Cui Jiuyang had originally intended to place the bet himself and let Master Tiger watch from the sidelines.
He had not expected these rules. It seemed Master Tiger would have to participate too if he wanted to stay with him.
For a moment, the gamblers wore all manner of expressions.
Some gathered with acquaintances in groups of three or five, whispering and conferring in low voices; others frowned in solitary thought, looking troubled.
Still others closed their eyes in concentration, seemingly revisiting what they had experienced in the Illusion Realm.
Everyone privately analyzed that fragment of memory, trying to deduce which kind of suffering the "poor devil" himself considered the worst.
The protagonist of the incident was a dyehouse laborer. At the outset, his fingertips were ulcerated, and every time the viewpoint shook, he seemed to be coughing. This hinted at-sickness suffering.
He had been born poor and toiled day and night for meager wages, struggling even to raise money for his mother's medicine or the betrothal gifts needed to marry. This was-the suffering of birth.
His gravely ill mother needed money for medicine, and the girl he loved awaited betrothal gifts, yet he could do nothing. This was clearly-the suffering of unfulfilled desires.
All three were possible. Moreover, the later mention of approaching warfare and his greedy intention to steal left his future fate uncertain, adding another variable.
The key was that the wager concerned which kind of suffering the poor devil himself considered the worst.
What all the gamblers were betting on was his heart.
If this man valued money above all else and cared only for profit, unfulfilled desires might hurt him most.
If he knew how to care for himself, sickness suffering might be worse.
If life had long been unbearably painful for him, then the