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Chapter 44 I predicted your prediction
It took her a while to come to her senses, her eyes dark as she spat out the remaining blood foam, "Pah... You should have said so earlier, so you're in the same line of work too... What, you've got your eye on my livelihood?"

Chen Xuan didn't answer, but kicked her in the face—thanks to the enhancement of his mental cultivation technique, he could now easily perform those "gymnastics" moves that he couldn't do normally.

"I demand—a coin toss!" Fei Wuniang shouted at the same time.

Tick.

Chen Xuan felt the surrounding light dim instantly, and his kick felt like he had kicked a ball of cotton. Although it touched her face, there was no feedback of force.

Fei Wuniang revealed a sly smile as she slowly stood up. "It's no use. From this moment on, you won't be able to touch me at all. Take this gamble with me!"

Chen Xuan withdrew his foot and tried to grab the other person, but no matter what he did, his body seemed to be nailed to the spot, unable to move away from the ground beneath his feet.

He could still control his body, but his connection with the world was severed by some force. Chen Xuan realized that the dimming light was the same; it wasn't that the sky had darkened, but rather that the newly entering light from the outside world could no longer be reflected back into his eyes.

At the same time, three large hands and an eye appeared between the two, each about half a person's height. They were light blue in color, like solid objects made of gas.

"What is the bet?" a voice from the shadows asked.

"The losing side must give up all their abilities! Three rounds to decide the winner!" Fei Wu Niang shouted excitedly.

"Then... let's make a pact." The eye turned to Chen Xuan, and a bolt of lightning pierced his forehead.

In an instant, Chen Xuan understood all the rules of this ability: the large hand would toss three coins, heads representing the snake's head and tail representing its tail. If more than two of a particular face appeared, that face would be used for the round. For example, heads + tails + tails would count as heads, and vice versa. The three hands would open in sequence. Participants could either call out their guesses beforehand or wait until they were confident, but they could only guess once. The first person to call out the correct answer would be the winner.

Once a betting game begins, it cannot be ended prematurely, nor can it be interfered with by external factors; it possesses an unshakeable and mandatory nature.

"She used that trick," Chen Xuan said in a low voice.

"You've already exchanged blows?" Lin Qing breathed a sigh of relief. "That's good... In Fei Wu Niang's opinion, as long as she uses this ability, she's bound to win."

"What are you muttering about?" Fei Wu Niang asked, squinting.

"What kind of ability is this?" Even though he knew, Chen Xuan still had to go through the motions and show a little surprise.

"Didn't it already tell you?" She pointed to the eye, "Anyone I touch can't refuse a bet I make. Your biggest mistake was slapping me in the face! Kid, it's too late for you to regret it now. Once I strip you of your abilities, I'll crush your bones bit by bit!"

Her confidence was not without reason.

Because Chen Xuan not only already knew of this ability's existence, but also knew that its rules weren't as "fair" as they seemed. The large hand actually held four coins, one of which was a cheat coin, whose heads or tails could be determined by the dealer. In other words, once she activated that cheat coin, the outcome would no longer be determined by probability.

Therefore, even though Fei Wuniang herself doesn't have much combat power, the Weixian Agency still set her danger level at six stars.

According to Lin Qing's speculation, more than one member of the task force responsible for the arrest probably perished at his hands.

As they were talking, the first coin was tossed—

The coin was about the size of a whole palm, and its tumbling motion in the air was quite eye-catching.

Snapped!
Three large hands swung out simultaneously, firmly grasping them in their palms before they even hit the ground.

"Oh, is it positive or negative?" Fei Wuniang grinned, revealing a blood-stained mouth. "Don't rush me, I'll let you guess first."

“Correct.” However, before the first hand could even open, Chen Xuan made his judgment.

"You..." The other person paused for a moment, then sneered, "You laid your cards on the table without even thinking? What, are you so lucky?"

"I have always believed in myself."

"Okay, then I'll guess the back."

The first hand flips it open, revealing the back side.

But when the second and third ones were opened, they all turned out to be face up.

"Not bad, it seems I'm having pretty good luck today," Chen Xuan said, feigning delight.

A hint of mockery flashed in Fei Wuniang's eyes. "Kid, this is only the first round. I bet... your eyes are exceptionally sharp, aren't they? You even saw my sneak attack just now."

"..." Chen Xuan remained silent.

Because he did indeed activate his Divine Eye technique the moment the coins fell, he could see the faces of all three coins clearly until the large hand gripped them tightly.

"As expected... I've met people like you once or twice." She pointed. "And what about this?"

In addition to the three large hands, three more hands appeared. The moment the coin was tossed, the extra hand blocked its entire trajectory!

"Your little tricks didn't work!" Fei Wuniang's interest grew even higher. "Guess quickly!" This time, Chen Xuan didn't place a bet immediately.

Both of them were waiting for the large hand to open it.

The first hand flips over: a snake's head.

Chen Xuan immediately shouted "Frontline!"

This is also the approach with the highest chance of winning under normal circumstances. If he gets one more head in the next two coins, he wins the round.

In that instant, he caught a glimpse of the other person's sinister smile out of the corner of his eye, as if they were watching him walk step by step toward his doom.

The second hand slowly opened; it was the snake's tail.

Fei the Dancer then exclaimed in a shrill voice, "I guess the back!"

The third card was indeed reversed, a negative-negative-positive combination, so the snake's tail wins.

"Hehehe, now it's a tie!" She licked her lips. "I'm curious, when you lose all your abilities, will you cry and beg for mercy? I've met several guys who were far stronger than me before. Their abilities were like their spines; the stronger they were in front, the more pathetic they became after they were taken away! They would rather kneel down and lick my toes than die like a wild dog."

"Is this how you treat losers? That's inhumane!"

"Humanity?" She said as if she had heard the funniest joke. "Aren't people without abilities just livestock to be slaughtered? What, are you a newbie who just gained your abilities?"

Fei Wuniang no longer bothered to hide her true feelings, her eyes filled with a tormenting anticipation. "Alright, I'll give you a break. This time, I'll only use one hand. You'd better keep your eyes wide open and watch carefully!"

After she finished speaking, she removed the three extra hands.

The final coin is tossed at this very moment.

Chen Xuan saw it clearly with his divine eye technique; the moment his palm reached out, the coin was facing either heads or tails.

He dropped the pretense and placed his bet directly, "Back."

"Then I'll choose the front." Fei Wuniang looked at him as if he were a dead man. "I'll treat you well later."

The first two hands were outstretched normally, just as he had seen. Just before the third hand was about to open, Chen Xuan suddenly said, "This is the cheating coin, isn't it?"

Fei Wuniang's expression changed. "What?"

"You lost." He revealed the answer directly.

The palm opened, revealing the coin to be tails. It trembled slightly, seemingly trying to flip over, but remained motionless. A miniature Chisho-no-Sword was embedded in the center of the coin, like a nail, firmly holding it in place.

Chen Xuan initially opted for hand-to-hand combat instead of directly summoning the Thousand Thoughts Sword to create the necessary conditions and force Fei Wu Niang to use the coin toss as quickly as possible. This was a plan Lin Qing and he had agreed upon after discussing it—rather than beating her half to death and then forcing her to hand over her abilities, it was better to let her offer all her abilities to the gambling table herself. After all, the moment Fei Wu Niang appeared, the Weixian Agency's capture team was already on their way.

"This is..." She stepped forward in disbelief, trying to draw her sword, but because of the bet, she couldn't move an inch. "You cheated!"

"Same to you," Chen Xuan said, shrugging.

This plan isn't 100% reliable. If Fei Wu Niang only uses regular coin tosses from the start, leaving all her luck to chance, things will become quite complicated. But Lin Qing analyzes that the probability of this happening is no more than 1%, because based on the recorded cases, she's not interested in the pleasure of gambling, but rather in manipulating people and taking everything they own.

The three hands disappeared.

Only that one eye remained. Through it, Chen Xuan seemed to see an unfathomable darkness. The next second, he felt a surge of power rush in, forcibly squeezing into his body—it was all of Fei Wu Niang's abilities!

The woman who initiated the bet let out a painful wail.

Her body became shriveled, her skin lost its luster, and her cheeks became sunken, making her unrecognizable from the charming and alluring dancer she once was.

Simply transferring abilities would not cause such severe side effects.

Chen Xuan realized that the abilities she was stripped of came with other things... After losing these things, she could no longer sustain her life.

"No...that's mine, give it back to me..."

Fei Wuniang struggled to crawl two steps and reached out her hand to him... This was the last thing she could do.

"Hurry up and leave. Don't let the security agencies discover your presence," Lin Qing reminded him through the earpiece.

Chen Xuan waited two more minutes until he was sure the other person had passed away before he turned and walked out of the abandoned room.

(End of this chapter)