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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: TushChen
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Fighting Dog Tang Do-gyeong was always the one to pick fights.
He was a mad dog who always wanted to fight, and no one wanted to cause friction with Tang Do-gyeong, who had the considerable backing of the Tang Clan.
Being from the Tang Clan, which repaid tenfold grudges, and having outstanding martial arts skills, Tang Do-gyeong had lived without a single quarrel!
“Kuku, I will personally discipline you with sorcery.”
Tang Do-gyeong, who had always been the one to provoke and had never been provoked, felt dizzy.
However, he soon took a deep breath to gather his thoughts and turned his head.
Yeo Il-ye, the purpose of his visit to Sacheon, was right before him.
He had wanted to fight her for a long time but had no opportunity.
But recently, he heard she had gained enlightenment and her realm had risen?
He couldn’t give attention to such a trifling matter in front of an opponent.
That was what he thought before Ho Cheon-an opened his mouth.
“You’re scared.”
Tang Do-gyeong’s head turned as if he had been slapped.
“You really seem to have a death wish.”
The reason Tang Do-gyeong was called Fighting Dog was not just because he picked fights with anyone.
From a young age, he had fearlessly challenged masters of higher realms than him.
He had shown an unyielding attitude even if his arms and legs were broken or he suffered internal injuries in those challenges.
It was his pride and the source of his current actions.
‘A mere outcast who performs tricks on the streets dares to! He says I’m scared looking at me, Tang Do-gyeong?’
A moment of intense anger that made him forget even Yeo Il-ye arose.
“How dare you cause a commotion during the sacred time of displaying Lord Jeon-gwi’s power? I must show you the bizarre power of Lord Jeon-gwi.”
“Do you think I’ll play along with the likes of you?”
Tang Do-gyeong growled and approached Ho Cheon-an but stopped.
Gratitude Plaque!
Tang Do-gyeong’s eyes narrowed at the Jeomchang Sect’s gratitude plaque with [Yeo Il-ye] engraved.
“…Is what he’s holding genuine?”
Yeo Il-ye silently nodded.
Greed crept into Tang Do-gyeong’s eyes, filled with anger.
With just that plaque, he could request a proper one-on-one duel!
“I am a messenger who wields the power of Lord Jeon-gwi. Let’s see if you can discern the power of Lord Jeon-gwi.”
Tang Do-gyeong grinned savagely as Ho Cheon-an took out a wooden cup, put the gratitude plaque inside, and shook it.
At best, the trick he pulled out was a shell game.
Training vision was essential in learning hidden weapon techniques that manipulated barely visible hidden weapons countless times.
Although every martial artist trains their vision, the vision training method of the Tang Sect, which specializes in hidden weapon techniques, could be considered the best in the world.
He was confident he could see through the technique of someone who appeared to be, at best, second-rate or first-rate.
“You possess that renowned Blood Jade Plaque, right? Bet that. You two as well.”
Both Yeo Il-ye and Black Cat were equally flustered by the sudden situation.
“What are you hesitating for? The winner takes all those treasures. How you use those treasures to manipulate the opponent is up to you, isn’t it?”
“Kuku, that’s right.”
Tang Do-gyeong suddenly felt this opportunity was once-in-a-lifetime.
If he could obtain that female outcast’s treasure, he could also have a duel with her!
Also, if he obtained the treasure Yeo Il-ye bet, he could have another duel with Yeo Il-ye!
He could discipline the arrogant swindler while duplicating the duels!
Tang Do-gyeong unhesitatingly threw the blanket that had been covering the table.
He wondered if something might be hidden under the table.
Still, the table had a simple structure with thin boards and legs attached, and nothing was hidden underneath.
Bang!
Tang Do-gyeong, who had eliminated the possibility of trickery, unhesitatingly stuck the Blood Jade Plaque into the table.
“What is happening…”
Black Cat stared at Ho Cheon-an.
He was a senior whose thoughts were incomprehensible, and the self-assured smile under the black hat somehow looked detestable.
‘It’s not a bad strategy though.’
Yeo Il-ye, Ho Cheon-an, and Black Cat would all want to get rid of Tang Do-gyeong, so if the four played the shell game, a tacit three-against-one structure would be formed.
Although she didn’t like getting caught up in Ho Cheon-an’s scheme, Black Cat acknowledged that there was no choice but to go along with the current flow as she couldn’t come up with a sharp solution alone.
Black Cat sighed and untied her veil.
The black veil, which had never been seen due to the constant operation of the Black Shadow Qi technique, was emitting an extraordinary luster that anyone could recognize.
“It’s a veil woven from the whiskers of a thousand-year-old demonic weapon.”
“A rare object.”
Tang Do-gyeong acknowledged Black Cat’s item.
Everyone’s gazes focused on Yeo Il-ye.
Originally, Yeo Il-ye’s goal was to safely extract Ho Cheon-an.
Her initial intention was to prevent a situation where she would clash with the masters of the Hwang Gold Clan, but what was the result?
It had reached a situation where Ho Cheon-an and Tang Do-gyeong directly confronted each other.
She had ended up repaying kindness with enmity by rashly intervening, so Yeo Il-ye had no choice but to follow Ho Cheon-an’s proposal to make up for it.
“Sigh.”
Yeo Il-ye sighed. She had visited the Hwang Gold Clan without even bringing her sword.
Except for the money pouch in her bosom, she had nothing.
“I don’t have it with me here, but I’ll bet my beloved sword, Sau. It’s a sword mixed with some cold iron, so it’s inferior to you two, but that’s all I have to bet.”
“Kuku, I don’t mind.”
“I don’t mind either. A sword is a martial artist’s life, so it seems sufficient.”
“…There’s no point in opposing it alone.”
“Kuku, good. If you choose the same cup, the one who touches it first has priority. You three win if you find the gratitude plaque, and my victory is deceiving all three of you so you can’t find the gratitude plaque. This is the last time Lord Jeon-gwi shows mercy to foolish commoners, so keep that in mind.”
When the three nodded in agreement, Ho Cheon-an gestured to gather the crowd.
The crowd also gathered to witness the large shell game where four treasures were at stake, drawn by the suddenly peaceful atmosphere.
Ho Cheon-an put the gratitude plaque in a wooden cup and deftly shuffled the four cups.
‘…This guy was quite confident.’
Tang Do-gyeong felt a chill down his spine.
When Ho Cheon-an started the shell game, Tang Do-gyeong thought it was a match he couldn’t lose, having mastered all the techniques to train the mind and vision of the Tang Clan’s secret arts.
He was confident that Ho Cheon-an, who was at best between first-rate and second-rate, couldn’t deceive his eyes since he had raised his mental power and vision to the extreme.
However, the difference between Ho Cheon-an’s technique and Tang Do-gyeong’s vision was a very fine margin.
It was indeed a hairbreadth difference.
The wooden cups moved dazzlingly.
In between, Yeo Il-ye’s gratitude plaque moved and moved again.
He would have missed a subtle movement if his mental power and vision were slightly lacking.
‘Are you nervous?’
Yeo Il-ye had also raised her mental power and vision to the extreme.
Was it because she was watching closely?
Or was it the difference in skill proficiency?
It didn’t have the perfection of leaving no traces like the domino tile technique Ho Cheon-an had shown earlier.
Black Cat and Yeo Il-ye’s expressions slightly darkened.
If it was barely visible to their eyes, Tang Do-gyeong would be following the gratitude plaque’s whereabouts.
Ho Cheon-an’s shell game was likely to end in failure.
That was when it happened.
Ho Cheon-an suddenly stopped the shell game and threw the gratitude plaque into the sky.
Swish!
“Ah..!”
Black Cat realized as she saw Yeo Il-ye’s gratitude plaque rising in the sky.
In the mental timeline that had been greatly extended by her mental power pushed to the extreme, Black Cat expressed admiration.
‘From the beginning, this was a speed battle.’
Watching Ho Cheon-an, who was trying to catch the gratitude plaque the moment his hands, each holding two cups, crossed, Black Cat understood Ho Cheon-an’s intention.
She had been too naive, immersed in the shell game itself.
No matter what, even if he possessed the world’s best vision, there was no way he could compete against Tang Do-gyeong of the Tang Clan, who could be said to have the world’s best vision with mere trickery.
If he had caught Yeo Il-ye’s gratitude plaque while holding the cups like that, revealing the insides, who wouldn’t have known the location of the gratitude plaque?
Ultimately, it was a match where whoever touched the cup first would win.
While Black Cat had such thoughts in her extended mental timeline, Yeo Il-ye and Tang Do-gyeong thought the same.
As soon as the cups were flipped over and Ho Cheon-an’s hands left the cups, three hands stretched out with conviction.
Black Cat thought it was a slightly disadvantageous match, but she felt it was okay.
Although her opponents were Tang Do-gyeong, a master of hidden weapons, and Yeo Il-ye of the Jeomchang Sect, one of the sects that wielded fast swords, it was still a manageable match.
Because Ho Cheon-an had put the gratitude plaque in the cup Black Cat could reach the fastest from her position.
Even if her hand speed was slow, she had the most advantageous position.
‘I touched it!’
Black Cat felt a thrilling sensation.
Even if Ho Cheon-an had helped, she had touched the cup before Fighting Dog Tang Do-gyeong and Yeo Il-ye.
I won!
Black Cat, Tang Do-gyeong, and Yeo Il-ye all thought the same.
They each found the other two reaching for different cups.
“…It seems you two young ladies chose the wrong cups.”
“…This cup is the correct answer.”
“Ha…”
She had been cleanly deceived by Ho Cheon-an.
You deceived even me, your ally?
Thinking that Black Cat flipped her cup.
Black Cat’s cup was empty.
Yeo Il-ye also lifted her cup with an exclamation.
She thought she had witnessed that divine technique with her own eyes, but had she been thoroughly deceived from that moment?
Gulp.
Tang Do-gyeong slowly lifted his cup.
It was empty.
Even though he had clearly witnessed it being sucked into the cup, even though he had reached out faster than anyone else, there was no gratitude plaque inside that cup.
Then, where was the gratitude plaque?
Tang Do-gyeong’s gaze shifted to the side.
That one covered cup.
Tang Do-gyeong swung his hand and sent the cup flying.
Only then did the gratitude plaque engraved with [Yeo Il-ye] reveal itself to the world.
What Ho Cheon-an had used in the sorcery performance was ultimately an ‘application’ of gambling techniques.
Although the principles were the same, it was undeniable that gambling techniques were optimized solely for gambling.
Four items became the stakes.
The victory conditions were determined, and at that moment, everyone agreed to it all.
Ho Cheon-an’s shell game turned from a sorcery performance into gambling.
Ho Cheon-an.
The man who had mastered all gambling techniques in Murim Cheonha to the point of deceiving even the scales of heaven.
It might be an exaggeration to call him invincible, as there might be rivals who had mastered all techniques somewhere in this vast Nine Provinces.
But when it came to gambling, he was the absolute supreme entity in this whole world.
His victory was inevitable.
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When is he going to get the money?