Xiaoyao Feng, at this moment, did not realize the severity of the situation. He had no idea that Xu Mu had already scammed him out of over a million.
He greeted Xu Mu with a smile, then turned his head and stared fiercely at the surrounding crowd, speaking in a deep voice:
"Everyone, this is the Holy City."
"You all understand the rules of the Holy City, right? If you dare to make a move against me, the guardians of the Xuanyuan Great Clan will immediately execute you on the spot!"
Upon hearing this, the crowd regained some of their senses and gritted their teeth, saying, "We won't touch you, just return our money!"
Others chimed in with loud agreement: "Scammer, return the money! Scammer, return the money!"
Xiaoyao Feng sneered, and with utter disdain in his heart, he asked, "You all call me a scammer, but what do you mean by scammer?"
The crowd roared, "Of course, you scammed our money. You made us bet on Stone Saint, but Stone Saint lost!"
Xiaoyao Feng scoffed, spreading his arms to face the crowd and speaking loudly, "Everyone, the ancients also said that victory and defeat are common in warfare. Moreover, the gambling battles are ever-changing. Even I, Xiaoyao Feng, cannot predict every possibility."
"Who could have imagined that Jing Ji's strength would be this great? This is a strength close to the top three thousand in the Ten Thousand Races Alliance."
"Furthermore, I only analyzed the advantages and disadvantages of both sides for you. Without me, you wouldn't even know Stone Saint's trump card, and betting would be blind. Wouldn't you still lose?"
Hearing this, the crowd became even more enraged, pointing at the young man and scolding, "But we wouldn't have lost so miserably! At least originally we were going to bet on Jing Ji!"
Xiaoyao Feng coldly sneered, looking at him and saying, "Is that so? If you can win by luck this time, will you not lose it back when you have bad luck next time?"
"Moreover, the reason you all want your money back is that my analysis was inaccurate. This is utterly absurd. You should know that before you, I, Xiaoyao Feng, had predicted four consecutive gambling matches correctly. Countless people profited handsomely and left happily. If you don't believe me, you can ask the bookmakers or find people who participated in the earlier bets!"
Xiaoyao Feng said this with conviction, and at the next moment, some of the ability users in the crowd who had participated in the previous bets came forward to support him.
"I am the youngest son of the chief of the Zhongtian Jialan tribe, Jialan Lou. I can attest to his words." As he spoke, a noble young man in a white robe adorned with golden patterns slowly walked out of the crowd, a smile on his face.
"Just now, this brother helped me win three consecutive matches, earning over 400,000."
"Although I was a bit shaken by the last loss, I want to say that there are no absolute winners in gambling battles. It's just bad luck for all of you."
Hearing this, the crowd, though angry, had no rebuttal. Xiaoyao Feng cast a grateful glance at Jialan Lou.
He hadn't expected that the big fish he had accidentally let go would actually stand up to speak for him. With this, the people who lost money had even less power against him.
Suddenly, Xiaoyao Feng thought of something and smiled faintly, pointing in the direction Xu Mu had left. "Everyone, I believe that if you can come here, you are all prominent figures in your respective regions."
"It's too small-minded to bicker over such a small amount of money. Look at that young brother who just left. He also lost over 200,000 taels of gold, losing it all, but he left with a relaxed smile, facing it calmly."
When the crowd heard this, their anger subsided by more than half. For those whose anger remained, they were completely silenced by Xiaoyao Feng. He stood on a moral high ground, leaving them no room to vent.
"That statement is incorrect."
Just as Xiaoyao Feng thought his performance was flawless and he had narrowly escaped, Jialan Lou spoke, dousing him with cold water.
"From what I know, the person who just left did not bet on Stone Saint to win, but on Jing Ji."
Upon hearing this, the crowd immediately glared at Xiaoyao Feng in anger, shouting, "You scoundrel! You dared to sell two different pieces of information!"
"I did not!" Xiaoyao Feng was completely stunned but still instinctively retorted. He quickly turned to look at the bookmaker, his expression flustered, and asked, "Young Master Jialan, is what he said true?"
"Yes," the bookmaking assistant nodded with a face full of dust. "I wanted to tell you just now, but that kid had extraordinary strength. He controlled me and threatened to expose our scam if I spoke, so I had to keep quiet."
Hearing this, Xiaoyao Feng's face turned pale, and he sat down on the ground, dizzy and disoriented.
He clearly remembered that Xu Mu's bet was 240,000 taels of gold. With a seven-times multiplier, he had lost two million at once!
Although he had also earned a lot through these shills, after deducting the benefits for acting and hush money, he had made almost no profit on this trip, and had even lost money!
Xiaoyao Feng felt as if he had been struck by lightning, his face deathly pale. But he knew clearly that he absolutely could not show any abnormality at this moment.
It was one thing for others to lose money; he had ways to deal with it and gain the upper hand in arguments. But if he were discovered to have rigged matches with shills to cheat people out of money, even if this group violated the Holy City's prohibition against martial arts and killed him, the Xuanyuan family's guardians would say nothing!
In fact, the guardians would personally eliminate him!
With these thoughts, Xiaoyao Feng stood up from the ground, forcing a calm demeanor, and said to the crowd:
"Everyone, I guarantee you, I, Xiaoyao Feng, have absolutely not sold two different pieces of information. The ones who bet on the winner all bet on Stone Saint. It's just that he had his own judgment and understanding and bought Jing Ji." The bookmaking assistant said.
As soon as this was said, the crowd that had surrounded him no longer had any complaints. They could only blame their bad luck and dispersed with sighs.
Seeing this, Xiaoyao Feng finally breathed a sigh of relief. He exchanged a look with the bookmaking assistant and was about to leave.
But then, in a street corner, Jialan Lou stopped him.
"I know those who competed in the matches were your people, they were shills."
Jialan Lou grabbed Xiaoyao Feng's shoulder and said with a chuckle. The latter was stunned and tried to argue, but Jialan Lou gave him no chance to explain.
"In the end, you're doing it for money, and so am I. Perhaps we can cooperate." Jialan Lou released Xiaoyao Feng and said with a smile.
Xiaoyao Feng cautiously stepped back two paces and asked, "Cooperate on what?"
"Money, I'm short on money too." Jialan Lou looked at Xiaoyao Feng, his smile deepening. "I know where that kid who scammed you lives. If you want revenge, I can help you."
"And most importantly, I have many people who can compete in the arena. If you cooperate with me, we can split the gambling profits eight and two. What do you say?"
Hearing this, Xiaoyao Feng recalled Xu Mu's smile before he left and gritted his teeth, nodding with some resentment.
"Agreed!"