Chapter 552: Chapter 551: What If You Lose?

A combative glint flashed in Zhi Le’s eyes. "Then we’ll just have to see for ourselves what you Beastmen of the Yongchang Continent are made of."

Yin Jiang toyed with a fireball in his hand. "It’s true that the Red-winged Black Oriole Beastmen are united, but you can’t haggle over every little thing. To do so would be utterly foolish. Risking the future of your entire clan and fighting us to the death over something so minor... Tsk, it seems your brains weren’t very big to begin with, and you’ve used what little you have to hold grudges."

The other Red-winged Black Oriole Beastmen gritted their teeth and snarled back:

"Don’t think you have some big advantage in the arena just because you’re a Fire Ability User. We were caught off guard before, and our superpowers were restricted. That’s the only reason your little trick succeeded. Hah! Just wait until we’re in the arena. I’ll pluck you bare!"

"Heh heh, and I’ll make you serve me... in front of all the other Beastmen..."

Si Shuo was so furious he was practically hopping. All semblance of civility shattered. "Did your mouth and your ass get switched at birth? Why can’t you ever speak properly instead of just spewing shit? Is your mind really so full of filth? Don’t you have any greater aspirations in life?"

Just then, Shu Shu rushed over, having brought the Clan Leader and several elders of the Long-eared Rabbit Clan with him. 𝘧𝓇ℯ𝑒𝓌𝑒𝑏𝓃𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘭.𝒸ℴ𝓂

"Hong Jie, you’ve gone too far!" Shu Shu exclaimed, his face flushed with anger.

"What’s this? Life’s been too easy for you in the Long-eared Rabbit Clan? You want to meddle in the affairs of the Red-winged Blackbird Clan and face a gauntlet match too?"

"A match it is, then! It’s not like the Long-eared Rabbit Clan is short on people!" Shu Shu retorted defiantly.

Everyone fell silent at his words. It was true. The Rabbit Beastmen’s ability to reproduce was astonishing. It was precisely because of their vast numbers that everyone coveted the hundreds of guest caves on this cliff wall but never dared to make a major move. They were all afraid of the old saying: even a rabbit will bite when cornered. A gauntlet match against their clan would be truly terrifying. It wouldn’t be a fight against a thousand Red-winged Black Oriole Beastmen, but tens of thousands...

And this was despite the Long-eared Rabbit Beastmen consciously controlling the number of offspring they produced in recent years due to their limited living space.

"What do you want," Hong Jie asked, gritting his teeth. "The three of us brothers suffered a huge loss, so the arena match is unavoidable. At most... at most, they’ll have to defeat a gauntlet of one hundred of our men."

"That’s right. Out of respect for your Long-eared Rabbit Clan, we won’t mobilize our entire clan. A mere hundred men should be enough to teach them a little lesson."

Si Shuo tugged on Yin Jiang’s sleeve. "Yin Jiang, are they really prepared to sacrifice a hundred of their own clansmen? Isn’t that cruel? When the time comes, don’t kill them. Just... as long as they show proper remorse, pluck them bare and teach them a simple lesson.

Let the rest of their clan see, too. They shouldn’t let themselves be used by a few foolish, cruel, callous, and selfish clansmen, risking their own lives and their families’ lives only to become a laughingstock."

Yin Jiang nodded. "Exactly. In the past, they might have banded together to resist being bullied, but now they’re the ones ganging up to bully others. Aren’t they afraid of causing public outrage?

At the end of the day, they only bully outsiders. Is there a single family in the city they actually dare to provoke? This isn’t about us ’poking a bird’s nest’—it’s clear they’re just a bunch of lunatics with no moral compass!"

Their words seemed to rip away the Red-winged Black Oriole Beastmen’s last shred of dignity. Who would want the reputation of bullying the weak and fearing the strong?

"I think you’re just enjoying the sound of your own voices now. You’ll be crying soon enough!" Hong Jie seethed, breathing heavily. He had already decided internally that, just in case, he would bring in a few of the clan’s most powerful fighters to ensure they put on a good show.

’We have to win, and we have to win decisively!’ he thought. ’Otherwise, the new outsiders who just arrived this year will start getting ideas and refuse to submit to our authority.’

"We still have a few Couple Brothers who haven’t arrived. Let’s set the match for tomorrow," Ji Liang said calmly.

"Fine by me. How many Couple Brothers could you possibly have? And how high could their cultivation be? It’s nothing but a desperate struggle. Tomorrow it is," Hong Jie said, laughing as he looked at Si Shuo. "After the match tomorrow, you’ll all become my brothers’ playthings. Tsk, tsk... I’ll have to think long and hard about how we’re going to play with you."

"So, what are the stakes for each side?" Si Shuo asked, also smiling.

The Red-winged Black Oriole Beastmen exchanged glances. ’Has this male been scared stupid?’ they thought. ’He’s not scared in the least. In fact, he’s asking about the stakes. Does he really think the few of them can actually win this match?’

"If you lose, you’ll wash yourselves clean and wait for your big brothers on the stone beds!" the male next to Hong Jie said, rubbing his hands together. He gulped while staring at Si Shuo and chuckled lewdly.

Si Shuo’s expression was impassive. "And what if you lose?"

"Haha! If we lose, we’ll wash ourselves up and wait for you!" The crowd roared with laughter.

"As I understand it, for an arena bet to be valid, the stakes must be agreeable to the opposing party," Ji Liang said with a smile. "We don’t want much. How about one cave for every match we win?"

Although Beiping City covered a large area, with stone mountains forming a continuous ring around it, its caves were in high demand. The Beastmen lived comfortable, long lives and were quite fertile, which meant Beast City was densely populated and the mountainsides were dotted with caves.

Even so, housing was extremely tight. If it weren’t for other nearby clans jealously eyeing the Long-eared Rabbit Clan’s caves and intentionally making trouble, these guest caves would never have been vacant.

A proper, livable cave was something you couldn’t buy, not even with Flower Crystal Stones!

The Red-winged Black Oriole Beastmen laughed and agreed without a second thought.

Zhi Le chuckled. "Are you sure your promise will hold? Don’t lose and then try to claim you didn’t have the authority."

"It will hold. The entire Red-winged Black Oriole Beastman clan acts as one," the High Priest said, stepping out from behind the crowd. His eyes were fixed on Si Shuo. "If we win, I hope this young man will agree to become my disciple."

Hong Jie and his group were stunned for a moment, but then they understood. "High Priest Hong Hao, we get it. Don’t worry! If we win, this young male is all yours. None of us will touch him!"

Hong Hao shot them an annoyed glance but said nothing.

Si Shuo turned to look at Shu Shu. "Shu Shu, if we win a hundred caves, can we trade some of them with you? We can pay extra to make up for the difference in location."

The caves of the Red-winged Black Oriole Beastmen were all on the highest levels, which would be inconvenient for them to get to and from.

Shu Shu glanced at his Clan Leader and the elders, then smiled and nodded. "We can only trade for a few. Any more than that is a no-go!"

Si Shuo excitedly grabbed Ji Liang’s arm. "Ji Liang, does this mean we’ll be able to rent out guest caves in the future, and even set up a stall on the ground floor to do business?"

Ji Liang nodded and said with a smile, "That’s right. With these guest caves, we can get through the three-month probationary period and have our temporary Identity Cards officially validated."

"Wow! In that case, shouldn’t we thank the Red-winged Black Oriole Beastmen in advance for their contribution? We’ve just arrived in Beiping, and we’re already about to receive such a huge, pleasant surprise to help us get established. They’re such nice people!" Si Shuo said with a wide grin.

The Red-winged Black Oriole Beastmen all sneered. These few males from outside the forest were far too arrogant. The match hadn’t even started, and they were already making plans for the hundred caves they expected to win.