“I can’t be bothered with you.” Wang Shu turned his face away and ignored the man.

“Quite the temper,” the man from the Qingxia Sect laughed. “Understandable, I suppose — scraping and saving for generations to put together that much source, you must be terrified of losing it all. Probably better to be careful.”

“Stop with the needling. We don’t care to stoop to your level.” Er Lengzi, who had never been one for subtlety, stared him down.

“Country bumpkins. Stone gambling is an extremely risky business. Coming here to try your luck, you won’t even know how to cry when the time comes,” the Qingxia Sect retainer mocked. “I’m not just saying this — this truly isn’t a place for people like you. A source miner ought to know their place and stay in it.”

“Why don’t you go stand somewhere else? We’ve got source, and we want to be here — what’s it to you? Mind your own business, busybody.” Er Lengzi was characteristically blunt.

Wang Shu laughed too. “You’d better look after yourself and make sure you don’t gamble yourself into ruin — nine gambles, nine losses, and you’ll be crawling out of here in tears.”

“People like you… have no idea how the world works.” The retainer was beginning to flush with indignation. “The mine shaft is where you belong. Don’t pretend otherwise — soon enough there’ll be plenty of crying from you.”

The young master of the Qingxia Sect frowned and said to his retainer, “What’s the point of bickering with people like this?” He strode further inside, and everyone with him followed.

The Rongxiang Stone Gambling House had many layered courtyards, with source stones covering every surface — from stones weighing tens of thousands of catties down to mere fractions of a tael, densely packed throughout.

The first courtyard was clearly the most basic. Very few people lingered there. Everything here was the most ordinary grade of source stone — so ordinary that many of the stones seemed to have been hauled in just to fill space.

Ye Fan was in no hurry to move on. Now that he had gone through the foundational section of the Source Heaven Scripture, his purpose in coming was to gain practical experience — not necessarily to cut out pure source, but to build up real-world understanding.

He wandered through the first courtyard, patting this stone and knocking on that one, with an air of complete seriousness.

“Little Brother Ye, there’s nothing of quality here — it’s all meant to fool people. Let’s go inside.” Wang Shu suggested from beside him.

“No matter. Today is mainly about getting a feel for things. Take your time, no need to rush.” Ye Fan did not move from where he stood.

Snickering came from nearby. The gatehouse adjoined this courtyard, and the men who had turned them away at the entrance were standing by with their arms folded, watching with amusement.

“What are you laughing at? Go — fetch a few bowls of tea.” Er Lengzi glared at them.

“You want tea? Quite the sense of grandeur you’ve got!” one of the gatehouse men shot back irritably.

“A guest who comes through the door deserves courtesy — don’t you know the rules? When you’re told to fetch tea, fetch it. Less talking.” Wang Shu turned at the words and faced them squarely.

One of the men immediately widened his eyes. “You little wretch — you’re nothing but source miners, and you’re putting on airs at us!”

“Go and get your senior source appraiser out here. I’d like to ask him whether he intends to run a business with its doors closed to customers — and whether even the gatekeeper gets to speak this way.” Wang Shu said coolly.

“Fine, fine — pour them a few cups and be done with it,” the others muttered, not wanting to cause a scene that might disturb the more important guests inside and bring trouble down on their heads.

“You skimped on the tea leaves — even the tea gets the discount treatment?” Er Lengzi grumbled with dissatisfaction.

The gatekeepers went stone-faced, glaring daggers at the two of them.

Ye Fan made a full circuit of the courtyard and found that although it held several thousand source stones, all of them were indeed fillers. After careful assessment, he sensed genuine source in only a small handful.

“How are the source stones in this section priced?”

Almost no one came to gamble on stones in this section, so the source appraisers were all stationed in the inner courtyards. One of the gatemen answered with a snide tone: “The stones here are the cheapest available — one tael of source gets you a thousand catties of stone. For what you’ve got on you, you could buy yourself quite a pile.”

“Is that so. Then you men come over here — move that stone over there for me.” Ye Fan pointed to a massive boulder lying across the jumbled pile ahead, easily weighing a thousand catties.

The faces of the Rongxiang staff fell immediately. They were ordinary men — shifting a thousand-catty stone between several of them would leave them half-dead from exhaustion.

“I’m telling you, you’re throwing your money away. A stone that size will cost you a full tael of precious source, and you’ll almost certainly come out with nothing.” One of them muttered a grim prediction.

“Enough talk. When you’re told to move it, move it — or would you rather I go fetch the source appraiser?” Wang Shu spoke up.

“Go ahead and pick something yourselves — don’t worry about the cost,” Ye Fan told Er Lengzi and Wang Shu.

“Us? We’d better not — digging for source is one thing, but picking source stones is something else entirely.” The two waved their hands in refusal.

“When I tell you to pick, pick. No need to overthink it.”

Wang Shu, sharp as ever, leaned close to Er Lengzi and whispered something in his ear. The two of them began directing the Rongxiang staff around.

“Move that source stone over here.” Wang Shu pointed ahead.

The men’s faces darkened — another thousand-catty boulder. They had already nearly killed themselves moving the first one.

“Fine. You two are ruthless — just wait until you’ve gambled away every drop of source you have, and then see what you do,” they gritted their teeth and hefted the enormous stone.

But they had barely taken a few steps when Wang Shu shook his head. “What are you doing? I want the source stone under the thousand-catty stone.”

“I #@￥%…” The men felt as though their lungs might burst from the outrage.

Wang Shu stood behind them, cradling a four or five-catty source stone with a cheerful smile.

“I want that one.” Er Lengzi pointed to a source stone — also trapped beneath a large rock.

The fury that had only just begun to cool in the Rongxiang staff blazed back up instantly. One of them snapped: “You’ve gone too far!”

“We’re not the ones who went too far. You’re the ones who judged us by our appearance,” Wang Shu said with a shake of his head. “Either move it, or I go get the source appraiser.”

“You…” Several men jabbed their fingers toward Wang Shu.

“‘You’ what? We’ve got source, and we’ve picked out the stones we want. Move them and be quick about it,” Er Lengzi said directly — he had never cared for these men to begin with.

Ye Fan stood to one side, smiling without a word. He found the two of them rather good at handling difficult people.

By the time the Rongxiang staff had hauled up the great stone and collapsed like exhausted dogs, Wang Shu and Er Lengzi had already picked their next target.

“That one over there — yes, the one pressed underneath. Get it out for me.”

“And this one. Get a move on.”

The two of them sat sipping their tea, directing the men at their leisure.

“Lords, we were wrong. We shouldn’t have looked down on you. Please have mercy.”

“You’re magnanimous men — please don’t hold it against us. Won’t you spare us?”

Wang Shu and Er Lengzi had reduced the men to a heap of limp, beaten figures on the ground, utterly submissive.

In the end, Ye Fan cut open the thousand-catty boulder he had selected himself and dug out a piece of source weighing a little over one catty.

The men lying exhausted nearby stared, eyes almost popping from their heads, as the three of them walked into the second courtyard.

This time Ye Fan and the others did not linger. They made a single circuit and moved straight on.

The inner courtyards had dedicated young women to receive guests and introduce the various source stones, with senior source appraisers stationed inside to handle the cutting.

Not long after, they reached the seventh courtyard — and encountered the Qingxia Sect group once again.

“Well well — if it isn’t our three master source miners! What brings you to this courtyard to try your hand?” came the insufferable voice of the Qingxia Sect retainer.

“I’m telling you, long-face — why do you keep following us around like a bad spirit?” Er Lengzi rolled his eyes at him.

“Mind how you speak,” the man said, his expression souring. “How about we settle things with a stone gambling contest?”

“What’s your name? How do we bet?” Er Lengzi asked.

The long-faced man of the Qingxia Sect said, “My name is Liu Sheng. We bet within the gamble — whatever source one side cuts out, the other side must match and pay. Agreed?”

Wang Shu and Er Lengzi exchanged uncertain glances and said nothing.

Liu Sheng, the long-faced man, sneered: “Mud-covered monkeys from the mine shaft can’t even handle a simple bet? Why did you even come here? Plenty of people in here are going three-fold, five-fold, ten-fold. I’d suggest you go back to your mine shaft — that’s where you belong.”

Wang Shu and Er Lengzi bristled. As source miners, hearing such words stung like a thorn buried under the skin.

“Bet him. Find out how much source he has.” Ye Fan spoke from beside them.

“Oh? You actually dare?” Liu Sheng’s long face broke into a mocking grin. “Just hope you don’t cry and wail so much that you throw yourself into a well.”

Ye Fan tossed Wang Shu two catties of source, then looked at Liu Sheng. “Let’s see your source first.”

The exchange quickly drew the attention of those nearby, and several people turned to watch. Even the Qingxia Sect’s young master Liu Cheng’en set down the source stone he had been examining and walked over. He tossed Liu Sheng two catties of source without a word.

“Bear witness, everyone here — this lot of country bumpkins doesn’t know the height of heaven or the depth of the earth. They actually dare to bet with me. Don’t blame me for taking advantage of them.” Despite his words, Liu Sheng’s inner composure was not as unruffled as he made it seem.

“We’ll witness it!” A good number of the bystanders called out in agreement.

The Rongxiang staff were more pleased than anyone. No matter how things went, both sides would be buying their source stones — a guaranteed profitable transaction.

Young Master Liu Cheng’en patted a source stone he had already been eyeing and said to Liu Sheng: “Take this one.”

Liu Sheng accepted it respectfully, then looked toward Ye Fan. “Now you three mud-covered monkeys from the shaft — hurry up and pick one.”

Ye Fan made a round of the courtyard, selected a source stone the size of a watermelon, and dropped it in front of them. “This one.”

Neither stone was particularly large, but both were costly — in the seventh courtyard, all the stones were priced high, because the rate of finding genuine source within them was considerably greater.

“Source appraiser, please cut the stone,” Liu Sheng said.

“Of course — this old man is about to dedicate his blade.” An elder stepped forward, ceremonially bowing first to the source stone in accordance with the customs of the trade, before taking up his cutting knife and beginning to work.

“Crack!”

The stone skin was slowly peeled away. The piece selected by the Qingxia Sect shrank smaller and smaller — yet when the last layer fell away, not a trace of source had appeared.

“Lucky this time. You’ll be crying your eyes out on the next one.” Liu Sheng was visibly displeased. Young Master Liu Cheng’en of the Qingxia Sect also frowned.

“Appraiser, please cut mine next.” Ye Fan’s stone was brought forward.

“That broken-looking thing? Does it even need cutting?” Liu Sheng said with an expression of dismissal.

A few others nearby also shook their heads. “This one is reddish-brown with white streaks — clearly the common variety they call ‘red-inside-white.’ A guaranteed worthless stone. No need to cut it to know.”

“Too obvious. It’s definitely a dead stone.” Nearly everyone present was frowning and shaking their heads.

Even the source appraiser shook his head. “This stone isn’t worth cutting.”

Wang Shu and Er Lengzi tensed immediately and looked at Ye Fan. “We haven’t cut it yet — swap it out. Pick another one.”

“No swap. If I change my mind now, some people will renege on the bet. This one stays.” Ye Fan did not observe the ritual bow to the so-called “source deity.” He picked up the cutting knife himself and brought it straight down.

“Crack!”

In the instant the source stone split open, a gentle radiance streamed out. A fist-sized piece of source — crystalline and translucent — was embedded within the stone layers.

The cut had come extremely close to cleaving it in half, grazing past it by a hair’s breadth.

“It actually yielded source! How can there be source inside a red-inside-white stone?”

“That piece must weigh about two catties — that’s a serious find!”

…

The people around them broke into exclamations of astonishment.

Even the source appraiser stood speechless, murmuring to himself: “That stone shouldn’t have yielded source. And yet…”

Wang Shu was all smiles as he dug out the source piece and cradled it carefully in his palms. Er Lengzi sauntered straight up to Liu Sheng, fixed his eyes on the source pouch in his hand, and said: “Hand it over. We cut out over two catties of source — your pouch there should just barely cover it.”

Liu Sheng’s face stretched long, his forehead breaking into an immediate cold sweat. Two catties of source was a significant sum for him. Even though it had been the young master who provided it, he would certainly have to pay it back eventually.

“How… how is this possible? Source from a dead stone!” His face was ashen, his frustration absolute.

“A bet is a bet. Hand it over.” Er Lengzi reached out and snatched the source pouch away in one swift motion.

The long-faced man crumpled as though drained of all strength and sat down heavily on the ground, utterly hollow-eyed.

“Long-face, don’t do anything drastic and throw yourself into a well,” Wang Shu said nearby with a grin. “Our mine is short on workers right now — why not come down with us? That’s a sincere offer.”

Er Lengzi hugged the source pouch, grinning from ear to ear, and added his own jab: “Exactly — room and board included. Come join us down the shaft.”

Liu Sheng went white as paper, jabbing a trembling finger at the two of them. “You… you two…”

He regretted it bitterly — furious at himself for picking a quarrel with a few mine-shaft workers and betting on stones with them. Now he had to swallow the humiliation and say nothing. The rage and shame pressed so hard against his chest he nearly fainted.

“Do you dare bet a few rounds with me?” The Qingxia Sect’s young master stepped forward, fanning himself with composed ease.

Ye Fan smiled. “Why not? Not just a few rounds — a few dozen rounds would suit me just as well.”

His heart was brimming with excitement. The Source Heaven Scripture was truly a wondrous text — he felt he had already grasped a basic understanding of source and could navigate stone gambling halls with confidence. If he were to fully master the Source Heaven Scripture, even the sacred city would hold no danger for him.

Yet Ye Fan’s good fortune seemed to abruptly run out. In the rounds that followed, he cut open seven stones in succession without finding so much as a trace of source.

Meanwhile, the Qingxia Sect’s young master cut out a fist-sized piece of source — enough to more than recover his earlier losses.

“Even people who spend their whole lives in the mines don’t necessarily understand source. Mining is crude labor. Discerning source is a field of learning.” The Qingxia Sect’s young master said with a condescending air: “This truly is not a place that just anyone can walk into.”

“Mine-shaft monkeys have no business coming here to gamble on stones. They’re out of their depth and don’t know it.”

“Dreaming of cutting out premium precious source — all they’ll manage is to lose every last drop of source they scraped together.”

…

A good number of bystanders were shaking their heads, adding their own cutting remarks.

Wang Shu and Er Lengzi felt it keenly. Watching Ye Fan’s losing streak left them deeply anxious — terrified that all his source would be squandered for nothing.

Ye Fan’s brow furrowed. He was somewhat at a loss. The knowledge he had drawn from the Source Heaven Scripture was unquestionably sound — so why the consecutive misses?

He crouched down and examined the seven stones he had cut to pieces, running his hands over them carefully.

“Gone numb from losing. Can’t take the hits anymore.”

“Mine-shaft workers come here with no idea what they’re getting into — lose a streak like that, and of course they’re in a daze. They might just go throw themselves in the river.”

“Seen it plenty of times — people who can’t handle losing do all sorts of reckless things.”

…

Some among the crowd felt a flicker of sympathy, but most looked on with undisguised schadenfreude.

Young Master Liu Cheng’en of the Qingxia Sect fanned himself leisurely, looking down from his vantage at Ye Fan crouching over the broken stones, and said: “You really ought to go back to the mine. That’s where you belong — you people don’t fit in a place like this.”