Chapter 211
Chapter 211
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Translator: Ace
Chapter: 211
Chapter Title: Careful for a Lifetime
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Many of the dealers in the gambling house looked human on the outside, but their souls were bizarre and varied.
Chen Shi spotted the dealer at the next gambling table—a chicken-headed man in turquoise robes embroidered with red-and-yellow peonies.
Behind the chicken-headed man's head trailed the long tail feathers of a rooster, draping down his back almost to the floor.
He moved to another table, where the dealer resembled a heavenly moth, with gray fuzzy antennae fanning out from its small, fluffy head. It wore a gray-black Daoist robe with golden lapels embroidered in red thread with the five poisons.
Two pairs of white wings sprouted from its back—humanlike, yet not quite.
"Would the chicken demon lose control, driven by instinct, and devour the moth demon?"
The thought suddenly popped into Chen Shi's mind.
At yet another table, the dealer had a snake for a head and wore a robe bursting with festive floral patterns.
That was the norm for the dealers in this gambling house.
The gamblers crowding around the tables seemed oblivious to these monstrous oddities as they placed their bets, the atmosphere electric with excitement.
Weaving through Happy Forest were gamblers and scantily clad girls in revealing outfits—as if they couldn't afford proper clothes—mere silk veils barely covering their private parts. Sometimes they joined in the betting to liven things up; other times, they cheered on the gamblers, shouting as if to boost their luck.
When a gambler won, some tossed them bits of loose silver. Others, overcome with lust, dragged a girl off to one of Happy Forest's private rooms.
The girls emerged with money in hand, betting more feverishly than the gamblers themselves.
Losers who ran out of cash got hauled away to have fingers or hands chopped off. Chen Shi saw plenty of gamblers betting with missing fingers; some had stumps at the wrist.
In the dim corners of Happy Forest, men sold their wives, shoving them toward the guards and snatching up the silver with glee before entering the gambling house. "Wait for me, wife—I'll win big and buy you back!"
Happy Forest also had private rooms like pawnshops. If you lost everything on you, you could hock property, land, jewelry, gems—or in a pinch, drag in your kids. The pawnbrokers took it all.
Somehow, everything got sold off.
At night, desires here swelled to their utmost. Everyone became a slave to their cravings, controlled and dominated by them.
Chen Shi threaded through the crowd, a tiny puppet automaton—no bigger than an ant, yet fully equipped with organs—tucked in his ear. It spoke to him. "True King, have you noticed the purple-robed figure over there?"
Chen Shi glanced over and sure enough, spotted a purple-robed person in the corner.
"Every hall has one of these—called fortune masters."
The puppet automaton was Situ Wen. He'd rushed off to Gongzhou but used the puppet to cast a spell, allowing communication across hundreds of li.
The Luban School's spells were extraordinarily unique. Situ Wen could control three hundred and sixty puppet automata simultaneously, maintaining three hundred and sixty viewpoints without confusion. That made him the first in Yudu to track down Chen Shi.
"Fortune masters shave away gamblers' luck.
Some gamblers get streaks of purple air crowning their heads—too lucky. They shave it down so the house doesn't lose too much.
Others bring ghosts or gods in hopes of winning big. The fortune masters quietly drive them off or destroy them.
Situ Wen was clearly a regular, rattling off details like an old hand. "Groups of gamblers pooling their luck to cheat the house also get dismantled."
Chen Shi said, "With so many experts and such tight security, how do gamblers ever win?"
Situ Wen spoke through the puppet. "It's all about playing the fool. There are always fools who believe gambling can change their fate. Godhand Du's here!"
Chen Shi started to turn, but Situ Wen's voice grew tense. "Don't look around! Everyone in Yudu City is hunting you. Show yourself, and you'll be swarmed! Head to the left table, pretend to bet, and glance right. You'll see Godhand Du and his Eight Great Vajras. All Nascent Soul Realm experts!"
Chen Shi did as told, pulling out a few taels of silver to bet while eyeing right. Sure enough, a lavish carriage drawn by two white rhinos waited outside the main hall.
Eight burly men in black stood guard around it. One lifted the curtain, and a noble-looking man stepped down.
In his forties or fifties, the man wore dazzling golden robes—woven from gold thread!
"That golden-thread robe is a treasure, not just pricey but incredibly defensive—a talisman soldier, etched with tiny runes along every thread."
Situ Wen whispered, "It can block a strike from a Soul Transformation expert! Godhand Du himself is formidable, no weaker than me—but he's paranoid, scared to death of dying.
High cultivation or not, he keeps the Eight Great Vajras around to guard against ambushes.
They're no pushovers either."
Chen Shi stole a quick glance before looking away. The eight black-clad guards were identical: same height, a head taller than average, powerfully built, muscles perfectly toned without an ounce of flab.
Full beards, sleeveless black vests over square-jawed faces, black pants tapering to ankles.
Before Godhand Du entered, two Vajras took posts by the doors outside, two more inside.
The four summoned their Nascent Souls, force fields spreading silently.
The outer pair scanned outside; the inner pair eyed the hall.
The other four ringed Godhand Du, escorting him inside.
Each had soul anomalies behind them. Revived from death, Chen Shi could pierce spiritual veils—and what he saw were eight fiery-red giant centipedes clinging to their backs.
The centipedes' heads overlapped theirs, bodies trailing down their spines, half dragging on the ground they were so huge.
As the Vajras moved, the centipedes' ground-dragging legs stepped along.
But the legs on their bodies gripped tight, unmoving.
Keeping Godhand Du in his peripheral vision, Chen Shi bet casually, win or lose.
Godhand Du had the same freakish anomaly as the other dealers, but his soul was a fat white grub with thick black bristles on its back—sharp and needlelike—like a massive caterpillar.
Its head was oily green with a central seam, huge eyes taking up most of it, compound grids reflecting everything around in hundreds of facets.
Below the eyes: jaws bigger than a man's head, lined with serrations.
Segmented limbs, each with chubby little arms on both sides—thirty-odd segments.
It perched on Godhand Du's back, poking its pudgy arms from the golden sleeves, comical in the extreme.
"Don't stare at him!"
The puppet in Chen Shi's ear buzzed urgently. "Godhand Du's eyes are razor-sharp—nothing escapes them!"
Chen Shi whispered, "Why not just go kill him?"
Situ Wen sputtered in frustration.
"You kill him? How? With this crowd and the Vajras? Everyone in this hall would get pulverized by your Golden Core force field... You won—grab the money, don't act green."
Chen Shi pocketed his winnings. Spotting Godhand Du approaching, his heart pounded. He whispered, "He's getting closer—almost two zhang away! I could take him in one move!"
Situ Wen snapped, "Calm... down...
He caught himself—heavenly artisan or not, Chen Shi was True King. The word died unspoken. "True King, don't do anything stupid! You're still Golden Core—you can't bust through four Vajras and kill him in one go! Wait!"
Chen Shi tossed his fresh winnings back out, still on nine.
Godhand Du approached, pausing at each table to check earnings.
He'd murmur to the dealer, clap a shoulder—or summon a replacement if they were losing.
Now he was just one table away from Chen Shi!
Two zhang and four chi—Chen Shi could lunge there in an instant with a thigh-powered burst.
His hand shook as he stared at the table. Situ Wen said, "True King, your hand's trembling—calm down... You won again—grab it!"
The chicken-headed dealer used a wooden stick to push the silver toward Chen Shi—two straight wins.
A small pile now, over a hundred taels.
It was a number game: table etched with 3 through 18. Hit the number, six-to-one payout.
Chen Shi had bet on nine twice—both times two-twos and a five for nine points. Three taels became one hundred eight.
Eyes locked on Godhand Du, Chen Shi shoved the whole pile onto nine again.
The table erupted. Six hundred-plus taels if it hit again—not chump change in Happy Forest!
The dice-shaking dealer felt the pressure, glancing desperately at the purple-robed fortune master in the corner—slash this kid's luck!
The fortune master sensed it, rose, and approached to gauge Chen Shi's fortune.
Godhand Du turned, intrigued—but gamblers blocked the view of Chen Shi in the crush.
"Open it! Open it! Open it!"
The gamblers were more hyped than Chen Shi, eyes glued to the dice cup.
The chicken-headed demon gripped it, hand quivering, then flipped it.
One, three, five.
Nine again.
The dealer wiped sweat from his brow, exchanging Chen Shi's silver for six hundred-tael notes, four ten-tael ingots, and eight taels loose.
Chen Shi pocketed a few loose taels, then—mimicking the big shots—stuffed them into the cleavage of a nearby barely dressed girl. The rest—notes and all—went onto nine.
Chaos. Gamblers swarmed the table.
Godhand Du frowned slightly. This usually signaled the house priming a big poison pill—a super-lucky mark.
But even the best luck ran dry eventually.
Unfazed, he headed for Chen Shi's table.
Chen Shi's eyes bulged—one zhang!
Godhand Du was one zhang away!
"Open it! Open it! Open it!"
The gamblers were frenzied.
Chen Shi clenched his fists, eyes saucer-wide. Too close—way too close!
Godhand Du was inside one zhang!
In his ear, the tiny puppet—Situ Wen fighting excitement—said,
"Too many people—not the time! True King, win this and ghost without facing him—take the money and go!"
"Open it! Open it! Open it!" The gamblers roared.
The chicken-headed dealer seized the cup, gritted his beak, and slammed it open!
He peeked inside, shuddered, and screeched, "Two, four, four! Ten! It's ten—not nine!"
"Aw..."
The crowd scattered like thunder, fleeing to other tables.
The jam bumped Godhand Du.
The four Vajras shoved them back—guests or not, no touching the boss—but there were too many.
Some lingered, hoping to ride Chen Shi's luck. The girl with silver in her bosom yanked it out, slammed it down, pupils dilated with thrill.
"On nine!"
Chen Shi edged outward with the crowd. Situ Wen urged, "Get out—we'll get another shot!"
He slipped past one Vajra under its arm, spun, left fist whipping into Godhand Du's occiput!
The jade pillow acupoint at the base of the skull—gateway for the Divine Shrine to exit the body. Seal it, and the shrine and Divine Embryo stay trapped.
Chen Shi's whip fist connected, then he ducked under another Vajra's arm and strode for the exit.
Passing the doors, the four Vajra guards' eyes locked on—surprise, then shock. They'd recognized him.
Chen Shi saw it in their stares—busted. He stepped out.
Situ Wen's voice:
"Good—move fast! I know Godhand Du has a mistress. When he's bedding her, the Vajras won't hover.
Hide under the bed first."
Chen Shi shook his head. "Artisan, Godhand Du's already dead."
"Dead?"
Situ Wen froze. "When?"
"Just now."
Chen Shi vanished into the night in a few strides.
Two Vajras pursued, Nascent Souls out, divine beams sweeping like pillars.
The other two rushed inside to Godhand Du.
He stood smiling, hand rising to his occiput.
Something had smacked the back of his head.
He felt soft skull there.
Shock hit. "Careful my whole life... still got got."
His occiput looked intact—but every bone there was pulverized, brains and divine intent and Divine Embryo all smashed to paste by Chen Shi's turning whip fist!
Smile frozen, Godhand Du's corpse toppled forward.