Even now, Qi Xia still felt something was strange.

Why did Earth-Monkey emphasize his tone every time he announced the beginning of a round?

Was this action a habit of his, or was it intentional?

Just as Earth-Monkey’s words fell, that sense of incongruity once again wrapped around Qi Xia’s heart.

This time he was absolutely certain—that wooden box definitely had something peculiar about it.

Its color had changed again.

Judging from each change, its color variation was very slight and difficult for ordinary people to observe, but Qi Xia clearly remembered what it looked like when it first appeared.

The originally dark brownish-black wooden box was now not dark brownish-black at all, but instead was closer to a yellowish-brown color.

“It’s really getting lighter…”

Although Qi Xia had discovered the problem with this box, he had no way to deduce what its purpose was for the moment.

Could this box become lighter and lighter as time passed, ultimately transforming into a pure white box?

“Placed in the center of the table… a box that’s getting lighter…”

Qi Xia reached up to stroke his chin, trying to explain this phenomenon from various angles, but couldn’t find any clues.

Since there was no way to find the connection between this lightening box and the game, Qi Xia could only switch to a somewhat tricky angle.

What was the principle behind this wooden box… getting lighter?

Since Qi Xia had previously held the box in his hands by accident and learned that it was very light in weight, the inside should have been hollowed out.

If that was the case, taking a bold guess, the most direct and effective way to make a dark brownish-black box turn yellowish-brown was not heating or cooling, but rather installing a light tube inside the hollowed-out interior of the box. As the rounds progressed, the brightness of the light tube increased, causing the box’s color to become lighter and lighter.

“No wonder Earth-Monkey values this box so much… Is it also part of the ‘rules’?”

Qi Xia shifted his perspective out and looked at this game from a more grandiose angle.

The large round table in this game looked like it had been used for a long time, its dark black color like an endless firmament. The individual “Dao” scattered across the table flickered with a faint light, like stars.

And the square box in the very center, due to its position at the exact center of the round table, was now changing from the same deep brown color as the table surface to a pale yellow, like a bright moon gradually revealing itself.

“Could ‘Lunar Month’ mean more than just this…?”

Every time Earth-Monkey spoke the word “round” with resounding force, was it to activate some mechanism inside the wooden box to change its color?

But Qi Xia had already guessed the rules of this game, and even Earth-Monkey had spoken words like “straight” and “pair.” Logically speaking, the rules Earth-Monkey used were not much different from what he had imagined.

Even if there really was a difference, it was only a matter of whether a “straight” or “four of a kind” was bigger.

Since the rules were already completely clear, what did an increasingly bright wooden box represent?

Looking at this dirty and carelessly arranged game venue, Qi Xia didn’t believe Earth-Monkey had the leisurely mood to specifically place a box that changed with the number of rounds to enhance everyone’s elegant interest. Combined with Earth-Monkey’s recent performance, he definitely had a backup plan.

And his backup plan was very likely this constantly changing box before their eyes.

Although Qi Xia didn’t know exactly what Earth-Monkey was going to do, he could only maintain a vigilant heart in advance. If he really looked at it according to the principle of “new moon and full moon,” the box was currently getting brighter, which was the process from “new moon” to “full moon.”

When the box reached its brightest point, something unexpected would definitely happen. If they couldn’t anticipate it in advance, the situation would become passive.

Although they had already won quite a few chips in the early stages, gambling was like this—it was very possible to lose all the chips won in the final round. So until the cards were revealed in the last round, they absolutely could not let their guard down.

Tiantian collected everyone’s cards in her hands and awkwardly shuffled them several times, then held up the cards and asked, “Do you… want to shuffle?”

Everyone shook their heads, and even Earth-Monkey showed no intention of shuffling. Without anyone reminding them, everyone had already placed one “Dao” on the table.

“Then I’ll deal the cards.” After Tiantian spoke, she first drew a “community card” and placed it in the center of the table.

“Double Ninth Festival.”

“The ninth day of the ninth month.” Qi Xia recited.

Now it seemed that the “community card” of each round was extremely important. This card determined what kind of hand everyone needed to be bigger, and it was also the most direct information for discerning the cards in other people’s hands.

Since the card revealed in this round was “nine-nine,” it naturally indicated that a large number of “pairs,” “three of a kind,” or “four of a kind” were very likely to appear in this game.

And “whether they could draw a nine” also became everyone’s goal for this round.

Tiantian turned over a “Slight Heat” card in front of herself. This card was neither good nor bad, after all it was “the sixth day of the sixth month.”

Now she had two “nines” and two “sixes.” As long as her “hidden card” was good enough, she could still have fighting power.

Although this game didn’t have many cards—a total of only thirty-six—in one game, seven people plus the community card only needed to draw fifteen cards total. There were still twenty-one cards in a hidden state, so the probability of guessing Earth-Monkey’s hand was very low.

The next person to receive a card was Xiao Cheng.

He turned over the card Tiantian handed him, revealing a “Cold Dew” card. This year’s Cold Dew was “the eighth day of the ninth month.”

Whether for Tiantian or Xiao Cheng, the cards both of them received in this round were not small. Xiao Cheng now had “three nines,” and just the revealed cards alone were already very lethal.

Next were Chen Junnan and Qiao Jiajin.

The two received “Lantern Festival” and “Laba Festival” respectively.

These two cards were “one-one-five” and “one-two-eight” respectively. Although the individual cards looked pretty good, there was no way to form any combination with “Double Ninth Festival.” If they wanted to win this gambling round, they would have to completely rely on the next card they could obtain.

Qi Xia himself received “Mid-Autumn Festival,” “eight-one-five,” the same situation as Chen Junnan and Qiao Jiajin.

At this moment, everyone’s eyes gathered on Earth-Monkey.

Earth-Monkey took the card Tiantian handed over and flipped it onto the table, displaying the characters “Autumn Equinox.”

This year’s Autumn Equinox was “the twenty-third day of the eighth month.”

From this perspective, Earth-Monkey was in the same situation as Qi Xia and the others, having obtained a card that currently appeared useless.

The last person to receive a card was Zheng Yingxiong.

He received a “Spring Festival” card.

“The first day of the first month.” After looking at it, Qi Xia nodded. Now if everyone wanted to win this round, they could only rely on Tiantian, Xiao Cheng, and Zheng Yingxiong.

“I have ‘Laba Festival.'” Qiao Jiajin laughed. “I’m the biggest, right? I’m betting two!”