Chapter 626: Come Do It with Me

“A draw?” Xu Ye was dumbfounded. He figured if he rushed to bet on Barcelona, Shen Yibin would be forced to bet on Las Palmas. That would basically guarantee his victory. He never expected Shen Yibin to bet on a draw. That really caught him by surprise.

After all, according to the odds he’d just seen, a Barcelona win was only at 1.5, while a Las Palmas win had climbed to 2.75. The odds for a draw were a whopping 3.8. This meant the bookies heavily favored Barcelona to win. The chances of Las Palmas pulling off an upset were slim, and a draw was considered almost impossible.

“That’s right. There’s no rule against betting on a draw, is there?” Shen Yibin said with a smile. He had seen it clearly. When Turtle Immortal turned its head, it was observing the patterns of the water stains on its shell. ‘Perhaps that’s how it tells the future.’ After finishing its divination, the little guy had slowly ambled to the exact center between the two team names, perfectly in the middle. ‘That obviously means it’s a draw.’

“No, no, you can totally do that!” Xu Ye shook his head quickly. He couldn’t let Shen Yibin change his mind. Having him bet on a draw was much better than him betting on a Las Palmas win. ‘Looks like this match is in the bag for me.’

At the referee’s whistle, the match officially began. Barcelona immediately took control, dominating the game from the outset. Paulinho orchestrated the midfield, constantly creating chances for Messi and Suarez. Las Palmas was completely suppressed, unable to even cross the halfway line. They could only “park the bus” in front of their own penalty area and put up a desperate defense.

Unfortunately, they were simply no match for Messi’s offense. Right from the start, Messi continuously broke through their lines, creating one dangerous opportunity after another. By the fifteenth minute, Barcelona finally capitalized. On the wing, Messi used a series of dazzling dribbles to shake off three pursuing Las Palmas defenders, tearing a huge hole in their defensive line. He then cleverly passed the ball to a well-positioned Suarez, who blasted a powerful shot into the Las Palmas goal. Barcelona took the lead.

“Haha! It’s in the bag!” Xu Ye leaped up, cheering excitedly. He wasn’t even a Barcelona fan; he had just lost so badly earlier that day. Now that he finally saw a chance to win, his long-suppressed passion exploded.

“What’s the rush? There are still over seventy minutes left, right? Barcelona has only scored one goal. Anything can still happen.” Shen Yibin, however, remained completely confident. His confidence wasn’t in Las Palmas, but in the Turtle Immortal’s divination skills. Since the Turtle Immortal foresaw a draw, Barcelona definitely wouldn’t be walking away with three points.

“Las Palmas has been pinned down the entire match. They can’t even get past the halfway line. What chance do they have?” Xu Ye scoffed. Before Barcelona had scored, he’d been a little nervous, worried that Barcelona’s relentless attacks would amount to nothing and Las Palmas would manage to drag the game into a 0-0 draw. But Messi’s goal had put his mind at ease.

The first half ended with Barcelona continuing their assault. Messi repeatedly hit the post, and Las Palmas was lucky to escape further disaster. In the second half, Barcelona continued to hammer Las Palmas in their own half. The clock ticked all the way to the eighty-fifth minute, and Las Palmas still hadn’t had a single decent opportunity.

“Hehe, Bin, where do you keep your tea? Don’t worry about getting it for me in a bit; I’ll just help myself,” Xu Ye said, apparently convinced he had already won.

Shen Yibin just smiled and said nothing, continuing to watch the game. The minutes and seconds ticked away. On the sideline, the assistant referee held up a board indicating three minutes of stoppage time. The match was almost over.

But just then, the tide on the field turned dramatically. A Las Palmas player made a long clearance, booting the ball deep into Barcelona’s half. The Barcelona defenders, having had little to do all match, were a bit stiff. One of them fumbled the ball out for a throw-in. At this, the Las Palmas players swarmed forward, preparing to seize this last chance.

The ball was thrown in. The player who received it, seeing how little time was left and knowing the referee could blow the final whistle at any second, didn’t dare hesitate. He immediately launched a powerful cross toward Barcelona’s penalty box.

Xu Ye’s face froze. Fortunately, Pique stuck out a long leg and got to the ball first. But before Xu Ye could even crack a smile, the ball took a slight deflection, drifted past the Barcelona keeper, and settled into the back of Barcelona’s own net. The stadium went dead silent. The referee blew his whistle to confirm the goal, then immediately blew the final whistle, not even giving Barcelona the chance to restart from the center circle. And just like that, in the last seconds of the match, an own goal robbed Barcelona of their three points, forcing them into a frustrating draw with Las Palmas.

“Well, looks like I won’t have to tell you where I keep my tea after all.” ‘I knew this match would be a draw,’ Shen Yibin thought, ‘but I never expected it to happen in such a coincidental way.’

“This is impossible!” Xu Ye was frustrated beyond belief. He’d been just ten seconds away from victory, only to have it snatched away at the last possible moment.

“Nope, let’s go again! The Premier League, Bundesliga, and Serie A are all on later. I refuse to believe I can’t win a single game tonight!” It looked like Xu Ye wasn’t planning on getting any sleep.

Shen Yibin’s gaze shifted to the Turtle Immortal. He saw it was slowly crawling toward the door, apparently having no intention of staying in the media room. It seemed to want to go outside for some activity. Recalling its behavior that morning, a thought suddenly struck Shen Yibin. ‘Don’t tell me it exercises at night, too?’

“You want to bet? Fine. But first, you have to pay up for what you’ve already lost. Let’s go. Follow me outside for a bit,” Shen Yibin said, deciding to follow the turtle out and see what it was up to.

Xu Ye was starting to get spooked and was hesitant to keep betting against Shen Yibin. He gladly took the out and followed Shen Yibin out of the villa and down to the beach.

The Turtle Immortal once again chose the large rock it had been on that morning. It slowly climbed on top and struck the same pose. The only difference was that this time, it faced the moon, craning its neck and slowly gulping the air as if absorbing the very essence of the moonlight.

‘So it doesn’t just exercise in the morning, but at night, too,’ Shen Yibin thought. He stared intently at the Turtle Immortal, then walked a few steps closer to the base of the large rock. Turning back to look at Xu Ye, he said, “Alright, time to start your workout. You’re going to copy my movements exactly. Don’t mess a single one up.”

“Fine,” Xu Ye said, “a bet’s a bet. I’ll do whatever you say.” For some reason, a shiver ran down his spine. A deeply ominous feeling washed over him. ‘Something terrible is about to happen.’