Chapter 570: Gambler
Translator: Panda_Penn Editor: Chrissy
The Drifting Cloud City was large, much bigger than the cities at the Northern Desert. Since the Clouds Plains was dozens of times larger than the Northern Desert, as the capital city of the second largest force of the Clouds Plains, the Drifting Cloud City of course wouldn't be small.
Lu Li followed behind Ye Hu. Both of them were wearing Drifting Cloud Hall's black armor. They stole their way toward the east gate. On their belts hang black jade talismans, the symbol of the Drifting Cloud Hall.
The gates were closed. But the protection formation over the city wasn't activated yet. The city gates and city walls were crowded with warriors. Lu Li could tell some of them were at the Noble Lord Realm from the distance.
From the team leader's memory, Ye Hu and Lu Li learned that the Drifting Cloud Hall boasted many Noble Lord Realm warriors in their Internal Clan, External Clan and their affiliating families. Altogether, there were more than 2000 Noble Lord Realm warriors, an impressive amount of powerful warriors.
"Brother Eight of the Tu Family?"
They arrived at the city. Lu Li and Ye Hu were under the inspection of many psychic powers. Third Patriarch Ye Hu remained calm and walked on with a pulled face. But he did slow down.
A warrior at the peak of the Noble Lord Realm leaned out of the wall and asked, "Why are you alone? Where are all your men?"
Ye Hu looked upward with an unkind face and snorted, "Mind your own business."
"Hmm, hmm~"
The warrior at the peak of the Nobel Lord Realm snorted and said, "We don't open the city gates anymore. Fly up."
Ye Hu paused for a moment and then looked at Lu Li. They both rushed to the wall. They kicked on the wall to leverage some strength and hopped up.
"Eh?"
As soon as Ye Hu and Lu Li were up, they saw many surprised faces. The warrior at the peak of the Noble Lord Realm looked at Ye Hu with doubt and said, "Brother Eight of the Tu Family, how come you are behaving so well? This is not like you."
Lu Li and Ye Hu were alarmed. Would they expose themselves as soon as they entered the city? Ye Hu thought about it and realized that he had acted with little consideration. This Brother Eight of the Tu Family had an eccentric personality. He was a lonely guy with a bad temper. In principle, he should have sworn and cursed and forced them to open the gate.
But Ye Hu was a clever man. He said with sarcasm, "I don't want to waste time here. All of my men were killed. I will never hear the end of it from those bastards at the Hall of Patriarchs. F*ck!"
While hurling abuse, Ye Hu walked into the city with an awful look. Lu Li went with him.
The warriors on the city wall looked at each other, sneering. One of them murmured, "No wonder he is in such a low key. He has screwed up his mission. Hmm, hmm, patriarchs are already not happy with him. They may send him to the suicide squad."
"Ha, ha, ha!" The warrior at the peak of the Noble Lord Realm laughed in ridicule.
Ye Hu's expression grew more awful. But he and Lu Li both felt relieved to have past the first barrier. They hastened into the city. According to the memory of Brother Eight of the Tu Family, Ye Hu found a castle, the entrance to the scout corps of the Drifting Cloud Hall.
There was a scout guarding outside. He bowed when Ye Hu came over, but with little respect, and said, "Lord Tu."
Ye Hu squinted at Lu Li and said grumpily, "You can go back now. Wait for my order."
"Yes!"
The person Lu Li was impersonating was an attendant of Brother Eight of the Tu Family. He had a yard in the city. Lu Li left quickly and walked toward a yard based on the information given by Ye Cha.
A curfew had been imposed in the city. No civilian pedestrians were on the street. There were patrols all around. Only some disciples of major families were entitled to go out on carriages but they were subject to constant inspection.
Lu Li had the jade talisman and the armor of the scout corps. He had gone through two inspections with nobody seeing anything wrong. He found the yard Meng Ji, the scout Lu Li was replacing, lived in.
The yard was off the way and shabby. Nobody was there. Meng Ji couldn't even afford to hire a servant. Meng Ji had spent all his assets on purchasing Mystical Materials and he was a gambler living in poverty.
This would be the best. If there were a servant, Lu Li would have to find a way to control that servant. Lu Li walked into the yard. It was not only messy, but also smelly. Yet Lu Li had to walk in and sit down.
Lu Li began to process the information Ye Cha told him. Recalling this man was a gambler, Lu Li had an idea. He sat in the yard with his legs crossed and waited quietly.
By nightfall, Ye Hu suddenly sneaked in. His heart was still fluttering with fear. He exclaimed, "I almost ran into trouble. This man has offended two patriarchs of the Tu Family. Now that the more than 100 men were all dead, the seniors wanted to put me into prison. But the master of the Hall of Patriarchs said that the war is about to begin and that I should redeem oneself by good service. Otherwise, I don't even know what I should do."
"Okay!"
Lu Li exclaimed their luck. If Ye Hu was put into prison, he might be killed. If he fought back, he would be killed.
Lu Li asked, "Have they assigned you anything?"
"Not yet!"
Ye Hu shook his head and said, "The war is about to begin. Average scouts are of no more use. They will only be inviting death by staying outside. Apart from the best teams of scouts, they others are all currently free, waiting for further orders. They may be…sent to the battleground."
"Okay, we still have a couple of days!"
Lu Li said solemnly, "You should be living in the yard of the Tu Family, right? Try to figure out a way to ask about the Saintess. If you have the chance, meet her. If not, don't risk it. I will go to the casino tonight. This Meng Ji is a gambler. The casino is filled with a mixed gang. I will see if I can learn anything. Let us meet once every day in this yard."
"Sure!"
Ye Hu nodded and said, "I cannot stay here for long. I must go back now. Saint Lord, be careful. If you find anything off, break this jade talisman to inform me."
Ye Hu left. Lu Li was still sitting in the yard with his legs crossed. He also had some prepared food. After the night fell, he tidied up and walked out.
The city seemed to be livelier at night. There weren't many pedestrians but the number of carriages had increased. The armies were bearing down in force. The city was depressed. Feeling suffocated, many people were probably going out at night to let off some steam.
Lu Li walked to a street which was famous in the Drifting Cloud City. It was a place for entertainment and pleasure. There were dozens brothels and many more casinos and pubs.
This street was boisterous. The warriors were living precarious lives. They could die at any minute. The closer they were to the war, the more were going out for indulgence and fun. No matter how many Xuan Crystals they had, the money would be pocketed by others once dead. They might just as well squander it all.
Lu Li ignored all the girls waving at him in the brothels. He walked directly into a biggest casino. According to Meng Ji's memory, he had been here several times and each time he could only place a small bet.
"This way, please!"
There was an old servant outside greeting guests. Even though Lu Li was only a regular warrior, he was at the Eternal Realm nonetheless. The servant did invite him in politely.
Going past a side chamber and a corridor, Lu Li walked into a hall with a circumference of two miles. It was quite impressive.
There was a big crowd. Many were warriors wearing armors. Lu Li could tell most of them were at the Eternal Realm. Some were at the Fate Wheel Realm and he spotted two at the Noble Lord Realm.
It was noisy inside, filled with swears and laughs and rising and falling screams, creating a foul atmosphere. The warriors were gathered around dozens big tables. Nobody paid any attention to Lu Li.
"My dear guest, they play dice at this table, they bet jade at this one and here…please yourself. If you need anything, come to me at any time!"
The old servant left after giving Lu Li an introduction. Lu Li wandered around, checking here and there. He did learn how to place a bet after a while.
He casually put thousand Xuan Crystals at a table and hurled some abuse after he lost. He kept on wandering around, listening to people's words, trying to see if he could pick up a clue.
"Have you heard? There is a pretty lady in the VIP room starting a game but it's 10 million Xuan Crystals per bet. Too bad we don't have enough Xuan Crystals. Otherwise, we could have gone there and checked her out."
A person's words got the attention of Lu Li. It was not because there was a pretty lady. But a lady was here to gamble? That was out of the ordinary in itself.