Danwu Refining Spirit

Chapter Thirty-Five: The Hunt Begins

The fat man realized his question was rather insensitive and quickly shook his head, saying, "No, no, I just felt, I felt..."

"What do you think?" Xiao Chong pressed on relentlessly, giving the other party no chance to react.

"I feel...I feel...I feel that two thousand taels of silver is indeed a bit too little." The fat man felt that the room was particularly hot today, and he hurriedly reached out to wipe away non-existent sweat from his forehead.

"Then what should we do?" Xiao Chong pressed on relentlessly.

"We should raise the bet! Raise it big!" The fat man gritted his teeth and pulled out another silver note from his pocket with a pained expression.

"It's only five hundred taels, why are you so nervous?"

Xiao Chong took it without thinking, but immediately opened his mouth wide: "Wait a minute, why is it gold? Where did it come from?"

This time, it was his turn to feel unbearably hot in the room.

"I found it by accident in Dad's room, and I brought it here in case you needed it urgently." The fat man's face jiggled violently.

Since it's his father's money, the consequences shouldn't be too serious. Xiao Chong felt that the fat man's speech was becoming more and more skillful, especially the use of the words "accidentally" and "discovered"—these two words were used with unparalleled skill and subtlety.

Just as she was about to comfort her good brother's nervousness, Qingmeng came back huffing and puffing, dragging a bag twice the size of hers behind her.

Seeing the young master looking at him with a puzzled expression, Qingmeng wiped his tired, flushed face and said, "Young master, I found some more. Including the hundred taels from before, there are a total of eight hundred taels."

"Eight hundred taels of silver will fill two large sacks?" Xiao Chong couldn't believe it was that magical.

Faced with the doubts, Qingmeng was not embarrassed at all: "I exchanged all the silver for copper coins."

Xiao Chong and the fat man were dumbfounded.

After a while, Xiao Chong was the first to react. He hurriedly stuffed the silver notes into the fat man's arms and put two large bags of copper coins on his back. He then irresponsibly pointed to the door and said, "Good brother, go to the Silver Hook Gambling House and bet all this money. Remember, bet on the one with the highest odds."

"Why am I always the one who gets hurt?" the fat man thought to himself as he walked, looking dazed.

With the Silver Hook Gambling House's extensive advertising and the encouragement of those with ulterior motives, the people of Flying Moon City were increasingly enthusiastic and focused on this life-or-death gamble. In just three days, at least 90% of the residents of the South City participated, and almost all of them chose to bet on Xiao Chong's certain death in the competition.

Of all the bets received by the Silver Hook Gambling House, there were only two exceptions: bets on Xiao Chong escaping the competition. However, these two bets were quite strange. One was only one tael of silver, while the other was five hundred taels of gold, plus two thousand taels of silver and copper coins worth eight hundred taels of silver.

Previously, the most common greeting among residents of Flying Moon City was "Have you eaten?", but now it's all "Have you placed your bets?". If someone hasn't participated in this betting, they're embarrassed to even leave the house.

Time always seems to pass very slowly when people are looking forward to something. Amidst the nationwide gambling frenzy, the field hunting competition finally kicked off.

Broken Soul Ridge, the venue for the hunting competition, is located three hundred miles southeast of Flying Moon City. It covers an area of ​​several tens of miles and is very large, making it suitable for this kind of open competition.

The mountains in the ridge are high and the waters are deep, the forests are lush and the peaks are strange. The terrain is extremely complex, and various ferocious birds and beasts roam around, making it extremely dangerous.

On a large open space outside Broken Soul Ridge, rows of sturdy wooden cabins had already been erected. The cabins were exquisitely constructed, prepared for themselves by the Xiao, Tie, and Situ families. Many important figures from these three families would be staying there until the hunting competition concluded.

As for those busybodies who rushed over from their homes in the middle of the night and stood densely packed around the open space, they didn't receive this treatment. Their sole purpose in coming here was to better experience the thrill of holding a gambling ticket and, incidentally, to witness this great moment.

Compared to the excitement of these people, the disciples from the three families participating in the competition were much calmer. When the sun was high in the sky, the three family heads walked out of the wooden houses, each followed by eighteen spirited young disciples.

"Brother Xiao, it's been a long time since I last saw you. You look even more vigorous than before," said Situ Changfeng, the patriarch of the Situ family, with a smile as he cupped his hands in greeting to Xiao Kaixin.

"Thank you, thank you. I'm afraid I'll disappoint Brother Changfeng." Xiao Kaixin bluntly exposed the other party's hypocrisy.

"What are you saying? I'm overjoyed that Brother Xiao is in good health." Situ Changfeng's smile remained unchanged, showing no concern whatsoever.

The world is full of strange things. Although the three families are constantly fighting each other and wish they could kill one another, as the heads of the families, they still have to be polite to each other when they meet.

The Situ family was the weakest of the three, so Situ Changfeng was particularly polite to him. However, the Tie family patriarch was not so friendly to Xiao Kaixin.

The Tie family has developed rapidly in recent years, producing many talented individuals, and in many aspects, they are already showing signs of being able to stand shoulder to shoulder with the Xiao family. Especially after this competition, where disciples from both families set up a life-or-death duel, the relationship has become even more strained.

Tie Motie, the patriarch of the Tie family, had instructed his disciples before the competition to utterly defeat and annihilate the Xiao family. This would not only damage the Xiao family's morale but also enhance the Tie family's prestige, paving the way for their eventual conquest of the Xiao family.

With this preemptive strike in mind, Tie Motie's words were much harsher: "Brother Xiao, you look emaciated and worried. Are you not confident about this competition?"

Xiao Kaixin rolled her eyes at him, too lazy to bother with such pointless words.

Seeing that the other party didn't respond, Tie Motie became even more smug and chuckled, "That's true. Some of the participating disciples have decided on a life-or-death situation. Anyone would feel uneasy in that situation. But Brother Xiao, you don't need to worry too much. The result is still pending, isn't it?"

"This is outrageous! This old man is trying to slap me in the face!" Xiao Kaixin cursed inwardly, then suddenly glared at the other man and said fiercely, "Do you perhaps want to make a bet with me?"

That won't do; my cultivation level is still a little lower than his opponent's. Tie Motie was startled, but he chuckled and said, "Brother Xiao still has that fiery temper. It's one thing for young disciples to fight, but if we make a move, won't people laugh at us?"

"Since that's the case, what are we waiting for? Let's announce the start of the hunting competition." Xiao Kaixin rolled her eyes at the other person again and said stiffly.

"That's exactly right, that's exactly right." Seeing that the atmosphere was not right, Situ Changfeng quickly stepped in to smooth things over.

The three reached an agreement and then issued the order, instructing their disciples to prepare. A quarter of an hour later, the competition would officially begin. The more than fifty participating disciples checked their equipment and waited for the time to arrive before entering Broken Soul Ridge.