My Fated Alpha Wolf King

The Coin Game

Old g*n, you lost again.""Damn it, you clearly cheated again!""Accept your loss and pay up.""One more round! I'll pay for all the losses together!""No, pay the money you owe first, then we'll start again!""Hmph, you miser who's nearly in your grave. Here you go." The sound of a coin dropping onto the table."One more round. No dirty tricks, no cheating.""Fine, whoever cheats, may their whole family die.""Alright, start!"Satan led the group to the door of a reddish-brown wooden house. From inside came the sounds of two voices—one old, one rough—arguing. The two inside seemed to be playing a gambling game.Satan knocked on the wooden door. The rough voice inside shouted, "Who is it?""It's Satan. Village Chief, we have guests."The old voice said, "Oh, bring the guests in to sit."Satan pushed the door open and led the group inside. The wooden house was tidy and spacious. A fire blazed in the brick stove, making the interior warm as spring – a completely different world from the freezing cold outside.Beside the stove, at a square wooden table, sat two bare-chested men. One had white hair and a beard; the other was lean and muscular. The old man sat with his legs crossed, tapping the table with one hand, looking quite pleased with himself. A stack of over a dozen copper coins was piled beside his hand. The lean, middle-aged man had a face full of stubble and sat with one foot propped up on the chair, picking at his toes, his expression extremely irritable. A long spear lay horizontally at his feet.When the group entered, neither man looked up. Satan said to the old man, "Village Chief, these are all guests I've invited."The old man said flatly, "Oh, everyone wait a moment. We'll be done shortly."Satan introduced: "This elderly gentleman is the Village Chief of Saintlight Village. The one sitting opposite him is the village hunter, called Ba Diyou."Ming Yue saw the dozen or so coins on the table and the two taking turns removing them. Curious, she asked, "What are they doing?"Satan explained, "They're playing a coin game. Among the coins on the table, each person can take one to three coins per turn. Whoever takes the last coin loses."Ming Yue carefully counted the coins on the table. There were thirteen in total. She heard the Village Chief say, "You go first."Ba Diyou stared at the copper coins on the table for a long time, then took one. The Village Chief then took three, leaving nine coins on the table. When it was Ba Diyou's turn again, he took three coins, and the Village Chief took one, leaving five. Ba Diyou thought for a long time, took two coins, and the Village Chief took two. This left the very last coin on the table.The Village Chief laughed: "You lost again."Ba Diyou slammed the table in fury: "You cheated!""Everyone here watched with their own eyes. Where's the cheating? You can only blame your own wooden head. Pay up." The Village Chief extended his hand towards Ba Diyou.Ba Diyou said, "No money today. I'll owe it. Next time then!" He stood up, threw on his clothes, grabbed his long spear, and strode quickly towards the door.The Village Chief raged: "Hey, hey, hey, you deadbeat drunk! Accept your loss and pay up! Hurry up and give me the money!" Amidst the Village Chief's curses, Ba Diyou pushed the door open. A blast of cold outside air blew in, making the Village Chief shiver involuntarily: "Quick, quick, close the door!"Kashan laughed: "Don't worry, Chief. I'll go help you collect the debt." She walked out, closing the door behind her.The Village Chief sat fuming by the stove, spouting profanities, still cursing the debt-skipping Ba Diyou without stopping.Satan said, "Village Chief, these are the guests who have come to visit our village..."The Village Chief waved his hands repeatedly: "Go, go, go. Send them all away. Saintlight Village does not welcome outsiders!"No one expected the Village Chief to immediately order Satan's invited guests to leave. Satan was momentarily quite embarrassed: "Chief, weren't you always fond of receiving guests? They are all very capable people. Some are seers, some are witches, some are..."The Village Chief interrupted Satan: "No matter who they are, all of them, leave!"Faced with the Village Chief's unreasonable attitude, Lu Ou was getting angry: "Hey, old man, we were invited here. We didn't actively seek out this poor, remote place of yours."The Village Chief rolled his eyes: "Did I invite you? All of you, get out!"Lu Ou fumed: "Hmph, who would cherish coming here!" He took Xia Na's hand, ready to leave. Satan quickly stopped him: "Don't be angry, don't be angry. The Village Chief is upset because that Broken Spear owes him money."Xia Na was now certain in her heart that her sister Xia Ta had stayed in this village. Naturally, she was unwilling to leave immediately. She held onto Lu Ou, patted the back of his hand, signaling him to be patient.Satan said, "Village Chief, they came to the village because they actually have a matter to ask you about."The Village Chief said grumpily, "What matter?"Satan pushed Ming Yue in front of the Village Chief and said, "Don't you have a method to verify wolf-kin? This young girl has been... um... mistakenly identified as a wolf-kin by them. Could you verify her identity?"A strange gleam flashed in the Village Chief's eyes. He looked Ming Yue up and down, muttering to himself, "This is a wolf-kin? This is a wolf-kin?"Everyone in the room held their breath, quietly waiting for the Village Chief's conclusion. However, after circling Ming Yue, the Village Chief sat back down in his chair, crossed his legs, and said, "Whether she's a wolf-kin or not, throw her out of the village! That way, she won't pose a threat to us!"Everyone felt deeply deflated hearing this. Lu Ou was furious: "You old codger, you're completely unreasonable and incomprehensible."Fei Tuo stepped forward to support Ming Yue and said solemnly, "Village Chief, if you truly have the ability to verify wolf-kin, I hope you can help and give this young girl an identity, so she doesn't suffer under false accusations."The Village Chief scoffed: "Hmph, why should I help you? What benefit do I get?"Fei Tuo said, "You can name a price. How much for one verification?"The Village Chief replied, "Is this something to bargain over? Fine, one verification costs three thousand copper coins. Pay up."Three thousand copper coins was an astronomical sum. Even a wealthy merchant wouldn't carry that much money on them. The Village Chief's exorbitant demand was clearly meant to make them back down.Lu Ou was furious: "Hey, you rotten old man, do you have any sense of reason?"The Village Chief said, "In Saintlight Village, my word is reason. If you're dissatisfied, you can leave.""You're a real piece of work!" Lu Ou rolled up his sleeves, ready to teach the Village Chief a lesson.Foxiu quickly grabbed Lu Ou, and Satan also blocked the way to the Village Chief, repeatedly persuading Lu Ou: "Brother, the Chief is in a bad mood because he's owed money. Don't take him seriously, don't take him seriously..."The Village Chief raged: "What, you want to fight me? Satan, go call people in, show him some color."Lu Ou retorted, "A brave knight fears no threat. Go call the strongest man in the village in here, we'll have a fight."