The Blood of Youth – CH 033

Chapter 33: Art of the Gambler’s Mind

Lei Wujie ascended to the thirteenth floor again, and the gambling addict was still sitting in the same spot, deep in thought as he shook the treasure box gently in his hand. He glanced at Lei Wujie and said faintly, “You’re back? Was the soy milk good?”

Lei Wujie chuckled. “When I’m done with the sixteenth floor, I’ll treat you to a bowl.”

“Arrogant.” The man suddenly tossed out the treasure box in his hand, and Lei Wujie had to duck to avoid it. The treasure box flew in a circle through the air and returned to the man’s hand. The corners of his lips curled in a mysterious smile, and he wagged his eyebrows. “Big or small?”

“Big.” Lei Wujie had no hesitation at all.

“Big?” The man squinted his eyes and slowly opened a sliver on the box. Once again, he had that regretful expression on his face and said, “Such a pity, such a pity. You don’t need to try the third round anymore.” But this time , Lei Wujie noticed that when the man was expressing his regret, his finger tapped the base of the box lightly. It wasn’t a light tap nor a heavy knock, just barely right.

“Even if I’ve lost, I want to see it with my own eyes.” Just as the man was about to open the treasure box, Lei Wujie moved suddenly. There was a brief flash of red, and Lei Wujie had already seized the treasure box.

The man started, but he didn’t get upset. “Fine, then.”

“It’s really fine.” Lei Wujie couldn’t copy the other man’s light and breezy attitude. He made a big show of using his finger to flick the base of the treasure box.

“You!” The man was shocked.

“Go ahead and show me how you’re going to stop me on the thirteenth floor!” Lei Wujie opened the lid of the treasure box. Four, five, five. He burst into joyous laughter. “Can’t get bigger than that!”

The man’s pupils suddenly contracted. “How did you know?”

“I have a friend who told me that he once won a city when gambling in Heavenly Revelations City’s Grand Golden Terrace. He said what you’re doing is merely a cheap trick.” Lei Wujie tossed the treasure box back to the man. “Let’s play the third round.”

The man caught the treasure box, and he no longer looked like he was in control of the game. He scowled and slowly shook the treasure box. “Very well. Then this time, you should guess whether or not you should tap the base.”

Lei Wujie was stuck.

Since his little trick had been exposed, the false bottom at the base was no longer a mystery. But, if Lei Wujie guessed correctly at first and the tower guardian didn’t tap the base, then once it fell into Lei Lei Wujie’s hands, he may suspect that the tower guardian tampered with the box, and because of that, he flicked the base. The outcome would be reversed again. But what if the tower guardian did tap the base?

How was he supposed to choose? If that man made a surreptitious flick with his finger, there was no way for Lei Wujie to be sure.

“The art of gambling has always been about trickery and tactics. A so-called wager is a bet on the gambler’s mind!” The man started shaking the treasure box again, and the more he shook, the faster he got.

“Alright!” Finally, Lei Wujie was feeling intrigued by this wager, and he yelled out loud. Before the treasure box landed, he said, “This time, I will still bet on big! My friend told me that when it comes to gambling, you must bet on yourself to win. As long as you believe you can win, then you will win!”

“All bets off?” The man exclaimed loudly.

“Take your hands off.” All of a sudden, Lei Wujie kicked the table, and it broke into splinters. He confronted the man and reached out a hand to snatch the treasure box.

“Let’s do this.” The man threw the treasure box up into the air and raised his hand to strike Lei Wujie with a palm.

Both of them retreated three steps at the same time. Lei Wujie exerted his qi, and a surge of heat burst from his body, while the man’s face suffused with a purple light. He struck another palm towards Lei Wujie, and the falling treasure box was sent flying again. The three dice inside flew out, and Lei Wujie caught one of them. He threw it carelessly and nailed it into the wall. “Six!”

The man had also grabbed one. He didn’t even spare a look and casually nailed it into the wall. “One!”

There was one last die left!

Lei Wujie and the man exchanged three more palm strikes, neither backing away this time. Their hands locked together, and their qi erupted. Instead of falling, the dice floated in midair between the two.

“Good internal strength,” the man praised.

“Your martial arts are better than your gambling skills.” Lei Wujie also laughed.

“Saying that to me.” The man was about to shake his head, but suddenly, the purple qi around his body exploded. “It is not a compliment!”

Lei Wujie felt a surge of blood in his chest, gritted his teeth, and shouted, “Blazing Arts, ignite!” This was the first time he exerted his Blazing Arts to the Inferno Realm. He could feel his qi surging out of his body, and he could barely control it. However, the one who was more surprised was the tower guardian of the thirteenth floor. He originally thought that Lei Wujie had already exhausted his limited abilities and he could clearly gain the upper hand if he went all out, but suddenly, this Lei Wujie seemed to have instantly forced his own qi to raise another level. He started to feel pain in the palms that he had locked with Lei Wujie, as if he was being roasted by a raging inferno.

Lei Wujie’s eyes turned red, and his red clothes fluttered without wind. He felt like he was breathing fire with every breath. “I’m going to win this round.”

The tower guardian refused to back off, and the purple qi on his body became weaker and weaker.

The floating dice wobbled in mid-air, made a revolution, and smashed heavily into the floor.

“Six! I won!” Lei Wujie pushed out his palms, and the heat in his body gradually dissipated.

The tower guardian retreated seven steps, tumbled onto the floor, and looked at the dice.

The entire dice was buried halfway into the floor, but the side facing upward was clearly and properly upright.

Six! Six, one, six. A total of thirteen points. Can’t get bigger than that!

Meanwhile, outside the tower, quite a few people in the Lower Pass City were still watching the Tower of Ascension, which had been quiet for a while now. The rumours started going around the city about the youth in red who had elegant features as if he were a noble son who had descended from heaven and how he passed through ten floors when he challenged the tower. The waiter in the teahouse also began bragging to everyone around him that the noble son who looked like a divine immortal had just visited his shop to drink a bowl of soy milk. Hence, being lumped together and talked about was the man in blue robes. But Xiao Se remained indifferent to the attention.

The scholar noticed the stares they were receiving from all directions and smiled. “It feels as if everyone in Lower Pass City is looking at you now. If we start reading your fortune here, isn’t that the same as hanging a banner on our backs that says, ‘Qingcheng Mountains respectfully visits Snow Moon City’?”

“Don’t bother hiding your identity. Snow Moon City has an organization called Spiderweb. From the moment you and I stepped into Lower Pass City, they’ve already had their eyes on us. Besides, that friend of mine has already reached the thirteenth floor. Very soon, you’ll be able to meet the person you’re here to see.” Xiao Se sipped his tea slowly.

“You seem to know everything?” The scholar flipped off his horse.

Xiao Se exhaled a soft sigh. “But I don’t know my destiny. So, I want a divination.”

The page boy glanced at the scholar. The scholar scratched his head and walked towards Xiao Se. “Haven’t you always been complaining that you’ve learned the Art of Celestial Communion, but you can’t find a talent as fine as Jade? Now you have one right in front of you. Go ahead and divine his fortune.”

“A talent as fine as jade?” The page boy walked closer to the table and scowled at Xiao Se with disdain.

“Just do your thing. You won’t lose out.” The scholar raised the book in his hand and knocked the page boy on the head.

“Fate is Heavenly Law, and the art of divination is an art that steals a glance at Heaven, which is against Heavenly Law. There’s a saying that you should know: the more you try to predict your fate, the more shallow it becomes. Are you sure you want a divination?” The page boy took out a bamboo tube from his clothes.

Xiao Se picked up a chopstick and feigned a knock on the pageboy’s head. “Little priest, why are you talking so much?”

“Moreover, my art of divination from Qingcheng Mountain is completely different from those of roadside charlatan priests. Qingcheng Mountain has a saying that we can read a divination hexagram, but we can’t explain it. Once we have the six lines, whether it’s adverse or auspicious, it all depends on how Heaven’s fortune dictates.” The page boy had a serious expression, and even though he was obviously a child, he rattled off something that sounded old and wizened.

The scholar sat down next to Xiao Se, poured himself a cup of tea, and said with a smile, “I hope this young master doesn’t take offense. My shifu once said that the future of Qingcheng Mountain will be divided between us. I will take up six-tenths of their martial arts, but this child will account for eight-tenths of our Heaven’s fortune. Fei Xuan, make a divination for this young master.”

The page boy put three copper coins into the bamboo tube. Each copper coin had two sides. One side was carved with the image of the snake goddess, Nüwa, her face carrying a benevolent yet demonic smile. The other side was carved with the image of the snake human, Fuxi, revealing his intertwining and terrifying muscles. He handed the bamboo tube to Xiao Se and said, “Toss.”

Xiao Se accepted the bamboo tube and shook it lightly. They could all hear the sharp and clear sound of the coins rattling inside.

“Heaven’s fortune? The moment we know Heaven’s fortune, it will have changed.” Xiao Se tossed the bamboo tube lightly, and the three copper coins fell out and scattered onto the table.

All three coins showed the face of Nüwa.

“The beginning line, three faces of yin, greater yin.” The page boy frowned slightly, and the scholar dipped his finger into the tea and drew a faint horizontal line on the table.

“I can more or less guess from your expression, but yin definitely doesn’t sound as good as yang.” Xiao Se, however, remained calm as he returned a smile.

The page boy shook his head. “Greater yin is a line of change. We’ve only drawn one line, so it’s too early to tell. Please continue.”

Xiao Se lightly shook the bamboo tube again, tossing out the copper coins.

All three showed the face of Nüwa again!

“Second line, three faces of yin, greater yin.” The page boy frowned. “Toss again!”

“Third line, three faces of yin, greater yin.”

“Fourth line, three faces of yin, greater yin.”

Even the scholar who had been smiling the whole time while disregarding this divination became nervous. His eyes were fixed on the fifth line that Xiao Se was tossing now.

Three copper coins fell on the table; the face of yang, represented by the snake god, Fuxi, never showed its face.

“Fifth line, three faces of yin, greater yin.” The page boy’s voice started to tremble.

“All five lines are yin. Does that mean my fate is terrible?” Xiao Se said mildly.

The page boy wiped the sweat from his forehead. “Five lines of yin… I’ve never seen such an odd divination hexagram. But the five lines are all lines of change. I can’t see clearly, can’t see… I need the sixth line to catch a glimpse of the Heavenly Law… But is that something we’re worthy of seeing?”

Xiao Se pushed the bamboo tube over and said with a smile, “Let’s not continue the divination.”

The scholar’s expression also became serious. “Fei Xuan!”

The page boy exhaled a long sigh and pushed the bamboo tube back to Xiao Se. He only said one word, “Toss!”

“Fei Xuan will take up eight-tenths of the Heaven’s fortune of Qingcheng Mountain.” It was at this moment that the scholar felt that the grandmaster’s words seemed a little more credible.

Xiao Se didn’t evade further. He shook the bamboo tube a few times, then flung it up. The three copper coins flew out and landed on the tabletop.