Gao Wu Da Qin: You don't want your secret to be known, do you?

Chapter 52: Gambling is when you don't know the cards; investing is when you do!

Two days have passed in the blink of an eye. 😾 690ђ𝔲𝓧.𝓒𝑜ᵐ 👤👮

Qin Feng now has a "hypothetical enemy," and he spends all his time hiding in his low-rent apartment, which has made some people with ulterior motives anxious.

In the back garden of a luxurious mansion on the first ring road of Xianyang.

"Are you sure that [Sheng Tian Ban Zi] is hiding in the house and hasn't come out at all?"

"It's confirmed, young master! He really hasn't stepped out even once!"

"So how has he been eating these past few days?"

"this……"

The young man who spoke was dressed in a brocade robe and had a jade belt with phoenix motifs around his waist. His features and demeanor were elegant and refined, but his only flaw was that he was too thin-skinned, which made him seem somewhat mean and sharp-tongued.

The young master stared at the servant and said, word by word, "I'm asking you a question! How could he eat without leaving the room?"

The subordinate whispered, "It was sent to him by the Martial Arts Alliance."

The young master was taken aback. "Martial Arts Alliance? Since when did the Xianyang Martial Arts Alliance start delivering meals?"

The subordinate said, "It's like this, young master! As you know, all the experts on the Yin-Yang School's Quasi-Amazing Ranking are helped by the Xianyang Martial Arts Alliance to handle the procedures and deliver the national examination uniforms and certificates. Out of hospitality, the Martial Arts Alliance will leave a letter inside, clearly indicating their contact information, so that these promising candidates can contact them in time if they encounter any trouble! Generally speaking, we old Xianyang people understand that this is just a polite gesture from the government, not a real act of helping."

"But that 'Sheng Tian Ban Zi' isn't a local. He took the letter seriously. Every day when he's hungry, he calls the Martial Arts Alliance to have food delivered to him! And he calls for food day and night."

"Each delivery starts at a minimum of one hundred orders!"

The young master frowned. "A hundred servings? Can he finish them all?"

The subordinate replied, "I'm not too sure about that either, but every time the martial arts alliance disciples deliver food, they bring down a huge pile of lunchboxes and trash. Over the past two days, they've delivered almost seven or eight hundred lunchboxes to that kid!"

"I heard that the leaders in charge of the national examination at the Martial Arts Alliance are having a headache about this. When the Martial Arts Alliance first sent the letter, they thought that this 'Half a move to defeat Heaven' was a test for them, so they sent them a set of delicacies that cost 500 yuan a box. Later, he ate more and more of it, and it was almost worth hundreds of thousands of yuan. But the Martial Arts Alliance can't say that the letter was just for show. Now the Martial Arts Alliance is just swallowing their anger."

The young master waved his hand impatiently, "What's there to be sad about, a mere few hundred thousand!"

"The problem now is that this disciple of the Strategists is hiding and refusing to come out. What should I do?"

"I had arranged three chance encounters for him, hoping to test his true colors!"

"The first time they met, Nie Qing, that madman, encountered Gai Nie and was scared away by Gai Nie, so they didn't fight."

"I arranged the next two chance encounters, but he just stayed home and wouldn't come out! My planned encounters were completely useless!"

"Could it be that this kid can predict the future?"

The subordinate whispered, "Young master, why don't we set fire to the low-rent apartment and force that kid out?"

"Are you fucking crazy?!" Young Master Hu glared at his subordinate. "I just wanted to test his trump cards, I didn't intend to be his enemy!"

The subordinate was so frightened that he hurriedly lowered his head, "I know I'm guilty."

The young master angrily retorted, "Do you know who that guy is? He's a disciple of Ghost Valley! A disciple of the School of Diplomacy!"

Do you know what Guiguzi did?

"This is a bizarre sect with no bottom line and no upper limit!"

"These guys, each one of them is an exceptional individual, each one has a heavy history of killing!"

"Among the various schools of thought, there are those who fear Guiguzi's unpredictable actions, but even more so those who fear his absence altogether."

"The disciples of Guiguzi are more terrifying when they remain still than when they move!"

"Once the Guigu disciples stop moving and disappear without a trace, they're definitely preparing a big, nasty move. Who knows what kind of big news they might create!"

"I'm certain that this 'Half a Move Away from Heaven' Qin Feng is definitely plotting something wicked!"

Just then, a beautiful maid rushed over and said, "Young master, your fever has subsided."

The young master then pointed his finger, and a projection screen appeared in the void in front of him. The first line of large characters on the screen read, "Support the National Civil Service Examination, Bet on the Competition."

At the top, rows of popularity rankings appeared, and from top to bottom, many familiar names could be seen, such as One Saint, Two Gods, Three Immortals, Four Daoists...

On the current screen, Yi Sheng has the most bets, exceeding 50% of the total number of bettors and the total amount of bets!

Aside from the one saint, the rest are nothing more than two gods, three immortals, four Daoists, and so on.

The lower the ranking, the fewer people deposit money and the smaller the total amount.

As the later addition to the list of "Sheng Tian Ban Zi" (a player who won half a game against fate), Qin Feng's bets were pitifully few in both number and amount. This shows that while everyone was amazed by Qin Feng's later addition of his name, when it came to actually placing bets and showing sincerity with real money, everyone eventually returned to rationality. 😾🐺 ❻9𝓈ⓗᑌ𝕏.𝔠ｏ𝕄 ൠ✌

If [Surpassing Heaven by Half a Move] is truly powerful, then his name should have been on the original list of top-ranked players, instead of being added later.

Now that we've added this, we can only say that there's a gap between [Sheng Tian Ban Zi] and the previous 55 experts. At this point, nobody wants their bet to lose, so everyone bets on the players with the highest win rates. The more games a player wins, the more generous the rewards they can get!

Of course, besides gamblers who seek stability, there are also many adventurers who like to pick those with exaggerated odds and low win rates. If they succeed, they can make a fortune and reach the pinnacle of life.

Logically speaking, at this point, [Sheng Tian Ban Zi], who is ranked last on the leaderboard, should have risen to prominence!

No, still no one voted for "Winning by Half a Move".

The reason is the same: everyone just wants a dark horse that might make a comeback, not a hopeless loser that's been targeted!

With the skill of "Winning by Half a Move," not only do gamblers seeking stability look down on him, but gamblers seeking thrills also look down on him. No one is truly willing to go against their own money.

With the odds of "Sheng Tian Ban Zi" (胜天半子) in last place approaching 1 to 40, no one has placed a bet on it.

At this moment, such gambling scenes appeared throughout Xianyang City, in every street and alley. From high-ranking officials to wandering knights, almost everyone would stop and place one or two bets.

"Bet on 'Winning by Half a Piece'? Isn't that just throwing money away?"

"That's right! Betting on 'Winning by Half a Move' is less worthwhile than betting on other players not on the leaderboard; maybe one or two dark horses will emerge!"

"Those media outlets that hyped up 'Winning by Half a Move' back then are now all honestly betting on 'One Saint,' which shows that 'Winning by Half a Move' really doesn't have much hope."

"I've heard that 'Sheng Tian Ban Zi' is a disciple of the School of Diplomacy. Do you think it's possible that it's true?"

"Are the disciples of the School of Diplomacy so great? Don't forget, the martial arts skills of the School of Diplomacy vary greatly. Some people know martial arts, while others don't know any at all. The average martial arts level of the School of Diplomacy may not be higher than that of the Mohists!"

Amidst the murmuring crowd, under the snow-covered eaves of a green-tiled roof, a middle-aged swordsman dressed in simple cloth robes, his long hair flying, stared silently at a projection screen not far away.

Dusk cut through the long street, and the chilly wind blew across the back of the middle-aged swordsman.

A majestic white-haired figure draped in a long black cloak appeared silently.

The swordsman in plain clothes frowned, seemingly displeased, and the long sword in his hand emitted a soft clanging sound.

The white-haired, black-robed tyrant spoke in a deep, magnetic voice, "Senior Brother."

Gai Nie looked at the projection screen in front of him and said calmly, "Xiao Zhuang, you've come."

Wei Zhuang took a few steps forward, looking at the dense crowd not far away with a hint of disdain. "A bunch of chickens and dogs, daring to point fingers at these prodigies? They're like cicadas that don't know spring and autumn, or ephemeral mushrooms that don't recognize the changing seasons!"

Gai Nie asked, "What brings you to Xianyang?"

Wei Zhuang chuckled softly, "Don't be nervous, I have no interest in Ying Zheng."

Gai Nie sneered, "So what if I'm interested?"

"Senior brother, don't provoke me," Wei Zhuang said. "I don't want to debate with you today. I'm just passing through Xianyang and wanted to visit our junior uncle."

Gai Nie said, "Junior Uncle is not with me."

Wei Zhuang said, "You've met him, haven't you! What kind of person is he? That he could make our teacher break the rules and accept a disciple on our behalf? And find a completely unsuitable senior uncle for two people like us who are in our fifties?"

Gai Nie said, "You have too many questions. The only thing I can answer is that he is very interesting."

Wei Zhuang and Gai Nie stood side by side and said, "If he were just interesting, he wouldn't have been able to enter Ghost Valley. He must have some extraordinary abilities, and these abilities are something that we combined cannot match."

Gai Nie said, "The Court of Justice reported the day before yesterday that the secret technique of Yao Li, a legendary swordsman from the Spring and Autumn Period, has been revealed. A secret organization was about to capture him when a chivalrous hero appeared out of nowhere, claiming to be Tian Qi."

Wei Zhuang said leisurely, "Tian Qi is a prominent family in the State of Qi, a distant relative of Tian Dan, and the leader of the peasant family! In the past, Yue Yi conquered more than seventy Xingcheng, but they were all taken back by his distant relative Tian Dan. The Tian family should not be underestimated."

Gai Nie said, "So you want my help to kill this peasant chivalrous leader, Tian Qi?"

Wei Zhuang said coldly, "Senior brother, I never ask for favors, especially not from you! Stop with your hypocritical act!"

Gai Nie continued, "All along, you've wanted your teacher's approval. You've tirelessly searched for Yao Li's sword manual and Qing Ji's martial arts, hoping to comprehend them and take your swordsmanship to the next level!"

"But you've never realized that what the strategists despise most is martial arts!"

Wei Zhuang calmly replied, "Whether he likes it or not is up to him, whether he can do it or not is up to me. You and I are different, and your ideas are not suitable for me."

Gai Nie sighed, "Fine! I'm going to place my bet!"

Wei Zhuang asked, "Who are you betting on? Junior Uncle [Half a Move Ahead of Heaven]?"

Gai Nie asked, "Guess?"

Wei Zhuang crossed his arms and said, "Gambling is such a crude game that I have absolutely no interest in it."

Gai Nie laughed, "Not knowing the trump card is gambling, knowing the trump card is investing! I've already sold everything I could in my life, and got a full ten million! I'm betting on him to be number one! This time, it's either a total loss or a windfall. How about it? Want to join in? Ten million isn't much for you."

Wei Zhuang flicked his left hand, and a card appeared between his fingers. "Here is one hundred million! Consider it a gift from me to my junior uncle. If he wins, it's because he's very capable, and he can have all the winnings. I'll still call him junior uncle. If he loses, I'll just say I misjudged him. If he can't even win the first place in the 'Amazing Beauty' competition, then he's no longer my junior uncle."

Wei Zhuang's hand trembled, and he tossed the card over.

Gai Nie caught the card, and when he turned around, Wei Zhuang had already disappeared into the darkness.

"This guy!" Gai Nie shook his head, then walked to the betting area. "I'm betting both of these cards on 'Half a Move Against Heaven'!"

These words caused an uproar, with everyone looking at Gai Nie with curiosity.

The betting clerk stared in astonishment at the amounts on the two cards. "Master Gai Nie, are you... are you sure you're betting on both 'Half a Move Against Heaven'?"

Gai Nie said, "Confirmed!"

The two cards were instantly reduced to zero, while the amount of "Winning by Half a Move" on the screen increased dramatically, and the odds changed from 1 to 53 to 1 to 50!

In other words, if [Sheng Tian Ban Zi] can win the first place in Jing Hong, then among the two senior brothers, Gai Nie can conservatively get five small goals, while Wei Zhuang can get fifty small goals!

Such a grand gesture would be considered groundbreaking even in previous editions of the Amazing Ranking Competition, let alone now!

However, even after Gai Nie left, the market still did not have a high opinion of "Sheng Tian Ban Zi".

"Did you see that? The strategists couldn't sit still anymore, and Gai Nie immediately came out and donated a small amount!"

"In my opinion, this actually shows that [Winning by Half a Move] is unlikely to achieve a good ranking. If he had even a slight chance, his senior brother wouldn't have had to step in to help him!"

"Everyone, stop betting on this guy! Not everyone is as rich as the Sword Saint!"

In a short time, the winning percentage of [Sheng Tian Ban Zi] skyrocketed from 1:50 to 1:70, and was about to reach 1:80.

The various sects were either going bankrupt or seeing their net worth double. Unbeknownst to Qin Feng, the burden on his shoulders had become several times heavier.

(End of this chapter)