Lifespan Game

"Fight the Landlord?" Lu Ziyou's expression turned a little strange.

Gu Baishui was even more taken aback. Then he shook his head. "I've never heard of it."

The Red-Robed Judge, seated behind the table, suddenly rolled up his sleeves and pulled a deck of black-backed, white-faced cards from his pocket.

"The rules are actually very simple. It's just a card game. Each round has two farmers and one landlord. If either farmer wins, they both win; the landlord has to win alone to take everything."

"But the three of us are playing a little differently. The stakes are lifespans. Each of you has three thousand years, and once it's used up, it's gone."

Lu Ziyou furrowed his brows and asked, "What about you?"

"Of course, it's the same for me. As long as you win all my lifespan, that counts as your victory."

"What happens if our lifespans run out?"

The Red-Robed Judge looked at Lu Ziyou expressionlessly. "When your lifespan runs out, naturally, you die."

Outside the window, night rain drifted down. Inside the room, two youths and a Red-Robed Judge gathered around a table.

The Red-Robed Judge cut the cards between his hands and briefly explained the rules of Fight the Landlord to Gu Baishui.

Just as thunder outside the window split the night sky, the first round of Fight the Landlord began.

"I'll be the landlord. Three hundred years."

The Red-Robed Judge stated his stake calmly. Lu Ziyou and Gu Baishui could also bid to become the landlord, but they had to wager more than the Judge.

Gu Baishui glanced at his cards and thought for a moment, then shook his head. "I won't bid."

Lu Ziyou looked at the cards in his hand. He hesitated a little, but still didn't bid against the Red-Robed Judge.

The Red-Robed Judge sighed without trying to hide it, seeming a little disappointed. He turned over his bottom cards and laid them out on the table.

Lu Ziyou glanced at the cards without showing it. Two Queens and a King-not bad, and not good news.

But what left him even more speechless and uncomfortable was that his farmer teammate, Gu Baishui, hadn't even looked at the bottom cards on the table.

He was simply staring intently at his own cards, looking as though he were deep in thought.

How could they win if he wasn't keeping track of the cards?

Lu Ziyou felt a little speechless, but there was nothing he could do. After all, Gu Baishui looked like he'd never played cards before.

As expected, Gu Baishui barely understood the rules or basic patterns of Fight the Landlord, while the Red-Robed Judge had good luck with his cards. He won the first round with ease.

The two youths each lost three hundred years of lifespan.

With a slight lift of his brush, the Red-Robed Judge made a few marks in the Book of Life and Death, then began the second round.

"I'll be the landlord again. Three hundred years."

Gu Baishui remained silent and shook his head. "I won't bid."

Lu Ziyou's cards in the second round were indeed terrible. He could barely see any high cards, so he still didn't bid to become the landlord.

Just like that, the Red-Robed Judge won again, taking six hundred years of their lifespans.

But what made Lu Ziyou's expression turn ugly was that Gu Baishui, who hadn't bid to become the landlord, actually had an exceptionally good hand. Not only could he make consecutive pairs, but they were all high cards.

With such a good hand, he still lost the round.

Lu Ziyou's brows knitted tightly. He sensed that something was wrong. If things continued like this, the two of them wouldn't win a single round. They would both lose all their lifespans and die here.

As expected, Gu Baishui still didn't bid to become the landlord in the third round.

The situation was almost a repeat of the second round. The Red-Robed Judge took everything from both sides, collecting six hundred years of their lifespans.

"Oh, right. I forgot to tell you something."

The Red-Robed Judge smiled placidly, as though he'd just remembered something. "The Book of Life and Death in my hands isn't just a prop to make things look official. It's a primordial sacred artifact connected to life and death. The lifespans the two of you lost are truly gone."

"There are no refunds."

Lu Ziyou was instantly horrified, a chill rising over him again and again.

According to the Red-Robed Judge, if his lifespan had really been stolen by that eerie Book of Life and Death without him noticing, didn't that mean that even if he survived tonight, he might not have long to live?

A bead of cold sweat ran down his temple. Lu Ziyou's expression shifted between light and dark for a long while. Then he narrowed his eyes ominously, seeming to have made some kind of decision.

Gu Baishui, beside him, had no particular reaction. He continued sitting steadily on his Prayer Mat, even looking a little distracted.

The candle flame in the room flickered.

The cards were dealt into three hands, and the fourth round began.

This time, Lu Ziyou's hand was quite good. He had consecutive pairs, a straight, and a little bomb consisting of four sixes.

The Red-Robed Judge still called landlord and wagered three hundred years.

Gu Baishui propped his chin up with one hand and said, "Pass."

"Four hundred years. I'll bid for landlord."

This was Lu Ziyou's first attempt. The Red-Robed Judge paused, but only smiled and didn't bid again.

Lu Ziyou's eyes shifted slightly as he reached his right hand toward the three bottom cards on the table.

But at that moment, a calm young man's voice suddenly sounded beside him.

"Five hundred years."

"You..."

Lu Ziyou turned his head with an ugly expression and stared for a few moments at the youth who had cut in halfway through.

"Are you going to bid?" Gu Baishui asked in return.

"Six hundred years."

"Seven hundred years."

Lu Ziyou had barely finished speaking when Gu Baishui immediately called out the higher bid, without the slightest hesitation.

Lu Ziyou didn't understand. He narrowed his eyes at Gu Baishui. "Are you doing this on purpose?"

"Yeah. Isn't it obvious?"

"What's your reason?"

Gu Baishui raised his brows and looked at Lu Ziyou. "What do you think? Isn't it obvious?"

"There are two Immortal Platform Realm cultivators at this table, and one Mighty One above the Saint Realm. Did you really think you could use up the Judge's lifespan?"

"That's impossible."

Gu Baishui chuckled. "It's true that there are three people playing, but from the very beginning, you and I were the only opponents in this wager. The game can only end when one person's lifespan runs out."

The Red-Robed Judge turned his head and glanced at Gu Baishui. He said nothing, but he didn't deny it either.

Lu Ziyou was taken aback. He really hadn't thought of that; he'd simply treated the Judge as his greatest opponent.

Thinking it over carefully, what Gu Baishui said did make sense.

"But you understood that from the start. Why didn't you bid to become the landlord yourself and let him win a full nine hundred years of our lifespans?"

Lu Ziyou couldn't understand. By that logic, only he and Gu Baishui had any reason to bid for landlord.

The Red-Robed Judge was merely a tool for filling out the game. There was no need to give him their lifespans for nothing.

"Because I like it."

Gu Baishui tilted his head slightly. His eyes were as calm as a pool of dead water.

"Having too much lifespan isn't really useful. Wouldn't this game get more exciting if you waited a little longer to bid for landlord, until our lifespans were cut in half?"