Chapter 232

Bai Feifei... Zhu Qiqi... these two seem about to meet...

A hint of expectation suddenly rose in Ren Yingying's heart.

But she kept her face impassive, smiling in greeting: "Hello."

Zhu Qiqi, having met another owner of a diary copy, was also very pleased and wanted to chat for a while.

Suddenly a burst of arrogant, uproarious laughter rang out, and only then did Zhu Qiqi realize the gambling match wasn't over yet.

Xuan Yuan San Guang tipped his head back with a great guffaw, snatched up the gambling tools in one swipe, looked down at Jiang Sishui with contempt, and jeered: "Better let this great lord open your eyes for you!"

Seeing that Jiang Sishui hadn't cheated, Xuan Yuan San Guang disdained to do so himself, and instead, just as he always did in the gambling house, gave the dice a proper shake.

Having silently invoked every deity and Buddha in heaven for good measure, a sharp glint flashed in Xuan Yuan San Guang's eyes; he slammed the dice cup heavily down onto the table and bellowed: "Open!"

The dice cup was lifted, and the crowd craned their necks to look.

Two, five, six—thirteen points!

Nearly double Jiang Sishui's roll.

Xuan Yuan San Guang burst into laughter and shouted: "Kid, I won, so obediently chop off your right hand."

The watching crowd all sighed, puzzled looks on their faces.

The raise had been proposed by Jiang Sishui, and from start to finish he had worn an expression brimming with confidence; almost everyone had assumed he would win.

Some had even secretly mocked Xuan Yuan San Guang for not knowing the times and not knowing when to back off—but in the very first round, Jiang Sishui lost a hand. What was that about?

Can't make heads or tails of it!

Watching Xuan Yuan San Guang's triumphant look, Jiang Sishui's expression never changed; he said mildly: "No, I won."

257 Sophistry, bullying by force

He won?

The watching crowd exchanged glances, all bewildered.

Who was bigger and who was smaller was plain as day—how could he possibly have won?

But it was none of their business; they were only here to watch the show, so naturally they wouldn't speak up.

Across the table, Xuan Yuan San Guang's face changed; he slammed the table hard and glared viciously at Jiang Sishui: "You little punk trying to welch?!"

Jiang Sishui shook his head, his gaze falling on the three dice, and asked: "What did you roll?"

Xuan Yuan San Guang didn't understand, but still replied: "Thirteen points—it's not like you don't have eyes."

Jiang Sishui, however, paid no heed and asked again: "Then what did I roll?"

"You? A measly seven."

"Then between thirteen points and seven points, which is bigger and which is smaller?"

"What nonsense! Of course thirteen is bigger, seven is smaller!"

"So there you go—I won."

Xuan Yuan San Guang's face went blank; he truly couldn't follow Jiang Sishui's logic: "What the hell are you babbling about, kid?"

Jiang Sishui smiled faintly: "Aren't we shaking dice to compare big and small? Right now mine is the smaller one, so I win."

Xuan Yuan San Guang was stunned for a beat, then fury flared up in him and he snarled: "Kid, what kind of crooked logic is that?!"

Jiang Sishui, however, looked at him calmly and countered: "I'm smaller, I win—is there anything wrong with that?"

"Anything wrong? It's wrong as hell!" Xuan Yuan San Guang's anger had nowhere to go: "It's always been the big one wins and the small one loses—how come it gets flipped around with you?!"

"Oh? The big one wins, the small one loses—who made that rule?" Jiang Sishui wore a look of seeming innocence.

Xuan Yuan San Guang froze, then his face flushed beet red as he roared: "That's the gambling house's rule! It's a rule every gambler under heaven must obey!"

"I see." Jiang Sishui nodded as if suddenly enlightened.

Just as Xuan Yuan San Guang thought he was about to admit defeat and accept the loss, Jiang Sishui asked again: "Then who are you gambling with?"

Xuan Yuan San Guang was nearly driven mad by Jiang Sishui's shameless wrangling; he gritted his teeth in rage: "If I'm not gambling with you, am I gambling with a ghost?!"

Jiang Sishui nodded in agreement, then countered: "You're gambling with me, and I myself am not a gambler, so why should I have to follow gambling-house rules made by others for gamblers? I'll make my own rules! If you're gambling with me, you have to follow my rules."

Xuan Yuan San Guang was dumbfounded this time, then raged: "If you were going to change the rules, why the hell didn't you say so earlier?!"

Jiang Sishui seemed taken aback, then turned to ask Ren Yingying: "Didn't I mention it earlier?"

Ren Yingying rolled her eyes at him in exasperation.

Jiang Sishui suddenly saw the light and slapped his forehead: "Ah, looks like I forgot."

Xuan Yuan San Guang grinned viciously: "Kid, don't look for excuses. Even if you forgot, this round can't be voided!"

Jiang Sishui said, surprised: "Who said I wanted to void it?"

Xuan Yuan San Guang narrowed his one eye: "Then you're admitting the result?"

Jiang Sishui nodded.

Only then did Xuan Yuan San Guang sit back down, satisfied.

After thinking it over, he considerately went into the gambling house to fetch a blade for Jiang Sishui, tossed it onto the table—the blade's edge glinting coldly.

"Kid, this blade is plenty sharp, won't snag on bone—one clean cut, neat and tidy. Go ahead!"

Jiang Sishui shook his head: "No need for all that trouble."

Saying so, under Xuan Yuan San Guang's stunned gaze, he pressed two fingers together like a sword and gave a light slash!

A hand dropped to the ground, scalding blood gushing out like a fountain and splattering all over Xuan Yuan San Guang's face.

Xuan Yuan San Guang froze for a beat, then let out a heart-wrenching shriek: "Aaaah! My hand! My hand!"

Xuan Yuan San Guang was originally a tough sort—if his right hand had been chopped off by himself, no matter how much it hurt he would have gritted his teeth and borne it.

But Jiang Sishui's strike had been too sudden and too fast; he had been completely unprepared.

An indescribable, searing pain struck all at once, and Xuan Yuan San Guang couldn't help crying out, his wail thick with grief and indignation.

The surrounding crowd heard it and their hair stood on end, whispering among themselves—they had never expected Jiang Sishui to be so overbearing: losing and refusing to admit it was one thing, but chopping off his opponent's hand on top of that?

So young, and yet he has absolutely no gambling ethics!

Still, although they found it hard to watch, no one stepped forward to stand up for him.

This was partly because Xuan Yuan San Guang himself was unpopular, and even more because Jiang Sishui's ruthless methods left them both shocked and fearful.

Behind him, Zhu Qiqi witnessed the bloody scene before her eyes and couldn't help but cry out.

Then she looked at Ren Yingying and said, unable to bear it, "Sister Yingying, he… he really did chop him. Isn't that… isn't that going a bit too far?"

Earlier, Xuan Yuan San Guang had bitten the hand that fed him and schemed against her, and Zhu Qiqi had hated him so much her teeth itched, wishing she could dismember him into eight pieces.

But now, seeing Xuan Yuan San Guang in such a wretched state, she couldn't help but feel a pang of compassion.

Especially since Jiang Sishui hadn't truly beaten Xuan Yuan San Guang, but had won through sophistry.

That was utterly unreasonable.

One could even call it shameless.

Zhu Qiqi was kind-hearted, and couldn't help but begin to feel sympathy.

Ren Yingying looked at Zhu Qiqi and countered, "To deal with a scoundrel, naturally one must use a scoundrel's methods. When she pawned you off to the gambling house, did she ever think about what kind of fate you'd end up with?"

"But…" Zhu Qiqi had no words to reply.

Ren Yingying added, "Besides, you've had the diary copy for quite a while now; you should have long since seen through his character."

"Aside from being lecherous, he doesn't have any major flaws."

"397 In the way he treats people, he has always been arrogant toward superiors but never insults those below, bullies the strong but never picks on the weak. For him to oppress Xuan Yuan San Guang like this, there must be a reason."

A flash of inspiration struck Zhu Qiqi: "You mean… the story?"

Ren Yingying gave a slight nod.

Zhu Qiqi seemed lost in thought, but she closed her mouth.

……

After getting through the initial panic and pain, Xuan Yuan San Guang hurriedly circulated his Qi to seal the acupoints on his right arm, then sprinkled on some hemostatic medicine.

Only then did he glare with his one bloodshot eye, fixing a death stare on Jiang Sishui, his back teeth nearly ground to dust.

Jiang Sishui, however, wore a perfectly composed expression, as if all reason were on his side and he alone was in the right.

Facing Xuan Yuan San Guang's gaze that seemed ready to devour him, he said coolly, "Although I didn't say beforehand that the smaller number wins, you also didn't say that the larger number wins. You want to bind me by the usual default rules, but that absolutely won't work, because I have never abided by rules set by others."

Xuan Yuan San Guang said hatefully, "Since you didn't say it, and I didn't say it either, then why does it count as my loss?!"

If he hadn't realized from Jiang Sishui's earlier move that he was no match for him, he would have absolutely pounced on Jiang Sishui to fight to the death.

"Because I'm stronger." Jiang Sishui wore an expression that took it completely for granted.

Xuan Yuan San Guang was rendered utterly speechless.

258 A Second Blow — The Grief-Stricken Xuan Yuan San Guang

Unable to win with words, unable to win with fists, Xuan Yuan San Guang had no choice but to turn and leave.