# Chapter 653: Building Trust
Qiao Jiajin held the "one-two-eight" in his hand—a hand completely unrelated to the "community cards"—and loudly taunted Earth Monkey.
"Fat Monkey, my hand is so bad. I'm betting two 'Dao.' Are you following or not?"
Qiao Jiajin placed two "Dao" on the table, but Earth Monkey showed no reaction.
"Who cares what he thinks? Anyway, Young Master is following." Chen Junnan casually tossed out two "Dao." "Our Brother Monkey isn't short on cash. Follow or not, his choice."
Then Qi Xia also chose to follow. Everyone looked at Earth Monkey simultaneously.
His expression this round was quite intriguing—as if he had come to some realization, remaining silent all along.
"I'll follow too." Qi Xia dropped two "Dao" onto the table, then lifted his head. "Earth Monkey, weren't you going to show me what you're truly capable of?"
Earth Monkey raised his head, swept his gaze over the group, then looked at his own cards and spoke calmly: "I'm not following this round."
Without waiting for anyone to react, he flipped his cards face down and tossed the two "Dao" on the table back out.
"I concede this round. You all play."
He shook his head, reached up to take the cigarette from his mouth, held it to the side, and flicked off the ash, looking as if he had completely withdrawn from this round.
Qi Xia furrowed his brow. He certainly hadn't expected Earth Monkey to fold so decisively.
They hadn't even dealt everyone's "hole cards" yet, but he was already refusing to place even the most basic bet.
"So this is your ability...?" Qi Xia stared at Earth Monkey for a long moment before finally speaking. "As a 'gambler,' you don't even have the courage to take a risk."
"Saying that only proves you're not a 'gambler.'" Earth Monkey raised his eyes in reply. "What I want is 'victory'—to make sure none of you have enough chips to survive after eight rounds, not to let you earn 'Dao' this round when the cards are bad."
"Oh?"
"Qi Xia, you must also know that even if I do nothing in this game, I'll still win in the end. After all, you're the ones trying to win chips from me. It's not me who's in a hurry—it's you." Earth Monkey swept his gaze over the "Dao" on everyone's table. "So I have more options than you do. If I don't want to follow, I don't follow."
"I don't think so." Qi Xia shook his head. "In the first round, you had a hand similar to this one, but you resolutely chose to 'raise.' This round, though, you concede. So I think there's another reason for your withdrawal."
"Is that so?" Earth Monkey gave Qi Xia an ambiguous look. "What reason is that?"
"You're 'waiting,' aren't you?" Qi Xia's eyes also turned cold. "You think I've already mastered the rules of the 'Synodic Month' and can collude with my teammates to cheat you, drastically lowering your odds of winning. So you're waiting for something."
Upon hearing this, Earth Monkey slowly placed his hands in front of his face, but his expression remained completely neutral.
"'Waiting'—can that secure victory?" Qi Xia asked again.
But Earth Monkey's demeanor seemed well-controlled, revealing no micro-expressions at all.
Seeing the psychological defense that Earth Monkey had suddenly erected, Qi Xia found it interesting.
His state seemed to have improved. Qi Xia wondered if Earth Monkey had always been like this, or if his own words had caused him to grow.
Seeing that he couldn't extract any information through questioning, Qi Xia glanced at the others and decided to end this round quickly.
Earth Monkey had chosen to withdraw. No matter how the remaining players bet, the total number of chips wouldn't change. It was a small-scale "zero-sum game."
Next, it would be Xiao Cheng's turn to shuffle.
Xiao Cheng slowly furrowed his brow. He felt this round was a great pity. He might have already understood the rules, and his hand was pretty good—he had assembled four "nines," probably the strongest possible hand he could imagine. But Earth Monkey had directly chosen to fold.
"Everyone..." Xiao Cheng bit his lip. "I... I..."
He clenched his hands tightly, as if he had something to say, but couldn't get it out several times. He seemed to be making some difficult decision.
"Be careful," Qi Xia said coldly, turning his head to look at him.
"What?"
"Do you want to compete with us here?" Qi Xia asked with a frown. "Are you really that confident?"
Xiao Cheng lowered his head in distress. His expression carried both sadness and some unwillingness. He hadn't expected that someone would see through his thoughts just from a small expression.
"Qi Xia... right?" Xiao Cheng asked. "You probably don't know why I came here... I never intended to provoke an 'Earth Grade.' I just wanted to achieve my 'Echo.'"
"I can roughly guess," Qi Xia replied. "But I suggest you don't sacrifice the big for the small."
"But I can't die..." Xiao Cheng clutched the playing cards in his hand, his face full of pain. "If I can win this round... I'll forfeit every round after that, and I'll have the 'capital' to leave..."
"And then what?" Qi Xia raised an eyebrow slightly. "Go to another game venue and try to activate your 'Echo'?"
"I..."
"If I'm not mistaken, the girl and the kid beside you are only here because of you, right?" Qi Xia asked again.
Xiao Cheng froze, then slowly turned to look at Tiantian and Zheng Yingxiong.
Seeing his expression waver, Qi Xia continued, "Are you going to abandon them here now and win everyone all by yourself? I'll give you one chance. Tell me yourself whether that's appropriate. After you make your choice, I won't interfere with any of your decisions anymore."
Xiao Cheng pursed his lips and thought for a long time, then slowly lowered his head: "I just want to say that this game really isn't suitable for me... As long as you're here, we can definitely win... Staying here, I have no chance of 'Echoing,' but instead I'll lose my life because of the grudge between you and Earth Monkey."
"You underestimate both Earth Monkey and me," Qi Xia said.
"What...?" Xiao Cheng was startled. "I don't understand."
"Do you think the rules of this game stop here? If you don't keep your brain working, you'll definitely die here."
"You mean..." Xiao Cheng instantly lowered his voice. "The 'rules' will still 'change'?"
Qi Xia didn't answer, and instead added, "Besides, even if Earth Monkey and I have a grudge, I won't die here."
"Qi Xia... who exactly are you..."
"A liar," Qi Xia replied. "Do you trust me?"
After listening to Qi Xia's words, Xiao Cheng was silent for a long time before saying, "But I..."
"You might not yet know whose 'game' you've walked into." Qi Xia waved his hand, cutting him off. "Just tell me whether you trust me or not. I don't need any extra explanations."