Chapter 662: Earth God Festival
"Is that so?" Earth Monkey shrugged. "I've seen plenty of people who've lost everything. I've seen even more who talk tough after losing. What makes you different from them?"
Qi Xia just reached out and tapped the table. "The only difference between me and them is that 'I am me.'"
"Pretentious."
This round, the dealer was Chen Junnan.
First, everyone briefly divided up their current chips. Due to his poor condition, Zheng Yingxiong had no choice but to leave the table for now and rest off to the side, handing over his remaining two "Dao" to Qi Xia.
Chen Junnan glanced at everyone's chips and was about to start shuffling when Xiao Cheng spoke up again.
"I'm out."
"Huh?" Chen Junnan was taken aback. "Kid? Not playing anymore?"
"It might be inappropriate to say this, but I only have one 'Dao' left." Xiao Cheng shook his head helplessly. "After I pay the entry fee for this round, I won't be able to call at all. If anyone raises, I'll lose. So it's better to give this 'Dao' to someone more capable."
With that, he tossed his small circular token to Qi Xia, who caught it expressionlessly.
"I'm out too," Tian Tian said decisively. "I'll go take care of Brother Hero."
She also handed her two chips to Qi Xia. Everyone glanced at Earth Monkey, who didn't object.
"Huh? Why is everyone dropping out?!" Chen Junnan and Qiao Jiajin exchanged a look, confused.
Xiao Cheng slowly stood up and asked, "Brother Qi, do you think I did the right thing?"
Upon hearing this, Qi Xia slowly curled his lips. "You're smarter than I thought."
Xiao Cheng and Tian Tian nodded, then pulled Zheng Yingxiong aside to find a seat at a distance. While trying to stop his bleeding, they watched the group's gambling game with some concern.
Now, besides Earth Monkey, only Qi Xia, Qiao Jiajin, and Chen Junnan remained at the table.
Once the rules of this game were clear, the fewer people at the table, the better.
The ideal state was to pool all the chips onto one person and then go head-to-head with Earth Monkey.
That sole survivor would have plenty of capital, able to multiply the chip count several times over in a single round—a true "all-or-nothing gamble."
The reason they hadn't used this tactic from the start was, first, to maintain a six-sevenths chance of winning, and second, to use more card combinations to figure out the rules.
Now that the rules were basically set, there was no need for so many people to participate.
Each person eliminated meant one less "Dao" as an entry fee. Fewer bettors meant indirectly reducing Earth Monkey's income. But this also posed a problem.
The fewer the people, the smaller the chance of winning.
While it greatly increased the chip count for each game, the cost of losing was also devastating.
"Qi Xia, your team doesn't seem very united," Earth Monkey said with a light laugh. "Already falling apart?"
"Not falling apart—becoming more united," Qi Xia replied, referring to Xiao Cheng. The fact that he chose to withdraw at a time like this meant he was entrusting his life to Qi Xia.
If Qi Xia won, he lived.
If Qi Xia lost, he died.
"Lao Qi." Chen Junnan turned to look at Qi Xia. "You're not thinking we're getting in the way here, are you?"
"A little." Qi Xia said expressionlessly. "I'm thinking more clearly now. You two should go next round too."
"No way."
Chen Junnan and Qiao Jiajin both grinned.
"Scamster boy, you know why Jinzai and I are still here, right?"
"Yeah, Lao Qi, your little lord here is more principled than you think." Chen Junnan gave a mischievous smile. "I can be worth something in a clutch too."
Qi Xia slowly furrowed his brow. Of course, he knew why these two were staying.
They didn't fail to understand the logic—they were ready to stake their own lives on this gamble at any moment.
If he wanted to avoid that, the only way was to make them both quit. But would they listen?
"Lao Qi, sit tight and watch." Chen Junnan laughed. "Your little lord is about to deal."
With that, he gathered all the cards on the table and shuffled them in his hands.
A gambling game of just four people began.
After Chen Junnan finished shuffling, everyone placed one "Dao" on the table.
But Earth Monkey didn't announce the start of the fifth round right away. Instead, he stared intently at Chen Junnan.
"What's up, Brother Monkey?" Chen Junnan looked up.
"You're not honest. I don't trust your shuffle," Earth Monkey replied.
"Hey, now that's not fair. Even if you trusted me, I still wouldn't be honest."
"Fat monkey," Qiao Jiajin chimed in. "Weren't we taking turns shuffling? What's with the sudden change?"
"I want to shuffle too," Earth Monkey said. "I can trust anyone else's shuffle, but not this guy's."
"Fine, fine. Your little lord's heart is broken." Chen Junnan stood up and unceremoniously tossed the deck in front of Earth Monkey. "Go ahead."
Earth Monkey picked up the cards, reshuffled them, and then shuffled a few more times. All the while, Qiao Jiajin stared at his hands, making Earth Monkey uncomfortable.
"What are you looking at?"
"Watching the monkey shuffle," Qiao Jiajin replied blankly. "Go ahead, don't mind me."
Earth Monkey found this man increasingly odd, so he slowly pulled his hands back and moved the deck under the table, out of Qiao Jiajin's line of sight.
"Hey!" Qiao Jiajin barked. "What are you doing?! Stealing cards?!"
"Heh." Earth Monkey shook his head. "There are thirty-six cards in this deck. Who would blatantly steal just one?"
He shuffled the cards under the table for a while before placing the deck back in the center.
"Thirty-six, not a single one missing. Want to count?" Earth Monkey asked.
Qi Xia had been leaning on his hand, holding his forehead, looking unwell. Qiao Jiajin didn't hesitate—he stood up, took the deck, and flipped through it face up.
Sure enough, thirty-six cards, with no issues.
"If there's no problem... then the fifth round begins."
Earth Monkey gestured for Chen Junnan to deal. Chen Junnan didn't hold back—he gave the deck a quick shuffle and slapped a card onto the table: "Earth God Festival."
"Earth God Festival...?" Chen Junnan paused for a moment. "Lao Qiao, what day is Earth God Festival?"
"The Earth God's birthday, the second day of the second lunar month." Qiao Jiajin turned his head. "Our group always worships the Earth God on that day. Don't you?"
Chen Junnan gave an awkward smile. "Where I'm from, the second day of the second month is 'Dragon Raises Head'—finally get to cut the hair we've let grow all month."