Chapter 540

Tuan Tuan nodded with a smiling squint: "It's me, Uncle Shopkeeper, I was just about to come find you to play!"

The fat man felt the world spin, unable to stand steady.

He would never forget in this lifetime: it was this young master who won over seventy thousand taels of silver at his gambling table!

He instinctively stepped back, raised his head to look at the gang leader: "Gang... Gang Leader!" his voice changed, "This is the young master I mentioned to you!"

The gang leader's face darkened instantly: "Is it him?"

The fat shopkeeper nodded frantically: "Exactly!"

"That day after this young master left our Outer Pass Tower, he went to fifteen more gambling houses, winning every time!"

"Now, these sixteen gambling houses all keep a portrait of this young master in their hands."

"We had already agreed: if he comes again, we'll just give him silver and send him to another place."

Xiao Er and Lu Qi lowered their heads, shoulders trembling slightly.

The young lady is truly formidable; the gambling houses she plays at dare not let her in.

Tuan Tuan was not happy, puffing her lips: "I don't want to gamble either!"

She pointed at the gang leader: "He said it, I only need a little, but I want ten thousand taels of gold!"

She looked innocent: "So I can only go gamble again!"

Tuan Tuan looked at the fat shopkeeper, smiling sweetly: "Shopkeeper Uncle, let's go to the Outer Pass Tower now, I'll keep you company!"

The gang leader furrowed his brows: "That Outer Pass Tower is my Azure Cloud Gang's property; you want to go gamble there?"

His brows tightened further: "Then after winning my money, you'll come buy my goods?"

Tuan Tuan nodded earnestly: "Exactly! You're the biggest! And the fairest! If I win money I can leave!"

"Shopkeeper Uncle, you just said other gambling houses won't let me in, so I can only go to yours!"

"No no no!" the fat shopkeeper waved his hands: "Young master, I'll give you another two thousand taels of silver; please show mercy and go elsewhere."

Tuan Tuan sighed: "Shopkeeper Uncle, that's not enough!"

"The gang leader Uncle said he wants ten thousand taels of gold!"

"So today I must win enough— one hundred thousand taels of silver—to be enough!"

"One... one hundred thousand taels?" the fat shopkeeper's legs went weak, nearly collapsing to the ground.

Tuan Tuan nodded: "But it's fine, Shopkeeper Uncle."

"The Outer Pass Tower belongs to the gang leader Uncle; if I win silver there and bring it back to give him, isn't that silver still yours?"

Gang leader: "..."

Fat shopkeeper: "..."

Xiao Er and Lu Qi pressed their lips hard, simultaneously raising a hand to support their foreheads.

"Young lady, if you keep this up, you'll anger them to death, you know?"

Tuan Tuan jumped off the chair, ran to the fat shopkeeper's side and grabbed his hand: "Come on! Shopkeeper Uncle, let's go now!"

The fat shopkeeper looked terrified, struggling to shake his head and back away.

Xiao Er and Lu Qi stood up; Lu Qi clasped his fists: "Gang leader, excuse us; later we'll accompany the young master back with the silver."

He paused: "Please have the gang leader prepare the hundred-year dragon's blood."

"No, I can't go!" the fat shopkeeper shouted, turning to look at his own gang leader.

Tuan Tuan pulled hard on his hand, dragging him outward: "Hurry up, hurry up!"

"Enough!" the gang leader barked sharply, and the hall fell silent at once.

Tuan Tuan stopped, turned to look at him.

The gang leader drew a deep breath, squeezing out a sentence from between his teeth: "That hundred-year dragon's blood—I, I'll give you a bit!"

Tuan Tuan's eyes lit up, she released the shopkeeper: "Thank you, Gang Leader Uncle!"

The gang leader gritted his teeth: "Someone! Fetch the hundred-year dragon's blood from the storeroom!"

Soon, a servant presented a silk box with both hands onto the table.

The gang leader carefully opened the box, taking out a reddish-brown, palm-sized object covered in twisted, irregular patterns.

Tuan Tuan leaned over the table: "Wow, this is it!"

The gang leader looked pleased: "This hundred-year dragon's blood is a miraculous medicine for clearing the meridians; few in the world have ever seen it..."

"It's really ugly!"

The gang leader was almost angered to death by her; you dislike its looks yet still want it!

He gritted his teeth, pulled out a dagger, raised it to scrape.

Tuan Tuan stared fixedly: "I want it, about the size of a fingernail cap!"

The gang leader was about to scrape off a bit.

"Wait!" Tuan Tuan lifted her own small hand, examined it, then grabbed Xiao Er's big hand and held it before the gang leader: "I want it this big— the size of a fingernail cap!"

Xiao Er: "..."

The gang leader swallowed hard, his hand trembling with anguish, veins jumping on his forehead, he slowly used the dagger to lightly scrape the hundred-year dragon's blood.

A pile of reddish-brown powder fell onto the table.

The gang leader snatched a paper from the table, gathered the powder into a small packet, tossed it onto the table, and asked irritably: "Is that enough?"

Tuan Tuan reached out her little hand, took it, carefully tucked it into her bosom: "Enough!"

She lifted her small face, smiling sincerely: "Thank you, Gang Leader Uncle!"

The gang leader felt his breath stuck in his chest, unable to go up or down, turned and flicked his sleeve: "I'm not sending you off!"

The three rushed back without stopping to the horse gang's warehouse.

As soon as Xiao Er set Tuan Tuan down, she sprang on her short legs and darted quickly into the rear courtyard.

Old Grandfather! I'm back! Master! You're here too!

Xue Tong and Xuan Fu Weng were drinking tea and chatting.

Seeing her run over, Xuan Fu Weng was startled: "So fast?"

This kid probably made the trip for nothing.

Tuan Tuan climbed into his embrace, and Xuan Fu Weng hurriedly comforted her: "Be good, Grandfather's leg is fine; even if it isn't, it's no problem..."

Tuan Tuan looked puzzled, pulling out the paper bundle from her bosom: "I got it!"

"What? You got it?" Xuan Fu Weng's voice trembled: "Really?"

Tuan Tuan nodded firmly: "Of course it's true!"

Xue Tong reached out, took the paper bundle from her hand, carefully placed it in his palm, opened it, examined it closely, then brought it to his nose to sniff: "Not bad, it's exactly a hundred-year-old dragon's blood!"

"Why did you need so much?"

Tuan Tuan laughed: "I was afraid it wouldn't be enough!"

"Master, you said the size of a fingernail cap, so I had the Gang Leader Uncle scrape it according to Second Uncle's fingernail!"

Xue Tong: "..."

He gave Tuan Tuan a thumbs-up: "Good, not bad for my disciple, pretty impressive!"

Tuan Tuan gleefully shook her head, wrapping her arms around Xuan Fu Weng's neck: "Old Grandfather, you'll be able to walk soon!"

Xuan Wu Weng held her tightly, his eyes instantly reddening: "Good, good! Grandfather thanks you! Good child, truly a good child!"

Xie Guzhou and Daoba hurried over together.

He looked at the powder in Xue Tong's hand, then glanced at Xiao Tuanzi in Xuan Fu Weng's embrace, and remained speechless for a moment.

He took a deep breath, looked at Xue Tong, and said: "Old Valley Master Xue, the next steps are up to you."

Xue Tong nodded: "Don't worry, within twenty days I'll definitely have Elder Xuan walking out of this courtyard!"

Daoba asked: "Little Ancestor, how did you manage to come back so quickly?"

Xiao Er and Lu Qi retold the story while holding back laughter, and everyone burst out laughing.

Daoba looked at Tuan Tuan: "Little Ancestor, you're too amazing; the Gang Leader of the Azure Cloud Gang will probably be so angry tonight he won't be able to sleep!"

Tuan Tuan blinked her big eyes: "Everything I said is true!"

That night, the Horse Gang rang with cheers, everyone was in high spirits, and they gathered around Tuan Tuan for another round of feeding.

At night, Tuan Tuan fell asleep, content and satisfied.

Jingcheng.

Lu Wu sat cross-legged on the mat, eyes tightly shut.

The candle stretched his shadow long across the white cloth on the wall.

He slowly raised his hands, interlocking his fingers to form a seal, murmuring an incantation.

After a moment, the shadow on the white cloth gradually shrank until it disappeared completely.

He suddenly opened his eyes, spraying a mouthful of essence blood onto the white cloth: "Success!"