Hearing Zhang Xiaohua speak like this, Chen Fengxiao was quite pleased. He nodded and said: “Since little brother has said so, I won’t decline. Little brother, come closer and lend me your ear.”

Zhang Xiaohua stepped forward as told and listened while Chen Fengxiao quietly explained the arrangements.

After hearing the plan, Zhang Xiaohua’s expression turned rather strange. He said curiously: “Boss Chen, your arrangement is indeed ingenious, but yesterday Wu Dalang…”

Before Chen Fengxiao could speak, Qiu Weicheng cut in: “Boss Chen, people all say I’m the strategist of our Herb Division at Tianmu Peak, but today I finally realize—you are the true mastermind of our Herb Division.”

That bit of flattery pulled Chen Fengxiao out of his earlier gloom, and a faint smile appeared on his face.

Seeing that Zhang Xiaohua still didn’t quite understand, Qiu Weicheng smiled and said: “Little brother, think about it. Yesterday in the dining hall, although all the conflict was caused by you, and Wu Dalang of the Pill Division pointed the spearhead of the wager directly at you, have you considered this—if you were to face all ten of their Ten Vajras one by one, would you be willing? That would be a wheel battle. Not to mention whether you could defeat those strongest opponents—even exhaustion alone would wear you to death.”

Zhang Xiaohua curled his lips, inwardly unconvinced: “That may not be the case. Each of those ten people is worth fifty taels of gold—I’d rather they all come at once!”

Qiu Weicheng continued: “Brother Ren is a disciple of our Herb Division, and Boss Chen has been entrusted to arrange all related matters. Doesn’t that elevate Brother Ren’s personal matter to the level of the entire Herb Division? Since it’s now a wager between our Herb Division and the Pill Division, Boss Chen’s arrangement is only natural.”

At once, Zhang Xiaohua understood and gave a thumbs-up. “Boss Chen is truly formidable. I suppose that Wu Dalang is probably racking his brains right now over who to send out this afternoon?”

“Not at all, not at all,” Chen Fengxiao shook his head with a smile. “That’s not called racking his brains—that’s called being at his wits’ end!”

Zhang Xiaohua and Qiu Weicheng both burst into laughter. “Exactly, exactly.”

Indeed, in the usual wagers between the Pill Division and the Herb Division, the stakes were always medicinal pills. Although those were a kind of hard currency, the Pill Division specialized in refining pills, so everyone had at least some on hand. Even if they won some herbs from the Herb Division, they were merely materials for pill refining, and the attraction wasn’t particularly high. But this time, the stakes of the wager were actually… actually gold leaves! Forget stepping onto the stage—just hearing about it was enough to make one drool.

As soon as the Ten Vajras heard that the wager would begin that very afternoon and that Zhang Xiaohua would be taking the stage, they all rushed early in the morning to Wu Dalang’s hall, scrambling to seize the chance to go first.

Only to hear Cheng Shi, his wind-leaking mouth wide open, complaining bitterly: “Dalang, just give your little brother a chance. Didn’t you see how miserable I was yesterday? Oh, right—even now my mouth hasn’t stopped swelling. The fifty taels of gold I had in hand were even taken back by that brat. If I don’t go up in the first match and properly teach him a lesson, how can I swallow this anger?”

Wu Dalang was helpless. He stared at Cheng Shi for a long while before saying, “Wasn’t yesterday’s beating enough for you? Why are you still thinking of going up to get beaten again today? Since you weren’t his match yesterday, won’t you just get thrashed again if you go up today? Yesterday’s loss is one thing, but today you’re representing our Pill Division. Can you really handle it?”

Cheng Shi slapped his chest and said: “Dalang, rest assured. Yesterday was just carelessness. I never expected that brat would actually dare to make a move. The people of the Herb Division have always been all smiles and bows in the dining hall—who would’ve thought he… hehe. But since it’s a proper match today, I’ll definitely go all out and bring glory to our Pill Division!”

Before he could finish speaking, someone walked in, shoved him aside, and mocked: “With your martial skill, do you think I don’t know you? If you can win, then I can win even more easily. Wouldn’t it be more certain if I went up instead? Don’t you think so, Dalang?”

Seeing who it was, Cheng Shi didn’t dare argue and only said: “Oh? Ninth Brother has arrived? Didn’t you go down the mountain yesterday? How come you’re back so early today?”

Ninth Brother glanced at Cheng Shi and said with a smile: “I heard last night that you got beaten. Which of the Ten Vajras of our Pill Division isn’t someone who walks Tianmu Peak sideways? That newly arrived brat from the Herb Division actually dared to touch a tiger’s tail—how could Ninth Brother not stand up for you? Just wait and see how I deal with him.”

Cheng Shi’s face turned bitter. He had come early in the morning to block Wu Zhouxu’s door precisely to secure the spot before the others knew. Now that even Ninth Brother, who had gone out, had returned, there was no need to mention the rest.

So he could only turn his head and say: “Dalang, since Ninth Brother is willing to avenge me, I naturally wouldn’t dare compete with him for this chance. It’s just… since your little brother was injured yesterday, the gold leaves Ninth Brother wins… hehe, perhaps you could consider sharing some with me?”

Before Wu Dalang could speak, another voice came from outside the door: “Tenth Brother’s words are not quite right. Since this is a wager, the stakes naturally belong to whoever goes up to fight. As for your injuries, they can be made up with medicinal pills.”

The three raised their heads, and the one who entered was the Sixth among the Ten Vajras. He glanced at Ninth Brother and Cheng Shi, cupped his hands, and said: “You two brothers are truly early. I thought I’d be the first to arrive.”

Seeing him enter, the two naturally knew his purpose and returned the greeting somewhat unhappily.

Sixth Brother then said to Wu Zhouxu: “Dalang, the candidate to fight that brat from the Herb Division hasn’t been decided yet, right? If those two go up, how could it be as reliable as me going? You’d better let me take the stage.”

Looking at Sixth Brother, who had rushed over eagerly, Wu Zhouxu’s face no longer showed much expression. He said weakly: “Forget it, don’t argue for now. When all you brothers have arrived, we’ll discuss it together…”

Sure enough, not long after, the Ten Vajras of the Pill Division—who were usually only seen around noon—had all gathered in the main hall.

The ten of them looked at one another and all gave a “heh heh” laugh. Without saying more, they found seats and sat down, quietly waiting for Wu Zhouxu to speak.

Just as Chen Fengxiao had said, Wu Zhouxu was indeed at his wits’ end. If he let Cheng Shi go up, it would be justified, but that fellow had no confidence whatsoever and was more likely to be kicked off the stage. Yet if he sent the most reliable Eldest Brother, the other eight Vajras would certainly be dissatisfied.

Sigh, it was obvious—this was fifty taels of gold, not the usual medicinal pills.

Looking at the Ten Vajras seated below in two rows, then at the desire in their eyes and the hostility in their exchanged glances, Wu Zhouxu gave a bitter smile. “This gold really is a damnable thing.”

After thinking for a while, Wu Zhouxu still couldn’t come up with a good solution. Whoever he named would inevitably offend the others. He could only clear his throat and say, “Brothers, I know why everyone has come today. There’s no need to say more. I have no way to designate who goes and who doesn’t. Let’s do it the same as before—we’ll draw lots.”

The crowd looked at one another. The Eldest was the first to stand up and said: “Dalang, we’ve always drawn lots in the past—there’s nothing new about that. Besides, this brat from the Herb Division dared to slap our Pill Division in the face on his very first day. We must recover our dignity. In this first match, we must display momentum, display might, display… that spirit and bearing, hehe. Therefore, I think we must send someone with absolute confidence to take the stage. Only then can that brat understand the strength of our Pill Division and learn to keep his distance whenever he encounters us in the future. What do you think?”

Before Wu Zhouxu could speak, the Second Brother beside him grew dissatisfied and jumped out, saying: “Eldest Brother, don’t be so hasty. Why use an ox-cleaving blade to kill a chicken? Just let your Second Brother handle this. I’m completely confident as well—truly. These past few days, I’ve practiced a few new tricks, just in time to let that brat witness something formidable.”

The Eldest laughed and said: “Second Brother, it’s not that your elder brother looks down on you, but this first match concerns the face of our Pill Division. How about you first show your tricks to your elder brother, and then we’ll talk about taking the stage?”

How could Second Brother back down? He rolled up his sleeves and said, “Then let Dalang see for himself who is the most suitable!”

Seeing that the two were about to start fighting, Wu Zhouxu shouted: “Sit down, all of you! I haven’t even finished speaking—what has this turned into? It’s just fifty taels of gold, yet look at each and every one of you—your eyes are filled only with gold, no longer with your brothers!”

“Hehe.” The two laughed and sat back down.

Third Brother and the others were about to speak as well, but Wu Zhouxu quickly raised his hand and said: “Stop, all of you stop. Let me finish first.”

The crowd had no choice but to sit. Wu Zhouxu said: “I know everyone wants to contribute to our Pill Division, but this first match is of great importance. I had originally already selected a candidate with absolute confidence…”

Hearing this, the Eldest puffed out his chest and said, “Then let’s follow Dalang’s decision. I absolutely support Dalang.”

A chorus of “tsk” sounds immediately rose from the others.

Wu Zhouxu continued: “But since everyone wants to be the first to go up, and our Pill Division places great importance on fairness, for this first match, I still decided to use drawing lots to select the candidate…” Seeing that everyone was about to speak again, he hurriedly waved his hand and said, “However, this drawing of lots will only decide the first match—the remaining nine matches we’ll discuss separately!”

Everyone was taken aback and immediately began muttering inwardly: “What difference is there between this and drawing all ten matches at once?”

Seeing that no one spoke, Wu Zhouxu smiled and said: “Since no one objects, then it’s settled. However, there’s one more matter. The stake for the first match is fifty taels of gold. I know that some of you may not have enough medicinal pills on hand to match that value. Normally, our Pill Division could cover it for you, but today that won’t do. If anyone doesn’t have enough pills, speak up now. Don’t wait until you lose and can’t produce them—that would be a disgrace to the Pill Division.”

Several among the ten were immediately stunned. In the past, they always had the Pill Division backing them—even without enough pills, they could still go up. But today… Yet after quite some time, no one withdrew.

Wu Zhouxu had no choice but to say: “Cheng Shi, go prepare the lots.”

Not long after, Cheng Shi brought over the rolled paper slips and said, “Dalang, only one of them has ink marks inside. Whoever draws it will be the one.”

“Mm, good.” Wu Zhouxu took them, counted carefully, then frowned and asked, “Why did you only make ten lots?”