All-around protagonist mentor

Upon hearing what the maid said, the atmosphere in the hall became heated again, and the noise and discussion surged.

The owner of Qianjinfang couldn't sit still any longer!

Only now did Tianyu Jun understand the meaning of what Qingxuan had said before the betting began.

With Qingxuan's winning method, it's practically robbery. Which gambling house owner could sit still?

Qingxuan's face showed a look of long-awaited anticipation. She stood up, raised her hand to the maid, and said with a gentle smile, "Please lead the way."

The maidservant curtsied again and led Qingxuan and Tianyu Jun gracefully up the stairs, leaving behind a large group of gamblers in the hall who were speculating about the outcome of Qingxuan's trip.

Upon reaching the second floor, the noise downstairs vanished instantly, as if it had never existed. The second floor's decor was vastly different from the first floor, with jade lanterns and colorful pillars, floral carpets and golden windows. It consisted of numerous luxurious and unique small halls and private rooms, clearly intended for entertaining wealthy people such as nobles and noble families.

Between the corridors, there are also special entrances connecting the outside world and the second floor, to prevent high rollers from having to pass through the first floor and mingling with ordinary gamblers when entering the casino.

However, the owner of Qianjinfang was not on the second floor, so the maid led Qingxuan and Tianyujun directly to the third floor.

The third floor is much smaller than the first and second floors, containing only one large hall with a very simple layout, giving it a rustic feel. However, upon closer inspection, discerning individuals will notice that the materials used to construct the hall and the few decorative items on the third floor are rare treasures, priceless, and even unavailable for purchase.

In the hall, there was a huge long table, behind which sat a middle-aged man of about forty years old, his face expressionless. He had hawk-like eyes and sword-like eyebrows, with strong features and a short beard. He wore a magnificent robe, and his eyes flashed with a cold light in the blink of an eye, giving him a rather imposing appearance.

However, this middle-aged man had a very pale complexion, and his eyes often showed signs of fatigue. His body was very thin, like a bamboo pole, and his hands, which were placed on the table, had bulging veins and thin, stick-like fingers.

Upon seeing the middle-aged man, Qingxuan's eyes filled with smiles. Before he could speak, she strode to the table, cupped her hands, and laughed loudly, "Boss Zuo, it's an honor to meet you today."

The middle-aged man's lips twitched slightly, and he swallowed back all the words he was about to say, scoffing, "Young Master Gao Jin, do you recognize me?"

"Lu the Master Strategist, Zuo the Unpredictable; Boss Zuo has dominated the gambling scene in Yazhou for over twenty years. Even the most hardened gamblers are humbled by him. Who doesn't know his name?"

Qingxuan chuckled, and without waiting for anyone to serve him, he pulled up a chair and sat down as if they were old friends. Tianyu Jun also sat down beside him with a smile, showing no sign of awkwardness.

Zuo Changxiao's gaze sharpened, and he said calmly, "It seems Young Master Gao Jin came prepared. Hmph..."

Zuo Changxiao snorted coldly, abruptly stood up, placed his hands on the table, leaned slightly forward, stared intently at Qing Xuan, and said coldly, "May I ask, Young Master Gao Jin, does my Qianjinfang have any past grudges with you?"

Qingxuan shrugged: "Of course not."

Zuo Changxiao continued his cold questioning: "Did my Qianjinfang offend you recently, young master?"

Qingxuan shrugged with a grin: "No, I only arrived at Shangxi Prefecture yesterday."

Zuo Changxiao's gaze grew even colder, his tone icy and piercing as he coldly said, "If that's the case, then why is Young Master Gao Jin so aggressive today! My Qianjinfang is just a small gambling den; why should it deserve such humiliation from you, Young Master!"

"Ah~~, well..." Qingxuan picked her nose with her little finger, her eyes darting around, then sighed, seemingly helpless, "I went out to travel, and when I arrived here I ran out of money, so I wanted to come and earn some pocket money."

"To earn some pocket money?" Upon hearing Qingxuan's answer, Zuo Changxiao was so angry he laughed, gritting his teeth as he asked, "So, Young Master Gao Jin treats my Qianjinfang as a money exchange, the kind where you can get money without needing banknotes?"

"Hahaha~~~".

Upon seeing Zuo Changxiao's expression, Qingxuan immediately burst into laughter, quickly stretching out her hands as if petting a cat or dog, and said with a smile, "Oh dear, Boss Zuo, don't be angry. I just saw that Boss Zuo looked a little unhappy earlier, so I wanted to make a joke to lighten the mood. Please don't take it seriously, Boss Zuo. Now I'll tell you my real purpose."

Zuo Changxiao's face instantly turned as black as the bottom of a pot. He felt his blood churning in his chest and a strong urge to immediately stab Qingxuan to death rose in his heart.

Zuo Changxiao struggled to suppress his impulse, sat back down in his chair, and said coldly, "Please speak plainly, young master."

Qingxuan leaned forward, propped his right hand on the table, and squinted as he smiled, "Boss Zuo, your full name is Zuo Changxiao, formerly known as Zuo Canglang. You were originally an elite inner disciple of the Huangluo Sect, with extraordinary talent, but you were also a gambler by nature. While in the Huangluo Sect, you repeatedly disobeyed the sect's rules and secretly ran away to gamble."

"It was during a gambling match sixteen years ago that you, Boss Zuo, encountered a master. You got into an argument with him over who would win, and in a fit of anger, you challenged him to a soul-soul duel. In the end, although you won and destroyed his soul, you also suffered severe injuries to your own soul, which you could not recover from. As a result, your misdeeds were exposed, and you were expelled from the Huangluo Sect, ending up wandering all the way to Shangxi Prefecture."

Qingxuan changed her posture again, staring with interest at Zuo Changxiao, whose expression had changed drastically, and continued to laugh: "However, Boss Zuo is indeed a person from a major sect, and his methods are naturally extraordinary. With his gambling skills, he dominated the gambling world in Shangxi Prefecture, winning countless fortunes, and then established Qianjinfang based on this."

"Boss Zuo is also a loyal and righteous man. After becoming wealthy, he never forgot his sect and sent large sums of money to Huangluo Sect every year. Huangluo Sect was deeply moved by Boss Zuo's filial piety. Although he could not return to the sect due to the original order, he secretly accepted that Boss Zuo was still a disciple of the sect."

"Afterwards, with the support of the Huangluo Sect, Boss Zuo expanded his power on a large scale. In just three years, the entire underworld of Shangxi Prefecture was under Boss Zuo's control. Boss Zuo became the undisputed underground leader of Shangxi Prefecture, and even the Chu family had to show him respect."

"As Boss Zuo's power grew, his business naturally expanded beyond just a gambling den, venturing into various industries. Among them, his best and most profitable venture was the intelligence business. In Shangxi Prefecture, and even the entire Yazhou, there was nothing that could be kept from Boss Zuo. As long as he paid the right price, customers could find out everything they wanted to know."

As Zuo Changxiao listened to Qing Xuan's slow narration, his expression grew increasingly grim. Although his past wasn't exactly a top secret, only a handful of people knew about it, and those were all highly influential figures in Yazhou. The fact that this young man before him knew so much about his past clearly indicated that he was no ordinary person or someone of considerable importance.

After Qingxuan finished speaking, she stopped beating around the bush and said with a smile, "Boss Zuo, now that we've gotten to this point, you should understand why I'm here, right?"

"Hmph." Zuo Changxiao sneered, "So, Young Master Gao Jin is here to buy information. If that's the case, you could have just informed me directly. Why go through all this trouble and make everyone unhappy?"

Qingxuan chuckled: "Didn't I tell you? I've run out of money. How can I buy information without money? As far as I know, Boss Zuo's information isn't cheap. How can I trouble Boss Zuo to come forward if I don't bring some money? Of course, I do want to win some pocket money."

"You!" Upon hearing this, Zuo Changxiao's anger, which had just subsided, surged up again, almost causing him to spit out a mouthful of blood. He was panting heavily, staring at Qing Xuan with wide, angry eyes.

You win my money and then use that money to buy my intelligence. You get all the benefits for yourself. Do you really think everyone else is a fool?

However, since the visitor was a guest, and Qingxuan wasn't there to disrupt his gambling den, and could recover the large sum of money through relatively peaceful means, and considering Qingxuan's mysterious identity, Zuo Changxiao suppressed his anger and coldly asked, "I wonder what Young Master Gao Jin wants to know?"

Qingxuan's lips curled up, and she chuckled softly, "What I want to know is very simple, and Boss Zuo knows these things best. Other information brokers are far inferior to Boss Zuo in this regard, which is the main reason I came to see him."

Zuo Changxiao frowned, his mind racing. His expression changed drastically, and he exclaimed in surprise, "Could it be that you're trying to find out something...?"

"That's right!" Qingxuan replied, smiling slightly. "I want to know all the movements of the Huangluo Sect in the past two months, especially a month ago when the Du family was wiped out."

"Bang!" Zuo Changxiao slammed his hand on the table, flatly refusing, "I'm very sorry, Young Master Gao Jin, but I absolutely cannot tell you about this! I am a member of the Huangluo Sect; how could I possibly betray my sect!"

"Oh?" Qingxuan raised an eyebrow and took out a thick stack of silver notes from his sleeve—the very two million taels he had won earlier. He patted the stack on the table and laughed, "Two million taels isn't enough? As far as I know, even with Boss Zuo's power and wealth, two million taels isn't a small sum, is it? Boss Zuo's annual tribute to the Imperial Luo Sect is only about that amount."

Zuo Changxiao's eyes lit up with interest, but his expression began to waver. Indeed, the amount of silver he paid to the Huangluo Sect each year was only about that much. However, to exchange some information about the Huangluo Sect for a year's worth of tribute was a deal that seemed worthwhile no matter how you looked at it.

However, Zuo Changxiao also knew that everything he had achieved today was entirely thanks to the Huangluo Sect, and he was well aware of the Huangluo Sect's methods. If the Huangluo Sect found out that he was secretly selling their information, the consequences would be unimaginable.

Moreover, Zuo Changxiao grew up in the Huangluo Sect and went to great lengths to return after being expelled. Whether from a personal or practical perspective, he would not easily give up this relationship.

Although two million taels of silver was a lot, Zuo Changxiao was still confident that he had other ways to get it back from Qingxuan. Even if he couldn't get it back, he could simply save money for a few months and squeeze more profits from other businesses, and he could still squeeze out the two million taels without delaying the date for paying tribute to the Huangluo Sect.

After a moment's consideration, Zuo Changxiao shook his head and resolutely refused, saying, "Young Master Gao Jin, there's no need for further explanation. I will not agree to your request."

Qingxuan wasn't surprised by Zuo Changxiao's refusal, and still smiled, "Is that so? Since Boss Zuo thinks two million taels of silver isn't enough, how about I add another bargaining chip?"

Zuo Changxiao asked instinctively, "What kind of bargaining chips?"

Qingxuan's eyes gleamed with an unfathomable light. Pointing to Zuo Changxiao's pale face, she said leisurely, "If Boss Zuo is willing to tell me about the Huangluo Sect, not only will I offer you the entire two million taels of silver, but I will also help you heal that soul injury that even the Void Realm and the Huangluo Sect are helpless against. How about that?"

P.S.: I am incredibly grateful to @大梦三生YL and @神のQ君 for their recommendation votes, and even more grateful to @芭拉拉小可爱 for the donation. I am truly flattered and deeply thankful for seeing this today.