Chapter 13: A Game to Decide Life or Death
“No wonder you were so willing to bet your life with me—you actually have this much underworld currency.”
The two versions of Xia Tianqiong, one inside the mirror and one outside, looked exactly the same, yet their expressions were entirely different. The one outside remained calm as usual, while the one inside was filled with greed, eyes fixed tightly on the gold ingots.
To the supernatural beings, underworld currency was a product refined from the power of the netherworld and could be absorbed directly without the need for further refinement. However, the purity of different underworld currencies varied; underworld gold contained the purest netherworld power, making it easier to enhance one’s strength.
Compared to human lifespan and soul, the supernatural being preferred gold.
“How do you convert gold to lifespan?” Xia Tianqiong asked.
“The rules of the ghost realm are one tael of underworld gold equals one year of life.”
Since the life-betting spirit had no underworld currency and could only wager lifespan, and Xia Tianqiong was betting with gold, they had to agree on the exchange rate beforehand.
“Then let’s begin!”
In the bathroom, the game of rock-paper-scissors resumed.
The life-betting spirit counted “one, two, three,” and both parties made their moves simultaneously.
Best two out of three rounds; Xia Tianqiong won the first round smoothly, gaining three years of life.
“Haha, this is way too easy.”
Feeling noticeably younger, Xia Tianqiong was in high spirits. “Best two out of three is too troublesome. How about one round decides the winner, with each round betting ten years of life? Are you game?”
“Of course, no problem at all.”
The life-betting spirit replied with a sly smile, inwardly delighted.
Humans really are both foolish and greedy. Just wait—I’ll win all your underworld currency and your lifespan; they will all be mine.
Song Shiqiao hurriedly dressed, preparing to flee the room. Passing by the bathroom doorway, she overheard the dialogue between the man and the spirit.
She couldn’t help but warn, “Don’t gamble any more. Once you win the first round, your body will start moving. Hurry and leave.”
Her warning was well-meaning, but Xia Tianqiong glanced at her and said, “Don’t forget to prepare the money—one billion. I want it today.”
“You only care about money? What’s more important, life or money?”
Song Shiqiao completely forgot how she had previously succumbed to temptation.
Initially, she planned to leave immediately; if this man died here, she wouldn’t have to pay anything.
Yet her curiosity was piqued.
This man had suddenly appeared in the room without any explanation or sound.
Could it be, like the thing in the mirror, he was also one of those supernatural beings?
Or perhaps a rare and extraordinary individual?
Song Shiqiao’s family wielded great influence, and occasionally she had heard of such people.
A glimmer of hope suddenly flickered in her heart.
If this young man could deal with the spirit in the mirror, perhaps he could also help her restore her lifespan.
---
Xia Tianqiong ignored Song Shiqiao and continued the game.
He had triggered the death rule; from now on, he had to either win against the opponent or find a way to break the rule, or else he would die.
After more than ten rounds, winning more than losing, he gradually returned to the appearance of an eighteen-year-old.
“Haha, my luck really is good. Feeling young again is wonderful.”
Now he had won some forty to fifty years of life. If he truly reversed aging, he might revert to a cellular state.
However, perhaps due to rule protection, once he appeared as a seventeen- or eighteen-year-old, his outward form no longer changed, but his internal functions continued to strengthen.
He looked vibrant and full of energy.
Inside the mirror, the life-betting spirit revealed a barely perceptible cold smile. The time had come to close the net.
Just like with Song Shiqiao before, winning first then losing—this time would be the same.
Suddenly, Xia Tianqiong laughed, “This is taking too long. Don’t you know when you want to stop? Tell me how much lifespan you have left, and we’ll settle it in one round.”
“One round to decide life or death?”
The life-betting spirit was a bit stunned. Was this man so eager to die?
“You tell me how much lifespan you have left, and I’ll wager an equal amount of gold. Let’s bet the final round.”
As soon as Xia Tianqiong finished speaking, the spirit’s eyes widened and the corners of its mouth lifted.
Song Shiqiao, peeking from outside the door with only half her head visible, suddenly shouted, “Are you crazy? You’re just asking for death!”
“How could that be? Haven’t you seen my luck is especially good?”
“But you don’t win every round. What if you lose the next one?”
“It doesn’t matter. I have plenty of money.”
Xia Tianqiong responded to Song Shiqiao, then turned to urge the spirit, “Come on, how much lifespan do you have left to bet?”
“Human, although you have some underworld currency, it’s not enough for me to wager all my lifespan. If you want to bet the final round, I agree—put all your underworld currency and lifespan on the line!”
The life-betting spirit sneered arrogantly.
This man had just taken out a handful of gold, probably only a few dozen taels. Even adding his entire lifespan, it was nowhere near enough to make the spirit bet all its life.
Song Shiqiao sighed softly, “Is that all?”
She had thought he was some extraordinary individual.
But after all this time, it was just luck, nothing special. And like her before, the more he gambled, the more irrational and reckless he became.
“Fine, I’ll put all my gold on the table. Hopefully, you have enough lifespan.”
Xia Tianqiong smiled and pulled out a dozen or so gold ingots of various sizes from his pocket, placing them in the sink in front of the mirror.
The life-betting spirit glanced at them and sneered, “That’s only about thirty or forty taels. Even adding all your lifespan now, it’s just around one hundred seventy to one hundred eighty years. It’s still far from enough for me to wager my entire lifespan!”
“Don’t be in such a hurry! There’s more.”
Saying this, Xia Tianqiong bent down and opened the cabinet under the sink.
Inside sat a chubby baby holding two gold ingots.
---
Xia Tianqiong first patted the baby's head to soothe it, then took the gold ingots and placed them in the sink.
There was too much gold, too heavy to carry all at once, but fortunately, he had the supernatural baby.
He could have the baby teleport directly from inside his body back to the room to fetch the gold and then teleport back.
The life-betting spirit inside the mirror couldn’t see this, but Song Shiqiao outside the door could.
She nearly screamed. How could there be a baby in there?
The baby saw her too, smiled sweetly, then suddenly vanished.
Less than two seconds later, the baby reappeared, holding another two gold ingots.
Song Shiqiao was dumbfounded, at a loss for words. Today’s experiences were simply too astonishing.
Xia Tianqiong kept pulling out gold ingots, each bigger than the last.
The life-betting spirit’s expression gradually stiffened, yet its eyes were full of greed and excitement.
Its face pressed against the mirror, as if it wanted to break through and snatch all the gold away.
Then it suddenly realized a problem.
This gold probably totaled several hundred taels; it didn’t have that much lifespan.
“How much underworld gold do you actually have?”
The spirit lost all its previous arrogance.
“Not much, just eight or nine hundred taels,” Xia Tianqiong casually lied.
The spirit was momentarily stunned, then awkwardly said, “I have at most 386 years of lifespan left to wager.”
Supernatural beings are neither alive nor dead and don’t inherently possess lifespan.
But this life-betting spirit was special; other spirits could only absorb human lifespan and convert it into netherworld power. It could do the reverse—convert its own netherworld power into lifespan.
This was why the life-betting spirit had been coveted by all humans in its previous life.
Xia Tianqiong pointed at the nearly full sink of gold, dissatisfied. “I almost have four hundred taels here, and you’re only telling me now that you don’t have enough lifespan? Are you kidding me?”
“I didn’t expect you to have this much underworld gold either!”
The spirit smiled politely, but inwardly thought: Foolish human, this underworld gold will soon be mine.
When it gambled lives with humans, it didn’t rely on luck but on sorcery.
This sorcery could influence a person’s consciousness, making them play whatever move it wanted without any suspicion, as if it were their own idea.
So, in fact, the entire gambling process was under the spirit’s control.
No matter how lucky someone was, they couldn’t win against it.
“Fine, let’s bet your 386 years of lifespan. Come on.”
Xia Tianqiong urged.
The spirit smiled mysteriously. “Alright, I’ll count to three. The final round.”
Outside the door, Song Shiqiao tensed, as if she were the one inside gambling.