The Blood of Youth – CH 032

Chapter 32: Immortals Seize Six Sticks To Gamble Against Taishan

Lei Wujie wiped the sweat from his forehead and clasped his fists to thank the man holding a sword. “Good fight.”

The swordsman’s right arm sleeve was completely shredded, but he didn’t look upset. Instead, he chuckled in a carefree manner. “My skills are no match for you.”

Lei Wujie pointed at the stairs. “Then I’ll keep going.”

“Go on, then. But the guy upstairs is not easy to deal with.” The swordsman sheathed his sword and walked up to pat Lei Wujie on the shoulder. “It’s gonna be tough for you.”

“Is the thirteenth floor so difficult to pass?” Lei Wujie patted his package and grinned confidently. “Well, I have a few hidden tricks up my sleeve yet.”

“Looks like you went easy on me so please stop showing off. I can tell you’re a straightforward kind of guy, but the guy upstairs is cunning and unpredictable. He may not be skilled in his martial arts, but he knows a lot of unorthodox methods. I’d advise you to be careful.” The swordsman stepped aside and pointed the way. “Go up, then.”

Cunning and unpredictable? Could he be more cunning than that old fox, Xiao Se? Lei Wujie thought of Xiao Se, who was still sitting at the roadside bun stall waiting for his five hundred taels of silver. He smiled wryly, thanked the swordsman again, and climbed up the stairs. He stepped onto the thirteenth floor, then he clasped his fists and announced loudly, “Lei Wujie, disciple of Lei Hong from Lei Clan Fort, is here to challenge the tower.”

There was no response. Lei Wujie looked up and saw a man wearing a white-colored cloak with his back facing him. On that white cloak was one word written in a big character.

Gamble.

“Lei Wujie, disciple of Lei Hong from Lei Clan Fort, is here to challenge the tower,” Lei Wujie repeated loudly.

The man continued to ignore him.

“Lei Wujie, disciple of Lei Hong…” Lei Wujie decided to repeat his announcement one last time.

“Shh!” The man turned around. He was actually a youth about the same age as Lei Wujie. His complexion was pale, and there was a hint of impatience between his brows. He raised an index finger to his lips and glared daggers at Lei Wujie.

Lei Wujie started. “What?”

“Come here,” the man whispered, beckoning Lei Wujie over.

Lei Wujie hurried over, and the man leaned to one side, revealing what he’d been looking at. There were two lifelike figurines carved out of clay, and sitting between them was something that looked like a chessboard. The figurines appeared to be playing against each other.

“Do you know what this is?” The man asked him.

“I don’t know,” Lei Wujie answered honestly.

“Immortals seize six sticks to gamble against Taishan. This is called Liubo. According to legend, this is an endgame, and within it contains an ultimate martial art. If you can solve it, it’s equivalent to twenty years of bitter training,” the man explained. “I was just about to gain some enlightenment when you barged in. So then, how are you going to compensate for my loss?”

Lei Wujie cringed awkwardly. “Don’t tell me you want five hundred taels.”

“You get me.” The man patted Lei Wujie on the shoulder and gave him a thumbs up. “I’ll give you a discount; three hundred taels will do.”

Lei Wujie thought he should introduce this person to Xiao Se.

“Can you wait until after I’m done challenging the tower?” Lei Wujie asked after some hesitation.

The man nodded and flicked his sleeves. “No problem. So, what shall we gamble?”

Lei Wujie didn’t understand what he meant. “What?”

The man clicked his tongue impatiently. “Chupu, Liubo, Paijiu, Xuanhe, or Madai. I’m asking you, what would you like to gamble? Hurry up and choose one.”

Lei Wujie was still baffled. “I don’t understand what you’re talking about…”

The man sighed, looking like he begrudged this iron for not turning into steel. He reached behind, brought out a mess of gambling tools and devices, and dumped them onto the table. “All you martial artists only know how to compete with your fists? When you’re in my part of the tower, you follow my rules. I don’t compete in martial arts, only in gambling arts! Are you up for it? If not, leave the tower.”

Lei Wujie shook his head. “No, and I won’t leave the tower either.”

“Then you’ll just have to kill me.” The man stretched his arms, looking like a rascal.

“What?” Lei Wujie startled in surprise.

“Either you kill me and step over my corpse, or you gamble with me. Choose one.”

Lei Wujie started to think that the person in front of him was entirely unreasonable, and now he understood what the advice of the person on the twelfth floor meant. He could only shake his head again. “If you don’t fight back, how can I fight with you?”

“So will you gamble or not?”

Lei Wujie was stunned, and after a long time he said, “I don’t know how.”

“Not even one?”

“Not even one.”

“Think about it again.”

“Maybe… I might know one.”

“Which one?”

“Roll the dice and guess!”

The man sighed, waved his hand, and swept the pile of gambling devices onto the floor, leaving only an empty treasure box for dice. “Roll the dice? Alright then. How boring.”

“Seriously, can’t we fight instead?” Lei Wujie asked tentatively.

“No! We gamble on the dice, and you must win two out of three rounds!” The man decided firmly. Then, he picked up the treasure box and shook it for a long time before placing it back onto the table. “Go ahead and guess.”

“Big, I guess…” Lei Wujie spoke hesitantly. He didn’t have Tang Lian’s ability to perceive wind by sound, nor did he have Xiao Se’s gambling skills. He could only guess blindly.

The man cracked open a sliver and returned a look of regret. “Such a pity, you guessed wrong. It’s small.”

Lei Wujie was thinking that this was much harder than all the fighting he did in the floors below. His back was already drenched with sweat. “Really?”

The man opened the treasure box. “Three, three, one. Can’t get smaller than that!”

Lei Wujie slumped over weakly on his chair.

“Shall we begin the second round?” The man couldn’t wait to shake the treasure box again.

Lei Wujie had a thought and said, “I want to go downstairs to drink a bowl of soy milk. Can we gamble the remaining two rounds afterwards?”

“Clearly, there’s only one round left.” The man grinned confidently. “Go, then. Remember to bring back the silver.”

Lei Wujie nodded, spun around, and jumped out of the window on the thirteenth floor.

The entire city that witnessed his leap was shocked with disbelief. It’s been many years since the people of Lower Pass City saw anyone challenge past the tenth floor of the tower. But today, someone actually jumped down from the thirteenth floor. Moreover, he was such a young teenager. They were really surprised.

The youth in red appeared completely unharmed. Right after he jumped down from the thirteenth floor, he rushed to the steamed bun stall where he started in the morning and plonked onto the first stool. The waiter who had despised him earlier was stunned, his eyes wide and jaw dropped. He was already thinking to himself that this youth in red was like an immortal.

Xiao Se had ordered a pot of tea and was drinking it leisurely. Despite Lei Wujie making such a show of himself, Xiao Se didn’t even bother to lift his eyelids. He blew gently on the hot tea and drawled lazily, “Were you beaten at the thirteenth floor? You’re weaker than I thought.”

“Not yet, but I met someone weird on the thirteenth floor. He didn’t want to fight with me and instead wanted me to gamble with him. All the way here, you’ve been bragging about gambling in Heavenly Revelations City’s Grand Golden Terrace before, so you have to help me out.” Lei Wujie poured a cup of tea for Xiao Se earnestly.

Xiao Se knocked his fingers lightly on the table three times. “Add three hundred taels. Total eight hundred taels.”

Lei Wujie gritted his teeth. “No problem!”

Xiao Se raised his eyes. “Talk.”

Lei Wujie described in detail everything that happened when he met that weirdo until he got to the part where he gambled the first round and lost bitterly.

“This person should be a disciple of Snow Moon City’s Yin Luoxia. Yin Luoxia is a gambling addict, and once, she lost three consecutive wagers to Spear Immortal Sikong Changfeng, so she was forced to enter Snow Moon City as an elder. Word is, after she entered Snow Moon City, she accepted a disciple who was as addicted to gambling as her.” Xiao Se thought for a while and added, “When you gambled with him, did he make any strange actions?”

Lei Wujie thought back to the game and replied, “He opened a sliver first and took a look. Then, he said I lost.”

“There’s a hidden frame under the treasure box,” Xiao Se surmised without the slightest bit of hesitation. “He takes a peep first, and if you’re wrong, he’ll open the box immediately. If you’re right, he presses lightly on the base, and the dice will flip over. The numbers are completely changed, and you lose. Of course, when it comes to gambling arts, it comes down to what I said before: you must believe you will win, and then you will win!”

Lei Wujie ignored the second half of Xiao Se’s words despite how heroic they sounded. The first half of his words, though, gave him a sudden realization. “So that’s it! But Xiao Se, why do you know this so well…”

Xiao Se put down the teacup and frowned slightly.

Lei Wujie was so frightened that he immediately ran back to the Tower of Ascension. The man whom he punched earlier, Xie Yanshu, was still sitting on the doorstep and sunning himself. When he saw Lei Wujie coming over, he smiled and greeted, “Lei-xiong, you’re back again.”

Lei Wujie didn’t have time for him, and with one leap, he stepped over his head again.

Xie Yanshu scratched an itch absently and sighed. “One who is weak in martial arts deserves to be bullied.”

“Little shishu, that boy in red came down, and now he’s gone again. Looks like he was really taking a break, and he hasn’t been beaten down yet. If this continues, he’s going to steal all the limelight today.” The page boy looked anxious.

“Don’t worry. We’ll wait until he reaches the sixteenth floor, then this young master is going to go up and beat him down. That’ll save me the trouble of climbing up floor by floor.” The scholar was not anxious as he lay on the back of his horse, reading a book slowly.

“Little Shishu, you’re the laziest person in the world.” The page boy flung aside the reins testily.

“Since we’re all waiting for him to come down from the tower, why not come in here for a cup of tea?” Suddenly a voice sounded, and the page boy turned around in surprise. The man who had spoken was young and dressed in blue robes. He was holding a cup of tea in his hand, and he regarded them with a friendly smile.

It was Xiao Se.

The scholar put down his book and eyed Xiao Se appraisingly.

“Purple star divination, all-seeing eyes that seek the dragon. What did you see?” Xiao Se asked obliquely.

The page boy started, and the peach wood sword on his back trembled, looking like it was about to soar into the sky.

“Fei Xuan, don’t.” The scholar waved his hand lightly and pressed down on the peach wood sword. “This brother doesn’t know any martial arts.”

“The Divination Arts has three realms: perceive the qi, read the heart, and seek the dragon. It looks like you’ve only mastered the first realm,” Xiao Se said.

“Is this brother saying that I made a mistake? Are you actually a martial expert with hidden skills?” The scholar said with a pointed smile.

“No, you’re right, I don’t know any martial arts. Also, I was sincere in inviting the two of you for some tea.”

“Just tea?”

“Well, since I have the fortune of meeting the Daoist priests of Qingcheng Mountain, I would naturally wish to ask for a divination.” Xiao Se looked at the scholar.

The scholar smiled willingly and said, “You’re looking at the wrong person. I only learned sword arts from my shifu. I don’t know Daoism.”

“What about this little friend?” Xiao Se’s eyes landed on the page boy.

The page boy scoffed coldly.