Chapter 323
"E-Elder. How did you end up looking like this?"
I hurriedly approached him and said in a worried voice.
The stench that usually emanated from him was completely gone.
To be honest, it was shocking in many ways. I thought the stench from his body could never be washed away even if he went into the water, but to think the stench was gone.
"What do you mean, how! Geez. You're probably the only one who would react like that just because a person washed up and dressed up a bit."
"Ah, no, that's not it..."
"What do you mean, it's not?"
"Aren't you a member of the Beggars' Sect, sir? Of course it's surprising that a member of the Beggars' Sect has washed up!"
I, on the contrary, ended up shouting.
Because what I was saying was clearly common sense, but he kept saying strange things and blaming me, so I got angry.
Then, suddenly, Maeng Gwang-gae starts to chuckle.
He had been teasing me all this time. Although I'm not a person who gets treated like this by other people, Maeng Gwang-gae often treats me like a child.
"Yes. In fact, members of the Beggars' Sect rarely do this except in very special cases. But, doesn't that mean that now is such a special case?"
"So I want to hear what that special situation is."
"You're so impatient. First, tell your senior brothers to come over here!"
Only then did my senior brothers hesitantly move away from the wall and come over to greet Maeng Gwang-gae.
"We greet the elder."
"We greet the elder Maeng Gwang-gae."
Then Maeng Gwang-gae nodded his head as if he understood and said, "Of course, who else but me would have known you were coming and even reserved a room like this? You must have come after seeing my letter."
"Then you should have told us so. In this harsh martial world, if you just think 'Oh, I see' and act foolishly, you could get into big trouble, couldn't you?"
He chuckled.
"As if you would get into trouble. I told the waiter in advance. If five Taoists come in and look for a room, guide them here and then call me, and if they want to eat, take them to the innermost room and then call me. And if they are looking for someone, bring them to this room first and then call me."
"Where were you, sir?"
"Me? I was right next door. The waiter who brought you here called me as he was going down to the first floor, so I was able to come right away."
"I see."
Come to think of it, it's a really natural thing, but I think I was a little sensitive.
But I can't help but be sensitive.
The reason I came here is because of the Evil Faction Alliance, and it's because the Evil Faction Alliance might have found out in the middle that old man Maeng Gwang-gae had called me, and so they might have been targeting me in the middle.
When dealing with cunning bastards like the Evil Faction Alliance, there is nothing to lose by being careful and careful at all times.
"Anyway, you've worked hard to get here. Let's eat and then talk about the main topic. You guys must not have eaten properly while coming from far away."
"Yes. That's good."
Maeng Gwang-gae took us down to the first floor.
No matter how much I look at his clean appearance, I can't get used to it.
As I kept glancing at him, Maeng Gwang-gae said to me, "What are you looking at a person like that for? Were you surprised because I'm more handsome than you thought?"
"You're not that handsome... but it's true that you look much better."
"Hmph! What you're saying now doesn't sound like a compliment to a member of the Beggars' Sect."
When we went down to the first floor, the waiter, as if he were used to it, took us to a separate room in the back, and we ordered a few dishes.
While waiting for the food to come out, I asked him, "But I'm really curious, why did you suddenly dress up?"
"That's..."
He, with narrowed eyes, looked at me and then opened his mouth.
"It's so that people don't know I'm a member of the Beggars' Sect. Do you know what's the most convenient thing about being a member of the Beggars' Sect? It's the fact that if you just wash up and wear new clothes, no one in the world will even think that I'm a member of the Beggars' Sect. That's why there's no better disguise when infiltrating somewhere."
"A disguise... that's right. So you're in disguise now."
"Yes. Just look at the people in this inn. Who would guess that I'm Maeng Gwang-gae of the Beggars' Sect? They would just think that some kind-hearted old man is buying a meal for the Taoists."
In fact, if it were the original Maeng Gwang-gae, he would have attracted the attention of many people as he passed by.
Because his appearance and the smell emanating from him are by no means ordinary.
But today, while we were passing through the middle of the inn and entering the room, no one looked at us.
"So where are you trying to infiltrate with such a disguise?"
"I'm not trying to infiltrate, I've already infiltrated countless times before you came. Although there wasn't that much of a big harvest, I was able to grasp the atmosphere there anyway."
"Where is that?"
"Don't be surprised and listen. Here in Hezuo, a huge night market opens when night falls. But that night market is not a night market where you buy and sell things like other markets. Here, the night market is another name for a gambling house."
"A gambling house...!"
My senior brothers, who couldn't have known this fact, opened their eyes wide.
It seems they guessed that the reason I came here with them was probably because of the gambling house.
"And one more thing. Even if there were just a gambling house, we couldn't just leave it alone, but this place seems to be highly related to the Evil Faction Alliance."
"The Evil Faction Alliance, you say?!"
"So that's how it was related."
In fact, since I had been guessing all of it, I wasn't that surprised, but since my senior brothers reacted so strongly, it passed naturally.
"According to what our Beggars' Sect has found out, the actual owner of this gambling house is a woman. She is called the Green Snake.”
"Green Snake? You mean a blue snake?"
"That's right. But the important thing is that there's no way of knowing where the money earned from this gambling house goes. It's as clear as day that they're making a huge amount of money here, but there's no way of knowing where they're spending that money, or if they're burying it somewhere in the ground. So we started to dig into that place intensively."
When Maeng Gwang-gae had spoken that far, as if the food had come, the waiter knocked on the door, and a veritable feast began to be served.
The waiter served the food for a long time, and Maeng Gwang-gae tossed him a coin.
The waiter who received the coin bowed his head so low that it touched the ground and then left the room.
"For now, since the food is here, eat and listen."
While my senior brothers and I started eating, Maeng Gwang-gae continued to speak.
The money that flowed out of this place was split into several streams and all moved to Sichuan Province.
And the funds were flowing into a place called the Four Evils Alliance in Sichuan Province.
"The Four Evils Alliance!"
"And who the leader of the Four Evils Alliance is... you know well, right?"
"It's Dokgo Ju-gwak."
"That's right. He is the leader of the Four Evils Alliance and at the same time... a disciple of the Evil Faction Alliance Leader."
He, looking at me, said.
All the information I had found out... no, to be honest, some of it was information I had known from before.
Anyway, Maeng Gwang-gae is also a really amazing person.
Although it's naturally a difficult thing to track the flow of funds, he has succeeded in guessing the overall situation beyond that.
To be honest, although I found out because I had experienced it all in my past life, Maeng Gwang-gae came this far with only the information I had stealthily leaked and the information he had found out separately.
Moreover, although I knew that there was a gambling house here, and had even met the leader of the Four Evils Alliance and exchanged swords with him.
I didn't even know the connection between this place and the Four Evils Alliance, or that the owner of the gambling house was a woman named the Green Snake.
"Then that means that the money earned here is eventually raising the Four Evils Alliance now."
"But there's one more interesting thing here."
"What is it?"
"The Four Evils Alliance doesn't spend that much money. They only spend about as much as their income from other places, and it seemed they hardly spend the money earned here. That means it's one of two things. They're saving that huge amount of money for an emergency... or that money is moving somewhere else again."
My senior brothers' and my eyes sparkled at the same time.
Because we realized that the 'somewhere else' he was talking about eventually meant the Evil Faction Alliance.
"If you put all this together, to summarize it easily, this gambling house is highly likely to be one of the sources of funds for the Evil Faction Alliance. And the woman named the Green Snake..."
"Is either a disciple of the Evil Faction Alliance Leader... or at least a subordinate of the Evil Faction Alliance Leader."
"That's right. So if we can, we'll smash this gambling house, and if that's difficult, we'll at least catch the Green Snake. A gambling house without a person in charge can't run smoothly. And although I don't know how far they're related to the Evil Faction Alliance bastards, will they really send the money they earn from this gambling house to the Evil Faction Alliance in a situation where there is no person in charge?"
I nodded my head. I roughly know what Maeng Gwang-gae is thinking.
"But, elder Maeng Gwang-gae. Have you thought about how to devastate the gambling house, and if that's not possible, how to have a private meeting with the woman named the Green Snake? I think that if she's such an important person, she'll probably run away as soon as she senses something strange. And we don't even know where she'll run to."
"That's right. That's exactly why I haven't been able to catch the Green Snake yet."
"Do you have a method in mind?"
"I do."
"What is it?"
"The people who win a lot of money at the gambling house are managed directly by the gambling house. But among them, if they keep winning? Then the Green Snake is said to meet them directly. She is said to gauge whether they used any tricks, and what kind of abilities they have, by seeing them herself."
"Ah... then no way?"
He grinned and said, "It's not 'no way', it's probably what you're thinking. From now on, you all have to become gamblers. Participate in the gambling and win money with your abilities. Win money until you're under the intensive management of the gambling house, and keep winning until someone can have a private meeting with the Green Snake. And if you get a private meeting? Then you can do what you can, whether it's kidnapping her or killing her."
At a glance, it's a very perfect-looking plan.
But there is one most ridiculous thing in Maeng Gwang-gae's plan.
How can you just keep winning at gambling? If that were possible, it could no longer be called gambling.
"But, elder. We have never gambled a single time in our lives. So how can we keep winning to the extent that the owner of the gambling house comes out?"
Then Maeng Gwang-gae grinned and looked at us.
His expression looked like a person who was about to do something very fun.
"That's why I asked to see you here separately. To teach you a way to unconditionally win at gambling if you have your level of martial arts, that degree of qi sense, and no greed for money."
"You're going to teach us how to win at gambling? Who?"
Maeng Gwang-gae, with a majestic expression, stroked his beard and said, "It's me. Because I was once called the God of Gambling in Yangyang."
(End of Chapter)