# Chapter 645: No Violence Allowed
Qi Xia and Qiao Jiajing had finished their low-voiced discussion of the rules, then looked up at Earth Monkey, who was shuffling the cards.
He had already shuffled several times back and forth, and was now lazily watching everyone.
"What? Figured out the rules?" he asked.
"More or less," Qi Xia replied.
"But is the direction you're discussing really correct?" Earth Monkey asked again.
"Is it not?"
Earth Monkey looked into Qi Xia's eyes, slowly raising the corner of his mouth. "Then we'll see who's right when it comes to winning or losing."
Qi Xia nodded, then gave the others a signal to retrieve their own chips.
The only advantage of this game was that aside from Earth Monkey, if any one of the six won the game, everyone's chips would return to their hands, allowing the next round to begin. But there was also a problem—Qi Xia had won the first round by sheer luck, but he had only earned four "Tao" from Earth Monkey. Even if the same scenario played out eight times, by the end of the game, they would only have thirty-two "Tao"—nearly half short of the target of sixty.
If Earth Monkey reduced his bets in subsequent games, not to mention thirty-two, even twenty "Tao" would be a stretch for the final reward.
"If there are no issues, I'll start dealing," Earth Monkey said. "Second round, begin!"
Qi Xia furrowed his brow slightly upon hearing this. Earth Monkey's state was a bit strange.
When he said "Second round, begin," his pronunciation was clear and forceful, completely unlike his usual relaxed manner of speaking. It was clearly intentional, as if...
As if he was saying it for someone to hear.
"We need to shuffle the cards," Qiao Jiajing spoke up, just like in the previous round. "And this round, you can't deal. We go clockwise to the next person."
"What?"
"Is there a problem?" Qiao Jiajing smiled. "There's no designated dealer here. Are you going to be the only one dealing from start to finish?"
"What's wrong with me dealing?" Earth Monkey narrowed his eyes. "All of you are on the same team. It's hard for me to trust that none of you are planning to cheat."
"Whoa~~~~~~"
As soon as Earth Monkey finished speaking, Chen Junnan's voice drifted through the room like a wild goose crossing the sky—drawn-out and melodious.
Earth Monkey naturally knew this guy was a troublemaker and didn't want to bother with him, but Chen Junnan's voice cut through like a scraping blade, landing squarely again.
"Scared the hell out of little me!" he yelled, leaning back and propping his legs directly on the table with an expression of turning the tables on the host. "Did you all hear that? I just realized this game could be 'cheated,' but he already thought of that! I've always said Monkey Bro was clever from a young age—no wonder he's Earth Monkey!"
"Yeah, yeah," Qiao Jiajing nodded beside him. "Really sharp, isn't he?"
"We're just trying to be decent people, but he went and became a monkey with one plop." Chen Junnan turned his face. "Old Qiao, can you do that?"
"I definitely can't."
Chen Junnan turned to look at Little Cheng again: "Young man, can you?"
"I-I can't either."
"He's better than us, fine, but his brain is even better than ours," Chen Junnan slapped his hand in frustration. "Our Monkey Bro has been worried that little kid might cheat! I didn't even think of that beforehand!"
Earth Monkey was taken aback: "What the hell are you talking about...?"
"But it actually makes some sense!" Chen Junnan nodded emphatically. "Even though his hands are too small to even hold the cards, who says a little kid who can't grab cards can't practice cheating? I'm such an idiot!"
Qiao Jiajing quickly nodded along: "Yeah! Junnan, you're such an idiot!"
Hearing the two of them perform like they were on stage, Tiantian covered her mouth with her hand, unable to suppress the laughter in her eyes.
Earth Monkey's face turned ashen. He slammed his hand on the table: "You two have gone too far. I've just about had it."
"Oh?" Chen Junnan suddenly flashed a mischievous grin. "What happens when you can't take it anymore? That's a bit strange, isn't it? Why don't you just kill me?"
"What?"
"Got something holding you back?" Chen Junnan took his legs off the table, leaned forward, and his expression became even more punchable. "Don't tell me there's a rule restricting you? Monkey Bro, did our master draw a circle on the ground for you?"
Earth Monkey said nothing, just pressed his lips tightly together.
"I get it." Chen Junnan nodded. "For better management, so you can sleep soundly—is there a rule in your code that says 'no violent intervention in gambling'?"
Though Earth Monkey didn't speak, everyone else could read the answer from his expression.
Chen Junnan had guessed correctly.
But at this moment, Qi Xia hesitated—
He prepared to retract everything he'd previously thought about Earth Monkey.
Even though Earth Monkey had produced such an impressive deck of cards, he himself didn't seem all that sharp. Qi Xia had been a bit presumptuous. Since the "Lunar Phase Game" was being played in Earth Monkey's venue, Qi Xia naturally assumed Earth Monkey had created it. But now it seemed that might not be the case.
Earth Monkey wasn't an exceptionally clever person. Perhaps he had some street smarts that let him handle ordinary people without fail, but that level of wit wasn't enough to accomplish great things, nor was it enough for Qi Xia to stake his life on breaking through his psychological defenses.
If he had to compare him to the "Zodiacs" he'd encountered, Earth Monkey's level was even lower than Earth Rat's.
But why would someone like Earth Monkey... have the audacity to bring out a deck of cards with such complex rules and gamble against him?
Was it just because Qi Xia in his memory wasn't as smart as he was now?
No. Of course, there was another possibility—that Earth Monkey still had a "trump card." Qi Xia was more inclined to believe Earth Monkey's current state was an act.
"Monkey Bro, so what's the deal?" Chen Junnan laughed. "You can't kill me, and I don't want to quit. We're stuck here. How about letting that little kid deal? Are you really worried he'll cheat?"
Earth Monkey raised the deck in his hand, narrowing his eyes as he thought about something.
"Could it be..." Chen Junnan flashed another sly grin, his eyes full of mockery. "Monkey Bro isn't worried about the little kid cheating, but rather worried that you yourself won't be able to cheat?"
"Bullshit." Earth Monkey cursed coldly. "Deal then. I've got nothing to fear."
He tossed the cards in his hand to Zheng Yingxiong in one go. Zheng Yingxiong couldn't catch them in time, and they scattered everywhere. He hurriedly lowered his head with a serious expression, picking up the cards one by one and stacking them together.
He looked like he'd never even played with a deck of cards before. His hands were too small, so he could only organize them one at a time, then under Tiantian's guidance, he shuffled the deck.