The deeper he ventured, the more prosperous and bustling the scene became.
Small street stalls grew fewer and fewer, while large tents grew more numerous.
Tents of every color — red, blue, yellow, green — stretched in every direction. Some were erected as squares, others as cylinders. Some had two door pillars standing upright at their rolled-up entrance curtains, while others hung large red lanterns. Some blazed with brilliant light within, while others lay dim and dark.
Fang Yuan walked and looked about, eventually stopping in front of a grey tent.
"This is the place." He lifted his gaze to appraise it. At the tent's entrance stood two pillars, and carved into the pillars in intaglio technique was a couplet.
Left side: *Show a little courage, and reap the fortunes of spring, summer, autumn, and winter.*
Right side: *Display great skill, and harvest the wealth of east, south, west, and north.*
In the center hung a horizontal scroll: *Fortune turns with the times.*
That was right. Section Forty: Toad Gu Dormant in Purple Gold Stone was the name of a gambling house.
This gambling house occupied a full mu of land, placing it firmly in the category of large tents.
Fang Yuan stepped inside. Lining the interior walls of the tent were three rows of counters. Upon the counters sat blocks of amber or fossilized stone. The small ones were only palm-sized, the large ones as wide as washbasins. There were even bigger ones, standing as tall as a person. These could not fit on the counters and so were set directly on the ground.
Unlike the lively bustle of the other tent-shops, the interior here was hushed and silent.
A handful of Gu Masters stood before the counters. Some examined the stones displayed on the counters with careful scrutiny. Some picked up fossils and rubbed them gently between their palms, feeling the texture. Some whispered discussions with companions. Some haggled with the shop assistants over prices.
But regardless of what they said, everyone spoke in hushed tones, careful not to disturb the others.
This was a Gambling Stone Hall.
In this world of Gu, there existed all manner of Gu Insects — strange, wondrous, and beyond counting. Each Gu Insect required its own specific food. Without food, a Gu Insect could only endure for a limited time before it died.
But nature, toward life, was both cruel and merciful.
If food was lacking, a Gu Insect still had one slender chance at survival. That chance was to fall into dormancy — to seal itself away. For example, if Moonlight Gu lost access to Moon Orchid Petals, it might seal itself. It would compress its power inward as much as possible, entering a state akin to hibernation, sinking into the deepest possible slumber. At that point, not only would the blue glow fade from its body, but it would transform from a transparent crystal-like form into a grey stone, encased in a layer of stone shell. Over time, the shell grew ever thicker and heavier, until it became an ordinary-looking rock.
Similarly, if Wine Worm sealed itself away, it would form a white cocoon. It would curl its body tight and slumber within.
Of course, this sealing and dormant state did not occur in every type of Gu Insect. The probability was very low. Under normal circumstances, Gu Insects did not enter dormancy — they starved to death. Only a rare few species of Gu Insect would seal themselves away under specific conditions.
Some Gu Masters happened upon these stone-encased or cocoon-encased dormant Gu Insects and awakened the slumbering creatures within. Some made a tidy fortune from this. Others rose to prominence, their life trajectories turning a sharp corner. Such occurrences happened repeatedly in the world of Gu Masters, with true and false rumors circulating constantly, firing the imagination.
This was where the stones in this Gambling Stone Hall came from. Of course, these rocks only bore a suspicious resemblance. Only by uncovering them could one determine whether a Gu Insect truly lay hidden inside.
"In a small Gambling Stone Hall like this one, nine out of ten stones are solid all the way through, with no Gu Insect inside. Even among the stones that do contain Gu Insects, not all of them hold living ones — nine times out of ten, the Gu Insect is dead. But once you uncover a living Gu, in most cases, you stand to make a huge profit. If the Gu Insect happens to be extremely rare and valuable, then you'll either rise to great heights from that point on — or you'll be killed and robbed."
Fang Yuan saw it all clearly in his mind. He understood the inner workings of this trade thoroughly.
In his previous life, he had traveled with merchant caravans and worked as a shop assistant in a Gambling Stone Hall. For a time afterward, he had even operated a Gambling Stone Hall of his own — a mid-sized one, larger than this establishment. He had swindled plenty of gamblers and also misjudged stones on occasion, watching others uncover Gu Insects of considerable value several times.
Fang Yuan stood at the entrance for a moment, his gaze sweeping across the room, before he slowly made his way to the counter on the left.
Behind the counter, at intervals of several meters, stood shop assistants — both men and women. Around their waists they wore green sashes. They were no ordinary mortals; all were Gu Masters of the First Transformation. Most were at the Initial Stage, with a few at the Middle Stage.
Seeing Fang Yuan approach the counter, the female Gu Master nearest to him stepped forward, a smile appearing on her face, and said softly, "Young sir, what sort of Gu Insect are you looking for? The stones on this counter are each priced at ten Yuan Stones. If this is your first time trying your hand and you'd like a small, casual gamble, you might want to try the counter on the right — the stones there sell for only five Yuan Stones each. If you're after something more thrilling, then the premium counter straight ahead might suit you — the stones there are priced at twenty Yuan Stones apiece."
She was an experienced Gu Master who had been working at the Gambling Stone Hall for quite some time.
From the moment Fang Yuan walked in, she had assessed him based on his appearance, age, height, and other factors, and deduced that he was a student.
Those who came to gamble on stones were all Gu Masters — no ordinary mortals. But students could only be considered prospective Gu Masters, having just embarked on cultivation. They were usually strapped for cash from feeding their Gu Insects, so where would they get spare money for stone gambling?
Students like him would typically come in just to look around, broaden their horizons, and enjoy the novelty. The vast majority would only look and never buy. A rare few from better-off families might purchase one to try their luck, but they would usually only buy the cheapest fossils.