“Everyone.” Earth Dragon picked up the walkie-talkie at his waist and said, “Time’s up. The allocation of ‘characters’ is complete.”
At that moment, both teams looked up, gazing at Azure Dragon and Earth Dragon high above.
“Next, please proceed to the ‘battlefield zone,'” Earth Dragon announced. “The entire area consists of twenty ‘battlefields,’ and we have carefully prepared twenty ‘referees’ for you. If two ‘participants’ enter the same battlefield simultaneously, the room door will forcibly close, and the game will only conclude once the ‘referee’s’ challenge is completed.”
“Only twenty referees…?” Qi Xia quickly analyzed the map in his mind, feeling he had already deciphered its layout.
“What’s up, Trickster?” Qiao Jiajin asked.
“Nothing much… I need to adjust the plan on the fly,” Qi Xia replied.
After briefly explaining the changes, the “Cangjie Chess” officially began.
Both sides glanced at the doors before them and then entered their respective rooms.
The “preparation zone” had five “doors.” Apart from himself, Qi Xia’s team had six other members.
Among them, Zheng Yingxiong and Tian Tian chose to enter the same door, while the others split up.
“Everyone.” Earth Dragon picked up the walkie-talkie from his waist and said, “Time’s up. The assignment of ‘characters’ is complete.”
Both teams looked up at the Green Dragon and Earth Dragon high above.
“Next, please proceed to the ‘battle zone,'” Earth Dragon announced. “The entire area contains twenty ‘battlegrounds,’ and we have carefully prepared twenty ‘referees’ for you. If two participants enter the same battleground simultaneously, the room door will forcibly close, and the game will only conclude after completing the referee’s challenge.”
“Only twenty referees…?” Qi Xia quickly pondered the layout of the entire map, feeling as though he had already deciphered its distribution.
“What’s wrong, Trickster?” Qiao Jiajin asked.
“Nothing… I need to adjust the plan on the fly,” Qi Xia replied.
After briefly explaining a few instructions, the “Cangjie Chess” officially began.
Both sides glanced at the doors before them and entered their respective rooms.
The “preparation zone” had five doors. Aside from Qi Xia himself, his team had six other members.
Among them, Zheng Yingxiong and Tian Tian chose to enter the same door, while the others split up to act separately.
Qiao Jiajin pushed open the centermost door and was surprised to find another door standing in the middle of the room, inscribed with the character “酉” (Yǒu).
The room was about ten square meters in size, with doors on all four walls, seemingly leading to other rooms.
What caught his attention, however, was that aside from the door in the center, the room was completely empty, devoid of any other objects.
“Strange…”
Qiao Jiajin frowned slightly but said nothing and continued to push open the next door.
The next room was also about ten square meters, with yet another solitary door standing in the center.
This door was inscribed with the character “寅” (Yín).
“Damn…” Qiao Jiajin walked over and touched the wooden door. “Where’s the ‘referee’?”
He wondered if the door itself was the referee, given that each room was empty except for a single door.
He reached out and touched the door again, finding it to be of very ordinary construction. If that were the case, were there twenty such “doors” standing throughout the vast game area?
He steadied himself and continued to the next door.
After all, according to Qi Xia’s initial plan, the first phase was for everyone to fully grasp the layout of the area. Now, with the team splitting into five groups to explore, they needed to quickly return to the “preparation zone” to report their findings after investigating the ten rooms ahead.
When Qiao Jiajin pushed open the door, he found that it was no longer a room but a long corridor with five “doors” at the far end.
It seemed this corridor was what Qi Xia had previously referred to as the “Chu-Han Boundary.”
As Qiao Jiajin observed the five doors on the opposite side, the centermost door suddenly opened.
The tall Zhang Shan emerged, ducking slightly as he stepped out.
Their eyes met for a moment, and both broke into smiles.
“Damn…” Zhang Shan laughed. “I should’ve guessed you’d be the ‘vanguard’ for your side.”
“Hey, big guy, what’s up?” Qiao Jiajin replied with a grin.
“I’m scouting the path. You too, right?” Zhang Shan asked. “Didn’t expect you to be faster than me. Didn’t you need to study the things in the rooms at all?”
“I’m not much of a thinker,” Qiao Jiajin said. “I just remember what I see along the way. I don’t bother with why they’re there.”
“Oh…?” Zhang Shan nodded. “Tattoo kid, we’re both straightforward guys. What ‘character’ do you have?”
“As for me… let me check.”
Qiao Jiajin turned around and fiddled with something on his back. After a moment, he turned back and said:
“Big guy, the ‘character’ on me is ‘天地本宽而鄙者自隘’ (The world is inherently vast, but the narrow-minded confine themselves).”
“Huh…?” Zhang Shan was taken aback. “You… though you’re not a bad guy, you’re really asking for a beating.”
“What do you say? Want to have a go?” Qiao Jiajin completely ignored Zhang Shan’s provocation and took a step forward with a smile. “I feel like this is a great opportunity for us to have a fair fight.”
“Damn…” Zhang Shan frowned. “A fair one-on-one… such a luxury, isn’t it?”
“Luxury?” Qiao Jiajin didn’t understand.
“Tattoo kid, you and I are probably in similar situations, right?” Zhang Shan said. “In any fight, both of us are prime targets for ‘merits.’ The enemy will always gang up on us. We both want a fair one-on-one, but opportunities like that are rare.”
“True enough,” Qiao Jiajin nodded. “Every time I fight, I have to take on a whole crowd. I’ve never seen anyone who could beat me one-on-one.”
“Damn… you’re really something,” Zhang Shan laughed. “So just how good are you at fighting?”
“Me…?” Qiao Jiajin asked. “Big guy, what’s the most people you’ve fought at once?”
“Over a dozen,” Zhang Shan replied. “What about you?”
“Thirty-seven.”
“Damn, are you kidding me?” Zhang Shan said with disbelief. “You took on thirty-seven people alone?”
“Yep,” Qiao Jiajin nodded. “At the time, my boss only brought me along. He lost a bet and didn’t have the money to pay, so we were chased by thirty-seven people with knives.”
Zhang Shan smirked. “I got lightly injured fighting over a dozen. What about you?”
“I almost died after that fight.”
“Huh…?” Zhang Shan blinked in confusion. “Wait… you’re not even pretending to boast?”
“I really almost died,” Qiao Jiajin retorted, somewhat indignantly. “Big guy, do you think I’m the Terminator? There were thirty-seven of them, and they had knives! It’s a miracle I won. Did you expect me to be invulnerable?”
“Damn… you’ve got a point,” Zhang Shan nodded. “So, what do you say? Want to spar now?”
“Now?” Qiao Jiajin hesitated visibly before asking, “Don’t we need to find a ‘battleground’?”
“You mean go into one of those ‘doors’?” Zhang Shan chuckled. “Damn, do we really need to find a referee inside one of those doors?”
“What are you suggesting, then?”
“Let’s just take out our ‘characters’ and have a fair duel. The winner takes the ‘character,'” Zhang Shan proposed. “No cheating. How about it?”
Qiao Jiajin glanced left and right down the corridor and noticed that neither his teammates nor the opponents had emerged yet. He couldn’t help but feel puzzled.
Although it was an excellent opportunity for a duel, he still had unfinished business.
“Big guy, not this time,” Qiao Jiajin waved his hand. “I need to go back and find Trickster to report the situation here.”
The room was roughly ten square meters, with doors on all four walls, seemingly leading to other rooms.
But what caught his attention was that aside from the central door, the room was completely empty.
“Strange…”
Qiao Jiajin frowned slightly but said nothing and proceeded to push open the next door.
“Everyone.” Earth Dragon picked up the walkie-talkie on his waist and said, “Time’s up. The assignment of ‘characters’ is complete.”
Both teams looked up at the Green Dragon and Earth Dragon high above.
“Next, please proceed to the ‘battle zone,'” Earth Dragon announced. “The entire area contains twenty ‘battlegrounds,’ and we have carefully prepared twenty ‘referees’ for everyone. If two participants enter the same battleground simultaneously, the room door will forcibly close, and the game will only conclude after completing the referee’s challenge.”
“Only twenty referees…?” Qi Xia quickly pondered the layout of the entire map, feeling he had already grasped its distribution.
“What’s wrong, Trickster?” Qiao Jiajin asked.
“Nothing… I need to adjust the plan on the fly,” Qi Xia replied.
After briefly explaining the changes, the “Cangjie Chess” game officially began.
Both teams glanced at the doors before them and entered their respective rooms.
The “preparation zone” had five doors. Aside from Qi Xia himself, his team had six other members.
Among them, Zheng Yingxiong and Tian Tian chose to enter the same door, while the others split up to act separately.
Qiao Jiajin pushed open the centermost door and was surprised to find another door standing in the middle of the room, marked with the character “酉” (Yǒu).
The room was about ten square meters in size, with doors on all four walls, seemingly leading to other rooms.
What caught his attention, however, was that aside from the door in the center, the room was completely empty.
“Strange…”
Qiao Jiajin frowned slightly but said nothing and continued to push open the next door.
The next room was also about ten square meters, with another lone door standing in the center.
This door was marked with the character “寅” (Yín).
“Damn…” Qiao Jiajin walked over and touched the wooden door. “Where’s the ‘referee’?”
He wondered if the door itself was the referee, given that every room was empty except for a single door.
He reached out and touched the door again, finding it to be an ordinary structure. If that were the case, were there twenty such “doors” standing throughout the vast game area?
He steadied himself and continued to the next door.
According to Qi Xia’s initial plan, everyone was to fully grasp the layout of the area during the first phase. The team had split into five groups to explore the ten rooms ahead and quickly return to the “preparation zone” to report their findings.
When Qiao Jiajin pushed open the door, he found that it was no longer a room but a long corridor with five “doors” at the other end.
It seemed this corridor was what Qi Xia had referred to as the “Chu-Han Boundary.”
As Qiao Jiajin observed the five doors on the other side, the centermost door opened.
The tall Zhang Shan stepped out, ducking slightly as he emerged.
Their eyes met for a moment, and both broke into smiles.
“Damn,” Zhang Shan laughed. “I should’ve guessed you’d be the ‘vanguard’ for your side.”
“Hey, big guy, working hard?” Qiao Jiajin grinned back.
“I’m scouting the path. You too, right?” Zhang Shan asked. “Didn’t expect you to be faster than me. Didn’t you need to study the things in the rooms at all?”
“My brain doesn’t work that well,” Qiao Jiajin replied. “I just remember what I see along the way. I don’t bother with why they’re there.”
“Oh…?” Zhang Shan nodded. “Tattoo kid, we’re both straightforward guys. What ‘character’ do you have?”
“My character? Let me check.”
Qiao Jiajin turned around and fiddled with something on his back. After a moment, he turned back and said:
“Big guy, my ‘character’ is ‘天地本宽而鄙者自隘’ (The world is inherently vast, but the narrow-minded confine themselves).”
“Huh…?” Zhang Shan was taken aback. “You… though you’re not a bad guy, you’re really asking for a beating.”
“What, looking for a chance to spar?” Qiao Jiajin completely ignored Zhang Shan’s provocation and took a step forward with a smile. “I feel like this is a great opportunity for us to have a proper fight.”
“Damn…” Zhang Shan frowned. “A fair one-on-one… such a luxury, isn’t it?”
“Luxury?” Qiao Jiajin didn’t understand.
“Tattoo kid, you’re probably in a similar situation to me, right?” Zhang Shan said. “In any fight, both of us are ‘prizes.’ The enemy will gang up on us. We both want a fair one-on-one, but chances like that are rare.”
“True,” Qiao Jiajin nodded. “Every time I fight, I have to take on a whole crowd. I’ve never seen anyone who could beat me one-on-one.”
“Damn… you’re really cocky,” Zhang Shan laughed. “So just how good are you at fighting?”
“Me…?” Qiao Jiajin asked. “Big guy, what’s the most people you’ve fought at once?”
“Over a dozen,” Zhang Shan replied. “You?”
“Thirty-seven.”
“Damn, are you kidding me?” Zhang Shan said with disbelief. “You took on thirty-seven people alone?”
“Yeah,” Qiao Jiajin nodded. “Back then, my boss only brought me along. He lost a bet and had no money to pay, so we were chased by thirty-seven people with knives.”
Zhang Shan smirked. “I got lightly injured fighting over a dozen. What about you?”
“I almost died after that fight.”
“Huh…?” Zhang Shan blinked in confusion. “Wait… you’re not even pretending to boast?”
“I really almost died,” Qiao Jiajin retorted, somewhat annoyed. “Big guy, do you think I’m the Terminator? There were thirty-seven people, and they had knives! It’s a miracle I won. Did you expect me to be invulnerable?”
“Damn… you’ve got a point,” Zhang Shan nodded. “So, what do you say? Should we spar now?”
“Now?” Qiao Jiajin hesitated visibly before asking, “Don’t we need to find a ‘battleground’ for the two of us?”
“You mean go into one of those ‘doors’?” Zhang Shan chuckled. “Damn, do we really need to find a referee inside one of those doors?”
“Then what do you suggest?”
“Let’s just take out our ‘characters’ and duel fairly. The winner takes the ‘character,'” Zhang Shan said. “No cheating. How about it?”
Qiao Jiajin glanced left and right along the corridor and noticed that neither his teammates nor the opponents had emerged yet. He couldn’t help but feel puzzled.
Although it was an excellent opportunity for a duel, he still had unfinished business.
“Big guy, not this time,” Qiao Jiajin waved his hand. “I need to go back and find Trickster to report the situation here.”
“Dang it…” Qiao Jiajin stepped forward and touched the wooden door. “Where’s the ‘referee’?”
He wondered if the door itself was the “referee,” given how barren the rooms were. He examined it again, finding it to be an ordinary structure. Did that mean the entire game area was filled with twenty such “doors”?
Steadying himself, he moved on to the next door.
According to Qi Xia’s initial plan, the first phase required everyone to fully grasp the layout of the battlefield. The team had split into five groups to explore the ten rooms ahead and quickly report back to the “preparation zone.”
When Qiao Jiajin pushed open the next door, he found himself facing not another room but a long corridor with five doors at the far end.
This must be the “boundary line” Qi Xia had mentioned earlier.
As Qiao Jiajin studied the five doors, the central one suddenly swung open.
A towering figure—Zhang Shan—emerged, ducking slightly as he stepped out.
Their eyes met briefly, and both broke into smiles.
“Dang it,” Zhang Shan chuckled. “I should’ve guessed you’d be the ‘scout’ for your side.”
“Hey, Big Guy, working hard?” Qiao Jiajin grinned back.
“I’m on recon duty. You too?” Zhang Shan asked. “Didn’t expect you to be faster than me. Didn’t you need to study anything in the rooms?”
“I’m not the sharpest tool in the shed,” Qiao Jiajin admitted. “I just memorize what I see along the way—no time to wonder why it’s there.”
“Oh?” Zhang Shan nodded. “Tattoo Kid, we’re both straightforward. What’s your ‘character’?”
“About that, let me check.”
Qiao Jiajin turned around, fiddling with something on his back, then turned back and said:
“Big Guy, my ‘character’ is ‘The world is vast, but the narrow-minded confine themselves.'”
“Huh…?” Zhang Shan blinked. “Kid… you’re not a bad guy, but you’re really asking for a beating.”
“What, you wanna spar?” Qiao Jiajin took a step forward, unfazed by the challenge. “This feels like the perfect chance for a fair one-on-one.”
“Dang it…” Zhang Shan frowned. “A fair one-on-one… what a luxury, huh?”
“Luxury?” Qiao Jiajin didn’t follow.
“Tattoo Kid, you and I are in the same boat,” Zhang Shan said. “In any fight, our heads are ‘trophies.’ We’re always swarmed by enemies. We both crave a fair duel, but opportunities like that are rare.”
“True enough,” Qiao Jiajin agreed. “Every time I fight, it’s always against a crowd. Never had someone take me on one-on-one and win.”
“Dang it… you’re really cocky.” Zhang Shan smirked. “Just how good are you?”
“Me…?” Qiao Jiajin asked. “Big Guy, what’s the most people you’ve fought at once?”
“Over a dozen,” Zhang Shan replied. “You?”
“Thirty-seven.”
“Dang it, you’re full of it!” Zhang Shan looked incredulous. “You took on thirty-seven people alone?”
“Yep,” Qiao Jiajin nodded. “My boss only brought me along that time. He lost a bet and couldn’t pay up, so we got chased by thirty-seven guys with knives.”
Zhang Shan scoffed. “I walked away from my fight with minor injuries. What about you?”
“I almost died.”
“Huh…?” Zhang Shan blinked. “Wait… you’re not even trying to brag?”
“I really almost died,” Qiao Jiajin retorted, slightly annoyed. “Big Guy, you think I’m the Terminator? Thirty-seven people—with knives! Surviving was a win. You expect me to be bulletproof?”
“Dang it… fair point.” Zhang Shan nodded. “So? Wanna go at it now?”
“Now?” Qiao Jiajin hesitated. “Don’t we need a proper ‘arena’?”
“You mean those ‘doors’?” Zhang Shan chuckled. “Dang it, do we really need to find a referee inside?”
“Then what’s your idea?”
“We just take out our ‘characters’ and duel fair and square. Winner takes both.” Zhang Shan proposed. “No tricks. Deal?”
Qiao Jiajin glanced down the corridor. Neither his teammates nor the enemy’s had emerged yet. Though the timing was perfect, he still had unfinished business.
“Big Guy, not this time.” Qiao Jiajin waved him off. “I need to report back to Trickster first and fill him in.”
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