8: Chapter 8 Gambling Battle

When Lin Tian arrived at the fields, the people from the two villages were already in a standoff.

This was an open area. On the left were the fields of Lin Family Village, where the wheat seedlings had already headed, a sea of green.

On the right was the territory of Wang Family Village; the crops were growing less vigorously, with some leaves turning yellow.

A winding irrigation ditch ran through the middle. The water was murky and the flow was slow, but in this dry season, it meant life.

Upstream, a dozen or so people were blocking the water with sandbags and wooden planks; judging by their attire, they were from Wang Family Village.

Downstream, the men of Lin Family Village were holding hoes and carrying poles, glaring at them angrily.

Both sides had fifty or sixty people each, a dark, dense crowd.

Their weapons were varied, including wood-chopping knives, hunting forks, wooden clubs, and even a few rusty iron blades.

Killing Intent filled the air, and the atmosphere had grown heavy.

Lin Tian squeezed into the crowd and found Village Head Lin Tieshan and Lin Bao.

The two stood at the very front, with over twenty members of the Martial Arts Team behind them, all with cold, stern expressions, holding weapons.

"Captain." Lin Tian said in a low voice.

Village Head Lin Tieshan glanced back at him, nodded without speaking, and turned his gaze back to the opposite side.

The crowd on the opposite side parted, and a dark-skinned, thin man in his fifties walked out.

He was wearing an indigo cloth jacket, leaning on a jujube wood cane, with sinister eyes; he was none other than the Village Head of Wang Family Village, Village Head Wang Laosuan.

On the Lin Family Village side, Lin Dashan also stepped forward. He was taller and sturdier than Village Head Wang Laosuan, holding a thick-backed wood-chopping knife, his face dark with anger.

"Village Head Wang Laosuan, what is the meaning of this?" Lin Dashan's voice was like thunder. "We just fought three months ago, three people died, dozens were injured, and after just a few days of peace, you're here to steal water again?"

There was dead silence by the irrigation ditch, with only the wind howling.

Village Head Wang Laosuan leaned on his cane and sneered: "Lin Dashan, that's not the right way to put it.

The water is given by Heaven; it flows through the territory of both villages, so why should it belong only to your Lin Family Village?"

He paused and pointed his cane at the irrigation ditch:

"We planted upland rice in Wang Family Village this year, which consumes more water than your wheat. Without water, the whole village will starve. You tell me, shouldn't we fight for it?"

"Bullshit!" an old man behind Lin Dashan shouted angrily. "You chose to plant upland rice yourselves, what does that have to do with us? The upstream of the irrigation ditch is in our territory; according to the old rules, we should use it first!"

"Old rules? Those are the rules you set!" someone from the Wang Family Village side shouted back.

Both sides immediately broke into a chaotic argument, with shouts and curses shaking the sky.

Several hot-headed young men had already raised their weapons, on the verge of rushing forward.

Village Head Lin Tieshan and Lin Bao stepped forward at the same time, releasing their Aura as First-Rank Martial Artists, causing the surrounding air to freeze.

Opposite them, two men from Wang Family Village also stepped out, one wielding a blade and the other a spear, their blood and Qi surging; they were clearly also First-Rank Martial Artists.

The four of them stood in a standoff, and the Killing Intent grew even stronger.

Lin Tian stood in the crowd, gripping the wood-chopping knife in his hand.

He could feel that the situation was on the verge of breaking out; if they really started fighting, the casualties would definitely be no less than last time.

Just at this moment of tension, Village Head Wang Laosuan suddenly raised his hand.

"Quiet, everyone!"

The people from Wang Family Village gradually stopped their shouting. Lin Dashan also signaled his side to be quiet, staring coldly at the other party.

Village Head Wang Laosuan leaned on his cane and said slowly: "Lin Dashan, during the last armed conflict, you lost one person, we lost two, not to mention the injured. If we fight again, I'm afraid we'll have to add a few more lives to the count."

He paused and swept his murky eyes over the crowd from Lin Family Village:

"How about we try a different method this time?"

Lin Dashan frowned: "What method?"

"A duel between the young people." A smile appeared at the corner of Village Head Wang Laosuan's mouth. "We will each send young people from our villages to compete, best of three.

Whoever wins gets to use the irrigation ditch for the next month. How about it?"

As soon as these words were spoken, both sides fell silent.

On the Lin Family Village side, everyone looked at each other.

"A competition between young people? This…"

"Could it be a conspiracy?"

"That old fox, Village Head Wang Laosuan, definitely has no good intentions!"

But some young people's eyes lit up.

Lin Hu was the first to step forward: "Village Head, let us go! Our Martial Arts Team has been training for so long, we've been worrying about having nowhere to put it to use!"

"Right! Let us go!" other young members echoed one after another.

These young people were all Quasi-Martial Artists; the weakest had a strength of a hundred catties, while the strong ones, like Lin Hu, were already approaching two hundred catties.

After three months of hard training, they had long been holding back their energy, wanting to test their strength in actual combat.

Lin Dashan looked at these spirited young people, then at the eager youngsters from Wang Family Village on the opposite side, and calculated quickly in his mind.

The armed conflict indeed caused too much damage. Last time, three died, seven or eight were seriously injured, and dozens were slightly injured; the village's Origin Qi was greatly damaged, and it hadn't fully recovered even now.

If the problem could really be solved through a competition between young people, that would be for the best.

But he was also suspicious of Village Head Wang Laosuan's intentions.

This old fox never suffers a loss.

Proactively proposing such a seemingly fair method, he must have something to rely on.

Lin Dashan turned his head to look at Village Head Lin Tieshan and Lin Bao. Both were frowning, obviously weighing the options as well.

"Village Head Lin Tieshan, what do you think…" Lin Dashan asked in a low voice.

Village Head Lin Tieshan stared at the young people from Wang Family Village opposite, and after a long while, said in a deep voice: "Those ones on the opposite side have strong blood and Qi. But our kids aren't bad either. If we really fight, the chances of winning are fifty-fifty."

Lin Bao also nodded: "It's worth a try. It's better than an all-out war."

Lin Dashan took a deep breath, turned to Village Head Wang Laosuan, and said loudly:

"Fine! I agree. A duel between young people, best of three. Whoever wins gets the irrigation ditch for the next month!"

"Straightforward!"

Village Head Wang Laosuan grinned, revealing a mouthful of yellow teeth.

In that smile, there was an indescribable meaning, as if a conspiracy had succeeded, or as if victory was already in his grasp.

Lin Tian stood in the crowd, staring at Village Head Wang Laosuan's smiling face, his brows slightly furrowed.

Something was wrong.

An old fox like Village Head Wang Laosuan would never do anything he wasn't sure about. If he dared to proactively propose a duel between young people, he must have a trump card.

What was it?

Lin Tian's gaze swept over the young people of Wang Family Village opposite. There were seven or eight of them in total, all aged between seventeen or eighteen and early twenties, all sturdy and with vigorous blood and Qi.

But they didn't look much stronger than the side of Lin Family Village.

Unless…

His pupils constricted slightly.

Unless there was a hidden expert on the other side, or some other means.

"For the first round, you send someone first." Village Head Wang Laosuan leaned on his cane and said slowly.

Lin Dashan looked behind him: "Who is willing to go first?"

"Me!"

Lin Hu stepped out, aggressive and imposing.

He was holding an iron-wrapped wooden club, with spikes at the tip, a weapon specially made by the village blacksmith.

"Village Head, Captain, let me go! I guarantee we'll take the first round!"

Village Head Lin Tieshan looked at him and nodded: "Be careful. Winning or losing isn't important; your life is what matters."

"Understood!" Lin Hu cupped his fists, turned around, and walked toward the open space in the middle of the field.

Opposite, someone from Wang Family Village also walked out.

About twenty years old, dark-skinned, holding a short-handled hunting fork with a gleaming, cold tip.

The two stood three zhang apart in the middle, staring at each other, and the Killing Intent filled the air.

By the irrigation ditch, hundreds of people from both villages held their breath.

The first round had begun.