The True Lord has arrived

Chapter 25 Killing the Demon
Upon hearing that voice filled with hostility, Lin Rongxuan's entire body trembled violently, and then it seemed as if his soul had been called back, finally returning him from a lightheaded state to a solid one.

Then I saw the boy's appearance, and I felt a chill run down my spine.

He instinctively shrank back, leaning his shoulders back and hunching his neck, trying to squeeze into the crowd. But when Zhou Yan entered with a knife in hand, everyone in the gambling den fell silent. They instinctively raised their hands to cover their faces and then backed away.

Lin Rongxuan was given the opportunity.

He was terrified and tried to turn and run, but his steps suddenly quickened. Zhou Yan's physical fitness had improved a lot. He suddenly sprang up, caught up in three steps, and stepped on Lin Rongxuan's back hard.

A scream.

Lin Rongxuan stumbled three or four steps, fell to the ground, and barely managed to roll over. Before he could even get up, he saw Zhou Yan striding towards him. Lin Rongxuan braced himself with one hand on the ground, waving his other hand frantically, extremely flustered, and stammered:
"Not me, not me."

When Zhou Yan saw the rag doll, the footprints on it, and the seeds for spring planting, his expression hardened on the boy's clear face. He stepped on Lin Rongxuan's chest.

He stopped asking questions and stopped speaking.

He swung the sheathed knife in his hand.

There was a pause.

Slap me hard!

"No, not me..."

"Help, help..."

In just a few moments, Lin Rongxuan screamed in pain. He tried to struggle, but the boy looked to be only fifteen or sixteen years old, yet his strength was ridiculously great. Lin Rongxuan reached out to the people next to him, but no one responded.

Zhou Yan only wanted to get that money back.

Rationally, he told himself that was the case.

But he held the knife, sheath still attached, and struck Lin Rongxuan hard on the face, head, shoulder, and chest. There was a faint, almost cracking sound, a dull thud as if bones were breaking, as if the knife was hitting flesh.

Finally, even Zhou Yan at this stage was a little out of breath.

He then asked, "Where is Zhang Shoutian's money?"

Lin Rongxuan curled up, twitching slightly: "I, I borrowed it, I..."

Zhou Yan raised the knife, and Lin Rongxuan's body trembled violently. He subconsciously turned his head, closed his eyes tightly, and shouted, "I, I only borrowed it! I, I will return it to him if I win, I will return it!"

"I'll pay him back if I win the bet!"

Zhou Yan gripped the knife and slammed it down hard.

He wanted his money back, but his anger caused his hand to slam down hard.

"Where's the money!"

he asks.

Lin Rongxuan's teeth fell out, and he curled up in pain, saying, "I lost, I lost."

Zhou Yan grabbed him by the collar and lifted him up, asking, "How much did you lose?"

Lin Rongxuan looked up, his hair disheveled, his face covered in tears and snot: "I lost it all... No, it's not my fault, it's just bad luck, dead man's money, bad luck..."

Zhou Yan picked up the man and slammed him hard to the ground.

The latter coughed up blood and was knocked unconscious.

Zhou Yan gasped for breath, his hand gripping the knife tightly. The knife remained sheathed, its murderous aura and furious roar echoing within.

There are armored soldiers in the city.

He didn't want to cause trouble for Uncle Shen.

He slowly bent down and picked up the bundle, the broken wooden sword, the tattered mourning cloth, and the dirty doll. He turned to look at the gambling table, like a beast restrained by chains, and said, "His money was entrusted to me by my friend before he died. Give me the money."

"Or, I can report you."

A group of burly men had already surrounded him, their intentions ill. Zhou Yan had gotten the location from the righteous society, but gambling dens couldn't be set up in the open. These men, each carrying a long stick, surrounded Zhou Yan.

Everyone else instinctively covered their faces, afraid of being implicated.

"Hey, that accent, you can tell he's from out of town!"

"What kind of intruder dares to come and mess with my business? Beat him up!"

With a shout, seven or eight long sticks came flying at Zhou Yan. Zhou Yan raised his hand and twisted it, his knife directly blocking the sticks. The men shouted in unison, and Zhou Yan's knife was pressed down.

He let out a slight breath.

In his sea of ​​consciousness, within the jade scroll, the ink-wash image of the hungry ghost Zhao Man instantly spread out. This time, under the influence of his anger, Zhou Yan seemed to faintly hear the figure on the jade talisman shouting something, but he couldn't make it out.

A faint glint of ruby ​​red flashed in the depths of his eyes.

The Hungry Ghost Jade Talisman was fully revealed.

Strength, physique, and endurance will steadily improve.

As Zhou Yan's physique improved, the amount of enhancement he could withstand also gradually increased. At this moment, with the burst of power and the skill of his swordsmanship, he forcefully cleaved away those sticks.

The young man was like a fierce tiger. He took a step forward, gripped the sheathed sword with both hands, and raised it high.

Zhang Shoutian's corpse, that letter, and this murky gambling den—everything settled deep in my heart like a raging fire. The knife slashed down fiercely, and the stick that tried to block the blow snapped in two.

The knife, still in its sheath, slashed at a man's shoulder.

With a crisp sound no less sharp than a broken stick, the man's shoulder caved in unnaturally. The pain was unbearable for someone who hadn't been trained. He collapsed to the ground, screaming in agony, and the expressions of those around him changed.

Zhou Yan gripped the knife, slashing horizontally and vertically.

His swordsmanship was powerful and heavy. These gambling den guards were just thugs. When three or five of them broke their bones and fell to the ground screaming and howling in pain, they lost their will to fight, their faces turned pale, and they dared not move forward.

A young boy and seven or eight strong young men holding sticks, with an insurmountable chasm between them.

Zhou Yan said, "Money."

A soft clapping sound came from behind: "Good martial arts, good spirit. So you are the young hero who recently defeated Shuangcuifeng Village. However, you want money. Although the money in our gambling house is not clean, we can't just give it to you whenever you want."

"Since you're in my gambling den, then follow my rules."

"Young hero, would you like to play a game of gamble with me?"

Zhou Yan gripped the knife and turned to look at the gambling den. The place was dimly lit, the doors were closed, and the candlelight flickered. There was a shrine on one side with a Buddha statue inside, its face compassionate.

Sitting in the gambling den was a short, thin man dressed in a wealthy man's robe and wearing a black hood. His fingers were long and slender as he played with a pair of jade dice. Perhaps, in the eyes of these people, he was an imposing and unfathomable gambling den owner, a master.

But Zhou Yan's eyes held a different view.

His eyes seemed to be able to see people in the line of sight of others.

In the vision of the other eye, it was not human at all. It had long, dirty fingernails on its slender fingers, a pointed snout and large ears under its hood, and long gray hair growing on its face. Behind the rich man's gorgeous clothes was a slender, flesh-colored tail.

It's a monster!
After seeing the spirit with his naked eye, Zhou Yan saw the demon again. The jade book glowed faintly. Perhaps the level of this demon was lower than that of Zhao Man, who was subdued by the jade book, so the true form of this demon was clearly visible to Zhou Yan.

With just one glance, one can see the true form of the demon's spirit.

All living things have nowhere to hide!

The rat spirit, who boasted of his profound magical powers, stroked his beard and smiled, "Well, sir, otherwise, not only will you not get the money, but all the good men here are also planning to have another good spar with you."

In his voice, the men finally hesitated and stepped forward.

The old monster continued, "My dear friends, there's no need to lean back anymore. This place is hidden. Once the government troops recapture Chang'an, if this young man goes out and makes a fuss, won't our place be searched?"

"Men, young and old, don't forget that in this gambling den, if you win, you will be punished for theft, with a minimum sentence of one year in prison. The higher you win, the heavier the sentence. Even if you lose, you will be considered an accomplice. This young man, no matter what, cannot leave."

These words caused not only the gambling den's guards to change their expressions, but also those gambling nearby. They approached slowly and steadily, gradually filling the space around Zhou Yan. Someone spoke up, saying:

"My lord, why don't you take the gamble?"

"Take a gamble, and you'll be one of us too."

"Yes, yes, my lord, you are a chivalrous hero, you can't harm us!"

They pleaded, their eyes filled with panic, longing, and a kind of mob-like, coercive pleas. A faint black mist hung in the air, and Zhou Yan could see the wails of many people within it.

Some women cried, saying they could no longer gamble; some men sold their parents' medicine to gamble here; some sold their children to brothels to gamble here with the Rat Demon; and some cut off their fingers to ransom after losing at gambling.

These surging karmic forces entangled the gambling den owner.

Following this momentum, the gambling den owner smiled slightly and said:

"My lord, how is it?"

"Just one round, bet on big or small. If you win, you can take all the money on this table with you."

Even if you lose, you can still take the three thousand coins.

"I also have a thousand coins to give you."

"My lord, let's gamble, let's gamble."

“My lord, let me set the board for you.”

The voice, the longing, the dim candlelight, the compassionate expression of the Buddha statue in the niche—Zhou Yan suddenly smiled and said, "Alright."

He raised his foot and kicked hard forward with his right foot, slamming it onto the gambling table.

Wow! ! !

The gambling table was kicked to the ground and slid forward.

The copper coins fell like snowflakes, and the people instinctively rushed to grab them. The gambling house owner blocked the gambling table with both hands. Amid the sounds of grabbing money, fighting, and the friction of copper coins, a sharp and solemn voice exploded.

That was the whistling sound of a steel blade sliding out of its sheath.

Zhou Yan drew his knife, jumped onto the table, and strode over the people frantically picking up money. He gripped the knife with both hands, and unsheathed it. All the pent-up anger and murderous intent he had felt earlier erupted in one go.

Long sword, slay the demon!
I'll bet your life!!!

(End of this chapter)