Xing Ye asked, "What is the punishment for falsely accusing someone of cheating?"

 

"Let’s begin." After exposing Mu Ba, Xing Ye said to the dealer.

The dealer, dressed in a black suit, shuffled the deck with exceptionally smooth and stylish movements. After three shuffles, he spread the deck into a fan shape on the table, inviting both players to draw a card.

Since Xing Ye had placed his bet first, Mu Ba was to draw first. He casually picked a card and placed it face-down on the table.

Xing Ye put his phone in his pants pocket, slid one hand into the pocket, and rested his fingers on the mirrored phone case.

Unhurried, he extended his hand and tapped each of the remaining 53 cards one by one.

Impatient, Mu Ba snapped, “Why haven’t you drawn a card yet?”

Xing Ye glanced at him and said leisurely, “I’m just making sure no one’s cheating by inspecting the equipment. Better safe than sorry, right?”

Then he turned to the dealer and asked, “Am I allowed to inspect the cards like this?”

“Of course, no problem.” The dealer nodded. “Our casino allows any form of inspection.”

At that moment, Xing Ye felt a slight vibration from the phone in his pocket. He pressed his index finger on the card the little mirror had indicated and smoothly slid it out with a single finger.

Looking at the card, he saw it was the 10 of Hearts.

In this game of high card, J, Q, K, and Jokers were the weakest, while 10 was the highest. If both players drew a card of the same number, the suits determined rank—Hearts were the highest, followed by Diamonds, then Clubs, and finally Spades.

As expected, the little mirror had guided him to the best possible card—drawing this meant he couldn’t lose.

Both players kept their cards face-down so the other couldn’t see. Xing Ye then placed 500 chips on the table and said, “Raise.”

If Mu Ba chose not to match the bet, it meant he would forfeit without even revealing his card, losing the 500 player chips he had already bet to Xing Ye.

Gritting his teeth, Mu Ba said, “Call.”

He then took 500 passenger chips from his box and added them to the bet—almost all his extra passenger chips were now on the table.

When they revealed their cards, Mu Ba had drawn the 10 of Diamonds, while Xing Ye had the 10 of Hearts—making Xing Ye the winner.

“It looks like I’ve won this round. Let’s go to the next,” Xing Ye said calmly.

At this moment, Mu Ba turned to the dealer and declared, “Drawing the highest card right away? I suspect him of cheating and request an inspection of the equipment.”

The dealer replied, “A player has raised suspicion of foul play in this game. To ensure fairness, we will seal the equipment and have the banker bring in professionals to inspect it.”

As he spoke, he placed a transparent glass cover over the entire table, sealing the cards and chips in place, waiting for the banker and the inspection team to arrive.

With the game on hold, spectators entered the duel room.

Standing behind Xing Ye, Yan Hebi asked worriedly, “Didn’t they frame Liu Yi for cheating and get him eliminated? Could they do the same to you…?”

Xing Ye waved a hand dismissively, signaling Yan Hebi not to worry.

Meanwhile, Shao Lin stood beside Mu Ba, placing a reassuring hand on his shoulder, as if backing him up.

Song Er muttered in disbelief, “Why is Mu Ba working with Shao Lin? He’s on our team—Shao Lin is our enemy!”

Seeing that Xing Ye remained silent, Yan Hebi took it upon himself to explain: “Look at all those passenger chips on the table. Shao Lin must have either helped Mu Ba win them or deliberately lost to him. 1,000 passenger chips equal 100 player chips, which is 100,000 points—10 million yuan. That kind of money can tempt anyone.”

“That makes sense… I’ve never seen so much money in my life…” Song Er murmured, staring at the massive stack of chips.

The banker, wearing a black-and-white mask, arrived shortly after.

Mu Ba immediately said, “Inspect my 10 of Diamonds. I suspect Xing Ye switched my card.”

The banker used a device to scan for fingerprints and announced, “This card indeed has Xing Ye’s fingerprints on it. How do you explain this?”

Mu Ba added, “He touched every card on the table earlier—that was just a distraction to cover up the fact that he secretly swapped my card! But he forgot—I drew my card first. The only card he shouldn’t have touched is my 10 of Diamonds, yet his fingerprints are on it!”

Xing Ye asked, “How exactly did you confirm those are my fingerprints?”

The banker replied, “Every player’s fingerprints are recorded upon entering the game. This card contains fingerprints from only three people: you, Mu Ba, and the dealer. Specifically, it has your right thumb and index finger’s prints, exactly in a card-holding position. Without a reasonable explanation, we’ll have to rule that you cheated.”

Xing Ye sighed, “So this is how you framed Liu Yi? I thought you had some sophisticated method, but it turns out it was just this?”

He then turned to the audience and asked, “Does anyone here have the ability ‘Mimicry’? It allows a person to copy someone else’s fingerprints.”

Then he looked at the banker and said, “What a pity. This method is way too childish.”

He turned back to the banker and said, “Please check the remaining 52 cards on the table, as well as my own 10 of Hearts, and see if any of them contain my fingerprints.”

Following his request, the banker inspected each card carefully. Then, looking at Mu Ba and Shao Lin, he announced,

“Out of the entire 54-card deck, only Mu Ba’s 10 of Diamonds contains Xing Ye’s fingerprints. None of the other 53 cards have his prints.”

“What?!” Mu Ba exclaimed. “But he clearly touched every card!”

Xing Ye smirked. “Touching a card doesn’t mean leaving fingerprints.”

He then stretched out his hands toward the banker. “Please inspect my fingers.”

After scanning, the banker was visibly surprised.

“You applied a thin layer of clear nail polish to your fingertips?”

Xing Ye chuckled, “Just a minor trick to guard against certain people’s schemes. I applied the nail polish in the hallway outside my hotel room before entering the casino. My friend borrowed it from a lady on my behalf. The hallway has surveillance cameras, which can confirm that I applied the polish before coming to the casino and challenging Mu Ba to a duel.

During that time, I had no idea Mu Ba would choose poker as the game, and the deck brought by the dealer was still sealed. So, tell me, when exactly could I have left my fingerprints? Are you suggesting that with fingers coated in nail polish, I somehow left fingerprints on an unopened deck?”

The banker smiled and said, “That’s impossible. Even if a fingerprint were left, there would be traces of nail polish in it. In fact, the other 53 cards all carry a faint scent of nail polish—except for the 10 of Diamonds.”

Xing Ye continued, “I suggest checking Mu Ba’s fingers to see if his fingerprints right now are truly his—or mine.”

Both initial skills and QR codes have time limits. Since Mu Ba framed Xing Ye less than 10 minutes ago, there was still a chance that his skill’s effect hadn’t worn off.

As it turned out, Mu Ba, despite being a following Fate player, wasn’t particularly lucky. His skill’s duration was only 10 minutes, and the banker had scanned his fingerprints just before the time limit expired. The results confirmed that the right thumb and index finger prints on the 10 of Diamonds actually belonged to Xing Ye.

Realizing he had been exposed, Mu Ba slumped into his chair, completely defeated.

Xing Ye asked, “What’s the punishment for falsely accusing someone of cheating?”

“The same as actual cheating,” the banker replied. “This round officially belongs to Xing Ye, and all the chips go to him. As for the player Mu Ba, we will take him away. His points, QR codes, and initial skill will be converted into chips and transferred to Xing Ye.”

The banker spoke this last sentence directly to Xing Ye, and at that moment, it was as if everyone around them had gone deaf—no one else could hear what was said.

Xing Ye frowned and asked, “Can I refuse his initial skill?”

“No,” the banker said. “Everything belonging to a cheater is reclaimed by the system. Even after the game ends, you cannot use chips to exchange for his initial skill.”

 

Translator : DarNan