Ten Day Ultimatum

“What?” Terrestrial Rabbit regarded Chen Junnan with interest. “Trying to bluff your way again? You’re hopelessly directionless, yet after entering the game venue you deceived me once already. Are you really planning to use the same trick a second time?”

“If you hadn’t mentioned it, I might’ve forgotten,” Chen Junnan said with a smile. “This young master owes you an apology. I don’t actually like deceiving people. It’s just that I have a friend who taught me quite a few little tricks, and I end up using them without even realizing it.”

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“They won’t work on me,” Terrestrial Rabbit said flatly. “I only want you to understand one thing. You’re nothing but a conceited fool. From the moment you stepped into this building, every scheme you’ve tried has been laid bare before me.”

“Is that so?” Chen Junnan nodded. “Then I still want to tell you this. If you refuse to rebel, I’ll stay right here and stake my—”

The final words went unspoken. Instead, he exaggerated his lip movements, silently forming the words {life against you} for the other to read.

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“You!” Terrestrial Rabbit immediately narrowed his crimson eyes. He then rather stiffly reached up to straighten his shirt cuffs. “So you intend to see this end in death?”

“Bingo. Funny how things work out, isn’t it?” Chen Junnan smiled. “You want our lives, and we want yours.”

Cold sweat continued to trickle down Chen Junnan’s face. This time, he had no certainty at all that he could kill the burly figure before him. After all, engaging a {Earthly Branches} at close quarters carried a level of danger that was nothing short of extreme.

Terrestrial Rabbit accurately caught the fleeting microexpression on Chen Junnan’s face, yet he knew the man before him was anything but honest. There was no way to tell whether he was putting on an act.

“But if I kill you now, you’ll all revive sooner or later. Once you choose to {stake}, the nature of this matter changes,” Terrestrial Rabbit remarked, his tone easing slightly, though without any real concession. “Are you truly confident you can kill me here?”

He turned his head to glance at the immobile Jiang Ten, then looked back at Chen Junnan, and farther still at Cui Fourteen and the others. “Risking everything in this exchange; are you all that confident in your {Reverberations}?”

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After a few seconds, he frowned. “No, that’s not right...quite a number of you have no {Reverberation} at all. So where does this confidence of yours come from?”

“Actually, I don’t really have much confidence,” Chen Junnan replied, scratching his temple as he unobtrusively wiped the cold sweat from his brow. “I’m the sort who puts out the tough talk first. After all, it’s only in a dead end that my drive to push forward truly erupts. Sure, they say {we’ll cross that bridge when we get to it}, but if I discover that the road ends in a single-plank bridge, then I’ve got no choice but to improve my driving skills and perform a desperate-measure side wheelie stunt for everyone.”

“Then can I take that as you are all talk?” Terrestrial Rabbit said with a laugh. “I do not believe you possess that kind of audacity. If you were truly capable of killing me, there’d be no need to send a child in here as a punching bag, nor would you trouble yourselves with a {stake}. The rules already allow it.”

“Heh, clever little thing, aren’t you?” Chen Junnan said. “You’ve analyzed all this, yet a straightforward word would save us both the trouble. This endless circling is making this young master’s head spin.”

“Heh...” Terrestrial Rabbit chuckled as he stretched lazily, rolling his shoulders and loosening his joints. “What I’m saying is simple. You don’t have the guts.”

“I don’t have the guts?” Chen Junnan shook his head. “Provocation won’t work on me. Since this is a negotiation, I have to offer something tempting enough to move you. Let’s change the wager.”

“Go on,” Terrestrial Rabbit looked at Chen Junnan with open mockery. In his eyes, this man was already beginning to falter.

“If I can win this game, you grant me one request. I will take none of the rewards from this game.” Chen Junnan said evenly, “If I lose, and you manage to massacre everyone, then at the final moment this young master will declare a life-staking gamble against you. That way, you won’t just kill me. You’ll eliminate me forever.”

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What Chen Junnan said left Terrestrial Rabbit momentarily at a loss. He carefully turned the meaning of those words over in his mind.

For a brief moment, Terrestrial Rabbit and the young {Cat} behind him remained frozen in place.

With no reply, Chen Junnan asked, “Terrestrial Rabbit, don’t tell this young master that my, Chen Junnan’s, words were too hard for you to understand?”

Terrestrial Rabbit understood his words, but could not comprehend.

“So you’re saying that the moment you’re on the verge of losing,” he reiterated slowly, “you’ll declare a life-staking gamble, and wholly become an {indigenous inhabitant}?”

“Exactly,” Chen Junnan nodded without hesitation. “I may not fully understand how Earthly Branches operate, but winning a life-staking gamble should be a good thing for you, no?”

“But this is absurd, isn’t it?” Terrestrial Rabbit countered. “You’d really hand over your life so obediently? What’s your purpose?”

“The purpose is to make you agree to that one request of mine,” Chen Junnan smiled. “As long as you dare to agree, I dare to place the bet. Great victories come only to those who risk it all.”

“I... You...” Terrestrial Rabbit swallowed hard, genuinely unable to make sense of the situation anymore. What gave this man such self-assurance? Could this man really be that formidable?

Yet from another angle, this wager cost Terrestrial Rabbit nothing. Even if the other side somehow won the game, he would not lose his life. Meanwhile, a single misstep on their part would plunge them into irreversible ruin.

“Sir cotton-tailed rascal,” Chen Junnan retreated to the center of the room, “as long as you can push me into a dead end, this young master’s life is yours. But if you can never manage to kill me, then it proves you cannot even defeat an ordinary participant, and you’ll have no choice but to humbly grant me a single request. Are you willing to match the bet?”

“Motherfu...” Terrestrial Rabbit trembled with rage, the whiskers on his face curling inward. “Fine, just you wait...”

As he spoke, Terrestrial Rabbit reached up and pulled out the bamboo-shaped remote hanging around his neck, pressed one of its buttons, then lifted his head to look toward a corner of the ceiling.

After a few seconds, the broadcast voice rang out: “The {Earthly Branch’s} round has ended. {Participants}, please proceed.”

Without another word, Chen Junnan slammed the door shut and locked it.

“Captain!” The others behind him hurried forward, faces filled with unease. “What are you doing?”

“Didn’t I already explain before? I’ve always wanted to stake my life against a Terrestrial. That way, when I get back, I can show off to Ole Qi,” Chen Junnan replied with a grin. “Having finally rejoined Ole Qi’s crew, I ought to bring him a little present.”

Cui Fourteen frowned with concern. “But are you sincerely confident? What you described hardly resembles a life-staking gamble; it reads more like treating {staking your life} as a simple {bargaining chip}.”

“I have absolutely no confidence,” Chen Junnan admitted. “But remember this: if this young master fails, make sure to tell Ole Qi how dashing and heroic I looked.”

Cui Fourteen, Ma Twelve, and Wu Thirteen exchanged tense glances. It had been many years since any of them had partaken in a game. Forget about a {life-staking gamble}; even ordinary wagers had become rare.

Was it really necessary to place such a high stake now?

“So what do we...” Cui Fourteen asked cautiously. “Captain, how should we help you?”

“No need to help me. Stick to the plan,” Chen Junnan replied after a moment of thought. “Go find the last unattended {divine artifact}. Once you have it, head toward the exit. I’ll make sure you obtain the final divine artifact. Whether I win or not, I’ll see to it that you all get out.”

“We hardly warrant such thought...” Cui Fourteen remarked. “Captain, you’re the one in the greatest danger right now, yet you’re still protecting us...”

“Like hell I'm doing this to protect you!” Chen Junnan interrupted. “If you lot die here too, how’s Ole Qi ever going to know just how suave and dashing I was?”