After a brief moment of silence, a harsh noise suddenly rang out inside the man's mind. It was piercing enough to bore straight through one's soul, completely catching him off guard.
Liu Rumeng leaned against a pillar, wholeheartedly belting out the divine track "Tension," occasionally hitting him with a few high notes. Her delivery was full of genuine emotion, practically touching.
She had been tone-deaf since birth, capable of wandering off-key all the way to Mars. Combined with such a divine track, the destructive power was simply extraordinary.
The man waved his hand to withdraw his spiritual power, cutting off the connection between himself and Liu Rumeng. He could not help pressing his right ear with his right hand, a look of ultimate helplessness tugging at the corner of his lips.
This girl truly managed to bring him surprises every single moment!
Liu Rumeng sang in her mind for a while, only stopping when she could no longer hear the man's voice.
She straightened the hem of her clothes, flicked an imperceptible speck of dust off her cuffs, and raised the corners of her lips.
Want to play games with me? You are a few thousand years too early.
She needed to find a way to get that thing out of her body; she certainly didn't want to be under someone else's control every single second.
Sensing her mood, Qingye rubbed its little head continuously against the web of her thumb. "Master, Qingye is hungry. Will you buy Qingye some dried fish?"
Liu Rumeng had the least resistance to such tiny creatures and surrendered on the spot.
She shook her money pouch; it still seemed to have enough to buy some food.
Anyway, there was no way she was going to bid on this stone now. She turned around, ready to walk away.
"Hey! You're trying to make a run for it, aren't you?"
The moment Lord Huang saw Liu Rumeng trying to leave, he immediately shouted loudly.
As soon as he yelled, the surrounding people turned to look over one after another.
"The hammer hasn't even fallen on this stone gambling yet, and you want to run? What did I, Lord Huang San, say? This woman is a complete swindler. You all believe it now, don't you?"
Doubt crept into the onlookers' eyes.
Liu Rumeng stopped, impatience flashing through her eyes.
Since there was a crystal inside this stone, she was by no means going to bid on it. Yet if she didn't bid, this Huang San would surely pester her endlessly. It seemed there truly was no foolproof way out.
Seeing that she did not retort, Huang San assumed she had a guilty conscience and walked triumphantly up to Liu Rumeng.
"I, Lord Huang San, am not an unreasonable person. As long as you apologize to me and admit that you're a swindler, I'll let you go, and today's bet will be written off!"
She was supposed to apologize?
Liu Rumeng coldly raised her head. The murderous intent in her eyes at that instant made the Huang San standing before her involuntarily shudder.
She was clearly a withered, skinny little woman—why did she exude such an intimidating power?
Huang San shook his head and pointed a finger at her. "You... you still want to resort to violence?!"
Brawls and smashing up the joint were strictly forbidden in the stone-gambling dens. As soon as Huang San uttered those words, the atmosphere instantly grew tense.
Liu Rumeng paused for two seconds, then smiled slightly. "I merely wanted to buy some food for my spirit beast. How could that be considered running away?"
"Who are you trying to kid? You were clearly trying to find an excuse to slip away! There are plenty of witnesses here, and our bet hasn't finished yet. Whatever else you have to do can wait until it's over!"
"That's right, the bet isn't over yet, but you were already thinking of running."
"At least wait until the betting concludes before saying anything."
"I reckon she's mostly out of money anyway. How much money can a mere woman possibly have?"
Huang San cut in, "I don't care about that. If she fails to bid on this stone today, I win the bet, and those twelve thousand gold coins belong to me! Of course, I, Huang San, won't hog it all—finders keepers, but I want everyone to bear witness for me and see whether I, Huang San, am just making trouble out of nothing, or if this woman is simply playing the fool for attention!"
As soon as he said this, the crowd's attitude shifted instantly; naturally, everyone was happy to get free gold.
Their previous agreement had been that if she bid on the stone and lost, the loss of the gold would serve as her punishment. But if she didn't bid, the twelve thousand gold coins would naturally go to Huang San.
Liu Rumeng had been fully confident in this stone before daring to accept the wager, but now, having heard what White Phoenix said, she knew the crystal inside was completely worthless. It was a blatantly losing venture, yet she would be expected to keep adding money into it.
"Well? It's still not too late for you to back out now. As long as you kneel down and say, 'Lord Huang San, I was wrong,' I'll let you go right this instant!"
The surroundings were noisy; some people were taking Huang San's side, some were just watching the fun, and others were standing by with their arms folded.
Stone gambling was high-stakes and nerve-wracking, so people naturally looked for a bit of entertainment to relax. Unfortunately, Liu Rumeng had become that entertainment.
"Have you thought it through?" Huang San grew somewhat impatient, his attitude becoming increasingly arrogant backed by the support of the crowd.
Upstairs.
Nan Liefeng took in everything happening below.
Watching the crowd surround Liu Rumeng in the center, his right hand tightened slightly.
"This is your first time here, so you probably haven't seen much of this sort of thing. It's just a pity for that woman, being used as a pawn by others."
Nan Liefeng turned his head. "What do you mean by that?"
"There are at least a dozen gambling dens of all sizes in this neighborhood, and their stones are all fairly similar, so the competition among them is quite fierce. This Huang San is most likely sent by another house to make trouble. Look at how he keeps insisting that the woman is a swindler and colluded with the stone merchant to jack up the price—if this woman admits to it, who benefits?"
Nan Liefeng hadn't expected there to be such shady dealings behind the scenes. His dark brows furrowed slightly. "I'm going down to take a look!"
"You mustn't!"
"Why?!" Nan Liefeng grew somewhat irritated. Regardless of whether that woman was Yang An or not, what kind of honor was it for a bunch of men to bully a lone woman for no reason?!
If he, Nan Liefeng, sat by and did nothing now, he truly would be a coward!
Situ Shao'an hurriedly pinned him down. "You cannot afford to stir up trouble again! Do you have any idea whose territory this is? I'm begging you, my little ancestor, please spare me some peace of mind—your eldest brother will kill me!"
Nan Liefeng clenched his fists, a surge of pressure weighing heavily on his heart. He slammed his right hand onto the table, shattering it into pieces.
His original intention had been to lock horns with that man and deflate his arrogance, but he had unintentionally pushed the woman into a desperate predicament.
"I don't want this stone anymore!"
The resounding voice shook the entire main hall, and the crowd raised their heads one after another to look in Nan Liefeng's direction.
Situ Shao'an was already on the verge of tears. "My dear young master, do you think you're at home? You can't just say you don't want something and toss it aside!"
The stone merchant turned around, clasping his hands together. "Esteemed patron, are you saying you no longer want it?"
"You don't need to make things difficult for that woman. I don't want to buy this damn rock anymore—leave it to her!"
"Esteemed patron, you must be new here and unfamiliar with the rules of stone gambling. Once a bid is spoken aloud, it is strictly forbidden for the item to go unsold. If you do not wish to take this stone, that is fine; simply leave the gold behind."
Nan Liefeng frowned. "Are you saying that even if I don't buy this damn stone, I still have to pay?"
"Those are the rules of stone gambling, patron. Please forgive me."
Nan Liefeng rose with a slap of his hand on the armrest. "You gather people here to gamble on stones, but does anyone know the source of these stones? Can the stone output of my Hong Country tolerate you trafficking them so arbitrarily? If we're talking about rules, you broke them long ago!"
Situ Shao'an couldn't hold him back and was already tearing his hair out in despair.
Downstairs had fallen completely silent, the expressions on everyone's faces quite peculiar.
Nan Liefeng swept his gaze coldly across the room, his red garments as fiery as flames. "You lot of unruly ruffians, knowing full well there's something wrong with these stones, yet you still buy and sell them. If we were to hold you accountable, you're no different from him!"
Another dead silence ensued. The stone merchant suddenly gave a look to his subordinates, and several men ran over to the entrance, pulling the doors shut and locking them from the outside.
Liu Rumeng let out a helpless sigh.
She never expected this Nan Liefeng to be such a brainless man; it was a total waste of such a good-looking face.
A mighty dragon cannot crush a local serpent. Since he was currently on someone else's turf, yet dared to utter such wild words and alienate everyone at once, was he trying to make sure he didn't have enough enemies?
Even if he were formidable, fighting a hundred single-handedly might not guarantee he could escape unscathed. And stepping back ten thousand steps, even if he miraculously got away, he had participated in the stone gambling himself—how was that to be counted?
The surrounding atmosphere grew bizarre, the air seemingly frozen, ready to snap at any tiny disturbance.
Right at that moment, a hearty laugh rang out.
"It's terribly stuffy in here; it's much better to open the doors and let the air out." As soon as those words fell, the tightly closed doors suddenly sprang open outward, and sunlight poured in from the outside, dazzling enough to make people squint.
Liu Rumeng narrowed her eyes slightly, entirely certain that the voice had come from upstairs.
It was precisely the man who had previously outbid her.
The white crane inside her palm suddenly hopped about excitedly, chattering away in an unintelligible din.
Liu Rumeng flicked its little head, causing it to tilt its head and look at her.
"Let me ask you, who is sitting upstairs?"
White Phoenix shook its head. "I don't know either."
Its attitude was so remarkably sincere that Liu Rumeng almost believed it.
"You really don't know?"
"I don't know."
"Then there won't be any dried fish for you tonight."
White Phoenix flapped its little wings. "Why? Why? Why?"
"An untruthful child doesn't deserve a reward."
"Qingye really doesn't know."
Liu Rumeng rattled her money pouch, saying with no small amount of regret, "Sigh, originally this bit of silver could buy plenty of dried fish, maybe even a silverfish. Now it's all saved."
"Master, no! Master, no... wail—"
Liu Rumeng feigned stuffing the money pouch back. Qingye hurriedly flew to her neck, fawning and acting spoiled. "Qingye knows! Qingye knows!"
"Oh?"
Qingye flapped its little wings and whispered secretly into her ear, "Sitting up there is a dashing, peerlessly handsome, unrestrained, and transcendent beautiful man!"
"..." Liu Rumeng tucked her silver pouch away. "It looks like you don't want to eat anything for the rest of the month."
Clueless about what it had said wrong, Qingye anxiously flapped its wings. While the two of them were making a fuss, they heard the voice from upstairs again: "This patron doesn't understand the rules, so Young Master Zhao is merely teaching him the rules. Why get angry?"
The voice was clear and bright, like a gentle breeze brushing across the face, yet extraordinarily comforting.
Nan Liefeng immediately turned his head back, fury flaring in his eyes.
What did they mean by saying he didn't understand the rules?
He instantly raised his right hand, a flash of red light appearing at his fingertips, only to see the snowy-white gauze curtains rustling without any wind.
A man's figure gradually came into view.
His robes were whiter than snow, and his long hair, dark as satin, was draped loosely over one shoulder. The fluttering white gauze obscured his face, hiding it from view.
The man leaned leisurely against the table to his side, holding a teacup from which wisps of white steam curled upward. With the index finger of his right hand slightly raised, a steady stream of power instantly tore through the air and, before Nan Liefeng could make a move, completely bound him in place.
Situ Shao'an was so startled he was struck speechless, his eyes wide as he stared.
Nan Liefeng struggled fiercely to break free from the restraint, but every time he gathered his strength, it vanished into thin air like bursting bubbles.
Yet the people downstairs had no idea what was happening above; they only knew Nan Liefeng had suddenly fallen silent, and assumed he was too frightened to make a sound.
Amidst the silence, the man slowly spoke again.
"Since this patron is unfamiliar with the local rules, allow me to place a bid on his behalf to give everyone an answer."
"This..." Place a bid on someone else's behalf?
Though such occurrences weren't unheard of in stone gambling, when the person involved was right here, having someone else bid for them felt somewhat improper.
Seeing the hesitation in everyone's expressions, the man smiled, "Naturally, we must ask if this patron agrees."
With that, the crowd turned to look at Nan Liefeng, seeing his expressionless face showed no sign of objection.
"Well... very well then. We'll trouble this patron, then."
The man said, "Then we shall proceed from the previous bid: twenty-five thousand gold coins. Does anyone wish to raise the bid?"
Liu Rumeng stepped back a few paces and looked up for a few moments, still unable to see clearly through the faint, fluttering gauze.
Making a mystery out of nothing.
Yet Nan Liefeng actually didn't refute it either. She couldn't tell if he had suddenly changed his temperament or what.
With the price raised to twenty-five thousand gold coins, probably no one present could afford to bid any higher.
Huang San, meanwhile, shook his tattered fan, smugly waiting to get his hands on that twelve thousand gold coins.
How could Liu Rumeng possibly produce that much gold? She didn't even have a single tael of silver on her right now.
The only reason she had dared to come here and gamble on stones was that she planned to win, flip the stone immediately, and pocket the price difference.
Now that she knew there was no crystal inside and it couldn't fetch a high price, she certainly wasn't about to play the fool.
She couldn't escape, and staying here was even worse.
For a moment, Liu Rumeng felt a slight headache coming on.
"Thirty thousand gold." The man's voice cut through the air once more.
Liu Rumeng had grown numb; this game of the wealthy was simply not something she could play.
What she was thinking about now was how to shake off that Huang San and turn the situation around.
Not long after thirty thousand was called, the man raised the bid on Nan Liefeng's behalf to thirty-five thousand. Back and forth it went, until the price had been pushed to a staggering one hundred thousand gold coins.
One hundred thousand gold!
That was enough to buy out this entire county town!
Every single merchant present wore a look of terror.
Yet little did they know, the most terrified person of all was Situ Shao'an, who had accompanied Nan Liefeng here. How could he have known that today's trip would land them in such massive trouble?
He understood the rules of stone gambling; if Nan Liefeng couldn't produce that much money, there was no way they were walking out of this gambling den tonight.
Heaven knows what kind of person he had offended.
Situ Shao'an cast a stealthy glance toward the private room. The light gauze drapes exuded a certain elegance, yet no one knew that with just a single finger, that man had subdued the youngest and most brilliant talent of the Nan family—a young master whose spiritual power had already broken through the tenth stage!
Huang San laughed. "Why aren't you all getting your money bags ready to pack the gold? Twelve thousand gold—even if split evenly among everyone, it's a handsome share. Make sure you've got somewhere safe to put it, or someone might steal it."
Liu Rumeng looked at him. Huang San lifted his chin. "No need to look at me like that. I gave you a chance, but you didn't cherish it."
Qingye poked its little head out from Liu Rumeng's palm. "You're not allowed to bully my master! Otherwise, Qingye will bite you!"
"Ohoho, come look at this, everyone! What kind of creature is this? I've never seen such a thing before—must be some discarded spirit beast you picked up off the street."
Qingye craned its neck, trying to bite him, but Liu Rumeng blocked it. "The stone gambling isn't over yet. It's too early to jump to conclusions."
Huang San chuckled mockingly, looking around at the crowd. "Isn't it obvious? She's just stalling for time. I advise you to admit defeat while you still can. Once you wait too late, everyone else might not be as patient."
Liu Rumeng sneered. "Lord Huang San is getting awfully worked up. Could it be someone slipped you some perks, which is why you're jumping up and down here like a clown?"
"I'm doing this for everyone's sake! Stone gambling has always stood by fair transactions, and your attempts to artificially inflate the price naturally draw public disdain. I'm merely speaking up because I can't stand it."
Liu Rumeng's pretty eyes rolled, and she looked up toward the upper floor. "If we're talking about inflating prices, I'm afraid I don't even reach a tenth of theirs. Why hasn't Lord Huang San gone upstairs to uphold justice?"
As soon as those words fell, a trace of awkwardness flashed across Huang San's face.
Naturally, he wasn't stupid enough to provoke the guests upstairs. Anyone sitting up there was either a major buyer or a high-ranking VIP; he didn't have the guts to cross them.
He had simply taken one look at Liu Rumeng's disheveled appearance and guessed she had no backing, which was why he dared to use her as a pawn.
Huang San flicked his fan. "The esteemed guests upstairs have refined temperaments and are certainly extraordinary people. They would never do such a thing."
"Ah, so Lord Huang San judges a person's character entirely by their attire," Liu Rumeng smiled.
Not expecting her to have such a sharp tongue, Huang San's expression darkened. "I don't have time to spar with you. Are you going to bid or not?"
The crowd also wore expressions of eager onlookers; naturally, everyone was happy to collect free gold.
Liu Rumeng narrowed her eyes, weighing the feasibility of fighting her way out.
Right at that moment, a voice echoed from outside:
"Twenty thousand gold!"
In an instant, everyone was scared into silence, holding their breath.
What on earth was going on here?
Were they all fighting and scrambling to play the fool?
The corner of Liu Rumeng's twitching mouth lifted slightly as she saw Huang San drop his fan in fright, standing there in a daze, hesitating whether to take this opportunity to run.
Then, she saw the person who had called out the price walking straight toward her, finally coming to a halt right in front of her.
He abruptly bowed low: "Master, your subordinate is late. Please forgive me."
"..."
Another gasp of astonishment rippled through the crowd.
This man called her "master"?
Then what was her identity?
Throwing out twenty thousand gold right off the bat—was this woman really concealing her strength to such an extent?
One had to know that the merchants here were all bigwigs from various countries, and the total wealth they had brought on this trip amounted to only tens of thousands of gold, representing their entire fortunes.
And yet this woman was willing to bid twenty thousand gold on a single piece of stone!
As for Huang San behind the crowd, he nearly dropped to his knees. He picked up his fan with trembling hands, snapping it open after a few fumbles; the smug expression on his face had long since vanished without a trace.
"Master, you left in such a hurry that you forgot your gold notes. Your subordinate has specially brought them to you." With that, he handed over a thick stack of gold notes.
Liu Rumeng was stunned for a mere two seconds before reaching out to take them. "I'll let you off this time, but next time there will be a heavy punishment!"
Whoever he was, as long as he could help her get through this crisis, it was fine!
"Yes!" The grey-robed man nodded and stepped behind Liu Rumeng.
Liu Rumeng raised her head, her lovely eyes slowly sweeping across the assembled crowd. When she reached Huang San, she intentionally paused until he shrank away in terror, before smiling, "I have placed my bid. Everyone, feel free to continue."
A bid? What kind of bid?
Liu Rumeng waited a moment, then smiled faintly. "Is no one bidding?" She directed this question straight at Nan Liefeng.
Though Nan Liefeng's movements were controlled, his consciousness remained clear. Seeing Liu Rumeng address him, he felt a strong urge to nod instinctively, but his body remained utterly incapable of movement.
Another voice answered on his behalf: "Do not be anxious, Milady. This patron admires your boldness and has a rather presumptuous request."
Liu Rumeng raised an eyebrow.
"This patron finds himself sharing a remarkable affinity with Milady and wishes to purchase this stone as a gift for you. I wonder what Milady thinks of this?"
Nan Liefeng's eyes instantly turned red with fury!
How dare you use my money to win favor with someone else!
Did you even bother to ask if I agreed?!
If I want to give a gift, I'll do it myself. Why would I need your hypocritical charity?!
Meanwhile, Situ Shao'an began praying directly to the heavens and earth, hoping some deity would come to rescue them—otherwise, they might really end up having to hock themselves here tonight.
Downstairs, dead silence prevailed.
Having endured so many twists and turns, everyone had grown somewhat numb to the shocks.
The crowd cast their gazes toward Liu Rumeng once more, all waiting for her reply.
Liu Rumeng stroked Qingye in her palm, her thoughts spinning rapidly.