Grasping Evil

“Oh? It seems like the commander of the Hawk Guards has lots to complain about Ning Fan…”

A youth in white clothing and a black cloak appeared behind Hawk Yang without warning.

Even though there was a vague smile on his face, his eyes made Hawk Yang’s mind shiver, as though he would kill Hawk Yang straightaway if he detected any more negative thoughts in Hawk Yang’s mind.

“Elder… Elder Ning, it’s Hawk Yang’s fault! Hawk Yang begs for forgiveness!”

Hawk Yang was scared, he was truly scared. This was his first time getting this close to Ning Fan. He now only realized how terrifying Ning Fan was.

He began to understand that Ning Fan’s reputation wasn’t groundless. It was established by his true strength and power.

“Hehe, the blame is not on you, Commander Hawk Yang. So, you don’t have to panic… Senior ‘White’, judging from your condition, it seems like you have just come out from seclusion as well and your magical strength hasn’t recovered from its peak yet. You may need a few more days to adjust your Qi. Anyway, this junior will head over to the Purple-Jade Sky Platform first. I will await for your arrival. Also, I like your name ‘Revered’ very much.”

Ning Fan slightly cupped his fists and flew away from the scene. Bai Feiteng’s facial expression darkened right away.

There was no way that he couldn’t detect the sarcasm in Ning Fan’s words. Sarcastically, Ning Fan implied that he wasn’t respectful himself by badmouthing Ning Fan behind his back.

“Humph! You only have this time to show your arrogance. During the battle, this old man will make you understand the repercussion of offending me!” said Bai Feiteng with hate.

As Ning Fan emerged on the entrance, the indolent Lady Yun Hua who was conversing with someone else suddenly twitched her eyebrow and was slightly astonished.

This kid isn’t exactly as what husband had said. Despite that, I will still have to complete my task.

…

“The bet is on, the bet is on, place your bet now.”

On the Purple-Jade Sky Platform was a beggar-like youth announcing the starting of the bet openly.

On the boundary of the platform, plenty of cultivators had set up stalls as they had nothing to do, to exchange magical treasures and pills that they didn’t need for other cultivator’s items. 

Therefore, this beggar’s gambling stall was the first to emerge.

The young beggar had a head of messy hair, like weeds. His clothes were ragged and dirty, but he had a good-looking face with untidy beard and good masculinity.

When the word ‘bet’ was heard, numerous bored cultivators gathered around, curious to find out what the beggar was offering.

“The bet is on, the bet is on. My fellow friends, quickly take out your immortal jade and place your bet, it might be able to bring you unimaginable fortune.” The beggar raised his voice as if he feared that some might not hear it. Immediately, a few old experts revealed a look of unpleasantness.

“What’s this kid’s cultivation base? How dare he gain his fame by shouting out exaggerated statements?” A late Harmonious Spirit old expert snapped.

“Early Harmonious Spirit expert? Should I finish him off straightaway?” Another intermediate Harmonious Spirit devil cultivator suggested.

“Forget it, this is the territory of Sinister Sparrow. There’s no need to stir up trouble.”

The young beggar didn’t seem to care and know how much trouble his loud voice had created.  

Because of this, it had stirred up plenty of cultivators’ gambling appetite. This had also given them the chance to experience the entertainment that only existed in the Mortal World.

“Hehe, this fellow friend, since you have opened a stall for gambling, I wonder what the things we can bet on are and how do we do that?” Numerous old experts asked with a smile. 

“Oh, haha! I have forgotten about that…today, I, ‘Shu Buyun’, have opened a  gambling stall to gamble on the hottest incident. We’ll gamble on the battle between Revered…En…Revered Bai and Ning Fan, what do you say!”

*Hiss!*

Every old expert’s facial expression changed. They couldn’t believe how this early Harmonious Spirit beggar that came from nowhere got the nerve to gamble on the battle between Ning Fan and Revered Bai.

Putting aside the odds of the bets, gambling on either of these two would probably offend some experts.

Anyway, they would like to hear about the odds first.

Each and every old expert stretched their head to listen to what the beggar had to say, but after the last sentence he spoke, he kept his silence and started humming.

“*cough* *cough* *cough*, fellow friend, you haven’t told us about the odds and how we can place our bets yet.” One of the old experts reminded.

“Oh! I forgot again…my apologies. I don’t have a very good memory. By the way, what are we betting on? I can’t remember it…”

“Didn’t you say that we will gamble on the battle between Revered Bai and Elder Ning?” An old expert said with annoyance.”

“Ah! So that’s what it is. Apologize for that…how about this, I will write the gambling options and odds on a board so that I won’t forget it again.”

The beggar patted his storage pouch and took out an old wooden cardboard. On top of the cardboard was filled with various wagers, as though he had opened the gambling stall in other places as well.

With magical force, two of his fingers scraped away the words written on the surface like a blade. Then, he took out an ink brush, slightly drenched it with his saliva and started writing on the wooden cardboard.

“*Hiss!* This wooden cardboard, is…is the Ten-Thousand-Years-Heavenly Nan Wood!”

“What! It is the God Wielding Brush that can write even without dipping it in ink. Rumor has it that only those in the Rain Palace possess this kind of tool. Who is this beggar? Could he be one of the Divine Guards of Rain Palace?”

As the beggar moved the God Wielding Brush, a crooked handwriting started appearing on the board.

Ning Fan wins, odds of one to one,

Ning Fan draws, odds of one to a hundred,

Ning Fan loses, odds of one to a thousand. 

After writing down a few lines of words, the beggar nodded, seemingly very satisfied with it, leaving the other old experts on their own.

So he forgot once more, forgetting that he was setting the gambling odds and instructions.

The old experts however sucked in a breath of cold air when they saw the betting odds.

*Hiss!*

If this stall owner wasn’t a madman, why would he set such betting odds?

If they bet on Ning Fan to win the match, they would only get one immortal jade if they bet a single immortal jade. 

If they bet on Ning Fan to draw in the match, one immortal jade would give them a hundred immortal jade.

If they bet on Ning Fan to lose the battle, one immortal jade would reward them a thousand immortal jade.

Clearly, this wasn’t a gamble, this was giving away fortune to the public! After all, everyone was convinced that Ning Fan would be defeated and only a tiny possibility that Ning Fan would draw. In any case, Bai Feiteng was one of the old experts that could shake the entire Yue Country. There was no way that he would lose to a youth unless he had grown tired of living!

As such, if they bet on Ning Fan to lose on the match, they would only gain profits!

If they gambled on Ning Fan drawing in the match, even if the result didn’t turn out as expected, they would only lose one immortal jade at most. However, if Ning Fan’s abilities were overly heaven defying and was able to reach a draw, or if Revered Bai cared too much about his identity and was reluctant to win the match, allowing Ning Fan to reach a draw, they would still be able to earn a handsome amount of profit.

As for the last betting option – gambling on Ning Fan to win the match…none of the old experts thought that this was possible. Furthermore, even if this happened, one immortal jade could only be exchanged for one immortal jade. If the result wasn’t as what they gambled on, they would lose everything. This was the bet with the lowest chance of winning. Only brainless people would waste their fortune betting on Ning Fan to win.

“This old man will bet that Ning Fan would lose on this match – one thousand immortal jades! But this old man has a question…if this old man wins, this old man is going to get a million immortal jades, the question is do you have it?!”

The old expert sounded very plain, but his question had aroused every other experts’ notice.

Whether the bet would offend someone or not, the burden would be put on the owner of the gambling stall. Since there was a chance for them to gain more profits, they naturally wouldn’t let it slip away.

This was virtually a 100% return bet and they could gain a thousand times of their original capital. No old expert would ever miss such a good opportunity. Some of them who was unhappy with the beggar changed their mind and wanted to place their bets as well.

But the thing was that, the odds was a thousand times of the capital. How could this beggar possibly had this much immortal jades?

When the beggar heard the question, he stopped admiring his own handwriting and turned to them with an astonished look.

“Ai ya! I forgot that I was opening a gambling stall, my apologies…you asked me if I have enough fortune to repay you all? This must be a joke. Take a good look at my attire! Do I look like a person without fortune?!”

He raised his voice drastically, which made it somewhat unpleasant to hear, while each and every old expert revealed disdainful looks.

Judging from how the beggar was dressed up, he obviously didn’t have this much fortune.

If it wasn’t because of the beggar’s Ten-Thousand-Years-Heavenly Nan Wood and God Wielding Brush, neither of the old experts would waste time with this beggar.

The beggar seemed extremely discontented upon seeing everyone’s disdainful look. He frowned, patted his storage pouch and took out a shabby tile vase in which there were ten pieces of immortal jades.

“This is the fortune that I have. So, do you think it’s still not enough to open a gambling stall! I will use all these immortal jades to place my bets!”

“Ten immortal jades? Are you toying with us?!” Every old expert showed an unpleasant face. There was no way that he could gamble with only ten immortal jades. 

“Are you all blind? These are ten pieces of immortal jades!” The beggar revealed a frustrated expression.

“Yes, there are only ten pieces of immortal jades, there is no more than ten pieces of them!”

“Bah! Bullshit! No matter how poor I am, I won’t have only ten pieces of immortal jades! Treasure Amassing Vase, pour them out!”

The beggar’s face changed to anger. With a touch of his finger on the vase, the vase was overturned. Within the ten immortal jades was another ten immortal jades…another ten and another ten…In an instant, the ground was piled up with immortal jades. There were now a thousand of them!

“Who said that I don’t have the fortune to open a gambling stall? I can crush you to death with just my fortune!” The beggar shouted, astounding every old expert on the scene.

“The Treasure Amassing Vase was an Immortal Treasure of Rain Palace! Who is this man? How did he get such an item?!”