There’s something strange about this, but he probably hasn’t come for me.
Le Tian was very aware that he was only a gambling friend for Ox-headed A’pang to kill boredom with. If he did not want to gamble, he could drag him to hell whenever he wanted to.
The chilly winds brushed past his face. He sensed something, so he asked Li Qingshan again, “Are you certain you want to come?”
“If you lose, I can still leave, right?”
Li Qingshan gazed into Death’s Door, which resembled an abyssal mouth. He became rather hesitant. Ox-headed A’pang’s gaze towards him seemed to be hiding something else. After reaching the eighth layer of the Spirit Turtle Transformation, his senses over the future became much clearer.
“That’ll depend on just how much lifespan you have remaining in the Book of Life and Death.”
“I still have thousands upon thousands of years.”
With his bloodline of the demonic and divine, Li Qingshan’s lifespan was hundreds and thousands of times longer than regular human cultivators. And even just as a Yang Soul cultivator, he enjoyed quite a lengthy lifespan.
With a thought, he projected out his Yang Soul and flew into Death’s Door.
Le Tian was puzzled. This “first senior brother” was always determined and courageous, but he definitely did not take risks haphazardly, or he would not be still alive.
The heavenly secrets were unpredictable. He could not think too much about it. He followed closely behind, projecting out his Yang Soul as well.
Death’s Door slammed shut loudly and vanished. The ghostly mist dispersed, and the chilly winds vanished. The single lamp was lit once more, and the quiet room remained unchanged.
The abyss was endless. Li Qingshan moved through the chilly winds and ghostly mists, unable to see even his arms outstretched. Even a Yang Soul could not peer through this darkness.
At the same time, within his body, inside the small world, the spirit turtle shone with a clear glow, illuminating everything. It was not divination, only illuminating his true self.
Apart from a strange worry, there was a much stronger sense of anticipation inside him. He did not know what he was anticipating. It must have been something within the doors.
That was why he decided to check out the Hell realm. Even if that Ox-headed A’pang bore ulterior motives, it was only a matter of losing his Yang Soul.
At this moment, a speck of hazy, green light appeared before his eyes, flickering and flashing. It was bright like a star yet like a ghostly fire, growing larger and larger, brighter and brighter.
In the blink of an eye, the darkness gradually receded. Only a meandering path of yellow soil appeared before him, extending through the endless yellow sands, only to vanish in the endless yellow sands again, leading off to somewhere unknown.
“The Road to the Yellow Springs!” Li Qingshan blurted out.
“That’s right.” Ox-headed A’pang sat on the side of the Road to the Yellow Springs. His burly figure was clad in armour and wrapped in pitch-black chains, except the padding under his armour was already in ruins. His sleeves had basically become tatters as well, which made him seem rather bleak.
He gazed at Li Qingshan with something that resembled a smile on his ox face. It made him seem like he was up to no good, yet it also made him seem extremely friendly.
Li Qingshan walked up to him and glanced up and down to study him. He thought, What a large ox. Unfortunately, it’s not the one that I lost. Though, it sure is strange. Why does he bear some resemblance?
Ox-headed A’pang lowered his head as well, staring right at him as if he was trying to see through his Yang Soul. His brows furrowed together firmly as he thought of something. His face twisted as if he bore great anger and resentment.
But why would Li Qingshan fear him? He stared right back at him.
Right after Le Tian passed through Death’s Door, he saw the two of them glaring at one another. It was basically spelled across their faces that they were unhappy with each other. The ox face and the human face actually bore a slight resemblance.
Among the Ten Hell Guards and among the four that were responsible for humans, Ox-head and Horse-face were known for their violent tempers. They were nowhere near as agreeable as Black and White Impermanence. They had absolutely no regard for whether you were a Yin Soul or a Yang Soul. If you refused to submit to them, you would never make it to the end of the Road to the Yellow Springs. They would sentence you for defying a Hell Guard and kill you on the spot before reporting back.
When I gambled against Ox-headed A’pang, others already thought I was reckless out of my mind. They really should take a look at this.
Ox-headed A’pang’s expression suddenly calmed down. He said to Le Tian, “We can begin.”
Le Tian walked over slowly and bowed. “Sir A’pang, how would you like to gamble this time?”
“There’s no need for too much trouble. We’ll go with Big or Small. One round will do.”
TL: Big or small is just gambling on the outcome of a dice roll, whether the numbers sum to a big number or a small number. It’s quite a common casino game.
Ox-headed A’pang waved his hand impatiently like he was trying to shoo away a non-existent fly.
“Alright.”
Le Tian rejoiced inside and took out a pair of dice. They were his lifebound arcane artifacts and had been shattered during the battle in the Demon domain. He had gone to great lengths to forge them again, and it took another two whole decades before he refined them.
Originally, they could only be used for divination and peering into fate. He never imagined that he could directly use them as tools for the gamble. That was extremely advantageous for him. It increased his odds by twenty percent at the very least.
However, he became even more puzzled. Since when was Ox-headed A’pang so agreeable? During the gamble last time, while Ox-headed A’pang did admire his courage, that was only because he managed to put up a show as he struggled between the boundary of life and death. Ox-headed A’pang did it to joke with him.
That time, they played pai gow and gambled with lifespan. They gambled for a very, very long time. In the end, it took him a risky move before he managed to pull off a lucky win. He even suspected that Ox-headed A’pang had spared him intentionally.
Ox-headed A’pang suddenly asked Li Qingshan, “Do you want to play?”
“No, I’m just watching. Just watching.” Li Qingshan took a step back. I’m not going to get dragged down into this by you so easily.
“How come you’re allowed to watch?” Ox-headed A’pang flew into a rage and swung his hand towards Li Qingshan. The ground shook and murderousness surged.
Le Tian trembled. It was not because he was cowardly, but purely out of instinct.
Who knew how many Human Sovereigns Ox-headed A’pang had captured in his life. They were no different from livestock in his eyes. If he had to fight or kill them, he would fight or kill them. No matter how valliant you were, you just lost all your courage before him. On top of that, his anger clearly was not fake. Instead, he was truly angered.
Li Qingshan planted his hands on his hips and craned his neck. “How come I’m not allowed to watch?”
Le Tian gave him a thumbs-up inside. Right when he thought Ox-headed A’pang was about to kill Li Qingshan, he suddenly changed his tone. “Then you roll the dice.”
“I’m not the dealer.” Li Qingshan took another three steps back and said righteously, “Gambling is bad.”
None of these supernatural beings were ever up to any good. In the past, he had been screwed over by Qiongqi. Even now, he was still stuck in his plot, soon to confront death in the Demon domain. This ox-headed ghost clearly did not harbour any good intentions towards him, so how could he provide him with any more opportunities to work against him?
Once coaxed by a candy-seller, now always wary of sweet-talkers.
Ox-headed A’pang widened his eyes until they were perfectly round. His chains and armour rubbed against one another, producing clashing sounds. Sparks shot out. He seemed absolutely livid.
Le Tian was astounded. Just what the hell was that “gambling is bad”? Just who was the one who insisted on coming and watching with great enthusiasm? You better start praying yourself. I’m in a sticky situation myself, so I can’t save you.
However, the developments took him by surprise yet again. The furious Ox-headed A’pang suddenly calmed down, even nodding. “Alright, then you can watch.” He said to Le Tian, “Roll the dice.”
“Let me roll them then.”
Le Tian was surprised yet again. With his complete set of gambling tools, he already possessed a great advantage. If he rolled the dice as well, then he was free to choose whatever outcome he wanted.
“Hurry up.” Ox-headed A’pang was very impatient.
“Yes.” Le Tian was filled with mixed emotions. Why did he treat others so differently?
But in the next moment, he discarded all of his miscellaneous thoughts. He grabbed the dice jar with both hands and began to shake it slowly. He had spent almost a century preparing for this gamble. It had to do with his life, so he had to devote all of his efforts to it.
All of a sudden, it fell silent on the Road to the Yellow Springs. Within the endless expanse of yellow sand, there was only the sound of dice rolling around in the jar. Ox-headed A’pang shut his eyes as if he was listening closely.
Le Tian pushed his cultivation to the limit, perturbing the heavenly secrets, controlling fate, and casting shrouds upon shrouds of haze over the tiny dice jar in his hands.
Li Qingshan blinked his eyes. The aura of Le Tian’s Yang Soul rapidly declined as if it was all sucked into the tiny dice jar.
As the dice jar was shaken, it left behind a series of afterimages. It actually seemed like an illusion.
Two dice, a total of twelve faces, overlapped to form endless possibilities. It was no longer possible to see through it.
He could not help but look towards Ox-headed A’pang and think, Le Tian has poured all of the cultivation he’s accumulated throughout his life into this. If it were the Spirit Reverend of Ocean Returnance, perhaps he would have a chance at being seen through. Even if he’s a Hell Guard, a Ghost Immortal, it’s impossible for him to calculate the exact outcome. He needs to try his luck. No, Le Tian will definitely reveal an opening intentionally to lure him into guessing the wrong result. Le Tian already possesses the upper hand in this gamble. How is this ox-headed ghost going to deal with him?
Right as Li Qingshan thought that, Le Tian prepared a trap delicately. He intentionally left behind an almost-non-existent, indistinct trace in the shrouding mists. As long as he followed this trace, he could see through the mists and easily guess that the two dice would roll six. It was big.
However, the only issue was would he really believe that result?
Fate revolved. Everything had an opposite. Big and small were connected.
Inside there hid another minute possibility, two ones. Small.
However, it was the same issue. Would he really believe that result?
Perhaps it was still an illusion. Since he could intentionally reveal an opening, then he could leave behind even more openings and set up even more traps.
However, this was not the true trap. If Ox-headed A’pang only thought this was a psychological duel, then he would have fallen into the trap completely.
From a regular person’s perspective, there was a great distinction between these two results. They individually represented the largest and the smallest.
But from the perspective of divination and fortune-telling, these two results were infinitesimally close or even overlapping.
Le Tian’s cheeks became sunken, but his lips curled into a smile. Even if the Spirit Reverend of Ocean Returnance was here, it was impossible for him to take all the variables into account, much less Ox-headed A’pang.
In reality, the numbers in the dice jar were neither big nor small, yet both big and small.
These were not regular dice, but his lifebound arcane treasures. These two dice were in an illogical state where they overlapped.
At the very least, the Spirit Reverend of Ocean Returnance could lock onto the outcome and give the dice a certain possibility before relying on his luck to make a guess.
However, Ox-headed A’pang did not have that ability, so no matter what he chose, it would only lead to the opposite result. In the end, he would even think it was due to his inferior skills that he miscalculated Le Tian’s thoughts.
Regular people all thought gambling was just about luck, but little did they know that the outcome was determined as soon as the gamble began. It was only a matter of certain victory or certain defeat. That was why ten gambles always resulted in nine losses, where the winner took everything.
Fate always stood highest. Defying the heavens and changing fate was always a lie. A temporarily lucky break was completely insufficient to influence the overall situation. If he refused to abide by fate, then he had to stand on the same side as fate, to find a chance at survival within the ever-changing, unpredictable secrets of the heavens.
Even the renowned Ox-headed A’pang was powerless over him because at this moment, with this round, Le Tian was the embodiment of fate.
This is my win.
With a thunk, the dice jar struck the ground.
Le Tian knelt on one knee and gazed at Ox-headed A’pang fearlessly. He pressed down on the dice jar with his right hand and gestured with his left hand. “Please make your choice, sir.”
Li Qingshan could not help but become nervous. Would it be big or small?
However, Ox-headed A’pang opened his eyes slowly and glanced at Li Qingshan. He said with a slight smile, “You take a pick first.”
Le Tian was stunned. He shuddered violently, and his confident expression immediately shattered. “This- I-”
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“Choose.” Ox-headed A’pang ordered him.
“I choose big.” Le Tian lifted the dice jar suddenly, and the two dice sat still on the yellow soil. Two sixes. Big!
That was expected. These were his lifebound arcane treasures. He could get whatever result he wanted.
However, his expression was like he had been slapped across the face viciously right when he was most complacent. He wanted to cry, and he wanted to laugh.
Ox-headed A’pang smiled, revealing a row of neat, shiny, blocky teeth. “Oh, it’s small. I win.”
“But it’s clearly big!” Li Qingshan called out.
“Look again.” Ox-headed A’pang extended his thick index finger and pressed down on the two dice gently. The two sixes became two ones.
Li Qingshan was taken aback. He began to laugh aloud, so hard such that he clutched his belly, almost crying from laughter. “This gamble is just too fucking fascinating! Le Tian, oh Le Tian, regardless of all your schemes and advantages, you’re still just inferior to him! What right do you have to gamble against him? What right do you have to gamble against him? What fate? What heavenly secrets? It’s all jack shit!”
Le Tian knelt on the ground in grief. He was defeated. He was silent.
Ox-headed A’pang said to Li Qingshan happily, “Le Tian, you’ve lost. Come with me then.”
Li Qingshan’s laughter halted. He pointed at Le Tian before pointing at himself, “Me?”
“That’s right, I’m talking about you.” Ox-headed A’pang’s expression was both simple and sly.
Le Tian was dumbfounded. The upheavals of life always came too quickly.
Li Qingshan shrugged. “I’m not Le Tian.” He was on guard, backing away slowly.
“Le Tian, with everything that’s happened, you’re still trying to deny this?”
Ox-headed A’pang spread his hand with a sneer and reached towards Li Qingshan suddenly.
