Chapter 47: Guessing the Dominoes

Seeing that it was Ma An, Lin Kuo actually felt less nervous. After all, every grievance has its debtor—he wasn’t the one who killed Ma An. Thinking this, Lin Kuo simply stared straight at him. Ma An also stared back, his smile growing wider, before beckoning to Lin Kuo.

Lin Kuo stood in place without moving. Ma An seemed anxious, waving his hand frantically. With the motion, bright red blood seeped out of his body.

Lin Kuo thought for a moment, then decided to follow and see. Just as he took his first step, one of the weasels hiding under the bed carefully stretched out its forelimb. But its legs were too short to grab hold of him. Lin Kuo didn’t notice its attempt and vaulted out of the window.

When Ma An saw Lin Kuo finally follow, he revealed another smile. The smile itself was meant kindly, but because he was already dead, it looked particularly terrifying. He led Lin Kuo to stop in front of his own “grave,” then squatted beside the mound of earth and pointed to the raised soil.

Lin Kuo looked down at him from above.
“You want me to dig it up?”

Ma An raised his head, blood-red tears streaming from his eyes.

Lin Kuo pressed his lips together. He roughly understood Ma An’s intention—Ma An wanted to thank him, and hoped Lin Kuo would use his remains to feed the Gu fetus.

He squatted down as well. The night wind lifted strands of his hair. After a long silence, Lin Kuo finally spoke:
“I don’t plan on letting the fetus Gu eat human flesh.”

Ma An opened his mouth, silently sobbing, blood tears dripping onto the yellow earth.

Lin Kuo gestured toward the weasels lurking in the dark. Their eyes glowed eerie green. Though they feared Ma An, they were still interested in the corpse buried beneath the soil.
“My boyfriend is in their world. He also has Gu. If… if you don’t mind, I’ll entrust you to them.”

Ma An stared blankly at the faint glow in the darkness, then slowly nodded.

So Lin Kuo began to dig, shoveling away the soil. The strong stench drew the weasels closer. Lin Kuo told them:
“Take it to Sheng Wen.”

The weasels were overjoyed. Even the ones hiding in the stilted house ran out. Each grabbed a piece of flesh, glanced at Lin Kuo, then darted into the darkness.

After they left, Lin Kuo continued softly:
“You…” He wasn’t good at comforting people, so after rehearsing the words in his head, he finally said, “I’ll avenge you.”

Ma An clutched his head and wept. Lin Kuo watched as his figure slowly grew transparent, until at last he dissolved into a wisp of smoke and completely vanished into the night. The wind also stilled, and the surroundings returned to absolute silence, as though nothing had ever happened.

Lin Kuo stood and walked back to the stilt house the chieftain had assigned him. In the corner, he found the fetus Gu. He lifted the cover of the Gu bell and picked the small fetus up.

The fetus had grown larger and no longer transparent, thanks to consuming Ma An’s Gu. It looked at Lin Kuo and smiled happily.

Lin Kuo carried it outside, whispered something to it. Its eyes lit up. He set it down, and the fetus immediately scampered away.

At daybreak the next morning, A Yun came knocking.

A Qi and He Yuting instantly went on guard. A Qi slipped behind Lin Kuo and muttered softly:
“Really, lingering like a ghost that won’t disperse.”

Those words reminded Lin Kuo of Ma An, and he felt a pang of discomfort. He looked at A Yun, then retrieved the three bone tiles from the pouch A Yun had given him yesterday.

He examined them—three tiles, each with a different number. So now he had numbers 1 through 3.

A Yun also drew out his own bone tiles—he too had three. Casually, he picked one and slapped it face down on the wooden table, then looked at Lin Kuo with provocation.

Lin Kuo picked one at random.

He Yuting and A Qi stood behind Lin Kuo. Watching his calm expression, He Yuting whispered to A Qi:
“Brother A Qi, do you think Brother Lin Kuo has a plan?”

A Qi didn’t answer at first. This kind of gambling was like rock-paper-scissors—winning was purely luck. He honestly didn’t see what method could work. But this was Lin Kuo. A Qi didn’t dare dismiss him, so he thought carefully and said:
“He looks pretty calm. Maybe he does have a plan.”

The three of them stared fixedly at the gambling table.

A Yun asked:
“You want to flip first, or me?”

Lin Kuo said:
“Together.”

A Yun: “Fine. On the count of three, we flip at once.”

Lin Kuo stayed silent, counting in his head. At three, he turned his tile.

He had a “3.” A Yun’s was “2.”
Three beats two.

This round, Lin Kuo won and took A Yun’s “2.” A Yun didn’t look too bothered. He pushed the tile forward, and it slid across the table to land at Lin Kuo’s feet.

A Yun said:
“Hope your luck always stays this good.”

Lin Kuo gave him a sideways glance:
“Thanks. But if you’ve lost, why aren’t you leaving?”

A Yun smiled faintly.
“My sister prepared breakfast for you. I plan to wait and leave with her. Is that a problem?”

Lin Tuo said, “You’re the thickest-skinned NPC I’ve ever met.”

Aqi nodded.

A Yun refused to leave, and since Lin Tuo couldn’t drive him away, he simply ignored him and went to wash up. By the time he came back, the so-called “younger sisters” A Yun had mentioned had already arrived—not one, but four of them.

As Lin Tuo walked back in, Wu Qi muttered from the stairs, “My full name is Wu Qi. Stop calling me Aqi. I’m starting to hate that ‘Ah-something’ way of addressing people.”

He Yuting let out a strained laugh, one that looked more like crying. She could tell—A Yun and his group had come prepared.

The breakfast the sisters brought was just ordinary Miao fare. Lin Tuo and the other two didn’t have much of an appetite, but they ate anyway.

After the meal, one of the sisters turned to Lin Tuo and said, “Outsider, I want to play ‘Guess the Dominoes’ with you.”

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Lin Tuo casually leaned back against the railing of the loft and drawled, “Sorry, you’ll have to wait. I need to play ‘Guess the Dominoes’ with A Yun first.”

A Yun froze. “I already played with you once!”

Lin Tuo’s face remained expressionless. “That was your challenge to me. This time, it’s my challenge to you.”

A Yun clearly hadn’t expected Lin Tuo to turn the tables on him. In his plan, he would challenge Lin Tuo first; win or lose, it didn’t matter. After all, there was already a long line of people waiting to play with Lin Tuo, and he didn’t believe Lin Tuo could keep losing indefinitely.

Lin Tuo looked straight at A Yun, impatience creeping into his voice. “So? Are you playing or not?”

A Yun didn’t answer right away. Now he only had two dominoes left in his hand—a “1” and a “3.” Lin Tuo knew exactly what pieces he held, so his odds of winning were slim. If he lost again, Lin Tuo would gain yet another piece.

Lin Tuo could tell what was going through A Yun’s mind, and said evenly, “What’s wrong? Are you looking down on the Gu God?”

A Yun: “…”

He had no choice now. Whether he wanted to or not, he had to play.

Gripping the two tiles tightly, A Yun’s eyes darted back and forth between the “1” and the “3.” Then he glanced at Lin Tuo, who was calmly weighing his own tiles. Finally, with a deep breath, he slapped a tile down on the table.

This was Gu God’s territory, protected by ancestral spirits. He refused to believe that a foreigner could keep winning here by sheer luck.

Lin Tuo placed one of his tiles on the table as well, his tone as flat as plain water. “Same rules.”

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Three seconds later, they both flipped their tiles.

A Yun had put down a “1.” Lin Tuo revealed a “2.”

A Yun leapt up in shock. “Impossible!”

Lin Tuo calmly pocketed A Yun’s “1,” giving him a glance as cold as if he were an insect. “Stop trying to guess what I’m thinking.”

A Yun’s face went pale.

He had been trying to guess Lin Tuo’s mind. In his view, Lin Tuo was a clever opponent. In the previous round, Lin Tuo had won a “2,” which meant that now he held four tiles in total: two “2s,” one “1,” and one “3.”

Logically, most people in his position would want to balance out their hand. That meant they’d play one of the “2s” first. That way, even if they lost, they’d still keep three different numbers. But this was Lin Tuo—there was no way he’d make such a predictable move.

In A Yun’s reasoning, Lin Tuo would either play the “1” or the “3.” He believed it was more likely Lin Tuo would put down the “1,” because if Lin Tuo avoided playing a “2” yet still wanted to capture his “3,” only the “1” could do it.

Convinced of his deduction, A Yun grew excited. He didn’t even need to capture Lin Tuo’s tile—forcing a draw would be enough, because in a draw only Lin Tuo would lose. And if Lin Tuo happened to play the “3” instead, then his own “1” could beat it. Either way, he wouldn’t lose out.

So A Yun chose his “1.”

Lin Tuo frowned slightly. “That’s it?”

A Yun’s facial muscles twitched. He could almost see the disdain written all over Lin Tuo’s face. To save face, he glared viciously at him. Lin Tuo didn’t flinch. He simply stacked his five dominoes neatly, then set them aside without even sparing another look at the defeated A Yun. Instead, he turned to the young women in the stilt house. “Who’s next to send me a tile?”

The girls: “…”

The one who had earlier volunteered suddenly lost her nerve. She quickly redirected her challenge toward He Yuting. “Foreign girl, I want to play with you.”

He Yuting’s breath caught, her chest tightening. She shot a pleading look at Aqi, then glanced nervously at Lin Tuo.

Lin Tuo mouthed two words at her: Don’t be afraid.

Bolstered by that, He Yuting gathered her courage, clutching her tiles as she stepped forward.

The girl casually placed one of her own tiles face-down on the table. He Yuting closed her eyes and was about to pick at random when Lin Tuo stopped her. “Think carefully.”

He Yuting froze. Was he giving her a hint? She couldn’t make sense of it. Nor could anyone else in the room—the villagers thought Lin Tuo was deliberately tipping her off. Suspicious, the girl retracted her tile, re-selected another one, and set it down again.

He Yuting thought hard but still couldn’t work it out. With no better idea, she chose a tile, pressed it face-down onto the table, and waited.

The girl asked, “Will you reveal first, or should I?”

He Yuting copied Lin Tuo’s style. “Three seconds, we flip together.”

The girl nodded.

He Yuting silently counted down. Three… two… one…

Flip.

The girl had a “2.” He Yuting revealed a “3.”

He Yuting couldn’t contain herself—she leapt to her feet, shouting, “Ahhh, I won!”

Lin Tuo’s voice remained cool. “Anyone else still want to hand over a tile?”

A Yun’s expression darkened. He was convinced Lin Tuo had some way of rigging the game. Muttering threats, he gathered the girls and stormed off.

Once they were gone, Aqi couldn’t hold back. “Lin Tuo, tell us what happened! Beating that idiot NPC doesn’t matter—but how did you make He Yuting win?”

Lin Tuo slid the domino she had won across the table to her and explained gently, “Because He Yuting doesn’t overthink.”

Aqi looked at her. “You mean she’s stupid?”

“…Not exactly.” Lin Tuo brushed the question aside. “The game of guessing dominoes is like rock-paper-scissors, but with numbers. People’s minds are biased—‘1’ feels like the smallest, weakest number. So most players assume that playing a ‘1’ is safest, since even if it’s eaten, the loss is minimal. What I said—‘think carefully’—was enough to make the villagers second-guess themselves. But for He Yuting, she wouldn’t over-analyze my words. I figured she’d just… count.”

He Yuting’s eyes widened. “Brother Lin Tuo!”

She quickly tried it out. Removing the girl’s tile from the table, she tapped her own tiles one by one as she recited softly: “Think… carefully…” Each word matched a tile. On “think,” her finger landed on “1.” On “care-,” it landed on “2.” On “fully,” it landed on “3.”

Exactly the tile she had chosen.

Aqi stared for a moment, then burst out laughing. “So that’s how! You’re something else.”