Chapter 646: Attack the Mind

After Zheng Yingxiong finished shuffling the cards, everyone, under Di Hou's guidance, took out a Dao chip and placed it on the table.

Zheng Yingxiong also drew a community card and placed it in the center of the table.

"Li Xia."

In Qi Xia's eyes, this card immediately turned into the numbers "four" and "six"; this year's Li Xia was on the sixth day of the fourth month.

Next, Zheng Yingxiong took out another card, about to hand it to Di Hou, when Chen Junnan stopped him.

"Wait a minute, kid."

Chen Junnan flashed a sly smile.

"Don't give it to Hou Ge. When he dealt the cards, he gave the first one to himself, so you should give it to yourself."

"Ah? Can I do that?"

Zheng Yingxiong was taken aback.

"You sure can."

Chen Junnan nodded.

Zheng Yingxiong took the card he was about to deal and examined it closely for a while. Finally, he placed it nervously in front of himself, then sniffed the air and glanced at Qi Xia.

At that moment, Qi Xia met his gaze.

He felt that Zheng Yingxiong's state was a bit odd. Although the two hadn't communicated, it seemed like an invisible connection had formed between them.

Zheng Yingxiong seemed able to understand his intentions.

This was Qi Xia's first time experiencing such a feeling, as if he were cooperating with another version of himself. Unfortunately, he couldn't read Zheng Yingxiong's thoughts; it was only Zheng Yingxiong initiating the coordination.

Qi Xia thought to himself,

"Zheng Yingxiong, if you can hear me, nod."

After saying that, he looked toward Zheng Yingxiong, but Zheng Yingxiong showed no reaction, still fiddling with the cards in his hand.

At that point, Qi Xia felt the connection with Zheng Yingxiong had become even more subtle. It wasn't like Tian She or Wei Yang's "mind reading"; instead, it was a more abstract link. Zheng Yingxiong seemed to grasp the general direction of his thoughts but couldn't clearly hear his inner voice.

Zheng Yingxiong then revealed his face-up card: a Dong Zhi.

"One one two three..."

Qi Xia narrowed his eyes and thought to himself.

Next came Tian Tian, who drew a Shang Si. Xiao Cheng got a Xia Zhi, Chen Junnan a Li Dong, and Qiao Jiajin drew a Yuan Xiao.

Zheng Yingxiong picked up the cards, climbed onto the table, and dealt one to Qi Xia and one to Di Hou.

Qi Xia revealed his face-up card: a Qing Ming. He looked up and saw that Di Hou's was Chu Xi.

The opening of this round wasn't favorable. Qi Xia started with "the sixth day of the third month," just the numbers "three six." Di Hou had "the thirtieth day of the twelfth month," which, if "zero" counted as a number, gave him four numbers: "one two three zero."

Not only did he have more numbers, but it was also more likely to form a straight.

Whose hand could beat Di Hou's in this round?

"Wait a minute..."

At that moment, Qi Xia noticed Zheng Yingxiong's Dong Zhi in front of him; this year's Dong Zhi on the lunar calendar was the "twenty-third day of the eleventh month."

"One one two three..."

Qi Xia furrowed his brow.

"This hand is even stronger than Di Hou's."

If the game followed the rules of Dezhou Puke as Qiao Jiajin had said, "zero" probably didn't count as a number. After all, the only festival or solar term involving "zero" within a year was Chu Xi, which couldn't form any pairs. If it tried to form a straight starting with "zero," it would be the smallest straight possible.

Based on that, "zero" likely didn't exist in this game.

In other words, Zheng Yingxiong's hand was currently stronger than Di Hou's. He had a solid four numbers: a pair of "ones" and a straight of "one two three."

Now, it all depended on the first round of betting and everyone's second hidden cards.

"I have the highest."

Di Hou said.

"I'm Chu Xi, so I'll raise."

He tossed a Dao onto the table and turned to look at Zheng Yingxiong.

When it was his turn, Zheng Yingxiong sniffed the air, as if suddenly remembering something, and said,

"Uncle, I'll call."

He placed his last Dao on the table, leaving his pockets empty—he had bet everything.

Next was Tian Tian. She wasn't foolish; after watching the previous exchange between Qi Xia and Di Hou, she felt she had some insight.

Her card was Shang Si, and the Shang Si Festival was on the "third day of the third month."

She thought this might be a strong hand in the game, since it had two identical numbers.

In the last round, both Qi Xia and Di Hou had cards with identical numbers—Qi Xi and Duan Wu—which made their hands strong, so her hand probably wasn't weak either. She decided to call.

Then it was Xiao Cheng's turn. Xiao Cheng hadn't caught the earlier conversation between Qi Xia and Qiao Jiajin and was pondering the possible rules of the game.

His card was Xia Zhi.

"Xia Zhi is the twenty-first day of the fifth month..."

Xiao Cheng slowly looked up at the community card in the center of the table and Di Hou's card. He felt he should fold this round, but if he kept folding, he wouldn't help the team at all until the game ended. Better to take a risk now and figure out the rules.

So, he took out a Dao and placed it on the table.

Qiao Jiajin and Chen Junnan thought for a moment and then both folded, dropping out of the round.

When it was Qi Xia's turn, he also placed a Dao on the table, seemingly without much thought. For him, the strength of the current hands didn't matter; what mattered was winning the entire Shuo Wang Yue.

The decision now returned to Di Hou for the second round of betting. If he wanted, he could raise again. Di Hou pondered for a few seconds, looked at Chen Junnan and Qiao Jiajin, and seeing they had folded, he secretly breathed a sigh of relief. After all, those two were troublemakers, and their absence made things easier.

But no sooner had he relaxed than Chen Junnan spoke up.

"Old Qiao, it's boring for us to just sit out. Let's play a game of idiom chain."

"Idiom chain...? Great idea."

Qiao Jiajin nodded.

The two launched into their own conversation, ignoring the others.

"I'll go first."

Qiao Jiajin said.

"I'll say one: Diao Hu Li Shan!"

"Shan?"

Chen Junnan smirked wickedly and glanced toward Di Hou.

"I'll follow with: In the mountains, no tigers, so a monkey calls itself king."