Exorcist's Self-Cultivation

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The bright red flame ignited the cigarette.

Du Wei took a drag, his mind pondering the relationship between the Evil Spirit and the gamble while also considering the issues of the vineyard.

In front of him, Howard Victor's body, extending snake-like, froze in a bizarre pose.

At such a close distance, Du Wei could even see its eyes exceptionally wide and the corners of its eyes streaked with fresh blood...

The flame of the lighter was gradually shrinking, but not quickly.

After all, back in Hill Psychiatric Hospital, even the nuns couldn't act before the flame went out, they could only force the flame to shrink and eventually extinguish. An Evil Spirit, however dreadful and vile, couldn't be more terrifying than the nuns.

"Huh..."

Du Wei exhaled a puff of smoke and stretched out his completely Evil Spirit-transformed right hand, holding all of his cards in hand.

He glanced at them, the best five, just right to form a 10JQKA Straight Flush.

According to the rules of Texas Hold'em, a Straight Flush beats all other hands.

With the Evil Spirit as the dealer, its hand, unless also a Straight Flush, could not possibly win.

But what was known was that the Evil Spirit had a pair in its hand. If the remaining five cards were a Straight Flush as large as Du Wei's, then Du Wei would be the loser.

In a normal gambling round, the likelihood of that happening was pathetically small.

But this was a gamble with an Evil Spirit, with stakes like life and soul—intangible things...

It was so eager to reveal the cards, confident it would win.

This meant, either it was "cheating", or Du Wei's cards would be switched at the time of the reveal.

So, under the venomous gaze of Howard Victor, Du Wei used the lighter's flame to burn the cards...

In an instant.

It was as if it had been enraged.

The entire gambling table was covered in shadow, and aside from Du Wei sitting at the table, the area illuminated by the lighter, and Alex standing behind with a Black Umbrella, everyone else seemed to have disappeared.

Under the state of Spirit Vision, the black lines on Du Wei's body were also becoming increasingly numerous.

They wrapped around him dimly, as if veiled in a layer of fog.

In the rules of Texas Hold'em, forfeiting is equivalent to losing.

Dishonestly destroying cards is the most contemptible act, which would lead to entanglement.

But this game was not between people. It was between a hunter and an Evil Spirit.

The Evil Spirit could "cheat", so naturally, Du Wei could resort to deceit.

If it were a normal person, they wouldn't have the qualification to cheat, nor could they bear the consequences.

But Du Wei, with a mask, lighter, Black Umbrella, and being a hunter, if he didn't even have the right to cheat, then the Evil Spirit would be far too terrible.

At that moment, the Evil Spirit leaned its head forward, its hands stretching towards those black threads, or should I say, the chips, on Du Wei's body.

But Du Wei leaned back, a thought flashing through his mind.

The Evil Spirit, being the dealer, wanted to cheat as well.

The lighter could last a few more minutes, but it seemed unable to wait, wanting to forcibly take away the "chips".

If it succeeded, then Du Wei's act of burning the cards would be meaningless.

Behind him, Avery's face was extremely pale. She was holding the Black Umbrella, unaffected by the Evil Spirit like the others, nor could she see the true nature of the Evil Spirit as Du Wei could.

At that moment, in her eyes, the Evil Spirit still appeared as a conglomeration of many familiar faces merged together, lunging forward ferociously and wickedly.

Had it not been for Du Wei, she might even have had the impulse to turn and run.

But she knew, the more critical the moment, the more she could not abandon Du Wei.

So she immediately opened the Black Umbrella, shielding both herself and Du Wei beneath it.

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This umbrella was an antique, fashioned in an older style, but because its original owner was of noble status, it was made of the finest materials.

The canopy was pitch black and immaculate, completely shielding the two beneath it, causing the spreading shadows that approached the underside of the umbrella to come to an abrupt halt. Read new chapters at empire

It was the same for the Evil Spirit.

It stretched out its hand, trying to grasp the black threads on Du Wei's body yet was unable to advance even the slightest bit.

Moreover, with the opening of the Black Umbrella, the black threads on Du Wei's body also seemed to be isolated, becoming stationary instead of the previously boiling, lifelike sensation.

...

A minute later.

Du Wei finished his cigarette, stubbed out the butt and said calmly, "I now declare this round of the game void."

As his words fell to silence.

The Evil Spirit grew even more furious, it leaned on the gambling table, its head pressing tightly against the underside of the umbrella, staring intently at Du Wei's face, yet no matter what, it couldn't breach the interior of the umbrella.

After completely transforming into an Evil Spirit, it seemed it couldn't speak anymore.

Or perhaps, the words just now... were merely influenced utterances.

Alex, standing behind, covered her mouth with a hand. She wanted to close her eyes but worried about Du Wei getting into trouble, so she forced herself to watch.

Meanwhile, Du Wei looked down, his face expressionless as he glanced at it.

"I'm actually very curious why you are so obsessed with the game, is it because you were Howard Victor in life?"

He used the word "you," but he didn't intend to communicate with the other, continuing to speak on his own terms.

"In my last bet, I thought you were the vessel, but now I've dismissed that notion."

"There are many problems with this game, indeed. You aren't able to lie, which is a conclusion I've definitely determined based on my analysis."

"No matter how the game progresses, I would lose."

"It's only when the game starts that the concepts of winning and losing come into play."

"We were indeed playing Texas Hold'em, but the rules of this game might not necessarily be those of Texas Hold'em."

"A deck without the two Joker Cards, using the remaining cards to compare the sizes, that's the way to play Texas Hold'em."

"So, what if the two Joker Cards are also included in the rules?"

"I think, that's probably the truth."

As he reached this point, the malice in the Evil Spirit's eyes intensified, dense, black lines spreading from its eyes and across its face.

Then, as if extremely unwilling to give up, it reverted to its previous form, bit by bit returning to the seat opposite the gambling table.

Du Wei knew it couldn't break through the Black Umbrella to reach him, which meant the result of this game could only be voided.

Ruining the cards out of spite, when neither side has seen the size of the other's hand, there's no talk of winning or losing.

But Du Wei still had to continue gambling with this ghostly thing.

Du Wei leaned forward, his hands crossed, and coldly told the dealer on the opposite side, "Since the last game is voided, as qualified gamblers, neither party can leave before seeing the outcome. What do you think?"

His words were, in fact, explicating the rules of the game.

If the other party were the Evil Spirit, it could have simply kicked him out of the game, but now it seemed that the entire winery was the real Evil Spirit, not...

That is to say, it was the game itself, or perhaps the medium.

Indeed, as Du Wei had thought, although the resentment and malice in the dealer's eyes grew thicker and the oppressive feeling stronger, it didn't deny Du Wei's request.

Therefore, Du Wei announced calmly, "You never said at the beginning that only you could be the dealer, so now, in this game, I am the dealer, and our game is to guess each other's identities."

"I am the dealer, if we both guess correctly, then the winner is me. But if I fail to guess your identity, the winner is you."

"And in this game, you are bound to lose, so the stake is everyone."