As the Little Thousand Fate Chaos Array gradually ceased, the shimmering, multicolored glow emanating from the Dice Cup also began to fade. The hearts of everyone present were in their throats. Perhaps because the stakes of this round were simply too high, Old Master Li, the one in charge of the game, was so tense that a layer of cold sweat broke out on his forehead.
Finally.
The dazzling light from the Dice Cup stopped flickering, and the dice inside ceased their spinning.
Old Master Li looked up at the crowd, took another deep breath, and raised his hand. His arm trembled slightly, uncontrollably. He pulled out a handkerchief, wiped the sweat from his brow, held his breath, placed his hand on the Dice Cup, and slowly lifted it.
The moment the Dice Cup was opened, time seemed to stand still, and the air itself seemed to freeze.
The first die: two pips.
The second die: also two pips.
The third die: still two pips.
Six pips total — an even number.
And Li Fengyan had bet on odd.
He had lost.
Lost utterly and completely. Not only had he lost every last one of the over ten million Immortal Stones in his account, but he had also lost the cultivation resources belonging to his family, worth tens of millions.
At this moment,
Li Fengyan's face turned ashen, his mind went blank, and his eyes became dull and lifeless.
Suddenly,
he seemed to remember something. Three twos — not only was it an even number, it was also a Leopard!
Upon realizing this,
Li Fengyan felt dizzy, the world spinning around him. He could bear it no longer and slumped into his chair.
He was in such a state.
And Old Master Li wasn't much better off. He too slumped into his chair, his face a picture of utter misery. Holding the Dice Cup, he stared at the three dice, each showing two pips. He just stared, as if unable to believe this could be real.
Before opening this round, he had been praying, praying fervently that a Leopard would not appear.
Yet,
what he feared most had come to pass.
A Leopard had indeed appeared once again.
This time,
he was utterly dumbfounded.
Everyone in the hall, whether gamblers or serving maidens, stood frozen like statues, all equally stunned by the scene. Looking at the three dice showing twos, then at the mountain of chips totaling sixty million piled on the Leopard bet, when they realized that Gu Qingfeng had just won eighteen hundred million from this single round, everyone felt a sense of suffocation, their legs too weak to stand firm.
The moment Old Master Li opened the Dice Cup and Horse King saw the three twos, he immediately plopped down onto the floor, unable to get back up.
Ever since entering this garden, he had felt like he was trapped between ice and fire.
One moment plummeting from heaven into hell, the next surging from hell back to heaven, back and forth, over and over.
Every time Gu Qingfeng bet his entire pile, Horse King was scared out of his wits, not even daring to breathe too hard, feeling as if he were about to die.
But when Gu Qingfeng won round after round, Horse King felt as if he had been brought back to life, a feeling impossible to put into words.
This feeling of resurrection from the dead, he had experienced it three times now.
The first time, Gu Qingfeng won thirty million.
The second time, Gu Qingfeng won sixty million.
This time, he had won a staggering eighteen hundred million!
Good heavens!
Eighteen hundred million!
Just hearing that number made Horse King feel like he was suffocating. He had never even dreamed of such an amount.
Who knows how much time passed.
Truly, no one knew.
Everyone had forgotten about time, completely lost in profound shock.
A long while later, the crowd gradually began to come back to their senses. Looking at Li Fengyan, whose face was ashen as he slumped in his chair, everyone felt a very complex emotion.
It wasn't pity, nor was it sympathy. More than anything, it was mockery, ridicule — the most colossal irony.
Thinking about it carefully, it really was so.
They all remembered when this Tough Guy Nobleman first entered the garden. He had directly challenged with a bet of one million on Leopard, and lost the first round.
Losing was one thing, but why did you, Li Fengyan, have to goad him into betting on Leopard again?
Claiming it was just for fun.
And the result?
On the fourth round, the man finally rolled a Leopard, turning one million into thirty million.
Later, this Tough Guy Nobleman bet one million on 'big'.
You, Li Fengyan, jumped out again, provoking him once more, goading him into betting his entire thirty million pile, saying you could afford to lose.
And the result?
The man won sixty million.
The third time, you, Li Fengyan, provoked him yet again, urging him to bet on Leopard once more. Betting was one thing, but you had to stubbornly go head-to-head with him to the bitter end. And the result? You let him win a full eighteen hundred million in one go.
Weren't you, Young Lord Li Fengyan, incredibly arrogant and domineering?
Weren't you utterly contemptuous, looking down on this Tough Guy Nobleman?
Didn't you say you could afford to lose, that it was all just for fun?
If you, Li Fengyan, could truly afford to lose, why are you now scared witless, slumped in your chair, unable to utter a single word?
Still looking for fun?
You gambled away your entire fortune, but helped someone else win eighteen hundred million.
Who was finding fun at whose expense?
A man who spent money looking for fun ended up not only losing everything he owned, but also helping someone else win eighteen hundred million, ultimately becoming the joke himself.
What the hell is this if not irony?
Is there anything in this world more ironic than this?
No.
At the very least, Old Master Li knew that in the entire Gambling City, there had never been a gambling match more ironic than the one today.
It was irony taken to the absolute extreme.
In Old Master Li's view, if it weren't for this Li Fengyan constantly hopping around, shouting provocations, issuing challenges, and goading him on, that Tough Guy Nobleman would never have won so much, and the gambling house would never have lost so much.
Thinking of this, Old Master Li felt like killing Li Fengyan, wishing he could slice him into a thousand pieces!
Pain!
His heart ached as if it were dripping blood.
If he could, Old Master Li truly wanted to kill Li Fengyan and then kill himself.
He truly felt utterly despondent.
Even though it was the Gambling City, not him personally, that had to pay out the eighteen hundred million.
But as the chief administrator of this gambling house, overseeing a game that resulted in the Gambling City losing eighteen hundred million in one go... even if the Gambling City didn't come after him, he had no face left to stay on. It was too humiliating.
Looking at that Tough Guy Nobleman present,
Old Master Li grew increasingly unable to comprehend just where this fellow had come from.
He had not a shred of cultivation on him, was merely an ordinary mortal.
Yet his capacity for alcohol was astonishing, simply earth-shattering. Throughout this entire gambling match, he had drunk nearly a hundred pots of Bitao Fine Wine, worth well over ten million.
What astonished Old Master Li even more was that this fellow had remained leaning to one side the entire time, sitting casually in his chair, one leg crossed over the other resting on the gambling table, leisurely sipping his wine.
When he won thirty million on the first big win, he was like this.
When he won sixty million on the second big win, he was also like this.
Now he had won a full eighteen hundred million, and he was still exactly the same.
This was eighteen hundred million, for heaven's sake!
Anyone else who won eighteen hundred million would be so excited and thrilled they'd die of happiness, right?
But him?
Excited?
Not at all!
Thrilled?
Not that either.
On his face, you couldn't see any trace of excitement or thrill. Not even the happiness that should come after winning money. It was as if the one who had just won eighteen hundred million wasn't him, but someone completely unrelated.
But even if an unrelated person won eighteen hundred million, at the very least they would feel envy, jealousy, or resentment like the other gamblers in the hall, right?
No.
Nothing of the sort.
All he showed was lazy nonchalance.
All he showed was leisurely contentment.
All he showed was calm ease.