A Bet of One Hundred Gold Coins

Huo Yuhao thought for a moment and said, "No problem, I can lend it to you. But are you sure you can handle the rest of them?"

Xiao Wu said proudly, "Of course. I'm no pushover!"

"Fine." Huo Yuhao nodded. As a Work-Study Student, there was no way he could stay out of this. If Xiao Wu could handle most of them, Huo Yuhao would be more than happy to take it easy.

Then Huo Yuhao said, "Everyone, hurry back to the dormitory and get yourselves ready. We'll go to the Back Mountain together at noon."

"Okay!" Wang Sheng and the others replied.

Noon.

Huo Yuhao and the others did not go to the cafeteria for lunch. Instead, they headed straight for the Back Mountain.

The Back Mountain was outside Nuoding Academy, a small hill with a patch of woods on it.

By the time Huo Yuhao and the others reached the woods, Xiao Chenyu was already waiting there with a group of people.

The number of people beside Xiao Chenyu was somewhat beyond Huo Yuhao's expectations—there were nearly thirty of them.

Huo Yuhao's side, on the other hand, had only eleven or twelve people.

Xiao Wu strode at the front, with Huo Yuhao, Wang Sheng, and the others gathered around her.

When Xiao Chenyu saw Xiao Wu, his face filled with contempt and disdain. "I thought you were too scared to come."

Xiao Wu was equally disdainful. "We were too scared to come? What a joke. Whoever doesn't dare come is you!"

Xiao Chenyu: "..."

What the hell...

Xiao Chenyu flew into a rage. "Little girl, you really ought to find out who Boss Xiao is. In Nuoding City, even if I walked sideways, no one would dare stop me! And you dare provoke me like this? In a moment, I'll beat your teeth all over the ground!"

"You dare walk sideways in Nuoding City?" Xiao Wu said incredulously. "I remember only idiots walk sideways. Right, Yuhao?"

Huo Yuhao shook his head. "I see it differently. I think it should be three idiots."

Xiao Wu immediately nodded. "You're right."

Xiao Wu and Huo Yuhao's back-and-forth nearly made Xiao Chenyu explode with rage. He roared, "Shut up, both of you!"

Huo Yuhao said blandly, "If you want to fight, then fight. Why are you talking so much nonsense? You can't beat us at trash talk."

Xiao Chenyu said, "Then let's begin! You only have around ten people, so I won't take advantage of you. Each side will send out ten people, taking turns to fight. As long as a fighter wins, they can continue fighting the next opponent, until everyone on one side has been defeated."

Huo Yuhao looked at his own side, then at the people behind Xiao Chenyu, and sneered. "You're quite good at playing little tricks."

Everyone Xiao Chenyu had brought was an upper-year student. Huo Yuhao's side, meanwhile, already consisted of nearly more than half the Work-Study Students' strength. Yet their members ranged unevenly from third to sixth grade, not to mention Huo Yuhao and Xiao Wu, who both looked very young.

Xiao Chenyu probably thought that since Xiao Wu could be the leader of the Work-Study Students, she had to be stronger than Wang Sheng, and he was not confident he could defeat her. Among the Work-Study Students, aside from Xiao Wu, only Wang Sheng had any real skill. The people under him were all fairly strong; they could wear those two down even if they had to grind them down bit by bit.

Huo Yuhao could hear Xiao Chenyu's calculations from a mile away.

Xiao Wu had originally wanted to agree right away, but after hearing Huo Yuhao's words, she thought it over. She, too, realized there was a gap in strength between the two sides, but she had confidence of her own.

Her eyes shifted as she said, "Boss Xiao, do you dare take another bet?"

Xiao Chenyu asked curiously, "What bet?"

Xiao Wu said, "Our previous wager was that whoever loses becomes the other side's lackey. I'll add another condition: whoever loses gives the winning side one hundred Gold Soul Coins. Dare you take it?"

When Huo Yuhao heard Xiao Wu's words, he could not help frowning. "Do you have any money?"

Xiao Wu replied righteously, "You do!"

"..." Huo Yuhao was nearly stunned by her utterly justified tone. "My money is my money, not yours! Besides, I need my money for things. Why are you using my money as a wager?"

"It's only one hundred Gold Soul Coins. Once I have money in the future, I'll pay you back..." Seeing Huo Yuhao's dark expression, Xiao Wu hurriedly added, "At worst, count it as me borrowing it from you. I'll put myself up as collateral. If I lose the money, I'll belong to you. Is that okay?"

Huo Yuhao's expression changed when he heard that, and he quickly stopped Xiao Wu from continuing. "Enough, enough. I'll lend it to you. You don't need to put yourself up as collateral..."

As he spoke, Huo Yuhao took out the bag of coins he had just obtained that morning, removed the extra coins, then tossed the pouch containing exactly one hundred coins to Xiao Wu.

Sure enough, Xiao Chenyu spoke up at that moment. "Do you have any money? You poor Work-Study Students, what are you going to use to bet against me?"

His tone was filled with disdain.

Xiao Wu curled her lips into a smile and opened the pouch just enough to show Xiao Chenyu the gleaming gold coins inside. "Who doesn't have a hundred Gold Soul Coins? Don't tell me you don't?"

Xiao Chenyu's face immediately flushed red.

He did have one hundred Gold Soul Coins, but he could not possibly carry all his money on him. He had stored it in several different places, and he currently had fewer than fifty gold coins on him.

Xiao Chenyu immediately called out, "Take out all the money you have on you and pool together one hundred Gold Soul Coins for me! We absolutely cannot let this little girl look down on us!"

After pooling their money, the nearly thirty upper-year students barely managed to gather one hundred Gold Soul Coins.

Once Xiao Chenyu had the hundred Gold Soul Coins, he immediately held his head high again. "A bet it is! Who's afraid of who?"

The two sides took their positions. Xiao Chenyu looked at someone behind him and said, "Liu Long, you go first."

A tall upper-year student immediately stepped forward.

Xiao Wu turned and looked at Wang Sheng and the others. Before she could speak, Wang Sheng gritted his teeth and said, "Sister Xiao Wu, let me go first. I have a grudge against this Liu Long!"

Rather than agreeing immediately, Xiao Wu looked toward Huo Yuhao with an inquiring gaze.

Huo Yuhao's brows rose slightly. He had not expected Xiao Wu to consider his opinion.

Huo Yuhao said indifferently, "If Wang Sheng wants to take the lead, let him go. The two of us can hold the line."

Only then did Xiao Wu nod. "Go."

Wang Sheng took a deep breath, walked to the space between both sides, and shouted, "Liu Long, come on!"

"A defeated opponent dares provoke me? Just watch how I beat you so badly today that you won't be able to get out of bed for three days!" Liu Long sneered. Yellow light lit up in his hand, and a long staff over two meters in length instantly appeared in his palm.

Light also shone from Wang Sheng's body. With a tiger's roar, he charged forward.

Bang!

Liu Long's staff smashed into Wang Sheng's crossed arms, leaving a bloody mark.

Wang Sheng could not help letting out a muffled groan as he reached out to grab Liu Long's staff.

Liu Long said disdainfully, "After fighting me for so long, you still haven't learned your lesson. This is my martial soul. Do you think you can grab hold of my martial soul?"

With a thought from Liu Long, the staff that Wang Sheng was about to grab suddenly vanished. It then reappeared in Liu Long's hand and struck Wang Sheng in the chest with a bang!