Chapter 17 One Last Gamble
"Wonderful! I knew you would, princess." he said with devilish glee, "We're going to have a Folk Game Competition and play five different games. Best three out of five wins."
There was a small sudden quake in the castle. Qiao first thought of it as an earthquake but High Roller was standing still with that smug look still on his face rather than panicking like the coward he truly was. The castle was turning aside on a single corner to form the arena.
Once the arena was fully cleared out, five stages rose from the ground and each was for one specific Chinese folk toy: shuttlecock, jump rope, hula hoop, diabolo, and spinning tops. Qiao's friends and family were moved into a large cage and placed aside as the prize. The seats around the arena filled with High Roller's followers, cheering for a great show.
She stared at the stages and felt a sudden sense of deja vu. She strongly felt that this has all been done before.
"I hope you realize why I chose these specific games." High Roller said smugly, "These were the games I performed for you six years ago. I still remember it as if it were yesterday." He laughed wickedly as she glared at him, "It's like a blast from the past. I won your hand to hold then; I'll win your hand in marriage now."
She scowled, and tore the bottom dress to give herself leg room. With the torn piece of cloth, she tied her hair to ready herself for the competition. She had to use everything in her power to beat the master of folk games especially when he plays unfairly.
"Prepare to lose, my sweet." High Roller mocked as he walked over to the first game.
The first game was shuttlecock, which was the first game that High Roller preformed for her when they first met. The rules were that the two must kick a shuttlecock towards one another in hopes that one of them will miss. Since High Roller was the host of the competition, he served the shuttlecock.
Qiao watched the toy carefully and kicked it at precise timing to knock it back towards her enemy. He easily kicked it back to her, and the juggling between the two quickened in pace.
Her loved ones supported her and cheered her on in the cell.
"You can do it, Xin!" Lin Chung cheered for her.
"Don't mess up! We're counting on you!" Dai Yu hollered along with the man, "Focus real hard on that toy. Don't let anything distract you. Keep your eyes on it at all times." she chattered on and on.
Qiao felt the support from her family and friends and focused even harder on defeating High Roller in this match. She managed to actually keep up with his shuttlecock kicking skills.
The trickster was becoming irritated by Qiao's persistence. He glanced at his zebra henchmen and signaled them to sabotage her kicking streak. The zebras grinned wickedly, and the white zebra brother pulled out a wooden slingshot and a single piece of grape. He aimed it at Qiao's face, ready to fire it.
Lin Chung knew what was about to happen, "XIN! LOOK OUT!" he desperately hollered out.
Qiao glanced at the brothers and they shot the grape at her. She could not react quickly enough and it hit her cheek, putting her in a small state of shock. The shuttlecock that High Roller knocked back flew by her as she held her cheek. The grape, itself, did not hurt her; it just startled her, and made her lose concentration. However, it made her lose this match.
"Hah! I won this round, my sweet." he grinned victoriously.
"You cheater." she snarled.
"Don't be such a sore loser. Even if you lose, you'll still have me." he mocked.
The next stage was jump roping. Qiao already knew she could not win this one. She was not a fast jump roper.
"You can do it! We practiced remember?" Jumpy hollered.
Li Ling clapped, "Qiao, you're very nimble! You can win!"
The stage had a ring that was drawn with chalk. The rules were that the two had to push against each other while in the ropey barrier until one of them was pushed out of the ring. The two grabbed a jump rope and created a barrier with it, awaiting the "Go" from one of the zebra brothers.
"Ready. Go!" Sparky Black hollered.
High Roller and Qiao rammed into each other. The princess managed to hold him back for a few seconds before slowly being pushed back by him.
Qiao… you will not be able to push High Roller out of the ring… But, you can make him run out of the ring…
Qiao was puzzled for a second, but realized what Sima meant. She used every bit of energy she had to push High Roller back, but he just spun the rope quicker and pushed her back till she was almost at the edge of the ring.
Now, Qiao!…
She turned aside, and High Roller raced out of the ring from the sudden movement. As he skidded to a stop, Qiao was declared the winner and her loved ones cheered for her.
High Roller huffed and tossed the rope aside in a fit of rage, "It's not over yet. We still have three more challenges." He bitterly stomped towards the next stage, "This time I'm not going easy on you."
You will have to be more determined and persistent to beat High Roller now… Stay strong, Qiao… You can still win…
"Right." she agreed with the voice and walked up to the hula hoop stage.
The rules for this match were that they started off with one hula hoop. Every twenty seconds, another hula hoop would be added and they must juggle the hoops without allowing any of them to fall. The first to let any of their hoops fall will lose.
Both High Roller and Qiao started with one hoop, juggling it with ease. Unfortunately, Qiao was at a disadvantage since the zebra brothers are the ones adding hoops and, of course, they were set to sabotage her. When the second hoop was added, Sparky White tossed it messily and it almost made her drop her hoops. With skills, she managed to still juggle the two hoops, even though one hoop was looping around her thighs.
High Roller grinned wickedly at Qiao, "There's no way you can beat me." he mocked.
Do not listen to his taunts… Focus…
Qiao did not even look at her opponent. She stared directly at the cell holding all her loved ones.
"You're doing great, Xin!" Mystique Sonia cheered.
Niang gave Qiao a gentle smile, "You're doing a wonderful job. Stay strong, Qiao."
The third hoop was tossed, and Qiao was beginning to lose her focus. One hoop was at her knees, another around her hips, and the new one was under her chest. High Roller was juggling all three around his abdomen, balanced and calm. Qiao did everything she could to bring her hoops together, but she was just not skilled enough to pull the hoop around her knee up with the rest of them. Once the fourth hoop was tossed, her hoops hit one another and all four of them dropped to the floor.
Qiao fell to her knees and whispered to herself, "If High Roller wins one more round it will be the end of all of us."
"Are you giving up, Qiao?" High Roller mocked again.
She gave him an angry glare, "No. We still have two more games to play."
"So persistent and full of hope, I love that in you, my sweet." he flirted, "It will be such a thrill to crush it once I win this competition."
She sneered, "Yeah. You keep thinking that."
The two contestants made their way to the fourth stage: Diabolo. They started off with one diabolo and they must toss it back and forth at each other using only the diabolo string. Every twenty seconds one more diabolo will be added to the juggle and whoever fails to catch and return the diabolos loses.
High Roller was the host, so he served the first diabolo at Qiao. Qiao easily caught it and tossed it back at him with her strings. Twenty seconds came by quickly and a second diabolo was added. Unfortunately, since Qiao was the guest, the new diabolo had to be tossed at her by the Zebra brothers, still conditioned to sabotage her. However, she remained focused and kept up with the unfair game play.
"Yeah, Xin! Go! Go! Go!" Mighty Ray cheered in his cell.
Meng Yi was up on his shoulders, "Qiao! Yay!"
The determined princess told herself that she must win, "If I lose this round, it'll all be over…"
With fury and skill, she forced back the diabolo at her enemy by either alternating between smacking it back with the string or winding it up for a spinning knock back.
High Roller saw how persistent she was, "Oh, you're not screwing around, are you, my sweet?" he mocked. He gathered up all six diabolos and tossed it back at her at once.
Her eyes widened, "Oh no." They were spread apart, but close enough to at least try to catch. She glided her string through the air, hooking the six diabolos one by one. It felt like time slowed down for the princess and she managed to scoop the last diabolo before it hit the ground. When the seventh one was added, Qiao had a plan of her own. "Catch this."
She threw all seven diabolos in the air and shot each one of them at High Roller one at a time, but at different angles. High Roller did not stand a chance. He was the master of folk games, but he was no skilled warrior. The villain lost the fourth match, giving Qiao a small light of hope.
"Only one game left." she told herself.
You are doing so well, Qiao… Keep it up… You will win, I promise you…
She smiled, "Thanks, Sima."
The last stage, top spinning, was the very stage where High Roller challenged Qiao and she lost to him. Even though High Roller purposely failed to teach her all the rules to spinning tops, she knew that all she had to do was to spin her top and make sure it keeps spinning till it knocks his top out of the ring. There was only one round and that round will determine the winner of the Folk Game Competition.
As the two walked up to the final stage, the ring lit up in flames. Qiao glanced around for her top, but there were no tops in sight, "Where are all the tops?" she asked.
High Roller laughed. "We are the tops, my sweet." Qiao glanced at the fire, "If you don't want to burn that beautiful face of yours, I suggest that you forfeit the game. You and I, both, don't want you to get hurt."
She scowled, "I don't care about my appearance or getting hurt. I'm going to win, and there is nothing you can do about it."
High Roller snarled, "Fine, have it your way." A bear walked up to High Roller and lifted him from the ground. The bear squished and molded him into a shape of a top and tied a string around him.
Another bear came up behind Qiao and did the same to her, turning her into a red top. He tied her up with a rope and, simultaneously with the other bear, threw her into the ring of fire.
Within the ring of fire, High Roller and Qiao collided with one another, trying to knock each other towards the fire. However, Qiao had the advantage. Not only was High Roller weaker than her by strength, he also did not want to maim her if he hit her into the fire.
"Qiao, stop this foolishness, and just give up! I don't want to hurt you!" High Roller tried to reason.
"Well, I want to hurt you." She snarled and smacked High Roller towards the fire.
He caught himself, before he flew into the fire, "Damn it, I can't lose to Qiao!"
He rushed up to her and spun around her the opposite way she was spinning, causing her to lose a bit of her spin. She was starting to slow down and wobble.
"Oh no!" she exclaimed and spun away from High Roller to gain some spin, but she was too close to the edge.
Qiao, see if you can get him to knock himself out of the ring…
"I doubt it'll work twice." She replied, continuing to avoid High Roller.
Maybe, you can steal some of his spin… Jump on him, Qiao!...
"I'll try." Qiao stopped so that High Roller could catch up.
High Roller spun up to her quickly, remaining cautious just in case she pulls any more tricks. As he sped up to knock her out of the ring, she hopped up and landed on him, his spin helping her gain back some of her spin. She quickly hopped off and attempted to smack him into the fire, and end this match quickly.
"Not this time." High Roller laughed, and spun aside dodging Qiao.
The princess tried to stop herself, but her spin was too fast and she skidded out of the ring. The fire popped her back into her human form, and singed her clothing, but the worst part of it all was that she lost her and her loved one's freedom.
Her friends and family were stricken with horror and grief. Their hopes were so high, and now the only chance they had for freedom was gone.
The flames died and High Roller popped back into his human self, laughing at Qiao's defeat and boasting about his victory. Qiao was on her knees, hunched over and both hands on the ground. Her tears dropped to the ground and she cursed High Roller and herself.
"I'm worthless…" she cried, "I'm a failure."
Qiao… You did your very best…
High Roller walked up to her and laughed, "HA HA, I told you I would win! You could never beat me, the master of folk games. Now you're mine, forever, Qiao." He continued laughing his heart out and gloating in front of her till he started to cough violently, and bits of blood came out from his mouth.