I Want To Play A Game

The air hung thick with the metallic tang of blood and desperation as Jack Li's fingers tightened around the chess piece. Lao Lü's triumphant grin faltered when the pig-headed dealer's trotter slammed down, cracking the wooden table. 

"Best two out of three!" The Human-Pig's squeal carried an edge of panic, his porcine eyes darting between Jack Li's impassive face and the blood-smeared game board. 

Taylor's hand found Jack Li's sleeve, her whisper urgent. "We should go. Now." 

Across the room, Dr. Lee whimpered into his stained lab coat. The stench of fear blended with the dealer's rancid odor - a cocktail of rotting meat and fermented grain that made Jack Li's eyes water. 

"Rules state one game per challenge." Jack Li's voice cut through the tension like a scalpel. He pocketed the ten Dao stones with deliberate slowness, each clink against the others sounding like a death knell. "Unless you're suggesting we rewrite the contract?" 

The dealer's snout twitched. Beneath the grotesque mask, Jack Li imagined grinding teeth and the bitter taste of humiliation. When the Human-Pig spoke again, his voice had dropped to a guttural growl. "The next time we meet, Li Xiao'an... I'll feast on your marrow." 

Lao Lü's nervous laughter died in his throat as they stumbled into the sulfur-yellow daylight. The alley walls seemed to lean closer, their graffiti-marred surfaces crawling with shadowy figures that might have been rats... or something less natural. 

"West district." The gambler's sausage-like finger jabbed toward a crumbling archway. "Saw your cop friend near the old textile mill. Looked like he'd been tangling with..." His beady eyes darted to Taylor's bandaged arm. "...something hungry." 

The journey through derelict streets unfolded like a fever dream. Hollow-eyed survivors scurried past clutching makeshift weapons, their footprints disappearing in the ever-present ashfall. Taylor's breath hitched when they passed a playground where swing chains clinked empty in the toxic breeze - until Jack Li pulled her away from the human-shaped stains beneath the slide. 

The textile mill's rusted gates groaned like dying beasts. Inside, the stench of decay gave way to something sharper - ozone and burnt hair. Officer Liu's service pistol lay in pieces near a massive industrial loom, its barrel warped as if chewed by acid. 

"Li!" Taylor's scream came a heartbeat too late. 

The ceiling exploded in a shower of plaster and fangs.

"Don't be afraid." The Human-Pig seemed to read Jack Li's thoughts as he spoke, "I'm not some unreasonable swine. Let's try a more interesting game this time."

He pulled two pairs of glasses from a nearby case and placed them on the table. "These are quality items borrowed from Brother Sheep..."

The group stared at the spectacles. They appeared ordinary except for a small device where the nose bridge met the forehead, its purpose unclear.

"Gentlemen, I need your assistance." The Human-Pig chuckled amiably.

"Assistance?" Old Lü's lips curled instantly. "Help you? Impossible."

"Refuse, and I'll declare a life gamble with all of you." The Human-Pig's voice took on a grotesque lilt.

"You fucking lunatic..." Old Lü staggered as if struck. "Over losing ten Dao? Must you escalate like this?"

"Do you think I enjoy living as this damned pig, surviving day-to-day on luck?" The Human-Pig stroked the snout of his mask. Though the expression remained frozen, an underlying ferocity permeated the gesture. "You don't understand... Only 'life gambles'... Only staking lives against worthy opponents gives meaning to this existence."

Jack Li sensed something predatory in the Human-Pig's gaze - this creature had been playing the docile hog, waiting to devour tigers.

"Certifiable madman..." Old Lü shot Jack Li an anguished look. With the Human-Pig demanding a life wager, escape was no longer feasible.

"Human-Pig, change the terms." Jack Li deliberated before speaking. "I'll stay for the life gamble. They don't need to be involved."

"What?" Old Lü and Taylor froze simultaneously.

"Kid, what's your game?" Old Lü frowned. "I dragged you into this. Can't let you gamble alone."

Jack Li studied Old Lü with newfound respect. Prejudices dissolved as the older man's reliability surfaced in crisis.

"Old timer." Jack Li said. "More people mean more risk. If I die, take my friend to find that couple."

"No, I'm staying." Taylor shook her head. "Jack, remember our conversation?"

"Fuck if I'm leaving." Old Lü spat. "The pig wants you. Technically the girl and I are safe... Rest assured, I'll bury you proper if you croak."

Jack Li scratched his head ruefully. Though reassessing Old Lü, the man's bluntness remained.

"Charming as ever... Fine." Jack Li sighed, turning to the Human-Pig. "Your new game?"

The Human-Pig quivered with excitement, sliding glasses toward them. "Put them on! Now!"

After hesitant moments, Taylor and Old Lü complied. Mechanical arms extended from the temples, clasping behind their heads with a metallic snap.

Taylor's fingers flew to remove them, but the glasses locked like golden hoops. "What's happening—"

"Quiet, beauty." The Human-Pig interrupted gleefully. "From now on, only obeying rules keeps you safe."

"Rules..."

"Glasses are active." The Human-Pig explained. "One feels cold lenses, the other heat. The chilled must lie. The heated tell truth."

Jack Li's stomach dropped. This game structure felt hauntingly familiar.

"Attempt deception or speak out of turn..." The Human-Pig tapped between his brows. "Instant cranial penetration. Understood?"

Taylor sealed her lips, sensing mechanisms whirring against her forehead. The glasses' internals hummed with coiled tension - crossbow strings or lasers primed.

Old Lü's complexion cycled through sickly hues. Knowing each word risked death, silence became survival.

With the pair subdued, the Human-Pig addressed Jack Li. "Our game follows previous rules... except I arrange pieces now."

"You arrange..." Jack Li eyed the game pieces. "...I choose?"

"Correct." The Human-Pig nodded. "Feels unfair, yes?"

"Blatantly so." Jack Li acknowledged, aware the true rules regarding truth-tellers remained unspoken.

"Therefore, mercy!" The Human-Pig oinked mirthfully. "After selecting, you may consult them once for color verification. Regardless of choice, single inquiry only."

He turned to the others. "For fairness, answer only 'black' or 'white.' Understood?"

Two pale nods answered.

Jack Li grasped the diabolical complexity. With unknown truth-tellers, any query risked compounding confusion.

"Watchmaker's Paradox..." He murmured. "One clock tells time. Two conflicting clocks breed doubt..."

"Ready, Jack Li?" The Human-Pig inquired.

Jack Li inhaled deeply. "Same question for you. This is mortal stakes. Are you prepared?"

"Life?" The Human-Pig's chuckles escalated into full-body tremors. "What life exists here?... Only in dying do I feel alive."

Jack Li nodded. This creature had dwelled too long in madness. Conventional logic wouldn't penetrate.

He reached for the blindfold.

As the Human-Pig arranged pieces, Taylor and Old Lü observed the duelists' eerie calm. Though gambling lives, both protagonists maintained preternatural composure, while spectators' knees knocked audibly.

"Ever want out?" Jack Li suddenly asked.

"What?" The Human-Pig didn't glance up.

"Escape. Beyond dying here."

The arranging hand paused. "Where?"

"Return whence you came." Though blindfolded, Jack Li's intensity pierced through. "Don't you want that?"

The Human-Pig pondered. "Why endure being 'pig' if not to leave?"

"What?" Jack Li caught crucial implications.

"But I won't 'escape.'" The Human-Pig finalized the pieces. "I'll walk out openly."

"Openly...?" Jack Li's brows furrowed behind the blindfold.

"Arranged. Your turn." The Human-Pig pushed forward two bowls. "Choose who lives."

Taylor and Old Lü grimaced. Evenly distributed black and white stones mocked them. Pure luck now dictated survival.

Jack Li remained motionless, head tilted as if hearing colors.

After prolonged silence: "Human-Pig, choose for me."

"What?" The Human-Pig stiffened.

"You select two. I'll pick from those."

"Jack Li! This is life gambling! Won't control your fate?"

"Doesn't matter." Jack Li's voice stayed level. "You crave 'feeling alive' through mortal stakes, yet this game's always been mine. You're just... observing."

The Human-Pig's silence confirmed the truth.

"Let you participate." Jack Li gestured at the bowls. "Our duel should involve both. Show me your choice."

Swine fingers stroked bristly jowls, grotesquely mimicking sage beard-caressing. Minutes passed as the Human-Pig dissected motives.

A 50-50 gamble became treacherous when letting the adversary choose. Yet this man surrendered his fate to the enemy...

Surrender? Or scheme?

"Don't hesitate. Your choice informs mine." Jack Li pressed.

"My choice... informs yours?"

Finally, the Human-Pig nodded. "Understood. Let me escort you to hell."

Jack Li inclined his head.

The Human-Pig's trotter closed on two white stones - guaranteed death tickets. No alchemy could transform white to black through questioning.

But as he prepared to deliver the lethal stones, epiphany struck.

"Wait... Wrong."

Could Jack Li not anticipate this? Why entrust life to the enemy's hands unless...

"Aha!" The Human-Pig withdrew with dawning horror. "Deception!"

What did "your choice informs mine" truly mean?

If given two whites, Jack Li could discard them, selecting from remaining pieces. This simple act would imbalance the bowls - 48 white vs 50 black. Survival odds tilt.

Jack Li wasn't a Zodiac Officer. His words weren't binding rules, mere suggestions. He could renege freely.

"Clever bastard..." The Human-Pig shuddered, narrowly avoiding the trap. Reconsidering, he grabbed two black stones.

Then paused.

Gifting two blacks posed equal danger. If Jack Li anticipated this countermeasure...

No. The Human-Pig's snout twitched. Both choices advantaged Jack Li through layered predictions.

Left hand white, right hand black. All paths led to increased survival chances. Absurd.

Precalculated?

"Perhaps two whites..." He squinted. White offered slight advantage, black significant...

No. Shaking his jowls, he abandoned extremes. One black, one white.

Original balance preserved. True 50-50 chaos.

"Perfect..." The Human-Pig nodded, placing the mixed pair in Jack Li's palm. "Your death sentence returns."

Jack Li weighed the stones solemnly.

The Human-Pig exhaled. With balanced colors and unreliable truth-tellers, Jack Li's survival odds plummeted.

Old Lü and Taylor watched with clammy palms. Strategies exhausted, all reverted to cruel chance.

"Who will you question?" The Human-Pig demanded.

Jack Li turned between companions, weighing invisible truths.

Thirty seconds later: "Taylor."

The girl flinched.

"Remember," the Human-Pig warned Taylor. "Only 'black' or 'white.' Any deviation means death."

Taylor nodded mutely, face bloodless.

Jack Li selected a stone. Taylor's pupils dilated.

White.