"Walk out of here fair and square...?"
Qi Xia showed a thoughtful expression, pondering over something unknown.
"I have already divided them. It's your turn."
Human Pig pushed both bowls forward.
"Choose. Choose which one of us gets to survive."
Lin Qin and Old Lu frowned upon seeing this scene. Human Pig had evenly mixed all the pieces, leaving each bowl with half black and half white. Everything from here on out truly relied on luck.
Qi Xia did not make a move at all. He turned his ear, as if trying to use his sense of hearing to determine the color of the pieces. After a while, Qi Xia spoke up, "Human Pig, you choose for me."
"What..."
Human Pig paused.
"What did you say?"
"I said you choose for me," Qi Xia said seriously.
"Pick two for me, and I will choose one from those two."
"Qi Xia, this is gambling your life. Are you not going to take your fate into your own hands?"
"It doesn't matter."
Qi Xia did not seem to care.
"You said you wanted to participate in gambling your life to make yourself feel like you were once alive. But if you think carefully, I have been the one playing this game from beginning to end. You did not participate at all."
Human Pig remained silent. That was indeed the truth.
"So I am giving you a chance to participate."
Qi Xia pointed at the bowls in front of him.
"This game is a battle of wits between you and me, so I really want to know what you will choose."
Human Pig reached out a hand and slowly stroked his chin. There were uncleansed pig bristles growing on his chin, so he stroked the bristles as if stroking a beard, which gave him an aura of eerie wisdom. He thought for a long time, yet he still could not figure out Qi Xia's motives.
This was originally a game with a fifty-fifty chance of winning. But if he were to pick the pieces himself, the result would become even more unpredictable for Qi Xia. In such a tense moment of gambling with his life, the man in front of him actually handed complete control over his life and death to the enemy...
Had he given up? Or was he playing some little trick?
"Do not hesitate, Human Pig. Once you finish picking, it will be easier for me to pick, will it not?"
Qi Xia said.
"Once I finish picking... it will be easier for you to pick?"
After a moment, Human Pig finally nodded.
"I understand. Then let me send you on your way."
Qi Xia nodded and said no more. Human Pig reached out toward the bowls on the table and decisively picked up two white pieces. To Qi Xia, these two white pieces were tickets to hell.
No matter how he phrased his question in the end, white could never turn into black. Just as he was about to hand the two white pieces over to Qi Xia, something suddenly flashed through his mind. Human Pig abruptly raised his head and thought to himself, "Wait a minute... that is not right."
Could Qi Xia not have anticipated that he would pick two white pieces for him? This was a gamble, a match where if the other side won, he would lose his life. Why would he be so confident in letting him do the picking?
"Ah..."
Human Pig suddenly realized the truth and slowly pulled his hand back.
"He is playing tricks..."
What did he mean by "Once you finish picking, it will be easier for me to pick"? Human Pig's thoughts suddenly cleared up. Once these two white pieces were handed to Qi Xia, Qi Xia would immediately go back on his word.
He would toss these two white pieces aside, and then pick pieces from the remaining bowls again. This small action would break the balance inside the bowls, leaving exactly forty-eight white pieces and fifty black pieces. Qi Xia's chances of winning would immediately increase by a fraction.
After all, Qi Xia was not a Zodiac. The things he said during the game were not absolute rules; they were merely his own suggestions. Since they were not rules, Qi Xia did not have to follow them himself.
Therefore, going back on his word was extremely likely.
"You really calculated this well..."
A wave of delayed fear washed over Human Pig. He had almost fallen right into Qi Xia's trap. He thought about it for a moment, then took out two black pieces instead.
But at this moment, he hesitated again. Handing two black pieces directly to the other party would be even more dangerous. If the opponent had already predicted his prediction, wouldn't that give him a direct victory?
Human Pig lowered his head and looked at the pieces in his hands. He held two white pieces in his left hand and two black pieces in his right hand. He realized that no matter which choice he made, it would actually increase Qi Xia's chances of winning.
The situation was simply absurd. Could all of this have been calculated by Qi Xia in advance?
"Should I really give him the two white pieces after all...?"
He narrowed his eyes and pondered it again. At the very least, white pieces would only slightly increase Qi Xia's chances of winning, whereas black pieces would increase them drastically... No, that was not right either.
Human Pig shook his head once more. Neither two black pieces nor two white pieces would work. After all, he had no idea what Qi Xia's strategy was going to be.
Human Pig was forced to adjust his strategy. He abandoned the idea of giving two blacks or two whites, and instead kept one black piece and one white piece in his hand. At this moment, he only had one thought—since he could not decrease the opponent's chances of winning, he would just maintain the status quo.
By letting everything return to a fifty-fifty state, the situation should be even more difficult for Qi Xia to deal with.
"That is right... this is the way..."
Human Pig nodded, placing one black piece and one white piece into Qi Xia's hand.
"Qi Xia, I have made my pick," Human Pig said.
"This fatal question has returned to your own hands once again."
"A fatal question..."
Qi Xia touched the two pieces in his hands, his expression looking quite complicated. Human Pig finally breathed a sigh of relief. At least for the current stage, he had made the most optimal choice.
For Qi Xia, a situation with one black piece and one white piece should be the hardest to handle. He still had to pick one of them to ask those two people about the color of the piece.
He would neither know the color of the piece he had chosen, nor know whether the person he asked would be telling the truth or lying. Under this double layer of fog, Qi Xia's chances of winning would decrease infinitely.
Old Lu and Lin Qin broke into a cold sweat upon seeing the black piece and white piece in Qi Xia's hands. These two were not fools either, naturally understanding the high stakes involved. It seemed that all of Qi Xia's earlier schemes had failed, and everything was right back where it started.
Now, the pieces were still one black and one white, and the two people were still one telling the truth and one telling a lie. If he did not possess extremely strong luck, how exactly could he survive? Old Lu pursed his lips and wiped the fine sweat off his forehead.
Both of his hands were already ice-cold from anxiety.
"Qi Xia, who are you going to ask?"
Human Pig asked. Qi Xia turned to look in Old Lu's direction, then turned his head to look at Lin Qin, pondering with a solemn expression. Just who was the person telling the truth?
It took about thirty seconds for Qi Xia to finally make his choice.
"I choose Lin Qin..."
Lin Qin shuddered all over upon hearing this, looking as if she had been startled.
"Good."
Human Pig turned his head and waved at Lin Qin.
"Come along, little girl. Remember the rules, you can only answer 'black' or 'white'. If you dare to say anything else or give any hints, you will be killed instantly."
Lin Qin nodded, her face deathly pale. Human Pig then turned back to Qi Xia.
"Begin, Qi Xia. You only have one chance to ask. Whether or not you can save your own life will all depend on this single question."