Chapter 667: Just This One Game
"If you had simply used 'gambling techniques' against me, perhaps I wouldn't have seen through it so easily. But why did you have to add 'deception' into the mix?" Qi Xia asked.
"My... deception?"
"It's such a simple principle, you'll understand if you think about it carefully." Qi Xia said. "You have courage, but you lack attention to detail. Take a close look at the bloodstained card—do you see what's wrong?"
Hearing this, Earth Monkey picked up his own card, "Grain Buds," and examined it.
He had cut his finger with a fingernail under the table and flicked a few barely visible blood spots onto the card. He had deliberately controlled the distance and force so that these blood spots matched the shape and angle of those from the child who had just bled.
How could Qi Xia possibly see through his scheme just because of a few blood spots?
Seeing that Earth Monkey still didn't understand, Qi Xia shook his head helplessly and asked, "When Zheng Yingxiong's nosebleed happened... had that round already ended?"
The simple question made Earth Monkey's eyes snap wide open.
That's right...
What an absurd oversight...?
How could a "blood spot" appear on the "back" of the card?
At that point, the round had already ended, and everyone had revealed their cards.
But wasn't the more outrageous thing the man named Qi Xia standing before him?
He could barely even stand, yet he had immediately thought of this layer... No, not only had he thought of it, but he had even orchestrated a deception more refined than the one just performed.
"But I still don't understand..." Earth Monkey said, frowning. "Even if you knew that my card was forged, how could you possibly know what my card value was...? You blindly followed my bets. Weren't you afraid I might actually win this round?"
"At first, I wasn't sure, but your behavior gradually convinced me of my judgment." Qi Xia blinked heavily and spoke slowly. "Every time I placed a bet, you would confirm with Qiao Jiajing whether he was really going to follow. If it happened just once, I could have tolerated it, but you kept confirming, over and over, which ultimately led to only one conclusion... You were afraid he wouldn't drop out. After all, your hand could beat me, but not him. Yet you underestimated Qiao Jiajing's trust in me. As long as he kept following my raises, you would lose no matter what."
"I really can't understand that." Earth Monkey gave a bitter laugh. "I only know that on the gambling table, there are no fathers and sons... but can there be brothers?"
"To you, what happens on this round table is a 'gambling game.' But to the rest of us, this is a battlefield with no retreat." Qi Xia said. "At the gambling table, you can distrust your brother, but on the battlefield, you cannot."
"I really feel like I underestimated you..." Earth Monkey shook his head. "You really are a liar... If I think about it carefully, every time I thought I had seen through your lies, I actually fell for them."
"I'm glad you realized it in time." Qi Xia replied. "But there's one thing I didn't lie about—my brain is indeed in chaos. If I keep gambling, I'll only lose."
"But in this round, you still deceived me with just one sentence... Is this what your 'chaotic' state looks like?"
"No..." Qi Xia shook his head. "Earth Monkey, you didn't lose because of this one sentence of mine—you lost because of every single sentence I've said."
Hearing Qi Xia's answer, Earth Monkey blinked with a sense of loss. He then sat back down in his chair and fell silent for a long time before forcing an unpleasant smile back onto his face.
"Never mind... Even if you win eight 'Tao' from me in this round, so what..." Earth Monkey said hoarsely. "The sixth round is coming next... You won't have time to win sixty 'Tao'... You'll all die..."
"Yeah." Qi Xia nodded. "Earth Monkey, you're smarter than I thought, because you admitted defeat in this round."
"What...?"
"I had planned to go all-in in this round and take sixty 'Tao' in one shot." Qi Xia shook his head helplessly. "But unfortunately, an old gambler is an old gambler. Even if you don't know exactly what went wrong, you still have the 'instinct' to avoid danger. You dropped out of this round, sparing yourself a 'major defeat.'"
"So... you're not going to gamble anymore?" Earth Monkey glanced at the chips in front of Qi Xia, then tilted his chin. "You still have enough capital, and you seem relatively clear-headed. Don't you want to make another gamble?"
"Even if I have enough capital, I still need you to keep matching me." Qi Xia gave a bitter smile. "But in this round, I used all my tricks and still couldn't get you to follow through to the end. From now on, you'll definitely be on guard against me. No matter how much I raise, you won't follow anymore. So I've already lost."
"Oh...?" Earth Monkey slowly curled the corner of his mouth. "Qi Xia, you're underestimating me a little. Next... why wouldn't I follow again?"
"You would follow?" Qi Xia countered.
"Of course." Earth Monkey licked his lips with a confident expression, revealing a look of fierce excitement. "Qi Xia, I still have two 'cards up my sleeve' that I haven't revealed to you. It's too early for you to concede. Can't you let me enjoy this win a bit more?"
"Two cards up your sleeve..." Qi Xia squinted slightly, looking at him as if he were a child. He slowly raised his hand to support his forehead. "Earth Monkey, what if I already know both of your 'cards up your sleeve'?"
Hearing this, Earth Monkey squinted again, staring cautiously into Qi Xia's eyes.
The blood that had flowed from Qi Xia's forehead was already dry, making him look somewhat ferocious.
"Qi Xia, you've always given me a very strange feeling..." Earth Monkey said. "Because every sentence you say is too outrageous. It's hard for me to believe."
"Oh?"
Earth Monkey changed his tone and added, "But every time I choose not to believe, the outcome waiting for me isn't good."
"So do you believe me now?" Qi Xia asked, expressionless. "Do you believe that your 'cards up your sleeve' are already known to me?"
"No... It's just like the story of 'The Boy Who Cried Wolf.'" Earth Monkey pondered for a moment and said, "I think I've finally figured out the pattern to see through your lies..."
"Such as?"
"I thought I had seen through your lies twice in a row, but in the end, I fell for both." Earth Monkey slowly revealed a confident smile, as if in complete control. "So this time, I'm still going to see through your lies. I still don't believe you can see through my two 'cards up your sleeve,' and I don't believe you'll use the same 'deception' three times in a row."
Qi Xia frowned slightly and said nothing.
"So, do you still dare to continue 'gambling' with me?" Earth Monkey asked. "Fight for a chance for your teammates to survive."
Hearing this, Qi Xia slowly closed his eyes, thought for a few seconds, and then said, "Fine. But this time, it's just one game to decide everything."