At the end of the staircase was a very spacious underground casino.

Looking around, machines that all looked identical, resembling gambling machines, were placed along the casino walls. Their screens were currently flashing and glowing, displaying unknown content.

Nearly all the tables and chairs in the casino had been removed, leaving only a long table in the center.

Earth-Sheep slowly walked to the center of the room, stood before the table, and spoke in a calm tone: “Please come stand properly, everyone.”

The crowd slowly gathered around the table. The atmosphere was somewhat oppressive.

“I will now explain the rules.” After Earth-Sheep swept his gaze across everyone, he said quietly, “My game is called ‘Four Emotions Fan,’ and it’s an extremely simple game.”

Qi Xia almost laughed at Earth-Sheep’s words.

Fifty people participating in an extremely simple fraud game?

Earth-Sheep pulled out a huge handbag from under the table, bulging with quite a few items inside.

He threw the handbag onto the table. When everyone looked, the backpack was filled uniformly with folding fans.

Earth-Sheep took out four folding fans from among them and opened them one by one before the crowd.

The four folding fans were written in regular script with “Joy,” “Anger,” “Sorrow,” and “Happiness” respectively.

“These are the so-called ‘Four Emotions Fans.'” Earth-Sheep said, “My bag contains four types of fans in equal quantities. At the start of the game, each person will randomly receive three folding fans. Of course, the content of the folding fans is also random. The victory condition for this game is equally simple…”

Holding the folding fans in his hand, he walked to one of the gambling machines by the wall. Everyone followed him over.

“This machine is called the ‘Pairing Machine.'”

Everyone carefully examined the “Pairing Machine.” This machine had a button on each of its left and right sides, with four holes in the middle.

“When ‘Pairing,’ you need to find another teammate. The two people press the buttons on both sides respectively, which counts as ‘starting the pairing.'” Earth-Sheep reached out and pressed the button on the right side.

The screen displayed Earth-Sheep’s photo, with three smiley faces below the photo. The text read: “Waiting for teammate.”

“The three smiley faces represent that I have a total of three pairing opportunities remaining. Next…” Earth-Sheep looked at the crowd, his gaze settling on a tall woman. “Hello, please come demonstrate with me.”

The woman nodded and walked over.

“Please press the button on the other side.” Earth-Sheep said.

The woman dubiously extended her hand and slowly pressed it down. The woman’s photo also lit up on the screen.

The text on the screen began to change, reading: “Both people in position, pairing begins.”

Earth-Sheep took out two folding fans and handed them to the woman, saying: “The so-called ‘pairing’ means both parties each produce two folding fans to insert into the holes. As long as the two people can exactly gather the four emotions of ‘joy, anger, sorrow, and happiness,’ they can both leave. This counts as victory.”

After speaking, Earth-Sheep inserted two folding fans into two holes on the machine. The tall woman beside him followed suit and placed her two folding fans inside as well.

After the machine swallowed the folding fans, the screen displayed “Identifying…”

After a short while, the text changed to display “Pairing Successful.”

Earth-Sheep nodded and turned back to say: “If the game has already started, the two people who successfully pair can leave.”

After hearing this, Qi Xia slowly frowned.

This rule was indeed very simple. If one could find a trustworthy teammate, everyone could leave safe and sound. But if that was the case, what was the point of a fraud game?

“Let me say the unpleasant part first.” Earth-Sheep looked at everyone again. “Each person only has three ‘pairing’ opportunities. Moreover, regardless of success or failure, the folding fans used for ‘pairing’ will be consumed. If you cannot successfully pair after three attempts, you can only stay here and wait for death. After two hours, I will execute sanctions on all those remaining here.”

“Three times…?” The square-faced man beside Qi Xia felt something was wrong. “We only have three folding fans total, and each ‘pairing’ consumes two fans. How can we pair three times?!”

“Good question.” Earth-Sheep nodded. “After half an hour, I will begin supplementing everyone with new folding fans. Everyone present will have the opportunity to receive supplementary fans. Thereafter, fans will be supplemented every half hour, for a total of three supplements over two hours.”

“So that’s how it is…?” The square-faced man seemed to understand something. “That means the folding fans in our hands will increase?”

“Correct.” Earth-Sheep answered. “Does anyone else have questions?”

“How are the rewards calculated?” Qi Xia asked.

“Rewards…” Earth-Sheep looked at Qi Xia and said, “All those who successfully ‘escape’ please wait quietly on the upper level for the game to end. After the game ends, each person who survives can exchange for rewards. For each excess folding fan remaining in hand, you can exchange for five ‘Dao.'”

Qi Xia pondered briefly.

For each folding fan remaining in hand, one could exchange for five “Dao”…

That meant if one found another person to pair with right from the start, even if the pairing was successful, each person would only have one folding fan left in their hands.

Taking this one folding fan to exchange for a reward of five “Dao” would exactly offset the entrance fee.

This was a break-even deal, not worthwhile.

To “win” in the game and have gains, one must accumulate a large number of folding fans in hand. If folding fans were supplemented every half hour, it would force everyone’s “pairing” time to approach the end of the game.

“You… you’re saying…” An auntie raised her hand and asked, “If we ultimately can’t find a partner, we’ll die here?!”

“That’s right.” Earth-Sheep nodded. “I’m giving you returns that exceed other ‘Zodiacs,’ so naturally you must face corresponding dangers.”

This statement changed some people’s expressions. This game was nakedly trading lives for “Dao,” but fortunately the rules sounded very simple. If one wanted to leave, they could leave at any time.

Qi Xia’s expression was still grave. He kept feeling something was off.

As the host of a “fraud game,” this rule didn’t seem to contain any fraudulent content. Instead, it sounded more like a game encouraging everyone to cooperate.

“If everyone understands the rules, the game will begin in ten minutes.” Earth-Sheep said, “Please line up and come before me to draw your initial three folding fans.”

Qi Xia followed the crowd at the back of the line, slowly moving forward. He watched as people one by one received their paper fans and then slowly stood to the side. Everyone seemed to be intentionally keeping their distance from others. A few people had already impatiently opened their paper fans to look.

These people were too naive.

Because the paper fans were double-sided, when they opened their paper fans, nearby people could almost all see the text written on their fans.

Under any circumstances, exposing one’s cards was a dangerous move. This time was no exception.

Just as it was almost Qi Xia’s turn, the square-faced man who had already received his folding fans came back to the line and said to Qi Xia: “Brother, you remember me, right? We agreed to cooperate!”

Qi Xia didn’t speak, only smiled falsely. Then he took three fans from the handbag.

He retreated far from the crowd into a corner, turned his back, and after confirming no one was nearby, opened his folding fans to look.

All three were written with “Sorrow.”