Chapter 646: Psychological Warfare

After Zheng Yingxiong finished shuffling the cards, under Earth Monkey’s guidance, everyone took out a “Dao” chip and placed it on the table.

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

“**Start of Summer**.”

In Qi Xia’s eyes, the card instantly transformed into the numbers **”four” and “six”**—this year’s “Start of Summer” fell on the **fourth day of the sixth lunar month**.

As Zheng Yingxiong was about to hand the next card to Earth Monkey, Chen Junnan stopped him.

“Hold on, kid,” Chen Junnan smirked. “Don’t give it to Monkey. When he dealt earlier, he gave himself the first card. You should keep this one for yourself.”

“Ah? Can I do that?” Zheng Yingxiong hesitated.

“Abso-fucking-lutely,” Chen Junnan nodded.

Zheng Yingxiong took the card he was about to deal and examined it carefully before nervously placing it in front of himself. He then sniffed the air and glanced at Qi Xia.

At that moment, Qi Xia met his gaze.

Something felt off about Zheng Yingxiong’s behavior. Though they hadn’t spoken, it was as if an invisible thread connected them.

Zheng Yingxiong seemed to understand his intentions.

This was the first time Qi Xia had ever experienced such a sensation—it was like collaborating with another version of himself. The only downside was that while Zheng Yingxiong could seemingly grasp his general thoughts, Qi Xia couldn’t read Zheng Yingxiong’s mind. The connection was one-sided.

Qi Xia thought to himself, *”Zheng Yingxiong, nod if you can hear me.”*

He looked toward Zheng Yingxiong, but the boy showed no reaction, still fiddling with the cards in his hands.

At this point, Qi Xia realized their connection was even more nuanced than he had first assumed. It wasn’t like the mind-reading abilities of **”Heavenly Serpent”** or Wei Yang. Instead, it was something more abstract—Zheng Yingxiong could vaguely sense the direction of his thoughts but couldn’t clearly hear his inner voice.

Zheng Yingxiong then revealed his **”face-up card”**: **”Winter Solstice.”**

*”1-1-2-3…”* Qi Xia narrowed his eyes, silently calculating.

Next, Tian Tian received **”Shangsi Festival”**, Xiao Cheng drew **”Summer Solstice”**, Chen Junnan got **”Start of Winter”**, and Qiao Jiajin was dealt **”Lantern Festival.”**

Zheng Yingxiong picked up the deck, climbed onto the table, and dealt one card each to Qi Xia and Earth Monkey.

Qi Xia revealed his face-up card: **”Qingming Festival.”** Meanwhile, Earth Monkey’s card was **”New Year’s Eve.”**

This opening wasn’t ideal. Qi Xia’s starting hand was **”the sixth day of the third month”**, meaning his numbers were only **”3-6.”** Earth Monkey, on the other hand, had **”the 30th day of the twelfth month.”** If **”zero”** counted as a number, Earth Monkey had **four digits** right off the bat: **”1-2-3-0.”**

Not only did he have more numbers, but he also had a higher chance of forming a straight.

*Could anyone at the table beat Earth Monkey’s hand this round?*

“Wait a minute…”

Qi Xia suddenly noticed Zheng Yingxiong’s **”Winter Solstice”**—this year, the lunar date for Winter Solstice was **”the 23rd day of the eleventh month.”**

*”1-1-2-3…”* Qi Xia frowned. *”That’s an even stronger hand than Earth Monkey’s.”*

If, as Qiao Jiajin had speculated, this game followed **Texas Hold’em** rules, then **”zero”** likely didn’t count as a valid number. The only festival involving “zero” was **”New Year’s Eve”**, making it impossible to form any **”pair”** with it. Even if used in a **”straight”**, a sequence starting with **”zero”** would be the weakest possible.

In short, this game probably didn’t recognize **”zero”** as a playable number.

Which meant Zheng Yingxiong’s hand was currently stronger than Earth Monkey’s—he had **four distinct digits**, including **a pair of “ones”** and **a “1-2-3” straight**.

Now, everything hinged on the first round of **betting** and everyone’s **second hidden card**.

“I have the highest hand,” Earth Monkey declared. “I’ve got **’New Year’s Eve’**. I’ll **raise**.”

He tossed another **”Dao”** onto the table and turned to Zheng Yingxiong.

Seizing his turn, Zheng Yingxiong sniffed the air again before suddenly speaking up.

“Uncle, I’ll **call**.”

He placed his last remaining **”Dao”** on the table, emptying his pockets—he had gone **all in**.

Next was Tian Tian. She wasn’t stupid. After observing Qi Xia and Earth Monkey’s first round, she felt she had grasped something.

Her card was **”Shangsi Festival”**, which fell on **”the third day of the third month.”**

She suspected her hand might actually be strong in this game—after all, it contained **two identical numbers**.

Last round, both Qi Xia and Earth Monkey had drawn cards with **repeating digits** (**”Qixi Festival”** and **”Dragon Boat Festival”**), making their hands powerful. So hers shouldn’t be too weak either. She decisively chose to **call**.

Then came Xiao Cheng. He hadn’t clearly overheard Qi Xia and Qiao Jiajin’s earlier discussion and was still puzzling over the game’s possible rules.

His card was **”Summer Solstice.”**

*”Summer Solstice is the 21st day of the fifth month…”*

He slowly looked up at the community cards and Earth Monkey’s hand. Logically, he should **fold** this round. But if he kept folding, he’d never contribute anything to the team. Might as well take a gamble now and figure out the rules sooner.

So he placed a **”Dao”** on the table.

Meanwhile, Qiao Jiajin and Chen Junnan, after some thought, both **folded**, exiting the current round.

When it was Qi Xia’s turn, he placed a **”Dao”** on the table without hesitation. The strength of his current hand no longer mattered—what mattered was winning the entire **”Lunar Cycle”** game.

The decision then circled back to Earth Monkey. Since this was the second betting round, he could still **raise** if he wanted. After a few seconds of thought, he glanced at Chen Junnan and Qiao Jiajin. Seeing them out of the game, he internally sighed in relief—those two were troublemakers, and their absence eased his mind.

But his peace lasted less than a second before Chen Junnan spoke up again.

“Hey, Lao Qiao, since we’re out, wanna play **idiom chain** to kill time?”

“Idiom chain? Brilliant!” Qiao Jiajin grinned.

Completely disregarding the remaining players, the two launched into their own game.

“I’ll go first,” Qiao Jiajin said. “How about… **’Lure the tiger out of the mountains’!**”

“Mountains?” Chen Junnan smirked, side-eyeing Earth Monkey. “Then I’ll follow with… **’When the tiger’s away, the damn monkey reigns like a king.’**”