Chapter 60: Psychological Warfare

Ren Zhu didn't say anything; instead, he quietly watched Qi Xia and said:

"Even if you've seen through all of this, you still have to draw the black piece with a forty-nine percent probability."

"That's right," Qi Xia replied, continuing to feel around in the bowl. "When all science no longer works, I'll believe in metaphysics too."

"So, what's your metaphysics theory?"

"It's that I have to get out," Qi Xia said. "I believe one hundred percent that I can leave this godforsaken place, so I have to draw the black piece here."

With that, he grabbed two pieces from the bowl and held them tightly in his palm.

Then he raised his hand in front of Ren Zhu and flipped it over to show him.

Ren Zhu's face changed instantly, his eyes trembling beneath the mask—he could hardly believe what he was seeing.

Both were black pieces!

Those two shiny black pieces lay in Qi Xia's hand like a pair of hollow eyes, staring silently at Ren Zhu and making his skin crawl.

After a moment, seeing that Ren Zhu still wasn't speaking, Qi Xia smirked again, tossed one black piece back into the bowl, and kept the other.

"I've made my choice."

A few seconds later, Ren Zhu finally understood:

"You—you dare to trick me?!"

He slammed the table and stood up, ready to lash out, but upon second thought, Qi Xia hadn't done anything wrong.

He had only held up the pieces for him to see.

Ren Zhu had miscalculated.

When Qi Xia had shown him the two black pieces, he should have said something.

Even a taunt, or a tease.

Or even just urged him to make a choice—

But his mistake was saying nothing at all.

After all, only the sight of two black pieces would be enough to leave someone speechless.

He had thought Qi Xia was leaving everything to "luck," but he hadn't expected that even at the last moment, Qi Xia was still playing psychological games.

Ren Zhu had just been wondering why the man in front of him had drawn two black pieces at once.

Was his "luck" really that strong?

Now he realized that Qi Xia hadn't known what colors he had drawn.

He was watching Ren Zhu's reaction.

He would base his next move on Ren Zhu's response or words.

Ren Zhu felt utterly defeated, slowly sitting back down and saying, "I have to admit, you're not only meticulous in your thinking, but your 'luck' is terrifyingly strong too."

Qi Xia placed the piece on the table and slowly removed his eye cover: "Thanks."

Lao Lv jumped up at once, releasing all the joy he had been suppressing.

"You're damn brilliant, you know that?!" he exclaimed excitedly, hugging Qi Xia. "Kid, any grudges I had with you before are wiped clean! Ha ha ha ha!"

Qi Xia shook his head helplessly: "Do I have to thank you for that?"

Lin Geng was happy for the two of them too. Although they hadn't gained any "Dao" this time, winning was enough to make people thrilled.

Ren Zhu, looking reluctant, walked to the side, took out ten "Dao" from a box, and handed them to Lao Lv.

Lao Lv grinned from ear to ear, stuffed the "Dao" into his pocket, then turned to Qi Xia and said, "Kid, it's not that I don't want to give you any—this time I paid the 'ticket fee,' so forgive me."

Qi Xia didn't mind, nodding as he stood up: "'Dao' doesn't matter to me. What I need now is to know where those two people are."

"Oh, that's easy," Lao Lv said. "I'm stingy, sure, but I always settle scores fairly. Come with me—I saw those two outside a game room this morning."

"Great," Qi Xia and Lin Geng both nodded, standing up to leave.

"Hey..." Ren Zhu called out.

The three turned back in confusion: "What is it?"

"What's your name?" Ren Zhu asked, staring at Qi Xia.

"Qi Xia."

"Qi Xia..." Ren Zhu repeated, then slowly sat down at the table, seemingly deep in thought.

After waiting for a while with no further word from Ren Zhu, everyone felt a bit puzzled.

"Is it because he won too much at once that it drove this dead pig crazy?" Lao Lv whispered. "He probably won't earn ten 'Dao' all day now."

"Crazy?" Lin Geng scoffed. "They're all crazy anyway..."

Just as everyone was packing up to leave, Ren Zhu finally spoke.

"Qi Xia."

Hearing Ren Zhu call his name, Qi Xia turned back again, his expression growing impatient: "What exactly is it?"

"I want to gamble with you again," Ren Zhu said steadily. "This time, I'm betting my life."

The three stood there dumbfounded for a moment, as if they couldn't comprehend what Ren Zhu meant.

"Wh—what?!" Lao Lv reacted first, stepping back quickly. "You crazy pig, have you lost your mind?!"

Lin Geng hurriedly grabbed Qi Xia's arm: "Let's just ignore him..."

Qi Xia frowned: "I refuse."

"Refuse?" Ren Zhu crossed his arms. "You're refusing?"

"That's right," Qi Xia nodded. "I won't bet my life on a fifty percent chance of winning. It means nothing to me."

Lao Lv turned his head, looking at Qi Xia suspiciously: "Kid... what are you talking about..."

"What's wrong?" Qi Xia asked, turning to him. "Do you think I should bet my life?"

"This isn't about 'should or shouldn't'!" Lao Lv said anxiously, stamping his foot. "In this damn place, if one side proposes a 'life bet,' the other has to accept it!"

Qi Xia paused slightly, as if he had just realized something.

He remembered how, when he had proposed a life bet to "Ren Shu," she had been extremely reluctant but still agreed in the end.

Now, thinking about it, that was a strange decision.

Her game was simple—if the opponent chose to bet their life, they had probably found a way to crack it.

Under such unfavorable conditions, she should have refused no matter what.

But she hadn't.

So, in this place, proposing a "life bet" forced the other party to agree, like signing a death warrant.

If the rules were broken, someone like "Zhu Que" would descend as a judge and punish the violator.

Qi Xia's face turned ice-cold. That Zhu Que was eager to kill him, and if he tried to run now, the consequences would be unthinkable.

What was even more desperate was that all the strategies he had used earlier would fail if tried again, greatly increasing his chances of losing.

"Don't be afraid," Ren Zhu said, as if reading Qi Xia's thoughts. "I'm not that unreasonable. Let's try a more interesting game this time."

He pulled out two pairs of glasses from a nearby box and placed them on the table.

"These are good items I borrowed from Yang Ge..."

Everyone looked closely—the glasses looked no different from ordinary ones, except for a small device on the nose bridge, whose purpose was unclear.

"You two, I need you to help me with something," Ren Zhu said with a smirk.

"Help?" Lao Lv pouted immediately. "Help you? No way."

"If you don't agree, I'll declare a life bet against all of you," Ren Zhu said in a strange tone.