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Three days later, Yi Xichen and Zhangsun Zijun went down the Heavenly Sword Mountain to the Jinge market.
Sword Assembly was going to be held a few days later so Yi Xichen wanted to make some magical items, which is why he had to go to the market.
Zhangsun Zijun walked next to Yi Xichen, feeling a bit depressed.
These past three days Yi Xichen has been trying to correct his worldview. For example, telling him that men cannot get pregnant. They also cannot menstruate nor do they have a hymen. All of these “common sense” ideas have greatly changed Zhangsun Zijun’s worldview! (Yi Xichen indicated said that his worldview had been greatly changed.)
Zhangsun Zijun already knew that the person who had a problem was him. When he thought about it calmly, he realized this new worldview is more reasonable while the world in his mind had a lot of strange things in it. In order to survive in this world, Zhangsun Zijun had to accept Yi Xichen’s corrections and re-adapt to the world.
However, this feeling was not very good. Although there were many differences between the two worlds, there were also many things that were the same. Thus, it was difficult for him to distinguish between what was true and what was false. After being brainwashed for three days by Yi Xichen, he was a little depressed, so he took advantage of this opportunity to go out with Yi Xichen to take a breather.
“Stay close to me, don’t run around,” Yi Xichen warned him repeatedly. If Zhangsun Zijun was very tired then Yi Xichen was even more tired. Now that Zhangsun Zijun was like a child, he felt a sense of responsibility towards him. In fact, Yi Xichen was worried that the inattentive Zhangsun Zijun might get lost then start shouting for his mom. He must be going crazy!
Zhangsun Zijun’s mouth twitched. Taking advantage of the fact that there were only a few people around him, he quickly walked to an alley and rubbed his pants. The thing that made him most annoyed isn’t figuring out which things were true or false, but that his little brother wouldn’t settle down.
Because he was worried that Zhangsun Zijun will cause trouble, except when he was asleep, Yi Xichen watched him closely. So he was hard from the time he woke up to the time he fell asleep and couldn’t find any relief. He felt that his little brother was extremely swollen.
When he turned around, he saw that Yi Xichen was standing behind him, glaring at him like a tiger watching his prey: “I told you to stay close beside me, how could you turn and run away!”
Zhangsun Zijun was startled and his little brother almost softened – of course, if he had really been “scared soft” instead of “scared stiff” then he would have been grateful for that – he awkwardly pulled at his clothes and pretended that he wasn’t doing anything. “Oh.”
The Jinge marketplace was very lively and full of people. This was the largest market in the south. The nearby cultivators come here to trade surplus spirit stones and immortal weapons in exchange for the spiritual materials that they needed.
Yi Xichen was attracted by a wide range of goods and wanted to buy a lot of things. Unfortunately, he and Zhangsun Zijun’s spirit stones were pitifully few and they could only barter for the rare items.
“We’re poor!” Yi Xichen sighed and looked up at the heavens.
Suddenly, a booth full of people in front of them caught their attention. Yi Xichen pulled Zhangsun Zijun closer to the booth.
The stall owner was a young man dressed in blue Taoist robes. He put a giant spirit stone gambling wheel on the ground and shouted: “Come, come! Make a bet! If the wheel stops on blue then you can win back twice your spirit stones! If it stops on red then you can take away ten times the spirit stones you bet! If it stops on white, your spirit stones belong to me! Who wants to try it?’
The majority of the places on the wheel were white with one painted blue and another painted red. This is a common gambling game in the market. The people who set up the stalls were the dealers. According to normal probability, the dealer had an edge in the game but such games were still very popular among the cultivators. After all, the people among them who felt they were lucky were not just a few.
A wandering cultivator1 cast a primary spirit stone into the groove of the gambling wheel and the wheel automatically started turning. It’s speed gradually slowed and the people around the booth watched with bated breath. It went slower and slower until it had almost stopped at the red space.
The eyes of the wandering cultivator brightened and he clenched his fists tightly. Ten times the spirit stones was within reach and in his heart, he felt chagrined that he hadn’t made a bigger bet. However, the gambling wheel eventually went past the red space and stopped on the white space.
There was a buzzing noise around them.
“Oh,” the owner said. “That’s a shame. Just a little bit and you would have won. Do you still want to gamble?”
The wandering cultivator who just barely missed the red sign was, of course, unwilling to stop there and cast down another spirit stone. This time the gambling wheel crossed the blue space and landed in the white space again.
“Oh!” The booth owner slapped his thigh, and his true feelings were not worth displaying to the customers. “Looks like today’s luck is not very good!”
The wandering cultivator quickly said: “I don’t believe it! I’ll try again!”
He continued to throw away spirit stones and successively lost nearly 10 primary spirit stones. By the eighth round, the gambling wheel finally stopped on the blue sign. He earned a spirit stone, but overall he lost a lot.
The wandering cultivator’s eyes were red. His hand went inside his bag but he had no more spirit stones left. He clenched his teeth and took out an intermediate spirit stone. He dropped it into the groove, saying: “One more time! I, your father, can’t believe my luck won’t turn around today!”
An intermediate spirit stone can be exchanged for about 20 primary spirit stones. Even if the gambling wheel doesn’t stop on the red space, as long as it lands on the blue space he can still make a profit today.
Looking at the wandering cultivator’s dress and sword, he doesn’t look wealthy. For him, an intermediate spirit stone is a lot of money. The onlookers held their breath and stared at the gambling wheel. Unfortunately, this time there wasn’t even any suspense. When the wheel began to decelerate, it had already missed the blue space, and it was still far from the red space. Eventually, it stopped in a large white space.
The wandering cultivator angrily said: “This wheel is rigged!”
The stall owner immediately glared at him with a pair of eyes like brass bells: “Food can be eaten indiscriminately but you shouldn’t make irresponsible remarks!2 I’m a disciple of the Mysterious Spirit Sect, you think I’d cheat you of two spirit stones? This is an item that uses a black spirit stone to power itself. From start to finish, I haven’t touched the wheel. Everyone can see that! If you can’t afford to lose it, why did you play?”
The red robe3 that the stall owner wore was indeed that of a disciple of the Mysterious Spirit Sect. The Mysterious Spirit Sect was the largest sect in the south except for the Heavenly Sword Sect. That sect had strict rules and if a disciple dared to swindle or deceive others, they would be expelled. No one would risk being expelled for just a few spirit stones. Therefore, although the wandering cultivator indeed lost a lot, the onlookers felt that he was just unlucky.
“If a person can’t afford to lose, he shouldn’t play.” A monk said disdainfully: “Why would a disciple from Mysterious Spirit sect cheat a wandering cultivator? Look at him, just an intermediate spirit stone and he’s already anxious! What is he doing strolling around the marketplace!”
“That’s right!”
The wandering cultivator was criticized by the people in the crowd. After losing his spirit stones, he also lost face. His face lost all color and, ashamed and resentful, he squeezed his way out of the crowd.
Yi Xichen looked around and the corners of his mouth turned up in a smile: “Interesting.”
Zhangsun Zijun asked: “Do you want to bet?”
Yi Xichen said: “No hurry, I’ll watch a few rounds.”
People continued to throw spirit stones on the gambling wheel. There were many losers, but there were also some who won. The wheel sometimes stopped at the blue and red spaces for some people. A female cultivator bet a primary spirit stone and the wheel landed on the red space. She won ten times her bet and was happy so she gambled a few more times. Unfortunately, her luck was not so good. The spirit stones she had won were lost and she stopped betting.
Taoism emphasizes self-control and abstinence so few people lost themselves in gambling. Win or lose, the cultivators most accepted the results. The stall owner has set up his stall here many times before.
After one hour the stall owner had already made a lot of money. He looked up and saw Yi Xichen and Zhangsun Zijun standing beside the stall and looked a bit wary: “The two Heavenly Sword Sect’s Shixiongs have been watching me for a long time. If you want to play it, try your luck. If you don’t want to play, why are you here blocking the light?”
Yi Xichen laughed: “I’ll play. Of course, I’ll play! I’ll bet now!”
He weighed his bag. He had about sixty to seventy primary spirit stones and ten intermediate spirit stones in his pocket. Their disciples at Medicine Hall were not well treated. He had scrimped and saved for many years to hoard these spirit stones. He had planned to spend these spirit stones on materials to strengthen his sword, but now he decided to use all of these spirit stones on the gambling wheel.
He took out a spirit stone and made as if to throw it into the groove. Suddenly, he stopped and asked: “What is the Mysterious Spirit sect’s Shixiong called?”
The stall owner said: “My family name is Fang and my given name is Youde.”
“Oh, Fang Shixiong,” Yi Xichen said, “I only watched for a while. The people who come to you today seem to have bad luck. Isn’t there something wrong with this gambling wheel?”
Fang Youde scowled: “More people are talking nonsense again. You are a disciple of the Heavenly Sword Sect. Are you questioning the Mysterious Spirit Sect that is always virtuous?”4
“You are willing to bet on the reputation of the Mysterious Spirit Sect but I’m afraid that the Mysterious Spirit Sect is not necessarily willing to let a disciple bet on their reputation.”
Fang Youde was furious: “Are you going to play or are you here to make trouble?”
“Of course, I’m here to play.” Yi Xichen fingers loosened its grip and the first spirit stone fell into the groove. The wheel automatically turned.
At the sound of the wheel rotating, he put on a smile on his face as though he meant no harm: “Fang Shixiong spoke quite a few words but I don’t need to question Mysterious Spirit sect’s reputation. What if Shixiong is cheating on me, what will you pay me for that?”
There were a lot of people around watching, especially since two disciples of a big sect were at the booth. Sweat broke out on Fang Youde’s forehead but his attitude became even tougher: “There is no fraud here! If there is, I will pay you ten times what you bet!”
“Ten times is too little, how about a hundred times?”
More sweat broke out on Fang Youde’s forehead: “You! This is extortion!”
Yi Xichen shrugged: “Since you say you aren’t cheating, what is the difference between ten and a hundred times?”
Fang Youde swallowed. In the eyes of the crowd, his couldn’t stop his voice from trembling slightly but he still stubbornly said: “Hmph, a hundred times! I’m not cheating! As for you, don’t be a sore loser and refuse to acknowledge that you have lost the bet!”
He had just stopped speaking when the wheel stopped turning.
– Red space!
散修 – a cultivator who is not a member of any sect.Just an idiom meaning irresponsible remarks shouldn’t be spoken lightly.Yes, I know it said earlier that he was wearing blue. Author error, maybe.Literally “that does not imitate the dog and steal chicken” (偷鸡摸狗). Meaning “to dally with women; to have affairs.” I changed it to reflect the context here.