Confucian and Taoist scholar

Chapter 53: There's Something Wrong with the Gambling House
Wang Xiu wiped away her tears, calmed herself down, and quickly ordered her servants to prepare hot water so that Lu Zheng could wash off the dirt.

Lu Zheng looked at the blood on his body and knew that returning to the inn like this might cause some unnecessary misunderstandings.

He stayed to take a bath and change into clean clothes.

Afterwards, Lu Zheng found Wang Xiu and gave him two cultural treasures to prevent the demons from Jiguana Mountain from causing trouble.

Wang Xiu was filled with gratitude and asked, "I don't know your name, benefactor?"

Lu Zheng smiled and said, "My name is Lu Zheng. The word 'benefactor' is too kind. I only did some small things. Besides, you calling me like that makes me sound old."

Wang Xiu said embarrassedly, "Where is Mr. Lu from? Once I'm done with my family affairs, I can bring someone to visit and express my gratitude."

"That's not necessary." Lu Zheng waved his hand and said, "I'm also from Kaiyang County. I currently live in the county seat. I recently came out to travel and study."

Wang Xiu's eyes showed surprise. "Young Master, you are from this county? I have never heard of you..."

Wang Xiu was surprised. Judging from the skills and literary talent Lu Zheng displayed, he must be a well-known scholar in Kaiyang County. She should have heard of him.

Lu Zheng smiled and said, "I'm just an ordinary scholar, it's normal that the girl doesn't know."

Lu Zheng paused, then continued, "Now that this matter is settled, I have to continue my studies. As for the demons on Jiguan Mountain, I don't think they'll be around for long. Miss Wang, just rest assured."

Wang Xiu learned last night that the culprit for the disaster in his family was the big monster on Jiguana Mountain.

However, even the government was helpless against the monsters lurking in the mountains.

She didn't expect anyone to really be able to wipe out the monster in the mountain.

However, after hearing Lu Zheng's words, Wang Xiu felt much more relieved.

She bowed and said softly, "My parents and brother have been harmed by demons. I have many things to attend to now, and I cannot persuade you to stay. I fear I will not be able to provide you with a good hospitality. I will pray for you every day, and I hope you will have a smooth study trip."

Wang Xiu knew that he owed Lu Zheng a great favor. If he gave money in return, it would only discredit Lu Zheng. So he thought about praying for Lu Zheng every day in the future. When Lu Zheng returned to the county after studying abroad, he would go to his house to thank him and spread his reputation.

Lu Zheng returned the greeting, said nothing more, and left.

After leaving the Wang family compound, he came to a busy street and bought two fried cakes and ate them while walking.

"Jiguan Mountain..."

Lu Zheng thought that the monsters lurking in Jiguana Mountain had to be eliminated, but with his current strength, he was afraid that he would not be able to deal with the monsters of the third realm.

And there are many monsters and ghosts there, not just one monster.

After thinking for a while, Lu Zheng decided to study all the way there and then see how the situation would develop.

He finished eating the fried cake and prepared to go back to the inn to rest.

At this time, three men came towards them, each of them looked haggard, with red eyes and a somewhat listless spirit.

Lu Zheng took a look and found that there was a trace of yin energy in these people.

He hurried forward, stretched out his hand to stop one of them, and said with a smile: "Brother, where have you been?"

The man was already feeling unhappy, and when he saw someone blocking his way, he looked up and glared at him, ready to curse.

But when he found that Lu Zhengwen was well-mannered, handsome, and had a friendly face, he swallowed his words back.

The man saw that Lu Zheng was not an ordinary citizen and asked in a somewhat stiff tone, "What does this young master want?"

Lu Zheng whispered, "I see an evil aura coming from you. Did you run into something unclean while walking at night last night?"

Someone nearby said, "Where did this charlatan come from?! We didn't walk at night. We just came out of the gambling den! Damn, we lost all our money! If we ran into any shady people, we'd probably run into a swindler like you!"

The three of them had lost all their money and were filled with anger. When they heard Lu Zheng say this, one of them couldn't help but get angry.

Lu Zheng was not annoyed when he heard this. It turned out that these people were in this state because of gambling.

He thought that the three people were walking at night and were bewitched by some ghost, which sucked away their yang energy.

Seeing the unhappy expressions of the three people, Lu Zheng had an idea and released his righteous energy.

Suddenly, the three of them were enveloped by a righteous spirit, and a few wisps of green smoke emerged from their bodies, then quickly dissipated.

Lu Zheng said, "I am a scholar with a good academic record. My literary talent can identify demons and ghosts. If you don't believe me, then I can't help you."

These three people have seen some of the world and have seen scholars and literati display their literary talent.

A man saw this and said in panic, "It turned out to be the scholar. We were blind and didn't recognize him. We offended you. Please don't take it to heart..."

The other two were also terrified and apologized quickly.

In the eyes of ordinary people like them, scholars with official titles are people with real abilities and cannot be offended.

Lu Zheng waved his hand and said, "I'm not that stingy. Tell me what you did. Besides the gambling house, where else did you go?"

All three of them shook their heads and said that they had been in the gambling house all night yesterday and only came out at dawn today.

Before this, they had not encountered anything unclean.

One person's mind turned, and he said angrily, "Could it be that there are some dirty things hidden in the gambling house, causing us to keep losing money... I saw that few people won money last night!"

The other two thought about it carefully and agreed that it was the case.

"I said I never won much money there. I'm afraid someone is raising some devils there to steal our money!" one person slapped his thigh and said.

Lu Zheng asked, "Which gambling house are you talking about?"

There are three gambling houses in Zizhu Town. Many outsiders come here to gamble, and even Liu San has come here to gamble.

Upon hearing this, the three knew that Lu Zheng was going to the gambling house to check the situation.

Everyone suddenly became energetic and hurried to lead the way.

If Lu Zheng could really catch some monster, maybe they could get their money back.

Seeing the three of them wanting to join in the fun, Lu Zheng said, "This matter has not yet been concluded, so you should keep quiet."

One person nodded repeatedly, "Young Master is right, we won't do anything rash! Um, we can't alert the enemy! Is that what you said?"

"Yes." Lu Zheng smiled and nodded.

The four of them came to a remote street and headed to the Changping gambling house.

As a highly profitable entertainment venue, a gambling house cannot be run without some skills and background.

At the door of Changping Casino, there were two burly men standing there. They had bronze skin, strong and well-developed muscles, and were strong and powerful, with explosive strength.

Warriors? Lu Zheng only took a glance and realized that these two strong men were warriors who practiced martial arts. They had vigorous Qi and blood, which was incomparable to ordinary people.

About half of the officials in Kaiyang County are warriors, and the rest are ordinary people who know some martial arts but are not warriors.

The gatekeepers of the Changping gambling house are two warriors. It is obvious at a glance that this gambling house has some background.

But such a display could not scare Lu Zheng. He was a scholar who chatted and laughed happily with Dean Xiao and County Magistrate Li. Would he care about two warriors?
(End of this chapter)