Gentlemen, it's time to enter the Banner of Ten Thousand Souls.

Chapter 10 Five Hundred and Twenty Thousand Cash
This man's face was like an over-fermented white steamed bun, shiny and oily, with bulging fat on his cheeks and two rows of yellow teeth showing when he opened his mouth. His tattered clothes clung tightly to his body, stained with countless oily patches, the age of which was unknown.

Then look at that messy hair, wildly disheveled like dry straw, and the whole person looks like a complete slob.

Those around noticed and began whispering amongst themselves. They all recognized the man; he was the notorious scoundrel in the neighborhood.

He idles away his days, never doing any proper work, only indulging in despicable acts of taking advantage of others. At this moment, many people secretly worried for this handsome young Taoist priest, thinking that being entangled with this scoundrel was probably going to be a big problem for him today.

Chen Ye looked at the rogue with a faint smile on his lips and said leisurely, "Hehe, are you testing me, sir?"

"What, you can't figure it out? You don't even have this much skill? How dare you tell fortunes for others? Wouldn't that be harmful?! Today, your grandfather will rid the people of this scourge!"

The scoundrel yelled and made a move to throw a punch, but as soon as he raised his fist, Chen Ye grabbed it, his wrist as if it were being clamped by an iron clamp, unable to move.

Chen Ye's smile remained unchanged as he spoke softly to the ruffian, "If you don't believe me, why not give it a try? I'll only charge one coin for this first divination. If I'm right, you give me one coin. If I'm wrong, I'll return it a hundredfold. How about it?"

The ruffian struggled to pull his hand back, only to find his wrist already swollen, making him grimace in pain. But upon hearing Chen Ye's words, his eyes darted around, and his expression immediately changed. He asked, "You've calculated correctly, only charging one coin? If you've miscalculated, you'll compensate me with a hundred coins? Are you serious?!"

Chen Ye, with a resolute expression, said loudly, "A word spoken is a word kept."

The ruffian immediately raised his voice, straining his neck to shout, "Everyone in the neighborhood heard that! This little Taoist priest said that if he's wrong, he'll pay me a hundred coins. Fine, then let me see your skills. Tell me my surname!"

This shout made the onlookers' hearts leap into their throats. They were all sweating for Chen Ye, thinking that this young Taoist priest was so handsome, they hoped he wouldn't be bullied by this scoundrel.

Chen Ye, seemingly oblivious to the worries around him, calmly said to the rogue, "Alright, please write down your birth date and time..."

The rogue shook his head and said shamelessly, "Why should I tell you my birth date and time? You didn't say I had to give you that. Fortune tellers can read faces, right? I've shown you this face, and if you can't figure it out, you lose."

Upon hearing this, the neighbors were furious, cursing the rogue for bullying them. How could a fortune teller not give birth date and time? How could they tell a fortune without giving anything? Although they secretly felt sorry for Chen Ye, they also had a little expectation in their hearts, wanting to see how the young Taoist priest would handle the situation.

Chen Ye frowned slightly, a hint of embarrassment on his face.

Seeing his expression, the rogue became even more smug and shouted even louder: "What, can't figure it out? Then pay up! Don't try to renege on your debt. My brother works in the yamen, and he'll skin you alive if you're short even a penny!"

Chen Ye sighed softly, his expression turned solemn, and he said in a deep voice, "Since you are pressing me so hard, then I have no choice but to disobey the patriarch's orders and show my true skills."

After saying that, Chen Ye made a hand gesture and muttered some incantations. After a moment, he blurted out, "Your surname is Wang, is that wrong?"

The ruffian's face changed drastically, his eyes bulging as if they would pop out, but in a moment, he shouted again, "Wrong, wrong, wrong... wrong! Grandpa... my surname is Li! Li of the Woody Child!"

The onlookers immediately booed; everyone knew this scoundrel was named Wang Sanqi.

"This scoundrel Wang is so desperate to win that he's even disowning his ancestral surname?"

"Pah, can't even afford to lose a single penny, what a piece of trash."

“Go back and tell his father, and let Officer Wang beat him to death.”

……

Wang Sanqi's face turned pale and then red, looking somewhat embarrassed. He seemed genuinely afraid that this matter would reach his father's ears, so he could only stubbornly say, "You're something else, Grandpa's surname is indeed Wang."

Chen Ye smiled without saying a word, and simply extended his right hand toward him.

Amidst the jeers of the neighbors, Wang Sanqi reluctantly pulled out a coin and threw it at Chen Ye's feet, still taunting him relentlessly: "Hmph, you just got lucky. But that's nothing special. Dare to bet again, with the same stakes as before!"

The neighbors booed even louder, thinking to themselves that this was blatant bullying.

Chen Ye also looked displeased and said to Wang Sanqi, "I have already performed a divination for you, which has proven that I am not a fraud."

Wang Sanqi refused, saying, "What does winning once prove? Do you dare to calculate my birth date and time again?! It's the same bet as before!"

Chen Ye stared at Wang the ruffian, his expression cold and stern, and said in a deep voice, "It seems you're determined to make things difficult for me. Fine, today I'll make you admit defeat. But the stakes need to be changed!"

Upon hearing this, Wang Sanqi immediately jumped up and shouted, "Change what? You promised a hundredfold compensation! How can you go back on your word!"

Chen Ye seemed to be rendered speechless by this rogue's shameless behavior, and sneered, "One to one hundred, fine, but you can't bet a single coin. For this divination, you must bet two coins, and if I lose, I'll pay you two hundred coins. For the third divination, you must bet four coins, and if I lose, I'll pay you four hundred coins. And so on, I'll bet with you on as many divinations as you want, but you must double your bet. Are you brave enough to bet?!"

Wang Sanqi's eyes darted around, thinking, "What kind of fool is this? I can just casually pull out a hundred coins, enough for this little Taoist priest to do dozens of divinations. Could he possibly be accurate every time?" With that thought, he immediately agreed loudly, "Fine, you said it! There really is such a fool in the world! I can just casually pull out a hundred coins, enough for you to do dozens of divinations. I don't believe you can be so accurate every time! It's a deal, no one can go back on their word!"

The onlookers were shocked by Chen Ye's audacity. They thought he was courting death. No matter how skilled he was, he couldn't guarantee every divination would be accurate. Even if he could, what if this rogue asked some tricky questions only he knew, and then denied everything? Wouldn't he be doomed? Everyone was sweating bullets for Chen Ye. Wang Sanqi, however, ignored them and kept urging, "Stop talking nonsense! Calculate my birth date and time. If you can't, you lose!"

However, Chen Ye seemed to have a premonition and said without hesitation: "On the 13th day of the 7th month of the Jia Chen year, at the first quarter of Hai hour, he is twenty-seven years old this year."

Wang Sanqi's eyes widened again, as if Chen Ye had once again guessed correctly.

But Wang Sanqi's eyes darted around, and just as he was about to deny it outright, he heard someone shout loudly from the side: "Wang rascal, you dare to make things up? We're going to tell your father!"

There are always those who love to watch the drama unfold and don't mind making things worse. Wang Sanqi has a terrible reputation, and everyone is waiting to see him make a fool of himself.

Wang Sanqi turned around fiercely, but couldn't find who had spoken. He could only grit his teeth and say, "You're good, you guessed right again. It's only two coins, let's do it again!"

Chen Ye reached out his hand and said to Wang Sanqi, "Then pay me two coins first."

Wang Sanqi waved his hand and acted like a rogue: "Put it on the tab first. Would I, your grandpa, shortchange you two coins? We'll settle the bill at the end!"

The neighbors booed again.

"Shameless!"

"I can't afford to lose!"

"How shameless!"

……

Wang Sanqi, however, seemed to have a thick skin, turning a deaf ear to these scoldings and pretending not to hear them. He continued to say to Chen Ye, "Next divination, let's find out how many people are in my family!"

Chen Ye sneered and said, "Your parents are still alive, you're almost thirty and still living in a cramped room, unable to find a wife, and you spend all your time mooching meals at your brother and sister-in-law's house. Do you want me to say that you only live alone, or do you want to include your parents, brother, and sister-in-law?"

Upon hearing this, the onlookers applauded and cheered.

Wang Sanqi's family background was indeed exactly as Chen Ye had described; this young Taoist priest was truly incredibly accurate.

Wang Sanqi was stung by the question, and his face turned red instantly, but he was still not giving up. He gritted his teeth and asked again, "This time, calculate what color my dog's fur is!"

"You can't even support yourself, so you don't even own a dog!"

"Does my house face south or north?!"

"Facing west."

"What kind of door is that?!"

Willow wood.

"What kind of alcohol do I usually like to drink?!"

"When we have plenty of food, we enjoy drinking fine ice wine; when we are poor, we will steal whatever we can to drink."

"You old fox, how dare you slander me?!"

"hehe."

I write words on my palm, and you guess what they are.

“You wrote the character ‘王’ (king), but your thumb is stained with ink. You’re planning to add a stroke to make it ‘玉’ (jade) after I say the character ‘王’ (king).

……

The two exchanged questions back and forth, and no matter how tricky Wang Sanqi's questions were, Chen Ye answered them all without hesitation, as if he had truly figured everything out.

Wang Sanqi seemed to have lost all sense of proportion and was about to continue gambling when Chen Ye said to him, "Wang Sanqi, you've already lost eighteen times. You owe me 524,287 coins. Even counting the one coin you've already paid out, you still owe me 524,286 coins. To round it up, you owe me 520,000 coins. Do you still want to continue gambling?"

(End of this chapter)