Chapter 336: Straw Doll

“...What exactly are you talking about?”

Seeing the others’ eyes toward him turn unmistakably hostile, the man grew uneasy and stammered, “What do you mean by ‘mortals,’ ‘wager,’ ‘principle of fairness’...?”

The man cautiously glanced at the gambler seated motionless on the sofa—just one look, then he quickly averted his gaze, his eyes filled with dread: “Could it be... that if I lose this game, I’ll wager my own life to this devil?”

Mei Lin’s eyebrow twitched, a strange expression crossing her face.

Still pretending to be clueless...

Haven’t we made ourselves clear enough? His identity has been exposed—he must already understand the situation, whether he’s an Ascended or a Granted.

Or does he think we haven’t noticed his flaws, and our words were just a bluff?

...If so, his acting is too good.

Mei Lin studied the man seated beside her right hand—his expression half-confused, half-fearful, his wary eyes hiding a faint glimmer of hope: that they might deny his suspicion, that this game with the devil wouldn’t stake his life.

His lips trembled slightly, pale from unconsciously biting his lower lip; every facial expression, every nuance in his gaze, every involuntary gesture of his limbs—all of it was utterly natural, showing not the slightest trace of performance. Even the greatest actor in the world couldn’t have delivered such flawless, seamless acting.

—But the truth was right before them: if this man truly was an innocent mortal who knew nothing, then why—why did he possess the ability to pay more than one copper coin?

Ning Zhe crossed his arms, his gaze tinged with amusement.

To be honest, even with the “Tai Yi,” after stealing someone’s identity, memories, and self-perception, it was still hard to perfectly embody emotions and attitudes utterly foreign to oneself. Yet this man’s every reaction was utterly genuine, showing not the slightest inconsistency—so much so that Ning Zhe himself began to doubt his own judgment.

Ning Zhe pondered, then pulled from his sleeve a small, withered straw doll, no bigger than a palm, bound with wheat stalks, and placed it gently on the table.

“Is this wager sufficient?” he asked the gambler.

Under the collective gaze of the others, the gambler nodded, extending a hand to draw the straw doll toward himself.

The gambler accepted this wager.

“As expected.” Ning Zhe gave a slight nod.

This straw doll had originally belonged to Fan Daike. When Ning Zhe stole Fan Daike’s identity and took on Lan Shiwen’s spy mission, he also acquired all the Granted items the man had carried in life—this straw doll was one of them.

The doll had no fancy name—just “straw doll.” Some Granted users called it the “Substitute Straw Doll.” By writing one’s name in one’s own blood upon it, one could establish a mystical bond with the doll.

After the blood pact was formed, all physical harm inflicted upon the person would automatically transfer to the doll, making it bear the pain instead—yet the pact was bidirectional: any harm done to the doll would also be reflected back onto the Granted user who made the pact, until one side died completely, ending the contract.

Forming a pact with the straw doll granted a substitute to absorb harm, but also created a vulnerability—if the doll fell into another’s hands due to negligence, the consequences would be unthinkable.

Thus, Fan Daike had never written his name on it. He could form the blood pact anytime, so he simply carried it with him as a precaution. The Marquis had never imagined that Lan Shiwen would never give him the chance to find a substitute.

“Substitute Straw Doll...” Bei Dang’s eyes flickered—he and Mei Lin both recognized the item.

The origin spirit of the Substitute Straw Doll was held by the “Fulimisirete” family. Unlike the Dai family’s spirit-summoning dolls, this Granted item had limited circulation; many Granted users knew it, and even those who didn’t had heard rumors of it.

“The gambler has accepted the ‘Substitute Straw Doll’ as the wager for this round.”

Mei Lin cast a deep glance at the man beside her, still wearing a blank expression—her wariness deepened: “According to the gambler’s principle of fairness, every player’s wager must be of equal value. That means this man carries at least one Granted item equal to or greater in worth than the ‘Substitute Straw Doll’!”

Even more extremely, he might be carrying an actual spirit.

Ning Zhe silently glanced at Bei Dang and Mei Lin—these two had clearly come prepared. “It seems they each carry more than one Granted item.”

The exact Granted items Bei Dang and Mei Lin carried remained unknown, and Ning Zhe had no time to find out. He had returned to the opera house solely to reclaim the Snake God’s almanac from the gambler—everything else was incidental.

“I designate the next person to toss a coin: you.”

Ning Zhe pointed at the man across the table. The last person to toss a coin could choose the next one—this was the rule, even if he lost.

“Why are you targeting me like this!” the man gritted his teeth, eyes red as he protested, “I don’t understand what you’re suspecting—I truly know nothing! I’m not what you think! Until just now, I didn’t even know you! I’m just...”

The gambler raised a pale, mottled corpse-hand, cutting off his plea. The man fell silent, defeated, and with trembling fingers picked up a copper coin from the table, holding it carefully above the wine cup.

Ning Zhe observed the man’s flawless performance with keen interest, wondering how he managed it.

He didn’t dwell on the question long. Taking advantage of the brief freedom granted after losing, Ning Zhe rose from the sofa, walked to the balcony railing, and pulled down the curtain—its silk fabric now shielding him from the others. As long as he remained within the casino—the room—he wouldn’t be interfered with.

Behind the curtain, Ning Zhe leaned against the railing, pulled out his notebook, and as he pondered the current situation, flipped it open out of habit to check if Xia Yubing had left him a message.

“Hmm?”

Seeing the new writing on the page, Ning Zhe’s expression turned grave.

After reading it carefully, a faint, intoxicating smile slowly bloomed on Feng Yu’s mature, beautiful face—like a red plum blossom swaying in the wind, shedding fresh snow from its branches, breathtakingly lovely.

(End of Chapter)