After another exhausting night patrol, Yu Manwen had just stepped into the courtyard when she heard an extremely excited voice coming from the main hall.
"Six! Six! Six! Six! Give me a six!!!"
A vein instantly throbbed on her forehead. Wait… that voice sounds like Little Duo’s? No wonder the gatekeepers were suddenly replaced today.
This Jiang Beiran! I actually thought he was guiding the Hall Master in the right direction, but now he’s even dragging Little Duo into gambling with him! The thought of Little Duo finally being corrupted made the veins on Yu Manwen’s forehead multiply to two.
With a loud bang, she pushed the door open and strode in with a frosty expression. Little Duo, who had been about to roll the dice, immediately straightened up and saluted.
"Greetings, Guardian Yu!"
"Little Duo! How could you join them in this nonsense too?"
Before Little Duo could respond, Jiang Beiran stood up first and said, "How about Guardian Yu joins us instead? We’re just short one player."
"Jiang Beiran, your audacity is growing more and more… Hm? What’s this?"
Yu Manwen’s eyes fell on the colorful square board and the twelve tiny figurines placed on it, her expression turning puzzled.
"This is called The Wandering Heroes, a folk gambling game from Fu’an. Would Guardian Yu like to give it a try?"
Watching Jiang Beiran blink repeatedly as he explained, Yu Manwen immediately understood. In fact, over the past few days, Yu Manwen had noticed that the Hall Master’s "bad habits" were gradually disappearing.
The floral tattoos she used to paint daily were no longer seen, the agate-mouthed rosewood tobacco pipe hadn’t made an appearance in a long time, and she had even stopped wearing open-collared robes. This left Yu Manwen utterly astonished.
After all, she had repeatedly pleaded with the Hall Master about these things, but to Shi Fenglan, they were matters of principle—like how you could ask her to gamble less, but never to stop gambling altogether. Every attempt had only addressed the symptoms, not the root cause. The only recent change around the Hall Master was Jiang Beiran’s presence.
Though Yu Manwen didn’t know what he had done, she was certain the transformation was because of him. Now, seeing Jiang Beiran’s exaggerated blinking, Yu Manwen instantly realized he was helping the Hall Master "quit gambling."
Ahem!
Clearing her throat, Yu Manwen barked, "No! Gambling is gambling, no matter the method! It’s not allowed!"
"Alright~" Jiang Beiran shrugged and was about to pack up when Shi Fenglan suddenly shielded the board with her arms.
"No, no, no! My Hidden Hero and Iron Beggar have already reached Wandering Heroes Island! Whispering Wind and Chain Fairy are fighting side by side, and I’m about to win!"
Jiang Beiran could only spread his hands helplessly, as if to say, Don’t look at me—I’m not the one you need to convince. Shi Fenglan immediately stood up and grabbed Yu Manwen’s arm.
"Manwen! Just let me finish this one round, okay? Just one~" Taking a deep breath, Yu Manwen shot Shi Fenglan a sidelong glance.
"Just one?"
"Mm-hmm! Just one! I promise!"
Shi Fenglan raised three fingers—index, middle, and ring—toward the sky.
"Fine. Only this one."
"Yay~ I knew you were the best, Manwen!"
Shi Fenglan plopped back into her chair and called out, "Come on, Little Duo, hurry up and roll the dice. Your Little Flying Hero is about to get caught by me. Hehehe~" Little Duo glanced at Yu Manwen first.
Seeing the latter nod, she happily picked up the dice again and chanted, "Just give me a six, and my Little Flying Hero can use the Lightfoot Point to escape. Give me a six, give me a six!" Glancing at the twelve lifelike figurines on the board, Yu Manwen couldn’t help but marvel at how skilled Jiang Beiran’s hands were.
Half an hour later… As Shi Fenglan yelled, "Give me a four!" the dice tumbled across the table before finally landing with the four-dotted side face up.
"Ahahahaha! Four! It’s a four! Finally!"
Amid her wild laughter, Shi Fenglan moved her Chain Fairy and Whispering Wind onto Wandering Heroes Island.
"I won! Haha, I finally won!"
Shi Fenglan cheered as she pulled out a slip of paper and stuck it onto Jiang Beiran’s forehead. Jiang Beiran sighed with a crestfallen expression.
"It seems the Hall Master has quite a talent for The Wandering Heroes."
"Hahaha! Of course! Is there anything this Hall Master isn’t good at? I was just going easy on you, little disciple."
"Yes, the Hall Master is supremely wise."
"Come on, let’s play another round!"
Shi Fenglan had barely finished speaking when she met Yu Manwen’s gentle gaze. Instantly deflated, Shi Fenglan pleaded, "I just want to play a little more…"
"No!"
Hearing Yu Manwen’s resolute tone, Jiang Beiran also stood up.
"This disciple should take his leave. I still have today’s studies to attend to."
But Shi Fenglan grabbed him.
"No! You promised to keep me company longer today."
"Hall Master, it’s almost Hai hour (9-11 PM)."
"Ah? It’s that late already?"
Shi Fenglan asked, astonished.
"Yes. Even Guardian Yu has already returned from her night patrol."
"Fine. But you have to come earlier tomorrow!"
"I’ll try."
Jiang Beiran packed up The Wandering Heroes into his Universe Ring, leaving behind only Shi Fenglan’s favorite Chain Fairy.
"Senior Brother Jiang…"
Little Duo suddenly spoke up.
"Hm?"
Jiang Beiran turned to her.
"If possible… could you leave Little Flying Hero here too? Just as a temporary…"
"Here, it’s yours."
Jiang Beiran placed Little Flying Hero on the table before cupping his hands toward Shi Fenglan and Yu Manwen.
"Then this disciple will take his leave."
With that, he turned and left. He hadn’t taken two steps out of Mirror Flower Garden when Yu Manwen’s voice sounded beside him.
"Thank you for everything these past few days."
"Guardian Yu flatters me. I was just fooling around with Hall Master Shi."
"Do you really think I can’t tell the difference between fooling around and what you’re doing?"
Yu Manwen chuckled.
"Besides, do you truly believe just any disciple would be allowed to mess around with the Hall Master of our Water Mirror Hall?"
"Then I must thank Guardian Yu for giving me this opportunity."
"Do you know why I allowed you to stay by our Hall Master’s side all this time?"
Just as Jiang Beiran was about to answer, three options appeared before him.
[Option 1: Voice your own guess. Reward: Maple Cutting Slash (Mysterious Grade, Low Tier)] [Option 2: "I’d like to hear it." Reward: Earth Kun Token (Yellow Grade, High Tier)] [Option 3: "I don’t want to know." Reward: Random Basic Attribute Point +1] Without hesitation, Jiang Beiran chose the third option and immediately replied, "I don’t want to know."
[Option task completed. Reward: Constitution +1] Yu Manwen, who had already worked up her emotions, nearly choked on her next breath.
She couldn’t help but glare at Jiang Beiran.
"Why do you always refuse to listen whenever I bring this up?"
"Because it feels dangerous. I don’t want to get involved."
"…"
After a moment of silence, Yu Manwen sighed.
"You’re as blunt as ever. But this really isn’t that dangerous of a topic."
"Please don’t make things difficult for me," Jiang Beiran said with a cupped-hand salute.
Seeing Jiang Beiran’s stance—clearly telegraphing if you keep talking, I’ll bolt at full speed—Yu Manwen could only sigh again.
(End of Chapter)