Pressure

The voice sounded calm, even matter-of-fact, so much so that Jiang He nearly thought she had misheard.

She looked up at Lu Xinyi, only to find that Lu Xinyi's expression was perfectly normal, as though she saw nothing wrong with what she had said.

"Wait, isn't something wrong here?

"Aren't we supposed to take turns winning hands?

"Shouldn't you be folding right now?"

Jiang He stared at Lu Xinyi in disbelief. Or rather, she had already realized certain things; she simply found them hard to accept for the moment.

You could know a person's face but not their heart. Jiang He had considered the possibility that the other side might tear off the mask, but she had never expected her to be too lazy to even pretend for one second.

Lu Xinyi merely smiled indifferently, offering no explanation as she pointed at the timer on the gambling table.

"Everyone should make a decision quickly."

Aside from the one-hour time limit for the entire game, Blood Poker also imposed a one-minute thinking limit on each player at a multiplayer table.

A small timer sat on the table. If someone ran out of time, it would automatically count as a fold.

After all, each round could involve repeated raises, and this was meant to prevent meaningless stalling.

The bright red numbers on the timer kept changing.

43

42

"Fine. So this is how you want to play?"

Jiang He's expression darkened. She had not expected Lu Xinyi to appear so amiable, yet leave herself absolutely no bottom line once she tore off the mask.

She picked up her cards and looked at them again.

A pair of nines.

She had already known her hand, but just in case she had misread it earlier, Jiang He checked once more.

Unfortunately, it was not a weak hand, but neither was it particularly strong. Winning the entire table with it would probably be difficult.

The game continued. To Lu Xinyi's right sat another player from Community No. 3, a thin middle-aged man with glasses named Lu Mingxuan.

He tossed three 1,000-value chips into the betting area again. "Raise."

It was Su Xiucen's turn. She was the dealer this round, and also the last to act.

Before this, Jiang He, Lu Xinyi, and Lu Mingxuan had raised in sequence, while everyone else had already folded.

Su Xiucen panicked as well. The situation had completely disrupted her expectations.

Jiang He frowned. "Aunt Su, call."

Su Xiucen looked even more flustered. "B-but..."

In Jiang He's view, the situation was clear. If Su Xiucen folded, it would become one against two, putting Jiang He at an extreme disadvantage. If Su Xiucen called, it would be two against two, giving them better odds.

But Su Xiucen's panicked expression had completely exposed the fact that her hand was very weak.

During the brief stalemate, Lu Xinyi spoke.

She seemed to have completely shed her previous gentle and friendly disguise, her voice filled with aggression. "Ma'am, stop forcing yourself. Fold.

"From the moment you sat down at this table, you never had any chance of winning.

"Of course, you can keep raising if you refuse to believe it. No matter how much you raise, I'll keep raising too."

[Thinking time exceeded. Automatically folded.]

As the notification sounded, Su Xiucen seemed to collapse all at once, weakly placing her cards back on the table.

In that short minute, it had been difficult for her to make a decision.

To call now, she would have to put down another 3,000 chips. Yet Su Xiucen's hand was weak. If she lost, she would lose 4,000 including the ante, something she simply could not afford.

After all, even if she lost all ten rounds and only lost the ante each time, it would only amount to 10,000.

If she lost 4,000 in the first round, what would happen afterward? Even if she luckily got a strong hand, it would probably be difficult to turn things around.

Caught in that struggle, the minute quickly passed.

It was Jiang He's turn again.

Three people had raised in the previous round, so the cards could not be revealed yet.

The cards would only be revealed once only one person was still raising and everyone else had called.

The red countdown began ticking down from 60 again, and Jiang He had only two choices before her.

Either call or raise, or fold.

"I can't fold. If I completely surrender in the first round, I won't have any power to fight back afterward...

"At least I need to see what their hands actually are.

"I have a pair of nines. At least it's a pair. Against the two of them, it's not like I have no chance at all.

"Damn it. Someone who breaks the rules should be ganged up on by everyone else, so why are the other three people from Community No. 3 doing nothing?

"Did they anticipate this situation from the very beginning?

"Why did two people fold while two people raised?"

Jiang He's mind was a mess. Too much information made it impossible for her to sort out her thoughts.

Only 20 seconds remained on the countdown.

Jiang He decided to call first.

However, Lu Xinyi spoke at that moment.

"A friendly reminder: even if you call now, the cards still won't be revealed.

"Because the two of us will keep raising until you put all your chips on the line.

"So if your hand is really that strong, you might as well go all in now. It'll save some time."

Jiang He had just picked up her chips when her hand froze in midair.

According to the rules, if two people in a hand kept raising, the cards would never be revealed until everyone's chips had been exhausted and they entered an all-in state.

All-in, also called going all in, was the most desperate situation.

Win, and your chips doubled. Lose, and your chips were wiped out.

Jiang He had barely prepared herself mentally to lose 4,000 chips, but she had not prepared herself to lose everything in the very first round.

"Ticktock."

[Thinking time exceeded. Automatically folded.]

It was as though all strength had been instantly drained from Jiang He. The hand clutching the chips dropped again.

"Raise."

"Fold."

Lu Mingxuan chose to fold. Without anyone revealing their cards, Lu Xinyi won all the chips on the table.

After deducting the chips she had wagered herself, she had made a net profit of 9,000 chips.

Lu Mingxuan had lost the most, losing 4,000 chips including his ante.

Yet Lu Mingxuan showed no expression at all. He had not even considered calling to see the cards, directly handing over all those chips.

This made Jiang He even more certain that the four players from Community No. 3 had planned this setup from the start.

But what Jiang He could not understand was that, according to the gallery's matching system, Community No. 3 should have been established only a day ago as well.

How could they trust one another so unconditionally?

Just as she had analyzed at the beginning, even if they belonged to the same community, players were not really a community of shared interests. The Visa Time Lu Xinyi earned should not have been tradable to the others.

Then why would the other three cooperate without conditions?

Before Jiang He could figure it out, a new round was about to begin.

This time, Lu Xinyi was the dealer, and Lu Mingxuan, seated to her right, acted first.

Lu Mingxuan looked at his cards, then said, "Fold."

This surprised Jiang He somewhat. She had thought Lu Mingxuan would continue raising and repeat the coordinated act from the previous round with Lu Xinyi.

It was Su Xiucen's turn, and she was even more at a loss. "I-I, this..."

She even instinctively wanted to show Jiang He her cards, but held herself back, because that would violate the rules.

Players at a multiplayer table were allowed to make little moves outside the rules, but actions such as showing each other their cards were absolutely forbidden.

Jiang He comforted her. "It's fine, Aunt Su. If your hand is decent, call first."

However, before she could finish speaking, Lu Xinyi interrupted her.

"Still haven't figured out the situation?

"In this game, you have no chance of winning. Any form of futile resistance will only make you lose more."