At those words, endless cheers erupted within the hall.
“Bet on the roll! Let’s bet on the roll! The highest roll can take him home to roast!”
“Oh myyyy, this little gege looks pretty delicious, hee hee hee hee…”
“Ha ha ha ha ha ha, who’s the fool now?! That’ll teach you to cause trouble around here!”
The four masked bouncers carried in a new long table, and the crowd flocked to the area once again to start the next round of bets. The masked man who was clutching his hand and howling on the ground was long forgotten. The prize this time around was none other than Lang Qianqiu, suspended in midair. Seeing how riled the crowd was, Shi Qingxuan paced back and forth, anxiously flailing his arms.
“What do we do? Should we go up there and win him back? Or is it better to fight?”
Xie Lian asked, “Lord Wind Master, how’s your luck?”
Shi Qingxuan replied, “It’s sometimes good, sometimes bad. There’s no certainty with something like luck.”
Xie Lian said, “There can be. For example, look at me. I’ve never had any good luck.”
Shi Qingxuan gaped. “Is it that bad?”
Xie Lian nodded, ruefully. “Whenever I roll, the most I get is snake eyes.”
Shi Qingxuan knitted his brows, but an idea immediately came to him, and he slapped his thigh. “How about this: since the most you ever get is snake eyes, then you should bet on the lowest number. There can’t be anyone who’ll roll lower than you.”
After a moment of consideration, Xie Lian agreed. “You have a good point. Let me try.”
So he found a place near the table and threw out a suggestion: “Why not switch the rules up a bit and see who can roll the smallest? The lowest roll wins, how about that?”
The crowd around the table was rowdy; some agreed, some disagreed. Xie Lian decided to take two dice and give it a try first.
Before he rolled, he chanted mentally: small, small, small. The dice were tossed, and the two leaned in to take a look.
Two sixes!
“…” said Xie Lian.
“…” said Shi Qingxuan.
Xie Lian rubbed his forehead in defeat. “It seems that not even a change of rules can change my luck.”
Shi Qingxuan mirrored him in rubbing his forehead. “Maybe it’d be better to just fight outright.”
Just then, a croupier approached the red curtains and leaned in, as if trying to hear what the figure behind was saying. She nodded, raised her head, and announced, “Everyone, may I have your attention, please? Chengzhu has an announcement to make.”
Hearing that Chengzhu had something to say, the crowd immediately dropped everything and became exceedingly quiet.
The croupier continued, “Chengzhu said to change up the rules.”
Chatter broke out in the crowd.
“Chengzhu is the rule!”
“The rules are whatever Chengzhu says they are!”
“What are we changing them to?”
The croupier responded, “Chengzhu says that he is in a good mood today and wants to play a couple of rounds with everyone. Anyone is free to bet against him. Whoever wins can take home the thing up above. Whether to steam it, boil it, fry it, or pickle it will be completely up to the winner.”
Learning that they’d be betting against Chengzhu, the ghosts began to have second thoughts. It seemed that Hua Cheng indeed never stepped in to gamble himself. There were a few brave souls tempted to give it a shot, but not a single one of them dared to be first. Above them, Lang Qianqiu continued his struggles with endless determination.
He barked, “What do you mean, ‘thing’？ I’m not a thing! You dare to use me as a bet?!”
This proclamation that he wasn’t a “thing” was heard by the many female ghosts in the crowd. Giggling, they stared at him with openly lecherous looks while running the tips of their blood-red tongues across their lips, as if they wanted to swallow him whole.
Xie Lian thought, Hahh…this child. It’s better if you speak less.
After a soundless sigh, Xie Lian stepped forward and said gently, “In that case, please let me have a try.”
Upon hearing his voice, the shadow behind the red curtains paused. Then the figure slowly rose to his feet.
The croupier in front of the curtains smiled. “Then, will this gongzi please come forth.”
Within the hall, the crowds of humans and ghosts all parted for this brave warrior. When Xie Lian reached the end of the path, the croupier presented him with the polished black gambling cup in her hands.