An invasion from the Abyss? I, a demonic cultivator, laughed.

Chapter 137 The Rules of the Trial

You're saying I cheated?

Faced with Chu Xiu's questioning, the masked man's eyes flashed with a fierce light: "I'm warning you, don't make things up without evidence!"

“You’re very clever,” Chu Xiu said with a faint smile. “The gilded patterns on the back of these cards look the same, but they actually have a special perspective structure. From my perspective, there’s no clue to them, but from your perspective, there will be subtle differences. This is how you can distinguish between different cards.”

“I think you discussed the placement of the cards with the notary in advance, and since I was restrained by chains, it was impossible for me to see the back of the cards from my position.”

"When people receive their cards, they usually turn the cards face down to avoid the other party seeing the face of the cards, which makes it even more impossible for them to notice anything amiss."

In his previous life, Chu Xiu had seen a sculptor's work that was almost transparent from the front, revealing only extremely fine vertical lines, but when turned to the side, it formed the shape of an astronaut.

The masked man used this principle, and his perspective structure was made extremely small. He also used gilded patterns that diffused light, and he would cover the cards with his palm immediately after looking at them, making it extremely difficult for others to discover his tricks.

Thanks to the powerful dynamic capabilities of the Demon Eye, and the fact that Chu Xiu's basic attributes were not significantly weakened by the chain of the bet, he was able to detect the clues the moment his opponent drew a card.

If it were any other awakened being, they would have absolutely no chance of seeing through it.

As Chu Xiu finished speaking, a mechanical voice came from the notary's chest: "If the report fails, this round will be automatically declared a loss. Are you sure you want to report?"

"Confirmed." Chu Xiu nodded.

The notary immediately picked up the two playing cards and compared them carefully. Then, a bright red light emanated from his chest, followed by a piercing alarm.

"Cheating detected, automatic loss!"

Another notary lifted the scoreboard and scored Chu Xiu one point.

The masked man stared at Chu Xiu, his eyes revealing a fierce look, and coldly snorted, "You win this round. Choose the punishment you want."

Chu Xiu glanced at them and casually said, "Let the notary choose whatever he wants."

As he finished speaking, the notary grabbed the masked man's wrist with his right hand, pulled his left hand out of his robe and pressed it onto the table, and picked up a hammer with his other hand, smashing it down heavily on the man's index finger without hesitation!
With a scream, the masked man's index finger was smashed off! He was trembling with pain, but his eyes, fixed on Chu Xiu, grew even more ferocious.

"Next game!" he said in a deep voice.

Soon, the notary came over with two new decks of cards.

"I need to check it beforehand," Chu Xiu said.

"Suit yourself," the masked man sneered. "Do you think I can't win without resorting to underhanded tactics?"

Chu Xiu did not reply, but took the plaque from the notary and examined it carefully.

He returned it only after confirming that there were no problems.

The notary immediately began shuffling the cards, then dealt them back to the table and placed them on the table, giving each of the two players two cards.

Chu Xiu picked up the cards in front of him and frowned immediately.

A King of Hearts and a Six of Spades.

"Hiss—I already have sixteen base points, should I add more?"

"Without adding points, 16 points isn't a big deal, but with adding points, any card higher than 5 will beat me. Statistically, I have a three-fifths chance of getting completely destroyed!"

Chu Xiu was stunned. He knew it was a probability problem, but he couldn't figure out whether the probability of winning was higher by taking the cards or not, since he had almost never been involved in gambling.

After hesitating for a moment, he still didn't take it, after all, the probability of dying suddenly in three out of five was indeed too high.

The masked man drew a card without hesitation, looked at it, drew another, and then cursed under his breath, "Damn it!"

Then he slammed the cards onto the table.

3+J+2+9, that's a jackpot.

This scene was completely unexpected by Chu Xiu.

"Is this guy really not cheating anymore? Or is he just trying to fool me?" he wondered to himself.

But in any case, he won the third game.

"You've won, hurry up and choose," the masked man said impatiently.

Chu Xiu glanced at the gun rack on the right, casually picked up a shotgun, aimed it at the masked man's head, and pulled the trigger.

The next moment, amidst a deafening explosion, the masked man was blasted away by a single shot, flying back along with his chair!

His mask was blasted to pieces, revealing a hideous face with disgusting dark green skin that was wrinkled like withered vines on an old tree. He had an extremely high nose and sharp teeth that were not human. Half of his face had been blasted apart by the immense power of the shotgun, leaving only a few pieces of skin hanging on his face, attached to thin, white fascia, making his already ugly face even more terrifying.

But he quickly got up and glared fiercely at Chu Xiu.

A notary brought him a spare wooden chair, and the masked man sat down, shouting sternly, "Next round!"

The injury did not seem to deter him; instead, it fueled the gambler's ferocity.

"Is he absolutely certain of winning against me, or are all gamblers like him, blinded by greed, willing to risk their lives?"

Chu Xiu was secretly alarmed.

Just as he was surprised, the fourth inning began.

Chu Xiu's initial hand was nine points. He drew a card and increased it to thirteen points. Feeling that it was a bit low, Chu Xiu drew another card.

It is a 4 of diamonds.

He wasn't very satisfied, but at least it didn't explode, so he stopped.

The masked man quickly finished drawing his cards, stared at Chu Xiu, and said coldly, "Show your cards."

Chu Xiu spread out his cards, while the masked man chuckled and also spread out his own cards.

K+3+6, 19 points.

Now, Chu Xiu really couldn't figure out whether the other party had cheated or not.

As he lowered his head to think, the masked man began selecting his gun. He sneered, "Notary, retrieve the gun from under the floor."

The tall, thin notary stepped forward, rummaged around on the ground for a while, then opened a hidden compartment and pulled out a huge gun that was polished to a shine and had a caliber so large that it could almost fit half a baby's fist.

The caliber is more accurately described as a cannon than a gun.

"Do you like my baby?" the masked man sneered. "My specially modified elephant-hunting gun fires 50mm concave bullets. One shot can shatter the head of a 50-ton elephant!"

"Snapped!"

He slammed the large gun onto the table, pointed it at Chu Xiu, and grinned maliciously, "Beg for mercy now, and I might consider getting a different gun."

Despite the masked man's threat, Chu Xiu remained calm, knowing that this was the masked man's backup plan.

Even if his cheating methods are exposed, it doesn't matter. As long as he wins two out of five rounds, he can use this specially made gun to shoot his opponent dead in one shot.

The chain of bets removes equipment, reduces attributes, and suppresses skills, making it almost certain that anything below S rank will die in the face of this great spear.

However, for Chu Xiu...
"Shoot," he said calmly.

"Humph!"

Seeing that Chu Xiu was so tactless, the masked man stopped talking and decisively pulled the trigger!
"boom!"

The gun muzzle spewed out a fierce flame, like a fiery serpent, and in the blinding light, a huge bullet shot out!

Almost at the same moment, a violent burst of black energy suddenly erupted from Chu Xiu's body, enveloping his entire form!
Then, with a muffled thud, the huge, flattened bullet rolled to the ground with a loud clang.

As the black mist dissipated, a large hole was visible in Chu Xiu's clothes, but the area where the bullet had struck only showed some bruising. The masked man's excited expression froze on his face, then turned into utter disbelief.

"How is that possible!" he screamed.

Chu Xiu calmly replied, "Can we continue?"

The masked man finally realized that the Awakened One before him was vastly different from any Awakened One he had ever seen before! But he had no way out now.

"Deal the cards! I don't believe you can even withstand coastal artillery fire!" he said through gritted teeth.

In the past, there have been a few awakened individuals who could withstand the elephant gun, but there are absolutely none who could survive the bombardment of two cannons!

"Are you so sure you can win?" Chu Xiu asked with a smile.

However, the masked man saw through his probing intentions and simply sneered, "We'll know once the cards are revealed."

Soon, the final betting game began.

Chu Xiu looked at the cards in his hand: a 2 and a 3.

Without hesitation, he asked for another card, this time a Q.

At this point, his hand has reached 15 points. If he continues, there is about a 7 in 13 chance that he will bust!
After hesitating for a moment, Chu Xiu gritted his teeth and asked for another one!
Anyway, even if he loses, the cannons won't hurt him.

And it seemed that the luck he had accumulated in the first half of his life finally came into play at this moment, and this time he actually drew a five!

Chu Xiu smiled and placed the cards face down on the table.

At this moment, the masked man finished drawing his cards.

"Let's reveal the cards," he scoffed.

Chu Xiu was about to reveal the cards when he suddenly realized something and said alertly, "Why am I always the one to reveal the cards first? You go first this time."

"Then open one for each person," the masked man said.

“No,” Chu Xiu said, though he didn’t know what the other party was planning, he could sense something from their reaction. “Either we hand the cards over to the notary and let him reveal them.”

The masked man remained silent for a while before finally saying, "Alright then."

As he spoke, he took the card with his other hand and placed it face down on the table. But Chu Xiu noticed that the masked man's fingers under the card twitched extremely quickly the moment the two hands met!
Without the slightest hesitation, the Heavenly Demon Hand swiftly reached out from behind and grabbed the masked man's wrist!

"Wait! You just switched cards!" Chu Xiu shouted loudly.

He didn't see how the masked man switched the cards, but he was 100% certain that the other party had done something similar!
In his previous life, Chu Xiu had seen a video of an anti-gambling expert demonstrating cheating techniques. He could push the original cards into his sleeve in a very short time and take out the new cards that he had been hiding to complete the card swap. He used blind spots and was flawless even in front of a high-speed camera that was slowed down a thousand times!

However, the masked man who had been captured remained calm and simply chuckled, "Are you sure I switched cards?"

"Don't forget, if the report of cheating fails, it will also be automatically judged as a negative."

The masked man's words startled Chu Xiu slightly, and then he frowned.

He hadn't expected the masked man to have this trick up his sleeve.

If he had only made a feint and hadn't actually changed any cards, then Chu Xiu would have lost!
Thinking about it this way, would the masked man really be stupid enough to switch cards right in front of him? Chu Xiu's perception is so strong that he can even detect the subtle differences on the back of the cards, so how could he not see such a small trick?

Thinking of this, Chu Xiu suddenly realized that the masked man had given him a lot of psychological suggestions beforehand, such as expressing his confidence in winning this round, which made Chu Xiu more convinced that he would cheat, and thus made him observe his every move more carefully.

This is much like a seasoned hunter slowly setting his trap.

But then Chu Xiu thought that if the masked man really hadn't switched the cards, he wouldn't have needed to remind him. He could have just had the notary check the cards. In that case, he would have been automatically disqualified. Why would he bother to remind him?
However, he then thought that the notary had reminded him once when he made the report last time, and perhaps the notary would repeat the reminder every time he made a report. The masked man's initiative to bring it up in advance was just to mislead him.

The very next second that this thought crossed his mind, the notary's mechanical voice rang out at the opportune moment: "If the report fails, this round will be automatically declared a loss. Are you sure you want to report?"

Now, Chu Xiu was even more conflicted, while the masked man opposite him wore a confident smile.

After a long pause, Chu Xiu let out a soft breath: "I'm sure!"

Although Chu Xiu didn't understand gambling, he understood human nature. He didn't believe that a gambler like the masked man would entrust his fate to someone else!
Of course, the main reason he was able to make the decision so quickly was that even if he lost, it wouldn't be a big deal.

As soon as he finished speaking, the notary stepped forward to remove the masked man's robe for inspection, but as soon as he grasped the masked man's arm, a card-shaped protrusion appeared.

Chu Xiu smiled, knowing he had made the right bet.

However, at that moment, he noticed that the masked man not only showed no panic, but also had a mocking look in his eyes.

Suddenly, a flame erupted from his body and instantly engulfed him!

The masked man screamed in agony amidst the flames, but quickly ripped off his robe and flung the burning garment to the ground.

The notary numbly stepped forward and turned up his robe, only to find the playing cards that had been burned to ashes.

It then stood up, and a blinding red light emanated from its chest.

"The evidence has been destroyed, rendering the report invalid."

Chu Xiu: "???"

His brief, stunned expression was caught by the masked man, who immediately burst into hearty laughter, his remaining half of his face trembling violently with each laugh.

"You're smart, but the moment you accepted this bet, your fate was sealed!"

"Our lord imitated the god of gambling to create this world, but he does not possess the power of a god. The notaries he appointed for us common gamblers are just a bunch of dull idiots!"

"They only engage in simple logical thinking, and even the details of the betting games are pre-entered, so without concrete evidence, it is impossible to make a report or judgment!"

"Initially, there were penalties for destroying evidence, but after the lord discovered that this setting was easily exploited, he simply abolished the penalties altogether."

"so--"

The masked man laughed loudly as he revealed his cards: "You lost!"

9+9+3 equals the highest possible score of 21!
As the game was decided, the chains binding Chu Xiu tightened suddenly, and almost simultaneously, the two notaries opposite him lit the fuses of the cannons!
The masked man opened his only remaining eye wide, wanting to get a good look at Chu Xiu's performance before his death.

To his disappointment, Chu Xiu showed no fear or apprehension, only sighing helplessly as he rubbed his forehead.

"I can't believe I was actually stupid enough to play a pointless game with you."

"But thank you for helping me determine the rules for this trial."

"What I need to do is not to crack the game, but to completely destroy it!"

As he finished speaking, the fuse burned out completely, the compressed gunpowder was ignited, and a huge amount of energy was released in an instant!
"boom!"

The two coastal defense guns suddenly spewed forth fierce fire and smoke! The entire room trembled! It was like two ancient behemoths roaring!
With a deafening roar, two shells burst out!

Just then, a demonic arm suddenly appeared behind Chu Xiu and stretched out!

"clang!!!"

A metallic clanging sound, almost piercing eardrums, came from the smoke, and when the smoke cleared, something happened that made the masked man's eyes pop out!
Those two cannonballs were actually caught in Chu Xiu's demonic arm!

"Bang."

Two shells, almost flattened into iron discs from the impact, fell to the ground. Under the incredulous gaze of the masked man, Chu Xiu slowly got up.

"Now, it's my turn to make a bet."

A kind smile appeared on his face, and two demonic arms floated in front of the terrified masked man.

"Let's bet you, can you guess whether I'll punch you with my left hand or my right?"

(End of this chapter)