Chapter 32: Chapter 28: The Young Gambling God (V)
Translator:
The first round of fights came to an end. After a rest period of one hourglass, the second round began.
Chu Xinrui, one of the favorites to win the tournament, was eliminated in the first round. This upset many gamblers who had placed heavy bets on him, leading to their immediate mental breakdown. They cursed loudly, angrily tearing their betting slips into pieces.
Meanwhile, spectators who had bet on Qu Lexian and Suo Yingcai began to brag. They behaved as though they had foreseen the outcome, conveniently forgetting their fervent cheering moments ago.
Happiness, anger, admiration, jealousy, greed – the small martial arts arena was filled with a sea of varied emotions, evoking a sigh at the complexity of human hearts.
With the conclusion of the first round, Xiao Zheng, who had just been making conversation with Tang Luo, seemed to have lost his soul, his gaze was complex.
Staring at a stage on the west side, he murmured to himself, “Just as I thought, just as I thought.”
Tang Luo followed Xiao Zheng’s gaze.
It was Shentu Le’an’s stage. He appeared relaxed, as if the battle was merely a warm-up to him and he walked off the stage casually.
As Shentu Le’an’s figure disappeared behind the curtain, Tang Luo turned his gaze back to Xiao Zheng.
In the meantime, Xiao Zheng was chugging from his wine pot, silent.
Sipping the strong liquor, Xiao Zheng’s face was bitter. He trembled as he pulled out a betting slip from his bosom.
Tang Luo glanced at it, it read: Qu Lexian – Two hundred gold coins.
Well, Gambling Saint… Tang Luo looked away, disappointed in the middle-aged man.
“Hiss- Hiss- Hiss!”
What was that noise? Tang Luo turned around to see Xiao Zheng tearing up the betting slip and scattering it on the ground.
Wow, could Xiao see that Qu Lexian would lose right after the first round? He’s got some insight.
“Did you notice something?” Tang Luo chuckled lightly, thinking Xiao was just boasting, but didn’t expect his observation to be decent, although a little late. “Ah.” Xiao Zheng’s response was low-spirited as he placed the empty wine pot on the ground. “Got too greedy, deserved this loss.”
The man’s attitude was admirable. After all, he’d been outsmarted by the house, and losing was not a disgrace.
“Gambling eh, nothing’s ever certain. You can win next time.” Tang Luo casually comforted him.
Win next time?
These words enraged the middle-aged man, and he suddenly straightened his upper body, as tall and straight as a pine tree.
Tang Luo felt a chill, coming from the gaze of the middle-aged man by his side.
He seemed to have sobered up, his eyes emitting a terrifying chill, like the unsheathed blade of a rare sword. He announced in a pauseful tone, “My name is Xiao Zheng, and 1 never lose a gamble!”
I see, you’re putting on a good show now, but tearing up your betting slip and acting tough after, that’s where you were wrong.
“Oh? So why did you tear up the betting slip?” Tang Luo couldn’t resist making a comment.
“Because Qu Lexian is certain to lose.” Xiao Zheng’s face turned ashen.
Truly insightful, impressive indeed, but what are you going to do about it?
“So how do you always win your bets?” Tang Luo chuckled, wondering why Xiao Zheng was still pretending.
The coldness in Xiao Zheng’s eyes disappeared, he sighed lowly, “I should have figured it out.”
“Figured out what?”
Xiao Zheng did not respond but pulled out another betting slip from his bosom.
Shentu Le’an – Fifty gold coins.
Did he just pull another move? Nice one, Gambling Saint buddy. Tang Luo widened his eyes in surprise. Did this man actually bet two hundred gold coins on Qu Lexian and then place fifty gold coins on Shentu Le’an before the start of the match?
Tang Luo’s interest was piqued, he asked, “Why did you place another fifty gold coins on Shentu Le’an? Or did you bet on everyone?”
If he had bet on everyone, he could indeed claim to ‘always win’, although he would just keep losing money. It’s actually not a bad strategy.
Xiao Zheng shook his head, “I only bet on Qu Lexian and Shentu Le’an.”
“Why?”
“If it’s based solely on strength, Qu Lexian should be the winner; if it’s strategy, then Shentu Le’an is bound to win,” Xiao Zheng pointed at Shentu Le’an, who was stepping onto the stage, and sighed.
“You have a good eye,” Tang Luo held up his thumb in approval.
He was able to deduce the dealer’s layout because he could see the figures above his head, but the middle-aged man in front of him had such a low realm and no information at all, yet he was able to grasp most of the truth by relying solely on his judgement.
That was truly impressive. It seemed that his title of “Gambling Saint” was not an exaggeration.
“Young friend, you flatter me. If my eyes were really that good, Shentu Le’an’s wager should have been five hundred gold, not fifty,” Xiao Zheng waved his hand in a dispirited manner, humbly declining the compliment.
Wait a minute! Good? Eye? Power?
Xiao Zheng suddenly realized something. He looked at Tang Luo in disbelief and asked dryly, “Young friend, did you bet on Shentu Le’an?”
“I placed a small bet,” Tang Luo smiled.
Xiao Zheng remained silent, feeling a strong blow to his pride.
As a direct descendant of the Xiao family, he showed little interest in martial arts from a young age. Instead, he indulged in all sorts of gambling games. After barely reaching the Mortal Realm, he fell in love with the gambling arena of the martial arts hall.
Ever since he became obsessed with the gambling battles in the martial arts hall, Xiao Zheng totally gave up on martial arts. Starting from the age of sixteen, he spent day and night in the martial arts hall. As a person with high demands on himself, Xiao Zheng set rules for himself.
He had to win every betting match at the Mortal Realm level.
Xiao Zheng started to frequent small martial arts halls throughout Xiling, but each time he just observed, never placing bets.
After three years of this, he felt confident. Every time he placed a bet, he won big.
From that point on, Xiao Zheng began his journey as a Gambling Saint, only betting when he was sure he could win. This was his personal standard.
It wasn’t about making money, but about the sense of achievement he gained from winning.
Over the course of ten years, he became a legend in Xiling’s Mortal Realm martial arts arena, leaving behind the legend of the Gambling Saint Xiao Zheng, who won every bet he made.
In the following ten years, Xiao Zheng felt that there were no secrets left to him in the Mortal Realm martial arts competitions, so he began to study the Metamortal Realm competitions. This study lasted another ten years.
Another ten years passed, and the Metamortal Realm martial arts competition remained as mysterious to him as ever.
Yesterday, in a Metamortal Realm competition of just over ten men, Xiao Zheng made four consecutive errors in his predictions. Feeling frustrated, he decided to come to the smaller venue today to relax, but he met another blow.
A teenager in his early teens had predicted the winner before the start of the competition. How could Xiao Zheng not feel upset?
“It must be just good luck,” he was unwilling to believe.
With a brief boost of confidence, Xiao Zheng asked again, “Young friend, how much did you bet?”
Not much, surely not much, definitely not much. Xiao Zheng repeated in his mind.
“Uh, not much,” Tang Luo thought for a moment and decided not to further upset the man in front of him. He modestly replied.
As he predicted. Xiao Zheng breathed a sigh of relief, feeling a breath of fresh air.
The competition was in full swing, just as predicted.
Luo Hongtu and Qu Lexian from Team A had a tough match, with Qu Lexian emerging as the victor.
From Team B, Shentu Le’an, looked relaxed as he faced Suo Yingcai, who had barely defeated Chu Xinrui. It was another easy win.
So when an exhausted Qu Lexian was set to fight almost unscathed Shentu Le’an, was there any doubt about the outcome?
Qu Lexian tried his best, but after two hundred moves, he was hit in the chest by Shentu Le’an’s Hundred Rivers Flying Palm and fell into unconsciousness. The favorite, Qu Lexian, was defeated!
The nearly three thousand spectators gasped in unison. The entire martial arts arena fell into a deafening silence. Anger exploded as nearly two thousand people’s betting tickets turned into scrap paper. All the favorites were defeated without exception.
Shentu Le’an emerged as the champion of the martial arts competition! “Damn Qu Lexian, you threw the match!” Someone bellowed with rage. The people’s wrath had found an outlet. Those who lost their money suddenly seemed to see the light. No wonder the 26-year-old peak Mortal Realm practitioner would lose to an inexperienced Shentu Le’an. It turned out Qu Lexian had deliberately thrown the match!
In the heat of the moment, some unreasonable spectators wanted to kill the unconscious Qu Lexian right on the spot..
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