The red silk curtain was only slightly parted. From this position, only Xie Lian could see the person behind it. The others in the hall, both humans and ghosts, were blocked by his body and couldn't see, and of course, they didn't dare to look around recklessly. That left eye was fixed on Xie Lian, and Xie Lian was also staring back, a bit entranced.
Hua Cheng's appearance seemed not only a few years older but also taller. Previously, Xie Lian could just about look at him straight on, but now he had to look up.
After a moment of silent staring, Hua Cheng slowly spoke.
In a deep voice, he asked, "Do you want to play big or small?"
The voice was low and pleasant, and Xie Lian snapped back to reality a bit. It didn't matter whether it was big or small; there was no difference, so he replied, "Big."
Hua Cheng said, "Alright. I'll go first."
Xie Lian held the base of the black wooden dice cup with his left hand and pressed the round lid on top with his right. Hua Cheng stood opposite him, placing his right hand over Xie Lian's left hand, giving it a gentle shake, and then opened the cup. On the base were two dice, one showing six and the other five.
Lang Qianqiu, suspended above, saw clearly and was amazed, exclaiming, "How can it be like this?"
Hua Cheng slightly loosened his grip and said to Xie Lian, "Try shaking it like this."
Xie Lian mimicked his actions, shaking it twice. But Hua Cheng said, "That's not right."
Although he said Xie Lian was doing it wrong, his tone was extremely gentle and patient. As he spoke, Hua Cheng again supported Xie Lian's hand from below, and his left hand reached out to cover Xie Lian's right hand on top of the lid, softly saying, "It's like this."
Thus, both the backs of Xie Lian's hands were covered by Hua Cheng's palms.
The touch of skin was cool and smooth like jade, and the ornate silver wrist guards were cold as iron. However, Hua Cheng seemed to be careful not to let them touch Xie Lian. His hands guided Xie Lian's hands, slowly shaking the black wooden dice cup.
Once, twice, three times.
The dice rattled inside the black wooden cup, rolling and colliding with a crisp sound. Even with such a slight vibration, Xie Lian's palms and the backs of his hands tingled. This tingling sensation spread up his wrist and expanded.
As they shook, Xie Lian inadvertently raised his eyes and glanced up, finding that Hua Cheng wasn't looking at the dice cup at all but was instead staring at him intently, with a slight smile on his lips. Xie Lian couldn't help but smile back, then remembered that many people, both human and ghost, were watching from above and below. He quickly suppressed his smile, lowered his head, and focused on learning Hua Cheng's hand movements, asking, "Like this?"
Hua Cheng's smile deepened, "Yes, that's right."
Seeing Xie Lian shaking with hope, he added, "Want to open it and see?"
Xie Lian opened it, revealing two white dice, both showing three.
Two threes were already an astonishing result, and Xie Lian felt a breeze of delight in his heart, thinking, "Could it be that I've really grasped the trick?"
However, even with such an impressive result, six was still smaller than eleven. He lightly coughed and said, "Sorry, I lost."
Hua Cheng replied, "It's alright, this round doesn't count. I'm teaching you now, let's go again."
This statement left Lang Qianqiu and Shi Qingxuan speechless. The ghosts in the hall were also dumbfounded, whispering among themselves:
"What's with the City Lord? I thought he was going to teach him a lesson, but he's really teaching him?"
"This round doesn't count? You can play like this?"
"When will it count then?"
"It seems the City Lord is in a really good mood today..."
Hua Cheng raised his left eyebrow, and a woman outside immediately said, "Please, everyone, quiet down."
The hall instantly fell silent again, though while no one spoke, their gazes became even more unrestrained. Hua Cheng smiled and softly encouraged Xie Lian again, "Shall we continue?"
Perhaps because there were too many people and ghosts in the gambling house, Xie Lian felt his cheeks heat up slightly and said, "Alright."
The dice rattled once more. This time, when they opened the cup, it showed two fours.
Hua Cheng asked, "How is it, a bit bigger?"
Although he felt something was off, Xie Lian nodded, "Yes... a bit bigger."
Hua Cheng said, "Well done, keep going."
Despite his gentle guidance, for some reason, there were many ambiguous giggles around, seemingly from female ghosts. Xie Lian couldn't figure out what the correct posture was anymore. At first, he was earnestly studying Hua Cheng's hand placement and speed, but now he just let Hua Cheng guide him, shaking randomly. As they shook, a thought grew stronger in Xie Lian's mind, "Could San Lang be teasing me..."
Lang Qianqiu, watching from above, seemed to feel the same and couldn't help but shout, "Stop shaking! He's clearly tricking you; there's no right posture. He's definitely cheating!"
His loud accusation made Shi Qingxuan cover his face again.
The ghosts below booed loudly, throwing a rain of dice at Lang Qianqiu, all shouting:
"Naive child, don't speak!"
"Why are you making noise? We're at the best part!"
"The Daoist is getting bigger results each time with the City Lord's guidance!"
"Exactly! What do you know!"
Lang Qianqiu angrily retorted, "You... you bunch of blind fools... ah!!"
He suddenly stopped, his face turning red, as a few female ghosts below pulled hard on his dangling belt, scolding, "Little brother, don't make noise anymore. If you keep babbling, we sisters will pull your pants down!"
Lang Qianqiu had never been threatened like this before and was too angry to speak, "You... you!"
If it were just a beating by a group of ghosts, it would be fine, but if his pants were really pulled down, his reputation as a martial god would be ruined. So Lang Qianqiu dared not speak anymore. Xie Lian looked up, seeing Lang Qianqiu glancing at him desperately, feeling both amused and sorry. He had to lower his head and quietly said to Hua Cheng, "...San Lang."
Hearing him call, Hua Cheng chuckled and said, "Ignore him. Let's continue."
"..."
Xie Lian, helpless, held the dice cup and shook it twice more. As expected, this time, it showed two fives.
Seeing this, the ghosts laughed even more, teasing Lang Qianqiu even more wildly, "See? It's getting bigger!"
Xie Lian had long realized that Hua Cheng was playing with him. He felt a bit helpless, thinking that there really wasn't any correct posture in the world. For someone like him, every posture was wrong, and he could completely give up any thoughts of changing his luck in the future. Just as he was about to give up and shake one last time, Hua Cheng said, "Wait a moment."
Xie Lian felt Hua Cheng's hand pressing down slightly and stopped, asking, "What's wrong?"
Hua Cheng half-jokingly said, "Brother, you haven't said what happens if you lose."
Hearing him call Xie Lian "brother," Shi Qingxuan and Lang Qianqiu's expressions were indescribable. The ghosts were also creeped out, some even dropping their heads in shock.
To be honest, in the heat of the moment, Xie Lian hadn't thought about the stakes. He said, "Well..."
He had originally thought of betting ten years of his life, but for a god, ten years was probably nothing. Money or treasures? Nonexistent. Spiritual or divine power? Nonexistent. For a moment, Xie Lian couldn't think of anything to bet, so he asked the owner of the gambling house. He said, "What do you think I have that could be used as a bet?"
Hearing this, Hua Cheng laughed.
He said, "I don't mind. What did you bring with you?"
Xie Lian thought for a moment, coughed lightly, and honestly said, "I... only brought an unfinished bun with me this time."
Hearing this, Hua Cheng burst out laughing. He laughed, but the others dared not.
After laughing, Hua Cheng nodded, "Alright. That bun it is."
This statement shocked not only the ghosts but also the women running the gambling tables.
Since this gambling house opened, it had seen countless incredible bets. There were internal organs, lifespans, emotions, abilities. However, no bet had ever been as unbelievable as today: an unfinished bun. Even Lang Qianqiu couldn't help but exclaim, "What... what does this mean? Are you saying I'm only worth an unfinished bun???"
The ghosts laughed and jeered, with someone shouting, "What's wrong with a bun? It's a bargain for you, so shut up!" Xie Lian recognized the exasperated voice as Shi Qingxuan's, hiding among the ghosts. Amused, Hua Cheng said to him, "Come on. It's the last round, don't be nervous."
Xie Lian said, "I'm not nervous."
The two maintained the position of palm over hand, shaking a few times. Although Xie Lian wasn't really nervous, his palm against the dice cup and his hand against Hua Cheng's seemed to sweat slightly. Finally, they stopped, and it was time to reveal the result. He took a deep breath and opened it—
Two dice, both showing six!
Xie Lian breathed a sigh of relief, knowing what had happened, and looked up at Hua Cheng. Hua Cheng raised an eyebrow, "Oh, I lost."
His admission of defeat, though serious, was utterly insincere. The ghosts below were silent.
Someone had wondered earlier, "When will it count?" Now the answer was clear: when this person won, it counted.
This kind of letting someone win was too outrageous!
However, no one would say anything about it. The woman took the black wooden dice cup and raised it high, "Congratulations, sir, you won this round."
Everyone was very supportive, shouting, "The City Lord loses beautifully! Well done!"
"The winner was taught by the City Lord himself, so the victory is thanks to his teaching!"
"Yes! Today was eye-opening, learning the correct way to shake dice! Benefited for a lifetime!"
Listening to the chaotic voices around, Xie Lian couldn't help but laugh. Seeing him smile, Hua Cheng also smiled, brushing aside the red silk curtain. At this moment, Lang Qianqiu said from above, "Since you lost, let me down now!"
Hua Cheng was still looking at Xie Lian, his smile unchanged, not even glancing up, just raised his hand and waved casually, causing Lang Qianqiu to fall heavily. The loud crash made Xie Lian wince. Shi Qingxuan couldn't reveal himself, so Xie Lian turned, bent down to check, and asked, "Are you okay?"
Lang Qianqiu got up, dusted himself off, and said, "I'm fine, thank you. He wanted you up there to cheat and make you lose, but luckily you won!"
Xie Lian thought, "You're completely wrong. If he hadn't let me win, I'd never have won you back..."
As he was thinking, he suddenly heard a few clear "ding ding" sounds, followed by low gasps around him. Xie Lian turned to see Hua Cheng finally stepping out from behind the red silk curtain.
Previously, in his youthful form, Hua Cheng had always tied his long hair loosely. Now, in red clothes with his black hair down, he looked both handsome and devilishly charming. Only the right side had a tiny braid with red coral beads, adding a playful touch.
His wrist guards were silver, his boot chains were silver, his belt was silver, and a long, slender curved blade hung at his waist, its arc smooth and mysterious, also silver. The blade was long, and so was he. He leaned casually against the half-open red silk, arms crossed, with a faint smile, "Brother, you beat me."
Xie Lian knew very well what had happened earlier and said helplessly, "Stop teasing me."
Hua Cheng raised an eyebrow, "I'm not. Why would I?"
The ghosts below were extremely excited, like boiling water, chattering non-stop, "Why does the City Lord have a new look today?"
"I'm dying, this new look of the City Lord is killing me, so fresh and exciting!"
"What's there to die about? Weren't you already dead, you old hag?!"
It seemed that because Hua Cheng never showed his true face, frequently changing appearances, even the ghosts in the ghost market couldn't tell what he really looked like, assuming this was another disguise. However, only Xie Lian knew in his heart that the one before him was definitely the true appearance of the legendary Blood Rain Flower.