"Let go! That's not what I meant..." Li You was both shocked and furious, terrified that the two sides would break into a brawl and beat him to death on the spot.
"Oh, that's not what you meant? You should've said so sooner. You almost made me misunderstand you." Bai Ye released him with a smile, then sneakily glanced at the clock. 23:56.
Damn! Only one minute had passed.
Bai Ye's behavior made Li You's eyelids twitch. He looked mournfully at the black handprint left on his floral shirt.
Who said he had returned to normal? Wasn't he still crazy!? What kind of poisonous mushrooms had this kid eaten for the aftereffects to be this strong?
"Um... Little White." Tan Jie's cautious voice came from behind Bai Ye.
"Are you sure you've completely recovered? How about..."
Bai Ye had been worrying about how to stall for time, and Tan Jie had walked right into the line of fire.
His brows rose as he snapped, "How about you do it! You do it!? I hate it most when people gossip about me behind my back. If you don't trust me, then do it yourself."
Tan Jie's expression instantly stiffened. As the commander of the East District, being berated so openly made him feel utterly humiliated. He wanted nothing more than to shoot Bai Ye dead.
But he still held back. The aberrant creatures outside Gray Soil Town were watching them like tigers eyeing prey. If they still could not find someone to contain [Breath of Bones], then all of Gray Soil Town would be finished.
He forcibly suppressed his anger and kept telling himself not to lower himself to a madman's level.
"Hurry up and begin. Everyone's getting impatient. Contain the Taboo Object already." King Snake, commander of the West District, said coldly while gripping his gun.
Huff.
Li You took a deep breath, slowly calming himself as he stared at Bai Ye across from him.
Was he really crazy, or was he pretending?
Forget it. It didn't matter anymore, because next... I'll control this game!
A flash of confidence crossed his eyes, the confidence granted by more than a decade of painstaking practice in cheating techniques.
His nickname was Magic Hand, so naturally he had his own unique talents. Not only could he identify the suit of a playing card by touch, he could even turn a revolver's cylinder to the position he wanted. That meant that if he wanted the revolver to fire on a certain pull of the trigger, it would fire on that pull.
Rock-paper-scissors was even more basic. As long as he won the initiative, he could load the bullet, spin the revolver's cylinder, and then control the game.
"I'll throw scissors next." Li You said with a piercing gaze.
He deliberately revealed his strategy, engaging Bai Ye in a psychological battle.
Bai Ye did not care about any of that. His mind was entirely focused on the time. Only three minutes remained!
Damn it, why were three minutes so long?
I can only make things awkward!
At that moment, Bai Ye suddenly sneered. "Do you know that Fate Roulette has a surefire way to win?"
The moment he said this, not only did Li You freeze slightly, but the other onlookers were also stunned.
He's not taking my bait? Li You narrowed his eyes and gave a dry laugh. "A game that gambles with lives depends entirely on luck. How could there possibly be a surefire way to win?"
Bai Ye looked at him with disdain, as though he found him embarrassingly uncultured. "Just because you don't know about it doesn't mean it doesn't exist."
The youth sounded so certain that even Li You, a seasoned cheat, became somewhat doubtful. "What surefire way?"
The corners of Bai Ye's mouth lifted. "The surefire way is to let your opponent fire the first shot."
Everyone was utterly confused. That guaranteed victory? How was that possible? And then?
"What kind of joke is that? And then?" Li You looked deeply skeptical, suspecting Bai Ye was telling a terrible joke.
"And then?" Bai Ye spread his hands. "Then take the gun and give your opponent five shots."
Li You: "???"
Nothing was more frightening than sudden silence.
On the plaza packed with over a hundred people, Bai Ye's single sentence plunged the atmosphere into an icy stillness.
The facts proved that terrible jokes really could freeze a room.
"Pfft..." Someone could not hold back a laugh.
Others started cursing loudly. "What the fuck..."
"What kind of bullshit surefire method is that? Why not just say you should fire six shots at your opponent!?"
"Heh..." Li You sneered twice. "That joke wasn't funny at all. Let's play rock-paper-scissors."
Bai Ye silently watched the hand he extended. Two minutes remained.
Second by second, time passed. Li You's raised hand had begun to ache, and whispers rose all around them.
"What is Bai Ye doing? Why hasn't he started?"
"Has he had another episode?"
"What episode? He's obviously scared! He must've gotten carried away earlier and thought he could become the master of the Taboo Object, so he rushed up without thinking. But now that it's time for the real thing, the kid's chickened out."
Tan Jie's expression darkened as he tightly gripped his gun. The reason he had tolerated Bai Ye was because Bai Ye dared to come up and subdue the Taboo Object. But now Bai Ye still was not making a move. How could he continue tolerating him?
"If you're scared, then get down already. Stop embarrassing yourself here!" Li You withdrew his aching hand and said harshly.
The doubts around them grew louder and louder, yet those final two minutes still refused to pass.
Bai Ye, who was faintly becoming the target of everyone's criticism, laughed instead.
"I'm not scared. I just think this is too boring."
"Boring?" Li You frowned. "You think a game that gambles with lives is boring?"
"[Breath of Bones] has a cylinder that can hold six bullets, and there's only one loaded right now. That means there's only a one-in-six chance of dying. Isn't that boring? If we're playing, we might as well play bigger."
"How do you want to play?"
"Add more bullets, of course." The youth's words caused an uproar.
A one-in-six death rate was already enough to make people shrink back, yet none of them had expected Bai Ye to dare add more bullets.
Li You's heart sank slightly. He was indeed a cheat, and he had specifically practiced Fate Roulette. But the games he practiced usually involved only one bullet. If he rashly added another, his one-hundred-percent win rate would drop to ninety-eight percent. That was a bit too risky.
Seeing Li You hesitate, Bai Ye continued, "Do you know why you still couldn't contain [Breath of Bones] even after winning three rounds in a row?"
"Why?"
"Because you don't have the guts!"
"You motherfucker..." Li You instantly flew into a rage. "Fine! We'll add them! We'll add bullets right now!"
He picked up [Breath of Bones] and stuffed two gleaming brass bullets into it in succession, glaring furiously at Bai Ye.
"That's more like it. Only those who possess both courage and luck are qualified to contain [Breath of Bones]. But..." Bai Ye suddenly changed his tone, his eyes blazing. "It's still not enough."
"What!? Still not enough?" Cries of shock rose from the crowd.
"Two bullets aren't enough? Does Bai Ye want to play with three?"
"Gasp! Three bullets means a fifty-percent death rate."
Li You was also startled by Bai Ye's words. Three bullets would reduce his win rate to less than eighty percent. How was that any different from seeking death?
Bai Ye glanced at the time from the corner of his eye. One minute remained!
He immediately felt reassured, but his face remained cold as he said, "If you're scared, then get down already. Stop embarrassing yourself here!"
Hearing those all-too-familiar words, Li You immediately became enraged. I'm a seasoned cheat. How could I be afraid of some snot-nosed kid?
"Fine, I'll play with you."
He pushed the third bullet into the cylinder.
To his surprise, Bai Ye shook his head. "Not enough."
Li You was dumbfounded. Still not enough!? Four bullets? Was he really playing this big?
He did not quite dare meet Bai Ye's aggressively challenging gaze. His gun-holding hand began to tremble slightly, while the uproar around him threw his thoughts into turmoil. He wanted to back down, but a hard object suddenly pressed against his back.
King Snake's icy voice sounded behind him. "You know what will happen if you fail to obtain the Taboo Object."
Bai Ye stood before him, and King Snake stood behind him. Li You's retreat was completely cut off.
Humans were strange creatures. When there was nowhere left to retreat, a kind of courage known as burning one's boats would naturally arise.
Li You gritted his teeth, and his emotions quickly calmed. With steady hands, he loaded the fourth bullet.
Before you continue