Chapter 632: Advanced Gameplay

Xiao Cheng stared blankly at Qi Xia and said,

"What... are you... doing...?"

"The time was tight, so I just grabbed these," Qi Xia replied. "Plus what you have, that makes about thirty Dao in total. That should cover the 'tickets' and the 'stake'."

Xiao Cheng incredibly opened the cloth bag and counted the contents, his mind exploding with countless questions.

Winning a single game only yielded two Dao, yet this man had brought back a full sixteen. Had he rushed to the Ren Hou game site in just an hour and a half and played eight games straight?!

Never mind whether the time was enough... Could Ren Hou even gather eight groups of participants that quickly?

"How did you do it...?" Xiao Cheng asked, his voice trembling. "Did you really go to the Ren Hou game site?"

"Yes," Qi Xia nodded. "Is there a problem?"

"But how is that possible? Where did you find the time to play eight rounds? And you couldn't even afford the first ticket..."

"Eight rounds...?" Qi Xia shook his head. "No, just two."

Qi Xia's brief response not only furrowed Xiao Cheng's brow but also puzzled Tian Tian and Zheng Yingxiong nearby.

The Ren Hou games didn't allow cutting in line, and the rewards were fixed. How could he earn sixteen Dao in just two rounds?

"Today I got lucky—there were a lot of people," Qi Xia said. "Each round had sixteen participants."

"That only makes it more problematic... right?" Xiao Cheng asked. "The more people, the harder it is to win, because no one will listen to you. So how did you..."

"Win?" Qi Xia frowned, cutting him off. "Why would I need to win?"

"Huh...?"

"You know yourself that the more people, the harder it is to win, so why bother aiming for that?" Qi Xia said, then rubbed his forehead as a wave of dizziness hit him.

"I-I really don't understand..." Xiao Cheng felt like he might be dealing with an extraordinarily capable person, his tone softening. "Bro, could you tell me how you pulled it off?"

Qi Xia lifted his tired eyes to look at Xiao Cheng and replied, "I told Ren Hou I could act as an inside man and guarantee a hundred percent that the participants would lose, but I wanted half of the tickets for myself."

Xiao Cheng was speechless for a moment, at a loss for words.

"Sixteen participants mean sixteen Dao in tickets," Qi Xia continued. "If Ren Hou loses, he'd lose thirty-two Dao outright. Do you think he'd risk gambling for it all, or just take the safe eight?"

"Well..." Xiao Cheng thought for a bit and said, "Even with just a fifty percent chance, he might still gamble—it is sixteen Dao, after all!"

"So in the first round, I played it convincingly," Qi Xia said. "I acted like just a careless participant who stood in the wrong spot. I sincerely apologized to everyone and promised there wouldn't be any mistakes in the second round. As long as I gave Ren Hou the impression of a long-term partnership, he'd agree to work with me again. That way, the same group of participants would play another round, and we'd both walk away with sixteen Dao safely. One path is a fifty percent chance at sixteen Dao, and the other is a hundred percent chance at sixteen Dao—which do you think he'd choose?"

Xiao Cheng swallowed hard, feeling like his ears were buzzing just from listening to the man.

His own thinking was always constrained by the rules set by the "Zodiac," but most people played these games not to win, but to collect three thousand six hundred Dao. As long as their lives were safe, they could use any method to get the Dao.

This man had opened up an entirely new way of thinking for him.

Qi Xia clutched his forehead and slowly sat down nearby, closing his eyes to rest.

"Lao Qi!" Chen Jun Nan seized the moment and approached him. "I picked up a lot of gambling knowledge last night. Want to team up and cheat a bit?"

"The priority right now isn't cheating," Qi Xia said, glancing at Chen Jun Nan. "That young guy has four Dao left. I brought back sixteen, so together that's only enough for two people to get out. We're still short forty Dao."

Qiao Jia Jin walked over after hearing this: "Deceiver, we've still got time, right? A whole day."

"But I suspect the people entering here won't have too many Dao," Qi Xia said with a frown. "Most are all-in gamblers. Assuming each brings five Dao into the site, minus the ticket that's three left. We'd need to win from at least fourteen people straight to ensure everyone's survival."

"This..."

The two roughly calculated it. Though they had confidence in Qi Xia, would fourteen other people even enter this site besides them?

And would each of those fourteen have three Dao for them to win?

Qi Xia pondered for a moment, then turned to look at Di Hou, who was sprawled out asleep on his seat.

"Since it's a 'casino,' there should be advanced games, right?" Qi Xia asked. "Did he mention any other ways to play?"

Chen Jun Nan and Qiao Jia Jin shook their heads, but Tian Tian, standing not far away, suddenly thought of something.

"You can gamble with Di Hou," she said. "But he said he plays big, and most people can't handle it."

"That's it," Qi Xia said. "The goal of this game isn't to earn Dao—first is to survive, second is to take down Di Hou."

Qi Xia's teammates all nodded in agreement, while Xiao Cheng watched with wide eyes.

This person's abilities were far more terrifying than he'd imagined. He'd boldly taken Dao from Ren Hou, and now he was going straight for Di Hou?

"What's that young guy's skill level?" Qi Xia asked quietly, glancing at Xiao Cheng.

"About average," Chen Jun Nan said. "He won't help much, but he won't cause trouble either."

"Then let's get ready," Qi Xia said, slowly standing up. "We don't need to wait for other participants today. We can start right away."

"Hey." Qiao Jia Jin smiled and turned to look at Qi Xia and Chen Jun Nan. "Jun Nan, Deceiver, this seems to be our first time teaming up, huh."

"Look at you, so green," Chen Jun Nan said smugly. "I've seen us three work together plenty of times."

"Then it's settled, Jun Nan," Qiao Jia Jin said, stretching his muscles. "Let me show off this time."

"You show off? Di Hou's not fighting you."

The two stood up, their expressions calm and composed, and followed Qi Xia toward the soundly sleeping Di Hou.