“Oh…?” Qi Xia slowly furrowed his brow. “You want to raise…”

“That’s right.” Earth Monkey glanced at Qi Xia’s cards and said, “I’m raising by two ‘Dao’. Can anyone follow?”

With those words, he had essentially cut off everyone’s escape routes.

At the start, each person had invested one “Dao”. In the first round’s first raise, another “Dao” was added. Now, with two more “Dao” being thrown in, just the first round alone had already escalated to a staggering four “Dao”.

Whether Earth Monkey had planned this from the start or was testing the waters, the two “Dao” he now proposed represented the entire fortune of both Qi Xia and Qiao Jiajin. The others could only choose to fold. For Earth Monkey, four “Dao” was nothing, but for everyone else, this was essentially going “all in”.

After all, no one could afford to match such a high stake unless they bet their lives.

Without waiting for everyone to decide, Earth Monkey had already pulled out two “Dao” from under the table and tossed them onto the surface. Now, four crystal-clear “Dao” lay before him, like eyes staring at everyone, silently advising them to retreat while they could.

Seeing this, Chen Junnan and Tiantian immediately covered their cards on the table and withdrew from this round with helpless expressions. Zheng Yingxiong also pushed his cards out with slight frustration.

They no longer had enough “chips” to continue betting.

This game had been unfair from the very beginning. Earth Monkey not only knew all the “rules” but was also responsible for dealing cards and declaring victory. On top of that, he possessed “wealth” far beyond everyone else’s. For the others to gamble against him under these circumstances, they needed better luck than usual and a stronger mind. Otherwise, their chances of winning were less than one percent.

“Are you two going to continue following?” Earth Monkey looked at Qi Xia and Qiao Jiajin before him.

Qiao Jiajin slightly flipped his “hole card”, which read “Start of Autumn”.

Currently, he held one “Great Heat” and one “Start of Autumn”, while Earth Monkey’s revealed card was “Summer Solstice”.

After thinking for a moment, Qiao Jiajin spoke: “Fat monkey, you know what?”

“What?”

“Since you said ‘Frost Descent’ is ‘the twenty-third day of the ninth month’, then the ‘Great Heat’ in my hand is ‘the twenty-first day of the sixth month’, and your ‘Summer Solstice’ is ‘the twenty-first day of the fifth month’, right?” Qiao Jiajin asked.

“That’s the logic.” Earth Monkey nodded.

“Just looking at our ‘face-up cards’, my date is larger than yours, so I’m following too.” After speaking, Qiao Jiajin threw out his last two “Dao”, then revealed his “Start of Autumn” card. “I don’t believe this remaining card in my hand can’t beat yours.”

Qi Xia, sitting beside him, saw Qiao Jiajin’s “hole card”—it was “Start of Autumn”, “the eighth day of the seventh month”. If this really was a traditional comparison of dates, this card in Qiao Jiajin’s hand was neither particularly large nor particularly small. Its prospects were uncertain.

Of course, there was another possibility—this was just one of Qiao Jiajin’s tactics.

At this moment, Qiao Jiajin turned to look at Qi Xia and said in a low voice: “Liar, if only you and him reveal cards, you’ll have too little information. With the three of us revealing cards, you can comprehensively observe all our hands to better understand what counts as ‘large’. Even if I lose everything, it’s just small change.”

“Alright.” Qi Xia understood Qiao Jiajin’s intention and raised his head to look at Earth Monkey.

“Are you going to follow?” Earth Monkey said. “As a gambling veteran, let me give you some advice—I suggest you just fold now.”

“Oh? Why?”

“Because after you follow, I’ll raise again. You don’t have any more chips and won’t be able to match it. You can only lose.” Earth Monkey said.

“How boring would that be?” Qi Xia said. “Your logic starts to fall apart from that statement.”

“Oh?”

“You say you’ve waited so long for a ‘Lunar Month’ game, yet you want to use all your killing moves in the first round to make me fail. I find that unreasonable,” Qi Xia said.

“I hadn’t originally thought this far.” The corner of Earth Monkey’s mouth lifted slightly. “It’s just unfortunate that your current state makes me feel very dangerous. I’m preparing to play it safe and defeat you here.”

“Too bad you’re lying.” Qi Xia said. “I don’t believe your hand can beat mine.”

Qi Xia’s face was now distinctly red and white, like an evil spirit carved with war markings, making Earth Monkey feel somewhat chilled.

“You also know… if I want to win, I don’t just have to compare hands.” Earth Monkey said. “I can also compare chips with you. As long as I keep choosing to raise, you won’t be able to keep up with me. Victory or defeat will be decided before we even reveal our cards.”

“Then let me be clear too.” Qi Xia reached out and tapped the table. “From this moment on, if you name a stake I can’t match, I’ll decisively bet my own life.”

“What?!” Hearing this, Earth Monkey’s eyes slowly widened. “You… are actually this crazy?”

“So ‘chips’ can’t stump me at all.” Qi Xia said calmly. “And I don’t think I’ll lose either.”

“Have you figured out the game’s rules?”

“More or less. Now I’m just waiting for you to speak,” Qi Xia answered.

The remaining few people had been watching Earth Monkey, Qi Xia, and Qiao Jiajin, who still hadn’t withdrawn from the game, constantly sweating over the three of them.

This was only the first round of the game, yet everyone had already bet their entire fortunes. Once Qi Xia and Qiao Jiajin lost, they would all have to die together.

Because Earth Monkey had already closed the casino, there would be no new customers today. They had no extra capital to gamble with Earth Monkey again. This outcome was no different from death.

“Fine…” Earth Monkey nodded. “Then I only hope you won’t regret this.”

“Why would I regret it?”

“Just looking at the cards currently known on the table, only you can compete with me, but I feel your chances of beating me are very small.”

“How so?”

“This deck has a total of thirty-six cards.” Earth Monkey smiled. “Your ‘face-up card’ combined with the ‘community cards’ on the table have already determined your hand type. Right now, only one card can make your hand beat mine, but I don’t believe I’ll be that unlucky.”

“Is that so?” The corner of Qi Xia’s mouth also lifted slightly. “Then let me tell you something too.”

“I’m all ears.” Earth Monkey said.

Qi Xia raised his “hole card” and slowly moved it to his left face. Now, only his blood-red right face faced Earth Monkey, like a true evil spirit.

“This card is far too lethal for you. I just thought of six different rules for comparing sizes. There’s only one rule where I can’t beat you.”

“Six rules…?” Earth Monkey slowly furrowed his brow, as if trying to judge whether what Qi Xia said was true or false.