Chapter 331

*Plop*, a copper coin fell into the cup.

Miss Mei Lin moved her gaze away from the Gambler's wine cup and looked at the Chinese woman sitting opposite her. She saw her biting her red lips lightly, tears in the corners of her eyes, her shoulders trembling slightly with fear, and even her breathing was shaking. The pear-blossom-in-the-rain expression was pitiful, making Miss Mei Lin stunned for a moment.

She had seen such an expression in other places. It was on a bungee jumping facility at a bridge attraction. When those first-time bungee jumpers were pulled up by safety ropes, the look of fear of surviving a disaster on their faces was exactly like this. The expression on this woman's face in front of her was exactly the same as those extreme sports novices who were scared to death. The micro-expressions of her facial features and subconscious limb movements all indicated that she was currently in extreme fear, and her fragile mental state could collapse at any time. This was indeed a very timid woman.

But, even a rabbit will bite when it's anxious, right?

Miss Mei Lin moved her gaze away from Ning Zhe and looked sideways at the Gambler. There were already 2 copper coins at the bottom of the wine cup in front of the Gambler, but its turn hadn't ended yet. The pale, stiff fingers pinched a copper coin from the table and moved it directly above the wine cup.

The Gambler's movements were stiff, slow, and precise. Every opening and closing of the joints and every extension and contraction of the muscle bundles were extremely stable, without even a trace of trembling, just like a fully automatic robotic arm on an assembly line, executing established operations according to written programs, with errors calculated in 'silk'.

Miss Mei Lin felt that she couldn't do such a thing. After all, people are not machines.

But ghosts are.

*Plop*, a copper coin fell gently into the wine cup, sinking to the bottom in the blink of an eye, and a string of golden small bubbles rose from the golden wine body. The height of the liquid rising above the cup mouth rose in response, and the surface tension of the liquid pulled the water level into a curved surface, like a balloon blown to the limit, about to burst in the next second.

"It's at the limit." Bedan, sitting on Ning Zhe's left, had flickering eyes, staring intently at the golden wine in front of the Gambler that was about to overflow.

The situation in the Gambler's cup was already at the limit, and the fragile balance could break at any time. It didn't even need to put down the 4th coin. At this time, as long as the table shook slightly, or the ground shook slightly, the curved water surface that had risen to the limit would be shattered.

Yes, just once, just once...

Under the table, Bedan's legs moved unnaturally, and his toes moved to the side of the table leg.

"Just once, just once is enough." Bedan muttered in his heart.

The moment this thought arose, suddenly, a terrifying chill rose from the depths of his heart. An emotion called fear turned into a cold sweat that drilled out of his pores, soaking his spine. Bedan raised his head and saw the Gambler's pale face.

"If you cheat in front of the Gambler, you will die." Ning Zhe thought secretly.

Xia Yubing told him in the notebook about the ending of the person named Alan who tried to cheat before.

Ning Zhe hunched his shoulders, wiping tears pitifully, glancing at Bedan from the corner of his eye, seeing that he was so scared that he didn't dare to move, and then withdrew his gaze.

Miss Mei Lin looked at Ning Zhe and then at Bedan, biting her lip lightly thoughtfully.

At this moment, the Gambler's hand was raised again, and the pale, stiff index finger pointed straight at Bedan, who was stunned in his seat and hadn't come back to his senses yet.

"The next one is him."

Immediately after, the Gambler raised its other hand and pointed at Bedan again.

"The next one is also him... The Gambler is quite vengeful." Ning Zhe wiped the tears from the corners of his eyes with the back of his hand, secretly examining the Gambler's stiff face, and thought: "The Gambler's hatred for Bedan seems to be higher than for me?"

Also, he specified the Gambler to put in coins twice, which was just a targeting within the rules. Bedan intended to shake the table, trying to make the Gambler lose by cheating, which completely betrayed the principle of fairness and the rules of the game.

"In other words, violating the rules to cheat attracts more hatred from the Gambler than edge-ball operations within the rules." Ning Zhe secretly noted this point. Next, it was Bedan's turn to put copper coins into the wine cup, and it was 2 coins.

Taking a few deep breaths to calm himself down, Bedan picked up a copper coin, cautiously preparing to pinch it above the cup mouth. Miss Mei Lin, sitting across the table, watched his movements nervously, her expression serious.

The water balance in the Gambler's cup was already at the limit. Even one coin couldn't be put down. Next, as long as Bedan could safely pass his turn and specify the Gambler as the next coin-putter, then the Gambler would definitely become the loser, and the three people present could escape from the ghost's entanglement.

But... is it that simple? Ning Zhe narrowed his eyes slightly and sorted out the currently known information in his heart:

1. The wandering Gambler will randomly pull people into a gambling game, forcing them to engage in a gambling-style game with it. The content of the game and the number of players depend on specific circumstances.

2. All game types that have appeared so far must have the concepts of 'winning/losing' and 'stakes'.

3. Players who cheat in gambling will be directly judged as losers, their stakes confiscated, and they will be expelled from the game. Players who try to cheat but haven't cheated yet will attract the Gambler's hatred.

4. The Gambler's competitive spirit, or greed, is extremely strong. It will keep gambling until it becomes the winner and takes all the stakes of all other players into its pocket.

5. The Gambler holds the almanac.

That is the stake it won from He Nianjun through gambling.

"From the Old Maid game played with Xia Yubing and others, and the Russian Roulette played with Sha Li Sha Li and others, the Gambler's luck is extremely good now. It can basically be determined that it has already read today's almanac and used the 'suitable' and 'taboo' on it to improve its luck."

Ning Zhe glanced at Bedan, who was concentrating on the coin in his hand, and sorted out the current situation:

"Today suitable: sacrifice, prayer, consecration, lifting, fire-starting, a total of 5 suitable things. I have done all these 5 suitable things, and I have not violated any taboos. Therefore, my luck today is already as good as it can be. I now possess the heaven-defying strong luck of boundless fortune."

Then what about the Gambler? How many of these 5 suitable things did the Gambler satisfy? Is its luck better or worse than mine right now?

The answer to the question is now in Bedan's hands.

"The wine in the cup is very full. If two copper coins are put down, the wine might overflow, or it might not. Both situations are possible, depending only on whether Bedan's hand holding the money shakes, and some luck factors."

Ning Zhe lowered his eyes and took a deep breath, but suddenly, his expression froze abruptly.

A pitch-black human figure suddenly appeared at the door of this room. The door opened.

(End of chapter)