Ten Thirty

When Luo Qi opened his eyes and saw the scene before him—a scene he had only visited once, yet which had left a deep impression on him—he almost jumped up in fright.

"Damn it, again..."

He stopped halfway through his sentence.

Luo Qi noticed that this time was different from the last; besides him and Ulu, there were two other people with him.

... This guy even recruited new members?!

"Don't rush, Mr. Thumb," Bai Wei said slowly. "I know you'll be excited to see me again, but we should at least let these two new guests know what's going on, shouldn't we?"

The two newcomers were equally astonished.

One second they were doing their own thing in the real world, and the next second they were inexplicably dragged to this place.

So, what kind of place is this?

The two of them cautiously observed their surroundings.

The first thing that catches the eye is that decaying ancient tree that almost dominates the entire field of vision.

Although it is said to be decaying, many new buds have sprouted on its branches, as if it is about to be reborn at any time, and it is swaying gently with the wind blowing from who knows where.

And beneath the ancient tree stood the four of them, sitting at the stone table.

So naturally, they turned their attention to Bai Wei, who had spoken first.

A body whose face was completely obscured, like a phantom made of black mist, with only two faintly glowing parts that resembled a solid entity.

These are the middle finger of the left hand and the left eye.

Could it be...?

They thought of something and immediately looked at another phantom figure that Bai Wei called "Mr. Thumb".

The other person's right thumb was glowing. Even though he tried his best to cover it up, and even hid his hand between his legs, it was of no use. Except for his thumb, his whole body was semi-transparent, which made the upright glowing object between his legs even more dazzling.

Finally, they looked each other over.

One is a slender Ring Finger.

Another one,

It is a tooth.

Finally, they looked at their own bodies. The woman with the Ring Finger only needed to look down at her right hand, while the man with teeth had to rely on the reflection of a puddle of water in the potted plant on the stone table to determine his position.

But it's finally a done deal.

Those who come here are all holders of body parts.

"Hehe, it seems the two newcomers are quite adaptable," Bai Wei said with a chuckle. "Unlike this Mr. Thumb, who was so loud and boisterous when he first arrived, giving me quite a headache."

"Fuck your mother..." Luo Qi instinctively wanted to curse, but he managed to hold it back.

Because he had thought about it after he went back last time, he realized that the most important thing in this place was to disguise himself.

It would be extremely dangerous if people knew his real-life identity and the corresponding body parts.

Even if he were the Archbishop of the Rhine, it would be the same, given the precedent set by Ke Li.

Therefore, he absolutely cannot let his personal style become too strong; he must remain calm, restrain himself, and suppress the urge to insult Ulu's entire family.

"What exactly is going on here?" The holder of the tooth finally spoke. Whether it was natural or a disguise, his voice was extremely hoarse, making one feel uncomfortable. "Could you explain a little?"

The Ring Finger didn't speak, but it was clearly waiting for an answer.

"Of course," Bai Wei said with a smile. "But before that, let's figure out how to address each other. I've already spoken with Mr. Thumb last time, so you can call me Hand Eye. I'll call you Ms. Ring Finger, and..."

Bai Wei looked at the other person's gleaming teeth.

"Front Tooth Mr.?"

The Front Tooth remained silent for a moment.

"Casual."

After that, Bai Wei gave a brief explanation of what had happened, using the same story he had told Luo Qi before.

After listening, Front Tooth and Ring Finger remained expressionless, but they were deeply shocked.

"Visas's Divine Kingdom", "A Game with Rules as the Stake", and Bai Wei, the "mysterious man" who already possesses two pieces of his body.

Although Luo Qi didn't see Bai Wei as mysterious, he was still somewhat surprised because the entire upper echelons of Rhine believed that Bai Wei already possessed at least Three Corpse Pieces.

But as it stands, he still only has hands and eyes.

... So who is the guy that Holy Sound and Rhine are jointly hunting down?

Luo Qi desperately wanted to know the answer, but he couldn't ask directly, or even show the slightest hint of curiosity. If he didn't control himself, Ulu would definitely realize that he was a high-ranking member of Rhine, and then they wouldn't be able to continue their conversation there.

After all, Ulu, who currently possesses two pieces of the body, seems to be the most authoritative person in Peach Blossom Paradise.

His only advantage is that he knows Ulu's identity, while Ulu does not know his identity, so he is operating in the shadows.

And...

Luo Qi looked at his Ring Finger and Front Tooth.

Thinking about it carefully, he didn't necessarily have to make Ulu his target here. After all, the entire Rhine was already eyeing Ulu, and the Devourers had already been sent out. That guy Ulu probably wouldn't live much longer, and Ulu's body parts certainly wouldn't end up in his hands.

So why didn't he turn his attention to those two people?

Last time he came, Bai Wei took advantage of his lack of knowledge about this place and ripped him off badly.

So this time, he could easily use a similar method to trick these two.

There are rules even in the dismemberment of these two people!

Upon realizing this, Luo Qi suddenly felt enlightened.

When Bai Wei suggested, "Should we play a round too?", Luo Qi smiled.

Then he heard the Ring Finger, who had been silent all along, slowly speak, "What I want to know is, in the game you played last time... did you use the power of the corpse parts?"

Luo Qi's smile froze.

Bai Wei looked at the woman with the Ring Finger with great interest. "How did you know?"

"That's obvious," the Ring Finger said calmly. "If this is truly the Divine Kingdom of Visas, then Visas's power should be usable."

Luo Qi's face darkened.

The Front Tooth sneered from the side, "Don't treat people like fools."

Luo Qi's face darkened further.

"Haha, it seems you two are indeed intelligent people." Bai Wei said with a smile. "Yes, in Peach Blossom Paradise, the only thing that can work is the power of Visas, because here only the corpses are real, and we are all fake."

Seeing that Bai Wei had admitted it, the Ring Finger spoke again, "In that case, I will not play any games with you. Although I don't know what your rules are, my rules are useless in this kind of game. I can't beat you."

Front Tooth nodded slightly and repeated with a cold laugh, "Don't treat people like fools."

Luo Qi didn't say anything, but his face was already incredibly dark.

If it weren't for the fact that everyone in Peach Blossom Paradise couldn't see each other's faces clearly, he would have already left.

... But then again, he didn't even know how to leave.

Thinking of this, Luo Qi became even angrier.

Bai Wei, however, showed no displeasure at being rejected and remained cheerful.

"I understand your concerns," Bai Wei said, "But we can avoid this situation because Peach Blossom Paradise is a higher-level existence than the Visas' Corpse Pieces. We can use it to set new rules."

"New rules?" the Ring Finger asked. "How?"

"Just take an oath to Peach Blossom Paradise."

Bai Wei took the lead and demonstrated by placing his hand on the potted plant in front of him before speaking softly.

"Great Peach Blossom Paradise, I swear with my hands and my eyes that in the time to come, I promise not to use the power of my hands and eyes, I promise not to use lies, I promise to follow all the established rules of the game... Please bear witness."

The moment he finished speaking, the shadows of the trees beneath his feet swayed, as if the ancient trees behind him were responding to Bai Wei.

Under everyone's watchful eyes, the light in Bai Wei's left eye and finger gradually dimmed, turning into specks of light that, like dancing fireflies, leaped into the sky.

"... Is that all?" Luo Qi looked at Bai Wei with great suspicion. "Why do I feel like you're trying to fool me again?"

"If you don't believe it, why not try it yourself?" Bai Wei shrugged. "You can skip sealing the rules for now and instead swear an oath to prohibit lies. Of course, if you're not even willing to try that, that's fine too. Just leave, and I'll try recruiting others next time."

The three exchanged glances.

Leaving is impossible.

After all, those who possessed Visas's body parts knew better than ordinary people just how powerful Visas' Corpse Pieces truly were.

If they leave like this, they may never come into contact with another body part in their lifetime.

So after thinking for a moment, the three of them reached out to the potted plant.

Instead of immediately handing over the body parts, they swore an oath to refrain from lying, as Bai Wei had suggested.

After responding to each of them in Peach Blossom Paradise, Bai Wei said with a smile, "Alright, now you can try to see if you can lie."

How should we try it?

"Let's make up a lie and see if we can say it out loud."

Are you fabricating lies?

Luo Qi looked at the potted plant in front of him, pondered for a moment, and then slowly spoke.

"I like..."

That's where I stopped talking.

It was as if an invisible force had sealed his mouth, preventing him from uttering the word "woman" no matter what.

... It's actually true!

Luo Qi was filled with horror and couldn't help but raise his head to look at the ancient tree again.

Is this the Divine Kingdom of Visas?

Even though he has been dead for a thousand years, he can still do this.

I can't even imagine what Visas would be like if he were still alive.

Luo Qi wasn't the only one shocked; his Ring Finger and Front Tooth were also taken aback.

The two of them also took a similar test and were unable to utter a lie, as if the Peach Blossom Paradise had truly erased the lie.

"How about it?" Bai Wei looked at the three of them with a smile. "Can we try it now?"

At this point, the three of them really had no reason to refuse anymore.

Only Luo Qi remained angry.

Why the hell didn't you do this last time?

This damn guy, he only screwed over me, huh?

Luo Qi glared at Bai Wei, thinking that he would kill him one day.

The Ring Finger looked at Bai Wei: "I want to know what game we're playing?"

"Don't worry, it's not complicated and doesn't require any technical skills. It just requires a little bit of luck, and... a little bit of strategy," Bai Wei said with a smile.

Luo Qi said coldly, "It's just rolling dice, why make it sound so complicated?"

... rolling dice?

The Ring Finger and Front Tooth were somewhat surprised, clearly not expecting that the game used to gamble for such an important item as the Visas body parts would be so ordinary... and down-to-earth.

"No, no, no, last time it was rolling dice, but this time it's different." Bai Wei shook his finger. "Rolling dice is too reliant on luck. We need more strategic thinking, so..."

Bai Wei tapped on the stone table.

A stack of exquisite playing cards appeared before everyone's eyes.

Bai Wei picked up the cards, flipped them over, and fifty-four cards were neatly displayed in front of everyone.

"The game we're going to play is called..."

Bai Wei said with a smile.

"Ten Thirty."

Although it was a game they had never heard of before, the rules were so simple that the three of them understood it in less than a minute.

Simply put, it's about comparing sizes.

Each player receives a hole card, with the numbers one through ten corresponding to a point value, and the other face cards corresponding to half a point. However, the point values are not fixed; players can reveal more cards, and the final point values are added together, with the player with the higher value winning.

However, no matter how you add them together, the maximum score is Ten Thirty. If you exceed this score, you will lose.

Therefore, adding points rashly without knowing the opponent's hidden cards is a very risky thing to do.

After understanding the rules, the three owners of the body parts couldn't help but feel nervous.

Only Bai Wei remained calm and composed, seemingly in complete control.

"How about it?" Bai Wei asked with a smile. "If there are no problems, then present the rules just like I have."

The three exchanged glances again.

But it was useless, because everyone's bodies were illusory, and they couldn't see each other's faces at all.

Luo Qi, on the other hand, hesitated whether to give himself a thumbs-up or a buff before handing over the rules.

But the question is... [Disturbance] plus luck?

He really didn't know.

But before he could make up his mind, Bai Wei spoke up again in a leisurely manner.

"Mr. Thumb, your [Disturbance] is very useful, so you'd better not use it."

Luo Qi's expression froze. He subconsciously looked up and found that the other two people were looking over.

Damn it! I almost forgot that this damned Ulu has already used his [Disruption] and knows the rules, so he can't cheat anymore.

... But why?! This guy came to block his way right after cheating last time?!

What a damn bastard!

Luo Qi was trembling with rage, but he could only suppress it and said coldly, "Don't worry, I'm not that despicable, unlike some people."

"Ah, right, right," Bai Wei said with a smile, "So, can we begin? It's about time to deal the cards."

Luo Qi took several deep breaths before barely suppressing the urge to flip the table. Together with the other two, he promised Peach Blossom Paradise that he would seal away the [Disturbance].

But as the light from the thumb dimmed, Luo Qi's frustration and unease intensified.

Soon, four face-down cards were placed in front of each person.

Before the three of them were about to look at their cards, Bai Wei seemed to suddenly remember something and said, "Ah, I almost forgot, we still need a dealer."

"... The bookmaker?"

"Yes, the players only need to compare the size with the dealer." Bai Wei gave a brief explanation of the dealer's role, and then said with a smile, "I propose that I be the dealer."

Luo Qi said coldly, "Why should I? You don't still think we're fools, do you? You think we can't see that you want to beat three people at the same time?"

"The dealer does have a chance to win against three people at the same time, but they can also lose to three people at the same time. I suggested that I be the dealer because I have the most chips," Bai Wei said leisurely. "Otherwise, Mr. Thumb, if you were the dealer and lost... could you divide your finger into three parts to give away?"

Luo Qi's lips twitched.

"But you only have two sets of rules," the Ring Finger said calmly. "What if you lose them both?"

"It's very simple, I have another piece of information to share."

"What kind of intelligence can compare to a rule?"

"Body parts".

Bai Wei said with a smile.

"Someone took away my tongue and ears. I know who he is, and I know... where he is."

Upon hearing this, the expressions of the three people changed.

"How about it?" Bai Wei asked with a smile, as if he had anticipated everyone's reaction. "Can we begin now?"