Chapter 320: Black Six of Spades

When a person’s luck reaches a certain point, their wishes come true.

In the backstage corridor of the opera house, Ning Zhe bent down to pick up the copper coin he had tossed earlier, shoved it into his pocket, then pulled out a notebook from inside his clothing, intending to confirm with Xia Yubing the situation on her end.

As he flipped through a few pages, Ning Zhe saw new handwriting appear on the paper.

“Ah, this… Draw the Ghost Card?”

So I actually guessed right?

“No wonder tossing the coin didn’t summon the God of Wealth—turns out the Gambler dragged him off to play cards,” Ning Zhe chuckled. The Gambler was ruthless: once at the table, no one could leave, disrupting even the Five Thoroughfares’ business.

It seemed he’d have to wait until the gambling session ended before he could find the God of Wealth to buy his life.

…Not necessarily.

The prerequisite for doing business with the God of Wealth was to meet Him first, but now the God of Wealth was trapped in the Gambler’s game and couldn’t escape, so Ning Zhe couldn’t meet Him—and thus couldn’t trigger the Five Thoroughfares’ rule.

However, Xia Yubing, Sally Sally, and the others in the same game had already ‘met’ the God of Wealth.

“Once this game ends, or the God of Wealth discards all his cards and leaves, the Five Thoroughfares will break free from the game—and the rule of forced buying and selling will activate immediately, forcing the Five Thoroughfares to claim the lives of everyone present.”

Perhaps women were naturally gifted at writing essays; soon, Xia Yubing had filled a page and a half in the notebook. Ning Zhe skimmed through her writing quickly and grasped the situation on her end and the key problems she urgently needed to solve.

First, in this game, the Gambler was playing Draw the Ghost Card.

But the Gambler hadn’t followed the domestic rule of removing the Little Joker and the 8s, nor had he followed the international rule of randomly removing one card to serve as the Ghost Card—he had started the game with the full 54-card deck.

Now, except for the Gambler himself, who shuffled the cards, no one knew which card was the Ghost Card.

Second, the Gambler’s luck was extremely good—unnaturally so.

Xia Yubing briefly described in her notebook how the Spade 4 had passed from I Kesi to A Lun, then been drawn by the Gambler, and admitted she wasn’t sure whether the Gambler had cheated or was simply extraordinarily lucky.

Finally, the Gambler had only four cards left.

What happens when a player leaves the game is completely unknown—especially since the Gambler, who started the game, is likely to be the one who leaves.

After reading the notebook, Ning Zhe closed his eyes slightly and took a deep breath. Alright… First, he needed to determine why the Gambler always drew the exact card he needed.

Was it simply luck—or cheating? Ning Zhe could answer this question right now.

He picked up his pen and wrote in the notebook:

【Most likely luck—though cheating can’t be entirely ruled out, the probability of luck is highest.】

Because the Yellow Calendar, bearing the Snake God’s rule, had been wagered and lost by He Nianjun to the Gambler.

The Gambler may possess some degree of intelligence—or perhaps all ghosts inherently obey rules—and by relying on the “Lucky” markings on the Calendar, the Gambler had enhanced his fortune, making him invincible at the table.

—This was only a plausible hypothesis; the exact situation remained uncertain. But Ning Zhe had a way to increase its credibility. After a moment’s thought, he wrote this idea into the notebook.

So Xia Yubing, sitting nervously beside the table, saw a new line appear in the notebook:

【Next round, pay attention—will A Lun draw the Spade 6?】 The pen circled a perfect period. Ning Zhe closed the notebook and walked through the staff passage to a hidden window on the second floor, glancing out toward the audience seats, where four corpses—two men, two women—lay still in the empty rows. They were the losers of the previous game, dead from losing Russian roulette.

So now there was a question.

When the Gambler gambled against ordinary mortals like Driver Bier, their stakes were their lives—losing meant instant death.

When the Gambler gambled against He Nianjun, who was an extension of the Summoning Rule, their stake was the Yellow Calendar bearing the Summoning Rule.

This time, the players included not only the God of Wealth—a rule-bound ghost—but also Xia Yubing, a granted one, and Sally Sally, a mere ordinary person.

So what was the stake of this game?

Ning Zhe waited to see.

At the table, the new round of drawing had begun. All eyes focused on the Gambler—except the God of Wealth, whose head rested on his knees, and Xia Yubing, who quietly glanced at her notebook.

After confirming no new writing had appeared, Xia Yubing lifted her gaze from the notebook and joined the other players in staring at the tattered Gambler.

The Gambler had initiated the game, shuffled and dealt the cards, and began each round of drawing, with the turn ending at Xia Yubing.

In the silent room, under everyone’s gaze, a pale, mottled, rotting hand rose from the table, reached toward A Lun, pinched a card from his fan, and gently drew it onto the table.

!

Spade 3.

Then the Gambler drew another card from his remaining four, placing it beside the Spade 3.

Club 3.

Same suit, same number—the hand matched. Both cards were discarded together in the center of the table. The atmosphere at the table fell utterly still.

The Gambler now had only three cards left.

Even the slowest person could now sense something was deeply wrong—the Gambler’s luck was unnaturally perfect.

“According to Ning Zhe, the Gambler’s chance of cheating is low—most likely pure luck. The Russian roulette earlier confirmed this: five of the six players died; the Gambler was the sole survivor. His luck was already unnaturally strong back then.”

Xia Yubing glanced down at her notebook resting on her chest and reached a conclusion: “The Ghost Card isn’t with the Gambler.”

After all, the Gambler’s luck had always been this good—how could he have drawn the Ghost Card?

As she pondered, A Lun across the table turned his head and exchanged a meaningful glance with I Kesi , seated to his left.

It was his turn to draw.

A Lun closed his eyes, took a deep breath, reached toward I Kesi , plucked a card from his fan, and laid it gently on the table, face-up.

The moment Xia Yubing saw the suit on the card, her pupils contracted sharply.

—Spade 6.

“He was right…” Xia Yubing’s spirit trembled; her hand clenched the notebook without awareness.

(End of Chapter)