Chapter 68: Luo De Cards and the Doctor

The special series of cards issued by the Diviner Association every year would not exceed three sets. The issuance quantity of each set was uncertain, but there would be at most 54 special rule cards mixed in, which meant at most one of each suit and number. It was even possible that there were only two special cards in a whole set, and they were not sold on the market but directly given to people who had a special relationship with the association.

Therefore, wanting to get a special series of cards was already difficult. If that card also possessed special usage rules, one must have money if one didn't have luck.

Although Baron La Wen De and Baron Lu Anda were wealthier than Xia De, they didn't have that much money to acquire precious Luo De cards. But they were both Luo De card masters who relied on card skills to win cards from friends and Luo De card enthusiasts from other places. Today's event was not the first time it had happened.

The gambling game adopted a best-of-three format. Baron La Wen De and Baron Lu Anda must play at least once, and the remaining rounds could be completed by their respective friends.

Because only two people participated, both sides used a deck of cards to compete. Mr. Candela, a friend of Baron La Wen De who worked at the Tuo Bei Si Ke Diviner Association, was responsible for shuffling and dealing.

Two cards were dealt in the first round, and both sides decided whether to stop or continue. In each round, the side that won five times ended the round, counting as one point. The side that first obtained two points won and obtained the other party's bet.

Bets could participate in the deck, so after both sides issued Luo De card appraisal certificates to prove the authenticity of the cards, the game officially began.

"My deck has been used for 5 years and has won me more than 100 games!"

Baron La Wen De, who was waiting for the shuffling process, leaned on the stone table and said.

"My deck has been on the battlefield with me. Although there are no traces now, it has been stained with my blood."

Baron Lu Anda clenched his fists and fought back unceremoniously.

Xia De activated the Fate Ring in his soul, used the spell 【Blood Echo】 to glance at Baron Lu Anda's deck, and then kept his face expressionless.

The atmosphere under the grape trellis reached its peak at this moment when both sides "threatened each other." Baron La Wen De and Baron Lu Anda both chose to play in the first round. The enthusiastic atmosphere also attracted banquet participants near the garden grape trellis, but after discovering it was a Luo De card competition, only a few gentlemen chose to watch here.

Xia De was forced to stand by the stone table, but he actually had no interest in this kind of flashy gambling. After remembering the rules, he also paid attention to the distribution of bloodstains on Baron Lu Anda's cards, and then didn't continue to watch the game, even though everyone around was nervous and smiling, he was not infected by this atmosphere.

"What's so fun about cards?"

Xia De didn't quite understand the thoughts of the people in this world, thinking that this was a different idea caused by cultural differences.

So, he only paid attention to the progress of the game, and his main thoughts were still looking around, wanting to know what the big event mentioned by the woman in his head was.

Halfway through the first round, when Baron La Wen De was sweating while holding the cards, Xia De saw another Ringed Shushi squad of the True God Church appear on the side path not illuminated by the elegant garden gas lamps. They came from the direction of Lake Shi Lu He and had probably been by the lake for a long time, but Xia De hadn't noticed.

The squad had only six people, but Xia De recognized three of them. Both sides had met at the door of the exploded silver shop very close to the Silver Parrot Milk Delivery Company.

One was exceptionally strong, one had a temperament like a scholar, and one, on the afternoon he first came to this world, handed him a church flyer for relief food.

"This is a Ringed Shushi of the 【War and Peace Church】 of the True God 【Peaceful Father】."

Xia De moved his gaze away from the group to prevent them from discovering him. Although the Ringed Shushi also noticed the crowd gathered under the grape trellis, they didn't walk toward this side but bypassed the garden path to the courtyard in front of the manor.

"Now two Ringed Shushi squads have appeared, probably from different churches... what exactly is going to happen?"

He thought in his heart, and then was startled by the exclamation of the men around him. It turned out that Baron Lu Anda had drawn the special card 【Ancient Fairy Tale · Match Girl】.

Both sides who came for the Luo De card competition of course brought dice. Although Baron Lu Anda rolled 13 the first time, which meant he couldn't use the special rules, it still made the onlookers exceptionally excited, and the short baron himself was quite proud.

This was also what Xia De couldn't understand, after all, he didn't trigger the rules at all.

Baron Lu Anda continued this "good luck." In the first round, he won five times first and defeated Baron La Wen De. The latter pursed his lips and looked in a very bad mood, but still squeezed out a fake smile to praise the other party's card skills when he stood up. The funny expression made the happy atmosphere under the grape trellis even richer.

Although Baron Lu Anda won, he didn't choose to play again, but let his friend Mr. Sikh, a factory owner who ran a flour mill locally, participate. Similarly, Baron La Wen De also invited his friend, Sir Solar, a garden artist who had managed gardens at the Cold Spring Palace.

These two were their true friends, and they had appeared many times in the past, not hired friends like Xia De.

The game started again. Because Baron La Wen De had already lost a round, he was exceptionally nervous. But the garden artist was very leisurely. He was even biting a toothpick, explaining that he was quitting smoking while fiddling with his mustache with his fingers.

At this time, the night had completely fallen, and three moons were suspended in the night sky. The light under the grape trellis mainly relied on the elegant gas lamps in the garden and the candlesticks fixed on the table by everyone.

The Luo De card competitors under the warm yellow light squinted at their hand cards, and the onlookers also looked forward to every opening of the cards.

Only the bored Xia De was not attracted by this game. He looked at the purple-red grapes hanging from the grape trellis, thinking in his heart whether the owner of Lake View Manor would mind guests taking some of these plump fruits without permission.

"Speaking of which, can cats eat grapes?"

Xia De's thinking diverged very quickly, but his main attention was still on observing whether there was anything unusual nearby.

When his eyes were looking around, he saw two middle-aged gentlemen in black formal suits passing by the garden path next to the grape trellis with wine glasses. They were discussing the topic of psychiatry, roughly whether using holy silverware to strike the back of a person's head could treat more serious mental illnesses.

Xia De saw Doctor Shi Nai De, also Doctor Shi Nai De holding a wine glass. In the interval of chatting with friends, he glanced at the grape trellis and saw the youngest detective among the crowd at a glance. ===== CHAPTER 69 =====