Upon hearing these words, everyone looked toward Zheng Yingxiong. This child seemed to be even more profound than they had imagined.

Now no one in this team would really be a burden.

Earth-Monkey also pondered for a while, then lowered his head to begin the second round of dealing.

This time the cards dealt were “face-down cards.” He first dealt himself one card face-down.

Then in order, he dealt to Zheng Yingxiong, Tiantian, Chen Junnan, Qiao Jiajin, and Qi Xia.

Qi Xia picked up the card and looked at it. The card face read “End of Heat.”

Now everyone had received their “face-down cards,” and Earth-Monkey spoke up: “Does anyone want to start ‘raising’?”

Tiantian looked at the cards in her hand and chose not to raise.

Qi Xia had a strong feeling that he should raise now, but what he needed to bet this time wasn’t “Dao” or “items,” but should be something else entirely. But his brain…

“Uncle, I raise.” Zheng Yingxiong suddenly said at this moment.

The childish voice came from the corner of the round table, clearly drilling into everyone’s ears.

Through the dim lighting, everyone looked over to find Zheng Yingxiong’s expression extremely serious, completely unlike he was joking. At this moment his nose twitched slightly, then he turned his face and made eye contact with Qi Xia.

Qi Xia narrowed his eyes in thought, then nodded at him.

“Oh?” Earth-Monkey became interested. “What do you want to bet? ‘Dao’ or ‘items’?”

Zheng Yingxiong thought for three seconds, then said forcefully and clearly: “I want to bet ‘a secret that must be answered and cannot be lied about.'”

This was it!

This idea coincided perfectly with the chaotic thoughts in his brain, and instantly helped him dispel some of the fog in his mind.

He had once thought of this approach in a flash, but it was quickly blocked by layers of fog and he couldn’t describe it at all. Fortunately, Zheng Yingxiong spoke up at this time.

But Qi Xia still felt it was very strange. Was this little child really this clever? Or had he perceived his own thoughts and was actually able to propose this bet at just the right moment?

Earth-Monkey was slightly stunned upon hearing this: “A secret that must be answered and cannot be lied about?”

“Uncle, I’m betting a ‘secret.'” Zheng Yingxiong said. “You can ask me any question, and I will answer truthfully. The reverse is also true.”

After hearing this, the remaining people all looked toward Qi Xia. Qi Xia grabbed his hair and nodded slightly.

“I’ll match it.” Tiantian immediately said. “I’ll bet a ‘secret.’ I’ll answer all questions.”

“This young master will match too.” Chen Junnan hurried to respond. “This young master has lots of secrets in his heart. Monkey Brother, you’d better explore them thoroughly.”

“I’ll match too.” Qiao Jiajin said. “It’s just a question, right?”

Qi Xia also nodded: “Same for me.”

Now it was Earth-Monkey’s turn to be somewhat speechless. He hadn’t expected what their line of thinking was.

Having already reached this point, were they going to waste precious “betting” time in one round to follow along with a child’s nonsense?

Or perhaps… they had an even more terrifying plan?

“This ‘bet’ isn’t appropriate.” Earth-Monkey said. “We ‘Zodiacs’ have our ‘Zodiac’ rules. Some ‘secrets’ if spoken would cost us our lives.”

“Then we’ll give you some leeway and avoid your ‘core secrets.'” Qi Xia said with furrowed brows. “I’ll ask the questions, and I promise to avoid the core issues of the ‘Zodiacs.’ Otherwise, you can directly rule us as having failed.”

Earth-Monkey paused, then said: “Alright then, don’t forget what you just said.”

“I won’t forget.”

“And the questions I ask may also make you regret it.”

“I won’t regret it.”

Hearing Qi Xia’s answer, Earth-Monkey’s expression darkened, then he turned to look at Zheng Yingxiong. Now everyone had one opportunity to be questioned. Qi Xia’s teammates naturally had nothing to ask Zheng Yingxiong, so this opportunity could only go to Earth-Monkey.

The question Earth-Monkey could pose was very likely “what are your hole cards?” Due to being unable to lie, everyone would tell Earth-Monkey their card faces exactly as they were, making the possibility of winning this round extremely slim.

But this didn’t really matter. Out of eight total rounds, everyone had a high probability of losing the first round while completely not understanding the rules.

Earth-Monkey thought for a while, then slowly spoke. What Qi Xia never expected was that he didn’t ask about Zheng Yingxiong’s “hole cards” at all. Instead, he asked indifferently: “How many Participants remain in ‘Jade City’?”

After hearing this, Zheng Yingxiong’s small face turned pale, then he swallowed slightly and said: “Twenty-two people.”

Earth-Monkey nodded: “Twenty-two people. In the end, you still gave up?”

“I…”

Zheng Yingxiong lowered his head with a somewhat heavy expression, as if he had something difficult to say.

“Sorry, but that’s a second question, Monkey Brother.” Chen Junnan decisively spoke up. “You haven’t ‘raised’ yet, have you?”

“Heh.” Earth-Monkey sneered coldly. “You little punk are quite arrogant. Haven’t you suffered any losses in the ‘Land of the End’?”

“I have. Answer complete.” Chen Junnan said. “Next person.”

“You…” Earth-Monkey gritted his teeth in anger, constantly feeling that this person before him had very erratic thinking, and if he wasn’t careful he would fall into his traps.

“What ‘you’? From the looks of it, you’re preparing to ask a second question, but I should make this clear first…” Chen Junnan smiled. “I’m not afraid of however many questions come, but that would be a different price.”

After hearing this, Earth-Monkey could only helplessly shake his head and looked toward Tiantian.

Tiantian felt a bit nervous looking at Earth-Monkey’s aged and strange face, and just reached out to grip her cards tightly.

Earth-Monkey stared at her for a long time. Finally, his eyes changed slightly and he said: “Forget it, I have no questions to ask her.”

“No questions…?” Tiantian was somewhat confused. Even if he just asked what her card face was, it would be fine, yet he actually chose to give up at this time.

After saying this, Earth-Monkey looked at Qiao Jiajin again, then also narrowed his eyes.

At this moment, Zheng Yingxiong beside them reached out and tugged at Tiantian’s clothing. He seemed to have something he wanted to say, but after looking at Earth-Monkey, he quickly fell silent again.

“Chubby monkey, ask away.” Qiao Jiajin said. “It’s rare to have questions at the gambling table that don’t involve bragging. What are you planning to ask?”

“I…” After hearing this, Earth-Monkey slowly raised the corner of his mouth. “Young hothead, have you ever been deceived?”

“What…?”

Earth-Monkey’s question once again exceeded everyone’s expectations.

He neither asked about card faces nor about identities, but instead threw out a question with no beginning or end, causing everyone to look toward Qiao Jiajin for a moment.

“This has nothing to do with you…” Qiao Jiajin crossed his arms in front of his chest with furrowed brows, looking at Earth-Monkey with clear displeasure.

“I just want to give you a piece of advice. People who’ve been fooled once in this world will be fooled again.” Earth-Monkey said. “Not everyone is as open and aboveboard as you think.”

“What exactly do you mean?”

“For instance…”

“Earth-Monkey.” Qi Xia decisively stopped him, saying, “It’s time to ask me, isn’t it?”