Liang Shen pushed back from the table, rubbing his temples while he scowled at the dice on the table in front of him. Snake eyes. For the third time.
The grimy, cramped gambling den was filled with the stench of cheap wine, sweat, and broken dreams. Across from him, a big man with a jagged scar above his jawline grinned, tapping his fingers on the table.
"That's it—" the man faked counting, "--hmm, all you've got, plus the debt you swore you'd never have again."
Liang Shen forced a weak smile. "Ah, but have you considered that luck is merely a postponed probability?"
The man's grin grew wider. "Have you considered that my patience is merely a postponed violence?"
A drip of sweat made its way down Liang Shen's forehead. Okay. Not good.
He had one rule: Never win more than you can scam out of.
Tonight, he'd broken that rule a dozen times over.
He was on his bad luck as he hadn't been able to scam himself out of trouble.
And then, from the other side of the room, a voice from the corner emerged, saying, "I have something better than money for you."
Liang Shen turned, his senses tingling. He saw an old man, wrapped in worn out robes, crouched in the shadows. His one eye glowed with something. odd. Unnatural.
"You want to settle accounts, yes?" The old man smiled, revealing teeth too sharp for comfort. "Then hear me out. There is a ruin deep in the western mountains. Inside it is hidden an artifact of great value. Steal it. and your problems will be no more."
Liang Shen ought to have departed that instant. He well ought to have.
Instead he leaned in ,smirked , and said "Tell me more".
Scene 2
Liang Shen crouched behind a crumbling stone wall, staring below at the dark vast desolation ahead.
People called it the Blood Valley-the site of a legendary battle where thousands of warriors had fought and died. No birds in sight, no wind blew, just fragments of shattered weapons, broken armour and endless bones remained. Nobody went there anymore for they heard a rumour that the bodies came to life.
But Liang Shen didn't give a damn, he was desperate. His debts weren't just gold and silver anymore. That scar faced bastard owned his fingers now. And Liang Shen was very attached to his fingers
And somewhere out there was the artifact that would save his sorry ass from his debts.
"This was a crazy idea, who keeps a priceless artifact in an abandoned ruin. was I tricked? That old man...." He said as he moved cautiously , stepping over rusted iron and half buried skeletons. A ghostly mist clung to the ground making every step feel like he was sinking into the past itself. He could hear whispers but he didn't bother himself with it and continued in.
Then moving forward he got to a massive wooden door. Locked. Of course.
He took a deep breath, cracked his knuckles, and -
BAM!
A gust of wind slammed the doors open. Inside, was eerily silent. Cobwebs floated in the air, settling over cracked walls. Decayed dead bodies could be seen littered at corners of the floor some who had arrows stuck to them.
At the very centre of the hall was a throne and a skeleton seated on it, in its hands was a box with uncertain markings on it, black and shiny, it intrigued Liang Shen.
When he got closer he found out, the skeleton's grip on the box was tight, as if someone had tried to pry the artifact from its hands before it died.
He held onto the box and forced it out of its hands, scattering the skeletons bones everywhere.
"HOW DARE YOU TAKE MY BELONGINGS" a voice echoed from within the walls, then the ruins walls started dropping down blocking every exit
Liang Shen froze.
A skeleton hand - no, more than a hundred skeleton hands stretched out from below the earth
"oh my ovaries... Wait. Do I even have ovaries?!"
A bony hand grabbed his ankle. He shook it off
"What a bad day for me, a very bad day"
Liang Shen took deep breaths, held the artifact tight, and made the only logical choice
He ran
"Mama I miss you but I don't want to meet you yet, hope you understand me" he screamed.