Chapter 171: Cannot Lose When Meeting Them

The North Island Master nodded, looking very satisfied with Lian Li’s answer. Then, with a flash of movement, he was gone.

Lian Li turned to look at Yun Huizhou, who also had a look of utter confusion on his face.

After a good while, Yun Huizhou finally spoke. “Uncle North can’t calculate accurately at all. If he says you’re bound to lose, does that mean… you’re bound to win?”

Hearing him say this, Lian Li suddenly remembered a saying. He smiled and said, “Bet against Uncle North, and you’ll live in a villa by the sea, right?”

“Eh? What?” Yun Huizhou didn’t understand for a moment.

“It means that if we take whatever result Uncle North gives and guess the opposite, it’s bound to be correct,” Lian Li explained.

The emergency extra training finally made Lian Li realize what it meant for life to be worse than death.

He didn’t know why, but while Yun Huizhou’s treatment mainly involved practicing with Zhao Honglan and Qu Tingquan, his own treatment was sparring with the East Island Master and the South Island Master.

Regardless, he was now in a state where he didn’t quite want to die, but didn’t quite want to live either.

Yun Huizhou wasn’t much better off. Although he was mainly fighting the male and female protagonists, he couldn’t escape the guidance of the East and South Island Masters either.

Every day, the two of them would return and collapse on the bed, not wanting to move a single muscle.

Fortunately, this time, the East Island Master didn’t hit Yun Huizhou in the face; otherwise, it would be truly embarrassing to go to Linjiu City with two black eyes.

With great difficulty, they endured those five days.

The elders decided to show mercy and let them rest for a day before setting out.

The two lay on the bed leaning against each other—just leaning.

They stared blankly ahead, their postures radiating weakness and exhaustion.

“Yun Huizhou, do you think after being trained like this, we still might lose?” Lian Li started a conversation casually.

Yun Huizhou rested his hand on Lian Li’s waist, pulling him a bit closer. “Uncle North calculated that you’re bound to lose, so that means you’re bound to win.”

“I mean, just in case,” Lian Li said. “Better safe than sorry. What if we lose?”

This time, Yun Huizhou was silent for a long time—so long that Lian Li almost thought he had fallen asleep before he finally spoke.

“Then we would…” He pondered for a while before using a term Lian Li had once said: “We would be toast…”

“No… surely not.”

If he had spoken normally and said “we’re dead,” Lian Li wouldn’t have felt much.

But he specifically said “we’d be toast,” and for some reason, that made Lian Li feel it was even more terrifying than being “dead.”

His little brain whirred, and he whispered, “Does our sect have a grudge against Maple Leaf Valley?”

“Hmm…” Yun Huizhou frowned and pondered for a moment. “There isn’t really a grudge. It’s just that before the Grandmaster left, he said that when fighting others—especially those at the same level—we aren’t allowed to lose.”

“However, I heard Uncle West had some friction with an elder from Maple Leaf Valley. If we lose, besides potentially being troubled by the Grandmaster if he suddenly returns, we might also lose Uncle West’s ‘favor’ for a long time.”

“Oh?” Lian Li’s interest was piqued. He propped himself up on his elbows on the bed, looking at Yun Huizhou with eyes full of gossip. “Is there some tea to spill?”

Yun Huizhou understood his meaning. “I’m not entirely sure. I just heard the Senior Uncles chatting when I was little. Uncle West really hates that person. It seems that person expressed some opinions regarding Uncle West’s love for wearing women’s clothing.”

“It caused quite a stir back then; the two even scheduled a duel to the death. Later, the Valley Master of Maple Leaf Valley personally brought the man over and forced him to apologize to Uncle West before the duel was canceled.”

“Actually, Uncle West wasn’t satisfied. But at that time, Uncle West wasn’t a Transcendent yet. The Maple Leaf Valley Master coming personally was giving face to our Grandmaster, and he even specifically published a public apology in the Jianghu Anecdotes. So, Uncle West agreed to cancel the duel, essentially sparing the man’s life.”

Lian Li: “So, Uncle West is actually stronger than him, right? That guy really has a foul mouth. Uncle West is so beautiful, powerful, and rich; he can wear whatever he wants. What business is it of his?”

He didn’t think it was the West Island Master’s fault.

Although the West Island Master was usually sharp-tongued, he was actually quite easy to get along with if you coaxed him with kind words.

Moreover, the West Island Master wasn’t the type to force others to wear women’s clothing just because he did.

As for why he insisted on Lian Li wearing it, it was an exchange of equal value. Others on Drunken Dream Island who wanted medicine from Uncle West either had to snatch it by force or have it put on their tab, or they had to find rare medicinal ingredients.

Even the Grandmaster was no exception; it was said the Grandmaster brought back several precious ingredients this time.

People would send ingredients back from time to time.

Only Lian Li couldn’t snatch anything. The single guiding pill he took when first practicing internal energy had almost emptied his small treasury before he had any properties.

Not to mention, he occasionally had medicine of the same level to take during his martial arts practice.

As for medicinal ingredients, he hadn’t found any for Uncle West yet.

Furthermore, when he went out into the Jianghu later to get medicine, he could basically get several times the amount of others just by acting spoiled and saying a few soft words.

Since he had nothing to offer, Uncle West naturally made him do other things to pay off the debt. Thus, he never felt that Uncle West making him wear women’s clothing was a grievance.

Thinking of this, he felt that a proud person like Uncle West must have been stifled to death by that incident.

Thus, he said, “I still feel like Uncle West got the short end of the stick.”

Yun Huizhou saw him standing up for the West Island Master and thought he was truly cute and protective.

However, he also felt Uncle West had been wronged; after all, Uncle West just had a bit of a poisonous tongue but was actually a good person.

To stop Lian Li from being so angry, he continued: “It’s said that before Uncle West broke through to the Transcendent realm, he specifically went to live near Maple Leaf Valley for a month. He sent a challenge letter every day just so he could beat the guy up a few more times before becoming a Transcendent.”

“Anyway, just remember that if you meet someone from Maple Leaf Valley, you absolutely cannot lose face,” Yun Huizhou reminded Lian Li.

Lian Li nodded quickly.

If he had friction with someone from Maple Leaf Valley and then lost face in front of them, wouldn’t that be equivalent to making Uncle West lose face?

Thinking of this, Lian Li’s pressure increased again.

He said to Yun Huizhou, “Now that you say that, I feel even more nervous.”

Yun Huizhou pulled him back into his arms and continued to hold him. “Don’t be nervous. That Valley Master’s youngest disciple’s martial arts are actually quite poor. You can beat him.”

Lian Li lay on Yun Huizhou’s chest and couldn’t help but reach out to feel Yun Huizhou’s pectoral muscles. They were a bit soft when he first touched them, but in the next second, Yun Huizhou reacted and flexed, making them turn hard.

At the same time, Lian Li felt Yun Huizhou pinch his waist. “No random squeezing. You’re taking advantage of me, aren’t you?”