Chapter 188: A Loss Is a Loss
Everyone thought Xiao Ye would be struck by the whip.
But he grabbed the saddle and slid directly to the other side, his body now hanging in mid-air, parallel to the ground.
SWISH!
The whip missed.
Xiao Ming's face turned ashen.
He had already thrown his dignity aside and attacked, but he never expected Xiao Ye to dodge it!
His plan had not only failed, but it had backfired spectacularly. Xiao Ming could already imagine the looks everyone would be giving him when the race was over!
Xiao Ye swung himself back onto the saddle. "Faster!"
Spurred by the pressure on its flanks, the black horse understood Xiao Ye's command and immediately accelerated.
It possessed a wildness other horses lacked and didn't even seem to consider its rider, simply running at a breakneck pace!
In the blink of an eye, it had pulled far ahead of the white horse.
"After him!"
Xiao Ming was furious. He absolutely refused to lose to a nobody!
With a towering inferno of rage in his heart, he angrily whipped the white horse.
The white horse, smarting from the blow, also picked up its pace.
But it was a domesticated horse and was mindful of its rider, so its speed still couldn't match the black horse's.
The two horses vied with each other, accelerating into a mad dash!
The two figures, one black and one white, captured the attention of everyone present!
In the end, Xiao Ye, riding the black horse, successfully reached the finish line.
The white horse didn't arrive until nearly a dozen seconds later.
The outcome was decided!
Xiao Ming was defeated!
Xiao Ye pulled on the reins, turning his horse around to face Xiao Ming. His eyes were filled with disdain. "You lost."
Xiao Ming was incandescent with rage. "I did not!"
"Not only did you lose, you also tried to attack me," Xiao Ye sneered contemptuously. "You Xiao Family members are truly shameless. When your skills are inferior, you resort to dirty tricks."
"I..." Xiao Ming tried to retort.
But the word had barely left his lips before he was interrupted by another, gruff voice.
It was the referee for this event, a member of the Fifth Clan.
"Xiao Ming, you lost. Everyone here saw it. We all saw you try to attack him when you saw he was overtaking you."
"If you're a man, accept it with some dignity. If you're not, then just pretend I didn't say anything!"
The members of the Xiao Family said nothing.
They didn't dare provoke anyone from the Fifth Clan. Everyone knew the Fifth Clan was extremely protective of their own; provoking one of them was the same as provoking the entire clan.
Besides, the Xiao Family was no longer a match for the Fifth Clan. They fell short in every aspect, and not just by a little.
Xiao Ming clenched his fists. "He must have used some other trick! Otherwise, there's no way I would have lost to him!"
A derisive laugh rang out. This time, the speaker was a junior member of the Ouyang Clan.
"A loss is a loss. We have plenty of eyes here, and we all saw clearly whether he used any tricks or not."
"Your skills were inferior. Now hurry up and honor your promise!"
The faces of all the Xiao Family members changed.
They had never imagined they would lose from the start; otherwise, they never would have agreed to such a wager.
Making them kneel, call him "Grandpa," and declare that the Xiao Family were all trash was simply an unthinkable insult!
They couldn't bring themselves to say it. They absolutely could not!
"No, that bet is too much! Change it to something else!"
"Going back on your word... so this is the famous Xiao Family upbringing." Xiao Ye dismounted.
He walked up to them, meeting their venomous and furious gazes head-on.
If the members of the Fifth Clan and Ouyang Clan weren't present, they probably would have not only reneged on the deal but even resorted to violence.
Shameless people will never act with integrity, no matter the situation.
"Shut up! The Xiao Family's upbringing is not for you to criticize!"
Xiao Ming snapped, "How about this: I'll give you a million. Let's call the bet off!"
"I don't want money." Xiao Ye glanced at his own watch.
The others followed his gaze.
It was a custom model from the world's number one watch brand.
Furthermore, it was fully encrusted with diamonds. A single one was worth hundreds of thousands, to say nothing of a full-bezel setting.
A quick glance suggested the watch was worth at least several hundred million!
The faces of the Xiao Family members fell. Even they couldn't afford such an expensive watch.
The man from the Ouyang Clan raised his eyebrows with great interest. "Wait, can I take a look at your watch?"
"Of course." Xiao Ye casually took it off and handed it over.
It was a thank-you gift he had received back when he and his master treated the Sovereign of Country A.
There were two in total; one for him and one for his master.
But the master and disciple pair never cared for such things and had kept them stored in a bank's safe deposit box.
Xiao Ye had only made a special trip to the Imperial Capital Bank to retrieve it because he was planning to stir up trouble with the Xiao Family.
The man accepted the watch with extreme care. When he saw the number engraved on it, his expression gradually grew solemn.
"This is the custom watch with the serial number '3'. Its creator was Master Peter, the most renowned master of our time. He passed away a few years ago."
"He only made ten custom watches in his entire life, and each one has a current collector's value of over five hundred million."
"And yours is the third one, which means... its value might even exceed a billion!"
There was something else the Ouyang Clan member didn't say: the watch wasn't just expensive, it was exceedingly rare.
Not even the Ouyang Clan had been able to commission a watch from Master Peter, because they weren't qualified.
Only those at the very pinnacle of the global pyramid could obtain such an item.
It was said that all ten of Master Peter's creations were made for the Royal Families of the world's most powerful nations.
But how did this watch end up in the hands of someone from the Dragon Country, a complete nobody at that?
He hurriedly returned the watch, the way he looked at Xiao Ye completely changed.
He didn't recognize the man's face.
'Then there's only one possibility—he's from another country!'
'And anyone who possesses this watch must be someone you can't afford to provoke!'
This was clearly a golden opportunity to get on his good side.
The Ouyang Clan member's thoughts raced. He turned to Xiao Ming and said, "A million? You really are treating him like a beggar."
"He certainly doesn't need your million!"
Xiao Ming's face was livid with anger. He couldn't understand why these two clans were siding with an outsider!
The Ouyang Clan had recognized the significance of the watch.
The Fifth Clan was simply disgusted by Xiao Ming's behavior!
"Are you sure you want to jeopardize the relationship between our families for an outsider?"
"I've never even seen this kid before! He's probably not even from a first-rate family, just some nobody who snuck in!"
"Or maybe he's the illegitimate son of some family, a disgrace who can't be seen in public!"
Xiao Ye looked at him with a half-smile. "So, in order to weasel out of the bet, you're just going to start slandering me with baseless accusations?"
"I get it now. The Xiao Family aren't just trash, you'sre a bunch of petty villains too!"
"Shut up! You're the petty one!"
"Kid, if you dare say another word about my Xiao Family, you're dead!"
The other Xiao Family members roared in anger, looking as if they wanted to kill Xiao Ye on the spot.
Xiao Ye looked at Xiao Ming. "If you honor the agreement, I won't say a thing."
"Your bet is too outrageous! Change it!"
"No changes!" Xiao Ye lifted his head, his disdainful gaze sweeping over them. "How about this? I'll give you one more chance."