Chapter 112
"Before we commence our game, allow me to elucidate the rules," the host announced, his face brightening with a cordial smile that crinkled the corners of his squinting eyes.
The sweeping motion of his arm commanded everyone's rapt attention back towards Ji Wuye, who responded with a slight nod and cupped his hands respectfully.
"Thank you for your understanding, esteemed guests," the host said, acknowledging the muffled sounds of clicked tongues and snorts of impatience rippling through the background.
"This game enjoys widespread renown throughout the Jianghu, being avidly played by individuals of all ranks - from prestigious nobles of illustrious clans to martial heroes of renowned sects, and even us common folk."
As he spoke, another attendant materialized, bearing an ornate golden cup, its lustrous surface reflecting the warm candlelight as it was gently set down, the clinking of lacquered dice within tantalizing the senses.
"It's called Sic Bo, the dice game," the host explained, deft fingers rolling the carved ivory cubes across the long, polished wooden table, their clacking resonance seeming to reverberate through the air until finally settling to reveal a combination of 3-3-1.
"As you can observe, this game hinges heavily upon the fortunes of the dice cast, and you, the esteemed player, must endeavor to correctly call the numbers displayed upon them."
"Either you divine the numbers truly or not at all - such is the immutable rule. So—"
While the host's lilting cadence continued elucidating the specifics, Ji Wuye's focus became divided. Certainly, he was already well-versed in the intricacies of the game. Instead, his penetrating crimson gaze subtly roved across the surrounding individuals.
'Three dealers, one host, and several furtively positioned guards,' Ji Wuye concluded inwardly, his perceptive eyes glowing with a faint ruddiness as he surreptitiously observed the faces of the workers - from the silk-clad courtesans to the deferential servers actively refilling cups and the stern-faced dealers presiding over the other lushly-appointed tables.
Their appearances betrayed no overtly suspicious movements. Yet when Ji Wuye's furtive glances fell upon the assembled guests, his eyes narrowed slightly. 'None of them are mere commoners who've just gained power from the Tower,' he astutely assumed.
Despite the concealing folds of their flowing robes, their regal bearings, the cadences of their speech, even the smallest unconscious habits and mannerisms revealed an unmistakable poise and self-assuredness.
And as Ji Wuye's clandestine inspections met their own sidelong glances, they offered the smallest of nods in silent acknowledgment - as if in coded recognition of a shared understanding.
'They act as if intimately familiar with my presence, responding with these subtle gestures...This is...peculiar indeed,' Ji Wuye mused, speechless at the audacity of these disguised customers whose true identities and depths of power remained an enigma after surviving the harrowing challenges of the Tower.
Of course, their friendly gesture was from none other than Ji Wuye, who's wearing all black clothes.
Meanwhile he knew the Qinhai region's intricate webs of influence well - although the vaunted Kunlun Sect never overtly ruled these lands, their overwhelming might cast an unassailable dominant presence.
Yet the bold, unhidden movements of these masked personages hinted at formidable powers able to operate with relative impunity...
'Let us focus first; after all, my intention in venturing here is not those guys,' Ji Wuye's thoughts re-centered, setting aside the mystery surrounding these unknown individuals whose true capabilities remained obscured for now.
As his reconcentrated his attention returned to the host who had just completed the explanation, Ji Wuye noticed two individuals at his table had been fighting off continuous yawns of seeming boredom.
"Splendid, now that the core tenets have been delineated, I shall expound upon the newly instituted amendments to our game." At these unexpected words, the two formerly drowsing men's eyes snapped wide open in piqued interest.
"In light of the emergence of thTower of the Gods, we, the Jade Blossom Traders have decreed a revision to the classic rules of Sic Bo. You may already be aware, but I bid you cast your gazes about," the host urged, spreading his arms in an expansive gesture that drew all eyes to the surrounding tables.
Heeding his prompting, the assembled dealers at the other gaming areas exchanged subtle nods of confirmation before a shimmering black mist began emanating from their outstretched hands, swiftly shrouding the entirety of each table's surface area in an eerie veil.
"Please remain composed, honored guests. This is merely a cursory demonstration of certain... our recently acquired skills," the dealers assured with practiced smiles, their hands moving with a strange, sinuous elegance.
In less than a minute, the inky vapors slowly retracted, leaving the shining golden dice cups pressed firmly down upon each table's surface, as if anchored there by some unseen force.
Inside the cup were none other than the dices that had been rolled. 'So, it still followed the previous timeline, the new rule, preventing the guests from cheating,' Ji Wue thought inwardly after observing the display of those skills.
"Now, shall we open the floor for betting?" the dealer inquired smoothly, his words eliciting a myriad of mixed emotions flickering across the assembled guests' faces - from eager anticipation to guarded trepidation.
Meanwhile, at Ji Wuye's table, the two men who shared it with him had broken out in shining beads of nervous sweat, their gazes panicked as they instantly focused on the host with hunted expressions.
"I cannot accept this new rule!" the lean, sharp-featured man erupted, his aristocratic bearing and arrogant demeanor from earlier resurfacing as naked outrage contorted his features.
But suddenly, under the penetrating crimson gaze of Ji Wuye's subtly glowing eyes, the surrounding area became shrouded in an obscuring mist.
A cloying amalgam of heady jasmine and sickly-sweet rose perfumes permeated the air, their overpowering intensity causing even Ji Wuye to slightly struggled for breath.
Yet he remained outwardly composed, the surrounding Qi swirling as it began absorbing into his body, emanating a verdant emerald aura that alleviated the constriction in his lungs.
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[>> [HEALING ART PRIMER (E)] <<]
The proficiency of your passive skill - external arts has slightly increased!
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At the same time, another translucent hovering screens materialized before his faintly glowing eyes:
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[>>[QUICK ADAPTATION(E)]<<]
The proficiency of your passive skill has slightly increased!
———————————————————————————————————
[>>[QUICK ADAPTATION(E)]<<]
The proficiency of your passive skill has slightly increased!
———————————————————————————————————
[>>[QUICK ADAPTATION(E)]<<]
The proficiency of your passive skill has slightly increased!
———————————————————————————————————
The obscuring mist dissipated with unnatural swiftness, revealing the courtesan who had been seated beside Ji Wuye and the surrounding situation. He noticed that she appeared completely calm and composed, her gaze seeming to penetrate the mist, her eyes faintly glowing.
But more shockingly, the lithe figure who had occupied the cushion beside the ranting, arrogant man was nowhere to be seen - until a sudden flicker of crimson light drew Ji Wuye's eye.
There, her delicate hands now glowed with a sinister reddish aura as a lattice of ethereal scarlet threads erupted forth, instantly cocooning the still obliviously raving man in an inescapable net of malignant energy threads.
SLICE!
In the span of a single catalyzing heartbeat, the dazed, unfocused man was seamlessly disassembled - his body rent into a gruesome shower of meaty crimson cubes that clattered wetly to the tabletop amidst a blossoming pool of viscera.
"Clean that up swiftly and leave no trace," the host's voice cut through the sudden stillness, his tone as cold and emotionless as the tendrils of inky black mist that unfurled from the voluminous sleeves of his white robe.
The vaporous shadows swirled avidly, absorbing every last scrap of offal and sanguine evidence until the tabletop was once more unmarred.
As quickly as the mist had manifested, it dissipated, the ensorcelled guests blinking as if awaking from a trance.
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