Chapter 667: One Game Only

"If you had simply used Du Shu against me, perhaps I wouldn't have figured it out so easily, but why did you have to add Pian Shu?" Qi Xia asked.

"My... Pian Shu?"

"It's such a simple principle; just think it through carefully," Qi Xia said. "You have guts, but you're not meticulous enough. Take a good look at the blood spots on the card face—do you see the problem?"

After hearing this, Di Hou picked up his card, Xiao Man, and examined it.

He had secretly cut his finger with his nail under the table and flicked a few nearly invisible blood spots onto the card. Di Hou had deliberately controlled the distance and force so that these spots looked similar in shape and angle to the ones sprayed by that kid earlier.

How could Qi Xia have seen through his scheme just because of a few blood spots?

Seeing that Di Hou still didn't understand, Qi Xia shook his head helplessly and asked, "When Zheng Yingxiong started bleeding from his nose... had that round of the game ended?"

The brief question made Di Hou's eyes widen suddenly.

Of course...

What a ridiculous mistake...

How could the blood spots appear on the "back" of the card?

By that point, the round had already ended, and everyone had revealed their card faces.

But even more unbelievable was the man in front of him named Qi Xia.

He could barely stand, yet he had thought of this detail first... No, he hadn't just thought of it—he had even staged a more masterful Pian Shu than before.

"But I still don't understand..." Di Hou frowned and said, "Even if you knew my card was fake, how did you know exactly what my card face was? You blindly followed my bets—weren't you afraid I might actually win that round?"

"At first, I wasn't sure, but your actions gradually confirmed my judgment," Qi Xia said heavily, blinking slowly. "Every time I bet, you would check with Qiao Jijin to see if he was really going to follow. If it happened once, I could overlook it, but you kept doing it, and that could only lead to one conclusion... You were afraid he wouldn't fold. After all, your card could beat mine, but not his. Yet you underestimated Qiao Jijin's trust in me. As long as he kept raising with me, you were doomed to lose no matter what."

"I really can't wrap my head around it," Di Hou said with a bitter smile. "I know that at the gambling table, there are no father-son bonds... but can there be brotherhood?"

"To you, what's happening at this round table is just a 'gambling game,' but for the rest of us, it's a battlefield with no way out," Qi Xia said. "In a gambling game, you might not trust your brothers, but on a battlefield, you have to."

"I have to admit, I really underestimated you..." Di Hou shook his head. "You're truly a con artist. Thinking back, every time I thought I'd seen through your lies, I was actually falling for them."

"I'm glad you woke up in time," Qi Xia replied. "But there's one thing I didn't lie about—my mind is indeed in chaos right now. If we keep going, I'll be the one losing."

"But you still tricked me with just one line in this round... Is that your 'chaotic' state?"

"No..." Qi Xia shook his head. "Di Hou, you didn't lose to that one line of mine—you lost to every line I've said."

Hearing Qi Xia's response, Di Hou blinked in disappointment, then sat back in his chair. He fell silent for a long time before forcing an ugly smile onto his face.

"It doesn't matter... Even if you win eight Dao from me in this round, what does it change?" Di Hou said hoarsely. "The sixth round is next... You won't have time to win sixty Dao... You'll all die..."

"You're right," Qi Xia nodded. "Di Hou, you're a bit smarter than I thought. After all, you conceded this round."

"What...?"

"I was planning to go all in this round and take sixty Dao at once," Qi Xia said, shaking his head helplessly. "But an old gambler is still an old gambler. Even if you didn't know where the problem was, you still had that instinct to avoid danger. By folding this round, you dodged a total defeat."

"So... you're not going to gamble anymore?" Di Hou glanced at the chips in front of Qi Xia, then lifted his chin. "You still have enough capital, and you seem clear-headed enough. Aren't you going to try one more time?"

"Even if I have enough capital, I need you to keep following my bets," Qi Xia said with a bitter smile. "But in this round, I used all my tricks, and you didn't follow through. From now on, you'll be on guard against me. No matter how much I raise, you won't follow, so I've already lost."

"Oh...?" Di Hou slowly curled his lips into a smile. "Qi Xia, you're underestimating me a bit. Why wouldn't I follow next time?"

"You will follow?" Qi Xia asked in return.

"Of course," Di Hou said confidently, licking his lips with an expression of being in the thick of battle. "Qi Xia, I still have two 'hole cards' I haven't shown you. You're conceding too early—let me win this properly?"

"Two hole cards..." Qi Xia narrowed his eyes slightly, looking at him like a child, and slowly raised his hand to his forehead. "Di Hou, what if I told you I already know both of your 'hole cards'?"

Hearing this, Di Hou narrowed his eyes again and stared cautiously at Qi Xia's eyes.

The blood on Qi Xia's forehead had dried, making him look somewhat menacing.

"Qi Xia, you've always given me a strange feeling..." Di Hou said. "Because everything you say sounds too outrageous for me to believe."

"Oh?"

"But every time I choose not to believe you, the outcome for me isn't good," Di Hou continued.

"So, you believe it now?" Qi Xia asked expressionlessly. "Do you believe that I've already figured out your 'hole cards'?"

"No... Just like the story of 'The Boy Who Cried Wolf,'" Di Hou said after thinking for a moment. "I think I've finally figured out the pattern to crack your lies..."

"For example?"

"I thought I'd cracked your lies twice in a row, but I ended up falling for them both times," Di Hou said slowly, with a smile that suggested he had everything under control. "So this time, I'm choosing to crack your lie again. I don't believe you can see through my two 'hole cards,' and I don't believe you'd use the same Pian Shu three times in a row."

Qi Xia furrowed his brow but said nothing.

"So, do you still dare to gamble with me?" Di Hou asked. "Fight for your teammates' chance to survive."

After listening, Qi Xia slowly closed his eyes, thought for a few seconds, and said, "Fine, but this time, we'll settle it in one round."