Chapter 156: The Gambler

With a light shout from Li Yanchu, the richly dressed young noblemen suddenly shuddered, their bodies jolting.

Then their facial expressions froze momentarily before slowly returning to normal.

“Eh?! How did I end up here?”

“Strange, wasn’t I at home reading just now?”

“What’s going on? I can’t remember a single thing...”

It was as if they had no recollection whatsoever of how they came to be at Wangjiang Pavilion.

Their bewildered chatter immediately drew in the surrounding crowd. After all, there was never a shortage of people eager to watch a spectacle.

Taking advantage of the confusion, Li Yanchu and the others slipped away.

Once they had walked a fair distance, Bai Hongtu exclaimed in surprise, “That young woman at the pavilion just now, was she a ghost?!”

He was, after all, a proper Daoist disciple, but just then, he hadn’t sensed anything unusual.

Li Yanchu shook his head slightly. “I couldn’t say for certain. But those wealthy young men clearly fell under some kind of bewitchment technique.”

Bewitchment Technique was what cultivators called it, but in the mundane world, there were many child kidnappers and tricksters who used similar tricks to lure victims away. The principles were the same; they were just different schools of cultivation.

Bai Hongtu nodded thoughtfully. At this point, he had grown extremely cautious of women whose background was unclear.

Trailing behind them, the young woman who had nearly drowned was startled by their conversation. She looked closely at Li Yanchu, then her eyes lit up in recognition.

“Daoist Master Yanchu, it’s you!” She beamed with joy.

“You know me?” Li Yanchu asked.

“Indeed! My family once had a piece of blood money, and if it weren’t for you, I’d have been doomed! You saved my life, Daoist Master Yanchu!” the woman said with heartfelt gratitude.

Li Yanchu suddenly remembered. Back when he was working to eradicate the threat of the blood money, he and Bai Hongtu had coordinated with the local authorities to organize a large-scale identification and collection effort. This woman must have remembered his face from back then.

Li Yanchu asked, “Why did you fall into the river just now?”

When she heard his words, a trace of sorrow surfaced on the woman’s face. She opened her mouth as if to speak, then hesitated.

“If there’s trouble, just tell us,” said Li Yanchu. “Perhaps we can help.”

“That’s right!” Bai Hongtu added confidently. “Were you forced into prostitution? Is your house haunted? Did you fall under some evil influence? Don’t worry, today you’ve met people who actually know what they’re doing.”

Perhaps infected by the calm confidence in the two men’s demeanor, the woman hesitated briefly, then slowly began to recount her story.

After hearing it, Li Yanchu and Bai Hongtu exchanged a glance, and both looked slightly dumbfounded.

“That’s it?” Bai Hongtu opened his mouth, wanted to say something, but ultimately chose silence.

The woman’s name was Zheng Zhi[1], and she lived on North Gate Street. Her husband was named Sun Ping[2], a scholar.

Sun Ping came from a family that had fallen on hard times. Although he had passed the imperial civil service exams, he had been unable to advance any further and had grown despondent over the years.

After marrying Zheng Zhi, Sun Ping was, at first, a gentle and courteous man. But as time went on, his true nature began to surface: he loved to gamble.

Zheng Zhi had brought a modest dowry into the marriage, but it had all been squandered by Sun Ping. Even so, she never made a scene about it. Instead, she did her best to console her husband, urging him not to fall deeper into such a habit.

Sun Ping was moved by her gentle understanding and did manage to restrain himself for a while, taking a job at an herbal shop. But just a few days ago, he couldn’t resist the urge and went back to the gambling den. And suddenly, his luck turned, and he won over ten taels of silver.

A broke scholar, a habitual loser at dice, suddenly hitting a streak and raking in winnings left and right? Could he possibly walk away when he was ahead? Of course not. Sun Ping became completely intoxicated with the thrill of gambling and ended up winning another ten taels.

At this point in the story, Li Yanchu was already suspecting that Sun Ping had encountered some kind of evil spirit or had made a deal with the supernatural.

It was not uncommon that desperate gamblers down on their luck would suddenly strike gold... only to have it all end in tragedy.

More often than not, they’d been possessed. These dark entities didn’t care about silver; they craved a person’s heart, liver, lungs, kidneys, which were fresh and delicious.

And sometimes, they were lustful spirits... interested not in wealth, but in other men’s wives. Deals with such beings always came with a steep price. Human greed was bottomless, and these people typically met violent deaths and saw their families destroyed.

But surprisingly, Zheng Zhi’s husband, Sun Ping, hadn’t run into ghosts or ghouls. Instead, he’d been set up. After his initial winning streak, he began to lose again... And he kept losing, again and again.

The twenty taels of silver that Sun Ping had won were quickly gambled away, and this sent Sun Ping completely over the edge. In the end, he not only lost their old family home, but even gambled away his gentle and virtuous wife to the owner of the gambling den, Third Master Feng!

Sun Ping begged Third Master Feng to show mercy on both him and his wife, but Third Master Feng didn’t so much as spare him a glance. Instead, he ordered his men to throw Sun Ping out.

These kinds of local thugs were used to breaking people’s arms and legs, and it was routine business.

Luckily, Third Master Feng still needed Sun Ping to go back and deliver the message to Zheng Zhi himself. Otherwise, it would’ve been wishful thinking for Sun Ping to make it home in one piece.

When Zheng Zhi learned what had happened, she was overcome with despair and grief. Feeling hopeless and ashamed, she decided to take her own life. She jumped into the river, hoping it would all end quickly.

The river was swift, and in an instant, she vanished beneath the waters. She was gone without a trace. She never expected to be rescued by this young Daoist Master, Li Yanchu, who had pulled her from the depths just in time.

Bai Hongtu had originally assumed this would be a story involving ghosts or demons. Instead, it turned out to be a sordid mess involving thugs and gamblers. Still, as a passionate young man, he was filled with righteous indignation.

Li Yanchu, on the other hand, was far more composed.

He asked softly, “Zheng Zhi, let me ask you something. Do you still want to stay with your husband?”

Bai Hongtu blurted out, furious, “A man who could gamble away his own wife... how could you possibly stay with him!?”

Li Yanchu raised a hand, gently motioning Bai Hongtu to calm down.

Then he continued, “Gambling is a hard habit to break. The money comes too easily, so it’s addictive. Ordinary life just can’t compare. But if you still want to stay with him, I’ll help pay off your debt and settle things with Third Master Feng.”

“If you don’t want to stay with him, I’ll give you some silver to support yourself. I’ll help you formally separate from him, and you won’t have to worry about Third Master Feng either.”

Li Yanchu didn’t consider Third Master Feng to be anything worth mentioning.

A so-called gambling den boss? “Third Master Feng?”

He’d never even heard of him.

In Wei City, the real authority in both legal and underworld matters was Head Constable Wang from the county office! The biggest gang in the city was the Five Lakes Gang.

Li Yanchu was familiar with the leaders of several of the larger gangs in the area, and many of them had sent him formal visiting cards and even come personally to pay their respects at Qingyun Temple.

But upon realizing Li Yanchu was on a completely different level, they had all withdrawn quickly and respectfully.

Even the wealthiest merchants in Wei City treated Li Yanchu as an honored guest. Several of their daughters owed him their lives.

So what was some little gambling den boss supposed to amount to? He was not even worth the energy to strike.

Zheng Zhi looked momentarily stunned, and then fell silent in contemplation. She hesitated, clearly torn.

Meanwhile, Bai Hongtu let out a silent sigh.

It’s over.

From the look on her face, she obviously still couldn’t let go of her husband. She was probably planning to go back and live with him.

In this feudal society, especially in ancient times, women were expected to follow their husbands after marriage. Although the laws and customs of the Kingdom of Qian weren’t as strict as those influenced by the rigid Neo-Confucianism of the Cheng-Zhu school[3] in later dynasties...

Soft-spoken and virtuous women like Zheng Zhi, who were gentle and delicate as water, were often the ones who bore hardship in silence and never uttered a word of complaint.

1. 郑 (Zhèng) is the 6th most common surname in Mainland China. 芝 (Zhī) literally means “ganoderma” or “lingzhi,” a type of medicinal fungus associated with longevity, health, and spiritual refinement. To a native Chinese like me, 芝 gives an elegant and delicate impression in names.

Overall, the name 郑芝 comes across as simple but cultured. It represents refinement and quiet elegance rather than flamboyance or strength. It feels gentle, traditional, and perhaps delicate. ☜

2. 孙 (Sūn) is the 12th most common Chinese surname, historically linked to the famous general Sun Tzu (孙子) of

The Art of War

and to various prominent lineages throughout Chinese history. 平 (Píng) is a given name meaning “peace,” “level,” or “even.” In a personal name, it often conveys calmness, balance, and a scholarly or virtuous character. To me, 孙平 gives the impression of a thoughtful, steady, and studious or scholarly individual, someone who embodies both the dignity of the surname and the serenity or equilibrium suggested by the given name.

Though, in hindsight, knowing what he did, the meaning of his name feels deeply ironic.

☜

3. The Cheng–Zhu School (程朱理學 Chéng Zhū lǐxué), is one of the major philosophical schools of Neo-Confucianism, based on the ideas of the Neo-Confucian philosophers Cheng Yi, Cheng Hao, and Zhu Xi. In Neo-Confucianism, li (which means “principle”) is inherently pure, but when combined with qi, base emotions emerge. Human nature is originally good but requires effort to purify. Zhu Xi advocated

gewu

(格物), the investigation of things, as a method to understand and refine li through careful observation of the world. ☜