mahjong's plenty. We'll peek at their tiles and transmit tips via sound projection. And if things go south..."
"If they do?"
"We flip the table and run."
"You're really a righteous sect idol hopeful?"
"Hyungnim, righteous or unorthodox, jianghu folk are just strong thugs."
Sunbae and Na-han didn't contradict him, which scared me a bit.
"Anyway, let's head in. How bad can a casino be?"
Fair enough, but...
With an inexplicable unease, the moment we entered Shiwan Dashan, the first thing I saw was.
[General Public Casino →]
[← Jianghu Exclusive Casino]
[*Detected using general casino as jianghu folk: Hands chopped off.]
...What the hell is this?