“Walk out openly and honorably…?” Qi Xia revealed a deeply contemplative expression, not knowing what he was pondering.

“I’ve finished distributing. It’s your turn.” The Man-Goat pushed both bowls forward. “Choose—choose which one of us will survive.”

Lin Qin and Old Lu both frowned when they saw this scene.

The Man-Goat had evenly mixed all the pieces, with each bowl containing half black and half white.

Everything that followed would truly rely on “luck.”

Qi Xia made no movement at all. He tilted his ear as if trying to use his hearing to determine the colors of the pieces.

After a while, Qi Xia spoke up, “Man-Goat, you choose for me.”

“Wha…” The Man-Goat was stunned. “What did you say?”

“I said you choose for me.” Qi Xia said seriously. “Help me select two pieces, and I’ll choose one from those two.”

“Qi Xia, this is a ‘life-or-death gamble.’ Don’t you want to control your own fate?”

“It doesn’t matter.” Qi Xia didn’t seem to care. “You said you wanted to participate in ‘gambling with lives’ to make yourself feel that you’ve ‘lived,’ but if you think carefully, from start to finish it’s been me playing this game—you haven’t participated at all.”

The Man-Goat remained silent. The fact was indeed so.

“So I’m giving you a chance to ‘participate,'” Qi Xia pointed at the bowls in front of him. “This game is a contest between you and me, so I really want to know how you’ll choose.”

The Man-Goat reached out and slowly stroked his chin.

That chin had pig bristles that hadn’t been cleaned properly, so he stroked the pig bristles as if stroking a beard, creating a bizarrely wise appearance.

He pondered for a long time, never able to guess Qi Xia’s motive.

This was originally a game where victory and defeat each had a fifty percent chance, but if he himself selected the pieces, the outcome would become even more unpredictable for Qi Xia.

At such a tense moment of “gambling with lives,” the man before him had completely handed over life and death to his enemy to decide…

Had he given up? Or was he playing some clever trick?

“Don’t hesitate, Man-Goat. Only after you’ve chosen can I make my choice better, right?” Qi Xia said.

“After I’ve chosen… you can choose better?”

After a while, the Man-Goat finally nodded. “I understand. Then let me send you on your way.”

Qi Xia nodded and said nothing more.

The Man-Goat then reached toward the bowls on the table and decisively picked up two white pieces.

For Qi Xia, these two white pieces were tickets to hell. No matter how he asked in the end, white could never become black.

Just as he was about to hand these two white pieces to Qi Xia, something suddenly flashed through his mind.

The Man-Goat abruptly raised his head, thinking to himself, “Wait… something’s wrong.”

Could it be that Qi Xia hadn’t anticipated that he would choose two white pieces to give him?

This was a “gamble,” a competition where if the opponent won, he himself would lose his life. Why would he so confidently let him make the selection?

“Ah…” The Man-Goat suddenly understood and slowly withdrew his hand. “He’s playing tricks…”

What did he mean by “after you’ve chosen, I can choose better”?

The Man-Goat’s thoughts suddenly cleared.

Once these two white pieces were handed to Qi Xia, Qi Xia would immediately go back on his word. He would set these two white pieces aside and then select pieces again from the remaining bowl.

This small action would break the balance within the bowl, leaving forty-eight white pieces and fifty black pieces remaining.

Qi Xia’s chances of winning would directly increase somewhat.

After all, Qi Xia wasn’t a “Zodiac.” The words he spoke in the game weren’t “rules,” they were just his own suggestions.

Since they weren’t “rules,” Qi Xia himself didn’t need to follow them either.

So “going back on his word” was extremely possible.

“What a schemer you are…” The Man-Goat felt a wave of fear in his heart. He had nearly fallen into Qi Xia’s trap. After thinking it over, he took out two black pieces instead.

But now he hesitated again.

Directly handing over two black pieces to the opponent would actually be even more dangerous.

If the opponent had predicted his prediction, wouldn’t that lead directly to victory?

The Man-Goat lowered his head and looked at the pieces in his hands. His left hand held two white pieces, his right hand held two black pieces.

He discovered that no matter which choice he made, it would somehow increase Qi Xia’s chances of winning. The situation was somewhat absurd.

Could all of this have been calculated in advance by Qi Xia?

“Should I still give him two white pieces…?” He narrowed his eyes and pondered again. At least white pieces would slightly increase Qi Xia’s winning chances, but black pieces would greatly increase them…

No, that’s not right.

The Man-Goat shook his head again.

Two black or two white wouldn’t work, since he didn’t know what Qi Xia’s strategy would be.

The Man-Goat could only be forced to adjust his strategy. He abandoned the two-black-two-white tactic and took one black and one white piece in his hand.

He now had only one thought—since he couldn’t lower the opponent’s chances of winning, then maintain the status quo.

Let everything return to a fifty-fifty state. This situation should be even more difficult for Qi Xia to handle.

“That’s right… that’s it…” The Man-Goat nodded and placed one black and one white piece into Qi Xia’s hand.

“Qi Xia, I’ve finished choosing,” the Man-Goat said. “This fatal question has returned to your own hands.”

“Fatal question…” Qi Xia touched the two pieces in his hand, his expression quite complex.

The Man-Goat finally breathed a sigh of relief. At least at this stage, he had already made the optimal choice.

For Qi Xia, the situation of one black and one white should be the most difficult to handle. He had to pick out one of them to ask those two people the color of the piece.

He neither knew what color the piece he picked out was, nor did he know whether the person he asked would tell the truth or lie.

Under this double fog, Qi Xia’s chances of winning would be infinitely reduced.

Old Lu and Lin Qin saw the one black and one white in Qi Xia’s hands and both broke out in cold sweat.

These two weren’t fools either and naturally understood the stakes involved.

It seemed that Qi Xia’s early tactics had all failed, and everything had returned to square one.

Now the pieces were still one black and one white, and the two people were still one truth and one lie.

Without extremely strong “luck,” how could one possibly survive?

Old Lu pursed his lips, wiped the fine sweat from his forehead, and both hands had already gone ice-cold from nervousness.

“Qi Xia, who will you ask?” the Man-Goat asked.

Qi Xia turned his head toward Old Lu’s direction, then turned his head toward Lin Qin, his expression heavy as he pondered.

Who exactly was the person telling the truth?

About thirty seconds passed before Qi Xia made his choice. “I choose Lin Qin…”

Lin Qin’s whole body trembled when she heard this, as if she had been frightened.

“Good.” The Man-Goat turned his head and waved at Lin Qin. “Come on, little lady. Remember the rules—you can only answer ‘black’ or ‘white.’ If you dare say anything else or give any hint whatsoever, you’ll die on the spot.”

Lin Qin nodded with a pale face.

The Man-Goat turned back toward Qi Xia. “Begin, Qi Xia. You only have one chance to ask. Whether you can save your own life depends on this one question.”