Chapter 54: Who Will Play

Mister Fei: Mister Fei is 17 years old and once gave food to Jiyi Sanshi when he saw him a couple of days ago, then quickly fell in love with him. We don't know Mister Fei's real identity nor full name yet. He has a relatively well built foundation for his martial arts but he's still young and inexperienced.

Mister Chen: Mister Chen is 17 years old and hangs around with Mister Fei. He's the beta, while Mister Fei is the alpha. He has absolutely no martial art training at all and therefore depends solely on Mister Fei to defend.

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"That's too easy then," Silang threw his hands in the air. "The poisoned bowl will obviously show characteristics that it had been poisoned. The water will change color or there'll be an odor. Only a dumbass would play this, right guys?"

Silang looked around for any sign of agreement.

"You really think so?" Xiu'er looked at Mister Fei. "Being that Mister Fei brought up this game, he had to have at least designed the intestine-rupturing pill to be colorless, odorless and stainless. No smart man would choose a pill that can easily be distinguished by the senses. Right guys?"

Mister Fei smiled and dropped his arms by his side. "You're very smart. Of course the pill I'm using will be colorless, odorless and stainless."

"But what if someone from their side tells the player which bowl was poisoned," Mister Chen whispered out loud to Mister Fei's ear. "You didn't have a rule against that. They can see, and then they're going to hint the player to pick the right one."

"After I put the pill into the bowl, everyone must leave the room except for the player and me to avoid cheaters on their side."

"Sounds fair and square," Xiu'er exclaimed.

"No!" Silang argued, "Not fair and square at all, Meimei. What will happen to the person who drank the poison? They'll just die like that?"

Silang's statement made everyone realize that the ultimate goal was to kill someone at the end.

A satisfied smirk pulled at the corner of Mister Fei's lips. He would pity them, but his pride and pettiness overrode that type of sympathy. "Afraid much?"

There was a moment of stillness as everyone let the rules of the game soak. The results were the aspect of this game that would need to be thought in depth more. Winning the game required the player to know the personality of the opponent in order to rightfully guess which bowl the pill would be in, and how many times the bowl would be switched. There was one problem. None of them knew Mister Fei other than Jiyi Sangshi, who obviously couldn't play the game. So who else can? It would be a tough game trying to figure it out on their side.

Xiu'er looked at Mister Fei who had his hands by his side and his chin raised high. He was rather short for a man. Even the coward in the yellow was taller than him. And he had fair white skin, a beautiful face and a skinny body.

Xiu'er slowly raised an eyebrow in suspicion. She smiled. She's figured it out!

"I'll do it." She raised her hand.

"No!" Kun Shang and Silang said at the same time. Then they looked at each other. Silang squinted his eyes and gave Kun Shang a frown. Of course he wanted his sister to live, but he didn't need another man to agree with him, especially not this guy.

Xiu'er turned to face them.

"We need Jiyi Sangshi for sure, but to set things fair we have to repay Mister Fei for his kindness. Let's play this game."

No one replied. She sighed.

"Trust me, among us, no one knows medicine more than me. I'm willing to do it for us." She pounded a fist on her chest. "Team player!"

Without notice, Kun Shang unexpectedly pulled Xiu'er as he whispered down to her, his large hand wrapping around her arm, leading her to the side of the room. He had to shove A'Li from her shoulders. The monkey scurried off to Silang in disapproval of Kun Shang's inconsiderate behavior. At first, both individuals stood apart from one another, but the tension and radiating stare from the others made Kun Shang uncomfortable. He huffed out a breath and pulled her into his body. Kun Shang's body heat hugged onto Xiu'er's body like a monkey. She couldn't help but worry if this would be the last time they would be together.

"Do you have any idea what intestine-rupturing herbs can do?" He muttered. She could feel his warm breath on her ear. It started to creep down her neck. "In case you didn't notice, it's right in the name!"

She smiled to know he cared this much about her. That thought alone was enough to keep her faith up. Maybe she'll even stand a chance. It's an equal possibility on both sides. 50/50 right?

"Don't worry. I know what I'm doing. The rules of the game are not that complex, I'll find a way to win for sure."

There she was again, her self-destructive behavior. Kun Shang tried to figure out why she loved to put her life in danger. For what sake? A quick feel of exhilaration? Adrenaline? Where did her boundaries end? When they were up in the mountains, Kun Shang accepted the fact that she had used something magical to keep herself from drowning, but this time would be different. It would all only depend on luck.How could he let her do that to herself again?

"Come on," she slid a hand down her arm to release his grip on her. She turned around and was about to walk back to the table but he clamped his hand on her arm again and pulled her back.

"I won't try to argue with you because I know you've already made up your mind. But if anything happens, there are two acupuncture points in your body you can press to slow the spread of the poison. It will give us enough time to bring you to a doctor." He took her hand and located her thumb above the belly button and by her hip. Xiu'er almost choked at his touch. "Promise me you have to be careful."

She opened her mouth to say yes, but afraid that it would've come out shaky, she only nodded her head.

They returned to the table with her mind set on being the player of this little mind game. Xiu'er pulled herself together before giving Mister Fei a look and then flicking her nose. She stood facing away from the table. Everyone looked to testify that Mister Fei didn't cheat when he plopped a black pill into one of the bowls, then shuffled them around on the table.

"Since you know I didn't cheat, you can leave us so no one will be hinting anything to her," Mister Fei growled.