Once I enter the pass, great Confucian scholars will surely debate the classics for me.

What is gambling? The essence of gambling is cheating and deception.

Any gambler who believes in probability and luck, even if they win this time, will eventually lose all their money and profits next time.

They will all die a horrible death in the end, without exception.

Zhou Qingfeng is gambling with his life right now. Both drinks are poisoned, and he will die no matter which he chooses.

A normal person would definitely gamble on luck, choosing a drink and downing it in one gulp, hoping for a 50% chance of survival.

But how can the weak win when the strong set up a trap?

The game has begun, so it can only continue. Zhou Qingfeng must find a way out of this dead end.

But where is the way out?

Zhou Qingfeng was sweating profusely, and a sense of panic and helplessness welled up inside him. The pressure of being on the verge of death made his breathing rapid, and his brain could hardly function properly. Fear was growing in his heart and gradually boiling. The terror between life and death was no joke, and this great terror had already affected his mind.

The old woman with the iron fan smiled warmly, but uttered the coldest words: "I'll count to 30. If you don't choose, I'll kill you. 1, 2, 3..."

Zhou Qingfeng's face was covered in fine beads of sweat. He quickly glanced at the poisoned wine, then at the old woman with the iron fan. He knew this was the old woman's psychological warfare, trying to force him into a state of panic where he couldn't think clearly and would make the wrong choice. To resist this negative influence, he decisively took off his gauntlets and broke off his index finger.

With a "crack," the index finger snapped off, and intense pain swept through the brain, instantly expelling all fear, panic, and oppression from the body.

Zhou Qingfeng felt it was helpful, and his mind cleared up again.

"10, 11, 12..." The old woman with the iron fan continued counting, watching Zhou Qingfeng resist the influence in this way, a hint of appreciation flashed in her eyes, but that was all. No one has ever been able to leave Spiral Town alive, and no one will be able to do so in the endless years to come, because in this game, gamblers will always lose, and can never win!

With the number 30 fast approaching, Zhou Qingfeng quickly analyzed the situation.

The two glasses of wine are poisoned.

Perhaps drinking two cups will help fight poison and everything will be fine.

Perhaps the order in which the poisoned wine is consumed matters: drink the poisoned wine on the left first, then the poisoned wine on the right, or vice versa.

Or each of you can drink half.

There's no time to lose, let's draw lots!

[A very bad omen; fighting poison with poison; drinking both cups together—ominous.]

[The worst possible outcome; first left, then right – ominous]

[The worst possible outcome; first right, then left, ominous]

[The worst possible outcome; each person must drink half. This is an unlucky omen.]

Every hexagram was ominous, the glaring ominous characters causing Zhou Qingfeng's mentality to explode instantly, his reason almost collapsing. His eyes were bloodshot as he gasped for breath, "Senior Iron Fan, you cheated! You didn't give me a way out at all! No matter what I choose, I'm going to die!"

Iron Fan smiled slightly, offering no explanation, but continued counting: "21, 22, 23..."

Zhou Qingfeng covered his face with his hands, his expression ferocious. His brain was working frantically, trying to find a way out of this dead end. But there was no way out. Throughout history, countless heroes and geniuses had failed to win the bet. They were no less capable than Zhou Qingfeng, yet there was not a single winner. Not a single one.

With a "crack," he broke off his middle finger again, and the sudden, intense pain pulled his collapsing reason back to reality.

Zhou Qingfeng's expression gradually returned to calm. A flash of inspiration struck him, and he found a way to avoid losing: if he didn't gamble, he wouldn't lose.

This was his only hope, and to verify his judgment, he quickly cast lots to determine the divination method.

A spiritual divination stick flew out from the crimson divination bucket deep within consciousness, swaying precariously.

[Neutral draw, do not drink poisonous alcohol, neutral]

As soon as the draw was completed, Zhou Qingfeng felt a sense of relief and calmly watched the old woman with the iron fan finish counting.

"Thirty!" Old Iron Fan finished counting and said calmly, "Aren't you going to choose?"

Zhou Qingfeng laughed awkwardly, extending his severed index and middle fingers, and said, "This is the first time someone has forced me to the point of self-harm. Senior is indeed a senior, experience is the best teacher. This game was truly formidable, no wonder no one could win. I have learned my lesson."

Iron Fan: "You have to choose if you praise me; if you don't, I'll kill you."

Zhou Qingfeng shook his head and said, "I won't choose, and I won't gamble. If I don't gamble, I won't lose. This is my choice. Senior, kill me if you want."

Iron Fan gazed silently at Zhou Qingfeng, then suddenly a smile appeared on her lips. With a wave of her fan, the poisoned wine vanished: "You've passed. In countless time loops, there have been many exceptionally intelligent people like you who were confident enough to gamble their lives with me, but without exception, they all lost."

"It's pathetic and lamentable. I've already told them that there hasn't been a single winner in this little gambling game with me, yet they still want to gamble with me and still want to win."

“The poor fellows don’t even understand the principle that you can’t lose if you don’t gamble. They’ve been lured into this doomed gamble just because I threatened them with a few words.”

Zhou Qingfeng calmly said, "That's because you're very strong, senior. They were afraid of being beaten to death by you, so they were forced to play this game that they were bound to lose with you. Moreover, you cheated. Both cups were poisoned wine, and drinking them would mean certain death. From the beginning, this was an unfair bet. Even if you win, it won't be a glorious victory."

Iron Fan smiled slightly: "Little guy, where is there any fairness in this world? Since I am strong, I will set the rules that I will definitely win. If the weak want to win, they can only play this unfair gamble with me. But if the weak gamble with me under the rules I set, they will definitely lose. The only thing the weak can do is not play with me. Not losing is already the limit."

Zhou Qingfeng nodded slightly and clasped his hands in a salute: "Senior, this lesson will benefit me for life. Thank you for your guidance."

Iron Fan chuckled: "Little fellow, you are not destined to die. It is the will of Heaven, and I cannot go against it. Very well, go to the top of Flaming Mountain and obtain the Sky-Piercing Ruler. Then you can leave Spiral Town unharmed. But I remind you, you have 36 hours left. When the time is up, the timeline here will restart."

Zhou Qingfeng took a deep breath, clasped his hands in greeting, and said, "Thank you for guiding me on my path to survival, senior."

After a moment's thought, Iron Fan tossed the tattered palm-leaf fan in her hand to Zhou Qingfeng: "Little fellow, it's fate that we are destined to meet. We part today, and who knows when we'll meet again. This precious fan has dropped to the evil rank due to a divine battle. It will be completely ruined after at most three more uses. So I'm giving it to you for self-defense, as a memento."

Then, Iron Fan flicked its finger and shot out a beam of light that entered Zhou Qingfeng's head: "The specific method of control and its wonderful uses have been passed on to you."

Zhou Qingfeng was taken aback, not expecting such an unexpected gain.

This item is called the Returning Wind Treasure Fan, a divine artifact based on the rules of wind. Unfortunately, it is severely damaged and on the verge of being scrapped, and can no longer reach even one ten-millionth of its power at its peak. However, its effect is still very strong. One fan can send the enemy flying 1.08 billion miles away. Two fans can destroy the enemy's soul. Three fans will annihilate the enemy, turning him into ashes.

This fan will be completely unusable after three uses.

Even so, this is still a very strong trump card for Zhou Qingfeng.

"Thank you for bestowing this treasure upon me, senior. May our friendship endure forever, and may we meet again in the martial world someday." Zhou Qingfeng put away the Returning Wind Fan, respectfully clasped his hands in a fist salute, and stepped back. He then turned and strode away, quickly heading towards the Flaming Mountain. Jin Wei, now free, glanced fearfully at the iron fan and hurried after Zhou Qingfeng.