Chapter 317: The Card-Changing Player

"Are you sure this isn't a pirated Luo Luo De Pai? How does it look so new?"

At the card table, Xia De held Mr. Darkness's special card and frowned. The card table they were playing at was custom-made for Luo Luo De Pai players in the tavern; although the surface was wiped very clean, one could still see wine stains that couldn't be removed after years.

"I just went to the Prophets Association to exchange for new cards not long ago. The old cards were a bit severely damaged."

Mr. Darkness shuffled Xia De's deck skillfully, so Xia De nodded.

Since Luo De Cards were issued hundreds of years ago, special cards inevitably suffered damage after circulating for many years. Therefore, the Prophets Association also provided a replacement service; one could spend a sum of money based on the value of the card, and the Prophets Association would recycle cards that were more than 80% intact and replace them with brand-new ones.

In this way, it also avoided the difference in the degree of wear between special cards and the deck, which could lead to identifying cards by their backs.

After shuffling each other's decks, the card game officially began. The young bartender dealt the cards for the two, while the burly bartender kept score.

The first card was face-down. Of the following two face-up cards, Xia De had Flower 3 and Sun 7, while Mr. Darkness had Sun 9 and Moon 4.

"There's no reason to fold on the first hand."

Mr. Darkness said with a smile; he was probably really bored and was in high spirits for playing cards. His thick fingers flipped over the face-down card directly: Sun 3, 16 points. He raised an eyebrow, signaling Xia De to reveal his cards.

Xia De wasn't nervous at all and flipped over his face-down card casually. Sun 11, exactly 21 points.

"Good luck."

Xia De said with a smile, then signaled the bartender to keep score.

In the second hand, Mr. Darkness had Moon 9 and Moon 7 face-up, while Xia De had Star 3 and Star 13 face-up.

Their face-up card points were both 16; according to Luo Luo De Pai rules, the risk of busting on the third card was about the same.

"Do you want to fold?"

Xia De made a gesture of invitation.

"Of course not. How about you?"

Mr. Darkness asked. Under the light of the tavern's gas lamps, both seemed to be smiling.

Xia De certainly wouldn't fold either, so he used his hand to flip over the face-down card. Sun 1, totaling seventeen points.

Mr. Darkness picked up his Moon 9 and flicked it lightly to open the face-down card. Star 13; one didn't need to calculate to know it was a bust.

"At least I'm down one 13."

He said somewhat relaxedly, stacked the three cards together, tossed them to the side of the table, and signaled the young bartender to continue dealing.

In the third hand, Mr. Darkness had Flower 9 and Moon 1. He flipped over the face-down card directly: Star 9, totaling 19 points.

He gave Xia De a triumphant smile, while Xia De narrowed his eyes at him, then looked at his own face-up cards: Sun 1 and Star 11.

His fingers rested on the face-down card, hesitating for a moment:

"Fold."

Xia De flipped over the face-down card: Sun 13.

His brow furrowed slightly. Folding wasn't because Xia De guessed he would definitely bust this hand, or because he lacked confidence in his luck, but because just as he was about to reveal his cards, the voice in his heart reminded him that the person opposite was actually using a sorcery.

The traces of the sorcery were very slight, and there were no sound or light effects. If Xia De's perception hadn't been abnormally sensitive, he wouldn't even have discovered the traces. The hesitation just now was actually to give the voice in his heart some time to determine exactly what effect the sorcery had produced.

And when Xia De's hand touched the object of the sorcery—that is, Xia De's hole card—she indeed gave the answer:

【Your hole card was swapped by him.】

"Swapped cards? A spatial displacement ability?"

【It's not spatial; I can't tell you exactly what it is.】

Having been in this world playing cards for so long, Xia De finally encountered a guy who would cheat while playing. Having lost twice in a row, Mr. Darkness had resorted to underhanded tricks.

"How despicable!"

Actually, Xia De had used 【Blood Echo】 while playing cards, or the act of preparing to draw the Moon Dance Festival last time, which could also be considered cheating, but he didn't expect someone to be even more excessive than him, actually stealing and swapping someone else's hole card directly.

The rules of the gambling game in the tavern were the same as regular Luo Luo De Pai competitions for ordinary people. Xia De knew his opponent was cheating, but without evidence, he couldn't report the other party because he couldn't prove his claim.

Under normal circumstances, cheating wouldn't occur in a match between two Ringed Shushi. The effects of sorcery or curses would either be immediately discovered by the surrounding crowd, or no one except the caster themselves would be able to discover them.

But this didn't mean Xia De was helpless against this.

"After the next deal, I'll turn my hole card into 【Founding · Balance】. If he dares to swap cards, I'll let him taste the backlash of the sorcery."

Unlike 【Karsinrik Southern Folklore · Moon Dance Festival】, which was only useful if placed in the deck, 【Founding · Balance】 could appear anywhere Xia De wanted it to appear at any time, whether it was in the deck or not.

Furthermore, although the Founding series of cards had no supernatural properties and were the same as ordinary paper cards under normal circumstances, accepting the effects of sorcery and curses, 【Founding · Balance】 was different.

After experiencing the night of the Evil God's descent, this Luo Luo De Pai seemed, as Luvia had said, to have had its usage discovered by Xia De. Although it didn't give Xia De the power of a Chosen One like Iruna, and the power it displayed had nothing to do with the Ancient Gods, as a card, this miraculous paper card did not accept the effects of any curses or sorcery other than Xia De's.

After changing into this card, Mr. Darkness would suffer the backlash of the sorcery. And at this time, Xia De would use his other hand, which was hanging low, to change the card again, moving 【Founding · Balance】 into his palm and letting the original hole card return to normal, so there would be no need to worry about being discovered.

Thinking about things in his heart, the fourth round had already begun. Xia De's face-up cards were Moon 6 and Star 10. He rested his fingers on the face-down card and looked at Mr. Darkness opposite him, who was checking his own two cards and hadn't used sorcery for the time being.

【Do you want to swap the hole card for Founding · Balance?】

She seemed very interested in this matter.

"Wait a little longer. I want to give him a surprise when he's completely off guard."

To some extent, Xia De could also be considered a very petty person.

But this time, Mr. Darkness didn't swap cards. The swap in the third round was because the first two hands had been won by Xia De, but his sorcery probably couldn't be used at will, and with so many Ringed Shushi watching, the risk of exposure from using sorcery multiple times was very high.

Just like that, they reached the 8th round. At this time, the decks of both sides were nearly half gone, and in terms of points, Xia De was leading by 8 points due to luck. Mr. Darkness hadn't swapped cards since the third hand, but when he saw the situation in the eighth hand where both sides had 17 points face-up, Xia De knew the other party was going to cheat again.

"It's starting! It's starting!"

He stared intently at his opponent, feeling amused by his own emotions at this moment. But just then, a hand suddenly landed on Xia De's shoulder from behind.

Turning to look back, it was Miss Princess who had placed her left hand on Xia De's shoulder. Because she was wearing a mask, Xia De couldn't see her expression, but he could see her shaking her head slightly:

"Mr. Watson, your luck has always been quite good."

Saying this, she went to touch the ruby earring on her right ear again.

【The ruby relic is taking effect.】

She whispered a reminder in his heart.

Xia De sat up straight and looked at the paper cards under the light in front of him; he had always liked the pattern on the back of Luo De Cards:

"What is the relic's effect?"

【Don't swap the card; you flip over your face-down card and see.】

Xia De opened the face-down card: Sun 3, totaling 20 points. On the other side, the middle-aged man with severe outward-turning eyelids looked at the revealed card in surprise; clearly, he hadn't expected this result.

"You..."

He certainly couldn't say, "Why wasn't your hole card swapped away?"

"Your luck is really quite good."

He exhaled through his nose with his mouth closed, then flipped over his own face-down card: totaling 23 points, a bust.

Mr. Darkness pinched his lips with the nails of his right index and middle fingers; he was starting to get nervous.

【One can only guess the effect of the relic held by Miss Princess; it's probably to prevent sorcery effects from taking effect.】

"Prevent sorcery effects? Is Miss Princess's earring such a powerful relic?"

Xia De frowned slightly, watching the dealer continue to deal cards.

【This is just a guess, and of course, it's impossible to prevent all sorcery. But according to my perception, the relic level is probably above Sage-level.】

"What? That ruby earring is... Miss Princess, what exactly is her background? But since she is still helping me, I think there's no need to have too heavy a suspicion."

He thought in his heart, stacked the three cards he had already revealed, tossed them to the side, and turned his head again to look at the blonde girl standing behind him:

"After leaving here in a while, where is the next stop?"

"Do you want to go see the sea?"

Her voice came from behind the mask, sounding a bit muffled.

After Mr. Darkness's cheating method became ineffective, the outcome of this card game was already doomed. Even though the gameplay of drawing an entire deck was more technically demanding than ordinary gameplay, Xia De, relying on luck, eventually won easily with a 23-point lead.

The middle-aged man who cheated in the card game didn't renege. After the game ended, he took the 9 pounds Xia De had paid in advance from the bartender and sat back down at the small round table against the wall to continue reading the newspaper, not saying a word to Xia De during that time.

The onlookers gradually dispersed; this matter would probably become a topic of conversation in the tavern for the next week or two.

And after paying the broker's fee, Xia De naturally obtained the Poet-level relic 【Universal Currency】.

Observing carefully under the gas lamp, a circle of very fine text was engraved on the outer edge of the coin. After translation, the meaning was 【Equivalent substitute, equivalent luck】.

"If I choose to use this coin, can the twenty-sided die of fate bounce back the bad luck it brings?"

【Of course.】

"Then who is the target of the bounce? Bounce it back to the coin? Bounce it back to me, the user? Or bounce it back to the existence that created the coin?"

【Do you want to try and see?】

She asked with a chuckle in his ear.

"I'm joking."

Xia De hurriedly stuffed the coin into his pocket.

Of course, to prevent it from getting mixed up with other coins, this coin was stored separately.

"I have nothing else to do here. Before leaving, do you want me to buy you a drink?"

After the card game ended, Xia De, in a good mood, asked his companion. After this card game, his favorability toward Miss Princess had greatly increased.

"Do you want a drink too?"

Miss Princess asked back. Xia De thought for a moment:

"I think I'll just have a glass of iced fruit juice."

"Then I'll have a glass of fruit juice too."

She said, then signaled Xia De to choose a seat. Both were wearing masks, but they would definitely have to lift them to drink later, so it was best to choose a secluded spot:

"Mr. Watson, you seem to be very good at playing Luo De Cards. Why don't you take this opportunity to tell me about your Luo Luo De Pai experiences?"

She cautiously chose a topic to chat about in the tavern, asking Xia De in a relaxed tone.

The lampshade of the gas lamp on the wall was a bit dirty, giving the yellowish light a somewhat ambiguous halo. For Xia De, this feeling of becoming familiar with a stranger in just a few hours was very wonderful. ===== CHAPTER 318 =====