Chapter 53: The High-Stakes Gamble

The new book by Pighead, "Era of Light," has entered the Three Rivers recommendation list. I'm asking everyone for a daily vote! On Qidian’s homepage, just click into the Three Rivers channel; there you’ll find the recommended works voting section. Please, everyone, help Pighead by casting as many votes as you can! The Three Rivers recommendation lasts a week, and if each brother and sister votes once a day, that’s seven votes per person! Pighead thanks you all here for your support of the new book! I’ll keep working hard, writing diligently, and once the new book is released, I promise to deliver even more!

**********************

Without question, the woman Angel—once pushed into the gutter by Lin Qi—was a rare beauty. Her long, light brown hair with a reddish hue cascaded in waves down her back; her delicate, petite face was fair and dewy; her lips, crimson as cherries, while her lively pale green eyes gleamed like the finest emeralds, deep and enchanting.

In Dunelker's noble circles, Angel was the most renowned beauty of her age, the object of pursuit for many young lords of the city’s great houses. Her family controlled all ore imports and exports in Dunelker, from common iron and copper to precious gold and silver, and other rare metals. Every piece of ore mined in the Yasen province passed through her family’s hands, loaded onto vast ships at Dunelker’s harbor and dispatched to every corner of the continent.

Though her family might not rival the wealth of a nation, they certainly stood among the province's most elite. Coupled with Angel’s own striking beauty, to win her heart was to gain both fortune and desire. Thus, Angel held tremendous sway among these privileged youths; any hint of her involvement would instantly gather a crowd of followers.

At Angel’s side, a maid drew a small leather pouch from her belt and carefully produced thirty gold notes, each worth a thousand coins. Angel raised her chin in haughty pride, gazing at Lin Qi with the air of a peacock: “Mr. Lin Qi, I’ll wager thirty thousand gold coins against you. Since you favor that ugly, ferocious, disgusting reptile, I’ll bet on this honest, brave, majestic, and adorable white bear!”

Lin Qi waved his own gold notes nonchalantly, casting a provocative glance at the young lords behind Angel: “Look, look, look! Angel is betting thirty thousand gold coins with me! Good heavens, the ice-armored white bear has a natural advantage over all cold-blooded reptiles. My wager of one hundred thousand coins against your one hundred and fifty thousand is perfectly fair! Is no one willing to raise the stakes?”

Lin Qi’s bright smile, however, seemed insufferable to those young nobles and ladies he had bullied before. Several elegantly dressed, striking young ladies snorted softly and exchanged glances with their maids.

Those maids soon produced purses, gathering notes amounting to several thousand, or up to ten thousand, gold coins. Their families could not compare with Angel’s; their resources were far less. These thousands, even ten thousand, were all the pocket money they had painstakingly saved.

Were it not for their deep-seated hatred—and fear—of Lin Qi, none would have risked everything so recklessly. Should they lose today, months of scrimping and saving would await them. Though their families were fabulously wealthy, these young ladies held no real authority, nor did they have other sources of income.

With these new wagers, Lin Qi now faced over eighty thousand gold coins in gold notes. Whistling in delight, he winked at Enzo, waving his arms excitedly: “Aha, the young ladies of Dunelker are braver than the young lords! Tsk, tsk, eighty thousand coins? That's not enough! I have one hundred thousand—one hundred thousand, you hear!”

A thick stack of gold notes was thrown onto the pile. An arrogant youth, strutting like a little rooster, cast a furtive glance at Angel and sneered: “Lin Qi, you’re bound to lose this time. Miss Angel’s choice is never wrong. I’ll add fifty thousand coins and bet against you as well!”

Seeing him seize the initiative, the other young lords quickly emptied their pockets, tossing in every last coin. Gold notes, gold coins, silver, even gem-studded cufflinks and buttons landed atop the wager pile.

The Golden Rose, ever professional, called in their appraiser with a beaming smile. The expert assessed the value of these gem-encrusted trinkets. In the end, Lin Qi faced a total bet worth 305,780 gold coins, fifteen silver coins, and seventeen coppers.

At the standard odds of one to one point five, Lin Qi needed another 103,000 gold coins to match the collective wager.

“My dear Lin Qi!” Gold, rubbing his hands together eagerly, eyes alight with anticipation, addressed him. With stakes exceeding half a million, the Golden Rose stood to earn over fifty thousand coins just from the cut. After deducting the cost of the two magical beasts, their profit would more than double. A one hundred percent profit—a rare business indeed.

But Lin Qi’s funds were insufficient.

Gold, clearly troubled, kept rubbing his hands and sighed to Lin Qi with a forced laugh: “My dear Lin Qi, your wager isn’t enough!”

Lin Qi frowned, clutching his ten-thousand-coin note tightly, glancing back at the green-striped, gold-eyed anaconda twisting restlessly in its iron cage. Likely, Lin Qi’s earlier leap toward the cage had startled the beast; the massive snake was now huffing, spewing faint greenish venomous mist.

The surrounding magic circles had already activated, a thin barrier sealing the poison within the arena.

The white bear too grew agitated by the snake’s disturbance, rising in fury to its feet, clawing desperately at the bars. Each strike sent sparks flying.

Everyone could see Lin Qi’s hesitation and unease. Angel, triumphant, arched her brows and casually removed her striking ruby necklace, tossing it onto the pile. “Lin Qi, this necklace is crafted by a gnome master, worth forty thousand coins. Do you dare accept the new wager?”

The young ladies all smiled seductively, removing their own necklaces, rings, and other jewelry to join the stakes. The total soon soared past 470,000 coins.

Lin Qi’s face turned a ghastly shade of green.

Seeing his discomfort, a young lord hurled his jewel-encrusted sword onto the pile. The Golden Rose’s appraiser valued the sword—not for its blade, but for the jewels—at over thirty thousand coins.

Lin Qi’s expression grew uglier still.

Seizing on his distress, others followed suit, adding swords and other treasured items to the mounting stakes. Rounding off the small sums, the total wager quickly rose to 780,000 coins.

Here, gathered in one place, were dozens of young men and women from Dunelker’s noble houses, united in their challenge against Lin Qi. The wager, now worth 780,000 gold coins, left Lin Qi’s expression shifting rapidly, growing more and more ashen.

After a long, uneasy hesitation, Lin Qi looked helplessly toward Gold.

“Gold, do you offer loans here? I think, if you lend me a few hundred thousand gold coins, that should suffice!”