Chapter 122: Blinded by Losses

The life-or-death round is the highlight of the gambling den, especially with the house offering a tenfold payout. It had already drawn a significant crowd.

The entire room fell silent, with everyone holding their breath as they focused on the cup.

“Big! Big! Big!” 

Song Erlang muttered under his breath, and his heart was pounding rapidly. His eyes were fixed on the slowly lifting cup, and cold sweat began to seep down his back from the tension.

Suddenly, his gaze froze on the dice, and the color drained from his face.

“Small, it’s small—”

Small?

How could it be small?

Song Erlang’s ears buzzed, and the noisy sounds around him seemed to fade away. His eyes remained fixed on the dice.

No matter how he looked at it, it was still “small.” The hundreds of taels of silver he had won were gone in an instant. A rush of blood surged to his head, making him feel like the world was spinning.

“Young sir, you had some bad luck this time. Want to try again?” 

The dealer smiled as he scooped up all the money. “Gambling is like that—sometimes you win, sometimes you lose. You were just unlucky this time, but who knows, maybe you’ll win the next round.”

“You won nine out of ten times before, so if you lost this one, the next nine should be winners,” the dealer said, tossing a tael of broken silver in front of Song Erlang. “Let’s test your luck with a small bet. If you’re still feeling brave, we can go for another life-or-death round.”

Song Erlang’s heart ached as if it were bleeding. He thought the dealer made a good point. He had played so many rounds and rarely lost.

He had only lost once out of ten times.

Now that he had lost once, would the next few rounds all be wins?

Yes, he could first test his luck. If he won, then he could go for a bigger bet!

Song Erlang picked up the money, gripped it tightly in his hand, and the edges pressed painfully into his palm. He gritted his teeth and forcefully tossed the silver onto the gambling table, watching it roll over to the “big” side.

“Betting on big!” Song Erlang declared firmly.

The dealer shook the dice and lifted the cover.

Big—

Song Erlang’s tense nerves relaxed, and he let out a deep breath.

A relieved smile spread across his face. “I won.”

Someone nearby helped Song Erlang scoop up his winnings, and said jokingly, “Young sir, your luck is really something tonight. Every time you lose once, you win seven or eight times in a row. Looks like the rest of the night is yours!”

Others joined in the teasing. “That’s right! The dealer promised such high odds earlier—maybe he noticed the pattern in your luck, young sir?”

“Dealer, do you dare to play another life-or-death round with the young sir?”

“Exactly! You tricked the young sir earlier—do you dare to offer twenty times the payout this time?”

The dealer frowned deeply and waved his hand dismissively. “Stop talking nonsense. If you all keep quiet, no one will take you for fools. Ten times is the highest payout—where would twenty times come from?”

“Nonsense! Didn’t someone win twenty times the payout before and walked away with tens of thousands of taels? Are you afraid of the young sir now?” the crowd pressed on relentlessly.

The dealer glanced at Song Erlang, seemingly intimidated by his streak of good luck, and refused to entertain another life-or-death round. “The young sir has almost lost all his money, with only three or four taels left. For a twenty-times payout, the minimum bet has to be at least a hundred taels.”

He then turned to Song Erlang and said, “Why don’t you try your luck somewhere else?”

Song Erlang remembered the stories of others winning tens of thousands of taels, and Fang Youtian had mentioned how someone used their winnings to buy a house and a business in the capital, becoming a wealthy merchant.

He had always feared poverty, and the thought of his own good luck made his heart race with anticipation. But when he considered the minimum bet of a hundred taels, he hesitated.

He turned to seek advice from Fang Youtian, but he saw him walking over with a dejected expression.

Song Erlang’s heart sank, and a sense of foreboding creeping in.

As expected, Fang Youtian said dejectedly, “Erlang, the moment you left my side, I lost everything.”

Song Erlang’s face turned gloomy. Fang Youtian wouldn’t be able to lend him the hundred taels, but this also confirmed that Song Erlang could indeed bring Fang Youtian good luck.

The thought of turning a hundred taels into two thousand was hard to give up.

Fang Youtian asked, “Did you win?”

Song Erlang recounted what had just happened and clenched his fist. “I should have been more careful earlier—if I’d lost a small bet first before going for the life-or-death round, I would have had some capital. Losing wouldn’t have hurt so much.”

Fang Youtian let out a chuckle and slapped Song Erlang on the shoulder. “What are you afraid of? Your luck is incredible. From my past experience, I’m sure you’ll win. Twenty times, that’s a full two thousand taels! We should strike while the iron is hot and borrow a hundred taels from the gambling den.

If we lose, we can always borrow a tael and start small, win back the hundred taels we lost, and pay off the gambling den.”

Others around them chimed in, urging him on.

Song Erlang was already reluctant to give up, and with everyone egging him on, he gritted his teeth and decided to gamble again.

“I… I’ll try one more time.”

As soon as Song Erlang spoke, Fang Youtian excitedly called over Brother Niu. “Quick, give my brother a hundred taels of silver.”

Brother Niu sneered, “A hundred taels? Can you even pay that back?”

Fang Youtian, irritated, snapped back, “My brother’s luck is unbeatable. He’ll pay it back in less than a quarter of an hour! Stop talking nonsense and hurry up with the money!”

Brother Niu’s face darkened, and he asked Song Erlang coldly, “Are you sure you want to borrow?”

“Yes!”

The taste of previous success had inflated Song Erlang’s confidence.

Based on the previous pattern, after losing once, Song Erlang expected to win at least three or four times before losing again.

Brother Niu retrieved a 100-tael silver note and slapped it down on the gambling table in front of Song Erlang.

Still cautious, Song Erlang decided to play a small round to test his luck again, and, as expected, he won.

He took a deep breath, and placed the entire 100 taels on the “small” side of the bet. His hands lingering on the table, unable to pull them back.

“Place your bets, no more changes!” the dealer called out. “Are you sure you’re betting on ‘small’?”

Song Erlang nodded, with his back drenched in cold sweat, and he held his breath as he stared at the table.

The dealer began shaking the dice faster and faster, making Song Erlang dizzy as his eyes struggled to keep up. His hands pressed against the table, and his back was soaked through with cold sweat.

“Open—” 

The dealer shouted, and lifted the cover off the dice cup swiftly.

The gambling den fell into a hushed silence.

It was as if all the light in the room had converged on the tiny dice.

“Two, four, six—big!”

The dealer broke the silence.

He lost. He lost!

Song Erlang’s thoughts raced to the hundred taels of debt he now owed.

“Thud—”

Song Erlang collapsed to the ground, fainting.

“Erlang, Erlang—” 

Fang Youtian frantically shook Song Erlang, pressing hard on the acupoint under his nose. Slowly, Song Erlang began to regain consciousness.

“You nearly scared me to death. If something happened to you, your mother would kill me!” Fang Youtian’s initial relief turned to dread as he spoke gravely. “You borrowed a hundred taels with interest. It doubles every day. If you can’t pay it back by the deadline, they’ll cut off your hand.”

“We, we…” Song Erlang’s face turned ashen, and he desperately grabbed Fang Youtian’s hand. “Let’s borrow a bit more silver. I can bring you luck; we can team up and win back all the money we lost.”

“Erlang…”

But before Fang Youtian could say anything, Song Erlang rushed off to find Brother Niu to borrow more money.

However, it seemed his luck had run out. He lost nine times for every one win. Blinded by desperation, Song Erlang ended up borrowing a total of five hundred taels of silver. When he tried to borrow even more, Brother Niu threw him out.

“Song Erlang, you’ve got three days to repay your debt. If you can’t, I’ll chop off your hand,” Brother Niu threatened menacingly. “Without your hand, I’d like to see how you plan to take the imperial exam!”