It is common knowledge that in any style of poker, the Jack, Queen, and King are depicted with illustrations of human faces.
The Queen is represented by 'Q', and the King by 'K'.
Chang Ba's proposed gamble is themed around three Kings of different suits, and also requires finding the King of Spades, the highest card among the four suits. The underlying implication is that I cannot be the king here, nor can I be the one who illuminates Tiandu.
These minor details about the gambling method were all clarified in my mind before I returned to the gambling table.
Humans, while being higher life forms that transcend other species, are also the controllers who create everything.
Similarly, a cheat is also like that.
Whether it is a complex and ever-changing high-stakes gamble or a mundane low-stakes one, the one who can change the course of the game and influence the final outcome is…
Only the cheat!
Regardless of Chang Ba's intentions in standing up for Wang Mingxuan, if I don't try my best to understand the other party's true purpose, I can easily be led astray.
Therefore, after clarifying the hidden meaning of the King of Spades, I had already roughly guessed what kind of trick Chang Ba wanted to play with me.
………………
Seeing me take my seat, Chang Ba strolled from the spectator area to the center of the gambling table and took out a brand new Bee deck of cards from a drawer beneath the table.
After unsealing the new deck, Chang Ba, with his right hand, lightly shuffled the entire deck, causing the cards to surge and tumble in his palm.
Chang Ba's single-handed shuffling speed was far faster than what is seen in gambling movies.
It was like a cascading waterfall, resembling a butterfly flitting through flowers.
It truly emphasized the word "speed"!
I knew Chang Ba was showing off, flaunting how fast and nimble his hand skills were.
In the path of the Thousand Doors Blue Path, although single-handed shuffling is common, to be honest…
As of now, I have truly never seen anyone shuffle cards with one hand faster than Chang Ba.
It seems this guy is likely to be a tough opponent.
After showing off his skills, Chang Ba selected the Kings of different suits from the 52 cards, starting from Spades and ending with Clubs.
Spades, Hearts, Clubs – three Kings.
Pointing to the three Kings on the table, Chang Ba looked at me and said in a deep voice, "Please examine the cards!"
Upon hearing this, my expression immediately soured.
Just three cards, and all of the same rank but different suits, is there a need to examine them?
Isn't this an insult!
It was evident that after seeing me accept the challenge through my actions, Chang Ba's true intentions were finally revealed.
He was the same as Da Fei, only much better at pretending and acting.
People like this have extremely high self-awareness and arrogance, and they never easily expose their true inner feelings. Once exposed, it means they are almost certain that they can perfectly control the situation!
If I guessed correctly, Chang Ba should be feeling that he had me cornered at this moment. And the reason he felt this way was likely due to the upcoming gamble.
With this thought, after some secret calculations, I immediately had an idea…
Without even glancing at the three Kings, I directly shook my head and replied, "No need to examine them! Let's hurry and start, I want to finish this quickly!"
"Finish quickly!?"
Upon hearing me say I wanted to end the gamble as soon as possible, Chang Ba first looked me up and down with a strange gaze, and then suddenly laughed inexplicably.
I knew he was laughing at me. Laughing at my arrogance, laughing at my overestimation of my abilities. But it didn't matter. Whoever laughs last, laughs best!
………………
Seeing that I wanted to start directly, Chang Ba didn't say another word and immediately began to manipulate the cards.
Next, it was time to test eyesight and memory.
If one's observation is not meticulous enough, even the slightest mistake could lead to a vast divergence.
So from the moment Chang Ba started his hand, I fixed my gaze on his hands.
Seeing my unmoving, focused expression, a faint smile appeared on Chang Ba's lips.
After about a minute…
The moment he stopped, Chang Ba immediately resumed his posture and made a "please" gesture, saying, "Little brother Chen Xiang, you can start drawing cards!"
Upon hearing this, I didn't act rashly as Chang Ba suggested. Instead, I put on a thoughtful expression and pondered for a while.
After thinking, my face as calm as a placid lake, I stared at the three cards and suddenly reached for the leftmost one.
Seeing that my fingers had already touched the card and were about to flip it over, Chang Ba's face finally revealed a smug smile of a schemer who had succeeded.
However, what he didn't expect was…
My hand then hovered above the card, as if frozen, but my mouth moved first.
"This card… is not the King of Spades!"
After speaking, without the slightest hesitation or pause, I flipped the card over.
The King of Clubs!
The moment Chang Ba heard this answer, the smug smile on his face completely vanished, replaced by an uncontrollable twitch of his eyelids and corners of his mouth.
Ignoring Chang Ba's varied facial expressions, I reached for the middle card.
I drew it out casually, and before flipping it open, I said confidently, "This card… is also not the King of Spades!"
The moment my words fell, I reached out and flipped the card over, glancing at it nonchalantly.
The King of Hearts.
After the King of Clubs and the King of Hearts were both correctly guessed and revealed by me, whether the last card remaining face down on the table was the King of Spades or not, was a matter of opinion. At least, I certainly wasn't going to reach out and flip it over. Because I was absolutely, positively sure that card… was one thousand percent, ten thousand percent not the King of Spades! Therefore, I would leave this embarrassing outcome for Chang Ba to resolve himself.
Another dog-like bastard who glares at people with his nostrils! Does he think he's superior just because he thinks he can scheme and read people's minds? To borrow a catchphrase from Cheng Minglang: What the hell are you?! Honestly, at this very moment, I really want to ask Chang Ba: Who gave you the courage to not consider me a worthy opponent and look me in the eye? Since you don't consider me a rival, don't blame me for not treating you as a person! A lose-lose situation, pick one of two options. If I don't reveal the card, and assume it's the King of Spades, I win the gamble, and the extra 1 million chips are mine, forcing him to swallow this bitter pill. If I reveal the card, exposing that it's not the King of Spades, then he needs to think carefully… about how to wash away the honest, good brother image he projected. If he's secretly cheating in a gamble he proposed himself, who will believe him, Old Ba Chang, in the future? And most importantly, I've even given him face by not exposing him publicly.