Xu Xian was impatient.
Li Qingshan, unhurried, sat down and rubbed his throat, putting on a show. "Ahem, my throat is a bit dry. If only I had a sip of good wine to moisten it..."
Xu Xian was speechless.
Extremely reluctantly, he handed over his wine flask and rolled his eyes. "Peach Blossom Wine from Huayin Pavilion. I had someone bring it for me. Take it."
Li Qingshan took it, clicking his tongue as he gave Xu Xian a sidelong glance. "Tsk, tsk. Look at you, moving up in the world. Drinking such fine wine now? You've really struck it rich, Xu Xian."
Xu Xian didn't have much patience and snapped, "Cut the nonsense. Are you going to tell me or not?"
If it weren't for the chance to pull one over on his senior sister, he wouldn't have put up with Li Qingshan's nonsense.
Li Qingshan uncorked the flask, took a light sniff, and then a drink. With a face full of enjoyment, he lightly wiped the corner of his mouth with his sleeve and began his story.
"Six years ago, when you entered the Sword Mound to claim a sword, I made a bet with my master. I bet you could pull out a divine sword, and she bet you couldn't. Three million merit points. I lost back then."
"And then?"
"Actually, I didn't lose. You did pull out a divine sword, didn't you?"
Xu Xian thought about it. "I suppose so."
He had climbed the Divine Sword Pool, but that divine sword was only pulled out later.
"So I didn't lose," Li Qingshan said.
Xu Xian agreed, "Yeah, you didn't lose. But what does that have to do with the business we're going to do?"
Li Qingshan quickly said, "Of course it does! Since I didn't lose, she has to give me back the merit points. Three million..."
Xu Xian raised a hand to interrupt. "Wait, the business you're talking about... you're not asking me to collect a debt for you, are you? Forget it then. I don't have that kind of ability."
Debt collection was already a shady business. Trying to collect from someone in the tribulation transcendence stage was just asking for death.
Xu Xian wasn't that suicidal.
Li Qingshan raised his voice. "Why are you so dramatic? Can you let me finish?"
Xu Xian sniffled sheepishly. "Go on..."
Li Qingshan said slowly, "I mentioned this to her at the Demon Suppression Abyss, and she acknowledged it. However, given your senior sister's personality, there's no way she'll just give the merit points back. Knowing her, she'll definitely want to bet with me again. And this time, she'll bet 5.55 million merit points."
Xu Xian was curious and slowly raised his hand.
"What now?"
Xu Xian asked humbly, "Why 5.55 million?"
Li Qingshan calculated with a straight face, "Because I have 1.55 million merit points now. Add the one million she took from me before, plus the three million she lost to me, and she'll definitely bet 5.55 million."
Xu Xian was a bit dazed, feeling like his brain wasn't big enough for this. How did that math work out?
But it didn't seem important.
What was important was that Li Qingshan had 1.55 million merit points.
He immediately condemned him, "Well, look at you! You have so much money, yet you don't pay my salary and owe me money. You're truly shameless."
Li Qingshan's eyes widened like bronze bells as he growled, "Is that the point?"
"Uh," Xu Xian gestured for him to continue. "Go on."
Li Qingshan glared at him, thoroughly exasperated.
"Where was I?"
"She wants to bet 5.55 million merit points with you," Xu Xian said.
Li Qingshan muttered, "You've got me all flustered. Given her nature, she'll definitely bet 5.55 million with me. But this time, I'm going to strike first. I'll take the initiative and challenge her to the bet myself."
"What's the bet?"
Li Qingshan glanced at Lu Yuan and then back at Xu Xian. "We'll bet on whether this auspicious beast can cross the Longevity Bridge. I'll pick first and choose 'can.' She'll have to choose 'cannot.'"
Xu Xian squinted. "You have that much faith in me?"
Li Qingshan gave a half-smile. "Well, do you think you can cross it or not?"
Xu Xian said with some confidence, "Of course I can."
Li Qingshan took another sip of wine. "Then there you go."
Xu Xian questioned slightly, "The key is, will senior sister actually bet with you?"
Li Qingshan waved it off. "Don't worry. Your senior sister is a gambling addict. She'll bet, a hundred percent."
"What if senior sister believes in me too?"
Li Qingshan said with absolute certainty, "Let me put it this way: even if she knows she'll lose a hundred percent, she'll still bet."
Xu Xian didn't believe it. Such a bold claim made him skeptical. "Why? Is she stupid?"
Li Qingshan curled his lip. "She's not stupid. Even if she loses, she'll definitely cheat and keep betting until she wins. In her words, she can lose ten thousand times, as long as she wins once."
Xu Xian suddenly understood.
He understood why the bet was 3 million plus 1 million plus 1.55 million.
It turned out Li Qingshan was just a massive sucker.
He was basically being played like a fiddle by his own master.
He said sincerely, "Tsk, tsk. Senior sister is truly something else."
Then he realized something was wrong and quickly asked, "Wait, if she's destined to cheat, why are you still betting with her? This business is a non-starter."
A flash of cunning crossed Li Qingshan's eyes. "You think I'm stupid? I haven't thought of that? I already have a counter-strategy. This time, when the auspicious beast crosses the Longevity Bridge, Sixth Senior Martial Aunt said we have to wait for the other three senior martial uncles to return before starting to avoid any accidents. Ninth Senior Martial Uncle will definitely be there."
"Master is most afraid of Ninth Senior Martial Uncle."
"When the time comes, I'll tell them we're in this together. After we win, you'll ask my master for the money right in front of Ninth Senior Martial Uncle. If she doesn't give it, you go complain to him."
"Ninth Senior Martial Uncle cherishes his reputation. She'll be too afraid not to pay up then."
Xu Xian understood now.
It sounded interesting. According to Li Qingshan's analysis, this was doable.
"Interesting."
Li Qingshan gave him a sidelong glance. "Are you in or not? Just give me a word."
Xu Xian pondered for a moment, still skeptical. "It's not that I can't do it, I'm just curious. Why don't you go to Ninth Senior Martial Uncle yourself? Why make me do it? Is there a trap here?"
A reasonable suspicion.
Caution was paramount. After all, Li Qingshan wasn't exactly a saint himself and had been trying to prank him for a long time.
He couldn't fall for it.
Li Qingshan sneered. "Would it be the same if I went instead of you?"
Xu Xian countered with a question, "How is it different?"
Li Qingshan analyzed it with a straight face. "If you go, it's a matter between fellow disciples. If I go, what does that make me? She's my master! If the world found out, wouldn't they laugh at me, Li Qingshan, for being a petty man who snitches on his master over a few million merit points? Betraying one's master? I, Li Qingshan, can't afford to lose face like that."
Xu Xian's eyes widened.
"Good grief, why does that sound so wrong to me? You're afraid of losing face, but I'm not?"
Li Qingshan stared calmly at Xu Xian and asked back, "Are you?"
Xu Xian was speechless.
Li Qingshan said, "I, Li Qingshan, care about my face. But you, Xu Xian, can do without it."
Xu Xian rubbed the bridge of his nose and admitted honestly, "That's true."
"So, are you in?"
"How do we split it?"
"Sixty-forty."
"I get sixty."
"I get sixty," Li Qingshan corrected.
Xu Xian said, "Then I think I'll keep my face after all."
Li Qingshan's face darkened. "What's your number?"
Xu Xian sighed. "After all, she is my senior sister. I..."
"Just say the number."
"At least a fifty-fifty split."
Li Qingshan gritted his teeth. "Fine."
Xu Xian chuckled. "Deal."
Li Qingshan's eyes were full of disdain...
Lu Yuan grumbled inwardly, 'Two of a kind!'
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