“You’re out?”

Upon seeing Huang Li, Li Hengsheng also halted his horse.

“Weren’t they checking to see if there was someone named Li Hengsheng among everyone before? Since there wasn’t, they naturally let us go. A few people stayed behind, wanting to continue working at General Dekang’s mansion, but I found it too oppressive inside, so I left.”

Huang Li chuckled, “But I never imagined you’d be so formidable, actually becoming the captain of the General’s mansion.”

“Just making a living,” Li Hengsheng said with a smile.

“Gurgle.”

At that moment, Huang Li’s stomach made a noise, clearly indicating he hadn’t eaten in a long time.

“Heh, I’m hungry,” Huang Li said somewhat sheepishly to Li Hengsheng.

Li Hengsheng sighed lightly. After all, they had shared a brief acquaintance, and Huang Li had explained some things to him while in the dungeon. Out of consideration for this, Li Hengsheng took out his purse and said, “I’ve just become a captain and don’t have much money. My salary is advanced, but I still have enough to treat you to two days’ meals.”

With that, Li Hengsheng took out a silver ingot from his purse, weighing a full five taels.

“Thank you, Captain Li Yun, for your help!” Huang Li was very touched and said, “If one day I can meet that Li Hengsheng and capture him for the Cangyuan Realm Master, and if I make a fortune, I will definitely thank Brother Li Yun properly!”

Huang Li spoke with emotion, but his words made Li Hengsheng frown. The hand still in his purse immediately tossed the five-tael silver ingot back in and replaced it with a two-tael one, which he handed to Huang Li.

“Go have a meal. I have a patrol mission, so I’ll be leaving first.”

After speaking, Li Hengsheng left with his men.

Huang Li, looking at the two taels of silver in his hand, weighed it and couldn’t help but sigh, “A bit stingy.”

After Li Hengsheng left, he gestured to someone behind him. Immediately, a Ghost Clan warrior approached, one of Li Hengsheng’s three deputy captains, named Bai Ha.

“My lord.”

Bai Ha came up and greeted with a fist salute.

“Follow that Huang Li and see if he’s up to anything suspicious,” Li Hengsheng instructed.

“Yes.”

Bai Ha nodded, then glanced back at the departing Huang Li and stealthily followed, changing into plain clothes along the way.

Huang Li originally wanted to eat, but feeling the weight of the silver in his hand, he thought the two taels were too little. Even after a meal, the remaining money would only be enough for three more meals at most. What could he do after the money was gone?

As he pondered, Huang Li suddenly heard a noisy commotion nearby.

Looking up, Huang Li found himself in front of a massive building, from which the clamor emanated. It was the gambling house of Yegui City!

Yegui City had many gambling houses, but this one was an official enterprise.

It belonged to the city lord of Yegui City.

Huang Li glanced at the two taels of silver in his hand, hesitated for a moment, then resolutely entered the gambling house.

The gambling house was huge, with all sorts of games and a sea of people inside, not just Ghost Clan members but also humans and even other races. There were many tables with a variety of games.

Huang Li looked around, trying to figure out what he was best suited to play.

Eventually, Huang Li decided that other games were too complicated and went straight to the dice tables.

After all, dice was the simplest game.

Either bet on big or small, or guess the number.

With only two taels of silver, Huang Li wasn’t in a hurry. After watching for a while, he bet all two taels on small.

“Place your bets, no more bets!”

The dealer announced, then opened the dice cup – two, three, three, eight points, small.

Huang Li’s eyes lit up!

The two taels of silver instantly turned into four.

Feeling lucky, Huang Li continued to bet.

Bai Ha, disguised as a bystander, watched from behind. Even he was impressed by Huang Li’s luck. In less than a quarter of an hour, Huang Li turned two taels into over two hundred.

He almost always guessed the right size.

Even Huang Li himself was excited; he hadn’t expected such good fortune.

Suddenly, he had over two hundred taels of silver.

At this point, Huang Li’s eyes were red with excitement.

When luck strikes, it truly cannot be stopped!

This time, Huang Li boldly bet all over two hundred taels on triple sixes, because he had a hunch it would hit!

The odds for triple sixes were thirty-six to one!

Others saw Huang Li winning so many rounds, but when he started betting on specific numbers, they thought he had gone mad.

To everyone’s astonishment, the dice revealed triple sixes!

Even the dealer was stunned!

Suddenly, Huang Li had nearly ten thousand taels of silver!

Bai Ha watching from afar was dumbfounded. What kind of insane luck was this?

Originally, Bai Ha thought that with ten thousand taels, Huang Li would surely leave, but Huang Li was still not satisfied. He felt his luck was unstoppable and continued to bet, attracting the attention of countless onlookers.

Many came to watch Huang Li’s winning streak.

And today, Huang Li truly seemed favored by the goddess of fortune.

Ten thousand taels turned into twenty thousand.

Into a hundred thousand.

Into five hundred thousand.

Into three million!

Even into fifteen million!

Everyone was stunned, and Bai Ha was utterly bewildered. What was he witnessing?

Huang Li’s luck was so good?

Two taels of silver turned into fifteen million?

Too outrageous, right?

And at this moment, Huang Li was so excited that his eyes were red. He felt that today he would reach the pinnacle, even the dealer was shocked.

Huang Li had no intention of stopping. His mind couldn’t think anymore, there was only one thought.

Keep gambling!

He must continue!

“Big!”

Fifteen million in silver tickets, all bet on big.

However, this time, when the dice cup was opened, it revealed one, two, two – five points, small.

In an instant, fifteen million in silver tickets went to the house.

When Huang Li lost all his money, he finally came to his senses. He stared blankly at his empty hands and his growling stomach, realizing he didn’t even have enough money to buy a bowl of noodles.

But this did not prevent Huang Li from becoming a legend in this gambling house today.

Two taels of silver won fifteen million taels – who could have imagined such a thing?

When Huang Li walked out of the gambling house in a daze, someone approached and took him away, simply telling Huang Li that his lord wanted to see him.

Bai Ha saw from a distance that the person who took Huang Li away was one of Hai Dongsheng’s men.

Bai Ha did not follow, but went to report to Li Hengsheng in the evening.

“What happened to Huang Li? What did he do?”

Li Hengsheng asked while reading a book, which was written by the Ghost Clan, helping him understand the world of Yunhuang and survive better here.

“He went to the gambling house.”

Bai Ha answered.

“He gambled in the gambling house? What was the outcome?” Li Hengsheng asked without lifting his head.

“The outcome…” Bai Ha thought of the thrilling afternoon but found it troublesome to report, so he simply stated the result: “He lost the two taels of silver.”

Li Hengsheng was unsurprised by this.

Clearly, he had anticipated the outcome.

“After he came out of the gambling house, I saw him taken away by Hai Dongsheng’s people,” Bai Ha said.

“Hai Dongsheng…”

Li Hengsheng knew Hai Dongsheng was still suspicious of him, but without evidence, Li Hengsheng wasn’t afraid of him for the time being. However, he was unsure what a petty person like Hai Dongsheng might do behind the scenes.

What could Hai Dongsheng want with Huang Li?

Li Hengsheng didn’t care much, but he knew to be wary of people like Huang Li in the future. Their debts were settled, and there was no need to entangle further.

“Captain, the commander is calling for you.”

At that moment, a soldier came in to report.

“I understand.”

Li Hengsheng got up to find Hong Shen.

Hong Shen was a bit simple-minded, but Li Hengsheng found such people easier to get along with.

When Li Hengsheng arrived, he found Hong Shen looking at a map on the wall.

“Commander.”

Li Hengsheng approached and spoke.

“Li Yun, come in, sit down,” Hong Shen said, squinting: “How have you been these past few days?”

“Everything is fine, thanks to the commander’s care.”

Li Hengsheng said with a light smile.

“That’s good,” Hong Shen suddenly said, “But since you’re a captain now, you should fulfill some of the captain’s duties.”

“What would you have me do?” Li Hengsheng knew there was no such thing as an easy job.

Hong Shen pointed to the map on the wall and said, “Our Yegui City is secluded, and we usually have to go thousands of miles away to get supplies, which is not enough. So we often go out to conquer other tribes. As a captain, this is one of your duties, and other commanders have the same task.”

“We are responsible for this area.”

Hong Shen pointed out to Li Hengsheng and continued, “There are many tribes here. Seizing their resources, even annihilating them, is commonplace in Yunhuang. My other captains also do this. Every half year, each captain must conquer at least two tribes, or else they will be stripped of their captaincy and punished.”

“I understand,” Li Hengsheng nodded.

In short, because Yegui City was far from other cities, getting supplies required traveling far. They also engaged in bandit-like activities. If it were in human territories, Li Hengsheng might have had qualms.

But this was Yunhuang.

A harsh, survival-of-the-fittest world.

And now, he didn’t have the luxury of being capricious. In a place like Yunhuang, it was already harder for a human to survive. Here, he had to put aside most of his compassion and conscience to live better and revive his father sooner.

“We are responsible for the western region of Yegui City.” Hong Shen pointed at the map, which was marked with many tribal locations. At a glance, there were many.

“You can choose one, but after years of conquest, the remaining tribes are not easy to conquer,” Hong Shen warned Li Hengsheng.

“The job is risky,” Hong Shen continued, “The captain who died before, died on the battlefield.”

“Which tribe was he attacking when he died?” Li Hengsheng asked instinctively.

“This one.”

Hong Shen pointed to a tribe near a riverbank and explained, “Tianshui Tribe. They are near Tianshui River and have a geographical advantage, making them difficult to deal with. More importantly, they have many Water Ghosts in their tribe, who have an advantage on the water. We suffered losses because of this.”

“Then let’s choose Tianshui Tribe,” Li Hengsheng said indifferently.

“Tianshui Tribe?” Hong Shen was taken aback and tried to dissuade him, “For your first time, choose an easier target. Attacking Tianshui Tribe right away, I doubt you’ll make it back alive.”

“That’s the one.”

Li Hengsheng showed no fear.

If it were in the city, he would have to hide his abilities.

But outside, there was nothing to hide. These tribes didn’t even have Innate experts, so what was there to worry about?

Generally, tribes with Innate experts were not the targets of these small captains; those were the big tickets that commanders took them to attack.

After leaving Hong Shen, Li Hengsheng prepared and set off with his squad from Yegui City the next morning.

This was Li Hengsheng’s first time leading a group, and it felt novel. He felt like a general.

When the news spread, many captains from General Dekang’s mansion couldn’t believe their ears when they heard Li Hengsheng was attacking Tianshui Tribe.

“This human is courting death!”

Someone snorted coldly.

“He wants to stand out, but he didn’t expect to hit a wall!”

“Although Tianshui Tribe doesn’t have an Innate expert, part of it is located on Tianshui River. They have two top Innate experts in command. On the water, their combat power is comparable to Innates. Can a mere human contend with that?”

No one looked favorably upon Li Hengsheng.

Yet, at this moment, Li Hengsheng was already on his way to Tianshui Tribe. By noon the next day, he finally saw the tribe from afar.

“My lord, that’s Tianshui Tribe ahead,” Bai Ha reminded Li Hengsheng, looking somewhat nervous.

“Are you nervous?” Li Hengsheng asked.

“Not really, but the warriors of Tianshui Tribe are indeed strong,” Bai Ha cautioned Li Hengsheng, “It’s better to be careful, my lord.”

“Hmm.”

Li Hengsheng was calm inside. To get more resources and a more secure position, he needed to climb the ranks in Yegui City. To do so, he needed more military achievements.

Tianshui Tribe would be his stepping stone.