Episode 1018 What did you say just now? (3)
Sangyucheondang hayusohang (上有天堂 下有蘇杭). There is heaven above, and on earth there are Suzhou and Hangzhou.
Hangzhou is a city that deserves to be called heaven on earth with its beautiful scenery. However, the true value of Hangzhou is revealed after the sun, which illuminated the beautiful scenery, disappears behind the West Mountain.
Night city.
When the five-colored lanterns hung on every street light up the darkness, the splendid night of Hangzhou, which is said to be home to all the joys of the world, begins.
The loud voices of those filling the bases.
The sound of laughter from people flocking to street stalls on every street.
A place where the sound of a courtesan riding a geum (琴) and the sound of a beautiful song mix together somewhere there.
That place is Hangzhou.
But the world is not always what it seems on the outside.
When you enter the small alley next to the large, splendid main street, the world that was as bright as day quietly disappears, and only a dark and proud Soro greets you.
It’s a completely different world just a few steps away. Even those with strong bones in Hangzhou, even government soldiers, would not dare to enter there without some level of preparation.
The first thing you see when entering that alley is people with dangerous looks in their eyes, gathered in groups of twos and threes, puffing away at something.
Bright light creates just as deep darkness.
Of course, Hangzhou’s night streets, the most colorful in the world, have a darker side than any other city.
As you go further along the alley, small doors that would never be noticeable from the outside appear.
When you pass through the people standing guard and enter the door, you can see them filling the room with unidentifiable thick smoke.
A musty smell that makes your bones ache and your face distort, and a scorching heat that causes a subtle discomfort. A place where shouts filled with anger and despair coexist with cheers like firecrackers containing all the joy in the world.
This is Hangzhou’s gambling place.
Five men were sitting in the center of Hwanheewon, which had the highest stakes among the gambling halls in Hangzhou.
Percussion!
The man who threw away the goal card smiled triumphantly.
“I won.”
“Damn it.”
“It’s all being swept away.”
The man stretched out his hand and swept up all the hermits piled on the board and pulled them in front of him.
“I guess I’m lucky today.”
“…You can enjoy it to your heart’s content, because when you leave, you will have to leave empty-handed.”
“It would be nice if I could at least take that head with me. is not it?”
Threatening words poured out, but the man didn’t care one bit. No one is allowed to use violence within the gambling hall. That was the principle of the dark ghost who ran this Hwanheewon.
Even the infamous Madou of Sapa, a high-ranking official who visits while hiding his identity, and even the merchant’s boss who dresses up in a long robe to kill time, do not violate this principle.
If there is someone who breaks the principles, it is a dark evil that will chase them to the end of hell and rip off their skin and kill them.
The corner of the man’s mouth twitched as he looked at the hermits piled up so much that he couldn’t even think of organizing them.
Those who wander the gambling scene know the physiology of gambling better than anyone else. There is no such thing as a permanent winner in a gambling game. These hermits, now piled high, could all disappear from his grasp in just one turn.
Those who know this, but cannot forget the pleasure of a single victory, are risking everything they have here and risking everything they have.
But….
“Cluck-cluck-cluck.”
A bitter laugh leaked from the man’s mouth once again.
Even in such gambling circles, there are times when absolute victory is guaranteed. This is the situation where a rich kid who doesn’t even know what gambling is gets involved in the game.
The man glanced up and saw the person sitting across from him.
A red-hot long gun that looks ominous at first glance. Her long hair, which looks like it has never been combed properly, is loose and messy, and her lips that can be seen under the hair that covers half of her face are so dry that they are cracked.
Although it had a strangely creepy appearance, the man did not feel any threat from the person sitting in front of him.
‘Stupid brat.’
It was clear that Naburangi, a wandering ronin, had come to gamble with the money he had saved. Judging by his calm appearance, he seems to have some skills for a wandering romantic, but that’s okay.
Whether you are a skilled ronin or a world-renowned expert, you cannot dare to cause trouble in this Hwanheewon managed by the Black Ghost. If you do that, you will be a cold corpse before you can even raise your voice properly, rotting somewhere in the back alleys of Hangzhou.
No, even if you don’t have the protection of the Black Ghost, it’s the same.
Because a man is a person who does not need help from others.
Because he is the third master of the Hangzhou Branch of the Black Demon. This is because it is Chae-gyu (蔡揆) with a black heart.
“Now, if you want to get back the money you lost, let’s start the next round.”
“Tsk.”
The men each threw five pieces of silver that had been placed in front of them into the center of the round table. Chae-gyu, who won, started collecting the cards and shuffling them.
“hey. “Three continents.”
The person sitting next to him asked awkwardly.
“What do the superiors plan to do?”
“what?”
“I mean the Yangtze River, the Yangtze River.”
Instead of answering, the man asked for a tobacco pipe with a confused look on his face. White smoke continued to pour out of his mouth.
“Ryeonju… No, Jang Ilso, are you going to keep watching while that guy is doing that?”
“Why are you asking me that? “What does a single owner know?”
“But you probably know more than me.”
“Fuck that bullshit. “It’s a shame to bring an outside story into the sacred board.”
“Tsk.”
The man leaned back in his chair with a disapproving look on his face. Only the smoke flowing from the bamboo stick he was smoking was scattered in a hazy haze.
“Now take the card.”
Wow.
Chae-gyu, who divided the cards, turned over one of the goal cards in the center.
“It’s the opposite.”
Those sitting at the round table exchanged cards. There was a moderate battle of wits and subtle tension arose. Chae-gyu picked up a handful of silver beans in front of him and threw them into the center.
“Ten nyang.”
“Fuck… it’s coming out so hard. “I’m dead.”
“I’m following.”
Then Chae-gyu’s eyes turned to the ronin sitting across from him. The ronin, who seemed to be slightly worried about his hand, nodded slightly and pushed all the eunja in front of him forward.
Drurr.
Chae-gyu’s eyes were stained with greed as he looked at the hermits piled up in the center. The money collected here alone would be enough to cover his salary for a year.
“I’m afraid you’ll lose.”
“I am three.”
The man sitting to his left opened the card with slightly trembling hands. The ronin across from me also slowly turned over his hand.
“Four (四).”
As the ronin’s hand headed towards the pile of silver stones in the center, Chae-gyu reached out and grabbed his hand.
“….”
“You’re hasty.”
Chae-gyu tapped his hand with his free hand. The hand that went over is 5. It was Chae-gyu’s victory.
“Hahaha. “I’m sorry about this, what should I do, bro?”
Chae-gyu swept all the hermits in front of him.
“I think I won quite a bit at first.”
“It’s all like gambling.”
“Even if you do this, it’s a gamble to lose in one go.”
Those sitting on the left and right spoke grumpily. Chae-gyu quickly organized the goal cards again and threw five nyangs into the center again.
Chop rock. Chop rock.
Hermits flew in from left and right, but the hand of the ronin sitting across from him did not move.
“…What, bro, did you run out of money?”
“Then you should get up. “There are a lot of people waiting for a seat to become available.”
The tip of the ronin’s chin moved slightly. In Chae-gyu’s eyes, it seemed as if he could see the distorted eyes of a ronin under the covered hair.
The ronin was silent for a moment, then slowly put his hand into my arms. Chae-gyu’s eyes narrowed when he saw that.
‘This bastard?’
It was a moment when he thought he was going to cause trouble and was trying to cheer himself up.
chin!
Suddenly, the wad of paper that the ronin took out from his pocket fell in the center of the round table.
“…what’s this?”
“It looks like a slip?”
“chit? The slip is so yellow. It seems like it’s been several decades…”
“How much is it all? how?”
As Chae-gyu looked with bewildered eyes, the ronin’s dark lips slowly opened.
“Can I use it as stake?”
“…wait.”
Chae-gyu briefly asked for understanding and raised his voice.
“Hey rat!”
As soon as those words were out, the rat-faced man who had been snooping around and managing the board came running towards Chae-gyu.
“What’s going on, sir?”
“Look at that. “Can that voucher be exchanged?”
“A slip? “It’s a slip…”
The rat-faced man quickly checked the slip on the round table and slightly raised his narrow eyes.
“It’s a continental gold medal. But it’s been over 100 years since it was published…”
“Is it okay or not?”
“Of course you can. However, we cannot give you full price. “We also have to sell our jobs, so I’ll give it to you.”
Chae-gyu gestured to the ronin.
“I heard that’s true?”
The ronin slightly nodded as if it didn’t matter.
Chae-gyu was strangely uncomfortable with his reaction, as he couldn’t understand his emotions, but he tried to ignore it.
“Then I will exchange you for a hermit. “I think this might be a bit much.”
“no.”
At that time, for the first time, negative words came out of the Ronin’s mouth.
“yes? No matter what the problem is….”
“Let’s do it with silver wonbo (銀元寶).”
“Uh, do you mean Eunwonbo?”
The man nodded slowly. And then he slowly raised his head and looked at Chae-gyu.
“Raise the stakes.”
“…One silver cloth?”
“okay.”
One piece of silver is worth 50 nyang of silver. This guy has just raised the stake fifty times in an instant. Normally, it would not have been a situation where even Chae-gyu would have intervened.
But now Chae-gyu’s eyes showed a greed that could not be hidden.
‘It looks like this rogue guy has gone somewhere. ‘You crawled in here like a bastard.’
This is a place where only the worst people in Hangzhou gather. It’s not a big deal to rob a kid who doesn’t even know what a goal card is. Gambling with luck could be risky, but this was a game in which luck had no room to intervene.
“You seem to have a temper tantrum. good! “I also exchange everything I win for silver wonbo.”
“…the board is getting too big. “I don’t have enough money.”
“I’ll lend it to you, so don’t think about running away.”
“Shit. “If you don’t get robbed to the core, you’re about to end up mortgaging your life.”
His colleagues sitting on his left and right also subtly kept pace with each other, showing great restraint. Who would turn down a chance to win that much money?
Those who were filled with greed pulled their chairs closer and sat down. As the stake changed to silver won, the people whose eyes quickly became sinister began to mix up their cards.
In this extremely gloomy gambling scene, only the ronin wearing a red long robe was watching everyone with indifferent eyes, unchanged from the beginning.
Despair, joy, fear and joy. At the end of royalties, where all those emotions are mixed and swirling.
