Hong Kong variety show: From being bitten by a cockroach to becoming a legend

Chapter 147 Techniques and Gods

The referee uncovered the dice cup.

Five ivory dice lay quietly on a dark green velvet cloth: four, four, three, four, three. The sum: eighteen! Exactly!

"Mr. Jiang Zhen has guessed correctly in the first round and wins!" The dealer's voice rang out with a hint of surprise.

An uncontrollable gasp erupted from the audience!

"You guessed right?!"

"You guessed, right? You definitely guessed!"

"Sun Yifeng's Ghost Hand Cup-Knocking Technique was broken? The old gambling king's skills are as good as ever."

Sun Yifeng's face instantly turned extremely ugly. He stared intently at the five dice, as if he wanted to shatter them. This is impossible! He clearly used the "Ghost Hand Knocking the Cup" technique to deliberately make the dice make a "leopard" sound inside the cup.

But Jiang Zhen saw through it.

Gambling King Jiang Zhen waved his hand to those around him and said, "Luck, really luck. I'm getting old, my hearing isn't good, I was just guessing randomly."

What was said unintentionally may have been taken to heart by the listener.

Sun Yifeng felt as if he had been stabbed in the heart, and sneered, "Jiang Zhen, you old scoundrel, don't try to act innocent after getting the benefits."

Jiang Zhen sighed, speaking earnestly, "Mr. Sun, in gambling, sometimes being too fixated on technique can cloud your judgment. Dice have a spirit; if you're always trying to control them, they might not listen to you. Why not relax a little? Maybe—they'll tell you the answer themselves?"

These words sounded like empty platitudes, but they sent a shiver down Sun Yifeng's spine. Could it be—that he had really been too deliberate? But the essence of the "Ghost Hand Knocking on the Cup" lay in absolute control!

Sun Yifeng suppressed the turmoil in his heart and took a deep breath: "Enough nonsense! It's your turn! I want to see what tricks you can pull off with this 'relax' attitude!"

"Okay, okay, it's my turn." Jiang Zhen slowly picked up his dice cup. His movements were still so casual, even a little clumsy. His hand holding the dice cup was steady, but there was no imposing manner to speak of. He shoved the five dice in, and then his wrist swayed limply and haphazardly a few times.

"Splash—splash—"

A loose, chaotic, and arrhythmic collision sound rang out, sounding like a child's mischief compared to Sun Yifeng's exquisite "buzzing" sound.

Then, Jiang Zhen casually placed the dice cup face down on the table.

The entire process still took no more than three seconds.

A low murmur and murmur rippled through the audience. This was far too perfunctory! Sun Yifeng had just been showing off his skills by shaking the machine for a full minute!

But Sun Yifeng didn't think so. He frowned, his mind replaying the brief, chaotic echoes of the dice hitting the cup at least three times at different angles—he was rapidly building a model in his mind.

I spent a full twenty seconds mentally processing it.

Finally, he opened his eyes and solemnly uttered a number that had been meticulously calculated and had the highest probability: "Sixteen points."

Jiang Zhen nodded, said nothing more, and reached out to lift the dice cup.

All five dice stood upright in a straight line.

"One, five ones, five dice standing upright in a column, all with one facing up!" The referee's voice trembled slightly with excitement, almost cracking.

The first die is a one, the second is also a one, and so on until the last die is also a one.

The entire room fell into a deathly silence; you could hear a pin drop.

Everyone stared wide-eyed at the five ivory dice, standing straight like soldiers in formation, each with a single red dot on the center. This sight was beyond their comprehension of gambling!

"This—how is this possible?!" Sun Yifeng exclaimed in shock. He lunged at the gambling table, his eyes nearly popping out of their sockets, staring intently at the row of dice as if witnessing the most unbelievable illusion in the world. "Standing upright in a single column—or rather, five of them?! You—how did you do that?!"

Jiang Zhen remained as nonchalant as ever, even letting out a small yawn: "Mr. Sun, didn't I tell you to relax? The dice will tell me the answer themselves. Maybe—they just prefer to stand in a row today."

"Bullshit!" Sun Yifeng's face turned ashen with rage, his lips trembling. "Rolling dice upright is already incredibly difficult, let alone controlling every single one to land with a dot facing up? This is simply—simply impossible for a human to do! You—what kind of sorcery did you use?!"

Jiang Zhen shook his head, a barely perceptible hint of disappointment flashing in his cloudy old eyes: "Mr. Sun, you still don't understand. The dice falling has its own logic. You think I'm controlling them," but actually I'm just going with the flow. Your "ghostly hand" is trying to defeat the dice, to change their trajectory; while I'm simply asking them to give me the answer I want."

"Request? Bullshit!" Sun Yifeng completely lost his temper. His proud skills and worldview were shattered: "You—you cheated! Yes, you must have cheated! There's something wrong with the dice, or there's something wrong with the gambling table!"

"Mr. Sun, please calm down," the referee said in a deep voice. He first checked the dice cup and dice, then carefully examined the gambling table, even pressing down on various parts of the table with his hands, before shaking his head: "The dice cup and dice were provided by the tournament organizers and have undergone rigorous inspection; there are no problems. No trickery was found in the gambling table either."

Sun Yifeng's face turned pale. He had been following the whole thing, so there was absolutely no problem with the betting table.

It seemed that he could sense Sun Yifeng's dissatisfaction.

Jiang Zhen suddenly said, "Since Mr. Sun doesn't believe me, how about we play another game?"

He gestured to the dealer: "Excuse me, could you bring me a brand new, unopened set of dice? I'll roll it first, and you guess. The stakes—let's raise it to twenty million, how about it?"

Sun Yifeng was in a fit of anger. Without thinking, he said sternly, "Fine! Bring it on. Even if I can't do it, you can still roll five ones."

""

In the VIP section, Song Zhaowen shook his head and said to Huang Lei beside him, "This gambling addict lives up to his name. He's confused, and he'll lose again in the next round."

Huang Lei was speechless, stunned by Jiang Zhen's miraculous "one pillar supporting five ones" technique. Hearing Song Zhaowen's words, she subconsciously asked, "Huh? Brother Zhaowen, how did you know? That old Mr. Jiang—could he possibly pull off that kind of miracle again?"

Song Zhaowen took a sip of champagne, his gaze falling on Sun Yifeng's face, twisted with anger, shock, and resentment, at the distant gambling table. He said calmly, "A gambler in a state of mental turmoil is like a blind and deaf person at the table; he's lucky if he can use 30% of his skill. What's more—he's facing an opponent like Jiang Zhen, who's completely unreasonable."

"Unreasonable?" Huang Lei blinked, not quite understanding.

Song Zhaowen did not explain, but simply gestured for her to look over there.

Over there, the dealer had brought over a brand new set of ivory dice and a new dice cup, and opened and inspected them in front of the referee and both sides to confirm that they were correct.

Jiang Zhen took the new dice cup, weighed it in his hand, and looked at the five smooth, warm ivory dice. He nodded as if meeting an old friend. Then, he did something that surprised everyone—he didn't put the dice into the cup, but instead, he carefully placed each one into the cup, one by one, with his fingertips.

After putting it in, he didn't even put the lid on, leaving the dice cup open and placing it flat on the table.

"Mr. Sun, I'll go first this round," Jiang Zhen said slowly. "Same old rules as before, I'll shake the wheel once, and you guess the sum."

But this time—I don't need to cover it.

No need to cover it?!

Everyone was stunned. If they didn't cover it, wouldn't the dice fly out? How were they supposed to roll it then?

Sun Yifeng was also stunned for a moment, then his face showed a humiliated and angry expression: "You old bastard! You've played me?!"

"I wouldn't dare." Jiang Zhen shook his head, his tone calm: "I'm afraid that if you lose later, you'll still be unconvinced and accuse me of cheating."

After saying that, without waiting for Sun Yifeng's response, he gently placed the five fingers of his right hand on the edge of the dice cup.

My wrist began to tremble rapidly with an extremely slight, almost imperceptible amplitude.

There was no "clattering" sound, because the dice weren't colliding wildly inside the cup. Instead, with the strange, high-frequency, slight vibrations of the cup, the five dice began to slide, spin, and jump at the bottom of the cup in an illogical way!

They didn't collide with each other; each one seemed to be pulled by invisible threads, dancing some kind of eerie dance within the confined space. One die spun rapidly in place, another rolled in a circle along the side of the bowl, and yet another bounced lightly between two other dice—

What's even more chilling is that none of the dice jumped off the top of the dice cup! It was as if an invisible membrane was holding them inside!

"What...what kind of technique is this?!"

"Why do the dice seem to come alive?!"

"You can control it without a lid? That's some kind of magic trick!"

The audience erupted in cheers, everyone stood up, craning their necks and staring wide-eyed, afraid of missing a single detail.

The anger on Sun Yifeng's face had vanished, replaced by extreme shock and—fear!

Jiang Zhen's expression remained calm, his eyes as still as a deep well, as if he were doing something completely ordinary. His wrists trembled faster and faster, and the movements of the five dice became increasingly complex, their trajectories intertwined, dazzling the eye.

Suddenly, the trembling of his wrist stopped abruptly.

The five dice, as if soldiers receiving a command, instantly stopped moving and lay quietly at the bottom of the cup.

The entire process takes no more than ten seconds.

The casino was completely silent; everyone held their breath, their eyes fixed on the open dice cup.

Five dice lay there quietly.

However, the way they were arranged caused everyone's brains to crash again.

The five dice were not laid flat, but rather leaned against each other at an extremely clever angle, forming a three-dimensional, stable, small pyramid at the bottom of the dice cup.

The bottom three dice are arranged in a triangle for support, the top two dice are stacked alternately, and the top die stands firmly in the center!

"Mr. Sun, now, please guess what the sum of the five dice is?"

Guess?

How do you guess?

The dice were stacked into a pyramid, with only the top few faces showing sixes; the numbers on the bottom faces were completely hidden!

Sun Yifeng's mind was in turmoil: "Are they all six? No, it can't be that simple!!"

Jiang Zhen didn't urge him.

One minute, two minutes...

The three-minute countdown is almost over.

"I—I—" Sun Yifeng lowered his head dejectedly, as if all the strength in his body had been drained. With his last bit of strength, he hoarsely said, "I—I can't guess—I—I give up."

"But I'd like to know what numbers you got?"

Sun Yifeng stepped forward, ready to pick up the dice, but what happened next completely stunned him!

But the moment the fingers touched the paper, all the dice were instantly reduced to dust.

According to the rules of the gambling world, if all the dice are turned to dust, it is considered that there are no dice, and if there are no dice in the pot, it is zero.

In other words, no matter how Sun Yifeng guesses, he will lose; from the very beginning, Jiang Zhen is already in an unassailable position.

"Mr. Sun, do you understand now? When you became fixated on guessing the numbers, you had already lost. Because from the very beginning, I never intended for you to guess."

Jiang Zhen paused, and a faint, indescribable glint seemed to flash deep within his turbid eyes.

"At the gambling table, rules are certainly important. But the real deciding factor often lies outside the rules. You're staring at the dice, and I'm staring at you. You're thinking about how to win this round, and I'm thinking about—how to leave you no chance to even guess."

These words were like ice water poured over his head, leaving Sun Yifeng feeling cold all over, as if he had fallen into an ice cave.

Yes, he was completely caught in Jiang Zhen's rhythm from beginning to end. In the first round, his "Ghost Hand Knocking the Cup" disguise was easily seen through. In the second round, he was completely stunned by "One Pillar Supporting the Sky with Five Ones". In the third round, his opponent simply destroyed the dice, leaving him with no way to guess!