Chapter 6

Passing through the dim and narrow passageway, the sudden fragrance of flowers wafted through the air.

Yun Miao looked up in surprise, and fragments of golden light cascaded onto her outstretched fingertips.

In the darkness, a vast and open expanse suddenly unfolded. Countless golden particles descended from a single point in the sky, carrying an overwhelming floral aroma, like a gentle golden rain.

At the end of the narrow passage stood a gambling house, bustling with people and filled with an unbelievable sense of prosperity.

Everywhere one looked, there were fragrant flowers, strong liquor, gambling tables, and piles of chips stacked like small mountains. Drunken revelers and frenzied gamblers clinked their glasses in laughter, spilling the rich and heady wine onto the ground like splashes of light.

Amidst the decayed and filthy cluster of deformed buildings, such a place of extravagant indulgence was hidden.

The entire gambling house was vast and luxurious, with vibrant silks hanging from the beams. The embellishments on the gauzy fabrics were made of genuine gold leaf, which occasionally shed glittering flakes that mingled with the floral fragrance, turning into golden rain falling overhead.

Mad gamblers laughed wildly as they pushed forward massive wagers.

“Place your bets! Place your bets!” The hoarse voice of a small, elderly dealer called out.

“Big! Big! Big!” A group of people crowded around the gambling table and shouted.

“Small! Small! Small!” Another group hollered at the same time.

Yun Miao, astonished, looked around at the unbelievable sights. Beside her, Xie Zhiyuan chuckled softly and leaned in to whisper in her ear, “Don’t look so surprised. Here, you need to act as if you’re above it all.”

He seemed well-versed in the ways of this place, casually pulling a piece of silver from his sleeve and placing it in the hand of a servant at the entrance. The servant then led them deeper into the gambling house.

“This is the largest gambling house in Chang’an. It has no official name, but because it’s located beneath the Hundred Ghosts Market, people here simply call it the Hundred Ghosts Gambling House. It’s even bigger than the one near the Drum Tower in the West Market because the stakes here are much higher.”

Xie Zhiyuan explained in a low voice to Yun Miao, “The people who come here to gamble are all desperate souls. They’re gambling with ill-gotten gains, so losing everything doesn’t bother them.”

“If they lose until they have nothing left, they’ll just lie in the snow until they freeze to death. It doesn’t matter.”

He glanced downward, smiling faintly as if speaking to himself, “No one cares about the life or death of a lowly outcast.”

Yun Miao looked up at the decorations on the gauzy fabrics hanging from the beams. “Is that real gold leaf?”

“It is,” Xie Zhiyuan answered.

“Doesn’t anyone take it?” Yun Miao felt that the gold leaf was within arm’s reach.

“No one dares. The rules here are strict.”

After a pause, he added indifferently, “If you break the rules…”

“…you’ll die.”

Yun Miao shivered quietly.

“What would you like to play, dear guest?”

At a long table at the far end of the gambling house, a white-haired dealer rubbed his hands together and looked up with a welcoming smile.

He had already sized up the two guests’ attire.

The young man walking ahead wore an opulent robe of brocade with wide sleeves, and the white jade ornaments in his hair looked worth a fortune.

The beautiful girl following behind him was dressed in a luxurious roquin, her exposed face delicate and fair as jade—clearly a girl nurtured in wealth and luxury.

Such guests were the most favored by dealers at the Hundred Ghosts Gambling House.

Young aristocrats like these spent money lavishly, tossing gold on the gambling tables with a wave of their hands. Each loss would allow the house to rake in unimaginable profits.

“Boju.” The guest answered, pushing forward a jade token.

Boju was a complex gambling game where players used six chopsticks and twelve game pieces to compete. It was popular among the nobility.

In the underground gambling house of the Hundred Ghosts, however, the rules had been simplified. Players used only three chopsticks and six pieces, making the games faster, with winnings and losses flowing like water.

“What’s the wager?” The white-haired dealer asked with a smile.

“Banknotes.” The young man across the table smiled.

A servant took a stack of banknotes from the young man’s hand and handed them to the dealer with a bow.

The dealer glanced at the notes, and his expression changed. He looked up and asked in a low voice, “A thousand-tael banknote per game?”

“No,” the young man replied. “Ten thousand.”

“…Ten thousand taels per game?” The dealer licked his lips.

He was both greedy and nervous. Ten thousand taels per game—losing ten games would equal a year’s worth of income for this table alone.

But he had no choice. The rules of the Hundred Ghosts Gambling House allowed no refusals, whether the wager was a single note, a leg, an eye…or even a life.

Suppressing the pounding of his heart, the white-haired dealer waved his sleeve to unveil a board painted in blue and white, bowing as he gestured toward the young man, “Please, dear guest.”

The young man hesitated, then shook his head with a smile.

“I’m not the one gambling,” he said, suddenly pushing the girl behind him to the table. “She is.”

“…Her?” The dealer was momentarily stunned, looking at the girl across the table. With her innocent and gentle face, she didn’t seem to even know the rules of gambling.

“Is that not allowed?” Xie Zhiyuan asked.

“Of course, it’s allowed!” The dealer quickly nodded.

Yun Miao, bewildered, was pushed to the table and handed a blue game piece. She looked up in confusion, only to hear the young man whisper in her ear, “Don’t be afraid. I’ll teach you.”

“What if I lose?” Yun Miao whispered nervously.

“Then you lose,” Xie Zhiyuan said with a chuckle, gently guiding her hand to hold the piece. “But with me here, you won’t lose.”

The three chopsticks stacked together fell with a crisp sound. Six pieces landed on the board, the dealer playing white and the guest playing blue. The game officially began.

Because the wager was so large, a curious crowd soon gathered around.

At the table, the girl in her elegant ruqun held the piece with a serious but slightly puzzled expression, while the young man behind her leaned close, whispering strategies by her ear. A strand of hair fell over his brow, obscuring his lowered gaze.

“Into the water,” someone in the crowd called out a move.

“Hook the fish!” another shouted, clapping.

“…The valiant piece!” Moments later, the crowd erupted, “She won!”

Yun Miao blinked in surprise. She had won.

The victory had been unexpectedly easy. She quickly grasped the rules of the game, and Xie Zhiyuan’s quiet guidance ensured each of her moves was precise. Moreover, her luck was exceptional that day, consistently rolling favorable outcomes.

“Still ten banknotes for the next game?” The dealer asked hoarsely, licking his dry lips.

He was uneasy. Losing one game had already cost him a tenth of the table’s income. A few more losses, and he’d be packing up for good.

“No,” the young man across the table smiled.

The dealer breathed a sigh of relief, thinking the wager would decrease, only to hear the young man say with a smile, “One hundred notes.”

A hundred banknotes equaled ten thousand taels of gold.

The dealer audibly gasped, and the surrounding crowd let out a collective roar.

“One hundred is still too little…” The young man’s smile turned merciless, as if genuinely considering his next move. After a moment, he said casually, “Make it a thousand notes. Let’s finish this in one round.”

A thousand banknotes—one hundred thousand taels of gold.

That was enough to purchase the entire gambling house.

The surrounding crowd erupted in cheers, slamming their tables loudly. A few armed retainers exchanged glances and began to close in slowly. This was a signal: the bet was lost, and the player was expected to pay the wagered amount.

“Xie Zhiyuan…”

Yun Miao, still clutching a chopstick in her hand, turned around in a panic. “What should I do? I… I lost you…”

The boy beside her, however, merely laughed as if it were nothing.

He raised his hand, gently patting her on the top of her head, leaned closer to her ear, and whispered, “Don’t worry. You could never lose me.”

“May I trouble this young gentleman to fulfill his pledge?” the hoarse-voiced dealer said.

“Alright.” The boy across the table raised his head. “I want to meet the owner of this establishment.”

The dealer hesitated for a moment. Ten thousand taels of gold was indeed a large enough sum to warrant a face-to-face handover with the boss. Besides, the boss seemed to have quite an interest in this young man.

The dealer stood up and gave a deep bow. “Please, follow me.”

Xie Zhiyuan rose to his feet, with Yun Miao trailing closely behind him.

As they walked past the curtain, Yun Miao suddenly felt the boy beside her lightly flick her hair.

A faint, almost inaudible whisper reached her ear, “Remember what I said… no matter what happens, don’t be afraid.”

At the same time, the dealer halted, bowing respectfully to a figure deep within the curtain. “My lord, the master of the house…”

From behind the veil, the master of the Hundred Ghosts Gambling House appeared, gently lifting the sheer fabric as he stepped forward.

It was a man—or perhaps, someone with features so androgynous that it was difficult to tell. His face was pale and delicate, his eyebrows striking, his eyes enchanting, and his frame was alarmingly tall yet ghostly thin.

A servant led the two young guests to a table and offered them wine in exquisite jade cups rimmed with gold.

The girl in the skirt sat quietly, holding her wine cup obediently. Beside her, the boy in the brocade robe casually swirled the wine in his cup but did not drink. He simply smiled faintly.

The master of the gambling house noticed him and offered a gentle smile, bowing slightly. “Your Highness, the Third Prince.”

“I never expected a distinguished guest like Your Highness to visit my humble gambling house,” he said, pulling a jade token from his sleeve and tossing it lightly toward the boy. “This lowly place is honored beyond measure.”

It turned out that when Xie Zhiyuan had the dealer summon the master, it was to present this very token.

The jade token bore the royal emblem, with the character “Yuan” engraved in the lower left corner, signifying the Third Prince’s authority. He had been able to wager himself because he had revealed his true identity to the gambling house master. After all, a prince was worth more than ten thousand taels of gold.

“Has Your Highness come here today,” the master asked with a smile, “to claim this gambling house for yourself?”

“Yes,” the boy replied without hesitation, his intentions as transparent as daylight. “Pingkang Lane is under my eldest brother’s control, and Changle Lane has long been under the protection of the Crown Prince. I want the Hundred Ghosts Gambling House to belong to me.”

“Your Highness is truly bold,” the master said, as if troubled. “Did you deliberately lose ten thousand taels of gold to achieve this?”

“Yes,” the boy answered again, nodding. “Ten thousand taels of gold—this is my show of sincerity.”

“But what can Your Highness offer to the Hundred Ghosts Gambling House in return?” The master toyed with a lock of hair, his tone playful. “We are an entirely independent establishment, free from the jurisdiction of any authority. Your desire to claim the gambling house seems to run contrary to our principles, doesn’t it?”

“It seems you misunderstand something,” the boy said.

Propping his chin on one hand, he tilted his head, looking at the master as if observing an intriguing puzzle.

“I do not represent the government.”

The master was slightly taken aback.

“I’ll say it again,” the boy said, his voice almost childishly insistent, as if demanding a toy. His clear enunciation left no room for misunderstanding.

“I want the Hundred Ghosts Gambling House to be mine.”

“I refuse,” the master said coldly.

“Cover your ears,” the boy said softly.

The master froze, realizing that the remark was not directed at him.

The girl in the skirt set down her wine cup and promptly covered her ears with both hands.

The next moment, blades flashed into the open!

The boy in the brocade robe leaped onto the table, a red ribbon unwinding from his left wrist to reveal a blade as long as his forearm.

It was Yun Miao’s first time witnessing how Xie Zhiyuan wielded this sheathless, hiltless weapon.

He pressed the blade flat with two fingers of his left hand, the thin edge aligning seamlessly with his arm. Spinning swiftly, he cut through the air with sharp, chilling arcs.

The clash of falling swords rang out in quick succession. The weapons of the retainers clattered to the floor one by one.

The boy darted among the crowd, leaving behind a half-circle arc of blood, stopping only when his blade reached the master’s throat.

Grinning mischievously, his small, sharp tiger-like teeth flashed.

“Your Hundred Ghosts Gambling House is now mine,” he said.

For the master of the gambling house, that was the last scene he ever saw.

The boy sheathed his weapon beneath his crimson sleeves, its blade dripping blood. Using his clean right hand, he covered the girl’s eyes, the faint scent of herbs from his fingers dispelling the metallic tang of blood.

“You didn’t see any blood, did you?” he asked, leaning down.

“No,” Yun Miao shook her head, still covering her ears.

Nearby, the dealer collapsed to the floor, staring at the pair in stunned silence.

The inner hall, which moments ago had been teeming with life, now held only the two of them and one terrified old man.

A swift and decisive coup had just transpired, crowning a new ruler of the Hundred Ghosts Gambling House.

“What’s your name?” Xie Zhiyuan turned to the dealer.

“Uh… uh… I’m Old Dong!” the dealer stammered, jumping to attention.

“Old Dong,” Xie Zhiyuan cast him a glance. “You’ll take over as the manager and run the gambling house.”

“Yes, sir!” Old Dong snapped to a rigid salute.

“Where’s the master’s golden seal?” Xie Zhiyuan asked.

Old Dong scrambled over to the late master’s body, rummaging through his pockets before producing an intricately crafted gold seal, which he presented with trembling hands.

The boy didn’t even bother to glance at it. Instead, he removed the girl’s hands from her ears and placed the heavy seal into her palms.

“This is my betrothal gift,” he said.

“Wait, what?” Yun Miao blinked, confused.

“Betrothal gift for what…?”

“Why did you tell me I’d lose you, scaring me like that?”

Her voice was indignant as they sat side by side on a rooftop later that night, the bustling city of Chang’an stretching before them.

“Look,” Xie Zhiyuan interrupted, pointing upward. “The stars.”

“Don’t change the subject!” she snapped, but her gaze followed his hand.

Above them, an endless sea of stars glimmered in the Milky Way, stretching from one horizon to the other.

“Beautiful,” she whispered.

He untied the jade ornament from his hair, securing it to her wrist.

“This is my token,” he said softly.

“Where did this come from?” she asked, turning it over curiously.

“When I was very young,” he smiled, “a little immortal gave it to me.”

“Immortals exist?” she asked, wide-eyed.

“They do,” he said, his smile widening.

The midsummer night was filled with the fragrance of flowers, the glow of fireflies, and the soft strains of music drifting from the city below.

“Stars, music, and flowers,” he said, “now we have them all.”

Then, amidst the starlight, he turned to her, a smile playing at his lips.

“Yun Miao,” he said, his voice soft yet firm.

“Will you marry me?”