Lu Yu followed Huang Ying through the Cloud Sea Immortal Vale. After watching her place bets a few times, he roughly understood how the game was played.
At Huang Ying's invitation, Lu Yu graciously agreed and planned to try the simplest game of betting on odds or evens.
Before he could start, a man dressed as a guard patted Lu Yu on the shoulder and said, "Excuse me, my young master wants you to come over."
Lu Yu looked in the direction the guard indicated and saw a young master surrounded by a crowd, the center of attention. The young master had sent his men to call Lu Yu, but he didn't even glance in Lu Yu's direction, acting as if he was beneath notice.
"Sorry, I don't know your young master," Lu Yu replied, not wanting to get involved in any trouble.
"Do you know who my young master is? You dare refuse his invitation?" the guard frowned, surprised that Lu Yu dared to refuse his young master's summons.
However, this was the Cloud Sea Immortal Vale, Yunhai City's largest enterprise with deep-rooted influence. He dared not break the rules here to lay hands on Lu Yu.
After saying this, seeing that Lu Yu remained unmoved, he could only return to his young master and whisper a few words. The young master then got up and walked towards Lu Yu, with the curious crowd following behind.
Huang Ying returned with two drinks, handing one to Lu Yu—a red beverage like flames, similar to a cocktail from another world.
"Make way," the guard pushed the surrounding people aside.
The dealer frowned, wanting to notify higher-ups that someone was causing trouble. Even if the person causing trouble was the young master He from Yunhai City, they couldn't disrupt the peace of the Cloud Sea Immortal Vale.
"I'll book this table, and Miss Huang can have a turn," He Yichao said.
The dealer, hearing this, stopped what they were doing and resumed their duties.
The guard pulled out a chair, and He Yichao sat down, staring at Huang Ying.
Huang Ying didn't even glance at him. She said to Lu Yu, "Junior Brother, let's go. I'm suddenly not interested today."
Saying that, she started leading Lu Yu towards the exit. No one dared block their way. While Young Master He was well-known, Huang Ying's status was even higher in Yunhai City.
The Huang family has been a prominent family since Yunhai City's founding. There are rumors that Yunhai City was built by the Huang family, allowing them to occupy a vast manor with an inner garden in this city where every inch of land is precious.
Moreover, the Huang family has significant connections with Yunhai Academy. Huang Ying's grandfather is the academy's principal. It's not an exaggeration to say that the Huang family dominates Yunhai City.
He Yichao was fully aware of this and tried every means possible to get close to Huang Ying, desperately wanting to win her over.
Knowing that Huang Ying enjoys small bets for fun, he frequently visited the Cloud Sea Immortal Vale, seeking opportunities to build a good relationship with her. However, their relationship always remained superficial as Huang Ying was unwilling to get to know him better.
Huang Ying was also aware of his intentions, but since He Yichao had yet to do anything excessive, she hadn't fallen out with him and tolerated his harassment.
The Huang family may dominate Yunhai City, but there is a large group of families and forces trying to seize the opportunity to overthrow this "sky."
Because the Huang family is exceedingly powerful, these forces can exist in Yunhai City, sharing a common goal.
"Kid over there, I advise you to stay away from Miss Huang," He Yichao said with a cold smile, "Every year, quite a few Divine Weapon Pavilion disciples go missing in Yunhai City. It's common for outsiders to disappear here."
Before Lu Yu could respond, Huang Ying stopped, turned to look at him, and coldly said, "Young Master He, should I take your words as a threat against the Divine Weapon Pavilion?"
"I wouldn't dare, I wouldn't dare," He Yichao hurriedly denied. "How could a mere young master of the He family dare to threaten such a colossal entity as the Divine Weapon Pavilion? I was merely stating a fact."
The Divine Weapon Pavilion is indeed enormously powerful, one of the top forces in the Great Zhou dynasty, with influence reaching throughout the Great Zhou.
However, because the Divine Weapon Pavilion is so vast, with too many disciples, unless a disciple is particularly prominent, their disappearance wouldn't cause a stir.
At most, the disciple's master would step in, and the family backing the disciple might intervene.
He Yichao didn't believe Lu Yu would attract attention from the higher-ups in the Divine Weapon Pavilion. Even if Lu Yu's and Huang Ying's masters came to investigate Lu Yu's disappearance, he wasn't afraid. After all, the He family also had connections within the Divine Weapon Pavilion and elders who supported the He family.
Every year, who knows how many resources the He family supplies to a certain elder of the Divine Weapon Pavilion? If problems arose, that elder would also act to deter Huang Ying's master for their own interests.
Whether they were a match is another matter, but this way, offending the Divine Weapon Pavilion turned into an internal conflict within the Pavilion.
With so many elders, such internal conflicts were typical. Unless the impact was significant, the higher-ups in the Divine Weapon Pavilion generally wouldn't intervene, leaving it to the elders to sort out.
"Ignore him; in Yunhai City, he won't dare do anything to you. If he does, there's no need for the He family to exist," Huang Ying said to Lu Yu.
The two left the Cloud Sea Immortal Vale. He Yichao watched Huang Ying's disappearing figure, his smile growing colder. The more Huang Ying ignored him, the more he wanted to possess her, fulfilling his inner desire to conquer.
The evening was unpleasant because of He Yichao. Huang Ying had the butler arrange accommodations for Lu Yu at the Huang residence and then took her leave.
With the lights out, Lu Yu lay in bed, looking at the bright moonlight outside the window. He brought up his status panel and saw the well-mastered Golden Armor Spirit Array, causing him to have trouble falling asleep.