Here’s the English translation of the provided text:
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Upon hearing this, the old man’s teammate sensed trouble: “Two?! Hey… you only have one extra fan…”
“Give him yours too!” the old man said. “Without this fan, we’ll really be done for here!”
Qi Xia knew his goal had been achieved.
To fully exploit these people’s wealth, he couldn’t pick them off one by one—he had to find a way to make them willingly form groups. Only then would their collective stakes rise.
Now, every individual in the group, whether willingly or unwillingly, would contribute to the group’s gains or losses.
After all, you don’t harvest leeks one by one—you cut them in bundles.
“In that case… I’m truly sorry…” Qi Xia sighed helplessly. “We all want to leave, so I have no choice but to go with the ‘highest bidder.'”
The phrase “highest bidder” landed among the crowd like an unspoken market rule.
“We offer three!”
Another team spoke up. This team clearly had someone with means—between the two of them, they had roughly seven fans.
Qi Xia still didn’t agree. Instead, he scanned the crowd again.
This move shattered the last wall of the crowd’s disaster bias. His gaze told them that “three” wasn’t the highest bid—the final price would only go higher.
The crowd fell silent for a long moment before a team finally spoke: “Four.”
Everyone turned to look at them. The two members each had four fans, and now they were offering two each to buy “Grief,” leaving them with nothing.
The rules here had been obscured by layers of lies. For the crowd, exchanging fans was far worse than outright theft. But after Di Yang’s seemingly fair yet selfish killing earlier, no one dared act recklessly.
Yes, Di Yang would eventually start slaughtering them all.
Those who truly understood the rules had likely left long ago. Only two kinds of people remained here:
Fools, and madmen like Qi Xia.
Qi Xia nodded slightly and asked, “Does anyone bid higher than four?”
The crowd exchanged glances, but no one spoke up.
Some teams could afford four fans, but no one could offer more.
“In that case… I’ll have to give it to this team…”
Qi Xia took the four fans from them and tossed them a “Grief” in return.
Though the two were pained by the loss, time was running out. In half an hour, Di Yang would begin his massacre. If they didn’t escape by then, the losses would be even greater.
They escaped.
The remaining crowd wore expressions of regret, as if sensing their impending doom.
Once the two were gone, Qi Xia slowly pulled out another “Grief.”
“Everyone, I have one more ‘Grief,'” he announced.
His words were like a ray of sunlight piercing their despair, offering a fleeting hope. Yet they also felt like an invisible knife, carving cracks of doubt in everyone’s hearts.
“You… you have another one?”
“Correct,” Qi Xia nodded. “This one is also up for exchange.”
One of the older women in the crowd couldn’t take it anymore. “Young man, aren’t you just scamming us? You made it seem like you only had one ‘Grief’ left! If you’d said earlier you had a second, those two wouldn’t have had to offer four fans!”
Qi Xia felt like he’d heard more jokes today than ever before.
“Auntie, have you ever done business?” he asked. “I’m not some savior—just a participant like the rest of you.”
The woman turned her head away, clearly unwilling to engage further.
After a few minutes, someone finally cracked. They approached Di Yang’s stall to inquire about the “Grief” with the negotiable price.
Seeing Qi Xia exchange one “Grief” for four fans, Di Yang began calculating the value of his own “Grief.”
After a pause, he said quietly, “Three. Just three fans for a deal.”
Hearing this, the crowd stirred. If they stuck with Qi Xia’s “highest bidder” approach, they might end up paying four fans again.
One team exchanged glances, about to step forward, when Qi Xia spoke again.
“Everyone, does anyone here only have the ‘Joy’ and ‘Anger’ fans?”
After a moment, a slender woman raised her hand.
Qi Xia looked at her and nodded. “You don’t need to team up with anyone else. I’ll arrange an exit for you.”
“An exit?”
“Exactly,” Qi Xia said, pointing to a square-faced man in the corner. “You can pair up with him now. He’s already placed ‘Grief’ and ‘Pleasure.’ Add your ‘Joy’ and ‘Anger,’ and you can leave.”
“Huh?” The woman hesitated. “Seriously?”
“Yes, seriously,” Qi Xia said. “Go ahead.”
The crowd was baffled, but the woman walked over to the corner and spoke with the man before placing her fans.
Soon, the screen displayed: “Pairing successful.”
They escaped.
“Listen up,” Qi Xia sighed, his voice calm. “Starting now, I’m slashing prices. I’ll exchange fans with you at a discount you’d never imagine.”
“What?”
The crowd froze, falling silent as they all turned to him.
Di Yang, however, sensed something amiss. He stepped away from his stall and approached Qi Xia. “Are you really trying to die?”
“Oh? Getting nervous?” Qi Xia smirked. “Going to kill me here?”
Di Yang narrowed his eyes. Qi Xia’s demeanor felt increasingly familiar.
“What are you trying to do?”
Qi Xia grinned. “Di Yang, you’re too slow… I’ve been monopolizing right under your nose, and you still didn’t see it.”
“What?”
“By the time you realize I’m monopolizing, you’ve already lost.”
“I… lost?” Di Yang stared at him, confused.
“Going to kill me? No? Then I’ll keep talking.” Qi Xia swallowed hard. He didn’t understand why Di Yang was tolerating him to this extent.
He’d planned to use “Earth Tiger” as leverage at a critical moment, but now it seemed unnecessary.
“What’s this ‘discount’ you mentioned?” someone asked.
Qi Xia paused, then said, “Has no one noticed the odd number of people left?”
The crowd looked around. Seventeen remained.
With seventeen people, wouldn’t one be left behind in the end?
“From now on, all my ‘Grief’ fans will be a one-for-one exchange,” Qi Xia pressed on. “Aside from me, there are sixteen left. I have seven ‘Grief’ fans. Right now, someone needs to take Di Yang’s ‘Grief.’ Once that’s done, I’ll exchange the remaining ‘Grief’ with the rest of you.”
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The translation maintains the original tone, tension, and nuances while ensuring clarity and natural flow in English. Let me know if you’d like any refinements!
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