After Xiao Jingcheng left Feihu Casino, the suspended gambling games resumed, and the noisy atmosphere returned. It seemed as if everyone had completely forgotten what had just happened.
In a nearby mansion, Zhao Hu was lying on a recliner, playing with walnuts in his hands. He was leisurely listening to the tunes and was starting to doze off. Suddenly, a thug stumbled in from outside, looking panicked.
"Boss Hu, n-no! Something terrible has happened!"
Zhao Hu sat up from the recliner and said impatiently, "What are you shouting about? What could make you so panicked?"
The thug cried with a long face, "General Tunri is back! As soon as he came back, he went straight into the casino, overturned the tables, smashed the dice cups, and drove everyone away!"
"What did you say?!"
Zhao Hu immediately jumped up and rushed outside.
When Zhao Hu arrived at the casino, it was in a complete mess. The once crowded room was now empty. Everyone had been driven away. Xiao Jingcheng was holding a torch in his hand, looking as if he was about to set the casino on fire.
"Boss!" Zhao Hu shouted and rushed forward to try to hug Xiao Jingcheng. But Xiao Jingcheng had been on guard and dodged to the side. Zhao Hu fell to the ground with a thud. He got up and hugged Xiao Jingcheng's leg, crying,
"Boss, let's talk this through. Why do you have to beat and smash things like this?"
Damn it! This guy must have lost face after being beaten by his wife, so he came to take it out on their casino. What bad luck he had!
Xiao Jingcheng looked down at him with a cold face.
Zhao Hu was wealthy and had some influence in the southern part of the city. However, all his wealth had been extorted from others.
He had heard clearly in the casino tonight that the dice in the cups were specially made. Their sound frequencies were different from ordinary ones, and they were adjusted according to the size of the bets on each side.
It was obvious that the casino was cheating. Using sleight - of - hand to control the games was their way of making profits, making others lose nine times out of ten.
However, the stakes in each game in this casino were only a few copper coins. Zhao Hu's real source of income came from the usury he lent to others.
A loan of one guan of money would often end up rolling into ten taels or even dozens of taels.
He would then use the excuse of collecting the money to seize other people's houses, properties, and fields. This was the real purpose of his opening the casino.
As Ye Wanmian had said, this was sucking the marrow from the bones, completely heartless.
Zhao Hu was extremely greedy by nature. If he got more power, he would only become more and more ruthless.
In this way, it was the common people who suffered.
No matter what, he couldn't let these people continue to harm the common people and amass wealth wantonly.
Ignoring Zhao Hu's obstruction, Xiao Jingcheng threw the torch forward. He had poured kerosene on the floor of the house earlier. As soon as the flame touched the wooden blocks, it "whooshed" and burst into flames.
Zhao Hu's eyes turned red with heartache. He quickly called his men to come in and put out the fire. However, every time one of them came in, Xiao Jingcheng knocked them unconscious and threw them out. No one could get close.
Zhao Hu wanted to put out the fire himself, but as soon as he got close, the scorching flames forced him back.
Finally, he had no choice but to be dragged out by his thugs.
Zhao Hu knelt on the ground, watching the house burn, pounding his chest and crying.
Beside him, Xiao Jingcheng watched quietly. The flames were reflected in his eyes, making the frost between his eyebrows even heavier.
The casino was specially built by Zhao Hu. There were no other houses around except for open space. So when the fire broke out, it didn't affect other common people.
Moreover, this casino was notorious. When the nearby common people heard that it was on fire, they just took a look from a distance. After finding that it wouldn't affect them, they didn't care anymore.
The fire burned for nearly three hours before it was extinguished. The once - opulent casino in the first half of the night had now completely turned into ruins.
Zhao Hu had gone from being heart - broken at first to realizing that it was irreparable later. Now he felt like he had nothing to live for.
Xiao Jingcheng was sitting on a big rock, quietly watching the fire from its peak to the last few weak flames. The whole sky had already brightened up.
Zhao Hu looked at Xiao Jingcheng with cold hatred in his eyes. He gritted his teeth and asked, "I've already given you 20% of the casino's profits as we agreed before. What else are you not satisfied with? Why did you destroy this place!"
Xiao Jingcheng looked at him.
Although Zhao Hu couldn't see his face clearly because of the charm, he could still feel the cold gaze.
"Only 20%. Do you think I would be satisfied with that?"
Zhao Hu's eyes widened in shock.
Xiao Jingcheng squatted down and reached out to pat the soot off Zhao Hu's shoulder.
"Since you call me boss, everything you have should belong to me. Since it's mine, I can dispose of it however I like. If you have any objections, try to kill me. If you can't, just admit defeat obediently."
Zhao Hu's heart sank.
Kill him? Not to mention killing him, even hurting him was a problem!
"From now on, it's forbidden to open any more casinos. If I find out that you do, I'll take your life directly." Xiao Jingcheng said coldly.
He then looked up at the thugs gathered not far away. "The same goes for all of you."
Everyone quickly waved their hands and swore their loyalty one after another, "No, definitely not. From now on, whatever the boss tells us to do, we'll do it!"
Even his own men had defected and submitted to Xiao Jingcheng. Apart from admitting defeat, Zhao Hu had no other choice for the time being.
He lowered his head, gritted his teeth, and said unwillingly, "The boss is right."
After destroying the casino, a huge burden was lifted from Xiao Jingcheng's heart, but exhaustion soon followed.
He couldn't go back to Huichun Hall now. There was already the old incident from two years ago between him and Ye Wanmian. Even if she knew that he had destroyed the casino, she probably wouldn't give him a good look.
Although he wanted to win over Li Zhao and recruit him under his command, Li Zhao had no intention of helping him regain the throne, and he couldn't force him.
For the time being, apart from Zhao Hu's place, he really had nowhere else to go.
Zhao Hu lived a luxurious life. His residence was a three - courtyard mansion, far more grand than Huichun Hall and the houses of other common people in the town. It was obvious how much wealth he had amassed over the years through the casino and extorting protection fees.
Under his intimidation and fearing the sharp teeth of his two guardians, Sang Biao and Juan Mao, although Zhao Hu was very reluctant, he still gritted his teeth and told his wife to clean up the largest wing - room.
"Boss, you can stay here at ease these days." Zhao Hu said with a dark face. "If you need anything, just tell me."
When passing by Zhao Hu, Xiao Jingcheng stopped and looked at him.
"You must hate me to the core right now, right? Do you want to take this opportunity to poison me to death?"
Zhao Hu was startled. His eyelids twitched wildly, and he quickly denied it. "How could I, boss? I've never thought of such a thing."
How could this General Tunri be so sharp? He had just had this thought, but unexpectedly, it had been seen through by him!