Myriad Rivers to the Sea

Chapter 860: The Golden Cicada

The brightly lit avenue led them away from the open air courtyards and into a dense district of towering multi story buildings. The architecture here was far more opulent. The structures were painted in vibrant reds and golds. Massive illusory banners floated in the mist to advertise endless games of chance and fortune.Mei walked with a noticeable bounce in her step as she guided Li Yu through the surging crowds of wealthy merchants and wandering cultivators.

"The Stone Pavilion is thrilling but it is very quiet." Mei explained over the noise of the street. "If you want true excitement, you have to experience the main floor of a grand casino. The energy is completely different."

She stopped in front of a massive building constructed from polished dark wood and trimmed with glowing jade. A massive golden cicada was carved above the wide double doors. Cultivators were streaming in and out of the entrance with a mixture of different expressions on their faces. The sound of clinking chips and cheering crowds spilled out into the street.

"This is the Golden Cicada." Mei said proudly. "It is one of the most popular establishments in the entire city. They have dice tables, card games and spirit beast racing on the lower levels."

As they walked up the grand staircase leading to the entrance, a well dressed greeter offered Mei a polite smile. He discreetly slipped a small wooden token into her hand as she walked past.

Li Yu caught the exchange out of the corner of his eye. He understood the transaction between the two. The casino paid a finder fee to local guides who brought tourists to their doors. It was a standard business practice in any entertainment district across the cosmos. Mei looked completely innocent and genuinely excited to show him the games. She clearly believed she was just bringing her client to a reputable and fun establishment.

She did not know it was a slaughterhouse for wealth.

Li Yu stepped onto the main floor. The interior was vast and lavishly decorated. Crystal chandeliers hung from the high ceilings. Hundreds of tables were packed with eager gamblers. The air was thick with the smell of sweet incense and the sharp metallic tang of nervous sweat.

He walked over to a cashier station and exchanged a modest pouch of spirit stones for a stack of heavy clay chips.

"Let us try the dice first." Li Yu suggested. He wandered over to a large crowded table near the center of the room.

The game was simple. The dealer tossed three six sided dice made from polished bone into a deep wooden bowl. Players bet on the total sum or specific combinations. Li Yu watched for a few rounds so he could understand the rules. He noticed that the dealer did not use any Qi to manipulate the toss. Her movements were entirely clean and seemingly fair.

But Li Yu’s foundation was stronger than most and his connection to the natural order of the world was profound. Even though he was trying to relax and turn his brain off for the evening, he felt a very subtle ripple in the ambient space above the table.

Hidden from the eyes of the gamblers below, a completely different game was being played.

Deep within a folded spatial pocket, anchored to the ceiling of the casino, three incredibly powerful cultivators sat in a dark room. They were not mere guards. They were masters who specialized entirely in the laws of space.

"Table four has a heavy bet on the high numbers." The first void master muttered. He extended a finger and channeled a nearly invisible thread of spatial Qi down toward the dice bowl.

"Weight the low numbers." The second master ordered. "Make sure we win."

The first expert twitched his finger. The spatial gravity around the bone dice shifted slightly. It was a manipulation so subtle that the arrays of the casino masked it completely from anyone without a powerful connection to the laws. The dice tumbled and landed on three ones. The house swept the table and the gamblers groaned in frustration.

It was a flawless trap. The casino used high level experts to bleed the patrons dry while maintaining the illusion of a fair game. Of course they allowed winners as well. The job of those three was to ensure that the casino was winning more than they were losing. That was enough, they couldn’t win too much and they couldn’t lose too much. As long as they won enough over a long period of time, all was good and none were the wiser.

"We have a new player at table four." The third void master noted. He looked at Li Yu standing beside Mei. "He just dropped a large stack of chips on a triple six. Typical wealthy tourist."

"Crush him but give him hope so he can keep playing." The first expert sneered. He prepared to manipulate the void threads again.

Suddenly, the dark spatial pocket shuddered violently.

The three masters froze. The void around them did not just ripple, it shattered. The spatial walls of their hidden room were torn open like wet paper.

Five figures stepped out of another layer of the void and into the hidden room. They wore dark stealth armor. The ambient temperature in the room plummeted at their arrival.

Winter stood at the front. He did not draw a weapon. He simply released a fraction of his aura.

It was a terrifying and boundless pressure that stood beyond the pinnacle of this city. The three masters were instantly paralyzed. They could not breathe. They could not blink. Their inner energies were completely crushed back into their bodies.

Autumn, Summer, Solstice and Spring fanned out behind their commander. They looked at the scrying arrays and the void threads connected to the tables below.

"You run a rigged establishment." Winter said softly. His voice was colder than the void itself. "How very convenient."

"Who are you?" The lead master choked out. Blood leaked from the corner of his mouth just from the effort of speaking under the crushing pressure. "This casino is protected by the Golden Cicada sect."

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"I do not care about insects." Winter replied flatly. He walked forward and looked down through the arrays, directly at Li Yu.

"You see the young man in the white robes at table four?" Winter instructed. "The one with the yellow sashed guide standing behind him."

The three paralyzed void experts shifted their eyes toward the scrying pool. They saw Li Yu placing his bet.

"You will manipulate it so that he wins." Winter commanded. His tone left absolutely no room for negotiation. "He will not lose a single hand tonight. If he bets on a number, that number will fall. If he draws a card, it will be the exact card he needs. If he loses even a single clay chip in this establishment, I will sever your souls and feed your sect to the very insects your sect is named after."

The three masters stared at the terrifying interlopers in absolute horror. They were apex predators in this city but they had just been cornered by ancient monsters. They nodded frantically.

"Good." Winter said. He crossed his arms and watched the scrying pool. "Make him feel lucky."

Down on the casino floor, Li Yu pushed a large stack of clay chips onto the betting line. He chose the highest payout combination on the board just for the thrill of it. The dealer smiled politely but knew his fate was probably sealed. She covered the wooden bowl and shook the bone dice vigorously. She slammed the bowl down onto the table and lifted the cover.

Three sixes stared back at the crowd.

"Triple six." The dealer announced. Her polite smile faltered for a brief second. It was an incredibly rare roll.

Mei gasped loudly and clapped her hands. "Young master you won! That pays out twenty times your bet!"

Li Yu laughed out loud. He gathered the massive pile of chips the dealer pushed toward him.

"Beginner's luck." Li Yu smiled.

He left his original bet on the table and added even more chips to the pile. He picked another highly unlikely combination. The dealer shook the bowl again. She glanced up at the ceiling, expecting the masters to correct this anomaly.

She lifted the bowl. The exact combination Li Yu had chosen sat perfectly in the center. The crowd around the table went wild. Cultivators began to crowd around Li Yu to watch the lucky streak.

"Let us try something else." Li Yu said as he scooped his massive winnings into a sack. He felt great. It was nice to just turn his brain off and let luck guide his hand for once.

He wandered over to a high stakes card table. The game involved drawing spirit cards from a sealed deck to form matching elemental pairs. The dealer here was an incredibly fast and skilled expert with hands that moved like a blur. After watching for a bit he decided that he would like to give it a go.

Li Yu sat down and placed a mountain of chips on the table and he drew his cards. They were a perfect matching set of supreme fire elementals. It was an unbeatable hand. He won the pot and he played again. He drew a perfect set of supreme water elementals. He won again.

Over the next two hours, Li Yu went on an absolute rampage across the Golden Cicada. He played dice and cards and spinning wheels. He did not lose a single time. His pile of chips grew so large that he had to rent a spatial cart from the casino just to haul them around the floor.

Mei was vibrating with pure adrenaline. She had never seen anything like it in her entire life. She wasn’t even winning any money but it felt like she did. She cheered for every victory and helped him stack the heavy clay chips.

The dealers across the casino were sweating profusely. They constantly looked up at the ceiling with panic in their eyes. They knew the games were rigged by their hidden masters but the manipulation was actively working against the house. They could not understand why their own experts were handing the casino's wealth to a random person but there was nothing they could do.

Up in the spatial pocket, the three masters were weeping silently.

Their fingers were bleeding from channeling void Qi so aggressively to ensure Li Yu’s perfect hands. They were watching the casino vaults drain in real time but every time they slowed down or hesitated, Winter would release a fraction of his killing intent and the pressure would nearly shatter their meridians.

"He is moving to the grand roulette." Autumn reported from the corner of the room. She sounded mildly amused. "Make sure it lands on the golden lotus."

The void experts scrambled to manipulate the massive spinning wheel on the floor below. Eventually the sheer volume of Li Yu’s winnings triggered the highest emergency alarms within the casino management.

As Li Yu prepared to place another massive bet at the dice table, the crowd parted. A middle aged man wearing luxurious golden robes approached. He possessed a deep and heavy aura but his forehead was covered in a thick layer of sweat. He was the floor manager of the Golden Cicada.

"Honored guest." The manager said. He forced a polite smile but his voice trembled slightly. "Your luck tonight is truly legendary. The heavens themselves are clearly smiling upon you."

"It has been a very good night indeed. I can’t seem to lose." Li Yu agreed cheerfully. He patted his massive cart full of chips.

"Indeed." The manager swallowed hard. He had tried to contact the void room several times but received absolutely no response. He knew something terrifying was happening behind the scenes.

"Our establishment is incredibly humbled by your skill. However, we must humbly request that you conclude your gaming for the evening. We are prepared to offer you a premium exchange rate on your chips and a complimentary luxury suite as a token of our goodwill."

Li Yu looked at the manager. He could see the absolute panic hiding behind the man's polite facade. Li Yu had essentially broken the bank. If he stayed any longer, the casino would likely default on paying his chips and maybe use underhanded methods against him. It was best to walk away when asked.

"That sounds like a very fair offer." Li Yu nodded amiably. He had won a vast sum of wealth anyway. The thrill was starting to wear off. "I am ready to cash out."

The manager nearly collapsed with relief. He personally escorted Li Yu and the bouncing Mei to the VIP exchange vault. The casino staff loaded a heavy spatial pouch with high grade spirit stones. The wealth contained within the small bag was staggering.

Li Yu accepted the pouch and thanked the manager for the hospitality. He then walked out the grand double doors of the Golden Cicada into the cool night air.

As soon as Li Yu left the building, the manager abandoned his polite facade. He sprinted through the back corridors and activated a secret array that transported him directly into the hidden spatial pocket.

"What in the hell are you doing!" The manager roared as he burst into the void room. "You just gave away a quarter of our total reserves to a random brat. Why did you not stop his streak?"

He stopped screaming abruptly. The five terrifying figures in stealth armor were gone. The room was empty except for the three masters.

The masters were slumped over their tables. They were pale, trembling and completely drenched in cold sweat. They looked like they had just survived an encounter with an ancient god of death.

"Do not ask questions." The lead master whispered. His voice was hollow and broken. He slowly turned his head to look at the furious manager. "Do not follow him. Do not attempt to reclaim those spirit stones. Do not even speak his description out loud."

"What happened?" The manager demanded but his anger was quickly fading and turning into deep unease.

"If you pursue this matter." The master warned. He stared directly into the manager's eyes with terrifying sincerity. "This entire casino, our sect and everyone we have ever loved will be erased from existence before sunrise. Write off the loss and pray he never returns here again."