It turned out the adversary Lu Xiaoqing had made a bet with was named Qu Shangbo, the head of the Qu family, a martial arts family in the capital.
Not long ago, the other party had suddenly approached Lu Xiaoqing, expressing a desire to marry her.
After Lu Xiaoqing refused, he resorted to various despicable means to harass her and suppress her businesses in Ning City.
He intended to force Lu Xiaoqing to submit.
As the head of a martial arts family, Qu Shangbo's influence was naturally beyond Lu Xiaoqing's ability to resist.
Consequently, Lu Xiaoqing suffered heavy losses during that period, losing many of her properties in Ning City.
Finally, through arduous negotiation, Lu Xiaoqing managed to secure an opportunity from Qu Shangbo: a competition between the two of them.
If Lu Xiaoqing won, Qu Shangbo would cease harassing her and compensate her tenfold for the losses incurred.
Conversely, if Qu Shangbo won, everything Lu Xiaoqing owned, including herself, would belong to Qu Shangbo!
What Qin Yi and Xiong Zhentian found most unbelievable was that, according to Lu Xiaoqing, Qu Shangbo was over seventy years old. A man in his seventies wanted to marry Lu Xiaoqing!
Qin Yi found the mere thought of it utterly speechless!
Therefore, this strengthened his resolve to help Lu Xiaoqing!
He would absolutely not let her fall into the hands of such a despicable, shameless, and disreputable old man!
"I understand the situation. When is the specific time for your competition?" Qin Yi asked his final question.
"Three days from now!"
A hint of anxiety involuntarily surfaced on Lu Xiaoqing's face.
Only three days remained. If she couldn't find someone to help her win this competition, she would be finished.
Qin Yi noticed her expression and understood that she didn't believe he had the capability to help her.
Qin Yi didn't offer further explanation. He simply said, "I'll go with you to your competition. I don't have anything else to do recently and am quite bored!"
Lu Xiaoqing didn't refuse this, agreeing, "Yes, Divine King!"
Later, perhaps sensing that Xiong Zhentian couldn't help her and not trusting Qin Yi's strength, Lu Xiaoqing didn't linger. After bowing to Qin Yi, she left the bar and returned to Ning City.
As soon as Lu Xiaoqing exited, Xiong Zhentian immediately said to Qin Yi, "Divine King, you just let her leave like that?"
"If I don't let her leave, what do you want me to do?" Qin Yi retorted.
"She clearly doesn't believe in your strength! You should have shown her a few moves to let her witness your prowess!"
Qin Yi chuckled and shook his head, "There's no need for that!"
If she didn't believe him now, when the competition between her and Qu Shangbo began, he would directly intervene and help her win. She would naturally believe him then.
Xiong Zhentian understood Qin Yi's intention and became somewhat expectant, saying, "Divine King, I'll accompany you then as well. I don't have any important matters to attend to recently, so it will be like going out for fun!"
"And if I go with you, Divine King, I can help you run errands or something if you need it!"
"You want to come along to watch the show, don't you!" Qin Yi said with interest.
"Heh heh..."
Xiong Zhentian scratched his head and grinned.
The next two days passed in a flash.
One day before Lu Xiaoqing's competition with Qu Shangbo, Qin Yi and Xiong Zhentian traveled to Ning City in advance.
Upon arriving in Ning City, Lu Xiaoqing personally greeted them, showing great respect to Qin Yi.
However, this respect seemed to stem solely from Qin Yi's identity as the Divine King, not from Qin Yi himself.
"Divine King, Lord Xiong, I've arranged a banquet at Qingfeng Restaurant tonight to welcome you!" Lu Xiaoqing said. "Besides you two, I have another important guest. We'll be dining together then. I hope you don't mind!"
"We don't mind, what's there to mind!"
Qin Yi waved his hand dismissively.
"Miss Lu, you don't believe in the Divine King's strength. Tomorrow is the day of your competition with Qu Shangbo. Who will compete for you then?" Xiong Zhentian asked, smacking his lips.
Hearing him say it so plainly, a hint of embarrassment flickered across Lu Xiaoqing's face.
She instinctively glanced at Qin Yi, as if afraid he would be angry.
Seeing that Qin Yi showed no reaction, she breathed a sigh of relief and replied, "After I returned from Hai City the day before yesterday, I contacted an expert!"
"Who?" Xiong Zhentian blurted out.
"Cang Xuan!" Lu Xiaoqing uttered two words.
Upon hearing this, Xiong Zhentian looked bewildered and turned to Qin Yi, finding him in the same state.
Seeing their reactions, Lu Xiaoqing explained, "The important guest I mentioned earlier is Cang Xuan. Divine King and Lord Xiong will meet him tonight!"
Later, Lu Xiaoqing arranged for a hotel for them. The two rested in the hotel until around five or six in the evening before departing for Qingfeng Restaurant with Lu Xiaoqing.
At Qingfeng Restaurant, Lu Xiaoqing had already booked a private room, and the three entered.
Then, they waited for Cang Xuan's arrival.
However, to Qin Yi's surprise, they entered the private room at six o'clock and waited and waited. By seven o'clock, Cang Xuan still hadn't arrived.
Under these circumstances, Lu Xiaoqing felt increasingly embarrassed. She called Cang Xuan three times to inquire about his whereabouts.
While Cang Xuan answered her first two calls, he completely ignored the third one.
After ringing twice, he simply hung up.
This left Lu Xiaoqing feeling both embarrassed and deeply apologetic to Qin Yi and Xiong Zhentian.
At seven-thirty, just as Qin Yi and Xiong Zhentian were becoming impatient and considering leaving, the door to the private room was finally pushed open. A man wearing a trench coat and a black fedora walked in.
"Miss Lu, you've called me so many times, are you that eager to see me?"
As soon as the man entered, he playfully said to Lu Xiaoqing.
Lu Xiaoqing immediately stood up and said, "Master Cang, we arranged to meet at six o'clock. Seeing that you were so late, I thought you..."
"We did agree on six o'clock, but on the way here, I passed by a cinema and found a rather interesting movie. So, I went in to watch it!"
Cang Xuan casually walked to a seat at the table and said, "That's why I'm so late!"
Uh...
Upon hearing his words, whether it was Lu Xiaoqing, Qin Yi, or Xiong Zhentian, all of them had several black lines appearing on their faces simultaneously.
They were utterly dumbfounded.
They had waited for him for such a long time, and he had gone to the cinema to watch a movie!
Cang Xuan, seemingly oblivious to their expressions, looked at the empty table and asked, "Where are the dishes?"
"Oh, the dishes will be served immediately!"
Lu Xiaoqing came to her senses and called a waiter to bring the food.
Previously, as Cang Xuan had not arrived, Lu Xiaoqing had not yet asked the waiter to serve the dishes.
Tonight, although Lu Xiaoqing stated she was hosting Qin Yi and the two others, her primary focus was on hosting Cang Xuan.
After all, in Lu Xiaoqing's mind, Cang Xuan was the one who would compete for her against Qu Shangbo tomorrow. Her entire future, and its outcome, rested on Cang Xuan.