Chapter 177: Soul Pupil

The Labyrinth of the God Pan was a special card game from the Western Continent, but it was always looked down on by the Church. Pan was a legendary deity from the Primeval Era, a term passed down before the Destruction Calendar; he was the protector of shepherds and the deity who guarded flocks.

There were three hundred and sixty plant cards, showing the special plants from each season of the year. Besides that, there were five sheep cards, showing five different kinds of sheep waiting to be fed by plants. Any two plant cards could form a hand with its own special meaning, each matching the five sheep to give different effects.

During the game, the five sheep cards were set in the middle of the table. Each hand could freely bet on any sheep. Both sides kept playing, showing different combos of plant cards for the sheep they bet on. The effect of the plant combo on that sheep decided the winner.

Lin Qi and Long Cheng each held ninety hidden cards. They could form ninety hands with different powers and uses.

The man in black on the other side was alone. He had ninety hidden cards and ninety face-up cards on the table that all three could see.

Lin Qi and Long Cheng worked together when playing, but the man in black played by himself. Lin Qi’s team had to be good at teaming up and trusting each other, so it was harder. But even though the man in black played alone and could pair any cards as he wanted, half his cards were known to Lin Qi and Long Cheng, making it also very tough for him.

The man in black suggested settling the match with the Labyrinth of the God Pan. Clearly, he was very sure of his math skills and memory. Lin Qi had no worry at all; with Long Cheng, an expert, there, he didn’t fear any card game the man in black offered. Specially, the Labyrinth of the God Pan was popular in the Western Continent, but as ocean sailors and traders traveled to the East, the game spread there too.

Long Cheng, as a top fop of the East, knew all card games well and was super skilled. The Labyrinth of the God Pan wasn’t very common in the East, but he did know it. Not only that, he had once used this game to win lots of silver from a rival.

So when the man in black suggested playing the Labyrinth of the God Pan just now, Lin Qi gave Long Cheng a look. Long Cheng agreed right away without a pause.

The five sheep cards were placed in the middle of the table. Wood Sheep, Fire Sheep, Earth Sheep, and Water Sheep circled around the Dam card in the center. Under the lights, the five cards shone with colorful halos. Three hundred and sixty plant cards flew like birds in the hands of two special shufflers. In the light, these cards made big shadows until it looked like thousands of cards were moving together.

The man in black stared hard at the shufflers’ actions. His fingers shook fast, and his eyes darted around. Clearly, he was memorizing where the cards were. Long Cheng leaned back easily in his chair, coldly watching the three hundred and sixty cards. His strong mind had already locked all the cards into his brain. No matter how the shufflers changed their tricks, he remembered every card clearly.

Lartus suddenly laughed. “Can we deal the cards now?”

Marrs snorted loudly. “Then, let’s start! Heh, Lartus, I hope you won’t cry when you go home tonight.”

Lartus shook his head. “Who cries or who laughs, it’s not set yet.”

Marrs stared fiercely at Lin Qi and Long Cheng, his eyes full of a killing mood. “In the Imperial Capital, no one dares to win my money!”

Lin Qi felt nothing about Marrs’ threat. His face wasn’t his real one anyway. Later, he would go back to his true look, so who could Marrs take his anger out on? As for Long Cheng, it would be Marrs’ luck if Long Cheng didn’t go after him. How could Marrs dare to pick a fight with Long Cheng?

The two shufflers piled up the mixed cards and dealt them to Lin Qi, Long Cheng, and the man in black.

Lin Qi got ninety hidden cards. Long Cheng got ninety hidden cards. The man in black got ninety hidden cards, and on the table before him sat ninety face-up cards.

The two shufflers walked off. Three game judges came up. One of them quietly picked up a die. Lin Qi and the man in black guessed the die’s odd or even. The judge rolled the die. The man in black, who guessed odd, won. He would pick the first sheep card to bet on.

The man in black chose Water Sheep. He took a narcissus card from the face-up cards and placed it near Water Sheep. Then he drew a card from his hidden cards and set it beside the narcissus card.

He squinted and smiled at Long Cheng and Lin Qi. “Now, it’s your turn to choose. Narcissus can pair with thirty-six different cards to make a hand that feeds Water Sheep strongly. You don’t have many picks. What cards will block narcissus and then take out Water Sheep?”

Lin Qi was about to speak when Long Cheng’s voice, soft as a mosquito, rang in his ear. “Narcissus with burdock makes a small hand with a feed power of three. I have a black lotus here. You play a tulip. That makes a medium hand with a poison power of four against Water Sheep. It beats his first bet of ten thousand gold coins completely.”

Lin Qi silently took a tulip out and flung it onto the table. Long Cheng also drew a card and put it next to Lin Qi’s card.

Just like the man in black’s hidden card, Lin Qi and Long Cheng’s hand had its back up, hiding what it was.

The die-rolling judge looked at both sides and raised his hands. “This hand is set. Base stake of ten thousand gold coins. Which side adds more?”

The man in black squinted at the cards Lin Qi and Long Cheng placed on the table. His face darkened a bit; he was about to quit this hand. He sort of recalled those two cards Lin Qi and Long Cheng had seemed to make a combo just a bit stronger than his.

Just as the man in black was going to fold, a thin man wearing a small black cloak behind Lartus gently coughed. The man in black looked up without thinking. He saw a pair of deep black eyes; they were like black holes that swallowed his mind at once.

The man in black’s body stiffened. Then he smiled and nodded. “Then, add one million! For the first hand, let’s all bet on our luck!”

Heavy gold coins were brought straight to the table’s edge. The young nobles on both sides held their breath at the same time. A million gold coins bet on the first hand? Where did Beya find this man in black? How was he so bold?

Marrs looked shocked at Beya. The total chips were only ten million gold coins. One hand costing one million could not take many losses.

In a silence like death, one judge turned over the three hidden cards.

The ‘Dry Air of June’ made by black lotus and tulip completely beat the ‘Nourishing Life-force of March’ made by narcissus and burdock.

Lartus burst out laughing. Marrs and Beya turned pale from shock. The nobles on their side were all stunned.