Chapter 33.4: What Did I Do?

Everyone at the table burst into noisy chatter.

Even Li Zhuiyuan found it odd—his luck today really did seem unusually good.

Runsheng had already dumped the sunflower seeds from their bag and was now using it to hold cash.

He suddenly grew suspicious. Was Little Yuan and his grandfather betting on the same kind of game?

Since he could remember, he’d never really known what it felt like to win money—let alone win like this.

Next round: blind bet, then check.

Li Zhuiyuan realized something was off. He had drawn: AAA.

Three rounds in, everyone had checked their cards, and not one had folded.

Li Zhuiyuan “peeked” at their hands and was now certain—something was definitely strange.

Out of the other nine players, five had triplets, and four had straight flushes.

Li Zhuiyuan began to suspect he was cursed.

He touched the yellow talismans in his pocket, tempted to slap one on his own forehead just to see if the color had changed.

From that point on, the card table didn’t just reek of blood—it was full-blown catastrophe.

Everyone had already lost a chunk to Li Zhuiyuan in earlier rounds. Now, holding god-tier hands, they were seized by a sense of “destiny is with me.”

No one held back. No mercy, no friendly warnings to quit while ahead.

The stakes skyrocketed, round after round, chips flying in without hesitation.

A few who ran out of cash showed their hands to bystanders behind them, asking them to invest for a share of the winnings.

Li Zhuiyuan’s arm ached from feeding money into the pot. Finally, this round came to an end.

As a few players checked his cards and then folded, the atmosphere around the table grew increasingly suffocating.

When he finally revealed his three Aces, the last guy practically collapsed in shock.

Someone wanted to accuse him of cheating but couldn’t bring themselves to say it—neither he nor Runsheng had touched the deck. The shuffling had been done by the players next to them—the ones who’d lost the most.

Still, the room remained surprisingly calm for one reason: Runsheng stood up.

Runsheng had sensed the threat. Winning that much had thrown him into a high—his eyes now bloodshot, his body exuding the same eerie aura from when he dealt with those two possessed thugs the day before.

Li Zhuiyuan dared to gamble here because Runsheng was by his side.

But even he hadn’t expected things to go this far. Looking back, none of the precautions he’d prepared had proven useful.

Li Zhuiyuan asked, “Still playing?”

He was planning to intentionally lose some of the money. If he lost too slowly, he’d just return half.

“Play, of course we’re playing. But today’s deck is worn out—let’s get a new one.” A middle-aged man with a thick beard gestured for everyone to sit, then exchanged a glance with the players to Li Zhuiyuan’s left and right.

They usually didn’t collude in card games. If they ever did, it was only during the year-end rush. But today, they had no choice.

A new deck was brought out. One side shuffled, the other cut, and dealt the cards.

Li Zhuiyuan played blind again and then looked: three Queens. Triplets.

Across the table, the guy’s expression screamed he had the biggest hand.

They were cheating.

They didn’t realize how loud their “discreet” eye signals sounded to Li Zhuiyuan.

“Nope.”

Li Zhuiyuan slapped his cards face-down into the pile and scattered them.

“What?” The bearded man jumped up and pointed at him. “You’re cheating!”

He wanted to prove that by cheating himself, he could expose Li Zhuiyuan. After all, who would fold triplets just like that?

“Runsheng-ge, cover the table fee, the tea fee, and the cleaning fee.”

“Huh?” Runsheng looked puzzled but obediently complied. After estimating the cost, he took the money from the bag and placed it on the table.

Li Zhuiyuan stood up and said,

“Smash the table.”

“Bang!”

His fist came down. The table splintered.

This wasn’t some casual flip or emotional outburst. This was a heavy round table smashed to pieces—an act that froze everyone present in fear.

Li Zhuiyuan looked calmly at the mess. He wasn’t the one cheating—but did he need to explain himself?

Nope.

“Let’s go, Runsheng-ge.”

“Alright!”

Runsheng gave a ghastly grin and pointed dramatically at everyone in the room.

He’d picked up the move from a rerun of God of Gamblers the other night. Too bad Little Yuan didn’t wear hair gel—otherwise he’d be his ideal Chow Yun-fat.

The bearded man didn’t dare approach. He just stood there, voice trembling: “We’re calling the cops!”

It was laughable. This was the kind of place where no one called the law—but if they did, it’d be the entire operation that got busted, and all gambling funds seized.

Li Zhuiyuan stopped and looked back at him:

“Tan Yunlong at the town precinct is my uncle.”

Then he walked out.

Runsheng skipped along with a sack of money, dragging his shoes like a schoolgirl imitating a runway strut.

Li Zhuiyuan, on the other hand, was calm—even somber.

Once on the tricycle, he immediately pulled out his talismans and slapped them onto his forehead, shoulders, arms, thighs—like he was about to stage his own funeral.

After a moment, he checked each one. None had changed color.

He put them away and sighed. Now he understood. He muttered to himself:

“Luck-Shifting Ritual.”

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