“Old Qi, damn it, damn it, damn it! This young master totally screwed up!”
Chen Junnan burst through the door, shouting at the top of his lungs.
At that moment, Tiantian, Han Yimo, and Qiao Jiajin were all waiting in the “preparation zone,” watching Qi Xia ponder something in front of the screen.
Hearing Chen Junnan’s yelling, Qi Xia slowly turned around and said softly, “Take it slow. What happened?”
“Just now—!” Chen Junnan pointed behind him. “Wen Qiaoyun and I each pulled out a chain to bet. She lost one to me, but I didn’t drop the ball. Then she guessed I didn’t have a ‘Cannon’ on me, and she even said one of you, Lawyer Zhang, and Old Qiao must be the ‘Cannon’! So I gave Dr. Zhao a look, but turns out he’s actually nothing…”
Chen Junnan rattled off a long string of words, leaving the room in dead silence.
“Old Qi, do you get it…?” Chen Junnan blinked and asked.
Qi Xia remained silent for a few seconds before replying, “Got it. You won a chain.”
“What the hell do you mean ‘won a chain’?!” Chen Junnan said with a pained expression. “Wen Qiaoyun tricked me! She really got me!”
“I know,” Qi Xia nodded. “And after she tricked you?”
“After that… I didn’t say anything, just left,” Chen Junnan said. “What else was I supposed to do? Compliment her some more?”
“Perfect,” Qi Xia said. “The ‘psychological warfare’ is fully deployed. Time to pick them off one by one.”
“Wait… Old Qi, do you really understand?” Chen Junnan said. “Wen Qiaoyun hasn’t changed at all! She’s still terrifyingly sharp!”
“You’re not bad either,” Qi Xia mused. “Did the ‘characters’ on you get exposed?”
“The ones on me…” Chen Junnan paused. “Probably not.”
With that, he reached into his pockets and pulled out two socks rolled into balls, each stuffed with several chains.
Slowly, Chen Junnan unrolled the socks, revealing the “characters” inside.
One was a “Horse,” another a “Guard,” and finally, the “General” from his own pocket.
It seemed he had come fully prepared, but before he could even lay out his convoluted plan, Wen Qiaoyun had already thrown him off balance.
“This is actually good,” Qi Xia said. “You charged at them with three ‘characters,’ yet not only did they not try to take them from you, they even thought you only had one—and not the ‘Cannon.’ In some ways, we won.”
“Really…?” Chen Junnan couldn’t quite believe it. “This counts as a win for me?”
“From now on, you can be any character except the ‘Cannon,'” Qi Xia nodded. “The ‘psychological warfare’ has already succeeded.”
“But Old Qi…” Chen Junnan said hesitantly, “The other side has a lot of smart people…”
“Don’t worry,” Qi Xia said. “Their strength is that they have ‘too many strategists,’ and their weakness is also that they have ‘too many strategists.'”
“Huh…?”
“Aside from Zhang Shan and Jin Yuanxun, everyone on their side overthinks,” Qi Xia explained. “Even if you just walk past them, they’ll keep guessing your motives.”
“But I don’t even have any motives…” Chen Junnan shook his head. “When I go wild, even I don’t know what I’m doing.”
At that moment, Qiao Jiajin seemed to remember something and cheerfully said to Chen Junnan, “Right! I heard that ‘fools counter masters’—looks like that’s talking about you, mate!”
“Old Qiao, I really appreciate the compliment,” Chen Junnan said flatly. “Next time, just… don’t.”
“Why so glum?” Qiao Jiajin slung an arm over Chen Junnan’s shoulders. “Don’t be upset, mate. I’m pretty dumb too.”
“That ‘too’ isn’t making me feel any better,” Chen Junnan said. “Old Qiao, just… go find some dumbbells and lift them for a while, alright?”
Qi Xia took a “Guard” from Chen Junnan’s hand, walked over to Tiantian, and handed it to her.
“Returning what’s yours,” Qi Xia said.
Tiantian took her “Guard” in confusion and asked, “Qi Xia, didn’t the rules say we ‘can’t freely exchange characters’? Why could Chen Junnan take our ‘characters’ and charge ahead? And now you’re giving his ‘character’ back to me… Doesn’t that count as an ‘exchange’?”
“Of course not,” Qi Xia said. “This ‘character’ wasn’t ‘exchanged’ to you by Chen Junnan. I just snatched it from him.”
“Snatched…?”
“And you didn’t give your ‘character’ to Chen Junnan—he took it from you.”
Tiantian froze, recalling that Chen Junnan had indeed snatched the “Guard” from her earlier. And now, Qi Xia had done the same to him before redistributing it as the “General.”
No wonder the “referee” hadn’t intervened despite such bold moves—it was all within the rules.
“Earth Dragon said…” Qi Xia continued, “We can use any means to take ‘characters’ from anyone, including our own teammates. The only catch is that those who lose their ‘characters’ must wait in the preparation zone.”
“So that’s how it is…” Tiantian murmured, lowering her head to look at the “Guard” in her hand.
Qi Xia had once told her that in regular chess, the “Guard” was the last line of defense protecting the “General.”
But in this game, only the weak would end up with the “Guard.”
“By the way, Old Qi!” Chen Junnan suddenly said. “I had that kid send you a message earlier—did you get it?”
“I did,” Qi Xia said. “Seems like both sides figured out the hidden rule of this game—’crossing the river.'”
“Crossing the river…?” Tiantian and Qiao Jiajin looked puzzled.
“In ‘chess,’ some pieces can’t ‘cross the river,'” Qi Xia explained. “But in this game, Earth Dragon never mentioned ‘crossing the river.’ That’s likely a trap. Someone has to test it eventually, so we’ll let the other side ‘cross’ first. Once we see the consequences, we’ll act accordingly.”
Qiao Jiajin turned to look at the wall. “Trickster, which ‘pieces’ can’t ‘cross the river’?”
Qi Xia also glanced at the wall and pointed at the characters. “Normally, ‘Guards,’ ‘Elephants,’ and ‘Generals’ can’t cross. They can only move on their own side. So if we see anyone in our territory later, their identity must be ‘Horse,’ ‘Chariot,’ ‘Pawn,’ or ‘Cannon.'”
“So…” Chen Junnan thought for a moment. “Old Qi, what do you think will happen if someone ‘crosses the river’?”
“Hard to say,” Qi Xia shook his head. “There are too many possibilities. We don’t know which rule Earth Dragon and Azure Dragon ultimately decided on.”
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