Inside the seemingly quiet shop, countless people were fighting tooth and nail. Those who won left satisfied with their full purses of silver, while those who lost were dejected, almost as if they had lost their souls. This place was specifically for people to fight crickets for fun.
A man in a silver-gray robe dismounted and strode into the shop. He had a gentle and refined appearance, but his eyes were extremely cold. This was the Eighth Master.
Despite wearing ordinary people's clothes, the Eighth Prince's innate nobility was still undeniable.
Once inside, he saw a familiar figure in front of him. Their eyes met for only a moment before they looked away.
But a short while later, the two met in the room.
The person opposite the Eighth Prince was Hongshi, the Empress's eldest son.
The servants behind them each carried a cup containing crickets, which occasionally let out a soft chirp.
"Leave your things here, and you may leave!" Eighth Master said, tossing a silver ingot to the servant behind him.
Hongshi also told the people behind him to step back. The two men then placed the cup on the table, turned around and left, closing the door behind them.
After the servant left, Hongshi respectfully bowed and said, "Eighth Uncle."
Eighth Master smiled and said, "No need for formalities."
Hongshi looked around and frowned slightly. The Eighth Master, being meticulous, saw through his concerns at a glance. "This place is in a remote location, and few people come here, so you can rest assured."
Upon hearing this, Hongshi relaxed and felt relieved.
Eighth Master said, "Let's begin!"
He used a bamboo skewer to release the cricket from his bowl. It was a cricket with an extremely large head, bronze in color, clearly a top-quality cricket.
Hongshi looked them over and, although he thought that Eighth Master's crickets were good, his own were no worse, so he released the crickets from his own cricket bowl.
Both crickets were extremely fierce, and once they got together, they were determined to compete and determine who was superior.
Eighth Master and Hongshi leaned closer to watch, the two of them secretly straining with the bamboo sticks in their hands, fighting the crickets while Eighth Master observed Hongshi's expression.
Unlike the Eighth Master, Hongshi was very serious and focused on observing the cricket. Before long, a layer of cold sweat appeared on his forehead.
After a long while, Eighth Master's cricket, which had been so proud just moments before, lost.
Hongshi sighed and glanced at the Eighth Master, his eyes filled with smugness.
Eighth Master didn't seem to care, maintaining his nonchalant expression. He looked at Hongshi's cricket with a smug expression and said, "Your cricket is not bad."
Hongshi looked down at the cricket he was raising. "Uncle, you flatter me. I've put a lot of effort and money into this cricket, so of course I have to take good care of it. It's invincible in every fighting arena!"
Seeing Hongshi's proud expression, Eighth Master suggested playing a few more rounds, which Hongshi gladly accepted.
Just like the previous round, although Hongshi won, he didn't bring any gifts, and he still had to be serious when fighting crickets.
Eighth Master had no interest in the war and simply watched Hongshi silently. Suddenly, he said leisurely, "If Hongshi is so concerned about cricket fighting, then he must be even more so about other people and other things."
Hongshi nodded, not having time to answer Eighth Master.
Eighth Master said in a calm tone, "Crickets are just small creatures. They're fine to play with in your spare time. But if you play with them too much, then this kind of entertainment becomes something that can make people lose their ambition and waste their energy."
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