Chapter 652: Counter-Entrapment
Even now, Qi Xia still found it strange.
Why did Earth Monkey always emphasize his tone whenever he announced the start of a round?
Was this a habit of his, or was he doing it deliberately?
The moment Earth Monkey's voice fell, that sense of dissonance in Qi Xia's heart coiled around him once more.
This time, he was absolutely certain—there was definitely something strange about that wooden box.
Its color had changed again.
Judging by each alteration, the change was very slight, difficult for an ordinary person to notice. But Qi Xia remembered clearly what it had looked like when it first appeared.
The originally dark-brown wooden box was no longer dark-brown at all; instead, it leaned much closer to a yellow-brown.
"It's really getting lighter…"
Although Qi Xia had identified the problem with the box, he still couldn't figure out what purpose it served.
Could it be that as time passed, the box would grow lighter and lighter, eventually turning pure white?
"A box placed at the center of the table… growing lighter…"
Qi Xia reached out and rubbed his chin, trying to explain the situation from various angles, but he couldn't find any clue.
Since he couldn't find a connection between this lightening box and the game itself, Qi Xia switched to a somewhat tricky perspective.
What was the principle behind the box's lightening?
Wood wasn't a material that could change color easily. Even if it were heated or cooled, it wouldn't change this much in such a short time.
Because Qi Xia had accidentally held the box earlier, he knew it was very light, meaning the inside was probably hollow.
If that was the case, then a bold guess: the most intuitive and effective way to turn a dark-brown box into yellow-brown wasn't by heating or cooling it, but by installing a light inside the hollowed-out cavity. As the rounds progressed, the light's brightness increased, causing the box's color to appear lighter.
"No wonder Earth Monkey treasures that box so much… Is it also one of the 'rules'?"
Qi Xia zoomed out and looked at the game from a broader perspective.
The large round table looked like it had been used for a long time, its surface pitch-black like an endless night sky. The scattered "Daos" on the table shimmered with a faint light, like stars.
And the square box at the very center, due to its placement, sat right in the middle of the round table.
It was now shifting from a deep brown—the same color as the table—to a pale yellow, like a moon gradually revealing itself.
"Could the 'Shuowang month' be more than this…?"
Every time Earth Monkey said "round" with so much force, was it just to trigger some mechanism inside the wooden box to change its color?
But Qi Xia had already guessed the rules of this game. Earth Monkey had even said words like "straight" and "pair." Logically speaking, the rules Earth Monkey was using were almost identical to what Qi Xia had imagined. Even if there was a difference, it was just a matter of whether a "straight" was bigger than a "four of a kind."
Since the rules were already clear, what did a box that grew brighter and brighter represent?
Looking at the messy and shoddy game venue, Qi Xia didn't think Earth Monkey had the leisure to put in a box that changed with each round just to improve everyone's mood. Combined with Earth Monkey's earlier actions, Qi Xia was certain he had a hidden ace.
And that hidden ace was most likely this constantly changing box.
Although Qi Xia didn't know exactly what Earth Monkey was planning, he could only stay vigilant in advance. If it really followed the principle of "Shuowang," the box was now brightening, moving from "Shuo" (new moon) to "Wang" (full moon).
When the box reached its brightest point, something unexpected would definitely happen. If he couldn't think ahead, the situation would become passive.
Even though he had already won quite a few chips, that was the nature of gambling. In the final round, he might lose all the chips he had gained. So until the last round's cards were revealed, he absolutely could not let his guard down.
Tian Tian gathered everyone's cards into her hands, shuffled them a few times with clumsy movements, then raised the deck and asked, "Do you… want to cut?"
Everyone shook their heads. Even Earth Monkey had no intention of cutting. No one reminded them this round; everyone had already placed one "Dao" on the table.
"Then I'll deal." After Tian Tian said that, she drew a "community card" and placed it in the center of the table.
"Chongyang."
"Double Ninth Festival," Qi Xia read aloud.
It seemed that the "community card" was crucial in every round. This card determined what kind of hand everyone needed to have a better chance, and it was also the most direct information for gauging what cards the others held.
Since the card revealed this round was "Double Ninth," it naturally meant that there was a high chance of seeing many "pairs," "three of a kind," or "four of a kind" in this game.
And whether or not they could draw a "Nine" became everyone's goal for this round.
Tian Tian turned over a card in front of herself: "Lesser Heat." This card wasn't bad—after all, it was "Sixth day of the sixth month."
Now she had two "Nines" and two "Sixes." As long as her "hidden card" was good enough, she could still put up a fight.
Although there weren't many cards in this game—only thirty-six in total—seven players plus the community card only required fifteen cards to be drawn per game. That meant there were still eleven cards hidden. The odds of guessing Earth Monkey's hand were very low.
The next person to receive a card was Xiao Cheng.
He flipped over the card Tian Tian handed him, revealing "Cold Dew." That year's Cold Dew was on the "Eighth day of the ninth month."
Regardless of whether it was for Tian Tian or Xiao Cheng, both of them had gotten decent cards this round. Xiao Cheng now had three "Nines," and just the visible part of his hand was already quite lethal.
Next were Chen Junnan and Jiajin Qiao.
They received "Lantern Festival" and "Laba Porridge," respectively.
One of these cards was "1-15," the other "1-28." Although each single card looked decent, they couldn't form any combination with "Double Ninth Festival." For them to win this round, they would have to rely entirely on the next card they drew.
Qi Xia himself got "Mid-Autumn Festival"—"8-15"—the same situation as Chen Junnan and Jiajin Qiao.
Now everyone's attention turned to Earth Monkey.
Earth Monkey took the card Tian Tian handed him and flipped it over on the table, revealing the words "Autumnal Equinox."
That year's Autumnal Equinox was on the "Twenty-third day of the eighth month."
So it seemed that Earth Monkey was in the same situation as Qi Xia and the others—he had drawn a card that was currently useless.
The last person to receive a card was Zheng Yingxiong.
He got "Spring Festival."
"The first day of the first month." Qi Xia nodded after looking at it. Now, if anyone was going to win this round, it had to be Tian Tian, Xiao Cheng, or Zheng Yingxiong.
"I've got 'Laba Porridge'!" Jiajin Qiao laughed. "Mine's the biggest, right? I'm betting two!"