Using the sleeve dart to cheat, the emphasis is on speed, accuracy, and ruthlessness, embodying a sense of "fingers like swift winds, momentum like flashing lightning."
By leveraging the speed of one's hands, useless cards are hidden within the sleeves, allowing for effortless transfer and leaving no trace.
Sleeve darts are divided into instrumental and manual techniques.
Instrumental darts, as the name suggests, utilize props to facilitate quick card changes and concealment.
This method is common among gamblers who lack skill and diligence, seeking wealth without the effort of practicing hand dexterity, resorting to crooked means.
Gamblers rack their brains, devising ways to dissect simple yet effective cheating techniques, then upgrading and modifying them for their own use.
While some props can indeed be faster than fingers, every advantage has its disadvantage.
Due to the issue of prop concealment, instrumental sleeve darts have a rather high probability of failure.
As for manual techniques, they rely entirely on hand speed to execute cheating, without any props.
Uncle Qiu, for instance, relies solely on his hand speed.
Do not underestimate the sleeve dart. It's often seen in movies and has a rather common name, seeming unremarkable.
As the saying goes:
"The finest ingredients often require the simplest cooking methods."
Though the sleeve dart may not sound sophisticated, it excels in its unpretentious simplicity and strong practicality.
A single, well-honed skill can lead to success everywhere!
Without exaggeration, mastering the sleeve dart alone is sufficient to cheat for money in low to mid-tier establishments.
Furthermore, the sleeve dart serves as a benchmark for the skill level of a seasoned cheat.
In any establishment, a cheat who can execute sleeve darts with fluidity is never of low caliber!
This is because the most practical techniques are often the most difficult to master.
...
No wonder Uncle Qiu dared to mock me so openly before. It turns out he didn't need the help of hidden lights to transfer the ill-gotten gains directly…
After completing the cheat, Uncle Qiu revealed his cards.
A six of clubs, a three of hearts.
Nine points. Undoubtedly, Uncle Qiu had won.
As Uncle Qiu revealed his cards, Lin Jiahuan and the others displayed expressions of relief.
Uncle Qiu himself was even more delighted, laughing heartily and taunting me, "Youngsters don't know the immensity of heaven and earth!"
"Thinking you can roam the martial world after learning a few superficial tricks."
"Yet, you haven't even dared to utter a single word so far!"
"If I had known you were just a paper tiger, all bluster and no substance, I wouldn't have wasted my time gambling with you."
Hearing this, I ignored him, merely offering a knowing, cold smile.
It seemed the image I had deliberately cultivated had deeply ingrained itself in Uncle Qiu and the others' minds.
Old man! Laugh all you want now!
The more wildly you laugh now, the more miserably you'll cry later!
"Second round, Uncle Qiu wins!"
"If you two don't wish to rest, we will proceed directly to the third round, the showdown."
With Lin Xinyu's decisive announcement, both Uncle Qiu and I, with one win and one loss each, advanced to the final deciding gamble—the showdown.
Seeing that neither Uncle Qiu nor I spoke, Lin Jiahuan, in his good mood, waved his hand, signaling for the extra shuffling machines to be removed and instructing Lin Xinyu to take out new decks, ready for the crucial third round.
Seemingly sensing my "distraction," Uncle Qiu, after receiving a knowing glance from Lin Jiahuan, said to me, "Kid, if you don't have the skill, don't take on the job!"
"You dare to come to Tianqi Tower to collect debts, did you never consider the consequences of failure?"
Hearing this, I feigned defiance and retorted, "I will not fail! And I never consider consequences!"
"Heh heh!"
With a dismissive laugh, Uncle Qiu said coldly, "Since you're so confident, dare you raise the stakes further!?"
Earlier, Lin Jiahuan had mentioned another condition, but it would only be presented after I lost.
Now, it seemed they were all convinced I would lose.
Therefore, Lin Jiahuan was eagerly prompting Uncle Qiu to propose that condition through a stake increase.
With this thought, I immediately adopted a posture of not backing down and replied, "Agreed! No matter how much you raise the stakes, I'll play along!"
Upon hearing this, a flicker of wild joy appeared in the depths of Uncle Qiu's eyes, though he maintained a stern facade and said, "If you win, we'll clear your debts."
"If you lose, in addition to the debts being settled, I want you to..."
"Go ask Lu Mingtai for that Thousand King Token!"
As Uncle Qiu finished speaking, a myriad of thoughts flashed through my mind…
Thousand King Token?
What is the Thousand King Token?
Is it related to the Thousand King Competition?
Did Helian Shan lie to me?
Did Uncle Tuo win the Thousand King Competition ten years ago?
Is Lin Zhenbei hiding because he wants his children to extract information about the Thousand King Token from me?
...
Honestly, apart from the Thousand King Competition that Helian Shan had mentioned, this was the first time I had heard the term "Thousand King" from an outsider.
For a long time afterward, I remained silent, my eyes filled with flickering doubts.
This scene, in the eyes of Lin Jiahuan and the others, was undoubtedly me deliberating, hesitating, and struggling.
Therefore, none of them rushed me, but rather, with the confident demeanor of victors, they leisurely awaited my final decision.
After an unknown period of time…
Although I was unsure of what the Thousand King Token was, I eventually nodded in agreement.
"Agreed! But since you've proposed an additional condition, I will also raise the stakes!"
"No problem! Add whatever you wish!"
"No matter what you add, I'll accept it all!"
Uncle Qiu agreed readily, without even asking for details.
Seeing him agree so readily without question, my curiosity about the so-called "Thousand King Token" grew even stronger.
When something is out of the ordinary, there's usually a reason.
The fact that Lin Jiahuan and the others valued it so highly, accepting my request to raise the stakes without asking questions or considering it, proved one thing.
The Thousand King Token… must be a high-value item with significant background and importance!
With this thought, I wasted no more words and signaled to Lin Xinyu that the showdown gamble could begin.
Seeing that I didn't immediately state my counter-conditions, Uncle Qiu naturally had no reason to press the issue.
Because in his subconscious, whether I stated my conditions or not would not affect the outcome of the third round.
After the card inspection process concluded, Lin Xinyu began shuffling, cutting, and dealing the cards.
Thus, the main event of the revenge battle, the showdown gamble… officially commenced!