Chapter 262: Song Qi
The gaunt man paused for a moment, as if trying to gauge Qi Xia's intentions.
Qi Xia had been holding his two "Joy" fans in midair for a while now, and he said with slight impatience, "What's the matter? I'm offering two for your one and a half—how much longer do you need to think about it?"
The gaunt man was indeed in a bind.
After all, Qi Xia was offering two identical fans, which wouldn't help him escape at all.
"Can... can you swap one of them?" The gaunt man pointed at the "Happiness" fan on the ground and asked tentatively, "Could it be one 'Joy' and one 'Happiness'?"
"Of course not," Qi Xia replied without hesitation. "My deal, my rules. Take it or leave it."
"Huh?"
Qi Xia knew this man had a highly indecisive personality. To make him decide, he absolutely couldn't be given time to think.
"Not trading? Fine then." Qi Xia nodded and was about to put the fans away when the gaunt man grabbed his arm.
Having dealt with Qi Xia once before, the gaunt man knew he was a man of his word. Now he had to make a decision quickly.
"I'll trade... I'll trade..."
With a hesitant expression, he pulled out his other fan from his pocket and handed it to Qi Xia along with the broken one in his hand.
Qi Xia didn't hesitate either and handed over the two "Joy" fans.
After taking the fans, the gaunt man nodded in thanks, then asked the crowd, "Is there anyone here willing to trade one 'Joy' with me? Any fan face will do."
"Hey!" Qi Xia immediately stopped him.
"Huh?"
"If you want to do business, take it elsewhere." Qi Xia waved his hand. "Not here."
"B-but there are more people here."
Qi Xia nodded, pulled the dagger out of the ground, and said, "Understood. I'll see you off, then."
"Ah, no..." The gaunt man was terrified. He knew that a man who could talk to the "Referee" was not to be trifled with, so he quickly turned and left.
Watching him leave, Qi Xia breathed a sigh of relief.
After all, no one here would trade "Joy" with that man. He would eventually realize that problem.
Seeing that the onlookers had fallen silent, Qi Xia tucked the broken fan into his pocket, then picked up the other one to take a look.
The crowd gathered around, but Qi Xia only opened the fan a tiny crack.
Before anyone could get a clear look, Qi Xia snapped the fan shut.
Was it "Fortune"?
No, it was a trick.
This was another "Sorrow".
In everyone's eyes, each fan was worth five "Tao," but to Qi Xia, it was different.
The broken fan the gaunt man had was a "Wrath" fan, which was in very short supply on the "market," and now his second fan was also "Sorrow." He had no idea he was a hidden tycoon.
Now, trading two "Joy" fans for one "Sorrow" and one "Wrath" was nothing short of a windfall.
This man's fan face was exactly as Qi Xia had predicted. The reason he had shamelessly come to trade was precisely because he was about to get out.
Therefore, the remaining fan in his hand could be neither "Joy" nor "Happiness," otherwise, he would have been able to leave after the trade.
Since he pulled out a "Wrath" to trade, his second fan could only be "Sorrow."
Qi Xia tucked the "Sorrow" fan into his pocket and placed the broken fan on the ground.
Seeing Qi Xia put out a broken fan, the crowd expressed confusion.
"Kid, why did you put out a broken fan?" the aunt asked. "What character was on that good fan just now? Show us, will you?"
"Yeah, yeah!" a few people chimed in.
"Do I have an obligation to show you?" Qi Xia said coldly. "These are the only two now. Take them or leave them."
The crowd looked down. One was a broken fan, the other was "Happiness." They all hesitated.
Qi Xia didn't care. He took out his chalk and added another sentence on the ground.
"Broken fan: trade two fans for one."
Seeing this line, the crowd felt Qi Xia had gone mad.
Who would trade two fans for one? Wasn't that just like Di Yang?
And Di Yang at least had good fans.
By now, the onlookers gradually dispersed. Qi Xia took the opportunity to count the people remaining.
Only twenty-two were left. He hadn't expected that ten people had escaped while he was setting up his stall.
Qi Xia had helped quite a bit with that.
Without Qi Xia's stall, these people would probably have had to wait another half hour to get out.
Those ten people had consumed five "Sorrow" fans. Now, at most fifteen "Sorrow" fans remained on the "market."
During his stall time, Qi Xia had collected two "Sorrow" fans from the "market." Once these two fans entered his hands, they couldn't flow back into the market, so at most thirteen remained.
Combined with the stall situation just now, the number of "Sorrow" fans was likely far less than thirteen. Otherwise, someone would have surely pulled out a "Sorrow" to trade for other fans.
After all, for everyone, escaping now was the best choice.
Both Di Yang's and Qi Xia's fans required two fans to trade. There was no point in waiting any longer.
So why wasn't anyone escaping?
Where were they stuck?
Qi Xia wasn't worried at all. He just sat there and waited quietly.
He saw the remaining twenty people in the venue start talking to each other, but as one by one, they failed to form groups, everyone seemed to sense that things weren't looking good.
A man in a leather jacket came up to Qi Xia now. He looked down at Qi Xia's stall and asked, "Buddy, what character is on this broken fan?"
Qi Xia carefully opened the broken fan a little. It was a "Wrath" torn in half.
Seeing this, the leather-jacket man raised an eyebrow and said in a low voice, "Can I make a deal with you?"
"Oh?" Qi Xia looked at him. "What kind of deal?"
"I'll trade two fans with you, but after the game ends, you return five of the 'Tao' to me."
Qi Xia stroked his chin slightly. He felt this proposal wasn't hard to accept. It was also a form of cooperation.
"Two questions," Qi Xia said. "First, since it's the same two fans, why not trade with Di Yang?"
"Because he would never return the 'Tao' to me," the leather-jacket man said. "And I feel like you've pulled some tricks in this game. You probably need fans more now, not 'Tao,' so I want to cooperate with you."
Qi Xia nodded after hearing this and asked, "And how can you be sure I'll give you the 'Tao' after we get out?"
"Because my name is Song Qi," the man said.
"Song Qi?" Qi Xia had never heard the name before. "So what if you're called Song Qi?"
"My reputation is enough to guarantee a fair transaction in the 'Land of the End.'"
Qi Xia knew this statement carried two meanings: a hint of threat and a hint of fairness.
The man didn't sound like he was lying. He was likely someone famous in the "Land of the End," just like Lin Qin.
"Alright, Song Qi, I accept," Qi Xia said. "If you're not lying, then this 'Wrath' fan is yours."
"Refreshing." Song Qi nodded. Just as he turned to pull out his fans, he asked, "Do you have a specific character you want?"
"Of course," Qi Xia replied. "I want 'Sorrow.'"