NOVEL NEXT Chapter 299: Qi Clan
At this moment, Di Xin transmitted her thoughts to Long Xuan beside her, saying, "That Old Song is obviously not a fool. Since he has proposed a guessing-the-number game, he must be able to accurately predict the numbers on the dice inside the cup."
"He’s not likely to cheat with gambling tools and hide it from the gambling god. I suspect he can determine the numbers inside the cup by listening to the sounds of the dice colliding with each other."
"Although this technique is somewhat implausible, some expert gamblers can achieve it through long-term practice."
"Do you think that, under these circumstances, Old Song can win this bet?"
Long Xuan shook his head and replied through soul transmission, "I don't have faith in him. I suspect the god of gambling will win."
"If it's a normal, fair, and just bet, then this bet would at best be a tie. Old Song absolutely cannot lose."
"But after my long-term observation, that god of gambling is a scoundrel; he will play unfairly. If he cheats, the variability of this bet becomes too great, and there's a high chance that Old Song might lose."
Long Xuan has been full of resentment up to now, precisely because this gambling god cheated, preventing him from taking all the treasures of the outer city. It's such a pity.
Through this matter, Long Xuan can judge that this god of gambling likes to cheat. If he can cheat once, he will cheat a second time.
In this bet, he very likely will employ some outside tricks, making Old Song in big trouble.
Why bet on something trivial when you can bet everything, including your life? In this round, he very likely is putting his own life on the line.
Gambling truly harms people deeply. There are no eternal winners in the world; every gambler meets a bad end, even if this gambling god doesn't ultimately lose, right? Long Xuan mused to himself.
Just as the two were conversing through soul transmission, the bet had already begun.
Old Song's young disciple threw three dice into the cup and then quickly shook the cup.
The dice continued to collide inside the cup, producing crisp sounds, extremely dense in volume.
At this moment, the entire venue was silent. No one was speaking; only the sound of the dice hitting the cup walls echoed in the quiet space.
Old Song closed his eyes, fully concentrating on listening to the sounds inside the cup, his ears twitching occasionally.
At that moment, a loud shout suddenly came into his ears, startling him into a shiver. He quickly opened his eyes.
When someone is fully concentrating, suddenly hearing a loud noise can be truly terrifying. He was almost scared out of his wits.
"Damn it!"
Old Song hurried to listen to the sounds inside the cup again, but after this interruption, how could he catch them? His face turned pale, and cold sweat broke out all over his body instantly.
"You're cheating!"
Old Song immediately looked up at the god of gambling, glaring angrily.
"Oh? How am I cheating? Is a cough not enough for me?"
"You control the heavens and the earth, and also control others' coughing?"
"Besides, when you set the rules earlier, did you specify that others couldn't cough?"
The gambling god looked at him innocently.
"You..."
Old Song immediately felt an urge to vomit blood.
"Coughing? Is that what you call coughing? Who coughs so loudly! Can a soul-being like you even cough? He's clearly doing it on purpose!"
"Alright! Coughing is innocent. You've been shaking the cup for so long; it should have settled by now, right?"
The god of gambling suddenly looked at the young disciple who was shaking the cup. The boy was instantly frightened by the gaze, and his hand subconsciously pressed the cup down onto the table.
As the cup was pressed down, Old Song's face turned even paler, looking deathly gray.
The sound of the cup colliding with the table was like the death god's bell, making his heart tremble. His clothes were instantly soaked with sweat.
"Alright! The cup has settled. Start guessing the numbers!"
The god of gambling slowly curled the corner of his mouth, smiling as he looked at him and said.
Old Song stiffly raised his head, looking at him with an extremely displeased expression, his hands gripping the edge of the table shaking.
He couldn't discern the numbers on the dice inside the cup at all. How could he guess? He was doomed to lose.
Thinking that he had bet everything he had, including his life, he was utterly desperate.
Finally, he could no longer bear the pressure and turned to run outside.
"Hmph! Abandoning the bet is considered surrender!"
"Since you've surrendered, I can now take your bet."
Just as the god of gambling finished speaking, he saw no movement, nor did he see anything attacking Old Song.
Before Old Song could even leave the palace, he suddenly fell to the ground without warning, his eyes wide open, and he immediately lost all breath.
Everyone was shocked. Did he die just like that? From start to finish, they didn't see how Old Song actually died or how the gambling god made his move.
Such a mysterious killing ability made their scalp tingle. Now they could be certain that this kind of Gu had the ability to interfere with everything in the bet, including wagering lives.
"Alright, next!" The god of gambling looked around at the crowd with a strange gaze, awaiting the next victim.
Long Xuan showed a peculiar expression, as he suspected all along that this god of gambling would cheat, and sure enough, Old Song's death was truly miserable.
He directed his gaze back to the scene, preparing to observe a few more gambling rounds before deciding whether to take action.
Everyone has flaws; no one can win endlessly. Since he allowed his opponent to set the game rules, this was his chance. There must be a set of rules that even this God of Gambling couldn't win under; it all depends on how you approach it.
At this moment, many others shared Long Xuan’s sentiment: if they could set the game rules, the advantage would be overwhelmingly in their favor. Some overly confident individuals had already started to stir.
The second person to step forward was also an elderly man. Looking at the god of gambling sitting at the gambling table, he smiled and said, "To be honest, I’m skilled in chess and am even known as the Chess Sage in Central Earth."
"I may have lost a game or two in my youth, but since adulthood, I have never been defeated."
"Since I set the game rules, let's play Go. My rule is that I play with the black pieces and go first."
"And, you cannot use any means to interfere with my moves; during our game, you must refrain from using any abilities."
"Do you accept my challenge?" the elderly man asked confidently, looking at the god of gambling.
He had immense confidence in his chess skills. However, considering that his opponent might be equally skilled, he set the rule to go first.
Don’t underestimate the advantage of going first. For an average player, the benefit might not be huge, but for a true chess master, going first is a tremendous advantage.
Theoretically, if both players are evenly matched, the one who goes first is bound to win, unless there's a vast skill gap between them.
Thus, with the first move, he was confident he had a high chance of winning. Even if he couldn't win, he could at least force a draw and avoid defeat.
However, while he was confident, so was the god of gambling, who looked at him and chuckled, "Chess, is it? It’s been a while since anyone has challenged me to a game."
"I accept your challenge. What do you want to wager?"
The elderly man looked at him earnestly and said, "I want to wager life fate. Can you wager on fate?"
The entire crowd was taken aback; he actually wanted to gamble on fate! Could something as elusive as fate even be used as a bet?
If fate could be wagered, then what couldn’t be? This god of gambling was truly astonishing!
Many people began to look greedy. Qin Kai even started wondering if this god of gambling’s Gu could be wagered as well. If he could win it, he'd be invincible.
His desire for the Gambling Gu grew, and he began to consider ways to defeat the god of gambling.
The god of gambling looked at the elderly man and smiled, "Of course, I can. I've said that anything that can be named can be gambled."
"Every fate exists here. Which life fate do you want to wager on?"
The elderly man immediately replied, "I want the Emperor’s Fate. Do you have that?"
The god of gambling was intrigued, smiling playfully. "Quite an appetite; to dare ask for that fate."
"Of course, I have it, but you must understand that you have nothing of equal value unless you're willing to wager everything you possess."
"Are you brave enough to stake everything?"
The elderly man didn’t flinch, replying confidently, "If I dare to come here, I naturally have the courage. If I lose with the first move, then I don't deserve to live. Let’s begin."
"Not so fast!" The god of gambling waved his hand, and a table and a pair of chairs appeared out of thin air nearby, with a Go board and pieces on it.
After setting everything up, the god of gambling added, "There are many others waiting to gamble with me, and chess takes too long. You can play against my clone."
As he spoke, a figure identical to the god of gambling appeared at the table, looking at him with a smile.
The elderly man was not intimidated but pleased, marveling at the god of gambling’s boldness. Choosing a clone as an opponent put him at a significant disadvantage, increasing his chances of winning substantially.
Without hesitation, he picked up a black stone and placed it on the board first.
Seeing that the game had started, Long Xuan turned to Di Xin and asked, "Who do you think will win this game?"
Di Xin thought for a moment, then looked ahead and said, "That man is well-known; I’ve heard a bit about him."
"His name is Qi Huan, from the Qi clan, a large clan of chess masters known for refining Chess Gu. Every clan member is naturally talented at chess."
"In the human world, the Qi clan possesses the highest chess talent, and most top players are from this clan."
"People with other surnames are unlikely to beat someone with the surname Qi."
"In the chess world, a Qi-surnamed player will only lose to another Qi player. Of course, I’m talking about the highest level of play."
"And Qi Huan is the Qi clan’s top chess master, a god of high-level matches with no equal."
"With the first move advantage, playing against a clone, he’s almost guaranteed to win."
"That's why he’s confident enough to wager everything. He has the strength to back it up."
"Unless the god of gambling cheats! Otherwise, he might not win, but he definitely won't lose."
Long Xuan pondered this information.
"So you're saying the god of gambling has to cheat to stand a chance against Qi Huan?"
"But Qi Huan was wise enough to set a rule prohibiting interference or any powers during the game."
"Chess is already one of the fairest games. Could the god of gambling really find a way to cheat?"
DI Xin glanced at him and smiled, "Fair? Nothing in this world is absolutely fair. Since chess has a first-move advantage, it’s inherently biased. Otherwise, why would Qi Huan have such a huge advantage?"
"Let’s keep watching. I think the god of gambling will exploit a loophole in the rules again, and Qi Huan might meet the same fate as Old Song."