Chapter 45: I Miss You

In the fourth round, the four bone cards Lin Kuo drew were ‘5’, ‘2’, ‘4’, and ‘3’. Because the third draw was a ‘4’, the sum of the previous two bone cards and this ‘4’ did not count toward the total. Therefore, Lin Kuo’s total for the fourth round was only ‘3’, smaller than A-Yun’s ‘8’.

Granny Chen’s hands trembled as she snatched the bone cards from Lin Kuo’s hand and inspected them one by one, but she found no marks whatsoever.

Lin Kuo glanced at Granny Chen, a hint of complexity in his eyes. Then, before she could announce his victory, he spoke first:

“The arena only distinguishes between winning and losing, not a draw. Let’s have a tie-breaker. The Gu God won’t blame you.”

Granny Chen clutched the bone cards, her voice shrill.
“You’re just an outsider. What right do you have to make decisions for the Gu God?”

Lin Kuo thought for a moment, then said simply, “Fine.”

He tossed the bone cards aside and turned to leave the drum tower. The Zhuo Zhai people surrounding it instinctively made way for him. The three behind him—A-Qi and the others—quickly chased after.

A-Qi said excitedly, “Lin Kuo, I guess you—”

“We’ll talk back there,” Lin Kuo cut him off.

A-Qi shut his mouth obediently.

The four of them returned to the stilt house. After Ma An closed the door, A-Qi immediately pressed Lin Kuo to explain his thought process, eager to verify his own guess.

Lin Kuo didn’t like long explanations. If he had to put it into words, it would turn into a tedious speech. Since A-Qi was willing to speak, Lin Kuo just listened.

A-Qi said, “First, there are a total of twenty cards. Four ‘4’s, and two of each other number.” He recalled, “In the first round, Lin Kuo’s two ‘9’s were stopped directly by that stupid NPC. That not only proved Lin Kuo had A-Yun’s eyes behind him, but also proved A-Yun didn’t have any ‘9’s in his hand.”

After speaking, he glanced at Lin Kuo. Lin Kuo nodded.

He Yuting and Ma An blinked in confusion.
“What… what does that mean?”

Encouraged, A-Qi pressed on.
“In the first round, A-Yun’s four cards were ‘7’, ‘5’, ‘3’, ‘2’. In the second round, his cards were ‘8’, ‘7’. In the third round, also ‘8’, ‘7’. This shows A-Yun can see all of his own cards!”

Ma An frowned, still lost.
“I get that A-Yun can see his own cards, but how did Lin Kuo know them?”

A-Qi waved his hands wildly, struggling to explain. The more he talked, the more flustered he became. Finally, he pointed at Lin Kuo.
“Am I right? Because there are only twenty cards, and since you were stopped in the first round, the cards in A-Yun’s hand must’ve been—”

“…” Lin Kuo finally spoke.
“He’s right. There are twenty cards. Besides the four ‘4’s, each number appears twice. A-Yun and I each randomly drew ten. In the first round, I had two ‘9’s, and A-Yun had ‘7’, ‘5’, ‘3’, ‘2’. So I already knew the numbers of four of A-Yun’s ten cards.”

He Yuting gasped.
“I thought the ten cards you and A-Yun had were the same set!”

“How is that possible!” A-Qi scoffed.

Lin Kuo remained calm.
“‘4’ has four cards. Granny Chen wouldn’t evenly split them between us. A-Yun had three ‘4’s, while I only had one. That meant, after the first round, I already knew seven of A-Yun’s cards: three ‘4’s, plus the ‘7’, ‘5’, ‘3’, and ‘2’. Since both ‘9’s were in my hand, the biggest card left in A-Yun’s hand was an ‘8’, and the smallest was a ‘1’.

“But what mattered most was A-Yun’s playing order.”

He explained, “The Zhuo Zhai people want to cheat without us noticing. So A-Yun must play his big cards first—otherwise, the cheating becomes too obvious. If we start suspecting, there’s no such thing as a voluntary offering to the Gu. With three ‘4’s in hand, he’d definitely use his big cards early so they’d be voided by the ‘4’s.”

Ma An shook his head.
“Couldn’t he also play his small cards first? He has three ‘4’s anyway. Even if he played one last, it should be fine.”

“You pig,” A-Qi snapped. “Lin Kuo can call stop. If A-Yun plays small cards and gets stopped before drawing a ‘4,’ he loses. The safest move is to throw his big cards in the first two draws.”

Ma An’s eyes widened. “Ahh, I get it now.”

Lin Kuo nodded.
“I wasn’t sure about his order either, so I tested it in the second round. In the first two draws, I didn’t look at my cards. A-Yun didn’t dare call stop since he couldn’t be sure what I had. That proved his first two cards were big ones.”

He Yunyong asked weakly, “Is there really a direct connection?”

A-Qi’s tone was firm.
“If A-Yun had two small cards, he’d definitely have told Lin Kuo to stop. Since he didn’t, it means both were big cards. Otherwise, why do you think Lin Kuo deliberately asked him if he wanted to stop? That was a psychological test. If A-Yun was holding big cards, he wouldn’t dare risk it—because if Lin Kuo kept drawing, he could basically deduce A-Yun’s entire hand.”

He Yunyong and Ma An half-understood.

Lin Kuo added, “Since A-Yun already used two big cards, his third card had to be a ‘4.’ That’s why I called stop.”

He recalled, “My second-round cards were—”

A-Qi quickly supplied, “‘3’, ‘6’, ‘7’, ‘6’. A-Yun’s were ‘8’, ‘7’.”

Lin Kuo gave a soft “Mn.”
“Exactly. At that point, I could already deduce A-Yun’s ten cards: three ‘4’s, one ‘8’, one ‘7’, one ‘5’, one ‘3’, one ‘2’, and two ‘1’s.”

Ma An nearly keeled over.
“Holy sh*t.”

Lin Kuo said evenly, “Even though you can’t leave marks on the dominoes, each one feels slightly different to the touch—and they retain a trace of warmth.”

Ma An and He Yuting were dumbfounded.

“So that’s how I won,” Lin Kuo concluded.

Ma An blinked. “Wait… I still don’t get it…”

Lin Kuo explained further.
“In the third round, I just picked the dominoes that felt unfamiliar and lacked warmth. The first one I drew was an ‘8.’ That meant A-Yun definitely knew I had an ‘8.’ Since he didn’t call stop, it meant he also had an ‘8.’

“In the second round, I hadn’t drawn any cards, so I lost. That made A-Yun assume I was weak. By the third round, he thought he had the advantage. If I were him, I’d drag it out. That meant he wouldn’t play a small card as his second draw. Since he still had three ‘4’s, he had room to maneuver.

“So I guessed his second card would be a ‘7’ or ‘5.’ That meant I had to keep my total under thirteen. Fortunately, in the second round I’d already drawn a small card—a ‘3.’ So I drew a ‘3’ as my second. Three plus eight made eleven, smaller than his.”

He Yuting asked timidly, “Um… then why did you draw a ‘9’ on the third pull?”

Lin Kuo’s face stayed cold.
“Revenge.”

What—A-Yun was allowed to toy with him, but he wasn’t allowed to toy back, at least mentally?

Ma An piped up, “But how did you know the fourth draw would be a ‘4’? You still hadn’t drawn the ‘5’ or the ‘2.’”

Lin Kuo replied calmly, “Oh, Granny Chen told me.”

He Yuting & Ma An: “???”

A-Qi sighed.
“Lin Kuo said something during the third round, on his third draw: If you don’t call stop now, you won’t get another chance. Granny Chen instinctively checked which card he had pulled—the ‘4.’ By following her gaze, Lin Kuo found it.”

He Yuting burst out, “Wuwuwu, you’re amazing!”

Ma An muttered, “…I’ve got nothing else to say. Please accept my bow.”

By the fourth round, Lin Kuo didn’t need to explain anymore. They already understood.

Since he had pinpointed the location of the ‘4,’ he had seized the upper hand. That meant, among the ten untouched cards, only the ‘5’ and ‘2’ remained. Whichever one he drew, victory was guaranteed.

Ma An and He Yuting thought it over, then shouted together, “Holy crap, you’re too awesome!”

A-Qi’s thoughts went even deeper. Lin Kuo’s suggestion of a rematch had been reverse psychology. Since Granny Chen suspected him of cheating, she’d reshuffle the set for sure. Volunteering for another game made Lin Kuo look even more suspicious, which was exactly why Granny Chen refused outright.

A-Qi muttered rapidly, “Lin Kuo, 666.”

By now, Lin Kuo’s mouth was dry from all the explaining. He Yuting quickly ran to pour him water. After he drank, he immediately headed for the Zhuo Zhai gates—he still hadn’t tested whether he could leave the village.

The gates had no barrier this time. Lin Kuo walked straight toward the Great Immortal Stone. About ten minutes later, he reached the massive boulder. Just as he was about to test whether he could enter the weasel world again, several weasels suddenly leapt out.

They chirped excitedly at the sight of him, sharp kaka sounds filling the air.

Lin Kuo eyed them warily.

The weasels scrambled to scrawl words in the yellow earth, then pointed and kaka-ed again, urging him to look.

Lin Kuo glanced down at the crooked handwriting—

Sheng Wen: Boyfriend, I miss you.