Latest URL: "Master, you are really experienced."
Xia De praised sincerely.
"Haha, when you are old, your physical strength and spirit are inferior to those of you young people, but the life experience accumulated over a long period of time is not in vain."
Xia De nodded knowingly, stretched out his hand forward, and the flying red butterfly landed on his finger automatically, and then melted into his skin.
He rang the bell on the fence gate, and after waiting for a few minutes, the old butler came to the gate through the small yard filled with white mist, carrying a polished oil lamp. After Xia De, who called himself "John Watson", explained his purpose and showed the cards, the bald old butler in a black suit actually let the two of them in.
"You see, the Rhodes card is really useful sometimes."
Following the old butler across the courtyard to the mansion, Xia De whispered to Priest Augustus, the priest ignored him, but stared at the back of the old butler in front of him:
"He won't live long."
"What?"
"Heart disease, according to the current medical level, is hopeless."
Priest Augustus shook his head, signaling Shad not to be too loud:
"People die all the time, that's normal."
Earl Dallak is a well-known local Rhodes player, and many people have come to challenge him. When the old butler led Shad and the priest into the house, he also confirmed to the two that they wanted to bet with special cards.
"Every time the count bets with others, does he use special cards for betting?"
"Mostly yes."
The old butler nodded, and led the two of them through the foyer hung with artwork and antiques, and walked upstairs along the stairs.
Although Xia De doesn't know much about antique appreciation, he has seen many houses of great nobles. From his point of view, the Dallak family is indeed in decline. The decoration inside the house is old. Among the vases and oil paintings placed, some are obviously modern works of art. For example, the oil painting at the corner of the stairs, no matter how you look at it, looks like the "brave man slaying the dragon" that Xia De saw at the Fire Worship Festival dinner.
The room is very quiet, it seems that except for the old butler, the servants are resting. But at least the place has been cleaned up very cleanly. It can be seen that the maintainers of the house are still doing their best to maintain the dignity of the place.
Shad and Priest Augustus met Earl Darak in the study on the second floor. Compared with the gaudy attire at the Fire Worship banquet, the earl behind the desk was wearing a normal black coat at this time. He would look more normal if it wasn't for a pink flower in his hair.
The old butler introduced the purpose of the two guests, Shad felt the red butterfly that melted into the skin of his fingers tremble, and Priest Augustus also touched Shad's arm, squinting at him and nodding.
Both Xia De and the priest knew that the third person they were looking for who came back from the dead was the middle-aged nobleman in front of him.
"Mr. John Watson? Oh, I remember you, Miss Aurora's..."
The count looked up in surprise.
"I'm Miss Aurora's friend, the lady from the southern country was joking with you last time."
Xia De replied with a smile, at this time the old housekeeper left temporarily to prepare tea for the three, so what Xia De said was not important. Now that Earl Dallak has been found, he must be sent away.
"Ha, I knew you were not an ordinary bodyguard, but I heard that Miss Aurora never pretended to men. Besides, if an ordinary bodyguard has such good card skills, then my life would be a failure gone."
The earl, who looked thinner than last time, smiled and put down the pen in his hand. He was writing a letter just now:
"Mr. Watson, with your appearance, you can actually make money by doing anything. I guess, you are the lover of Miss Aurora..."
"Ahem!"
Xia De hurriedly coughed to prevent his image of a promising young man in the mind of Priest Augustus from being further damaged:
"Count, let's get down to business. After the last game, I heard from the locals that you are a famous local Rhodes player, so I want to play cards with you again. Last time, we didn't show our own special card, it cannot be considered a win or loss."
Earl Dalark looked even happier:
"Yes, we didn't use special cards last time, so it can't be counted as my loss to you."
Then he stood up:
"You two, the weather is weird today, and I happen to have nothing to do to kill the boring day. Quick, please come with me, I have a special Rhodes table here."
As the count moved toward the door, Shad and Priest Augustus rose from their chairs at the table.
"Observe first, what is his current state. If we can send him away without fighting, then we try to avoid fighting."
Xia De hoped that his eyes could express such complicated meanings, but Priest Augustus actually nodded when he saw Xia De's eyes.
Shad wondered what Priest Augustus thought he was up to.
The earl lingered longest before one of the rapiers. He also said last time that he is very good at using rapiers.
The so-called special Rhodes table is actually a table with squares drawn on the table, which is convenient for placing card piles, drawing cards and discarding cards. It was a sunny room on the first floor, which was specially arranged by the earl to play Rhodes cards with the players.
Except for the table in the middle, there are many signatures and photos hanging on the surrounding walls. Those were all players who had come here and played cards with Earl Dallak. According to Earl, he even played poker with the runner-up of "Grand City Players 1850". It's just that the other party didn't want to leave a photo, so they just left a signature.
In addition to the signatures and photos on the walls, there are also neat glass display cabinets under the four walls, which contain interesting souvenirs related to Rhodes. For example, in the "Dacheng Players 1853" that ended more than a month ago, the copper commemorative coins used to calculate the points in the rematch stage and the news reports at that time are all displayed here.
After introducing those exhibits, the game officially began.
With the old butler as judge, Priest Augustus dealt the cards to the two players. As for the bet, Xia De bet on his "only" special card [Legend of the Brave · Bard Fletcher], and said with a smile that if he wins this time, he will go to the Red Water Camp on the Wind Riser Trail and challenge the owner of [ Commodore Carter from The Legend of the Brave Swordsman Cybalon.
"No, your information is outdated. Now [Swordsman Cybalon] is in the hands of a captain in the Red Water Camp, the same captain who solved the serial murder case in the Mibao Mechanical Academy."
The Earl reminded, and then took out and showed his bet:
"[Ancient Fairy Tales: Sleeping Princess] Suit: Sun 4. If you roll 10 or 20 in 20-sided dice twice in a row, you can adjust the card number within 4 or 5."
He read out the information on the card and asked the butler to pass the card to Shad for inspection.
The count proudly took off his gloves, flicked his wrists and said:
"This year's big city player champion, Hamilton of Rejed, also has a special card from the Ancient Fairy Tale series, which is [Ancient Fairy Tale Match Girl]. I even plan to go there by steam train if I don't have anything to do in winter. Tobesk City, challenge the big player who has dozens of special cards."
He moved his fingers with an expectant smile on his face:
"Tobesk's trip must be very interesting. I may be able to become friends with that young man."
Xia De sullenly did not show any expression.
If Earl Dallak is not a nail to be resurrected from the dead, he would not mind having such a friend, just like Baron Lavender who initially invited outsiders to play cards and led Shade into the world of Rhodes.
But sometimes fate will not always go smoothly, what should go must go, and no one can disobey this.
To make the game a bit more interesting, this time the traditional best-of-three rule is used. There are five rounds in each round, and the first to win three rounds wins a round.
The two sides shuffled the cards, and after the old butler confirmed that they were correct, the decks were placed on the left and right hands of Priest Augustus for dealing.
The long table is placed parallel to the window, through the thick fog, the thin sunlight illuminates the table and the profiles of the two people.
Xia De got his first hidden card, but he didn't open it, but directly indicated that he wanted the second card.
Then he laughed and said:
"Count, I heard that you were seriously ill at the beginning of this year? I wish you good health."
"Yes, that illness really almost killed me."
The count also got his second card, and after looking at it, he frowned, obviously not satisfied.
Xia De's second card was Sun 1, he signaled to continue the deal, and then warned:
"I have a friend who is a doctor, and he often says that exercising more is good for your health."
He did have a doctor friend, but it was a psychiatrist.
"That's a good idea, but lung disease probably doesn't have much to do with exercise...I'm suspended, 18."
Count Dalark showed his two cards.
The third card Xia De got was Moon 10, UU Kanshu www. uukanshu.com He took another look at the hole cards, and then announced the suspension:
"Sun 1, Moon 10, Star 8, 19 o'clock."
"It's just unlucky."
The count shook his head and threw the cards in his hand aside, and the two cards were stacked together in a twist, and he looked like a Rhodes veteran:
"However, my illness may be related to my unhealthy living habits. Mr. Watson, you are a stranger, do you know the local interesting drink, blood brew?"
Xia De raised his eyebrows in surprise, and took the card from Priest Augustus:
"Of course I know. I even met a salesman promoting this drink at the Fire Worship Festival party. But I have always stayed away from blood products, and even steaks must be matured before they are eaten."
"Then your life is really less fun."
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