Chapter 1 Victory?

"Has a victor been decided?"

Looking at the silent and eerie scene on the arena, the two sides below didn't even dare to breathe.

The Xinghun (Soul Punishment) School's methods were simply too bizarre. Killing a pig from start to finish without it feeling pain or trying to escape was already extremely strange. Now, even its head had been cut off, yet the pig was still alive and could even eat grass.

This extremely impactful scene made everyone on both sides feel their scalps tingle. If she could do this to a pig, couldn't she do it to a person?

Those who had been captivated by Miss Sweet Potato's beauty and cuteness on the stage just moments ago were now wide awake.

Looking at her again, they felt an indescribable eerie and sinister aura.

At the same time, some people looked at the old man in camouflage, feeling only despair.

There was a saying in the Jianghu that stage magic could counter Xinghun, so the Red Lantern Brothel had invited an old master of stage magic to the stage. However, whether it worked or not depended on the situation.

It was now obvious that it would be difficult. From the beginning, the old man in colorful clothes had merely struggled to keep up with Sweet Potato's effortless spellcasting. It was clear that he was at a disadvantage in this duel.

And now, Sweet Potato had suddenly used her ultimate technique, cutting off the pig's head.

No matter what he did, he probably couldn't come up with a method more brilliant than Sweet Potato's. This round was already destined to be lost.

Seeing him sitting there with his eyes closed, the Green Shirt Gang was about to cheer, only a breath away, while the Red Lantern Brothel was in low spirits, everyone feeling an invisible pressure, as if a mountain was weighing on their hearts, unsure of what the future held.

Would it really end in a draw?

The Red Lantern Madam wouldn't accept that.

Only Hu Ma, standing below the stage, frowned, vaguely feeling that things might not be so simple.

After all, Erguotou (Double Distilled Liquor) had known something all along. There was no way anything he personally arranged would end in defeat, right?

Sure enough, just when everyone below the stage thought that the old man in colorful clothes seemed to have no choice but to admit defeat, he suddenly raised his head, sighing deeply as if regretting something.

Then, he took out a roll of cloth from his bosom, with some strange runes attached to it. He tore off the runes and unrolled the cloth.

Many people below the stage craned their necks, staring with wide eyes, and saw that the cloth contained rows of needles and thread.

The needles looked like ordinary needles, some large, some small, made of a gray-black material, like those used by people in tailor shops.

The thread was black, in clumps, and it was impossible to tell what it was made of. However, it could be seen that there were not many, only a few clumps.

The old man in colorful clothes silently glanced at Sweet Potato and sighed softly, "Little girl, you have great skills."

"To have such a unique skill at such a young age, who can imagine what you'll be capable of in the future?"

"..."

As he spoke, he picked up a needle, pulled out a thread end, threaded it through the eye of the needle, and then turned to the pig, which had already been dismembered, and began to sew it together piece by piece, starting from its body.

The crowd below vaguely guessed what was going to happen, but they couldn't believe it. They all held their breath, staring with wide eyes, not wanting to miss a single detail.

They saw him start with the pig's body, piecing it together and sewing it up. The stitches were not dense, seemingly to save thread. Finally, he picked up the pig's head, placed it on its neck, and sewed it around.

The pig looked as if it had returned to its original appearance, except for the glaring scars all over its body, where it had been sewn together.

After doing all this, the old man in colorful clothes took out a piece of cloth embroidered with a carp, covered the pig's head, and chanted silently for a long time. Suddenly, he tore off the cloth and gently patted the pig's butt, then sat back down.

"Oink..."

The crowd had been extremely quiet, just watching. Suddenly, an ear-piercing pig scream rang out.

The pig on the stage had been cut up in various ways, even its head had been chopped off, without making a sound. But now, it suddenly let out an ear-splitting scream.

Two bloody patches were oozing blood.

They were the two pieces that had been cut off at the beginning. The old man in colorful clothes had tried his best to sew everything else back, but those two pieces had already been cooked, so he hadn't sewn them back.

Now, those were the most obvious wounds. The pig seemed to be in pain and desperately ran away.

It screamed and charged around, knocking over countless tables and chairs, scattering the crowd, and fled.

Surrounding the arena were all disciples of the Blood Food Gang, all of whom were skilled and armed with weapons. But facing the pig that ran out, none of them dared to chop it.

One of the small managers even realized what had happened and shouted in surprise, "Don't chop it! Don't hurt this pig!"

"Raise it in the future, treat it like an ancestor! We'll take care of it until it dies..."

"..."

Victory!

Those in the Red Lantern Brothel who reacted quickly all realized this.

As soon as the old man in colorful clothes performed this final technique, everyone knew that they had won this round.

You killed the pig but it didn't die, so I brought the pig back to life from the dead.

You made the pig feel no pain, but I not only revived it, but also made it feel pain, and even know how to run away.

No matter which aspect, this was a more brilliant technique.

The crowd below was in chaos, while on the stage, Sweet Potato was also slightly surprised.

She glanced at the black cloth roll in front of the old man in colorful clothes, as well as the rows of bone needles inside and the few remaining magic threads. Finally, she sighed softly and said, "Yuan Gu Zhen (Unjust Bone Needles), Nie Fa Xian (Sinful Hair Thread), Old Master, you are indeed superior..."

"With your skill of ghost stitching, how could I possibly win against you?"

"..."

It sounded like praise, and it was clearly an admission of defeat, but the old man in colorful clothes showed no joy.

His old face was very gloomy.

His opponent was just a little girl, but he had cultivated his unique skill for decades, and had been famous in Ming Prefecture for decades.

But when he came to this arena, she just cast a spell casually, and he only won by relying on his most treasured possession, and even then, he had used all the life-saving thread on the pig in just this one instance…

He really didn't know how to be happy…

Although he won this round, it was equivalent to using his decades of reputation to pave the way for the little girl.

"She admits defeat, she admits defeat..."

The crowd below was stunned, but after hearing Sweet Potato's words, they suddenly cheered.

They heard clearly that Sweet Potato had admitted her inferiority and conceded defeat.

This admission of defeat was like a nail in the coffin, leaving no room for argument. The Red Lantern Madam's Brothel had won this round fair and square.

Six wins and four losses, the Red Lantern Madam's Brothel had won this duel beautifully.

"Stage magic counters Soul Punishment, it's indeed true!"

Manager Xu, who was beside Hu Ma, had also stood up excitedly and repeatedly said, "Old Master Fan truly has great skills."

Someone next to him said, "It seems that the last thing he won with wasn't a stage magic skill, but..."

"...Winning is all that matters. Winning is a skill."

"..."

Hu Ma felt that he had gained a lot of insight from watching this round and quickly asked Manager Xu, "How did this saying that stage magic counters Soul Punishment come about?"

Manager Xu was in a good mood. The surrounding crowd was noisy, so he wasn't afraid of being overheard, and said loudly, "Little brother, you probably haven't really seen people from the stage magic school before. They are all very mysterious..."

"Taking water from an empty cup, turning a painting into a river, immortal picking beans, and three dragons entering the sea are all methods that are impossible to figure out."

"It's because they often travel the Jianghu and bring joy to people that they are called the stage magic school..."

"..."

"Isn't this just magic?"

Hu Ma was a little surprised when he heard this. He had some associations when he first heard the words "stage magic."

Now that he heard it, it matched up even more, but he felt even more incredible.

These techniques were all methods of deceiving reality. There were many such things in his previous life, and there were even some that were incredible, but they were considered a school of practice?

"Hehe..."

Seeing Hu Ma's surprised expression, Manager Xu knew what he was thinking and said, "There's a saying in the stage magic school that nine are fake and one is real."

"This means that ninety percent of their skills are fake, looking intimidating, but once exposed, they are very disappointing. But there is one that is real."

"Because you can't tell which one is real, you can only assume they are all real."

"There are many people in this world who travel the Jianghu and perform tricks, but you can't say that everyone is from the stage magic school. The distinction between inner and outer paths among these tricksters depends on whether there is one true unique skill among all these things..."

"To put it bluntly, the reason why stage magic counters Soul Punishment is that the Soul Punishment school has many preparations for probing and startling souls."

"But when people from the Soul Punishment school encounter people from the stage magic school, they are often bound hand and foot. This is because people from the Soul Punishment school like to pretend to be travelers in the Jianghu, investigate, probe, and use some hidden methods. But the stage magic school truly comes from the Jianghu."

"When the two sides meet, whether it's investigating or some hidden means, the people from the Soul Punishment school haven't even used them yet, and they are all seen through by the people from the stage magic school, and you can't see through them!"

"..."

Hu Ma felt that he had gained more knowledge after listening to this and marveled in his heart.

Speaking of which, the Tan Er Sect seemed to belong to the stage magic school as well, but they had taken the evil path, which was different from this old gentleman.

Everyone shouted to kill the Tan Er Sect, but if the Red Lantern Brothel wanted to invite this old gentleman, they had to bring generous gifts and lower their status.

The only thing he didn't understand now was whether Sweet Potato had really lost, or was she just taking advantage of the situation?

While these questions were still unclear, and the two gangs had different expressions because the outcome of this duel had been decided, Sweet Potato and the old man in colorful clothes on the stage had not had time to step down when suddenly everyone heard a cold snort.

A grim ghostly aura suddenly swept in all directions, and the flames in the arena suddenly turned blue.

(End of Chapter)