Wandong clicked his tongue, shaking his head, "Wow, there are thirty-three cubes of raw stone out there. And you failed to get even one piece of the blood steel. You say the output ratio is ten percent? Spare me your filthy lies."
Wu Qiujun and Duan Lengyan pulled a long face.
The onlookers went mad as well. The Tianbao merchants promised them that they would definitely get one valid cube of raw stone out of ten. However, the thirty-three out-and-
out greyish broken raw stone cubes turned out barren all across the board.
They all suspected the creditworthiness of the Tianbao Mansion.
Duan Lengyan hastened to remind, "What's the rush? There are sixty-seven cubes left."
Wandong sneered, "Good! I shall sit and wait for you to persist with your playacting."
Duan Lengyan turned back to the stonemasons, "Crack on!"
Then another thirty-three cubes broke at the same time.
Everyone present, except Wandong, cast keen eyes on the new cross-sections.
One onlooker exclaimed, "None! None again!"
His shout caused a sudden stir in the crowd. Heated discussions came hot on the heels. People condemned the Tianbao Mansion for their unscrupulous extortion. At that moment, a hubbub of voices rose here and subsided there. It sounded as if the ceiling of the Tianbao Mansion had been about to get blown off by their voices.
Sixty-six cubes of raw stones all proved invalid — that lagged far behind the 10 percent ratio in an embarrassing manner.
Duan Lengyan held her breath, eyes struck wide open. She didn't care about the purchasers' accusations in the slightest. She was solely focused on the debris of the raw stone on the ground, unable to come to terms with the forthcoming failure and the unbidden discredit.
Wu Qiujun twisted his eyebrows and cast an inquiring look at Wandong in spite of himself.
"That's terribly odd! How could that be?"
However, Wandong appeared pretty self-composed and well at ease. He looked as if he had long seen that coming since the start.
Wu Qiujun's heart sank as he sensed something unusual about Wandong. "Could it be said that we bit at the bait again? How did he manage the trick? Does it mean he had what it takes to see through the raw stone cubes? No...I'm sure he is not equal to that."
Wandong waited till he saw Wu Qiujun down in the dumps, beaming radiantly.
"Old dog. What's the matter with you? It's yet to be the right time for you to play dumb. Come on! Get cracking!"
"Martial master..." Duan Lengyan went tongue-tied.
She felt literally suffocated. A foreboding came into her and inundated her mind. The overwhelming sense of failure was about to paralyze her.
However, they could, by no means, go back on their word. Once they started, they had to proceed till the end.
Wu Qiujun gritted his teeth, "Go on! We still have thirty-four cubes of raw stone there. It ain't over until the fat lady sings. As long as there is a single piece of blood steel, the goddamned lad is doomed. "
Wandong let out a grim hum, "Humph! You will give up only at the sight of gallows."
Wandong's horrifying response sent chills down Wu Qiujun's spine.
It took quite a while for Duan Lengyan to give instructions.
"Ready! Go!"
She expected a familiar sound — a dabber got stuck as it touched the blood steel.
However, that sound didn't come out.