There was only a small gap between the curtains, but from his position, Xie Lian was the only one that could make out the person behind it since he had blocked everyone else's vision in the hall, they weren't able to see anything. Not that they would dare to sneak a peek anyway. That left eye watched Xie Lian, and Xie Lian returned the gaze, subconsciously drawn to it.
Hua Cheng's appearance this time around didn't only seem to look a couple years older, but he'd also grown taller. Before, when Xie Lian looked at him, he could still manage to maintain the same level of eye contact, but now, he had to strain his neck to look up.
After staring at each other for a good while, Hua Cheng finally broke the silence.
His voice was deeper, "Would you like to bet on the highest or the lowest?"
It was this kind of deep voice, one that is pleasant to the ear, that had pulled Xie Lian back to reality. Whether if it was betting on the highest number or the lowest, there was no difference. So he answered right away, "Highest."
Hua Cheng replied, "Fine. Then I'll go first."
Xie Lian's left hand supported the base of the black gambling cup. His right hand covered the circular lid. Hua Cheng stood in front of him, with his right hand covering Xie Lian's left, he guided him to shake lightly before lifting the lid. There were two dice at the bottom of the cup, a six and a five. From all the way above, Lang QianQiu, with his vision of a hawk, saw how easily the high roll took place and his eyes widened, "How did that happen?"
Hua Cheng gently shifted his hand and beckoned Xie Lian to give it another go, "Shake it like this. Now you try it."
Xie Lian mirrored his actions and shook the cup twice, but Hua Cheng said, "Not like that."
Even though he was reprimanding Xie Lian, his tone was exceptionally gentle and patient. As he explained, Hua Cheng supported Xie Lian's hand with his own again, but this time, his left hand found its way to Xie Lian's right hand, the one that was covering the lid. He instructed softly, "Like this."
And just like that, the back of Xie Lian's hands were enveloped within Hua Cheng's palms. When skin touched skin, Hua Cheng's hands felt temperate like jade. The exquisite silver vambraces that Hua Cheng wore were cold as ice, yet, Hua Cheng's movements were careful and never allowed them to come into contact with Xie Lian's skin. His hands guided Xie Lian's and shook the black wooden gambling cup in a rhythm that was neither hurried nor slow.
Once. Twice. Thrice.
Clack, clack, clack.
The sound of the two dice colliding with each other as they bounced inside the cup was crisp. Even though the shakes were gentle, Xie Lian could feel waves of numbness from the back of his hands, traveling along his arm, spreading to the rest of his body.
As he was shaking, Xie Lian lifted his eyes to sneak a peek at the other person and realized that Hua Cheng wasn't looking at the gambling cup at all. Instead, he was watching him intently with the corners of his mouth curved up. Xie Lian couldn't help but return a fond smile at him, but immediately controlled himself when he remembered the crowd of ghosts that were watching him from above and below. He lowered his head and diligently studied the gesture that Hua Cheng showed him. "How's this?" he asked.
Hua Cheng widened his smile, "Hm. That's right, just like that."
Seeing that Xie Lian shook the cup a few more times full of hopefulness, he suggested, "Why don't you take a look?"
Xie Lian lifted the lid and saw two white dice at the base. It was two threes.
Rolling two threes was already considered an impossible feat. It was as if a gentle spring wind had blown past Xie Lian's heart and he thought, "Could it be that I've finally learned the trick?"
However, even though it was shocking, six points are still slightly less than eleven points. He cleared his throat and admitted, "I'm sorry, I've lost."
But Hua Cheng replied, "Don't worry, this round doesn't count. I'm teaching you right now, try again."
Hearing him say this, even Lang QianQiu and Shi Qingxuan were tongue-tied. The crowd of ghosts in the hall stared with their mouths gaping open, then came the complaints.
"What happened to the lord? I thought he was gonna show him who's boss, but he actually ended up teaching him for real?"
"How can you not count this round?? You still call this gambling?"
"If this doesn't count, then when will it count?"
"Looks like the lord is really in a good mood today..."
Hua Cheng raised his left brow and immediately, the croupier standing by the side shushed, "Everyone please quiet down."
In the blink of an eye, the hall had quieted down again. Although no one dared to speak, their stares intensified. Hua Cheng chuckled and softly whispered words of encouragement to Xie Lian's ear, "Why don't you try again?"
It might be because there were too many ghosts, demons, humans alike packed into this Gambling Den that somehow Xie Lian felt his face start to heat up, "Okay." Rattle, rattle, he shook twice more. This time, when he revealed the cup: it was two fours.
Hua Cheng mused, "See, isn't it a little higher this time?"
Although he felt that something was off, Xie Lian still nodded his head, "Yes...it's a little higher."
Hua Cheng encouraged, "You did well. Keep going."
With one compliment after another, there were giggles heard in all directions of the hall. Judging by the sound, it seemed as if they all came from female ghosts. Xie Lian couldn't figure it out himself either just which posture is the correct one. In the beginning, he paid close attention in studying how Hua Cheng positioned his hands, how he managed the pace, and how he grasped the cup, but now he was letting Hua Cheng's hand lead him and shook blindly. While shaking, a thought came to him, "What if San Lang was just playing around with me..."
Lang Qianqiu who had been watching from above probably felt the same and couldn't hold it in anymore, "You! Stop shaking the cup. He's obviously playing you. There's no such thing as a correct posture. He must've cheated!"
Hearing that loud boisterous voice, Shi Qingxuan covered his face in second-hand embarrassment again.
Mumbles and muttering grew louder among the crowds, and a rain of dice was thrown at Lang Qianqiu. "Stupid bastard, shut up!"
"So noisy, we're just getting to the exciting part!"
"Through our lord's teaching, that cultivator had gotten outcomes higher and higher one after another. That's the undeniable truth!"
"That's right! What do you know?!"
Lang Qianqiu fumed, "You, you're practically lying through your teeth...ahhh!!"
He suddenly stopped in mid-speech, and his face turned bright red. It turned out, a couple of female ghosts below him had roughly yanked on his dangling waistband and scolded, "If you keep on causing a ruckus and spouting nonsense, Jie Jie will pull off your pants!"
Lang Qianqiu had never been threatened like this before, and his anger had made him speechless, "You.. you!!"
He could take being beaten by a band of ghosts, but if they were to pull off his pants, then with his martial god status, that would be exceedingly embarrassing. Thus, Lang Qianqiu didn't dare to say much more. Xie Lian looked up and saw the other god sending him eye signals. It was funny and pitiful at the same time. He could only lower his head, look at Hua Cheng, and said in a small voice, "...San Lang."
Hearing his tone of voice, Hua Cheng chuckled, "Leave him be. Let us continue."
"..."
Xie Lian gave up and, once again, held the cup and shook twice. As expected, this time, he got two fives.
Seeing the result, the crowd became even livelier and continued to tease Lang Qianqiu, "Do you see that? Higher than the last!"
But Xie Lian already realized that Hua Cheng was just fooling around with him and didn't know whether to laugh or cry. There's no such thing as a correct posture. When it came to him, any posture is wrong. From here on, he might as well give up on any hope of changing his luck, but just as he was about to expose himself on the last shake, Hua Cheng stopped him, "Wait."
Xie Lian could feel the hands covering his pressing down harder, and stopped his movement altogether. "What's wrong?"
With an unreadable expression, Hua Cheng asked, "This gege, you didn't say what would happen if you were to lose?"
Hearing him call Xie Lian 'gege,' Shi Qingxuan and Lang Qianqiu both wore a complicated expression on their faces. The crowd of ghosts also felt massive shivers run down their spines and there were even a few that fainted on the spot.
It's a little embarrassing to say, but because he was in a hurry before, Xie Lian hadn't thought about what to bet on. "Um..." He had thought of also betting 10 years of his life, but a heavenly official's lifespan was quite long so 10 years wasn't really worth much. Money and treasure? He didn't have any. Spiritual power? He didn't have much of that either. A good amount of time had passed, but Xie Lian still couldn't think of anything to bet on, so he could only turn and ask the owner of the Gambling Den, "Do you think there's anything on me that's worth betting on?"
Hua Cheng chuckled at his question, "Anything's fine. What have you got on you?"
Xie Lian pondered for a little while and lightly coughed, he might as well be honest about it, "I...only have a half-eaten bun with me."
Hua Cheng burst out laughing. Even though he laughed, no one else dared to do the same even if they wanted to.
When he finally settled down, Hua Cheng nodded, "That's fine. A bun will do."
Hearing the agreement, not only were the crowd of ghosts shocked, but the croupiers at the gambling table too. Ever since the opening of this Gambling Den, there had been innumerous absurd bets made; organs, life, emotions, spiritual powers... but none were a match to the one today – a half-eaten bun. Even Lang Qianqiu couldn't contain his surprise, "What...what's the meaning of this? Are you saying that I'm only worth a half-eaten bun?"
The crowd snickered, someone called out, "What's wrong with a bun? You already have it easy, so hurry up and shut your mouth!" Xie Lian could tell that this defeated voice belonged to Shi Qingxuan who was hiding among the crowd of ghosts and demons. With a face full of smile, Hua Cheng beamed, "Come. It's the last round. Don't be nervous."
Xie Lian argued, "I'm not nervous."
The two maintained that hand-to-hand posture and shook a few times. Even though Xie Lian really wasn't nervous, there was a light sheen of sweat on the hand that was sandwiched between the cup and Hua Cheng's hands. Finally, the movement came to a stop. He held his breath for the final reveal—
The two dice were two sixes!
Xie Lian let out a sigh of relief and looked up at Hua Cheng. Hua Cheng raised his brows, "Oh, I lost."
Even though he admitted his loss in a serious manner, he didn't sound the least bit sincere. The crowd below was engulfed in silence. Before there were still people complaining "If this round doesn't count, then when will it count", but now, the answer was clear — it counts when that person wins. This much generosity was almost insane! Even so, no one would dare to comment. The croupier from before raised up the black wooden gambling cup, "Congratulations to this young master. You've won this round."
Everyone all politely praised, "The lord showed us a perfect loss! Beautiful!"
"Isn't the winner taught by the lord? He won because the lord taught him well!"
"That's right! Learning the correct dice rolling posture today really broadened my horizon! With such an immense amount of knowledge, even 10 years won't be enough to master it!"
Hua Cheng was still watching Xie Lian with a grin on his face. Not shifting his gaze, he raised his arm and with a flick of hand, Lang Qianqiu dropped like a rock. Xie Lian winced at the loud crash. Shi Qingxuan couldn't risk exposing himself by rushing forward, so instead Xie Lian went to check up on the prince, "Are you okay?"
Lang Qianqiu got up on his feet and dusted himself off, "I'm good, thank you. He probably wanted you to go up so that he can cheat and make you lose, but thank goodness you won!"
Xie Lian thought "You're completely mistaken. If he didn't go easy on me, even if the world had turned to ashes, I would still not be able to win you back..."
As he was thinking those thoughts, a tinkling of bells were heard, and the sound was followed by gasps of shock that came from all directions. Xie Lian turned around and saw that Hua Cheng had finally stepped out from the red silk screen curtains.
In his previous form, Hua Cheng always sported a slightly crooked ponytail, but now, loose raven locks covered vibrant red clothing, and an aura of demonic energy radiated from the handsome figure. Only the thin braid tied with a red coral bead brought a hint of mischief to the mix. The vambraces were silver, the straps on his boots were silver, the waistband was also silver, even the long, smoothly curved scimitar that hung at his waist was silver. Just like how the blade was slender and long, the person himself was also slender and tall. He was leaning against the curtains that had been parted with crossed arms and an unreadable expression, "Gege, you've won against me."
Xie Lian obviously knew what had took place, and said woefully, "Please stop teasing me."
Hua Cheng raised his brow, "I'm not. Why would I?"
Down below, the crowd of ghosts were bustling with excitement, as wild as the waves rolling in the sea, they whispered among themselves, "The lord changed his skin again today?"
"I'm dying, his new skin is killing me! It's so tender and firm!"
"Dying? You old hag, aren't you already dead?!"
It seemed that because Hua Cheng never showed his true form in front of anyone and switched skins fairly frequently that even the band of ghosts in the Ghost City didn't know what he looked like and assumed that this must be another of his fake skins. Only Xie Lian knew, that the one standing in front of him was the real Crimson Rain Sought Flower of the legends.
1. Jie jie is a familiar address for older sister.