Chapter 17: Encountering Fake Soldiers on the Way Out

  In the casino, although many people were injured under Hu Fei's swift and fierce attack, only a few had leg injuries, and most of them were just superficial wounds. Therefore, after Hu Fei started to intentionally chase and beat those bodyguards who had weapons in their hands, all the bodyguards in the entire casino ran away in less than twenty minutes. Except for Hu Fei's three men, all the remaining gamblers and waiters in the casino were crowded at the door waiting to get out.

  This way, the three or four scar-faced men with beards blocking the gate were delighted. Originally, they had to chase people to rob them of their money; now it was great, as those being robbed lined up to pay before leaving, and all these former robbers had to do was stretch out their hands to receive the money. There were even people who spoke well of them, asking to pay first and leave first. Doing this kind of work was really easy and made one feel a sense of professional honor!

  Not bothering with those whiskers didn't mean Hu Fei had nothing to do, he still had something to take care of in this casino. His eyes scanned the room and checked a few hidden corners, before long Hu Fei found who he was looking for. The casino owner, Ling San, was dragged out from under one of the gambling tables.

  "Ling San, you're the boss of this casino, right?" Hu Fei helped Ling wipe off the dust on his body with a seemingly concerned expression, "Look at you, such a big person and yet you don't even know how to keep yourself clean. Just look at all that dirt on your clothes!"

  "This gentleman, you've mistaken me for someone else. I'm not the owner of the casino." Ling San awkwardly bowed and tried to create some distance between himself and Hu Fei, feeling that being too close to this young man wasn't a good thing.

  "Eh, what's the casino owner afraid to admit? Although running a casino is considered one of the lower professions, it's still a job among the 360 occupations. Mr. Ling doesn't need to deny it anymore, or else I'll find a few people to confront you and make a statement?"

  Hu Fei's hand patted Ling San's body for a while before stopping, and then he casually put his arm around the other person's shoulder, making it seem to outsiders that their relationship was very close.

  "Ling San, wasn't it just the two of us gambling together earlier? In the last round, you cheated and took the money that I was supposed to win. By rights, if someone is caught cheating, they should be sent to the authorities. But I'm a soft-hearted person, so how about this: I won't turn you in to the authorities; and you can just return the money that's rightfully mine?"

  Hu Fei's suggestion sounded reasonable, it was his money to begin with, and now he just wanted it back, without pursuing the matter further. It seemed like he was letting Ling Zhang off easy. However, after hearing Hu Fei's suggestion, Ling San's face turned sour, as if he had eaten bitter melon. He hadn't cheated Hu Fei in the first place, so why should he compensate him for his losses? But now, it seemed that whether or not to compensate was no longer up to him.

  After tonight's riot and fight, the amount of money lost by the casino is astronomical. Hu Fei's gambling capital was not a small sum, even if you don't count the last hand, taking out so much money would be enough to make his casino ache for a while, let alone after the casino had just suffered a robbery.

  Ling San just frowned and didn't say a word, but Hu Fei's face changed slightly. "What, is Storekeeper Ling unwilling to return my money?" The tone of his speech also revealed a hint of anger.

  "How could this be? I'm not unwilling to pay, I'm just afraid of not being able to pay it back!" Ling San had been running the casino for many years and naturally knew what to do in such situations. With his life now in someone else's hands, the only way out was to sacrifice his wealth to avoid disaster. After all, money is important, but one needs to be alive to enjoy it.

  "So that's how it is, haha, I thought Ling Zhang wanted to default on the debt. It seems I was too suspicious. Was Ling Zhang just joking? How could you not pay off your gambling debt? You're a casino owner! If you can't even pay off your own gambling debt, how can you run a casino?" Hu Fei looked at Ling San with an expression full of surprise, as if he couldn't believe that Ling San wouldn't be able to pay off his debt.

  "Alas, all the circulating funds of my casino are here. You don't believe it? Take a look yourself." Ling San led Hu Fei to a small independent room with his head hung low in despair. The interior looked like Ling San's office and lounge combined.

  There was a hidden compartment in the corner of the wall, and inside it was the floating capital of the gambling den. A few bundles of banknotes, two packets of silver dollars. The fact that they could be hidden here was also reserve funds, and most of the floating capital was circulating within the gambling den. This time, it was looted by the frantic gamblers, and Ling San suffered a huge loss!

  These banknotes and silver dollars look like a lot, but compared to Hu Fei's gambling capital, they are basically the same. If you count the compensation for his last hand, the difference in numbers will be even greater. No wonder Ling San said he couldn't pay off Hu Fei's gambling debt.

  However, Hu Fei didn't have such a sophisticated financial concept. He only vaguely knew the amount of chips on the gambling table, roughly looking at it, and it was about the same as the money Ling San had hidden here. Hu Fei wasn't polite either, tearing off a piece from the window curtain, wrapping up the banknotes and silver coins in the secret compartment, and stuffing them into his pocket, considering it done. With so much money, he believed that for a long time, he wouldn't have to worry about financial troubles again.

  "Not bad, Old Man Ling is indeed a man of his word. Alright, let's consider this matter settled! In the future, we'll have to come and go frequently, farewell!" Hu Fei patted Ling San's shoulder and strode out. Old Man Ling looked at Hu Fei's back with an extremely complex expression on his face.

  Hu Fei came out of Ling San's office and returned to the gambling hall where he had gambled on Go. Scarface Three, Sun Lao Liu, and others were still there and hadn't left yet. The hall was too big, with many gamblers inside, and even now there were still about twenty people who hadn't left yet. Scarface Three and a few others stood at the door, searching everyone who came out, emptying their pockets of money before letting them leave. Hu's gang had upgraded from robbery to extortion!

  "Old Three, Old Six, let's go." Hu Fei no longer wanted to waste time in this casino. Something big had happened here, and if they were to provoke the devils or puppet troops from the city, wouldn't that be trouble?

  Although the three scarred men thought it was a bit of a hassle to set up a toll, since Hu Fei wanted to leave, they naturally couldn't not listen. The few people agreed and, after putting the stolen money on their bodies, followed Hu Fei out.

  Things in the world are often like this, no matter what you think or do, good things don't work out and bad things do! Hu Fei just happened to think that the fake army of devils from the city might come, so he shouted for a few people including Zhuo San to leave quickly. Who knew that as soon as they stepped out of the gate, they saw a crowd of people outside, with lights shining brightly, and on top of that, people were shouting and dogs were barking, creating a chaotic scene.

  The gamblers who had just experienced the robbery and group fight in the casino gathered in a large crowd at the entrance of the casino, concentrating on one spot as if preparing to line up for a meeting. In the brightly lit area, someone was shouting loudly: "Hurry up, hurry up! Everyone stand here! No one is allowed to run around or move around, whoever dares not to listen to orders will be shot dead!"

  Emotions have already been blocked at the door! Hu Fei's eyes were sharp, and he saw a team of soldiers standing under the lights with real guns and live ammunition!

  Pan Shan County has been occupied by the devils, Hu Fei knew this when he entered the city during the day. Since the devils have occupied the county seat, the soldiers in the city are either devils or puppet troops! Judging from the fluent tone of that guy's speech just now, it doesn't seem like a devil, and it's most likely a puppet army!

  The fake army surrounds the gamblers, definitely to investigate the disturbance in the casino just now. Can Hu Fei ask the fake army to arrest and interrogate them? Not to mention that he is unwilling to deal with the fake army, even if he doesn't care, can those beards behind him not care? Moreover, these few people were originally the source of tonight's casino disturbance! The fake army only needs to ask those gamblers to find out!