One had to admit, the seniors of the martial world were truly formidable!
Though the middle-aged man appeared down on his luck now, I was certain he had once lived a brilliant and colorful life.
This terrifying ability to read people’s minds couldn’t be acquired without at least a decade or two of fumbling around in the true, illicit underworld. At this thought, I still didn’t deny or conceal anything, but rather agreed quite decisively.
Seeing that I hadn’t denied it, the middle-aged man nodded slightly and then said in a deep voice, "Although Shiyu spoke out of turn first, it was because I had made her swear an oath before me."
"Unless she received my permission or I were to die, she would never set foot in the Qianmen’s illicit path again."
"So for these past few years, she’s only been working at bus stations, running small scams to swindle a bit of money."
"However, since you were able to defeat her, things are naturally different now."
"How about this, young man, we’ll settle this matter completely using the methods of the Qianmen!"
Upon hearing this, I nodded and replied, "Please, senior."
The middle-aged man then gestured for Shiyu and the others to clear the dining table, after which he took out a brand-new deck of Bee playing cards from a drawer.
After unsealing the deck and removing the Jokers, the middle-aged man first spread the cards out on the table and motioned for me to inspect them.
Once I nodded in confirmation that the inspection was complete, he began shuffling and cutting the cards.
After a casual shuffle, the middle-aged man reached out to cut the deck.
Although his expression and hand movements seemed casual, I knew he was deliberately trying to lull my senses and distract me.
As expected, just as I had started to drift off in thought…
The middle-aged man’s right hand, with its five fingers, darted and flicked through the deck.
He was using the "Star Plucking Hand," executed with lightning speed and the swiftness of a gale!
After completely scrambling the card order, the middle-aged man suddenly spread the cards out face-up.
However, the time he kept the cards face-up was very brief, no more than a second or two.
"Young man, Shiyu was disloyal to you because of me. Since you want to hire her for something, you must first get past me!"
"As I said before, for Shiyu to officially step into the corrupting influence of the Qianmen’s illicit path, either I personally agree, or I must die!"
"The second possibility is, for the moment, non-existent."
"Because killing people is against the law!"
Seeing the tension in the room, the middle-aged man, with just a few sentences, immediately eased the atmosphere.
He paused, then changed the subject, continuing, "To get my agreement, you must first catch my eye and pass my test!"
"And my test is…"
"Within a time limit of one minute, and with both hands remaining on the table, you must restore this deck of cards to its original state of four dragons!"
"In one minute, if you can restore the four long dragons, then you can take Shiyu with you."
Upon hearing this, Shiyu, standing beside me, immediately gritted her teeth in anxiety and her lips parted slightly.
However, before she could speak, the middle-aged man waved his hand, interrupting her, "Since I have made my decision, I will not change it easily!"
Seeing this, Shiyu immediately closed her mouth.
Hearing this, I directly retorted, "What if I fail?"
"Heh heh!"
After a subtle smile, the middle-aged man’s expression suddenly changed, and he coldly replied, "If you lose, then we follow the rules of the Qianmen!"
"You leave three fingers behind!"
"Of course, if you choose to give up now, then from this day forward, we go our separate ways!"
I had to admit, this middle-aged man, whose origins were unknown but who seemed to come from a significant background in all aspects, was truly an experienced old hand.
He intended to use the threat of losing fingers to subtly dissuade me.
Not only did the middle-aged man live in seclusion in his rented room, refusing to emerge, but he also prevented his disciple from getting involved in the Qianmen’s illicit path.
Looking at his intact fingers and limbs, he didn’t seem like someone who had once capsized in the gutter and was unwilling to re-enter the Qianmen.
Interesting, truly interesting.
I never expected that this journey to find help would unexpectedly lead me to such a remarkable figure of the Qianmen.
...
Seeing that I remained silent, and mistaking it for me being intimidated by his words, the middle-aged man’s eyes flickered with a hint of surprise before he let out a cold laugh.
He then made a gesture towards me, signaling that I could turn right and leave.
Seeing this, I directly said, "Since it is the rule set by senior, I shall naturally abide by it!"
"May I ask, when can I begin?"
Upon hearing this, the middle-aged man was slightly taken aback.
Seeing that my expression was not feigned, and after regaining his composure, the middle-aged man said in a deep voice, "If you are ready, you can start anytime."
"Then let's begin!"
As soon as I finished speaking, I reached out and gathered the deck of cards, which were face down, and then spread them out into a fan shape on the table.
The moment I touched the cards, the old-looking middle-aged man immediately turned his gaze to the wall clock and began counting aloud.
"One, two, three…"
The middle-aged man’s counting was intended to interfere with me and create pressure.
I was fully aware of this.
After briefly organizing the memories in my mind, I took the fanned deck of cards into my hands and began shuffling.
At this moment, Cheng Minglang and Han Jinlun, standing behind me, had their faces tense, not daring to breathe, for fear of startling me and causing a mistake.
This time, my speed in restoring the cards was almost a full beat slower than when I usually had others cut the deck before I took it back to restore.
Seeing this, Cheng Minglang frowned deeply and stealthily reached behind him.
As for Han Jinlun, he clenched his fists and leaned forward slightly, looking ready to spring into action.
The two of them were prepared to turn hostile towards Shiyu and her group at any moment.
After restoring for less than ten seconds, I suddenly stopped my actions, pausing quite abruptly.
Then, I resumed restoring the cards.
Restoring playing cards was also one of the basic skills that a cheat had to practice.
Moreover, it was the most effective way to test the level of a cheat.
Many people assumed that cheats, like in the movies, could be invincible by performing flashy tricks.
But in reality, the prerequisite for being invincible was to have the playing cards in hand.
When playing games outside, a cheat couldn't control the cards in their hand for every single hand.
To win steadily, one could only find opportunities in games where card control was possible.
And the most crucial among these was restoring a deck of cards that had been cut.
Although the "Star Plucking Hand" made it impossible to restore any pre-arranged card order, fortunately, the middle-aged man had spread the cards out for me to see for those two seconds earlier.
Therefore, I had to use the memory of those two seconds to reconstruct the card order in my mind and then restore the four dragons.
The first step tested the cheat’s memory, and the second step tested the cheat’s card restoration technique.