The tension in the hall, which had been gradually easing, snapped taut again the moment the middle-aged man finished speaking.
Everyone, whether from Ruichi's side or the group behind the middle-aged man, wore an extremely grave expression.
After all, this was no movie.
And Ruichi was not in Macau.
In 2008, while stakes of millions per hand existed, such a scene was… decidedly uncommon!
Undoubtedly, the middle-aged man’s tone and bold move had stunned everyone.
Once they recovered, the members of the group behind the middle-aged man, as if already certain of victory, displayed full confidence in their eyes.
On Ruichi’s side, including Shen Mengqing, everyone looked at me with uncertain eyes, seemingly waiting to see how I would respond.
Seeing my silence, the middle-aged man first let out a disdainful cold laugh, then his gaze drifted back to Shen Mengqing.
In the next second, his eyes lit up, and he loudly called out to me, "Young man, how about… we raise the stakes again?"
"You say it," I replied calmly.
"Besides the five million, I'll repeat what I said earlier: I want your Ruichi's lantern holder, Shen Mengqing, to spend a night with me!"
"If you lose, the consequence of your failed heroic rescue will be to personally deliver her to my bed!"
"If I lose, besides the five million in cash, I will agree to one of your conditions, no questions asked!"
It had to be admitted that the middle-aged man's intentions were extremely malicious, and his calculations were sharp.
If I won, I would only recover Ruichi's losses.
If he won, he would gain wealth, women, and fame, and more importantly, he would push me into the eye of the storm!
Unable to advance or retreat, I would be left standing helplessly, waiting for the storm and tides to descend, eventually engulfing and consuming me completely…
However, since I had chosen to actively enter the game and challenge it, I wouldn't passively wait for the opponent to make the first move.
As soon as the middle-aged man finished speaking, a hint of icy frost appeared on my face.
"Heh. Since it's you and me sitting at the gambling table, there's no reason to raise the stakes on someone else! How about this…"
"Let's raise the stakes according to the rules of the Qianmen!"
"Five million, plus three fingers!"
"Whoever loses, chops off their fingers!!!"
The moment my resonant words fell, everyone in the room, in unison, froze.
Even Shen Mengqing beside me looked at me with slightly dazed eyes.
Her eyes filled with confusion, Shen Mengqing seemed to not understand why I would step forward to challenge the game on her behalf.
And the price was three fingers!
Besides myself, no one at that moment knew what my true thoughts were!
Unbeknownst to them, this was one of the three key elements of challenging, taught to me by Uncle Tuo – disrupting the game.
To challenge, one must first disrupt!
Only by thoroughly muddying the waters, making it impossible for the players to understand your moves, can a challenge possibly succeed.
As expected, the middle-aged man, who had been holding the initiative, finally showed a slight change in his expression.
His eyebrows twitched uncontrollably!
From this single scene, I concluded that the middle-aged man… was nervous!
He certainly should be nervous!
Because in a normal challenge, the casino would never proactively raise the stakes to gamble fingers.
After all, the cost of victory or defeat would be immense and heavy for both parties involved.
Often, it is the swimmers who drown!
In gambling, nothing is certain.
Although the middle-aged man's reaction was swift, so swift that he immediately covered that moment with a cold laugh,
The more he acted this way, the more I was certain that he must be very nervous inside!
People often try to disguise themselves when they are nervous, to appear calm.
But the more they try to appear calm, the more easily they reveal their flaws, because… true calmness never needs any disguise!
Just like me!
It wasn't that I didn't care about the heavy price of three fingers, but I knew exactly… why I had come.
To challenge! To catch the cheaters!
As long as the game was disrupted, or the opponent was caught red-handed, the balance of victory and defeat could instantly be reversed!
Thus, silently, all the pressure shifted to the middle-aged man.
After his cold laugh, the middle-aged man turned his eyes without a word.
After an unknown amount of time…
"Fine! Since you're so eager to give me your fingers, then I… accept!"
"Let me state beforehand, it's one round to decide the winner!"
Upon hearing this, I nodded directly and agreed, "Good!"
"What shall we bet on?" the middle-aged man quickly asked.
Glancing at the table, I pointed to the deck of cards and replied, "I saw they all lost to you playing Stud, so this round…"
"Let's continue playing Stud!"
As if afraid I would go back on my word, before I had even finished speaking, the middle-aged man eagerly said, "It's a deal! We'll play Stud!"
Then, before I could speak, the middle-aged man turned his attention back to Shen Mengqing and said with a light smile, "My dear Mengqing, since this young man is willing to use his three fingers to help you out, please deal the cards this round."
After speaking, the corners of the middle-aged man's mouth curved upwards, revealing a confident smile once more.
It seemed that after I decided to play Stud with him, the middle-aged man had regained his previous confidence and composure.
Although I didn't know the source of his confidence, the reason I firmly chose Stud was that the outcome of Stud wasn't solely reflected in cheating techniques.
At this point, even if Shen Mengqing wanted to stop me, or play herself, it was too late.
Because the bet had been irrevocably settled.
All she could do now was pray that she could deal me a good hand.
………………
After the bet was settled, knowing that Ruichi's fate tonight hung precariously on the edge of a cliff, Shen Mengqing didn't waste any words. She directly had an unopened deck of bee playing cards brought over.
While opening the deck, Shen Mengqing suddenly looked at me and said, "Don't worry! Even if you lose in the end, I will find every way possible to protect your fingers!"
"………………"
Seriously, did she wish for me to lose that badly?
Unsure how to respond, I could only remain silent.
After taking out the brand-new playing cards from the box, Shen Mengqing spread them flat on the gambling table and with a gentle sweep of her jade hand…
The entire deck of cards instantly formed a complete fan.
Amateurs watch the spectacle, experts see the technique!
Without exaggeration, Shen Mengqing's seemingly ordinary way of fanning the cards was far more impressive than the "flying card" tricks seen in movies!
Because with just one glance, one could see that the distance between each card was almost perfectly uniform!