The next morning.

Lin Xi went out again, carrying a photo of her father on her phone, to inquire about information.

I asked around for several days, and everyone said they had never seen it.

Lin Xi stood there looking at the tall buildings in all directions, feeling a little lost for a moment. Had she made a mistake by coming to the capital?

Back at my lodgings, there were a few more people in the room—no, there were two tables of people.

"4." The one who spoke was the man who had been dozing off in the audience during the match that day.

“A King.” Jiang Chuan calmly drew a card.

"Wow, you're so sneaky! I only have one Ace in my hand."

"How can I win if you don't use up your Ace?"

Chen Jin honestly shook his head, "I can't afford it."

Lin Xi looked past them and towards the table inside.

The three women and one man were spitting as they spoke, "You didn't touch the previous 'one-chicken' one, are you deliberately going against me?"

"How could that be! Didn't I just find a pair? Sixty thousand."

"Five items."

"Seven articles."

"Bang!"

"You're going to stick with me, aren't you? You're just staring at the cards in my hand!"

Hearing the door lock click, everyone inside turned their heads.

"Lin Xi, you're back! Want to come play?" Chen Jin greeted her.

Jiang Chuan looked up. "Any news?"

Lin Xi shook her head and looked at the two card tables again, "What are you doing here?"

“A new friend.” Chen Jin looked at the person next to him. “This is Yue Chi, the one who watched our match yesterday.”

"Hello, I'm Lin Xi."

Yue Chi nodded. "I already knew about you... Yes, Three."

"Correct 7."

"Yes, J."

Yue Chi frowned. "Why do you two always beat me? Let me tell you, this will make you lose all your friends."

"What's the point of talking about friends at the card table?" Jiang Chuan said expressionlessly.

Chen Jin raised his hand, "I didn't beat your hand."

Jiang Chuan casually reminded him, "I saw your cards."

He was so frightened that he quickly withdrew his hand.

Yue Chi gritted his teeth, "Go for K."

Lin Xi was curious and went over to look at his cards; they were truly atrocious.

Several high-ranking cards have already been forced out, and there are many loose cards at home, so it's impossible to form a straight.

However, he was lucky; Chen Jin didn't play many cards at all.

Jiang Chuan still has an Ace and a pair of Queens in his hand, which seems to give him a great chance of winning.

At the end, whoever has any cards left in their hand gets to hit their hand with a ruler.

For Chen Jin, this was almost no loss, since his superpower would automatically defend him.

Yue Chi looked sullenly at the messy card table. "Didn't you say it was your first time playing? You were lying, weren't you?"

"This is how you play in your hometown. I'm not from your hometown."

"I'm not playing anymore, I'd like to introduce Lin Xi to the friends I brought." Yue Chi stretched, having barely won any games all morning.

The argument was still going on at the mahjong table. The short-haired woman was the most aggressive, resting her chin on one hand and tapping the mahjong tiles on the table with the other.

"Sun Yushan, the one with short hair."

When Sun Yushan, who was being called out, saw Lin Xi walking over, she smiled kindly and said, "Hello."

"The guy next to me with a lollipop in his mouth is Xiao Luo."

Xiao Luo has a cute, childlike face with big, bright eyes. Yue Chi continued, "I heard from them that you two are about the same age, but you seem much more reliable than her. You're such a grown-up, yet you have bad teeth and no self-control at all."

Ronaldinho turned his head away, clearly not wanting to hear his lecture.

Another girl turned around and said, "My name is Ma Xiaona. I'm a little older than you. You can call me Sister Xiaona."

Lin Xi readily agreed, "Hello, Sister Xiaona."

“There’s another one…” Yue Chi patted the person in front of him on the shoulder and introduced him to Lin Xi, “This is Ye Xuan.”

After everyone had identified themselves, the card table was almost empty.

"So, the reason you looked so sleepy that day wasn't because you played cards all day, was it?"

Yue Chi nodded, "The days without competitions are so boring. I finally found something to do and I got hooked."

Lin Xi: ...

I was almost intimidated by his appearance; I thought he was some kind of unfathomable master.

Chen Jin suddenly remembered something, "That guy said the intermediate level matches are scheduled from Wednesday to Friday, so you guys have to play tonight?"

Yue Chi nodded. "That's right."

Chen Jin's expression was strange. "So you're still in the mood to play cards?"

"Life is short, so we should enjoy it while we can and make new friends." Yue Chi didn't care much. "Besides, this won't affect our outcome. Those who are going to die will die anyway."

That makes a lot of sense.

"Wait a minute, shouldn't you all have the right to concede once?"

"Yes, but things change in an instant on the battlefield. If you don't have a plan in mind from the beginning, few people will give you a chance to speak."

The little girl with a lollipop in her mouth walked up to Lin Xi at some point and stuffed something into her hand.

Then he winked at her and said, "I'll give it to you, okay?"

Lin Xi remembered that her name was Xiao Luo. She secretly glanced at it to see what it was, and found that it was a small bag of spicy strips!

It's still my favorite brand.

Lin Xi was somewhat taken aback and asked in a low voice, "Why are you giving this to me?"

"Because I want to be your friend!"

After saying that, she sat back down, rummaged through her small bag, took out a small bag of spicy strips, and started eating them by herself.

Noticing Lin Xi's gaze, Xiao Luo looked over again, his cheeks puffed out and his mouth shiny with oil.

Yue Chi was still talking to Chen Jin when he asked, "I heard you're not planning to participate in the intermediate level?"

"Could you tell me what conditions the arena organizers offered that made so many of you willingly continue participating in the competition?"

Several people who had already entered the intermediate level suddenly stopped moving.

Chen Jin asked in confusion, "Is it that I can't say? It's okay if I don't say anything."

"I'm really sorry, we signed a confidentiality agreement and can't reveal the specifics." Yue Chi smiled. "With the strength of the three of you, entering the intermediate arena shouldn't be difficult. You'll see when the time comes."

Sun Yushan stood up. "We've had enough fun today. We have a match tonight, so we'll be going now."

The others nodded.

For some, this closing of the door meant the last time Lin Xi would see them.

"Four people died in yesterday's fight." Chen Jin told Jiang Chuan and Lin Xi the news he had heard, a hint of sadness on his face. "Two of them were new friends who came here to play yesterday."

Lin Xi put her hands in her pockets, clutching the small bag of spicy strips tightly, and kept her head down without saying a word.

Jiang Chuan asked, "Is Yue Chi alive?"

"He's fine, it's Ye Xuan and Xiao Luo who died."

Jiang Chuan shook his head. "I don't remember much."

Chen Jin looked regretful. "We were just playing together here yesterday afternoon. I can't understand why they would risk their lives for it."