“Look! The foreign trade bag brought back a scarf. Does that count as opening the Silk Road?”
Qi Xia stared at the character in Chen Junnan’s hand and fell into a brief silence again.
“Look! The foreign trade bag brought back a silk scarf. Does that count as opening the Silk Road?”
Qi Xia stared at the “character” in Chen Junnan’s hand and fell into a brief silence again.
Lawyer Zhang and Zheng Yingxiong, who were standing behind, also stepped forward to look at this “巾” (scarf), their minds gradually growing confused.
Because they vaguely remembered that initially, the “character” in Chen Junnan’s hand was “帅” (handsome).
But now, not only was it not “帅,” it had even lost half of itself. Why was Chen Junnan so happy about losing half of a “character”…?
“Being able to snatch back half of a ‘character’ is already a rare situation,” Qi Xia said. “If you manage to snatch back half of a ‘character’ twice in a row, it can’t just be called ‘rare.'”
“Wait… what are you talking about?” Chen Junnan said. “I didn’t snatch either of these two ‘characters’—they were both given to me willingly!”
“Fine,” Qi Xia nodded helplessly. “That sounds like something you’d do.”
“Old Qi, guess how I got this ‘character’ just now?”
Qi Xia sighed after hearing this. “I’m guessing you impersonated Xu Liunian.”
“Uh…” Chen Junnan blinked and said, “No fun. I’m done playing. Here, take it.”
He handed the “巾” to Qi Xia and watched as he scored another point on the screen.
“This tactic isn’t bad,” Qi Xia said. “I suspect you can keep using it for a while longer.”
“Keep using it?” Chen Junnan was a bit confused. “As soon as the real Xu Liunian returns, they’ll realize they’ve been tricked.”
“No, I doubt we’ll even need to wait for Xu Liunian to return. Chu Tianqiu will probably figure out you’re a fake,” Qi Xia said. “But the real problem now lies with Xu Liunian.”
“What do you mean?”
“You’ve all said that the ‘echoes’ in this place are faint and extremely difficult to manifest,” Qi Xia said. “I suddenly remembered a similar example, though I’m not sure if it applies here.”
“Eh…?” Chen Junnan seemed to have thought of something too. “Now that you mention it…”
“Exactly,” Qi Xia said. “What the White Snake said about ‘echoes’… Similarly, Xu Liunian好不容易 obtained an ‘echo,’ but this place makes it ‘extremely difficult to echo,’ so it’s hard for her to perform actions related to ‘echoes.’ In other words, there’s a good chance she can’t free herself from her ‘echo,’ causing her appearance to remain looking like yours indefinitely.”
“Ha…” Countless amusing ideas flashed through Chen Junnan’s mind. “Then I know what to do.”
Qi Xia nodded and said, “From now on, ‘Xu Liunian’ could be anyone, and anyone could be ‘Xu Liunian.’ Chu Tianqiu has lost the first step.”
Chen Junnan watched as Qi Xia wrote the homophone for “巾” — “金” (gold) — on the screen and then stopped, feeling slightly puzzled.
“Keep going, Old Qi,” Chen Junnan said. “Form more words. There are so many characters.”
After hearing this, Qi Xia looked at the “丘” (hill) and “八” (eight) in his hand and shook his head.
“There shouldn’t be any more,” Qi Xia said. “Among all the ‘left-right structure’ characters, ‘帅’ has the least utility. I’ve calculated it—it can hardly form any other words in this game.”
“What?” Chen Junnan was stunned. “Dammit… I thought I’d done another great deed. How come there’s only a ‘巾’? Was all this effort for nothing?”
“For nothing?” Qi Xia said. “Of course not. You’ve dealt a devastating blow to Chu Tianqiu. That value isn’t something a ‘巾’ can compare to.”
“Really?” Chen Junnan took a few steps forward and looked at the characters stuck on the “Phoenix Holding Scroll Platform.” “I’m determined to form a second ‘character’ for you today. Only then will it feel like we haven’t lost out…”
Hearing this, Qi Xia didn’t object. Instead, he took out his “丘” and “八” as if asking Chen Junnan if he had any unconventional ideas.
Unexpectedly, Chen Junnan didn’t even look at the characters in Qi Xia’s hand. He just stared at the “巾” for a long time before slowly reaching out a finger and gently pushing it.
“Wait…” Qi Xia felt a sense of déjà vu. Earlier, a reckless teammate had pushed with his finger and cost the team a point. This didn’t seem like a good omen.
But Chen Junnan moved too quickly. Before Qi Xia could finish speaking, he had already rotated the “巾” 180 degrees.
The screen flickered and once again displayed familiar text:
“Received the character雏形 ‘屮’. Please write its homophone.”
“…?”
Qi Xia, Zhang Chenze, and Zheng Yingxiong, who were standing nearby, fell silent simultaneously.
“Does this count?” Zhang Chenze asked, puzzled, as she looked at the screen. “Isn’t this just a radical…?”
“How could it be just a radical? It’s definitely a ‘character’!” Chen Junnan grinned at everyone, as if waiting for their praise, but Qi Xia was genuinely uncertain.
The last failed guess had already cost them a point. This time, it might cost them two points. As scoring became increasingly difficult, losing two points would have a significant impact.
“Well, Old Qi?” Chen Junnan patted Qi Xia’s shoulder. “I told you there had to be more ‘characters,’ right? Even you have moments when you can’t figure everything out.”
“Alright…” Qi Xia nodded and pointed at the screen. “Tell me how to pronounce this character.”
“This…” Chen Junnan blinked. “You’re putting me on the spot. I don’t have as much knowledge as you do.”
Qi Xia sighed and said, “Chen Junnan, let me reiterate: my knowledge comes from books. Even if obscure characters occasionally appear in books, it’s hard for me to know their pronunciation out of thin air. So, ‘obscure characters’ and ‘knowledge’ aren’t directly linked.”
“Uh…” Qi Xia’s words left Chen Junnan speechless. “What do you mean… Old Qi, are we just going to take a guess?”
“I suggest taking the ‘character’ down and giving up on this guess,” Qi Xia replied. “Taking a risk now could cost us two points.”
Hearing this, Chen Junnan nodded reluctantly, though he still seemed unwilling to accept it.
“What?” Qi Xia asked.
“Old Qi… how about you let me guess just once?” Chen Junnan said. “If we really lose two points, I’ll do whatever it takes to earn those two points back for you.”
Qi Xia frowned upon hearing this. “I need to make two things clear… First, I don’t need you to risk your life. You don’t owe me anything. Everyone on this team is equal. Second, if you insist on guessing even after knowing the consequences of failure, I’ll help you bear the consequences.”
“How the hell is that acceptable?!” Chen Junnan said. “I should be responsible for my own actions.”
Qi Xia sighed and said, “Then what’s your guess?”
Chen Junnan grinned and slowly raised his middle finger.
This gesture stunned everyone nearby.
“Old Qi… doesn’t this ‘character’ look like this gesture?”
“…?”
“I think this character looks like a swear word and also like a plant. How about we write ‘草’ (grass)!”
“Look! The foreign trade bag brought back a silk scarf, so can we consider that as opening the Silk Road?”
Qi Xia stared at the “character” in Chen Junnan’s hand and fell into a brief silence once again.
Behind them, Lawyer Zhang and Zheng Yingxiong stepped forward to examine this “巾” (scarf), their minds gradually growing more confused.
Because they vaguely remembered that initially, the “character” in Chen Junnan’s hand was “帅” (handsome).
Now, not only was it not “帅,” but it had even lost half its form. Why was Chen Junnan so happy about having only half a “character”…?
“Being able to snatch back half a ‘character’ is already a rare occurrence,” Qi Xia said. “If you manage to snatch back half a ‘character’ twice in a row, ‘rare’ doesn’t even begin to describe it.”
“Wait… what are you talking about?!” Chen Junnan exclaimed. “This master didn’t snatch either of these two ‘characters’—they were both given to me willingly!”
“Fine,” Qi Xia nodded helplessly. “That sounds like something you’d do.”
“Old Qi, guess how I got this ‘character’ just now?”
Qi Xia sighed upon hearing this. “I’m guessing you impersonated Xu Liunian.”
“Uh…” Chen Junnan blinked and said, “No fun. I’m done playing. Here, take it.”
He handed the “巾” to Qi Xia, watching as he scored another point on the screen.
“That’s a pretty good tactic,” Qi Xia remarked. “I suspect you can keep using it for a while longer.”
“Use it for a while longer?” Chen Junnan looked puzzled. “As soon as the real Xu Liunian returns, they’ll realize they’ve been tricked.”
“No, I doubt we’ll even need to wait for Xu Liunian to return—Chu Tianqiu will likely figure out you’re a fake,” Qi Xia said. “But the real problem now lies with Xu Liunian herself.”
“What do you mean?”
“You’ve all said that ‘Echoes’ in this place are faint and extremely difficult to activate,” Qi Xia explained. “It suddenly reminded me of a similar example, though I’m not sure if it applies here.”
“Eh…?” Chen Junnan seemed to have thought of something as well. “Now that you mention it…”
“Exactly,” Qi Xia continued. “What the White Snake said about ‘Echoes’… by the same logic, Xu Liunian finally managed to obtain her ‘Echo,’ but since this place makes it ‘extremely difficult to echo,’ it’s hard for her to perform actions related to her ‘Echo.’ In other words, there’s a chance she might not be able to break free from her ‘Echo,’ causing her appearance to remain looking like yours indefinitely.”
“Ha…” Countless amusing ideas flashed through Chen Junnan’s mind. “Then this master knows what to do.”
Qi Xia nodded. “From now on, ‘Xu Liunian’ could be anyone, and anyone could be ‘Xu Liunian.’ Chu Tianqiu has lost the first step.”
Chen Junnan watched as Qi Xia wrote the homophone for “巾” — “金” (gold) — on the screen and then stopped, feeling slightly confused.
“Keep going, Old Qi,” Chen Junnan urged. “Form more words. There are so many characters.”
Upon hearing this, Qi Xia glanced at the “丘” (hill) and “八” (eight) in his hand and shook his head.
“There shouldn’t be any more,” Qi Xia said. “Among all the ‘left-right structure’ characters, ‘帅’ has the least utility. I’ve calculated it—it can hardly form any other words in this game.”
“What?” Chen Junnan was stunned. “Dammit… I thought I’d pulled off another great feat. How come there’s only a ‘巾’?! Was all this effort for nothing?”
“For nothing?” Qi Xia replied. “Of course not. You’ve dealt a devastating blow to Chu Tianqiu. That value far surpasses a single ‘巾.'”
“Really?” Chen Junnan took a few steps forward and examined the characters stuck on the “Phoenix Holding Scroll Platform.” “This master is determined to form a second ‘character’ for you today. Only then will it feel like we haven’t lost out…”
Hearing this, Qi Xia didn’t object. Instead, he took out his own “丘” and “八,” as if asking Chen Junnan if he had any unconventional ideas.
Unexpectedly, Chen Junnan didn’t even glance at the characters in Qi Xia’s hand. He simply stared at the “巾” for a long time before slowly reaching out a finger and gently pushing it.
“Wait…” Qi Xia felt a sense of déjà vu. Earlier, a reckless teammate had used his finger to push a character, costing the team a point. This didn’t bode well.
But Chen Junnan acted swiftly. Before Qi Xia could finish speaking, he directly rotated the “巾” 180 degrees.
The screen flickered and once again displayed the familiar text:
“Received character雏形 ‘屮’. Please write a homophone.”
“…?”
Qi Xia, Zhang Chenze, and Zheng Yingxiong, who were standing nearby, fell silent simultaneously.
“Does this even count?” Zhang Chenze asked, puzzled, as she looked at the screen. “Isn’t this just a radical…?”
“How could it be just a radical? It’s definitely a ‘character’!” Chen Junnan grinned at everyone, seemingly waiting for their praise, but Qi Xia was genuinely uncertain.
The last failed guess had already cost them one point. This time, it might cost two points. As scoring became increasingly difficult, losing two points would have a significant impact.
“Well, Old Qi?” Chen Junnan patted Qi Xia’s shoulder. “I told you there had to be more ‘characters,’ right? Even you can’t think of everything sometimes.”
“Alright…” Qi Xia nodded and pointed at the screen. “Tell me how this character is pronounced.”
“This…” Chen Junnan blinked. “You’re putting me on the spot. This master isn’t as learned as you.”
Qi Xia sighed. “Chen Junnan, let me reiterate: my knowledge comes from books. Even if obscure characters occasionally appear in books, it’s hard for me to know their pronunciation out of thin air. So, ‘obscure characters’ and ‘knowledge’ aren’t directly correlated.”
“Uh…” Qi Xia’s words left Chen Junnan speechless. “What do you mean… Old Qi, are we just going to have to guess?”
“I suggest taking the ‘character’ down and giving up on this guess,” Qi Xia replied. “Taking the risk now could cost us two points.”
Hearing this, Chen Junnan nodded reluctantly, though he still seemed unwilling to accept it.
“What?” Qi Xia asked.
“Old Qi… how about you let me guess just once?” Chen Junnan said. “If we really lose two points, this master will do whatever it takes to earn back those two points for you.”
Qi Xia frowned upon hearing this. “I need to make two things clear… First, I don’t need you to risk your life. You don’t owe me anything. Everyone in this team is equal. Second, if you’re determined to guess even after knowing the consequences of failure, I’ll help you bear the consequences.”
“How the hell is that acceptable?!” Chen Junnan exclaimed. “One should be responsible for their own actions.”
Qi Xia sighed. “Then what’s your guess?”
Chen Junnan grinned and slowly raised his middle finger.
This gesture stunned everyone nearby.
“Old Qi… doesn’t this ‘character’ look like this gesture?”
“…?”
“This master thinks this character looks like both a swear word and a plant. How about we write ‘草’ (grass)!”
“Look! The foreign trade bag brought back a silk scarf, so can we consider that as opening the Silk Road?”
Qi Xia stared at the “character” in Chen Junnan’s hand and fell into a brief silence once again.
Behind them, Lawyer Zhang and Zheng Yingxiong stepped forward to look at this “巾” (scarf), their minds gradually growing more confused.
Because they vaguely remembered that initially, the “character” in Chen Junnan’s hand was “帅” (handsome).
Now, not only was it not “帅,” but it had even lost half of itself. Why was Chen Junnan so happy about losing half of a “character”…?
“Being able to snatch back half of a ‘character’ is already a rare occurrence,” Qi Xia said. “If it happens twice in a row, ‘rare’ doesn’t even begin to describe it.”
“Wait… what are you talking about?!” Chen Junnan said. “I didn’t snatch either of these two ‘characters’—they were both given to me willingly!”
“Fine,” Qi Xia nodded helplessly. “That sounds like something you’d do.”
“Old Qi, guess how I got this ‘character’ just now?”
Qi Xia sighed after hearing this. “I bet you impersonated Xu Liunian.”
“Uh…” Chen Junnan blinked and said, “No fun. I’m done playing. Here, take it.”
He handed the “巾” to Qi Xia and watched as he scored another point on the screen.
“That’s a good tactic,” Qi Xia said. “I suspect you can keep using it for a while longer.”
“Keep using it?” Chen Junnan looked puzzled. “As soon as the real Xu Liunian returns, they’ll realize they’ve been tricked.”
“No, I doubt we’ll even have to wait for Xu Liunian to return. Chu Tianqiu will probably figure out you’re a fake,” Qi Xia said. “But the real problem now lies with Xu Liunian herself.”
“What do you mean?”
“You’ve all said that ‘echoing’ in this place is faint and extremely difficult to perform,” Qi Xia said. “I suddenly recalled a similar example, though I’m not sure if it applies here.”
“Huh…?” Chen Junnan seemed to have thought of something too. “Now that you mention it…”
“Exactly,” Qi Xia said. “What the White Snake said about ‘echoing’… by the same logic, Xu Liunian finally managed to achieve ‘echoing,’ but since it’s ‘extremely difficult to echo’ here, she likely finds it hard to perform actions related to ‘echoing.’ In other words, there’s a chance she can’t break free from her ‘echo,’ causing her appearance to remain looking like yours indefinitely.”
“Ha…” Countless amusing ideas flashed through Chen Junnan’s mind. “Then I know what to do.”
Qi Xia nodded. “From now on, ‘Xu Liunian’ could be anyone, and anyone could be ‘Xu Liunian.’ Chu Tianqiu has lost the first move.”
Chen Junnan watched as Qi Xia wrote the homophone for “巾” — “金” (gold) — on the screen and then stopped, feeling slightly confused.
“Keep going, Old Qi,” Chen Junnan said. “Form more words. There are plenty of characters.”
After hearing this, Qi Xia looked at the “丘” (hill) and “八” (eight) in his hand and shook his head.
“That should be all,” Qi Xia said. “Among all the ‘left-right structure’ characters, ‘帅’ has the least utility. I’ve calculated it—it can hardly form any other words in this game.”
“What?” Chen Junnan was stunned. “Dammit… I thought I’d pulled off another great feat. How come there’s only ‘巾’? Was all that effort for nothing?”
“For nothing?” Qi Xia said. “Of course not. You’ve dealt a devastating blow to Chu Tianqiu. That value far surpasses a single ‘巾.'”
“Really?” Chen Junnan took a few steps forward and looked at the characters stuck on the “Phoenix Holding Scroll Platform.” “I’m determined to form a second ‘character’ for you today. Only then will it feel worth it…”
Hearing this, Qi Xia didn’t object. Instead, he took out his own “丘” and “八,” as if asking Chen Junnan if he had any unconventional ideas.
Unexpectedly, Chen Junnan didn’t even glance at the characters in Qi Xia’s hand. He just stared at the “巾” for a long time before slowly reaching out a finger and gently pushing it.
“Wait…” Qi Xia felt a sense of déjà vu. Earlier, a reckless teammate had used his finger to push a character, costing the team a point. This didn’t bode well.
But Chen Junnan moved too quickly. Before Qi Xia could finish speaking, he had already rotated the “巾” 180 degrees.
The screen flickered and lit up again with familiar text:
“Received character雏形 ‘屮’. Please write a homophone.”
“…?”
Qi Xia, Zhang Chenze, and Zheng Yingxiong, who were standing nearby, fell silent simultaneously.
“This counts?” Zhang Chenze asked, puzzled, as she looked at the screen. “Isn’t this just a radical…?”
“How could it be just a radical? It’s definitely a ‘character’!” Chen Junnan grinned at everyone, as if waiting for their praise, but Qi Xia was genuinely unsure.
The last failed guess had already cost them one point. This time, it might cost two. With points becoming increasingly hard to earn, losing two would have a significant impact.
“So, Old Qi?” Chen Junnan patted Qi Xia’s shoulder. “I told you there had to be more ‘characters,’ right? Even you can’t think of everything.”
“Alright…” Qi Xia nodded and pointed at the screen. “Tell me how to pronounce this character.”
“This…” Chen Junnan blinked. “You’re putting me on the spot. I don’t have as much knowledge as you do.”
Qi Xia sighed. “Chen Junnan, let me reiterate: my knowledge comes from books. Even if rare characters occasionally appear in books, it’s hard for me to know their pronunciation out of thin air. So, ‘obscure characters’ and ‘knowledge’ aren’t directly linked.”
“Uh…” Qi Xia’s words left Chen Junnan speechless. “What do you mean… Old Qi, are we just going to guess?”
“I suggest taking the ‘character’ down and giving up on this guess,” Qi Xia replied. “Taking a risk now could cost us two points.”
Hearing this, Chen Junnan nodded reluctantly, though he still seemed unwilling to accept it.
“What?” Qi Xia asked.
“Old Qi… how about you let me guess just once?” Chen Junnan said. “If we really lose two points, I’ll do whatever it takes to earn them back for you.”
Qi Xia frowned. “I need to make two things clear… First, I don’t need you to risk your life. You don’t owe me anything. Everyone on this team is equal. Second, if you insist on guessing even after understanding the consequences of failure, I’ll help you bear the consequences.”
“How the hell is that acceptable?!” Chen Junnan said. “I should be responsible for my own actions.”
Qi Xia sighed. “Then what’s your guess?”
Chen Junnan grinned and slowly raised his middle finger.
The gesture stunned everyone nearby.
“Old Qi… doesn’t this ‘character’ look like this gesture?”
“…?”
“I think this character looks like a swear word and also like a plant. How about we write ‘草’ (grass)!”
“Getting half a character back is already a rare situation,” Qi Xia said. “If you manage it twice in a row, ‘rare’ doesn’t even begin to describe it.”
“Huh? What are you talking about?” Chen Junnan retorted. “These two characters of mine weren’t snatched back—they were given to me willingly!”
“Fine.” Qi Xia nodded helplessly. “Sounds like something you’d do.”
“Hey, Old Qi, guess how I got this character just now?”
Qi Xia sighed. “I’m guessing you pretended to be Xu Liunian.”
“Uh…” Chen Junnan blinked. “No fun. Game over. Here, take it.”
“Look! The foreign trade bag brought back a silk scarf. Does that count as opening the Silk Road?”
Qi Xia stared at the “character” in Chen Junnan’s hand and fell into a brief silence again.
Lawyer Zhang and Zheng Yingxiong, who were standing behind, also stepped forward to look at this “scarf” (巾), their minds gradually growing confused.
Because they vaguely remembered that initially, the “character” in Chen Junnan’s hand was “shuai” (帅).
Now, not only was it not “shuai,” but it had even lost half of itself. Why was Chen Junnan so happy about losing half a “character”…?
“Being able to snatch back half a ‘character’ is already a rare situation,” Qi Xia said. “If you manage to snatch back half a ‘character’ twice in a row, it can’t just be called ‘rare.'”
“Wait… what are you talking about?!” Chen Junnan said. “I didn’t snatch either of these two ‘characters’—they were both given to me willingly!”
“Alright,” Qi Xia nodded helplessly. “That sounds like something you’d do.”
“Old Qi, guess how I got this ‘character’ just now?”
Qi Xia sighed after hearing this. “I’m guessing you impersonated Xu Liunian.”
“Uh…” Chen Junnan blinked and said, “No fun. I’m done playing. Here, take it.”
He handed the “scarf” (巾) to Qi Xia and watched as he scored another point on the screen.
“That’s a good tactic,” Qi Xia said. “I suspect you can keep using it for a while longer.”
“Keep using it?” Chen Junnan was a bit confused. “As soon as the real Xu Liunian returns, they’ll realize they’ve been tricked.”
“No, I doubt we’ll even need to wait for Xu Liunian to return. Chu Tianqiu will probably figure out you’re a fake,” Qi Xia said. “But the real problem now lies with Xu Liunian herself.”
“What do you mean?”
“You’ve all said that ‘echoing’ in this place is faint and extremely difficult to perform,” Qi Xia said. “I suddenly remembered a similar example, though I’m not sure if it applies here.”
“Eh…?” Chen Junnan seemed to have thought of something too. “Now that you mention it…”
“Exactly,” Qi Xia said. “What the White Snake said about ‘echoing’… Similarly, Xu Liunian finally managed to achieve ‘echoing,’ but since this place makes it ‘extremely difficult to echo,’ it’s hard for her to perform actions related to ‘echoing.’ In other words, there’s a good chance she can’t break free from her ‘echo,’ causing her appearance to remain looking like yours indefinitely.”
“Ha…” Countless amusing ideas flashed through Chen Junnan’s mind. “Then I know what to do.”
Qi Xia nodded and said, “From now on, ‘Xu Liunian’ can be anyone, and anyone can be ‘Xu Liunian.’ Chu Tianqiu has lost the first step.”
Chen Junnan watched as Qi Xia wrote the homophone for “scarf” (巾)—”gold” (金)—on the screen and then stopped, feeling slightly puzzled.
“Keep going, Old Qi,” Chen Junnan said. “Form more words. There are so many characters.”
After hearing this, Qi Xia looked at the “hill” (丘) and “eight” (八) in his hand and shook his head.
“There shouldn’t be any more,” Qi Xia said. “Among all the ‘left-right structure’ characters, ‘shuai’ (帅) has the least utility. I’ve calculated it—it can hardly form any other words in this game.”
“What?” Chen Junnan was stunned. “Dammit… I thought I’d done another great deed. How come there’s only a ‘scarf’ (巾)?! Was all that effort for nothing?”
“For nothing?” Qi Xia said. “Of course not. You’ve dealt a devastating blow to Chu Tianqiu. That value isn’t something a ‘scarf’ (巾) can compare to.”
“Really?” Chen Junnan took a few steps forward and looked at the characters stuck on the “Phoenix Holding Scroll Platform.” “I’m determined to form a second ‘character’ for you today. Only then will it be worth it…”
Qi Xia didn’t object but instead took out his own “hill” (丘) and “eight” (八), as if asking Chen Junnan if he had any unconventional ideas.
Unexpectedly, Chen Junnan didn’t even glance at the characters in Qi Xia’s hand. Instead, he stared at the “scarf” (巾) for a long time before slowly reaching out a finger and gently pushing it.
“Wait…” Qi Xia felt a sense of déjà vu. Earlier, a reckless teammate had pushed a character with his finger and cost the team a point. This didn’t bode well.
But Chen Junnan moved too quickly. Before Qi Xia could finish speaking, he had already rotated the “scarf” (巾) 180 degrees.
The screen flickered and once again displayed familiar text:
“Received character雏形 ‘chè’ (屮). Please write a homophone.”
“…?”
Qi Xia, Zhang Chenze, and Zheng Yingxiong, who were standing nearby, fell silent simultaneously.
“Does this count?” Zhang Chenze asked, puzzled, as she looked at the screen. “Isn’t this just a radical…?”
“How could it be just a radical? It’s definitely a ‘character’!” Chen Junnan grinned at everyone, as if waiting for their praise, but Qi Xia was genuinely unsure.
The last failed guess had already cost them one point. This time, it might cost two points. As scoring became increasingly difficult, losing two points would have a significant impact.
“Well, Old Qi?” Chen Junnan patted Qi Xia’s shoulder. “I told you there had to be more ‘characters,’ right? Even you can’t think of everything sometimes.”
“Alright…” Qi Xia nodded and pointed at the screen. “Tell me how to pronounce this character.”
“This…” Chen Junnan blinked. “You’re putting me on the spot. I don’t have as much knowledge as you do.”
Qi Xia sighed and said, “Chen Junnan, let me reiterate: my knowledge comes from books. Even if obscure characters occasionally appear in books, it’s hard for me to know their pronunciation out of thin air. So, ‘obscure characters’ and ‘knowledge’ aren’t directly linked.”
“Uh…” Qi Xia’s words left Chen Junnan speechless. “What do you mean… Old Qi, are we just going to guess?”
“I suggest taking the ‘character’ down and giving up on this guess,” Qi Xia replied. “Taking a risk now could cost us two points.”
Chen Junnan nodded reluctantly, but his eyes still showed a hint of unwillingness.
“What?” Qi Xia asked.
“Old Qi… how about you let me guess this once?” Chen Junnan said. “If we really lose two points, I’ll do whatever it takes to earn back those two points for you.”
Qi Xia frowned upon hearing this. “I need to make two things clear… First, I don’t need you to risk your life. You don’t owe me anything. Everyone on this team is equal. Second, if you insist on guessing even after knowing the consequences of failure, I’ll help you bear the consequences.”
“How the hell is that acceptable?!” Chen Junnan said. “I should be responsible for my own actions.”
Qi Xia sighed and said, “Then what’s your guess?”
Chen Junnan grinned and slowly raised his middle finger.
This gesture stunned the people around him once again.
“Old Qi… doesn’t this ‘character’ look like this gesture?”
“…?”
“I think this character looks like a swear word and also like a plant. How about we write ‘grass’ (草)!”
“That’s a decent tactic,” Qi Xia remarked. “I suspect you can keep using it for a while.”
“Keep using it?” Chen Junnan looked puzzled. “Once the real Xu Liunian returns, they’ll realize they’ve been fooled.”
“No, Chu Tianqiu will probably figure out you’re a fake before Xu Liunian even gets back,” Qi Xia said. “But the real problem lies with Xu Liunian.”
“What do you mean?”
“You’ve all mentioned that ‘Echoes’ in this place are faint and extremely hard to manifest,” Qi Xia explained. “It reminds me of a similar case—I wonder if the same logic applies.”
“Ah…?” Chen Junnan seemed to catch on. “Now that you mention it…”
“Exactly,” Qi Xia continued. “What the White Snake said about ‘Echoes’… By the same reasoning, Xu Liunian finally awakened her ‘Echo,’ but since this place makes it ‘extremely difficult to Echo,’ she might struggle to perform any actions related to it. In other words, there’s a good chance she can’t shake off her ‘Echo,’ meaning her appearance might stay as yours indefinitely.”
“Ha…” Chen Junnan’s mind lit up with countless amusing possibilities. “Then I know exactly what to do.”
Qi Xia nodded. “From now on, ‘Xu Liunian’ could be anyone—and anyone could be ‘Xu Liunian.’ Chu Tianqiu has already lost the first move.”
“Look! The foreign trade bag brought back a silk scarf. Can we consider that as opening the Silk Road?”
Qi Xia stared at the “character” in Chen Junnan’s hand and fell into a brief silence once again.
Behind them, Lawyer Zhang and Zheng Yingxiong stepped forward to examine this “巾” (scarf), their minds gradually growing more confused.
Because they vaguely remembered that initially, the “character” in Chen Junnan’s hand was “帅” (handsome).
But now, not only was it not “帅,” it had even lost half its form. Why was Chen Junnan so happy about having only half a “character”…?
“Being able to snatch back half a ‘character’ is already a rare occurrence,” Qi Xia said. “If it happens twice in a row, ‘rare’ doesn’t even begin to describe it.”
“Wait… what are you talking about?!” Chen Junnan retorted. “I didn’t snatch either of these two ‘characters’—they were both given to me willingly!”
“Fine,” Qi Xia nodded helplessly. “That sounds like something you’d do.”
“Old Qi, guess how I got this ‘character’ just now?”
Qi Xia sighed after hearing this. “I’m guessing you impersonated Xu Liunian.”
“Uh…” Chen Junnan blinked and said, “No fun. I’m done playing. Here, take it.”
He handed the “巾” to Qi Xia, watching as he scored another point on the screen.
“That’s a pretty good tactic,” Qi Xia remarked. “I suspect you can keep using it for a while longer.”
“Keep using it?” Chen Junnan looked puzzled. “As soon as the real Xu Liunian returns, they’ll realize they’ve been tricked.”
“No, I doubt we’ll even need to wait for Xu Liunian to return. Chu Tianqiu will probably figure out you’re a fake,” Qi Xia said. “But the real problem lies with Xu Liunian herself.”
“What do you mean?”
“You’ve all said that ‘Echoes’ in this place are faint and extremely difficult to manifest,” Qi Xia explained. “It suddenly reminded me of a similar example, though I’m not sure if it applies here.”
“Huh…?” Chen Junnan seemed to have thought of something as well. “Now that you mention it…”
“Exactly,” Qi Xia continued. “What the White Snake said about ‘Echoes’… Similarly, Xu Liunian finally managed to obtain her ‘Echo,’ but since this place makes it ‘extremely difficult to echo,’ she likely struggles to perform actions related to her ‘Echo.’ In other words, there’s a good chance she can’t break free from her ‘Echo,’ causing her appearance to remain looking like yours indefinitely.”
“Ha…” Countless amusing ideas flashed through Chen Junnan’s mind. “Then I know exactly what to do.”
Qi Xia nodded. “From now on, ‘Xu Liunian’ could be anyone, and anyone could be ‘Xu Liunian.’ Chu Tianqiu has lost the first move.”
Chen Junnan watched as Qi Xia wrote the homophone for “巾” — “金” (gold) — on the screen and then stopped, feeling slightly confused.
“Keep going, Old Qi,” Chen Junnan urged. “Form more words. There are so many characters.”
After hearing this, Qi Xia looked at the “丘” (hill) and “八” (eight) in his hand and shook his head.
“There shouldn’t be any more,” Qi Xia said. “Among all the ‘left-right structure’ characters, ‘帅’ has the least utility. I’ve calculated it—it can hardly form any other words in this game.”
“What?” Chen Junnan was taken aback. “Dammit… I thought I’d pulled off another great feat. How come there’s only ‘巾’? Was all that effort for nothing?!”
“For nothing?” Qi Xia replied. “Of course not. You’ve dealt a devastating blow to Chu Tianqiu. That value far surpasses a single ‘巾.'”
“Really?” Chen Junnan took a few steps forward and examined the characters stuck to the “Phoenix Holding Scroll Platform.” “I’m determined to form a second ‘character’ for you today. Only then will it feel like we haven’t lost out…”
Hearing this, Qi Xia didn’t object. Instead, he took out his own “丘” and “八,” as if asking Chen Junnan if he had any unconventional ideas.
Unexpectedly, Chen Junnan didn’t even glance at the characters in Qi Xia’s hand. He simply stared at the “巾” for a long time before slowly reaching out a finger and gently pushing it.
“Wait…” Qi Xia felt a sense of déjà vu. Earlier, a reckless teammate had used his finger to push a character, costing the team a point. This didn’t seem like a good omen.
But Chen Junnan moved too quickly. Before Qi Xia could finish speaking, he had already rotated the “巾” 180 degrees.
The screen flickered and once again displayed the familiar text:
“Received character雏形 ‘屮’. Please write a homophone.”
“…?”
Qi Xia, Zhang Chenze, and Zheng Yingxiong, who were standing nearby, fell into silence simultaneously.
“Does this even count?” Zhang Chenze asked, puzzled, as she looked at the screen. “Isn’t this just a radical…?”
“How could it be just a radical? It’s definitely a ‘character’!” Chen Junnan grinned at everyone, seemingly waiting for their praise. But Qi Xia wasn’t so sure.
The last failed guess had already cost them one point. This time, it might cost them two. With points becoming increasingly difficult to earn, losing two would have a significant impact.
“Well, Old Qi?” Chen Junnan patted Qi Xia’s shoulder. “I told you there had to be more ‘characters,’ right? Even you can’t think of everything sometimes.”
“Alright…” Qi Xia nodded and pointed at the screen. “Tell me how to pronounce this character.”
“This…” Chen Junnan blinked. “You’re putting me on the spot. I don’t have nearly as much knowledge as you do.”
Qi Xia sighed. “Chen Junnan, let me reiterate: my knowledge comes from books. Even if obscure characters occasionally appear in books, it’s hard for me to know their pronunciation out of thin air. So, ‘obscure characters’ and ‘knowledge’ aren’t directly correlated.”
“Uh…” Qi Xia’s words left Chen Junnan speechless. “What do you mean… Old Qi, are we just going to have to guess?”
“I suggest taking the ‘character’ down and giving up on this guess,” Qi Xia replied. “Taking a risk now could cost us two points.”
Hearing this, Chen Junnan nodded reluctantly, though he still seemed unwilling to let it go.
“What is it?” Qi Xia asked.
“Old Qi… how about you let me guess just once?” Chen Junnan said. “If we really lose two points, I’ll do whatever it takes to earn them back for you.”
Qi Xia frowned upon hearing this. “I need to make two things clear… First, I don’t need you to risk your life. You don’t owe me anything. Everyone on this team is equal. Second, if you insist on guessing even after understanding the consequences of failure, I’ll help you bear those consequences.”
“How the hell is that acceptable?!” Chen Junnan exclaimed. “I should be responsible for my own actions.”
Qi Xia sighed. “Then what’s your guess?”
Chen Junnan grinned and slowly raised his middle finger.
This gesture stunned everyone nearby.
“Old Qi… doesn’t this ‘character’ look like this gesture?”
“…?”
“I think this character looks like both a swear word and a plant. How about we write ‘草’ (grass)!”
“Keep going, Old Qi,” he urged. “There are plenty more characters.”
“Look! The foreign trade bag brought back a silk scarf. Does that count as opening the Silk Road?”
Qi Xia stared at the “character” in Chen Junnan’s hand and fell into a brief silence again.
Lawyer Zhang and Zheng Yingxiong, who were standing behind, also stepped forward to look at this “scarf” (巾), their minds gradually growing confused.
Because they vaguely remembered that initially, the “character” in Chen Junnan’s hand was “shuai” (帅).
But now, not only was it not “shuai,” it had even lost half of itself. Why was Chen Junnan so happy about losing half a “character”…?
“Being able to snatch back half a ‘character’ is already a rare situation,” Qi Xia said. “If it happens twice in a row, ‘rare’ doesn’t even begin to describe it.”
“Wait… what are you talking about?!” Chen Junnan said. “I didn’t snatch either of these two ‘characters’—they were both given to me willingly!”
“Fine,” Qi Xia nodded helplessly. “That sounds like something you’d do.”
“Old Qi, guess how I got this ‘character’ just now?”
Qi Xia sighed after hearing this. “I’m guessing you impersonated Xu Liunian.”
“Uh…” Chen Junnan blinked and said, “No fun. I’m done playing. Here, take it.”
He handed the “scarf” (巾) to Qi Xia and watched as he scored another point on the screen.
“That’s a good tactic,” Qi Xia said. “I suspect you can keep using it for a while longer.”
“Keep using it?” Chen Junnan was a bit confused. “As soon as the real Xu Liunian returns, they’ll realize they’ve been tricked.”
“No, I doubt we’ll even need to wait for Xu Liunian to return. Chu Tianqiu will probably figure out you’re a fake,” Qi Xia said. “But the real problem now lies with Xu Liunian.”
“What do you mean?”
“You’ve all said that the ‘echo’ in this place is faint and extremely difficult to activate,” Qi Xia said. “I suddenly remembered a similar example, though I’m not sure if it applies here.”
“Eh…?” Chen Junnan seemed to have thought of something too. “Now that you mention it…”
“Exactly,” Qi Xia said. “What the White Snake said about ‘echoes’… by the same logic, Xu Liunian finally managed to obtain an ‘echo,’ but since this place makes it ‘extremely difficult to echo,’ it’s hard for her to perform actions related to her ‘echo.’ In other words, there’s a good chance she can’t break free from her ‘echo,’ causing her appearance to remain looking like yours indefinitely.”
“Ha…” Countless amusing ideas flashed through Chen Junnan’s mind. “Then I know what to do.”
Qi Xia nodded and said, “From now on, ‘Xu Liunian’ could be anyone, and anyone could be ‘Xu Liunian.’ Chu Tianqiu has lost the first step.”
Chen Junnan watched as Qi Xia wrote the homophone for “scarf” (巾)—”gold” (金)—on the screen and then stopped, feeling slightly confused.
“Keep going, Old Qi,” Chen Junnan said. “Form more words. There are so many characters.”
After hearing this, Qi Xia looked at the “hill” (丘) and “eight” (八) in his hand and shook his head.
“There shouldn’t be any more,” Qi Xia said. “Among all the ‘left-right structure’ characters, ‘shuai’ (帅) has the least utility. I’ve calculated it—it can hardly form any other words in this game.”
“What?” Chen Junnan was stunned. “Dammit… I thought I’d done another great deed, but how is there only a ‘scarf’ (巾)?! Was all that effort for nothing?”
“For nothing?” Qi Xia said. “Of course not. You’ve dealt a devastating blow to Chu Tianqiu. That value isn’t something a ‘scarf’ (巾) can compare to.”
“Really?” Chen Junnan took a few steps forward and looked at the characters stuck on the “Phoenix Holding Scroll Platform.” “I’m determined to form a second ‘character’ for you today. Only then will it be worth it…”
Hearing this, Qi Xia didn’t object. Instead, he took out his “hill” (丘) and “eight” (八), as if asking Chen Junnan if he had any unconventional ideas.
Unexpectedly, Chen Junnan didn’t even look at the characters in Qi Xia’s hand. He just stared at the “scarf” (巾) for a long time before slowly reaching out a finger and gently pushing it.
“Wait…” Qi Xia felt a sense of déjà vu. Earlier, a reckless teammate had pushed a character with his finger and cost the team a point. This didn’t seem like a good sign.
But Chen Junnan moved too quickly. Before Qi Xia could finish speaking, he had already rotated the “scarf” (巾) 180 degrees.
The screen flickered and lit up again with familiar text.
“Received character primitive ‘chè’ (屮). Please write a homophone.”
“…?”
Qi Xia, Zhang Chenze, and Zheng Yingxiong, who were standing nearby, fell silent simultaneously.
“Does this count?” Zhang Chenze asked, puzzled, as she looked at the screen. “Isn’t this just a radical…?”
“How could it be just a radical? It’s definitely a ‘character’!” Chen Junnan said with a smile, staring at everyone as if waiting for their praise. But Qi Xia was genuinely unsure.
The last failed guess had already cost them one point. This time, it might cost them two points. As scoring became increasingly difficult, losing two points would have a significant impact.
“Well, Old Qi?” Chen Junnan patted Qi Xia’s shoulder. “I told you there had to be more ‘characters,’ right? Even you can’t think of everything sometimes.”
“Alright…” Qi Xia nodded and pointed at the screen. “Tell me how to pronounce this character.”
“This…” Chen Junnan blinked. “You’re putting me on the spot. I don’t have as much knowledge as you do.”
Qi Xia sighed and said, “Chen Junnan, let me reiterate: my knowledge comes from books. Even if obscure characters occasionally appear in books, it’s hard for me to know their pronunciation out of thin air. So, ‘obscure characters’ and ‘knowledge’ aren’t directly linked.”
“Uh…” Qi Xia’s words left Chen Junnan speechless. “What do you mean… Old Qi, are we just going to guess?”
“I suggest taking the ‘character’ down and giving up on this guess,” Qi Xia replied. “Taking a risk now might cost us two points.”
Hearing this, Chen Junnan nodded reluctantly, though he still seemed unwilling to give up.
“What?” Qi Xia asked.
“Old Qi… how about you let me guess this once?” Chen Junnan said. “If we really lose two points, I’ll do whatever it takes to earn back those two points for you.”
Qi Xia frowned upon hearing this. “I need to make two things clear… First, I don’t need you to risk your life. You don’t owe me anything. Everyone on this team is equal. Second, if you insist on guessing even after knowing the consequences of failure, I’ll help you bear the consequences.”
“How the hell is that acceptable?!” Chen Junnan said. “I should be responsible for my own actions.”
Qi Xia sighed and said, “Then what’s your guess?”
Chen Junnan grinned and slowly raised his middle finger.
This gesture stunned everyone nearby.
“Old Qi… doesn’t this ‘character’ look like this gesture?”
“…?”
“I think this character looks like a swear word and also like a plant. How about we write ‘grass’ (草)!”
“Look! The foreign trade bag brought back a silk scarf. Does that count as opening the Silk Road?”
Qi Xia stared at the “character” in Chen Junnan’s hand and fell into a brief silence once again.
Lawyer Zhang and Zheng Yingxiong, who were standing behind, also stepped forward to examine this “巾” (scarf), their minds gradually growing more confused.
Because they vaguely remembered that initially, the “character” in Chen Junnan’s hand was “帅” (handsome).
But now, not only was it not “帅,” it had even lost half its form. Why was Chen Junnan so happy about losing half a “character”…?
“Being able to snatch back half a ‘character’ is already a rare occurrence,” Qi Xia said. “But managing to snatch back half a ‘character’ twice in a row can’t just be called ‘rare.'”
“Wait… what are you talking about?” Chen Junnan said. “I didn’t snatch either of these two ‘characters’—they were both given to me willingly!”
“Fine,” Qi Xia nodded helplessly. “That sounds like something you’d do.”
“Old Qi, guess how I got this ‘character’ just now?”
Qi Xia sighed after hearing this. “I’m guessing you impersonated Xu Liunian.”
“Uh…” Chen Junnan blinked and said, “No fun. I’m done playing. Here, take it.”
He handed the “巾” to Qi Xia and watched as he scored another point on the screen.
“That’s a good tactic,” Qi Xia said. “I suspect you can keep using it for a while longer.”
“Use it for a while longer?” Chen Junnan was somewhat puzzled. “As soon as the real Xu Liunian returns, they’ll realize they’ve been tricked.”
“No, I doubt we’ll even need to wait for Xu Liunian to return—Chu Tianqiu will probably figure out you’re a fake,” Qi Xia said. “But the real problem now lies with Xu Liunian herself.”
“What do you mean?”
“You’ve all said that ‘echoing’ in this place is faint and extremely difficult to perform,” Qi Xia said. “I suddenly recalled a similar example and wonder if the same logic applies.”
“Eh…?” Chen Junnan seemed to have thought of something as well. “Now that you mention it…”
“Exactly,” Qi Xia said. “What the White Snake said about ‘echoing’… by the same logic, Xu Liunian好不容易 managed to achieve ‘echoing,’ but since this place makes it ‘extremely difficult to echo,’ it’s hard for her to perform actions related to ‘echoing.’ In other words, there’s a good chance she can’t break free from her ‘echo,’ causing her appearance to remain looking like yours indefinitely.”
“Ha…” Countless amusing ideas flashed through Chen Junnan’s mind. “Then I know what to do.”
Qi Xia nodded and said, “From now on, ‘Xu Liunian’ could be anyone, and anyone could be ‘Xu Liunian.’ Chu Tianqiu has lost the first step.”
Chen Junnan watched as Qi Xia wrote the homophone for “巾” — “金” (gold) — on the screen and then stopped, feeling slightly confused.
“Keep going, Old Qi,” Chen Junnan said. “Form more words. There are so many characters.”
After hearing this, Qi Xia looked at the “丘” (hill) and “八” (eight) in his hand and shook his head.
“There shouldn’t be any more,” Qi Xia said. “Among all the ‘left-right structure’ characters, ‘帅’ has the least utility. I’ve calculated that it can hardly form any other words in this game.”
“What?” Chen Junnan was stunned. “Dammit… I thought I’d pulled off another great feat. How come there’s only ‘巾’? Was all that effort for nothing?”
“For nothing?” Qi Xia said. “Of course not. You’ve dealt a devastating blow to Chu Tianqiu. That value isn’t something a single ‘巾’ can compare to.”
“Really?” Chen Junnan took a few steps forward and looked at the characters stuck on the “Phoenix Holding Scroll Platform.” “I’m determined to form a second ‘character’ for you today. Only then will it feel like we haven’t lost out…”
Hearing this, Qi Xia didn’t object but instead took out his own “丘” and “八,” as if asking Chen Junnan if he had any unconventional ideas.
Unexpectedly, Chen Junnan didn’t even glance at the characters in Qi Xia’s hand. Instead, he stared at the “巾” for a long time before slowly reaching out a finger and gently pushing it.
“Wait…” Qi Xia felt a sense of déjà vu. Earlier, a reckless teammate had pushed a character with his finger and cost the team a point. This didn’t seem like a good sign.
But Chen Junnan moved too quickly. Before Qi Xia could finish speaking, he had already rotated the “巾” 180 degrees.
The screen flickered and once again displayed the familiar text:
“Received the character雏形 ‘屮’. Please write its homophone.”
“…?”
Qi Xia, Zhang Chenze, and Zheng Yingxiong, who were standing nearby, fell silent simultaneously.
“Does this count?” Zhang Chenze asked, puzzled, as she looked at the screen. “Isn’t this just a radical…?”
“How could it be just a radical? It’s definitely a ‘character’!” Chen Junnan grinned at everyone, as if waiting for their praise, but Qi Xia was genuinely uncertain.
The last failed guess had already cost them one point. This time, it might cost them two points. As scoring became increasingly difficult, losing two points would have a significant impact.
“Well, Old Qi?” Chen Junnan patted Qi Xia’s shoulder. “I told you there had to be more ‘characters,’ right? Even you can’t think of everything sometimes.”
“Alright…” Qi Xia nodded and pointed at the screen. “Tell me how to pronounce this character.”
“This…” Chen Junnan blinked. “You’re putting me on the spot. I don’t have as much knowledge as you do.”
Qi Xia sighed and said, “Chen Junnan, let me reiterate: my knowledge comes from books. Even if obscure characters occasionally appear in books, it’s hard for me to know their pronunciation out of thin air. So, ‘obscure characters’ and ‘knowledge’ aren’t directly correlated.”
“Uh…” Qi Xia’s words left Chen Junnan speechless. “What do you mean… Old Qi, are we just going to take a guess?”
“I suggest taking the ‘character’ down and giving up on this guess,” Qi Xia replied. “Taking a risk now could cost us two points.”
Hearing this, Chen Junnan nodded reluctantly, though he still seemed somewhat unwilling to let it go.
“What?” Qi Xia asked.
“Old Qi… how about you let me guess just once,” Chen Junnan said. “If we really lose two points, I’ll do whatever it takes to earn those two points back for you.”
Qi Xia frowned upon hearing this. “I need to make two things clear… First, I don’t need you to risk your life. You don’t owe me anything. Everyone on this team is equal. Second, if you insist on guessing even after understanding the consequences of failure, I’ll help you bear the consequences.”
“How the hell is that acceptable?!” Chen Junnan said. “I should be responsible for my own actions.”
Qi Xia sighed and said, “Then what’s your guess?”
Chen Junnan grinned and slowly raised his middle finger.
This gesture stunned everyone nearby.
“Old Qi… doesn’t this ‘character’ look like this gesture?”
“…?”
“I think this character looks like both a swear word and a plant. How about we write ‘草’ (grass)!”
“Look! The foreign trade bag brought back a silk scarf, so can we consider that as opening the Silk Road?”
Qi Xia stared at the “character” in Chen Junnan’s hand and fell into a brief silence once again.
Lawyer Zhang and Zheng Yingxiong, who were standing behind, also stepped forward to look at this “scarf” character, their minds gradually growing more confused.
Because they vaguely remembered that initially, the “character” in Chen Junnan’s hand was “shuai” (帅).
But now, not only was it not “shuai,” it had even lost half of itself. Why was Chen Junnan so happy about losing half a “character”…?
“Being able to snatch back half a ‘character’ is already a rare situation,” Qi Xia said. “If you manage to snatch back half a ‘character’ twice in a row, it can’t just be called ‘rare’ anymore.”
“Wait… what are you talking about?!” Chen Junnan said. “I didn’t snatch either of these two ‘characters’—they were both given to me willingly!”
“Alright,” Qi Xia nodded helplessly. “That sounds like something you’d do.”
“Old Qi, guess how I got this ‘character’ just now?”
Qi Xia sighed after hearing this. “I’m guessing you impersonated Xu Liunian.”
“Uh…” Chen Junnan blinked and said, “No fun. I’m done playing. Here, take it.”
He handed the “scarf” character to Qi Xia and watched as he scored another point on the screen.
“That’s a good tactic,” Qi Xia said. “I suspect you can keep using it for a while longer.”
“Keep using it?” Chen Junnan looked puzzled. “As soon as the real Xu Liunian returns, they’ll realize they’ve been tricked.”
“No, I doubt we’ll even need to wait for Xu Liunian to return—Chu Tianqiu will probably figure out you’re a fake,” Qi Xia said. “But the real problem now lies with Xu Liunian herself.”
“What do you mean?”
“You’ve all said that ‘echoes’ in this place are faint and extremely difficult to activate,” Qi Xia said. “I suddenly remembered a similar example, though I’m not sure if it applies here.”
“Huh…?” Chen Junnan seemed to have thought of something too. “Now that you mention it…”
“Exactly,” Qi Xia said. “What the White Snake said about ‘echoes’… Similarly, Xu Liunian finally managed to obtain an ‘echo,’ but since this place makes ‘echoing’ extremely difficult, it’s hard for her to perform actions related to her ‘echo.’ In other words, there’s a good chance she can’t break free from her ‘echo,’ which means her appearance might permanently remain as yours.”
“Ha…” Countless amusing ideas flashed through Chen Junnan’s mind. “Then I know what to do.”
Qi Xia nodded and said, “From now on, ‘Xu Liunian’ could be anyone, and anyone could be ‘Xu Liunian.’ Chu Tianqiu has lost the first move.”
Chen Junnan watched as Qi Xia wrote the homophone for “scarf” (巾)—”gold” (金)—on the screen and then stopped, feeling slightly confused.
“Keep going, Old Qi,” Chen Junnan said. “Form more words. There are so many characters.”
After hearing this, Qi Xia looked at the “hill” (丘) and “eight” (八) in his hand and shook his head.
“There shouldn’t be any more,” Qi Xia said. “Among all the ‘left-right structure’ characters, ‘shuai’ (帅) has the least utility. I’ve calculated it—it can hardly form any other words in this game.”
“What?” Chen Junnan was stunned. “Damn… I thought I’d pulled off another great feat, but how is it that all I got was a ‘scarf’? Was all that effort for nothing?”
“For nothing?” Qi Xia said. “Of course not. You’ve dealt a devastating blow to Chu Tianqiu. That value far exceeds a single ‘scarf.'”
“Really?” Chen Junnan took a few steps forward and looked at the characters stuck on the “Phoenix Holding Scroll Platform.” “I’m determined to form a second ‘character’ for you today. Only then will it feel like we haven’t lost out…”
Hearing this, Qi Xia didn’t object. Instead, he took out his own “hill” (丘) and “eight” (八), as if asking Chen Junnan if he had any unconventional ideas.
Unexpectedly, Chen Junnan didn’t even glance at the characters in Qi Xia’s hand. Instead, he stared at the “scarf” (巾) for a long time before slowly reaching out a finger and gently pushing it.
“Wait…” Qi Xia felt a sense of déjà vu. Earlier, a reckless teammate had used his finger to push a character, costing the team a point. This didn’t seem like a good sign.
But Chen Junnan moved too quickly. Before Qi Xia could finish speaking, he had already rotated the “scarf” 180 degrees.
The screen flickered and once again displayed familiar text:
“Received character primitive ‘屮.’ Please write a homophone.”
“…?”
Qi Xia, Zhang Chenze, and Zheng Yingxiong, who were standing nearby, fell silent simultaneously.
“Does this even count?” Zhang Chenze looked at the screen in confusion. “Isn’t this just a radical…?”
“How could it be just a radical? It’s definitely a ‘character’!” Chen Junnan grinned at everyone, as if waiting for their praise, but Qi Xia wasn’t so sure.
The last failed guess had already cost them one point. This time, it might cost them two points. With scoring becoming increasingly difficult, losing two points would have a significant impact.
“Well, Old Qi?” Chen Junnan patted Qi Xia’s shoulder. “I told you there had to be more ‘characters,’ right? Even you can’t think of everything sometimes.”
“Alright…” Qi Xia nodded and pointed at the screen. “Tell me how this character is pronounced.”
“This…” Chen Junnan blinked. “You’re putting me on the spot. I don’t have as much knowledge as you do.”
Qi Xia sighed and said, “Chen Junnan, let me reiterate: my knowledge comes from books. Even if obscure characters occasionally appear in books, it’s hard for me to know their pronunciation out of thin air. So, ‘obscure characters’ and ‘knowledge’ aren’t directly linked.”
“Uh…” Qi Xia’s words left Chen Junnan speechless. “What do you mean… Old Qi, are we just going to have to guess?”
“I suggest taking the ‘character’ down and giving up on this guess,” Qi Xia replied. “Taking a risk now might cost us two points.”
Hearing this, Chen Junnan nodded reluctantly, though he still seemed unwilling to give up.
“What?” Qi Xia asked.
“Old Qi… how about you let me guess this once,” Chen Junnan said. “If we really lose two points, I’ll do whatever it takes to earn back those two points for you.”
Qi Xia frowned upon hearing this. “I need to make two things clear… First, I don’t need you to risk your life. You don’t owe me anything. Everyone on this team is equal. Second, if you insist on guessing even after understanding the consequences of failure, I’ll help you bear the consequences.”
“How the hell is that acceptable?!” Chen Junnan said. “I should be responsible for my own actions.”
Qi Xia sighed and said, “Then what’s your guess?”
Chen Junnan grinned and slowly raised his middle finger.
This gesture stunned everyone nearby.
“Old Qi… doesn’t this ‘character’ look like this gesture?”
“…?”
“I think this character looks like both a swear word and a plant. How about we write ‘grass’ (草)!”
“Look! The foreign trade bag brought back a silk scarf. Does that count as opening the Silk Road?”
Qi Xia stared at the “character” in Chen Junnan’s hand and fell into a brief silence once again.
Lawyer Zhang and Zheng Yingxiong, who were standing behind, stepped forward to look at this “scarf” character, their minds gradually growing more confused.
Because they vaguely remembered that initially, the “character” in Chen Junnan’s hand was “shuai” (帅).
But now, not only was it not “shuai,” it had even lost half of itself. Why was Chen Junnan so happy about losing half a “character”…?
“Being able to snatch back half a ‘character’ is already a rare occurrence,” Qi Xia said. “If it happens twice in a row, ‘rare’ doesn’t even begin to describe it.”
“No… what are you talking about?!” Chen Junnan said. “I didn’t snatch either of these two ‘characters’—they were both given to me willingly!”
“Fine,” Qi Xia nodded helplessly. “Sounds like something you’d do.”
“Old Qi, guess how I got this ‘character’ just now?”
Qi Xia sighed after hearing this. “I’m guessing you impersonated Xu Liunian.”
“Uh…” Chen Junnan blinked. “No fun. I’m done playing. Here, take it.”
He handed the “scarf” character to Qi Xia and watched as he scored another point on the screen.
“That’s a good tactic,” Qi Xia said. “I suspect you can keep using it for a while longer.”
“Keep using it?” Chen Junnan was puzzled. “As soon as the real Xu Liunian returns, they’ll realize they’ve been tricked.”
“No, I doubt we’ll even need to wait for Xu Liunian to return. Chu Tianqiu will probably figure out you’re a fake,” Qi Xia said. “But the real problem now lies with Xu Liunian.”
“What do you mean?”
“You’ve all said that the ‘echo’ in this place is faint and extremely difficult to activate,” Qi Xia said. “I suddenly remembered a similar example, though I’m not sure if it applies here.”
“Huh…?” Chen Junnan seemed to have thought of something too. “Now that you mention it…”
“Exactly,” Qi Xia said. “What the White Snake said about the ‘echo’… Similarly, Xu Liunian finally managed to obtain an ‘echo,’ but since this place makes it ‘extremely difficult to echo,’ it’s hard for her to perform actions related to her ‘echo.’ In other words, there’s a good chance she can’t break free from her ‘echo,’ causing her appearance to remain looking like yours indefinitely.”
“Ha…” Countless amusing ideas flashed through Chen Junnan’s mind. “Then I know what to do.”
Qi Xia nodded. “From now on, ‘Xu Liunian’ could be anyone, and anyone could be ‘Xu Liunian.’ Chu Tianqiu has lost the first step.”
Chen Junnan watched as Qi Xia wrote the homophone for “scarf” (巾)—”gold” (金)—on the screen and then stopped, feeling slightly confused.
“Keep going, Old Qi,” Chen Junnan said. “Form more words. There are so many characters.”
After hearing this, Qi Xia looked at the “hill” (丘) and “eight” (八) in his hand and shook his head.
“There shouldn’t be any more,” Qi Xia said. “Among all the ‘left-right structure’ characters, ‘shuai’ (帅) has the least utility. I’ve calculated it—it can hardly form any other words in this game.”
“What?” Chen Junnan was stunned. “Dammit… I thought I’d done another great deed. How come there’s only a ‘scarf’ (巾)?! Was all that effort for nothing?”
“For nothing?” Qi Xia said. “Of course not. You’ve dealt a devastating blow to Chu Tianqiu. That value isn’t something a ‘scarf’ (巾) can compare to.”
“Really?” Chen Junnan took a few steps forward and looked at the characters stuck on the “Phoenix Holding Scroll Platform.” “I’m determined to form a second ‘character’ for you today. Only then will it be worth it…”
Hearing this, Qi Xia didn’t object. Instead, he took out his “hill” (丘) and “eight” (八) characters, as if asking Chen Junnan if he had any unconventional ideas.
Unexpectedly, Chen Junnan didn’t even look at the characters in Qi Xia’s hand. Instead, he stared at the “scarf” (巾) for a long time before slowly reaching out a finger and gently pushing it.
“Wait…” Qi Xia felt a sense of déjà vu. Earlier, a reckless teammate had pushed a character with his finger and cost the team a point. This didn’t seem like a good sign.
But Chen Junnan moved too quickly. Before Qi Xia could finish speaking, he had already rotated the “scarf” (巾) 180 degrees.
The screen flickered and once again displayed the familiar text:
“Received character primitive ‘屮.’ Please write a homophone.”
“…?”
Qi Xia, Zhang Chenze, and Zheng Yingxiong, who were standing nearby, fell silent simultaneously.
“Does this count?” Zhang Chenze asked, puzzled, as she looked at the screen. “Isn’t this just a radical…?”
“How could it be just a radical? It’s definitely a ‘character’!” Chen Junnan grinned at everyone, as if waiting for their praise. But Qi Xia was genuinely uncertain.
The last failed guess had already cost them one point. This time, it might cost them two points. With scoring becoming increasingly difficult, losing two points would have a significant impact.
“Well, Old Qi?” Chen Junnan patted Qi Xia’s shoulder. “I told you there had to be more ‘characters,’ right? Even you can’t think of everything sometimes.”
“Alright…” Qi Xia nodded and pointed at the screen. “Tell me how to pronounce this character.”
“This…” Chen Junnan blinked. “You’re putting me on the spot. I don’t have as much knowledge as you do.”
Qi Xia sighed. “Chen Junnan, let me reiterate: my knowledge comes from books. Even if obscure characters occasionally appear in books, it’s hard for me to know their pronunciation out of thin air. So, ‘obscure characters’ and ‘knowledge’ aren’t directly linked.”
“Uh…” Qi Xia’s words left Chen Junnan speechless. “What do you mean… Old Qi, are we just going to take a guess?”
“I suggest taking the ‘character’ down and giving up on this guess,” Qi Xia replied. “Taking a risk now might cost us two points.”
Hearing this, Chen Junnan nodded reluctantly, though he still seemed unwilling to let it go.
“What?” Qi Xia asked.
“Old Qi… how about you let me guess this once?” Chen Junnan said. “If we really lose two points, I’ll do whatever it takes to earn back those two points for you.”
Qi Xia frowned. “I need to make two things clear… First, I don’t need you to risk your life. You don’t owe me anything. Everyone on this team is equal. Second, if you insist on guessing even after knowing the consequences of failure, I’ll help you bear the consequences.”
“How the hell is that acceptable?!” Chen Junnan said. “I should be responsible for my own actions.”
Qi Xia sighed. “Then what’s your guess?”
Chen Junnan grinned and slowly raised his middle finger.
This gesture stunned everyone nearby.
“Old Qi… doesn’t this ‘character’ look like this gesture?”
“…?”
“I think this character looks like a swear word and also like a plant. How about we write ‘grass’ (草)!”
“No way?” Chen Junnan stepped forward, examining the characters stuck to the Phoenix Bookstand. “I swear I’ll get you a second character today. Only then will it be worth it…”
“Look! The foreign trade bag brought back a silk scarf, so I guess that counts as opening the Silk Road, right?”
Qi Xia stared at the “character” in Chen Junnan’s hand and fell into a brief silence again.
Lawyer Zhang and Zheng Yingxiong, who were standing behind, also stepped forward to look at this “scarf” (巾), their minds gradually growing confused.
Because they vaguely remembered that initially, the “character” in Chen Junnan’s hand was “shuai” (帅).
But now, not only was it not “shuai,” it had even lost half of itself. Why was Chen Junnan so happy about losing half a “character”…?
“Being able to snatch back half a ‘character’ is already a rare situation,” Qi Xia said. “If it happens twice in a row, ‘rare’ doesn’t even begin to describe it.”
“Wait… what are you talking about?” Chen Junnan said. “I didn’t snatch either of these two ‘characters’—they were both given to me willingly!”
“Fine,” Qi Xia nodded helplessly. “Sounds like something you’d do.”
“Old Qi, guess how I got this ‘character’ just now?”
Qi Xia sighed after hearing this. “I’m guessing you impersonated Xu Liunian.”
“Uh…” Chen Junnan blinked and said, “No fun. I’m done playing. Here, take it.”
He handed the “scarf” (巾) to Qi Xia and watched as he scored another point on the screen.
“That’s a good tactic,” Qi Xia said. “I suspect you can keep using it for a while longer.”
“Keep using it?” Chen Junnan was a bit confused. “As soon as the real Xu Liunian returns, they’ll realize they’ve been tricked.”
“No, I doubt we’ll even need to wait for Xu Liunian to return. Chu Tianqiu will probably figure out you’re a fake,” Qi Xia said. “But the real problem now lies with Xu Liunian herself.”
“What do you mean?”
“You’ve all said that the ‘echo’ in this place is faint and extremely difficult to activate,” Qi Xia said. “It suddenly reminded me of a similar example, though I’m not sure if it applies here.”
“Eh…?” Chen Junnan seemed to have thought of something too. “Now that you mention it…”
“Exactly,” Qi Xia said. “What the White Snake said about the ‘echo’… Similarly, Xu Liunian finally managed to obtain her ‘echo,’ but since this place makes it ‘extremely difficult to echo,’ it’s hard for her to perform actions related to her ‘echo.’ In other words, there’s a chance she might not be able to shake off her ‘echo,’ causing her appearance to remain looking like yours indefinitely.”
“Ha…” Countless amusing ideas flashed through Chen Junnan’s mind. “Then I know what to do.”
Qi Xia nodded and said, “From now on, ‘Xu Liunian’ can be anyone, and anyone can be ‘Xu Liunian.’ Chu Tianqiu has lost the first step.”
Chen Junnan watched as Qi Xia wrote the homophone for “scarf” (巾)—”gold” (金)—on the screen and then stopped, feeling slightly puzzled.
“Keep going, Old Qi,” Chen Junnan said. “Form more words. There are so many characters.”
After hearing this, Qi Xia looked at the “hill” (丘) and “eight” (八) in his hand and shook his head.
“There shouldn’t be any more,” Qi Xia said. “Among all the ‘left-right structure’ characters, ‘shuai’ (帅) has the least utility. I’ve calculated it—it can hardly form any other words in this game.”
“What?” Chen Junnan was taken aback. “Dammit… I thought I’d pulled off another great feat. How come it’s only a ‘scarf’ (巾)? Was all this effort for nothing?”
“For nothing?” Qi Xia said. “Of course not. You’ve dealt a devastating blow to Chu Tianqiu. That value far exceeds a single ‘scarf’ (巾).”
“Really?” Chen Junnan took a few steps forward and looked at the characters stuck on the “Phoenix Holding Scroll Platform.” “I’m determined to form a second ‘character’ for you today. Only then will it feel like we haven’t lost out…”
Hearing this, Qi Xia didn’t object. Instead, he took out his own “hill” (丘) and “eight” (八), as if asking Chen Junnan if he had any unconventional ideas.
Unexpectedly, Chen Junnan didn’t even glance at the characters in Qi Xia’s hand. He just stared at the “scarf” (巾) for a long time before slowly reaching out a finger and gently pushing it.
“Wait…” Qi Xia felt a sense of déjà vu. Earlier, a reckless teammate had pushed a character with his finger and cost the team a point. This didn’t seem like a good sign.
But Chen Junnan moved too quickly. Before Qi Xia could finish speaking, he had already rotated the “scarf” (巾) 180 degrees.
The screen flickered and once again displayed familiar text:
“Received the character prototype ‘屮’. Please write its homophone.”
“…?”
Qi Xia, Zhang Chenze, and Zheng Yingxiong, who were standing nearby, fell silent simultaneously.
“This counts?” Zhang Chenze looked at the screen in confusion. “Isn’t this just a radical…?”
“How could it be just a radical? It’s definitely a ‘character’!” Chen Junnan grinned at everyone, as if waiting for their praise, but Qi Xia was genuinely unsure.
The last failed guess had already cost them one point. This time, it might cost two points. With scoring becoming increasingly difficult, losing two points would have a significant impact.
“Well, Old Qi?” Chen Junnan patted Qi Xia’s shoulder. “I told you there had to be more ‘characters,’ right? Even you can’t think of everything.”
“Alright…” Qi Xia nodded and pointed at the screen. “Tell me how to pronounce this character.”
“This…” Chen Junnan blinked. “You’re putting me on the spot. I don’t have as much knowledge as you do.”
Qi Xia sighed and said, “Chen Junnan, let me reiterate: my knowledge comes from books. Even if obscure characters occasionally appear in books, it’s hard for me to know their pronunciation out of thin air. So, ‘obscure characters’ and ‘knowledge’ aren’t directly correlated.”
“Uh…” Qi Xia’s words left Chen Junnan speechless. “What do you mean… Old Qi, are we just going to take a guess?”
“I suggest removing the ‘character’ and giving up on this guess,” Qi Xia replied. “Taking the risk now might cost us two points.”
Hearing this, Chen Junnan nodded reluctantly, though he still seemed unwilling to accept it.
“What?” Qi Xia asked.
“Old Qi… how about you let me guess this once?” Chen Junnan said. “If we really lose two points, I’ll do whatever it takes to earn back those two points for you.”
Qi Xia frowned upon hearing this. “I need to make two things clear… First, I don’t need you to risk your life. You don’t owe me anything. Everyone on this team is equal. Second, if you insist on guessing even after knowing the consequences of failure, I’ll help you bear the consequences.”
“How the hell is that acceptable?!” Chen Junnan said. “I should be responsible for my own actions.”
Qi Xia sighed and said, “Then what’s your guess?”
Chen Junnan grinned and slowly raised his middle finger.
This gesture stunned everyone nearby.
“Old Qi… doesn’t this ‘character’ look like this gesture?”
“…?”
“I think this character looks like a swear word and also like a plant. How about we write ‘grass’ (草)!”
“Look! The foreign trade bag brought back a silk scarf. Does that count as opening the Silk Road?”
Qi Xia stared at the “character” in Chen Junnan’s hand and fell into a brief silence again.
Lawyer Zhang and Zheng Yingxiong, who were standing behind, also stepped forward to look at this “巾” (scarf), their minds gradually growing confused.
Because they vaguely remembered that initially, the “character” in Chen Junnan’s hand was “帅” (handsome).
Now, not only was it not “帅,” but it had even lost half its form. Why was Chen Junnan so happy about losing half a “character”…?
“Being able to snatch back half a ‘character’ is already a rare occurrence,” Qi Xia said. “If it happens twice in a row, ‘rare’ doesn’t even begin to describe it.”
“Wait… what are you talking about?!” Chen Junnan said. “I didn’t snatch either of these two ‘characters’—they were both given to me willingly!”
“Fine,” Qi Xia nodded helplessly. “That sounds like something you’d do.”
“Old Qi, guess how I got this ‘character’ just now?”
Qi Xia sighed after hearing this: “I bet you impersonated Xu Liunian.”
“Uh…” Chen Junnan blinked and said, “No fun. I’m done playing. Here, take it.”
He handed the “巾” to Qi Xia and watched as he scored another point on the screen.
“This tactic isn’t bad,” Qi Xia said. “I suspect you can keep using it for a while longer.”
“Keep using it?” Chen Junnan looked puzzled. “As soon as the real Xu Liunian returns, they’ll realize they’ve been tricked.”
“No, I doubt we’ll even need to wait for Xu Liunian to return. Chu Tianqiu will likely figure out you’re a fake,” Qi Xia said. “But the real problem now lies with Xu Liunian herself.”
“What do you mean?”
“You’ve all said that ‘echoes’ in this place are faint and extremely difficult to manifest,” Qi Xia said. “It suddenly reminded me of a similar example, though I’m not sure if it applies here.”
“Eh…?” Chen Junnan seemed to have thought of something too. “Now that you mention it…”
“Exactly,” Qi Xia said. “What the White Snake said about ‘echoes’… Similarly, Xu Liunian finally managed to obtain an ‘echo,’ but since this place makes ‘echoing’ extremely difficult, she likely struggles to perform actions related to her ‘echo.’ In other words, there’s a chance she can’t free herself from her ‘echo,’ causing her appearance to remain looking like yours indefinitely.”
“Ha…” Countless amusing ideas flashed through Chen Junnan’s mind. “Then I know what to do.”
Qi Xia nodded and said, “From now on, ‘Xu Liunian’ could be anyone, and anyone could be ‘Xu Liunian.’ Chu Tianqiu has lost the first step.”
Chen Junnan watched as Qi Xia wrote the homophone for “巾” — “金” (gold) — on the screen and then stopped, feeling slightly confused.
“Keep going, Old Qi,” Chen Junnan said. “Form more words. There are so many characters.”
After hearing this, Qi Xia looked at the “丘” (hill) and “八” (eight) in his hand and shook his head.
“There shouldn’t be any more,” Qi Xia said. “Among all the ‘left-right structure’ characters, ‘帅’ has the least utility. I’ve calculated it—it can hardly form any other words in this game.”
“What?” Chen Junnan was stunned. “Dammit… I thought I’d pulled off another great feat. How come there’s only ‘巾’?! Was all that effort for nothing?”
“For nothing?” Qi Xia said. “Of course not. You dealt a devastating blow to Chu Tianqiu. That value far surpasses a single ‘巾.'”
“Really?” Chen Junnan took a few steps forward and looked at the characters stuck on the “Phoenix Holding Scroll Platform.” “I’m determined to form a second ‘character’ for you today. Only then will it feel worth it…”
Hearing this, Qi Xia didn’t object. Instead, he took out his “丘” and “八,” as if asking Chen Junnan if he had any unconventional ideas.
Unexpectedly, Chen Junnan didn’t even glance at the characters in Qi Xia’s hand. He just stared at the “巾” for a long time before slowly reaching out a finger and gently pushing it.
“Wait…” Qi Xia felt a sense of déjà vu. Earlier, a reckless teammate had used his finger to push a character, costing the team a point. This didn’t bode well.
But Chen Junnan moved too quickly. Before Qi Xia could finish speaking, he had already rotated the “巾” 180 degrees.
The screen flickered and once again displayed the familiar text:
“Received character雏形 ‘屮’. Please write a homophone.”
“…?”
Qi Xia, Zhang Chenze, and Zheng Yingxiong, who were standing nearby, fell silent simultaneously.
“Does this even count?” Zhang Chenze asked, puzzled, as she looked at the screen. “Isn’t this just a radical…?”
“How could it be just a radical? It’s definitely a ‘character’!” Chen Junnan grinned at everyone, seemingly waiting for their praise, but Qi Xia wasn’t so sure.
The last failed guess had already cost them one point. This time, it might cost two points. With scoring becoming increasingly difficult, losing two points would have a significant impact.
“Well, Old Qi?” Chen Junnan patted Qi Xia’s shoulder. “I told you there had to be more ‘characters,’ right? Even you can’t think of everything.”
“Alright…” Qi Xia nodded and pointed at the screen. “Tell me how this character is pronounced.”
“This…” Chen Junnan blinked. “You’re putting me on the spot. I don’t have nearly as much knowledge as you do.”
Qi Xia sighed and said, “Chen Junnan, let me reiterate: my knowledge comes from books. Even if obscure characters occasionally appear in books, it’s hard for me to know their pronunciation out of thin air. So, ‘obscure characters’ and ‘knowledge’ aren’t directly correlated.”
“Uh…” Qi Xia’s words left Chen Junnan speechless. “What do you mean… Old Qi, are we just going to take a guess?”
“I suggest taking the ‘character’ down and giving up on this guess,” Qi Xia replied. “Taking the risk now could cost us two points.”
Hearing this, Chen Junnan nodded reluctantly, though he still seemed unwilling to accept it.
“What?” Qi Xia asked.
“Old Qi… how about you let me guess just once?” Chen Junnan said. “If we really lose two points, I’ll do whatever it takes to earn back those two points for you.”
Qi Xia frowned upon hearing this: “I need to make two things clear… First, I don’t need you to risk your life. You don’t owe me anything. Everyone on this team is equal. Second, if you’re determined to guess even after knowing the consequences of failure, I’ll help you bear the consequences.”
“How the hell is that acceptable?!” Chen Junnan said. “I should be responsible for my own actions.”
Qi Xia sighed and said, “Then what’s your guess?”
Chen Junnan grinned and slowly raised his middle finger.
This gesture stunned everyone nearby.
“Old Qi… doesn’t this ‘character’ look like this gesture?”
“…?”
“I think this character looks like a swear word and also like a plant. How about we write ‘草’ (grass)!”
“Wait—” Qi Xia suddenly felt a sense of déjà vu. The last time a reckless teammate had pushed a character like this, the team had lost a point. This didn’t bode well.
“Look! The foreign trade bag brought back a silk scarf. Does that count as opening the Silk Road?”
Qi Xia stared at the “character” in Chen Junnan’s hand and fell into a brief silence again.
Lawyer Zhang and Zheng Yingxiong, who were standing behind, also stepped forward to look at this “scarf” (巾), their minds gradually growing confused.
Because they vaguely remembered that initially, the “character” in Chen Junnan’s hand was “shuai” (帅).
But now, not only was it not “shuai,” but it had even lost half of itself. Why was Chen Junnan so happy about losing half a “character”…?
“Being able to snatch back half a ‘character’ is already a rare situation,” Qi Xia said. “If you manage to snatch back half a ‘character’ twice in a row, it can’t just be called ‘rare.'”
“Wait… what are you talking about?!” Chen Junnan said. “I didn’t snatch either of these two ‘characters’—they were both given to me willingly!”
“Fine,” Qi Xia nodded helplessly. “That sounds like something you’d do.”
“Old Qi, guess how I got this ‘character’ just now?”
Qi Xia sighed after hearing this. “I’m guessing you impersonated Xu Liunian.”
“Uh…” Chen Junnan blinked and said, “No fun. I’m done playing. Here, take it.”
He handed the “scarf” (巾) to Qi Xia and watched as he scored another point on the screen.
“That’s a good tactic,” Qi Xia said. “I suspect you can keep using it for a while longer.”
“Keep using it?” Chen Junnan didn’t quite understand. “As soon as the real Xu Liunian returns, they’ll realize they’ve been tricked.”
“No, I doubt we’ll even need to wait for Xu Liunian to return. Chu Tianqiu will probably figure out you’re a fake,” Qi Xia said. “But the real problem now lies with Xu Liunian herself.”
“What do you mean?”
“You’ve all said that ‘echoing’ in this place is faint and extremely difficult to perform,” Qi Xia said. “I suddenly remembered a similar example, though I’m not sure if it applies here.”
“Huh…?” Chen Junnan seemed to have thought of something too. “Now that you mention it…”
“Exactly,” Qi Xia said. “What the White Snake said about ‘echoing’… Similarly, Xu Liunian好不容易 obtained her ‘echo,’ but since this place makes ‘echoing’ extremely difficult, it’s hard for her to perform actions related to her ‘echo.’ In other words, there’s a good chance she can’t break free from her ‘echo,’ causing her appearance to remain looking like yours indefinitely.”
“Ha…” Countless amusing ideas flashed through Chen Junnan’s mind. “Then I know what to do.”
Qi Xia nodded and said, “From now on, ‘Xu Liunian’ can be anyone, and anyone can be ‘Xu Liunian.’ Chu Tianqiu has lost the first step.”
Chen Junnan watched as Qi Xia wrote the homophone for “scarf” (巾)—”gold” (金)—on the screen and then stopped, feeling slightly confused.
“Keep going, Old Qi,” Chen Junnan said. “Form more words. There are so many characters.”
After hearing this, Qi Xia looked at the “hill” (丘) and “eight” (八) in his hand and shook his head.
“There shouldn’t be any more,” Qi Xia said. “Among all the ‘left-right structure’ characters, ‘shuai’ (帅) has the least utility. I’ve calculated it—it can hardly form any other words in this game.”
“What?” Chen Junnan was stunned. “Dammit… I thought I’d done another great deed. How come there’s only a ‘scarf’ (巾)?! Was all this effort for nothing?”
“For nothing?” Qi Xia said. “Of course not. You’ve dealt a devastating blow to Chu Tianqiu. That value isn’t something a ‘scarf’ (巾) can compare to.”
“Really?” Chen Junnan took a few steps forward and looked at the characters stuck on the “Phoenix Holding Scroll Platform.” “I’m determined to form a second ‘character’ for you today. Only then will it be worth it…”
Hearing this, Qi Xia didn’t object. Instead, he took out his “hill” (丘) and “eight” (八), as if asking Chen Junnan if he had any unconventional ideas.
Unexpectedly, Chen Junnan didn’t even look at the characters in Qi Xia’s hand. He just stared at the “scarf” (巾) for a long time before slowly reaching out a finger and gently pushing it.
“Wait…” Qi Xia felt a sense of déjà vu. Earlier, a reckless teammate had pushed a character with his finger and cost the team a point. This wasn’t a good sign.
But Chen Junnan moved too quickly. Before Qi Xia could finish speaking, he had already rotated the “scarf” (巾) 180 degrees.
The screen flickered and once again displayed familiar text:
“Received the character prototype ‘屮’. Please write its homophone.”
“…?”
Qi Xia, Zhang Chenze, and Zheng Yingxiong, who were standing nearby, fell silent simultaneously.
“Does this count?” Zhang Chenze asked, puzzled, as she looked at the screen. “Isn’t this just a radical…?”
“How could it be just a radical? It’s definitely a character!” Chen Junnan grinned at everyone, as if waiting for their praise, but Qi Xia was genuinely unsure.
The last failed guess had already cost them one point. This time, it might cost them two points. As scoring became increasingly difficult, losing two points would have a significant impact.
“Well, Old Qi?” Chen Junnan patted Qi Xia’s shoulder. “I told you there had to be more characters, right? Even you can’t think of everything sometimes.”
“Alright…” Qi Xia nodded and pointed at the screen. “Tell me how to pronounce this character.”
“This…” Chen Junnan blinked. “You’re putting me on the spot. I don’t have as much knowledge as you do.”
Qi Xia sighed and said, “Chen Junnan, let me reiterate: my knowledge comes from books. Even if obscure characters occasionally appear in books, it’s hard for me to know their pronunciation out of thin air. So, ‘obscure characters’ and ‘knowledge’ aren’t directly correlated.”
“Uh…” Qi Xia’s words left Chen Junnan speechless. “What do you mean… Old Qi, are we just going to take a guess?”
“I suggest taking the character down and giving up on this guess,” Qi Xia replied. “Taking a risk now could cost us two points.”
Hearing this, Chen Junnan nodded reluctantly, though he still seemed unwilling to give up.
“What?” Qi Xia asked.
“Old Qi… how about you let me guess this once,” Chen Junnan said. “If we really lose two points, I’ll do whatever it takes to earn back those two points for you.”
Qi Xia frowned upon hearing this. “I need to make two things clear… First, I don’t need you to risk your life. You don’t owe me anything. Everyone on this team is equal. Second, if you insist on guessing even after understanding the consequences of failure, I will help you bear those consequences.”
“How the hell is that acceptable?!” Chen Junnan said. “I should be responsible for my own actions.”
Qi Xia sighed and said, “Then what’s your guess?”
Chen Junnan grinned and slowly raised his middle finger.
This gesture stunned the people around him once again.
“Old Qi… doesn’t this character look like this gesture?”
“…?”
“I think this character looks like a swear word and also like a plant. How about we write ‘grass’ (草)!”
The screen flickered, then displayed a familiar message:
“Look! The foreign trade bag brought back a silk scarf. Can we consider that the Silk Road has been opened?”
Qi Xia stared at the “character” in Chen Junnan’s hand and fell into a brief silence again.
Lawyer Zhang and Zheng Yingxiong, who were standing behind, also stepped forward to look at this “scarf” radical, their minds gradually growing confused.
Because they vaguely remembered that initially, the “character” in Chen Junnan’s hand was “shuai” (帅).
But now, not only was it not “shuai,” it had even lost half of itself. Why was Chen Junnan so happy about losing half a “character”…?
“Being able to snatch back half a ‘character’ is already a rare situation,” Qi Xia said. “If you manage to snatch back half a ‘character’ twice in a row, it can’t just be called ‘rare.'”
“Wait… what are you talking about?!” Chen Junnan said. “I didn’t snatch either of these two ‘characters’—they were both given to me willingly!”
“Fine,” Qi Xia nodded helplessly. “That sounds like something you’d do.”
“Old Qi, guess how I got this ‘character’ just now?”
Qi Xia sighed after hearing this. “I guess you impersonated Xu Liunian.”
“Uh…” Chen Junnan blinked and said, “No fun. I’m done playing. Here, take it.”
He handed the “scarf” radical to Qi Xia and watched as he scored another point on the screen.
“That’s a good tactic,” Qi Xia said. “I suspect you can keep using it for a while longer.”
“Use it for a while longer?” Chen Junnan was a bit confused. “As soon as the real Xu Liunian returns, they’ll realize they’ve been tricked.”
“No, I doubt we’ll even need to wait for Xu Liunian to return. Chu Tianqiu will probably figure out you’re a fake,” Qi Xia said. “But the real problem now lies with Xu Liunian herself.”
“What do you mean?”
“You’ve all said that ‘echoing’ in this place is elusive and extremely difficult to perform,” Qi Xia said. “I suddenly recalled a similar example, though I’m not sure if it applies here.”
“Huh…?” Chen Junnan seemed to have thought of something too. “Now that you mention it…”
“Exactly,” Qi Xia said. “What the White Snake said about ‘echoing’… by the same logic, Xu Liunian好不容易 gained the ability to ‘echo,’ but since it’s ‘extremely difficult to echo’ here, she likely finds it hard to perform actions related to ‘echoing.’ In other words, there’s a chance she can’t free herself from her ‘echo,’ causing her appearance to remain looking like yours indefinitely.”
“Ha…” Countless amusing ideas flashed through Chen Junnan’s mind. “Then I know what to do.”
Qi Xia nodded and said, “From now on, ‘Xu Liunian’ could be anyone, and anyone could be ‘Xu Liunian.’ Chu Tianqiu has lost the first step.”
Chen Junnan watched as Qi Xia wrote the homophone for “scarf” (巾) — “gold” (金) — on the screen and then stopped, feeling slightly puzzled.
“Keep going, Old Qi,” Chen Junnan said. “Form more words. There are so many characters.”
After hearing this, Qi Xia looked at the “hill” (丘) and “eight” (八) in his hand and shook his head.
“There shouldn’t be any more,” Qi Xia said. “Among all the ‘left-right structure’ characters, ‘shuai’ (帅) is the least useful. I’ve calculated it—it can hardly form any other words in this game.”
“What?” Chen Junnan was stunned. “Dammit… I thought I’d done another great deed. How come there’s only a ‘scarf’ radical?! Was all that effort for nothing?”
“For nothing?” Qi Xia said. “Of course not. You’ve dealt a devastating blow to Chu Tianqiu. That value isn’t something a ‘scarf’ radical can compare to.”
“Really?” Chen Junnan took a few steps forward and looked at the characters stuck on the “Phoenix Holding Scroll Platform.” “I’m determined to put together a second ‘character’ for you today. Only then will it feel like we haven’t lost out…”
Hearing this, Qi Xia didn’t object. Instead, he took out his “hill” (丘) and “eight” (八) characters, as if asking Chen Junnan if he had any unconventional ideas.
Unexpectedly, Chen Junnan didn’t even look at the characters in Qi Xia’s hand. He just stared at the “scarf” radical for a long time before slowly reaching out a finger and gently pushing it.
“Wait…” Qi Xia felt a sense of déjà vu. Earlier, a reckless teammate had pushed a character with his finger and cost the team a point. This wasn’t a good sign.
But Chen Junnan moved extremely quickly. Before Qi Xia could finish speaking, he directly rotated the “scarf” radical 180 degrees.
The screen flickered and once again displayed familiar text:
“Received the character雏形 ‘chè’ (屮). Please write a homophone.”
“…?”
Qi Xia, Zhang Chenze, and Zheng Yingxiong, who were standing nearby, fell silent simultaneously.
“Does this count?” Zhang Chenze asked, puzzled, as she looked at the screen. “Isn’t this just a radical…?”
“How could it be just a radical? It’s definitely a character!” Chen Junnan said with a smile, staring at everyone as if waiting for their praise. But Qi Xia was genuinely uncertain.
The last failed guess had already cost them one point. This time, it might cost them two points. As scoring became increasingly difficult, losing two points would have a significant impact.
“Well, Old Qi?” Chen Junnan patted Qi Xia’s shoulder. “I told you there had to be more characters, right? Even you have moments when you can’t figure everything out.”
“Alright…” Qi Xia nodded and pointed at the screen. “Tell me how to pronounce this character.”
“This…” Chen Junnan blinked. “You’re putting me on the spot. I don’t have as much knowledge as you do.”
Qi Xia sighed and said, “Chen Junnan, let me reiterate: all my knowledge comes from books. Even if obscure characters occasionally appear in books, it’s hard for me to know their pronunciation out of thin air. So, ‘obscure characters’ and ‘knowledge’ aren’t directly linked.”
“Uh…” Qi Xia’s words left Chen Junnan speechless. “What do you mean… Old Qi, are we just going to have to guess?”
“I suggest taking the character down and giving up on this guess,” Qi Xia replied. “Taking a risk now could cost us two points.”
Hearing this, Chen Junnan nodded reluctantly, though he still seemed unwilling to accept it.
“What?” Qi Xia asked.
“Old Qi… how about you let me guess this once,” Chen Junnan said. “If we really lose two points, I’ll do whatever it takes to earn back those two points for you.”
Qi Xia frowned upon hearing this. “I need to make two things clear… First, I don’t need you to risk your life. You don’t owe me anything. Everyone on this team is equal. Second, if you insist on guessing even after knowing the consequences of failure, I’ll help you bear the consequences.”
“How the hell is that acceptable?!” Chen Junnan said. “I should be responsible for my own actions.”
Qi Xia sighed and said, “Then what’s your guess?”
Chen Junnan grinned and slowly raised his middle finger.
This gesture stunned everyone nearby.
“Old Qi… doesn’t this character look like this gesture?”
“…?”
“I think this character looks like both a curse word and a plant. How about we write ‘grass’ (草)!”
“……?”
Qi Xia, Zhang Chenze, and Zheng Yingxiong all fell silent.
“Does this even count?” Zhang Chenze frowned at the screen. “Isn’t this just a radical…?”
“How could it be just a radical? It’s obviously a character!” Chen Junnan grinned at them, clearly expecting praise. But Qi Xia wasn’t so sure.
Last time, a wrong guess had cost them a point. This time, it might cost two. With points becoming harder to earn, losing two would be a major setback.
“Well, Old Qi?” Chen Junnan clapped him on the shoulder. “See? I told you there were more characters. Even you can’t think of everything.”
“Fine,” Qi Xia sighed, pointing at the screen. “Tell me how to pronounce this character.”
“Uh…” Chen Junnan blinked. “That’s asking a bit much. I don’t have your encyclopedic knowledge.”
Qi Xia exhaled. “Chen Junnan, let me reiterate—my knowledge comes from books. Even if obscure characters occasionally appear in texts, I can’t magically know their pronunciation out of thin air. ‘Obscure characters’ and ‘knowledge’ aren’t directly correlated.”
“Uh…” Chen Junnan faltered. “So… we’re just gonna guess?”
“I suggest taking the character down and giving up on this guess,” Qi Xia said. “Taking the risk now could cost us two points.”
Chen Junnan nodded reluctantly, but his eyes still burned with defiance.
“What?” Qi Xia asked.
“Old Qi… let me guess just once,” Chen Junnan pleaded. “If we lose two points, I’ll fight like hell to earn them back.”
Qi Xia frowned. “Two things—first, I don’t need you to ‘fight like hell.’ You don’t owe me anything. Everyone on this team is equal. Second, if you’re determined to guess despite knowing the consequences, I’ll share the responsibility.”
“Like hell you will!” Chen Junnan shot back. “I take full accountability.”
Qi Xia sighed. “Then what’s your guess?”
Chen Junnan grinned, slowly raising his middle finger.
The others stared in bewilderment.
“Old Qi… doesn’t this character look like this gesture?”
“……?”
“Look! The foreign trade bag brought back a silk scarf, so I guess that counts as opening the Silk Road, right?”
Qi Xia stared at the “character” in Chen Junnan’s hand and fell into a brief silence again.
Lawyer Zhang and Zheng Yingxiong, who were standing behind, also stepped forward to look at this “scarf” (巾), their minds gradually growing confused.
Because they vaguely remembered that initially, the “character” in Chen Junnan’s hand was “shuai” (帅).
But now, not only was it not “shuai,” but it had even lost half of itself. Why was Chen Junnan so happy about losing half of a “character”…?
“Being able to snatch back half of a ‘character’ is already a rare situation,” Qi Xia said. “If you manage to snatch back half of a ‘character’ twice in a row, ‘rare’ doesn’t even begin to describe it.”
“Wait… what are you talking about?!” Chen Junnan said. “I didn’t snatch either of these two ‘characters’—they were both given to me willingly!”
“Fine,” Qi Xia nodded helplessly. “That sounds like something you’d do.”
“Old Qi, guess how I got this ‘character’ just now?”
Qi Xia sighed after hearing this. “I’m guessing you impersonated Xu Liunian.”
“Uh…” Chen Junnan blinked and said, “No fun. I’m done playing. Here, take it.”
He handed the “scarf” (巾) to Qi Xia and watched as he scored another point on the screen.
“That’s a good tactic,” Qi Xia said. “I suspect you can keep using it for a while longer.”
“Keep using it?” Chen Junnan looked puzzled. “As soon as the real Xu Liunian returns, they’ll realize they’ve been tricked.”
“No, I doubt we’ll even need to wait for Xu Liunian to return. Chu Tianqiu will probably figure out you’re a fake,” Qi Xia said. “But the real problem now lies with Xu Liunian herself.”
“What do you mean?”
“You’ve all said that the ‘echoes’ in this place are faint and extremely difficult to activate,” Qi Xia said. “It suddenly reminded me of a similar example, though I’m not sure if it applies here.”
“Eh…?” Chen Junnan seemed to have thought of something too. “Now that you mention it…”
“Exactly,” Qi Xia said. “What the White Snake said about ‘echoes’… Similarly, Xu Liunian finally managed to obtain an ‘echo,’ but since this place makes it ‘extremely difficult to echo,’ it’s hard for her to perform actions related to her ‘echo.’ In other words, there’s a good chance she can’t free herself from her ‘echo,’ causing her appearance to remain looking like yours indefinitely.”
“Ha…” Countless amusing ideas flashed through Chen Junnan’s mind. “Then I know what to do.”
Qi Xia nodded and said, “From now on, ‘Xu Liunian’ could be anyone, and anyone could be ‘Xu Liunian.’ Chu Tianqiu has lost the first step.”
Chen Junnan watched as Qi Xia wrote the homophone for “scarf” (巾)—”gold” (金)—on the screen and then stopped, feeling slightly confused.
“Keep going, Old Qi,” Chen Junnan said. “Form more words. There are so many characters.”
After hearing this, Qi Xia looked at the “hill” (丘) and “eight” (八) in his hand and shook his head.
“There shouldn’t be any more,” Qi Xia said. “Among all the ‘left-right structure’ characters, ‘shuai’ (帅) has the least utility. I’ve calculated it—it can hardly form any other words in this game.”
“What?” Chen Junnan was stunned. “Dammit… I thought I’d done another great deed. How come there’s only a ‘scarf’ (巾)?! Was all this effort for nothing?”
“For nothing?” Qi Xia said. “Of course not. You’ve dealt a devastating blow to Chu Tianqiu. That value isn’t something a ‘scarf’ (巾) can compare to.”
“Really?” Chen Junnan took a few steps forward and looked at the characters stuck on the “Phoenix Holding Scroll Platform.” “I’m determined to put together a second ‘character’ for you today. Only then will it feel like we haven’t lost out…”
Hearing this, Qi Xia didn’t object. Instead, he took out his own “hill” (丘) and “eight” (八), as if asking Chen Junnan if he had any unconventional ideas.
Unexpectedly, Chen Junnan didn’t even look at the characters in Qi Xia’s hand. He just stared at the “scarf” (巾) for a long time before slowly reaching out a finger and gently pushing it.
“Wait…” Qi Xia felt a sense of déjà vu. Earlier, a reckless teammate had pushed a character with his finger and cost the team a point. This didn’t seem like a good sign.
But Chen Junnan moved too quickly. Before Qi Xia could finish speaking, he had already rotated the “scarf” (巾) 180 degrees.
The screen flickered and once again displayed the familiar text:
“Received the character雏形 ‘chè’ (屮). Please write a homophone.”
“…?”
Qi Xia, Zhang Chenze, and Zheng Yingxiong, who were standing nearby, fell silent simultaneously.
“Does this count?” Zhang Chenze asked, puzzled, as she looked at the screen. “Isn’t this just a radical…?”
“How could it be just a radical? It’s definitely a ‘character’!” Chen Junnan grinned at everyone, as if waiting for their praise, but Qi Xia wasn’t so sure.
The last failed guess had already cost them one point. This time, it might cost them two points. With scoring becoming increasingly difficult, losing two points would have a significant impact.
“Well, Old Qi?” Chen Junnan patted Qi Xia’s shoulder. “I told you there had to be more ‘characters,’ right? Even you can’t think of everything sometimes.”
“Alright…” Qi Xia nodded and pointed at the screen. “Tell me how to pronounce this character.”
“This…” Chen Junnan blinked. “You’re putting me on the spot. I don’t have as much knowledge as you do.”
Qi Xia sighed and said, “Chen Junnan, let me reiterate: my knowledge comes from books. Even if obscure characters occasionally appear in books, it’s hard for me to know their pronunciation out of thin air. So, ‘obscure characters’ and ‘knowledge’ aren’t directly linked.”
“Uh…” Qi Xia’s words left Chen Junnan speechless. “What do you mean… Old Qi, are we just going to take a guess?”
“I suggest taking the ‘character’ down and giving up on this guess,” Qi Xia replied. “Taking a risk now could cost us two points.”
Hearing this, Chen Junnan nodded reluctantly, though he still seemed unwilling to give up.
“What?” Qi Xia asked.
“Old Qi… how about you let me guess just once?” Chen Junnan said. “If we really lose two points, I’ll do whatever it takes to earn back those two points for you.”
Qi Xia frowned upon hearing this. “I need to make two things clear… First, I don’t need you to risk your life. You don’t owe me anything. Everyone on this team is equal. Second, if you’re determined to guess even after knowing the consequences of failure, I’ll help you bear the consequences.”
“How the hell is that acceptable?!” Chen Junnan said. “I should be responsible for my own actions.”
Qi Xia sighed and said, “Then what’s your guess?”
Chen Junnan grinned and slowly raised his middle finger.
This gesture stunned the people around him once again.
“Old Qi… doesn’t this ‘character’ look like this gesture?”
“…?”
“I think this character looks like a swear word and also like a plant. How about we write ‘grass’ (草)!”
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