Chapter 654: Being Exposed Means Being Deceived

Before Xiao Cheng could respond, Di Hou spoke up first.

"Heh."

"He himself said he's a fraud, so what reason do you have to believe him?" Di Hou scratched his head. "You should be able to figure it out yourself—which of us has a better chance of winning in this game?"

"I..." Xiao Cheng lowered his head, fiddling with the cards in his hand, his expression troubled.

From his perspective, he knew Di Hou had the upper hand, since the "rules" of this game were in Di Hou's control. As the leader of the group, Qi Xia not only had to keep guessing the rules but also had to outmaneuver them to defeat the one who set them. No matter how you looked at it, this was a tough battle.

"Kid, if you join me, we can secure a steady victory," Di Hou said.

At that moment, Qi Xia's eyes twitched slightly, sensing that things were going south. If Xiao Cheng switched to Di Hou's side now, the chances of their group winning would drop dramatically. After all, it was six against one—whichever of the six won would mean victory for Qi Xia's side. In other words, for Di Hou to win, his hand would have to beat all six; otherwise, it would count as his loss. That was probably their only advantage in the game.

But the game only had eight rounds in total. If they couldn't figure out the rules soon, and players with big hands recklessly "folded" while those with small hands recklessly "raised," the whole game could be lost quickly.

What Di Hou never expected was that Qi Xia had already figured out the rules in less than two rounds and had been winning consecutively so far. If Di Hou didn't act fast, the outcome of the game would be sealed by Qi Xia.

Di Hou's attempt to sow discord caught Qi Xia off guard, striking right when Xiao Cheng was starting to waver. How could he turn this around?

Though Qi Xia had only exchanged a few simple words with Xiao Cheng, he had a rough idea of his hesitant personality. If he started arguing with Di Hou and trying to convince Xiao Cheng who had the better odds, it would only confuse Xiao Cheng more, giving him too many options and making him even more indecisive.

So, how could he keep Xiao Cheng on his side?

Qi Xia slowly lifted his head, glanced at Xiao Cheng, then turned to look at Di Hou. Sometimes, changing your approach could solve everything. Why bother talking to Xiao Cheng? He could just go straight for Di Hou. Di Hou was too late to interfere now, because Qi Xia had already planted his own "trap" in the previous round.

"Deception" had its own uses, after all.

"I advise you not to push it too far!" Qi Xia suddenly changed his tone, speaking to Xiao Cheng with a hint of displeasure. "I've explained everything clearly to you. Are you still going to be stubborn?"

"Stubborn...?" Xiao Cheng was taken aback. "No... I've already told you my thoughts. I just..."

"Consider it unsaid." Qi Xia replied. "Do you really want to side with 'Shengxiao'? Are you just a weak-willed, irresponsible man?"

"I-I definitely didn't think that..." Xiao Cheng said, feeling wronged. "But you're being a bit too harsh... How could I be that kind of person?"

"Whatever. If you want to go, go ahead." Qi Xia shook his head helplessly. "I'll pretend you don't exist. I don't take on dead weight."

"You..." Xiao Cheng was stunned by Qi Xia's sudden shift, left speechless. "That's really harsh. I'm not as smart as you, but I haven't held the team back, have I...?"

"I don't want to hear it."

Meanwhile, Di Hou watched the two arguing but chose not to interrupt, simply narrowing his eyes.

"Di Hou, I don't want this guy anymore." Qi Xia said coldly. "You can take him and wait for defeat together."

Di Hou stared into Qi Xia's eyes for a long time, then slowly straightened up, a chill appearing in his gaze.

"Qi Xia, you're at it again?"

Qi Xia touched his face. "What?"

"Every round, you pick a fight with someone, trying to trick me?" Di Hou sneered. "The same trick, the same routine—do you think I'm that easy to fool?"

"I'm not tricking you." Qi Xia shook his head helplessly. "I really don't want him. Let him sit next to you and stop annoying me."

"Dream on." Di Hou shook his head. "Too bad your 'deception' ends here. I won't fall for the same trap twice."

"You..." Qi Xia slowly showed a troubled expression.

"That was a close one." Di Hou looked at Qi Xia with a smirk. "Too bad you rushed it. If you hadn't said all that and put on this 'argument' act, I might have walked right into your trap."

"Oh? Is that so?" Qi Xia raised an eyebrow ambiguously. "So I said too much?"

"You can all wait for defeat together."

"Heh." Qi Xia sneered. "So my 'deception' still needs some refining..."

Di Hou ignored Qi Xia and turned his head away.

At that point, Xiao Cheng finally understood the meaning behind Qi Xia's sudden change in attitude. This man was even more formidable than he imagined—he was toying with Di Hou.

In the previous round, Qi Xia had pretended to argue with Zheng Yingxiong to trip up Di Hou, and now he was using the same tactic to force Di Hou out. Di Hou thought he had seen through the deception, but realizing he had been deceived was actually part of the deception itself.

This move not only completely shut Di Hou out but also cut off any possibility of Xiao Cheng joining him. Now, Di Hou believed Xiao Cheng was a failed spy planted by Qi Xia, so there was no chance of cooperation going forward.

Watching Qi Xia's series of maneuvers, Xiao Cheng felt his ears start to ring. Compared to the days he had spent in "Zhongnian Zhidi," this man's scheming made everything else seem childish.

While normal people would be desperately thinking about how to survive against a Di-level "Shengxiao" every second, this man was playing mind games with him.

Seeing Xiao Cheng staring blankly, Chen Junan leaned in and whispered, "You know what? Lao Qi's 'setup' doesn't even need your cooperation—it can turn you into part of the game all on its own."

Those words hit Xiao Cheng like a thunderbolt, making his pupils contract slightly. He nodded, as if grasping the idea but not fully.

"In that case... we'll just have to rely on ourselves." Qi Xia turned and gave Xiao Cheng a knowing look.

Xiao Cheng nodded in response and said no more.

The group dealt the cards casually and played through the round, averting this crisis of trust.