Welcome to the Ability Shop!

Chapter 220 Cherish life, stay away from...

The moment the leopard was spotted, the entire audience gasped in astonishment!

"Impossible!" Zhu Wu immediately flew into a rage, standing up and roaring, "You fucking cheated!"

"What, you're allowed to be lucky, but I'm not allowed to be even luckier?" Chen Xuan shrugged. "What were you saying about others just now? If you can't handle losing, then don't play."

"This hand doesn't count, there's definitely something wrong with it!" He grabbed the three Aces, looked at them from left to right, as if trying to find something different.

However, Chen Xuan knew that Zhu Wu's search would be in vain.

These Aces didn't appear out of thin air; they came from card swaps in previous rounds. The strategy was simple: when someone folded, he would fold as well, then pretend to coincidentally knock down the opponent's half-discarded cards, and hide the cards he needed during the brief gap when the scattered cards were being gathered again.

This wasn't a professional card game; there weren't many cameras watching. A dozen or so students were gathered around the round table, and they were discarding their cards very casually, frequently placing their hands near the pile of loose cards in the center. For a well-trained gambling expert, switching cards in full view of everyone would be no difficult task.

Chen Xuan had certainly never practiced such fancy moves.

But he had practiced the Heavenly Cloud Skill.

The mental cultivation technique's all-around enhancement of his body made him far superior to ordinary people in both strength and agility, and his control over his finger movements was so precise that it was impossible to miss a single detail. Combined with the delaying effect of the Divine Eye Technique, he could find countless opportunities in a second. As long as the opponent was distracted for a moment, he could silently flick the cards into his sleeve.

Chen Xuan didn't even need to encounter any loose cards.

Because there are also tiny, needle-like swords hidden among the cards. With a mere thought, the sword can lift a card and "fly" it under one's wrist, the whole process taking only four or five milliseconds. Combined with the action of throwing the card and the obscuring effect of the hand, an untrained eye would not even realize that he had switched cards; only a high-speed camera could capture this instant.

He didn't intend to do this from the beginning.

It was after noticing Xia Feiyan's unusual card-dealing methods that he took countermeasures.

Three cards are missing from a deck of cards; only a seasoned gambler with over a decade of experience would notice anything amiss. Perhaps after a round or two, she would discover that certain cards were missing, but Chen Xuan certainly wouldn't wait until then to make his move.

Xia Feiyan had played this game before, and immediately realized where the problem might lie. She quickly spread the remaining cards on the table and began to count them.

"23 pairs... 24 pairs... single, no, three cards are missing!" she shouted as if she had caught a flaw. "There should be 52 cards in total, but there are only 49!"

"I told you you cheated!" Zhu Wu's face turned fierce, as if he was about to beat someone up.

"Brother Wu, there's something in your pocket..." someone suddenly exclaimed in surprise.

Everyone looked over and noticed that a corner of a playing card seemed to be sticking out of Zhu Wu's shirt pocket.

He was slightly taken aback, and, disbelieving, took out the contents—a pack of cigarettes, a lighter, and three playing cards with the face value 7, 8, and 9.

Xia Feiyan's face turned ashen in an instant.

Only she knew that this was the card she had dealt to Chen Xuan!
The question is, how did this card end up in Zhu Wu's pocket?
The two were seated directly across from each other at the table, and Chen Xuan never left his seat the entire time. This was beyond the explanation of cheating techniques; it was practically magic!
"So that's how you made your straight flush?" Chen Xuan feigned sudden realization. "I just don't understand, how could you accuse me of cheating when you had three cards in your pocket?"

It was of course placed by Chen Xuan.

By using two Thousand Thought Swords to carry the cards under the table, one can achieve the card transfer technique without anyone noticing.

"Bullshit, why would I need to hide my cards? I already have a straight flush!" Zhu Wu said urgently.

"Who knows? Zhao Jin is sitting next to you, it couldn't have been him who secretly put it there, could it?"

No matter how angry he was, he didn't dare to pin the blame on Zhao Jin. "It definitely wasn't him..."

"So that's you then." Chen Xuan shrugged. "I'll just ask you one question: does the money you lost count? Are you just bragging without actually being able to pay up?"

At this moment, Zhu Wu subconsciously looked at Zhao Jin.

"What are you looking at me for?" Zhao Jin was truly furious. He yelled back, "You cheated at the card game at the class reunion too? Are you out of your mind? Get lost! Don't fucking hang out with me anymore!"

Zhu Wu clenched his teeth so hard they made a grinding sound.

He stared at Zhao Jin for a long while, managing to suppress his explosive temper. Finally, he glared at Chen Xuan with an extremely fierce look, kicked the chair away, and left the room without looking back.

Chen Xuan immediately understood Zhao Jin's background. He was indeed doing quite well among his classmates, but he wasn't so extravagant as to casually throw away 100 million yuan. Therefore, he was willing to risk falling out with Zhu Wu on the spot to use cheating as an excuse to kick him out.

Sure enough, Zhao Jin immediately turned to Chen Xuan and said, "I thought he had learned to restrain himself after joining the underworld, but I didn't expect him to be almost the same as before. Since it was cheating, let's just let that round go."

"Indeed... 100 million is too outrageous..."

"Zhu Wu's family isn't well-off, how could he possibly come up with that much money? He's obviously just showing off!"

Other classmates chimed in.

Wang Xingyu, on the other hand, abandoned his previous playful demeanor and stood silently to the side.

Chen Xuan smiled and said, "Well, it's reasonable that cheating doesn't count."

Upon hearing this, the tense atmosphere immediately eased considerably, and Zhao Jin also revealed a slight smile, preparing to say a few more polite words.

However, Chen Xuan spoke first, "But that round wasn't over yet, was it? Only Zhu Wu cheated, you shouldn't have cheated."

Zhao Jin was stunned.

The others also realized that the game of Texas Hold'em was played one by one until a final winner was determined. Zhu Wu's opening move would not affect Zhao Jin. As long as he did not lose his hand, the game would continue!
Three Aces is the strongest hand. Unless he can make a "rat hand" like 235, he has no chance of winning against Chen Xuan.

He could certainly choose to fold, but the problem is that he had been calling all along, and had already invested around 30 on the table!

Losing this money to Zhu Wu is fine; the three of them are in cahoots anyway, and they can just transfer it back later. Multiple people raising the stakes makes the situation seem more natural, and large sums of money fit the image Zhao Jin is cultivating.

But now that Zhu Wu has left the game, leaving only him and Chen Xuan, the situation has become completely different.

"Your turn," Chen Xuan said with a smile. "Will you follow or drop out?"

Zhao Jin opened his mouth, his expression extremely complicated.

He couldn't find a good reason to refute Chen Xuan's statement for the time being!
It's not fair to say he cheated, unless he did too. Cheating on the bet would mean losing face completely; how could he face his classmates afterward?
If we admit it, then all the previous bets must be cashed out—100 million is certainly unacceptable, but is 30 really a small amount of money?

Actually, when he saw Chen Xuan blindly shouting out prices, he was quite disdainful, certain that the latter couldn't afford it. However, he didn't expect Chen Xuan to honestly hand over the money; he would be satisfied if he could turn his former good student into a clown in everyone's eyes. But Zhao Jin never imagined that he would be the one facing this difficult choice.

Under everyone's gaze, Zhao Jin forced a smile, "...I fold."

"Thank you, Mr. Zhao." Chen Xuan said with feigned satisfaction, "30 is a bit too much. I might not be able to transfer it via WeChat. I'll send Xia Feiyan a bank account number later, and you can transfer it to her account."

“Okay…” Zhao Jin tried his best to maintain his composure, “I won’t shortchange you a single penny.”

After all that commotion, the game was clearly over. No one wanted to bother Chen Xuan, who had an eight-figure bank balance, and all the previous criticisms of his aimless life in Jiangcheng vanished without a trace.

Chen Xuan then took the opportunity to call Wang Xingyu aside.

Wang Xingyu immediately became nervous, and his words became stammered, "Brother Xuan, what do you want? I've transferred all the money to Sister Feiyan."

"What's your WeChat ID? Let me add you." Chen Xuan took out his phone. "I'll transfer 2450 to you."

"Huh?" Wang Xingyu asked in surprise, "Why?"

“Half is yours, and half is Cheng Yu’s,” he replied briefly. “I don’t have a work group or his WeChat, so please transfer it to him for me.”

Wang Xingyu instinctively wanted to refuse, but when he saw the transfer amount, he suddenly found it difficult to speak.

Chen Xuan was well aware of his classmate's thoughts; this sum of over a thousand was not a small amount for him.

Finally, Wang Xingyu moved his lips slightly, lowered his head, and whispered, "Thank you, Brother Xuan."

Chen Xuan patted him on the shoulder, "Remember not to gamble with anyone anymore, even if it's a game organized by your classmates, understand?"

Wang Xingyu gritted his teeth and nodded emphatically.

(End of this chapter)