Song of Blood and Wine

A Qiang was a sailor and a native of the Kaos Empire.

It’s just that, although Ah Qiang has a sailor’s badge, his farthest voyage in his life was the chief mate of a merchant ship with five Silver Coins, from the Storm Strait in the eastern part of the Kaos Empire. , Smuggled into this Shark Bay, other than that, he either helped people carry supplies on the shore of Shark Bay, or wandered around the gambling shop until he lost the last child in his pocket.

Shark Bay is full of sailors like Aqiang, but a little bit different from them is that in Aqiang’s hometown, which is the Strait of Storms, in the port city there, Aqiang once had a This enviable small house once had a beautiful wife and once had a decent job.

Yes, once…

A Qiang was once very rich, but his slightly plain life makes him feel very boring. He always looks at the traffic on the hillside of the city. The port, envious of the free life of the sailors.

“It would be great if I could be so free.”

Aqiang always prayed to the chaotic altar in the suburbs, praying that he could find true freedom.

As a result, the altar really received Ah Qiang’s wish.

A demon named “gambling” came to Aqiang, and after Aqiang paid a high price, he gave him true freedom:

One day, a certain Some colleagues who like small gambling and happy sentiment took Aqiang to the newly opened gambling house in the city to play a round, but after a few rounds, Aqiang was completely obsessed with the excitement of gambling. In the following days, A Qiang did not return home at night, soaked in the casino every day.

In the following story, the fate of Ah Qiang and all desperate gamblers overlap.

The ever-increasing bargaining chip and the ever-expanding gap allowed Ah Qiang to sell all the valuable properties he had on hand, mortgage his real estate, and even wrote his parents on the signature column of the loan shark’s guarantor. And wife’s name.

Until Ah Qiang lost all the money again, and when he returned home foul-mouthed in the middle of the night, the debt collectors had already searched the entire house, and the bodies of mother and father were cold and hiding behind them. Next, the surviving wife also had excessive blood loss, and her face was pale.

“Dear Aqiang, take this snakeskin bag and run away! The snakeskin bag contains the last bit of money and the heirloom that father gave me before he died. Dear Aqiang, please Please, survive, and, don’t…don’t bet anymore!”

A Qiang can’t remember how embarrassed he escaped to the port. How to persuade the chief mate of the merchant ship to allow him to agree to mix into the merchant ship, Aqiang only remembered that he was like a nightmare. When he woke up, he was already lying on the shore of Shark Bay, and his snake In the leather bag, there are indeed five Silver Coins missing.

Did Aqiang successfully quit gambling after such a major change?

Obviously, no.

Walking corpse for a while, muddleheaded for a while, self-disgusted for a while, and self-exiled for a while. As a result, Aqiang completely put down the bottom line and returned to the casino.

The money in the snakeskin bag was quickly lost. With a good fit, Aqiang can finally support himself, but that little bit of money earned from odd jobs, in addition to three meals a day , He used to bet.

Interestingly, Ah Qiang stayed with him for the “heirloom” his wife gave him before his death—not because of how nostalgic Ah Qiang was, but simply because of that stuff. No one wants it.

It is a button with the same material size as the ancient Kaos Empire coin. The size matching this button is usually only cloak, and the bronze button is engraved on the front, which is strange Name:

Jack!

Anyway, Ah Qiang lived the life he yearned for, gambling, making money, and then gambling. In addition to being unable to keep money in his pocket, he is also “free” today.

Until today…

It was another ordinary day. A Qiang, who made some money by running errands, went to a gambling shop to have fun. Soon, he found After a gambling table with dice and guessing points, Aqiang came to the gambling table after squeezing through the bustling crowd of onlookers.

Relying on his instinct for gambling for many years, Aqiang was going to guess a wave first. However, just as he was about to put a few cheap coins on the “big” handicap, Aqiang’s mind suddenly A voice appeared:

Eleven o’clock, all-in!

For the first time in such a weird situation, Aqiang almost screamed out in fright, but that voice was so sonorous and powerful, so indisputable. All the Copper Coins and cheap coins in the pocket were thrown to the eleven o’clock position.

“Eleven o’clock, small!”

The croupier’s opening sound was as sweet as the sound of nature. At that moment, Ah Qiang’s heart was all up and down, bursting into the sky. His sense of accomplishment drove him to the cloud. In addition to his excitement, A Qiang did not forget to look around all around, but he could not find the angel that gave him the sound transmission, which made A Qiang feel a little bit disappointed.

However, compared to the excitement brought by gambling, this loss soon disappeared. Qiang returned to the gaming table again, this time, touching the bulging snakeskin bag, A Qiang has the confidence to take Copper Coin as a bet.

Loss,

Wins,

Continue to lose,

Win a few more,

Last lose and lose again!

Almost the same rhythm as before, except that, whenever Aqiang’s wallet is almost half lost, there is always an illusory voice telling Aqiang which high-risk and high-reward he should go Every time, A Qiang can always make a lot of money by relying on that all-in game, and even in the end, the snakeskin bag on A Qiang’s waist can’t fit those The extra Silver Coin Copper Coin can only go to the window of the gambling shop to exchange for a larger amount of chips to load money.

Of course, let alone the croupier, even the surrounding gamblers have discovered this unusual abnormality. When Aqiang loses halfway and prepares to go all-in, he chooses the handicap Almost full of chips, and the croupier tried their best to operate secretly, even if these arrogant gamblers suffered a defeat, it was a victory for the casino.

However, the mechanism under the gambling table failed, and the spell of the wizard operating in the dark also failed. The croupier’s thousands of tricks that countless gamblers have pitted over the past ten years have even encountered unprecedented Waterloo.

In this case, even if the Chief-In-Charge of the casino is stupid, he should guess what happened—

I met the expert!

A Qiang, who is stunned and green, is naturally not that expert. He is just a “target” kept in the dark. Then who is the “fisherman” hiding behind? After a little investigation, Chief-In-Charge of the casino quickly spotted a seemingly ordinary person.

There is no reason for staring at him. He is the one who follows Aqiang in the casino and makes a lot of money.

The five big and three thick gambling house thugs shuttled through the crowd in an orderly and swift manner, approaching the person in a siege, and their cuffs were faintly shining with a bright blade light.

It’s just that, before these gambling house thugs approached the person, another wave of people quietly appeared behind the gambling house thugs, putting them down with no difficulty.

“…Master Maier invites you to go upstairs and talk. Don’t worry, man, Master Maier just wants to hire you as a gambler temporarily.”

“Okay, but Give me one minute, and I will have a word with that person.”

Aqiang, who was excited, naturally did not notice the undercurrents in the casino, but when he inadvertently raised his head. At that time, he noticed that a certain “Fellow Daoist” at the same gaming table was actually spotted by the big man on the second floor, and even hired as a substitute gambler!

On behalf of the gambler, it can be said that this plane is a unique role.

There are thousands of gambling houses in any plane, and due to the existence of magic, the cheating methods on this plane are more personal and more powerful.

Those rich squires may be very rich and love gambling, but in front of professional gamblers, they may not have the ability to keep their property. At this time, they often invite equally professional gamblers Gambling on their behalf, and the rich squires are starting an outside game, that is, betting behind the gamblers, which increases the winning rate and gains a sense of participation. Why not do it!

For gamblers, gamblers are even more iron rice bowls, how can they not be enviable!

It’s just that, why did the gambler who was just hired as the substitute gambler come to him with a smile on his face?

Aqiang doesn’t remember that he knew such a big man!

“Man, I accept the payment for helping you. You are welcome. Also, I let you win enough money that you can’t spend in a lifetime. Promise me not to come to the casino again!”

Aqiang left the gambling shop in a daze with the whole bag of money he won. After Aqiang calculated for a while, he spent some money on a good meal, bought a decent dress, rented a boat and went back to Storm Strait, bought back the small bungalow that had lived in more than ten years, and looked for it. Got a decent job and even married a young and beautiful wife to accompany him.

The days seem to have returned to the past. The only difference is that he couldn’t find the heirloom that his ex-wife gave him before his death, the cloak button.

“He did probably take it away.”

Whenever I think of the lucky star who passed him by, Ah Qiang always feels very lucky, but at the same time, every time Thinking of the joy of immersing himself in the gambling shop in Shark Bay every day, Ah Qiang couldn’t help but feel a little empty in his heart.

Although this day is comfortable, I always feel that something is missing…

Freedom?

By the way…

It’s freedom!

“Well, it’s decided. I will go to the gambling shop tonight for a while. Anyway, I now have that many money. Losing two Silver Coins can’t be considered!”

The residual temperature of the sunset will eventually disappear, and the cold darkness will come again quietly!

……