Chapter 51: 51. Roulette
As someone stood up, the crowd below erupted into cheers.
The burly man's fighting spirit soared as there were many destitute people who had resorted to selling their children lately, boosting the business of his brothel. How could he allow this lowlife to mess things up?
Li Pei remained seated, her jade hand gracefully gesturing an invitation.
The burly man slowly approached, and when he was 10 meters away, he suddenly pulled out two revolvers from behind his back!
He knew he was no match, so he did not aim to kill the enemy. He just wanted to sweep away Li Pei's prestige and make her lose face—that would be enough! Hitting her with just one bullet would do!
Lu Yao was greatly curious. Even martial artists weren't that rigid, and some used guns. It was a good opportunity to broaden his knowledge.
The armed burly man didn't hesitate to pull the trigger and both guns fired, the bullets reaching their target in an instant, with several shots intentionally aimed at Li Pei's magnificent chest.
She remained seated without moving, but her body seemed to disappear into thin air. Wherever the bullets were directed, that part of her body would vanish, leaving the bullets shooting through ineffectually.
This was not an afterimage created by excessive speed, but rather Li Pei's speed did not surpass that of the bullets. She relied on the Spirit Refinement Realm to lock onto the direction of the gun barrels.
Lu Yao was greatly enlightened and praised inwardly,
Beautiful! By locking onto the direction of the gun barrels in a calm state, predicting the trajectory of the bullets, one could control their body to dodge in advance! I could do this too, what a learning experience!
~~~~~~~
The burly man emptied his bullets, yet not a single shot hit his target at point-blank range.
And the next second, his vision blurred, and before he knew it, Li Pei had already appeared beside him.
Without sound, without shadow. No one in the entire audience could see Li Pei's moves clearly!
This scene caused another stir. If you can't see it, it means she could take your life at any moment!
Fortunately, Lu Yao saw everything clearly. Not only was this woman fast, she also carried a strange whirl of air with her, which nullified all airflow and sound, no wonder she was undetectable!
This use of Inner Breath was very similar to that described in a Secret Manual named "Enigmatic Butterfly".
The burly man broke into a few beads of cold sweat but did not panic. Instead, he decisively threw away his guns and knelt on the ground: "Madam Chairman, your skills are indeed divine. I am utterly convinced and willing to serve you in any capacity from this day forward!"
In the face of such a decisive surrender, Li Pei, with a smile, picked up a revolver that had emptied its bullets, reached into the burly man's gun belt with her jade hand, and took out a .45 bullet.
"You fired so many shots at me, we can't just let it go at that. Let's play a game of 'Russian roulette', shall we?"
Li Pei opened the cylinder of the revolver, dumped out the spent casings, and then placed a bullet into one chamber, spinning the cylinder for a few seconds before snapping it shut.
This was none other than the infamous "Russian Roulette" game, well-known even on Blue Star!
The burly man knew of this cruel game and pleaded frantically, "Commandery Princess, Madam Chairman, I've conceded, you are magnanimous, please don't stoop to my level..."
Li Pei aimed the gun at her own head: "One shot each, I'll go first." After saying that, she pulled the trigger.
In the expectant gazes of countless people, there was a "click," the hammer fell on an empty chamber, and nothing happened.
Then, Li Pei pointed the gun at the burly man's forehead and said with a light chuckle, "If you die, it means Heaven has called for you~"
With that, she pulled the trigger. The cylinder spun, the hammer fell, and a loud "bang" sounded!
A bloody hole appeared in the burly man's head, and a mass of brain matter sprayed out from the back as he collapsed to the ground.
"Tsk tsk, I can't be blamed for this. It seems like your brothel has collected many resentful spirits, and retribution has come," Li Pei said.
Carelessly discarding the gun, she moved lightly back to her seat with poised elegance.
She even glanced at Lu Yao, placed a finger on her lips, and quietly made a "shh" gesture.
Lu Yao knew what she meant, she had cheated! With her sustained calm state and the physical qualities of a Blood-Exchange Warrior, she could clearly see the spinning of the cylinder and control the "Russian Roulette," ensuring the burly man's inevitable death.
As a practitioner of sustained calm himself, Lu Yao understood all too well.
~~~~~~~~
Li Pei looked over the arena, adjusted her tie, and her icy voice carried throughout the venue:
"Our dynasty favors martial artists, not asking you to join the battlefield and serve the country, but neither can you collude with outsiders to bring disaster upon the region!"
Having said that, she picked up a stack of papers from the table and flung them into the crowd, scattering like snowflakes all over the place.
Those who caught them saw the words "Life-and-Death Agreement" written boldly on top, with Li Pei's signature and seal below, and a large blank space in the middle for anyone to fill in!
"This is a blank life-and-death agreement, I've already signed my name. Those who disagree can challenge me to a duel to the death."
Everyone was inwardly amazed by the woman's assertiveness. The blank space meant "no matter how you come at me, I will take it on."
Seeing a powerful Government Office now overseeing them, everyone felt somewhat displeased, but they were overwhelmed by authority and strength, so they could only tolerate it.
Yet those with astute minds were already considering throwing their lot in with this decisive Commandery Princess.
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Sun Haoran slowly stood up, clasped his hands in front of him, and said, "I am willing to follow Chairman Li's lead without question." Surprisingly, he was the first to submit.
Ignoring the various looks from the crowd, he stood there, unperturbed.
[No matter what, secure a position on the board first. Being the first to submit, I'm paying handsomely for a horse's loyalty. She will surely favor me.]
Soon, other shrewd individuals caught on to this, one after another expressing their willingness to "follow Chairman Li's instructions," and the situation suddenly became much livelier.
~~~~~~~~
In the midst of this bustling scene, Li Pei observed the Marrow-Cleansing Realm martial master who had the appearance of a schoolteacher, with a look of amusement.
Liao Ya couldn't stand to see her opponent gaining the upper hand, and suddenly stood up, exclaiming, "Sun Haoran, let's settle our business."
The crowd looked towards the two, recalling there was still this unresolved issue.
Li Pei also wore an interested expression, as the eunuch Zhang Jin quietly explained the details of the situation to her.
Sun Haoran indifferently said, "In the presence of Chairman Li, I won't stoop to your level. Let's call it quits."
Liao Qe scornfully said, "You have the gall to back out of an agreement you made in public? Are you, a Marrow-Cleansing warrior, afraid of me, an Organ Refining warrior!"
Her provocation was quite naive, and she seemed too eager, making it obvious to anyone.
The young girl had reviewed her entire cultivation process with the help of Lu Yao's Color Ultrasound Instrument and was eager to challenge her foe.
The old hand, Sun Haoran, frowned. This girl looked too excited and expectant, something was off, and with Luo Su and the others gone without return, there was definitely something fishy going on!
So he called out to Li Pei:
"Chairman Li, the National Martial Arts Association is newly founded. Although I am of the Marrow-Cleansing Realm, it is not suitable to engage in strife with my peers. Please make a decision!"
He thought it was a perfect opportunity to woo him, a Marrow-Cleansing expert, and that Li Pei would surely support him.
But to his surprise, her phoenix eyes arched, and she instead said, "Since it was agreed upon publicly, a martial artist should keep their word as steadfast as a mountain. Why not settle it today instead of picking another date? I will be the witness, let's resolve your grudge today!"
Many martial artists who loved to watch the excitement immediately started cheering and making a racket.
Li Pei returned to the Eight Immortals table, had the eunuch prepare ink and paper, and wrote out a life-and-death agreement with beautiful, small script on the spot,
with the same terms as the previous duel, simply changing the names.
Under these circumstances, the battle today became unavoidable, and Sun Haoran took a deep breath to quickly adjust his state.
His face still showed indifference to fame and fortune, yet his entire demeanor had shifted to that of a fugitive as seen in wanted posters, staring intently at Liao Ya.
~~~~~~~
The crowd put aside their ponderings, ready to watch this unique fight.
Normally speaking, an Organ Refining Warrior could hardly defeat a Marrow-Cleansing Warrior.
Organ Refining Warriors have the strength of a crouching tiger, with punches and kicks exerting a force of 3,000 jin.
Marrow-Cleansing Warriors possess the strength of an elephant, with no less than 6,000 jin to their name.
There was once a tug of war where 20 strong men were pitted against a single Marrow-Cleansing Warrior and suffered a miserable defeat, all of them pulled to the ground.
However, Master Liao had previously demonstrated peak Organ Refining strength in her bouts, making it hard to predict the winner.