Chapter 41: A Single Lamp for a Single Soul

We were sitting face to face, but he gestured for me to move to his left. After I had settled into the new position, he narrowed his eyes and said, "Move another twenty centimeters to the left."

I was being incredibly obedient, so I picked up my stool and sat down exactly where he directed. Once I was seated again, he commanded, "Shuffle and deal."

I continued to shuffle. Even before I began to deal—and throughout the entire process, he never touched the cards, nor did he even glance at them—he said, "This time, you will win nine out of ten hands."

I was already questioning reality by then, but when I finished dealing the ten hands, I was dumbfounded. Everything he said was spot on. Ten hands. I had won nine. I had only lost one.

"That is what we call 'Borrowing from the Ghost,'" he said calmly.

At that moment, my admiration for him was like a surging, endless river. "How did you do that? What is the principle behind it?!" I asked in a hushed voice.

"A moment ago, there was nothing behind you, and you were facing a tree. But sitting here, you and that man in the red short-sleeved shirt over there formed a straight line. Before, it was Wood; now, it is Fire. You could interpret this as the arts of Feng Shui and metaphysics, but in the circles of the Thousand-Gate swindlers, this is the method of 'Borrowing from the Ghost.' Or rather, it is a unique skill exclusive to our Shendiao Sect. Junior brother, do you believe now that the Shendiao Sect is not just some ordinary school? The various trades of the underworld, the five flowers and eight gates—they are all just flashy parlor tricks. Who else possesses such supernatural power?" he sneered.

I felt as if I were dreaming. I pinched my thigh hard. It hurt like hell. I really wanted to ask him to teach me. I believe no one could refuse such a divine skill. But I didn't know if it was appropriate to bring it up. My senior brother had a somewhat eccentric temper, and I was terrified that a wrong word might offend him and cause him to walk away.

"You want to learn, but you're afraid I’ll refuse, and you're imagining that you could become invincible in the world of gambling. Why do people like to gamble? Or rather, why are people deceived by the Thousand-Gate? It is because of greed. Without greed, one cannot be deceived. That is why the *Abao Treatise* of the Jiangxiang School argues that the swindler is not shameful; what is shameful is the person who gets swindled. In fact, a swindler charging you a 'tuition fee' to deceive you is just helping you grow wiser," Lin Zhongsheng said.

"Can you read minds, too?" I asked with a smile.

"I cannot read minds; I simply understand human nature. That is why, when I first saw you, I wanted to leave the next day—not because you haven't achieved anything yet, but because you are still too young. You think you have suffered the greatest hardships in this world, but in truth, your experiences are nothing compared to many others. Young people have spirit and drive, but they cannot control their desires and ambitions. I only decided to stay and help you when I saw your girlfriend, because she can control your 'momentum,' or rather, she possesses a stronger energy that keeps you grounded. There is no such thing as men being superior to women or a divide between the sexes; a good woman can make a man," Lin said.

"My cousin said I’m like a half-immortal, but now I think you’re more like one than I am," I remarked.

Though I said this with a smile, I was ruminating on the meaning behind his words. I wondered, if I truly mastered this skill that could dominate the casinos, and became a legendary gambler who achieved fame and fortune, would I listen if Xiaowen told me to wash my hands of it? Even if I possessed unimaginable wealth, status, and all sorts of beautiful women, would I still remember every word she said to me, just as I do now?

I felt that I would. Was this the invisible "momentum" he spoke of?

"I will not touch gambling again. I can teach you the techniques of the Thousand-Gate, and if you need to set up a trap, I can teach you that too. But as for the art of 'Borrowing from the Ghost,' do not even think about it. Since the Master is dead, let that knowledge be as if it never existed. I will not teach it to you. Moreover, there are people in this world who rely on cheating and schemes to win money, and they manage to quit while they are ahead and live out their days. But once you touch 'Borrowing from the Ghost,' you are doomed to total destruction. That is what the books say. At first, I didn't understand, but later I realized: with the method of 'Borrowing from the Ghost,' the money is borrowed from ghosts. Since it is borrowed, it must be repaid. If you do not repay it, someone else will repay it for you—for instance, your family or loved ones. If there is no money, you pay with your life," he said.

After saying this, his eyes turned red again.

I lifted my glass and said, "Senior brother, you’ve had too much to drink."

He gave a bitter laugh. "Do you want to hear my story?"

"I heard the gist of it over the phone," I said softly.

"What you heard on the phone was just an outline. You must know my story clearly to decide your own future," he insisted.

I set down my glass and listened intently. His story was indeed mostly what I had heard before. What he focused on this time was his wife. He said that after he earned money through his exquisite cheating skills, his wife was happy. He loved his wife and his family dearly; he had no personal craving for money, but he enjoyed the joy of earning it, and he did it to make his family happy. Seeing her happy made him happy.

As he won more and more, their living conditions improved, and his wife was naturally pleased. He entered larger and larger casinos, where the risks of being caught were higher. He had witnessed other cheaters being caught, having their hands chopped off, being buried alive, or drowned in the river. He felt fear and considered quitting, but he couldn't deny the inner craving for gambling, and he enjoyed the joy his wife displayed when he returned with a large sum of money.

He once asked his wife if she was afraid he might fail. She told him she had faith in him—after all, it was a skill taught by immortals.

"I am not shifting the blame onto her; all the fault lies with me. I tell you this only to show you that money makes everyone lose their way. I lost my way, and so did she. You cannot sleep in the same bed and remain two different people. So, do not think it is a bad thing that your 'momentum' is being checked by a woman. A man working hard to earn money while having a woman at home worrying about his safety and health doesn't put pressure on him; instead, it fuels his resolve. You will give your life to provide everything you can for her. But if all she wanted was your money, you would lose the desire to earn it. Men are strange creatures: when you don't want it, I will desperately try to give it to you; when you do want it, I suddenly don't want to give it anymore," Lin said.

"That makes sense," I nodded.

"If you know someone is worrying about you, you won't put yourself in harm's way," he added.

Having said that, he stood up and said, "Let's go back. I'm tired."

I had been prepared to hear the rest of the story. I wanted to know how, if he was so well-versed in the mysterious art of "Borrowing from the Ghost," he had eventually lost everything. But he stopped abruptly, unwilling to continue. It left me feeling a bit stifled, but I wasn't an overly curious person. There would be plenty of time; my senior brother wasn't a man of many secrets, and he would surely reveal everything to me eventually. I stood up, paid the bill, and walked home.

On the way back, I realized my senior brother couldn't hold his liquor. He was truly drunk; he couldn't walk straight and vomited several times. It took us forty minutes to cover a short distance. By the end, I was almost carrying him. Once we reached home, I put him on the bed, and he began to sob, clutching his head. He grabbed my hand and muttered, "Cai'er, I'm sorry... I'm so sorry... It's not your fault..."

Watching him, I suddenly felt a pang of sorrow. Was it really as he said? When he went out to gamble and returned with winnings, was his wife truly happy? Perhaps she was, or perhaps she wasn't. Maybe he had truly gone mad, and he was just fantasizing or forcing himself to find an excuse to absolve his own guilt.

I suddenly felt less curious about these gambling techniques, and not nearly as eager to learn them. I watched him fall asleep from the bedside and then quietly left the room.

I returned to my building. The light in Xiaowen's room on the ground floor was still on. I didn't disturb her and went up to the second floor. I stood at the corner of the landing, looking toward her room. A minute later, the light went out.

I squatted on the floor, a grown man with tears in my eyes. That light... it was lit for me.