[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"origin-survival-guide-in-a-mysterious-world":3,"chapter-survival-guide-in-a-mysterious-world-survival-guide-in-a-mysterious-world-chapter-322":6},{"origin":4,"title":5},"chinese","Survival Guide in a Mysterious World",{"chapter":7,"nextChapterSlug":19,"prevChapterSlug":20,"totalChapters":21,"novelImage":22},{"id":8,"novel_id":9,"title":10,"slug":11,"index":12,"content":13,"wordcount":14,"created_at":15,"updated_at":15,"volume":16,"translator":17,"content_hash":18},2299291,4497,"Chapter 322: The Winner","survival-guide-in-a-mysterious-world-chapter-322",322,"\u003Cp>Ding—\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It was the sound of metal striking glass.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As the gambler stood up, a square-within-a-circle copper coin landed on the glass tabletop, its jingling jolted Xia Yubing into a shiver; then came a dull thud—Arlen, who had just tried to redraw a card, rolled backward onto the sofa, eyes rolling white, his playing cards sliding off his thighs in a rustling cascade to the floor beneath the table.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Arlen was dead.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Ah—!” Sally screamed in terror, tears like pearls rolling down her cheeks; her eyes brimmed with fear as she quickly lowered her head, clutching her mouth with both hands, afraid the gambler would notice her, her whole body trembling violently.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>At the same time, two pale fingers emitting a stench of decay gently pinched up the copper coin and pushed it beside the pile of cards at the center of the table.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“This is…” Xia Yubing gripped her cards tightly, eyes locked on the copper coin at the table’s center—its strange square-within-a-circle shape, its ancient, twisted four-character inscription—every detail was unmistakably familiar; it was clearly…\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A Buy-Life Coin.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Xia Yubing’s gaze followed the gambler as he sat back down, replaying the events on the table in her mind:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>At the moment Arlen died, a Buy-Life Coin had suddenly appeared on the table; the gambler rose, placed the coin beside the central pile of cards, then returned to his seat.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Judging from I Kesi ’s reaction, Arlen must have just drawn the Nine of Spades… Even I, a stranger, could tell—Arlen, who was close to I Kesi , must have recognized it too.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“That means Arlen deduced the suit of his card from I Kesi ’s expression, so he abandoned the Nine of Spades he’d chosen and prepared to draw another.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>At this thought, Xia Yubing already had her answer: “Arlen’s action was judged by the gambler as ‘cheating.’”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The moment he was judged to have cheated, Arlen died.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Xia Yubing didn’t fully understand the rules of Caishen Wutong, but because of Ning Zhe, she knew one basic rule: before Caishen, money = life.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“After being judged as a cheater, Arlen lost his life—and a copper coin appeared on the table. This coin was likely exchanged for Arlen’s life.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“But why didn’t the gambler take the coin for himself? Why did he push it to the center of the table?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As she thought, Xia Yubing didn’t stop her hand—she quickly summarized the events into a few sentences and wrote them on her notebook, the pen tip scratching softly; across the table, I Kesi ’s already pale face had turned even whiter.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It was his turn to draw.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I Kesi ’s hands clenched the cards, veins bulging; the stench of rotting flesh filled his nostrils, stirring an instinctive revulsion. His gaze flickered between Arlen’s corpse and the gambler, finally settling on the card in his hand—the Nine of Spades Arlen had touched, still half-drawn, unchanged.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Huh…” I Kesi  took a deep breath, pulled the Nine of Spades—meant to be drawn—from his own hand, and gently placed it before Arlen’s corpse.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As the card settled, the atmosphere at the table seemed to ease slightly—he knew he had chosen correctly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I Kesi  glanced at Arlen’s corpse with the corner of his eye, then looked toward the center of the table, murmuring: “That coin…”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Guests admitted to the Sange Liya Opera House were either rich or noble—he, as a member of the I Kesi  family, was no exception. He had heard whispers of the distant Eastern Caishen… but only whispers. He knew only that, if one met Caishen, one might buy life with money; deeper rules, he knew nothing of.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>At this moment, a new line of writing appeared on Xia Yubing’s notebook.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>She pulled the notebook from the table, placed it on her lap, and looked down—the new black characters were simple, only one sentence:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>【Has Arlen’s corpse disappeared?】\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Xia Yubing froze. In an instant, a flash seemed to split her mind—she looked up sharply at the table opposite, and saw Arlen’s corpse still lying there, eyes rolled white, not vanished as Sally had described.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In the previous Russian roulette, losers had vanished directly from the game, returning to the real world.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Xia Yubing quickly lowered her head and wrote: 【No, he’s still there】\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Ning Zhe’s reply appeared on the paper at once:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>【That makes sense.】\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>【That copper coin is the stake of this round.】\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>【You’re gambling with lives.】\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>【In any gambling game, if a player is caught cheating, they are immediately declared the loser, their stake confiscated, and they are expelled.】【Arlen’s ‘stake’ has been confiscated, but his corpse hasn’t left the table, and the copper coin hasn’t been taken by the gambler.】\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>【This means the gambler cannot claim this stake—even as the house.】\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>【In a gambling game, besides the house, only one person is qualified to take the loser’s stake.】\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>【—The winner】\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>【That means, among you, there exists a ‘winner’ who can claim this stake.】\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>【Until the ‘winner’ takes Arlen’s ‘stake,’ he will not leave the table.】\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As the black characters formed a perfect period on the notebook, Xia Yubing lifted her head, relieved; across the table, I Kesi  had finished drawing—he pulled a Club Ace from Caishen’s hand.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Then it was Caishen’s turn—he drew a Diamond Two from Sally’s hand.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Then Sally—her expression was odd, but she drew normally, taking a Heart Ace from Xia Yubing’s hand.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>None of them drew a matching card. Now it was Xia Yubing’s turn.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As Xia Yubing turned her gaze to the gambler and the cards in his hand, she suddenly realized one thing—the gambler held only one card left.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“If I draw the gambler’s last card, he’ll have no cards left…”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The rule of Draw the Ghost is: the first player to empty their hand leaves the game first. But what if the first to leave is the gambler?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Would the gambler then be considered the winner of this game?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>If the gambler becomes the winner, what will happen to the rest of us?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Question after question came rushing—but there was no time to write and ask Ning Zhe; the gambler had already raised his hand, offering his final card to Xia Yubing.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Xia Yubing extended her trembling hand and drew the gambler’s last card.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Club Nine\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“So it’s the Club Nine…” Xia Yubing’s fingertip paused, then she added the Club Nine to her hand.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>She now held six cards: Heart Eight, Club Nine, Club Jack, Spade Queen, Heart King, Joker.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The gambler held zero cards.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The gambler was leaving.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The players at the table held their breath, watching as the gambler, hands empty, rose from the sofa; his massive frame cast a deep shadow over the table, his pale, mottled hand lifting under the light, reaching toward the table.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Is he going to take Arlen’s lost stake?” Xia Yubing thought—but the next second, she dismissed it: the gambler’s hand did not reach for the central pile of cards, but extended toward Arlen’s corpse, taking the card I Kesi  had placed before him.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Spade Nine.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The game continued—the gambler first took the Spade Nine from before Arlen, then bent down, gathering every card scattered beneath the table, shuffling them in his hand, and fanning them into a circle as he sat back down.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Xia Yubing’s expression remained unchanged; she quickly wrote on the paper:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>【The gambler emptied his hand, but didn’t leave—he inherited Arlen’s cards and sat back down.】\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>【He wants to keep playing.】\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Soon, Ning Zhe’s reply appeared beneath these two lines:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>【Of course he wants to keep playing.】\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>【If he leaves now, he cannot become the ‘winner.’】\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>【Without becoming the winner, how can he claim your stakes?】\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>(End of Chapter)\u003C\u002Fp>",1281,"2026-06-20T06:29:22.815Z",1,"Qwen3-Next 80B","05f105b76e642dfd1710431569ce3445e8642df6c0d597e559ecb4ed3014c8c4","survival-guide-in-a-mysterious-world-chapter-323","survival-guide-in-a-mysterious-world-chapter-321",353,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Fsurvival-guide-in-a-mysterious-world-cover.jpg"]