Chapter 645: Forbidding by Force

After Qi Xia and Qiao Jiajin finished discussing the rules in low voices, they looked up at the Earth Monkey, who was shuffling the cards.

He had already shuffled several times and was now lazily eyeing the group.

“What? Figured out the rules?” he asked.

“Close enough,” Qi Xia replied.

“But are you sure you’re on the right track?” the Earth Monkey pressed.

“Are we not?”

The Earth Monkey stared into Qi Xia’s eyes, slowly curling his lips into a smirk. “Then let the game decide.”

Qi Xia nodded and signaled the others to retrieve their chips.

The only advantage of this game was that as long as one of the six players besides the Earth Monkey won, everyone could reclaim their chips and move on to the next round. However, there was a catch. In the first round, Qi Xia had barely won, securing only four “Dao” from the Earth Monkey. Even if this scenario repeated eight times, by the end of the game, they would only accumulate thirty-two “Dao”—far short of the sixty needed.

If the Earth Monkey reduced his bets in subsequent rounds, they might not even scrape together twenty “Dao,” let alone thirty-two.

“If there are no objections, I’ll start dealing,” the Earth Monkey announced. “Round two—begin!”

Hearing this, Qi Xia furrowed his brow slightly. The Earth Monkey’s tone was odd.

His declaration, “Round two—begin,” was enunciated sharply and deliberately, a stark contrast to his usual relaxed speech. It was as if he was…

Speaking for someone else’s benefit.

“We want to shuffle the cards,” Qiao Jiajin interjected, just as he had in the previous round. “And this time, you won’t be the dealer. We’ll rotate clockwise to the next person.”

“What?”

“Problem with that?” Qiao Jiajin grinned. “There’s no dealer here. Did you really think you’d be handling the cards the whole time?”

“What’s wrong with me dealing?” The Earth Monkey narrowed his eyes. “You’re all on the same team. It’s hard to believe you wouldn’t try to cheat.”

“Whooooa—”

Before the Earth Monkey could finish, Chen Junan’s voice soared through the room like a wild goose across the sky.

The Earth Monkey knew this guy was trouble and wanted to ignore him, but Chen Junan’s voice, sharp as a bone-scraping knife, cut right through.

“Damn near scared me to death!!” Chen Junan yelled, leaning back and propping his legs on the table, looking like he owned the place. “You hear that, boys? I hadn’t even thought about cheating, but our genius here was way ahead of me! Told you Monkey’s sharp—why else would he be the Earth Monkey?”

“True, true,” Qiao Jiajin nodded. “Brilliant, really.”

“Here we are, just trying to be decent humans, and this guy? Bam—turns into a monkey.” Chen Junan turned to Qiao Jiajin. “Could you do that, old Qiao?”

“Not a chance.”

Chen Junan then glanced at Xiao Cheng. “Kid, you think you could?”

“I—I couldn’t either.”

“Not only is he better than us, but his brain’s on another level.” Chen Junan smacked his hands together in mock frustration. “Our Monkey here’s been worried the kid would cheat! I didn’t even see it coming!”

The Earth Monkey scowled. “What the hell are you babbling about?”

“But it makes sense!” Chen Junan nodded emphatically. “Sure, his hands are tiny—can’t even hold the cards—but who says a kid can’t practice cheating? How blind of me!”

Qiao Jiajin quickly joined in. “Yeah! Junan, you’re slipping!”

Listening to their back-and-forth, like a comedy duo on stage, Tian Tian covered her mouth, her eyes crinkling with suppressed laughter.

The Earth Monkey’s face darkened, and he slammed a hand on the table. “Enough. I’m about to lose my patience.”

“Oh?” Chen Junan smirked. “What happens when you lose it? You’re acting weird, Monkey. Why not just kill me now?”

“What?”

“Got reservations?” Chen Junan swung his legs off the table and leaned forward, his expression growing even more insufferable. “Or is there a rule stopping you? Monkey, did your master draw you a circle on the ground?”

The Earth Monkey stayed silent, lips pressed tight.

“I get it.” Chen Junan nodded. “To keep things ‘fair,’ to let you sleep easy at night—your rules must say ‘no violent interference in gambling,’ right?”

Though the Earth Monkey didn’t answer, the others read the confirmation in his expression.

Chen Junan had guessed right.

But now, Qi Xia hesitated.

He reconsidered everything he’d assumed about the Earth Monkey.

Despite the sophisticated deck the Earth Monkey had produced, he didn’t seem particularly shrewd. Qi Xia had jumped to conclusions—since they were playing “Lunar Phases” on the Earth Monkey’s turf, he’d assumed the game was his creation. But that might not be the case.

The Earth Monkey wasn’t a mastermind. He had enough cunning to outmaneuver average players, but not the brilliance to warrant Qi Xia staking his life on breaking his defenses.

If Qi Xia had to compare him to other “Zodiacs” he’d met, the Earth Monkey fell short of even the Earth Rat.

So why would someone like him be so confident in bringing out such a complex card game to challenge Qi Xia?

Was it just because, in his memory, Qi Xia wasn’t as sharp as he was now?

No. There was another possibility—the Earth Monkey still had a trump card. Qi Xia preferred to believe this was all an act.

“Monkey, what’s the verdict?” Chen Junan teased. “You can’t kill me, I’m not quitting—we’re at a stalemate. Just let the kid deal. Or are you really that scared he’ll cheat?”

The Earth Monkey held the deck, eyes narrowed in thought.

“Unless…” Chen Junan’s smirk widened, his eyes glinting with mischief. “You’re not worried about the kid cheating—you’re worried you won’t get to cheat?”

“Bullshit.” The Earth Monkey spat the word coldly. “Fine, deal. I’ve got nothing to fear.”

He tossed the cards to Zheng Yingxiong, who fumbled, scattering them everywhere. The boy quickly gathered them up, stacking them carefully.

He clearly hadn’t played much poker—his small hands struggled to manage the deck, and under Tian Tian’s guidance, he clumsily reshuffled.