Chapter 326: Extreme Daylight

The God of Wealth’s palm was stiff, each finger thin and dry like withered bamboo joints, the tips bearing irregular, broken nails as if gnawed by rats or insects.

The God of Wealth said nothing, only extended his hand.

Xia Yubing’s heart pounded, but her breath froze like concrete in winter—heavy, slow. She knew that when the God of Wealth reached out, it was either for money or for her life.

But she had neither sixteen yuan nor sixteen lives.

A sense of despair, belatedly rising from within, drowned her helplessness and fear. Normally, the Four-Faced Buddha “Taiyi” would lock Xia Yubing’s state to the moment she left Qianju Town, but this was no normal circumstance.

What now threatened to take her life was not ordinary blades, guns, or cannons, but the God of Wealth Wutong’s forced transactions—His very existence rendered all struggle utterly futile.

Rules were absolute. Rules were fair. Rules were absolutely fair and unbreakable.

Suddenly, Xia Yubing’s consciousness grew hazy, her vision blurred, the entire world shrouded in an ambiguous chaos. In that daze, she seemed to see the God of Wealth’s hand drawing nearer, and a melodious guqin melody echoed in her ears.

“Ning Zhe…”

This was the last thought before Xia Yubing’s consciousness plunged into darkness.

In the flower, one forgets the brevity of days and months; who knew a thousand years had passed in the world? When she opened her eyes again, a half-full white moon had risen above the glittering sea beyond the breakwater, scattering a crisp layer of silver frost.

“Ah!” Xia Yubing sat up abruptly, drenched in cold sweat, her vision a blinding white haze.

After several seconds, her eyes adjusted to the bright surroundings. Gazing around in confusion, she found herself in a lavishly decorated room—the gamblers, the God of Wealth, and the dead I Kesi and Shalishali were all gone. A soft blanket covered her, as if everything she had experienced had been nothing but a dream.

“Ah, you’re awake?”

The maid standing across the room hurried to the bedside, offering Xia Yubing a glass of warm milk. “How do you feel? Any discomfort?”

“You… me?” Xia Yubing took the glass of milk, stunned. She recognized the maid’s face—she had once eaten the lamb chops this woman fried aboard Fan Daike’s airship. The woman was a servant of the Dai family; her name was… Qiaomari?

A sip of warm milk steadied her nerves. “Where am I? I remember I was with Mr. Dai just moments ago—why am I here?”

The maid Qiaomari looked at the glass. “Mr. Dai brought you back, Miss Xia. You’ve slept nearly ten hours. We’re aboard the Saint Abilene airship. Mr. Dai instructed me to watch over you.”

“Oh… I see…” Xia Yubing instantly relaxed, a wave of profound relief flooding her chest.

It must have been Ning Zhe who pulled her out of the opera house. Though she didn’t know how he’d helped her escape the God of Wealth’s forced transaction, she trusted him—he could do anything. It seemed there was nothing he couldn’t accomplish.

Recalling the opera house ordeal, Xia Yubing still trembled. The faint guqin melody she’d heard before losing consciousness still lingered in her ears, lulling her toward sleep.

“Where is Mr. Dai now?” Xia Yubing asked again.

Maid Qiaomari shook her head. “I’m sorry, Miss Xia. After handing you to me, Mr. Dai left the airship. He ordered the Saint Abilene to immediately set sail westward, but he himself did not board—he returned to Vivian Port. We haven’t been able to contact him since.” “I see…” Xia Yubing’s fleeting calm returned to tension. She murmured to herself: “Has the opera house’s strange event not ended yet?”

Is Ning Zhe going after that gambler?

At this thought, the bizarre scene from earlier resurfaced in Xia Yubing’s mind: after the ghost-card game ended, the God of Wealth had reached out to the gambler, demanding payment for its life. It turned out the gambler had money to buy its life—it pulled four copper coins from its tattered clothes and handed them over, sending the demon packing.

“This isn’t the gambler’s first time buying its life,” Xia Yubing whispered, unconsciously gripping the glass. She suddenly realized: “Four copper coins are the price for the third life purchase. This is the gambler’s third time buying its life from the God of Wealth!”

The gambler had met the God of Wealth before—and had bought its life from Him at least twice!

She must tell Ning Zhe.

Tilting her head, she drained the milk, threw back the blanket, and hurried off the bed. Barefoot, she found her notebook in the coat hanging on the wardrobe. After asking Qiaomari to step away, she flipped it open to the last page of conversation—and there, indeed, was a new note in Ning Zhe’s sleek, ink-black script:

【Wake up? Clean the room.】

【Not just sweeping. Use water—mop the floor, wipe the windows. Better yet, refold your clothes.】

【Don’t let the maid help. Do it yourself.】

“Ah… this…” Xia Yubing frowned. “Ning Zhe wants me to clean the room? And I have to use water?”

!

Though she didn’t understand why, if he asked it, she would obey. Carrying the notebook, she walked toward the door and wrote on the page:

【After the ghost-card game ended, the God of Wealth initiated forced transactions with everyone present.】

【The gambler was one of them—it paid four copper coins to buy one life.】

【The gambler must have met the God of Wealth before—and has bought its life from Him at least twice.】

Will this help him?

Closing the notebook, Xia Yubing dressed and stepped out. She asked Qiaomari for a bucket, mop, and glass-cleaning cloth, then began cleaning the room—though it was hardly dirty.

Beneath the moon, the sea shimmered. From the airship, the breakwater enclosing half of Vivian Port looked like a faint, winding white snake, barely stirring.

Inside the breakwater, the silent city glowed with brilliant lights—tiny, dazzling points that made the ground beneath seem like the sky. As time passed, the harbor lights gradually dimmed and thinned, the colors of night creeping in, one lamp at a time, until the entire city sank into darkness, as if the ancient port had fallen peacefully asleep.

The next instant, every light blazed on at once, illuminating the harbor as bright as noon.

(End of Chapter)