Taichu Yandao: Starting from the Villain

In the noisy gambling hall, Zhao Rui looked around and wanted to find Shen Chenqing again, but finally shook his head, turned and walked towards a dark room.

The door to the dark room was not big, with a palm-wide grey curtain hanging above it. If one did not know about it in advance, it would be easily overlooked.

Zhao Rui lifted the curtain, walked into the dark room, and sat directly on the official hat chair in front of the desk.

Across from him, a monk in a blue shirt and a pair of half-round glasses on his right eye smiled as soon as he saw Zhao Rui enter the room and asked:

"Friend Zhao, what are you going to come up with this time?"

Zhao Rui took out a brocade bag from his waist and threw it on the desk.

"Are the purple gold beads again? Could it be that fellow Daoist has pried out all the mother-of-pearls in the East China Sea?" said the monk with glasses.

"Fellow Daoist Song, please make an offer!"

"I'm not trying to lower the price. It's just that you've sold too many purple gold beads in the past few months. For these few beads, I can only offer 350 yuan."

Zhao Rui glared at him and said, "Fellow Daoist Song, you are going too far. You always reduced the price by ten yuan before, why did you reduce it by fifty yuan this time?"

"Friend Zhao, there is no demand! The goods we have now are enough to sell for ten years! If you were not an old customer, we would not accept it."

Zhao Rui looked helpless, but then he took out two more bags and said, "I still have this much left, 350 yuan, you can take them all!"

The monk surnamed Song's face jumped and he said, "That's impossible. We can't eat it all. If there is a shell tide in a few years, the purple gold beads will flood. These are all loss-making businesses."

"You've already collected so many, so you can take a few more. Please help me!"

The monk named Song adjusted his monocle and said nothing.

The two of them were in a stalemate for a moment, and then the monk surnamed Song said, "I want to ask the higher-ups, please wait a moment."

Zhao Rui nodded quickly and waved to signal the other party to hurry up.

The monk surnamed Song immediately stood up and disappeared behind the screen.

After a while, the monk surnamed Song came out with a professional smile on his face, and said, "Fellow Daoist Zhao, good news, we have accepted your purple gold bead, but this is the last price we will offer."

Zhao Rui's face lit up and he said, "Don't worry, I don't have any purple gold beads anymore."

After handing over the spirit stone, Zhao Rui felt refreshed. He took eight-character steps and returned to the gambling hall again.

This time, he observed for a long time and finally walked towards a gambling table called Piao Sanye.

On the table, the chips in the jackpot area were piled high, and on the scroll suspended above were written four big red characters in regular script: eight, two, four, seven.

Zhao Rui arrived at the gambling table and just as he moved his chair away, he heard a voice saying, "Amitabha, isn't this Brother Zhao?"

The person who was speaking was skinny, with inch-long hair as thin as steel needles, and his face was covered in grease. It seemed he hadn't washed it in some time.

Seeing that Zhao Rui's chair was facing outside, he took the initiative to move to the middle to make some space.

"Thank you, thank you." Zhao Rui sat down and said, "I was thinking that the back figure looked familiar. It turned out to be Master Jiujie. Have you returned to secular life?"

"Don't joke, benefactor. I am devoted to Buddhism, so how can I return to secular life?"

"What about your hairstyle?"

"All appearances are false..." Master Jiujie said with a pious look on his face, but he smiled halfway through his words:

"I've been lucky lately, and I forgot about the money I won. What a sin! What a sin!"

Zhao Rui smiled knowingly and said, "I understand! I understand! But didn't the master say to stop gambling last time?"

"Alas, I am afraid that I will not be able to escape this disaster in this life. If I really understand it, I will not be called Jiujie anymore."

"What's that called?"

"Bajie."

Opposite Zhao Rui, an old man with a haggard face burst into laughter, and his saliva sprayed onto the table, leaving several dark saliva marks.

Master Jiujie looked puzzled and turned to ask, "Fellow Daoist Wanshou, are you making fun of me?"

Zhao Rui recognized the old man, having run into him several times before, but he never knew his name, so he said, "Oh! What a coincidence that Senior Wan is here today."

The old man looked unkind and said, "Are you wondering why I am not dead yet? My last name is Long, not Wan."

"What were you laughing at just now, Fellow Daoist Wanshou?" Master Jiujie asked again.

Long Wanshou ignored him and looked at the dealer and said, "Hurry up and deal the cards. We are in a hurry to make some money!"

Being ignored again, Monk Jiujie was not angry. He acted as if nothing had happened and took out a five-dollar chip to place a bet.

The gambling game started quickly, and the three of them were soon immersed in it, their eyes fixed only on the ever-changing cards.

About two hours later, the three had just finished a game and a young man sat down in the middle.

The young man was wearing a coarse cloth, but his headband was made of natural silk. Although his face was dirty, his eyes were sharp and full of confidence.

After he sat down, he put his hand on the gambling table, revealing a pile of black chips, and asked, "How do you play this?"

The dealer smiled and explained, "Our way of playing is called floating three leaves, also known as exploding three cards. You, the VIP, only need to have a bigger stool than the dealer to win..."

"That's interesting, let's get started!" The young man took out a piece of black chips and slapped it on the table.

The dealer's fifteen-degree smile increased by five degrees, and his hands moved quickly and skillfully to deal the cards.

At this time, the young man clasped his fists to the left and right and said, "Dear fellow Taoists, my name is Qu Jiangtian. I am new here. Please give me your guidance."

"A greenhorn... you could use some luck." Zhao Rui clasped his fists and said, "Nice to meet you! Nice to meet you!"

Master Jiujie chanted a Buddhist name and said, "Amitabha, young man, gambling is not a good thing. I advise you to focus more on cultivation."

Qu Jiangtian nodded and said, "Hey! I just encountered a bottleneck in my practice, so I followed my master's order and went down the mountain to gain some experience."

Master Jiujie was full of doubt and asked, "According to your Taoist teachings, the third level of Qi training is considered as not yet at the beginning, so how can there be a bottleneck?"

Qu Jiangtian was full of surprise and asked, "Master, do you think I am only at the third level of Qi training? I heard that you Buddhists are the best at dispelling illusions."

"Does he mean to hide his strength?" Master Jiujie was shocked and closed his eyes to feel it carefully.

However, no matter how hard he tried, the people in front of him were only at the third level of Qi training.

Qu Jiangtian was very proud, and suddenly he released his aura, bursting out with the aura of great perfection in Qi training.

He controlled the scope very well, and only a few people on the surface knew about it.

"Amitabha! I didn't expect that you, at such a young age, have reached such a state."

Zhao Rui was sitting nearby, also looking surprised.

This young boy is only fifteen or sixteen at most, but he has already cultivated Qi to the great perfection!

This must be the so-called genius of the sect!

Would such a person with a deep background know the news of Tianqing Sect?