The sun was shining brightly and it was gradually reaching the afternoon.
It's been a scorching summer lately. Although it's cooler in the mountains and forests than in the city, it's also getting hotter and muggier. The cicadas in the trees keep chirping.
The villas and manors in the mountains still look cool and dry under the influence of air conditioning. Guards in neat suits are scattered everywhere on duty.
The servants in the villa washed the grapes cleanly, chilled them, and brought them to the round table in the living room and placed them next to Hong Guang's hand.
Gambling King Hong Guang, a wealthy man who made his fortune through gambling, has never had any news of failure in regular gambling games since he became famous.
However, everyone knows that this rich man has a physical disability. He relies on crutches when walking and an electronic speaker when speaking.
In this World Gambling King Competition, many people are not optimistic about him because of this factor.
It is a very reasonable thought. A disabled person like Hong Guang, who is already very old, will definitely have a decline in energy. It is difficult to say whether his gambling skills are still as good as before.
But in fact, almost none of the other contestants in this gambling king competition are young people.
The oldest Japanese gambling king has white hair, a white beard, and a face as wrinkled as an orange peel. No one can tell how old he is. Few people can even tell his specific name. They are just used to it. Called the Japanese gambling king.
After all, he has been in the position of Japan's gambling king for more than sixty years. As long as the words "Japan's Gambling King" are mentioned, you will know that it refers to him and there will never be another person.
After Hong Guang got the information of several other contestants, he often looked at the Japanese gambling king's photo recently.
The old man in the photo has white eyebrows that are so thick that they cover his entire eyes. There is no beard on his upper lip, but there is a white beard on his chin. The hair exposed from the edge of the hat is also thick and white.
Hong Guang always felt that this person looked familiar, as if he had seen him in some portrait before.
In the past, the other party lived in seclusion in Japan and had no contact or special attention. However, recently, he has initiated many connections to find photos of the Japanese gambling king when he was young. So far, the earliest one he has found is from forty years ago. before.
The Japanese Gambling King at that time was dressed like a priest, but his face was what it is now. Those people who worshiped him in the caption called this bad old man the Priest of Wuji.
"Wuji... Are there any Japanese with this name? There may be some, but..."
Hong Guang's hand holding the photo was trembling slightly. Without a speaker, he could only make some hoarse breaths from his throat. Even this breath was obviously trembling now.
He remembered that in the portrait he saw when he was a child, the person's name also had the word "Wuji" in it.
This is probably not a simple coincidence.
The world is a big place, so Hong Guang has been hiding for forty-five years without meeting any old friends or being seen through. However, the world is so small. In a gambling king competition, there is someone who can definitely see through his identity. Will appear.
"No, I can't participate in this gambling king competition."
Hong Guang made up his mind, picked up the speaker and put it against his throat, called his assistant over, and said, "Start today to spread the news, saying that my long-standing illness has worsened and I am seriously ill. It is very likely that I will not be able to participate." For this gambling king competition, I will contact the organizer of the competition and give them some information so that they can prepare for my absence."
The assistant was startled and said: "Master Hong, is he showing weakness to the enemy and raising suspicion, or is he really not prepared to participate? Those who support Master Hong have been building momentum for you recently and have invested a lot of money. With all the overwhelming publicity, if they withdraw now, I’m afraid all their investment will be wasted.”
Hong Guang also hesitated.
The identity of the gambling king is not just a disguise, he also really likes the feeling of gambling and the reputation of the king of gambling. If he does not participate this time, not only will there be losses in profits, but his reputation will also be greatly damaged.
but……
He looked at the photo in his hand again, forget it, his life still mattered.
His family knows his own affairs. In fact, Hong Guang's physical condition has not changed at all in the past forty-five years. As long as his identity is not revealed, maybe he can continue to live like this, no matter the spring and autumn, the century, or the generation change. A generation of ordinary people.
Reputation likes these things, and there will always be opportunities to get them again in the future.
"If you don't participate, you don't participate. I will repay the losses to those who are really close to us when the time comes."
Hong Guang added, "But even those people should not tell them the real situation. They can only tell them that I am indeed seriously ill."
The assistant nodded and said, "Understood."
After dealing with this matter, Hong Guang finally relaxed for a while, picked up the iced grapes and stuffed them into his mouth.
The icy sweet grape juice was sucking in his mouth, and the bright living room suddenly became dark.
In the dark vast space, the smoke of sandalwood smoke lingers and curls up. A faint light fills the front, illuminating countless bronze statues of Arhats, Buddhas and Bodhisattvas displayed in the darkness.
Quiet, simple and lifelike.
The illusion was only a momentary thing, occurring within the blink of Hong Guang's eyes, but it frightened him so much that he stood up suddenly.
"not good!!"
He reacted but was still a little slow.
From the mountain forest, the villa courtyard wall, to the living room wall, big holes were opened one after another, and the concrete of the trees turned into powder, making no sound.
A tall and mighty figure, as fast as if it was squeezed out of the air, strode into the living room.
hold head high! ! ! !
Hong Guang covered his ears and backed away. Silent dragon roars emanated from the intruder. All the bodyguards in the entire villa fell down without a word.
The telephone line was also affected, dancing like a little black snake, and then disconnected with a snap.
The intruder was wearing a plaid shirt that had been washed until it was almost fading, trousers with patches on the knees, a Chinese character face, round eyes, silver hair and beard, and he was holding a jade staff like a green bamboo in his hand.
"Able to respond to the Hui Meng mind method."
The intruder sighed loudly, "It's really you, Hong Nan!"
Hong Guang's staggering steps didn't stabilize until he put his right hand on the back of the sofa, and Ding Qing looked over.
Although this intruder's short hair and beard have turned white, his face and skin are almost the same as when he was a young man.
So much so that he recognized it at a glance.
"Hongdong!"
Hong Guang's body tensed up, his fingers pinched into the back of the sofa, and he was extremely nervous, "How did you find me here?"
"After the war, we did an inventory afterwards and found that you and the Huimeng relic were missing. Some people thought that you had stolen the Huimeng relic. I was still half-convinced. I didn't expect that it was really you."
"I didn't expect that you didn't hide your name, you just changed your face casually, and only changed one word in your name, and you were openly in the public eye, and you even had the reputation of a gambling king."
Hong Dong knocked his green jade staff on the floor, "This time I came to Hong Kong and brought the real owner of the Huimeng relic. He looked at Hong Kong and felt that this place in Phoenix Mountain was a bit familiar in an indescribable way, so I came here Test it out.”
"Unexpectedly, I was really tested."
As he spoke, Hong Dong felt as if he hated iron for not becoming steel. He punched the ground with the green jade staff several times in his hand.
Hong Guang took a breath, calmed down, looked at the green stick, and suddenly smiled.
"The real dog-beating stick was destroyed during the Jiaqing period of the Qing Dynasty. What's the point of making a new one in your hand? From the perspective of antiques, the one you have on your hand should be called a fake."
"Besides, you are no longer the leader of the Beggar Clan, right? I have paid attention to you, and you are now in the northwest, helping people fight against sand and sand."
"So many things have changed over the years, why are you still clinging to me?"
Hong Dong stared at him: "Okay, since we are brothers, we can discuss your matter later, but you must hand over the Huimeng relic immediately. You don't know how critical the situation is now... "
"Farewell, brother!" Hong Guang interrupted, "We are not related by blood. Generations of the Hong family have been raised by adopting orphans. If the orphans get married and start a business, the descendants of the orphans will not be considered the Hong family. After going through those tests, do you really think this is like a family?"
Hong Dong said in surprise: "It's not like you don't know the inside story. This is for the benefit of the younger generations. Not everyone can shoulder that responsibility."
Hong Guang was silent and nodded: "You are right. No matter what, it was indeed my fault to steal the Huimeng relic. However, I was also seriously injured at the time. By some mistake, I took the relic to save my life. I returned the relic. Here you go, can you restrain your people and not come to trouble me?”
In the past, if it had been 45 years since the treasure was stolen, it would never have been possible to let it go so easily, but now, the Demonic Realm may invade the earth at any time. As long as Hong Guang can get the Dream Relic, Hong Guang really doesn't matter.
Hong Dong weighed it for a while and then agreed: "Okay, as long as you hand over the Huimeng relic, I can swear that you will make a clean break with us from now on, clean up the past, and never settle the matter again."
"I'll get it now." Hong Guang turned around, his eyes flickering.
"Hong Nan, don't worry too much."
Hong Dong said behind him, "You have also practiced the dream-returning method and have been holding the relics for many years. You must be able to temporarily stimulate some power, but you don't know what my strength is. What will happen if you and I fight."
"It should be noted that the masters of the demon envoys have also come to Hong Kong. I don't want to attack you directly because I am afraid that we will fight fiercely and attract attention, and someone else will benefit from it."
"You should understand that I, Hong Dong, have never broken my promise in my life. If you give me relics, you can live. If you attract the envoys from the Demon Realm, they will definitely hunt you down to the end."
Hong Guang stopped in his steps and turned back.
"Brother, you are much smarter than before."
The Huimeng relic is nowhere else at all, and his turning around is just a scam.
Now that this scam has been exposed, Hong Guang is in a dilemma.
He would absolutely refuse to hand over the relics. But if you don't hand it over, it doesn't seem like there will be a good ending.
Hong Dong knocked on the green jade staff and said: "Actually, I came in time, which can be said to save your life. After the failure of the Demonic Jue Realm forty-five years ago, it will recently come to the earth tentatively. That year Many of the masters who fought against them have lost their lives due to injuries and are no longer alive."
"If they succeed this time, when the Demonic Realm is shrouding you and you are carrying the Huimeng relic, no matter how far you hide, you will definitely be caught and all the people and things involved in the Huimeng mind method will be destroyed."
Hong Guang's expression changed. He knew that his elder brother did not lie.
"Is the situation really that critical?"
Hong Guang asked unwillingly, "But I think the world is relatively peaceful now. There are only some small-scale local wars. It is completely different from the situation back then."
Hong Dong was about to answer when his eyes suddenly froze and he scanned his surroundings with gleaming eyes.
Seeing his appearance, Hong Guang also guessed that something was wrong around him, but with his own skill, he couldn't detect it at all.
He gritted his teeth and took out a gray-white round bead from his arms. The surface of the bead had a dim luster, and it was the Dream Relic.
Hong Guang grabbed the relic in his hand and felt something different. He immediately noticed that there were five people standing outside the door of the living room.
It was only separated by the door of the living room, and they didn't even notice it before.
"Boss of the evil sect, we seem to have been discovered."
The young man with white hair covering his eyes shattered the door with a flick of his finger.
The living room was already very bright, but when the door was opened, very strong light and dust blew into the living room from the direction where the five people were standing.
Hong Guang couldn't help but feel a sense of insignificance, as if there were more than five people standing outside his living room door.
Rather, it is the immortal diamond mountain, the light cloud that covers the sky and is filled with turbulent flames, the black vortex hanging in the world, and the giant shadow that controls the earth's disasters.
All have a strong sense of surreal presence, forming a substantial glow that emanates from them.
But then, the warm touch in his hand caused all the unrealistic scenes in front of Hong Guang to shrink and return to normal.
He understood that the power of those outside the door could distort his senses simply by appearing there without concealment.
Just like when people walk in the air, there will always be dust particles that are affected and attracted to them.
Hong Guang's strength was just such an insignificant speck of dust to those people.
"Originally I just wanted to find someone with a high status, search the memory, and check if there is any hidden background here, but I didn't expect that there would be such an unexpected gain."
The white-haired young man Lei Mengbai clapped his hands, "This thing is obviously full of the essence of Buddhist martial arts. It is not suitable for you, but it is destined for me."
"Do it quickly!"
Hong Dong took action with his stick and intercepted it in the air, but he shouted loudly.
"Return to the Great Thousand Dreams, the Buddhas of the Three Worlds!"
The brilliance of dreams swept across Hong Kong in an instant.
