The Mirror Master

Although Lu Bai and his mother lived with the Luo Family, they always ate their three daily meals in their own quarters.

According to Madam Lu, since they were already guests in someone else’s home, it wouldn’t be right to freeload off them for meals as well.

However, for dinner this evening, Luo Mingzhao and his two brothers came to invite them personally.

This was to be expected.

After all, Lu Bai had exorcised a Ghostly Creature for the Luo Family, won two Profound Tier Inner Strength manuals, and tossed them to the brothers Luo Ben and Luo Xiao. It was only natural that the Luo Family would host a grand banquet to express their immense gratitude.

But when Luo Mingzhao and his brothers saw Lu Bai again, they seemed somewhat awkward.

Luo Mingzhao was the first to step forward. He clasped his hands in a slight bow and said, "Mr. Lu, this way, please."

Lu Bai said nothing.

Luo Hongyuan and Luo Yunxuan also stepped forward to bow respectfully, addressing him as "Mr. Lu."

This was the form of address the three brothers had settled on after some deliberation.

Calling him directly by his name as they had before was certainly no longer appropriate.

Calling him Young Hero Lu felt a bit distant and didn’t show enough respect.

After much thought, they came up with this compromise, though it felt a little awkward.

"The three of you are my elders. There’s no need for such formalities."

Lu Bai shook his head slightly. "Just keep calling me Lu Bai. I’m not particular about things like this."

The three of them breathed a sigh of relief.

Saying "Mr. Lu" felt awkward for them as well.

Luo Mingzhao smiled. "Lu Bai, I’m about the same age as Madam Lu. From now on, you can just call me Third Uncle Luo."

Lu Bai nodded.

At the evening banquet, Lu Bai and his mother were given seats of honor, second only to Luo Tianxiong.

Throughout the meal, the members of the Luo Family showered Lu Bai with praise and endless thanks.

Madam Lu’s heart was filled with joy as she listened.

Lu Bai remained silent, focused only on eating his fill.

Once he had eaten and drunk his fill, Lu Bai, unwilling to waste time and energy on the endless toasts, rose to take his leave.

The younger members of the Luo Family were all secretly envious.

They also hated this kind of occasion, but none of them dared to be the first to leave. They all had to read the expressions of their elders.

After leaving the Luo Family estate, Lu Bai was met with the vast, dark night. As a light breeze blew, he secretly circulated the Dragon Elephant Suppression Skill, and the smell of alcohol on him mostly dissipated.

He pondered for a moment before heading toward the Drunken Flower Tower.

"Isn’t that Young Hero Lu!"

"Girls, come on out! Our very own Young Hero Lu of Bluestone City is here!"

He had just stepped into the courtyard of the Drunken Flower Tower when someone recognized him.

The madam of the Drunken Flower Tower, dressed gaudily, waved a scented handkerchief and called up to the flock of beauties on the floor above.

"Young Hero Lu, you became famous in a single battle! It is an honor for our Drunken Flower Tower to receive you."

The madam swayed her hips and giggled. "Tonight, Young Hero Lu, you may choose any girl in the Drunken Flower Tower. I’m sure none of them would refuse you."

"I never thought Young Hero Lu was one of us."

"Haha! What hero wandering the Jianghu doesn’t love a beautiful woman?"

Many of the surrounding patrons began to hoot and holler.

The madam sidled up to him again and whispered, "Young Hero Lu, even our top courtesan, Miss Yiyi, has heard of your great name. She wants to see your heroic bearing for herself."

"Excuse me."

With a deadpan expression, Lu Bai pushed aside the madam and her pungent perfume. He walked straight to the back courtyard of the Drunken Flower Tower, passed through a small alley, and once again arrived at the Underground Bazaar.

-----------------

In the Underground Bazaar, only a few scattered stalls lined the sides of the street.

The Drunken Flower House only opened once every half a month, and that was when the bazaar had the most vendors setting up stalls.

Bluestone City’s largest gambling den was located here, and it was open every day.

As such, the Old Gambling Ghost set up his stall every day.

But with no customers around, the Old Gambling Ghost was bored to tears. He had no energy to hawk his wares, so he was just leaning lazily against the base of the wall by the gambling den’s entrance, resting with his eyes closed.

The sound of footsteps approached from a short distance and stopped in front of his stall.

The Old Gambling Ghost didn’t open his eyes, simply reciting in a listless voice, "Ancient wonders, Ancient Exotic Treasures... We have it all..."

CLATTER CLATTER!

A sound came from the stall as the person began fiddling with the ancient coins on display.

The Old Gambling Ghost cracked open his eyes. Seeing his visitor, he let out a soft sound of surprise and suddenly perked up. "This little brother looks familiar... And that face of yours, tsk tsk, destined for greatness!"

"I bought ten ancient coins here last time. I’m a regular customer."

Lu Bai smiled and began to pick through the pile of ancient coins on the stall.

He had found a Desolate Emperor Coin last time, so he decided to try his luck again.

That Desolate Emperor Coin was remarkably effective against Ghostly Creatures and other evil spirits—far more potent than his damaged Peach Wood Sword!

’If I can just find a few more and collect one hundred and eight Five Emperors Coins, I could string them together into a Five Emperors Gold Coin Sword.’

’That Little Ghost from yesterday... I could probably slay it with a single strike from that sword!’

Lu Bai casually picked up an ancient coin and inspected it with the Ancient Mirror. When it showed no information, he set it aside and said nonchalantly, "There aren’t many people here today. How about you give me a better price?"

The Old Gambling Ghost patted his chest and said with a wide grin, "Of course, of course! For a regular customer like you, little brother, ten taels a piece."

Lu Bai froze for a second, then said flatly, "Last time, you sold them to me for one tael a piece..."

"Is that so?"

The Old Gambling Ghost gave an embarrassed laugh. "I’m getting old, my memory’s not what it used to be. Besides, so many people come and go at this stall, I can’t keep track, you know?

We’ll go with what you said, little brother. One tael a piece it is."

Lu Bai didn’t press the issue.

’If I can find another genuine Five Emperors Coin, it would be a huge bargain even at ten taels a piece.’

Lu Bai proceeded to inspect over seventy Copper Coins in a row, but they were all new.

The Old Gambling Ghost said, "Little brother, all my coins are old. You could pick one with your eyes closed, no need to keep flipping through them."

"I’ll just look a little longer."

Lu Bai patiently continued his inspection.

There weren’t many other stalls nearby. He decided he would search through the Old Gambling Ghost’s wares today, and if he didn’t find any Five Emperors Coins, he would try a different stall tomorrow.

He checked over a hundred more, and they were all new.

Lu Bai was about to give up.

He randomly picked up another one. The Old Gambling Ghost caught the movement in his peripheral vision, and the corner of his eye twitched. He urged impatiently, "Little brother, are you ever going to finish picking through them? Are you buying or not?"

He held it up to the Ancient Mirror.

The mirror’s surface suddenly rippled, displaying four words: Desolate Emperor Mother Coin!

Lu Bai’s heart jolted.

The Old Gambling Ghost had mentioned last time that only a few hundred Desolate Emperor Mother Coins were ever minted during the Ancient Times.

All other Desolate Emperor Coins were cast from the mold of a Desolate Emperor Mother Coin.

This was far more precious than an ordinary Desolate Emperor Coin!

Lu Bai’s heart began to hammer uncontrollably in his chest. He did his best to remain calm and went along with the Old Gambling Ghost’s prodding. "Of course I’m serious about buying. Fine, fine, I’ll just pick ten more."

With that, in addition to the Desolate Emperor Mother Coin already in his hand, Lu Bai randomly grabbed nine more Copper Coins, tucked them all away, and pulled out ten taels of loose silver to hand over.

The Old Gambling Ghost fell silent. He seemed distracted and didn’t immediately take the silver.

Lu Bai asked, "What’s wrong? Aren’t you going to take the money and go try your luck?"

The Old Gambling Ghost gritted his teeth, took the ten taels of loose silver, and then said with a grave expression, "Little brother, I see that the spot between your eyebrows is dark. You’re being haunted by an evil entity. I fear you’re about to have a run of bad luck. The slightest misstep, and disaster will befall you!"

"Oh?"

Lu Bai asked with a smile, "You also understand Physiognomy?"

The Old Gambling Ghost said, "A little."

Lu Bai asked again, "Is there a way to break the curse?"

"There is."

The Old Gambling Ghost said, "First, tell me how you can tell the difference between old coins and new ones."

Lu Bai blinked. "I don’t know anything about it. I was just guessing and got lucky."

The Old Gambling Ghost rolled his eyes. "In that case, I was just making it up, too. Believe it or not."

With that, the Old Gambling Ghost deftly packed up his stall and slung it onto his back. A series of clinks and clanks sounded from the bundle as he eagerly ducked into the gambling den.

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