“Surround that kid Jin Yuanxun…” Chen Junnan seemed a bit puzzled by this statement. “Old Qi… you might not know, but that kid can’t be surrounded…”
“Now we can,” Qi Xia replied. “Xu Liunian has already awakened her ‘Echo.’ If she returns to the ‘Preparation Zone’ and shares this method, others can gradually awaken their ‘Echoes’ too. By then, Jin Yuanxun holding the ‘Pawn’ will be unstoppable—we won’t be able to catch him.”
“Damn… is it really that urgent?” Chen Junnan said. “When I came back, I saw Old Qiao just standing by the riverbank soaking up the sun. I called him to join us.”
“He has his own battle to fight,” Qi Xia said. “You go and ‘Attack the Mind’ first.”
“Alright…” Chen Junnan nodded.
“Oh,” Qi Xia added, “just now, when you crossed the river with the ‘Bao,’ did anything strange happen?”
“Strange…?” Chen Junnan knew exactly what Qi Xia was asking. “Though I’m a ‘foreign trade package,’ no one warned me about ‘breaking the rules’ along the way. Those two spectators up there didn’t react either. I guess this rule doesn’t exist?”
“If it really doesn’t, that’d be great,” Qi Xia said. “Fist is ‘Xiang.’ Once he and Zhang Shan settle their fight, he can join you in ‘Attacking the Person.’ But…”
“Any other concerns…?” Chen Junnan asked. “I already scouted earlier—I wandered around the other side with a ‘Bao’ for ages, and nothing happened. Could ‘Bao’ really cross the river?”
Qi Xia still felt something was off.
“Crossing the river” was such an obvious trap—the pit was dug, the grass laid, and people had even fallen in, yet there were no spikes at the bottom.
This didn’t seem like Qinglong’s style at all.
Both he and Chu Tianqiu had been wary of this seemingly nonexistent rule, yet Qinglong and Dilong acted as if they’d completely forgotten about it.
From another perspective, if “illegally crossing the river” really had “consequences,” how would they manifest in this game?
Typically, all “Earth-level Referees” might hide some rules, but they would always clarify the conditions for triggering “sanctions” before the game began. Otherwise, people dying without understanding why would be no different from outright slaughter.
Since Dilong hadn’t explained at the start that “illegally crossing the river” would result in “sanctions,” it meant that even if there were consequences, they wouldn’t be fatal.
“Wait…” Qi Xia suddenly realized something.
This game’s arena seemed vast, but in reality, most players could only interact with two game elements:
One was the “character,” and the other was the “door.”
If “illegally crossing the river” didn’t affect the “character,” then the issue had to lie with the “door.”
“I see… that’s it,” Qi Xia said. “Simply ‘crossing the river’ won’t cause any problems…”
“Huh? Then where’s the problem?”
Qi Xia organized his thoughts and continued, “Chen Junnan, if you plan to ‘illegally cross the river’ again later, go investigate inside the ‘door.'”
“Inside the ‘door’?”
“I suspect the ‘door’ might change…” Qi Xia’s expression grew serious. “Earlier, when both sides opened the ‘door’ to investigate, we only checked our own territory. That made us assume the ‘door’ only led to Human-level ‘Zodiacs.’ But we overlooked one thing—the other side of the ‘door’ can change. These ‘doors’ don’t lead to fixed rooms.”
“Holy shit…” Chen Junnan’s eyes widened. “Are you saying the ‘person opening the door’ affects ‘what’s inside’?”
“Just a guess,” Qi Xia said. “But there shouldn’t be any other ‘punishments.’ If a ‘piece’ that shouldn’t cross the river does so and triggers a ‘game behind the door,’ what’s inside might change.”
“Got it!” Chen Junnan said. “I’ll go investigate alone first.”
Qi Xia nodded and took the “Chariot” character from Zheng Yingxiong.
“Old Qi,” Chen Junnan added, “the other side hasn’t used the ‘Chariot’ to score yet. You write first. After that, I’ll hide the ‘character’ in my mouth so they’ll never find it.”
Qi Xia studied the “Chariot” for a moment, unable to understand why Chu Tianqiu hadn’t used it to score.
But soon, he realized the issue.
The difficulty wasn’t with the “Chariot” itself—it was with its homophone.
“Chu Tianqiu, I remember you’re a biology Ph.D. How could you not think of this?”
Qi Xia placed the “Chariot” on the “Phoenix Holding Book Platform” and wrote a homophone next to it:
“Surround that kid Jin Yuanxun…” Chen Junnan seemed a bit puzzled by this statement. “Old Qi… you might not know, but that kid can’t be surrounded…”
“We can surround him now,” Qi Xia said. “Xu Liunian has already obtained the 「Echo」. If she returns to the 「preparation area」 and shares this method, others can gradually obtain the 「Echo」 as well. By then, Jin Yuanxun holding the 「pawn」 will be unstoppable. We won’t be able to catch him.”
“Damn… is it that intense?” Chen Junnan said. “When I came back, I saw Old Qiao standing by the riverbank soaking up the sun. I called him to join me.”
“He has his own battle to fight,” Qi Xia replied. “You go and 「attack the heart」 first.”
“Alright…” Chen Junnan nodded.
“By the way,” Qi Xia asked again, “when you crossed the river with the 「bag」 earlier, did anything strange happen?”
“Strange…?” Chen Junnan naturally knew what Qi Xia was asking. “Although I’m an export bag, no one warned me that I was 「violating the rules」 along the way. Those two guys watching the show didn’t make a move either. I guess this rule doesn’t exist?”
“If it doesn’t exist, that would be good,” Qi Xia said. “Fist is the 「minister」. Once he and Zhang Shan settle their fight, he can go with you to 「attack the person」. It’s just…”
“Still have concerns…?” Chen Junnan asked. “I already scouted it out earlier. I wandered around on the other side with a 「bag」 for a long time, and nothing happened. Could the 「bag」 really be allowed to cross the river?”
Qi Xia still felt something was off.
“Crossing the river”—such an obvious trap. The pit was dug, the camouflage was laid, and people had even fallen in, yet there were no spikes placed inside.
This didn’t seem like Qinglong’s style at all.
Both he and Chu Tianqiu were guarding against this seemingly non-existent rule, yet Qinglong and Dilong acted as if they had completely forgotten about it.
Looking at it from another angle, if “illegally crossing the river” really had some “consequence,” how would it manifest in this game?
Typically, all “Earth-level referees” would conceal some rules but would definitely explain the conditions for triggering “sanctions” before the game started. Otherwise, if someone died without understanding why, it would be no different from a one-sided massacre.
Since Dilong didn’t clarify at the beginning that “illegally crossing the river” would result in “sanctions,” it meant that even if there were consequences, they wouldn’t be death.
“Wait…” Qi Xia suddenly thought of something.
Although the game’s venue seemed vast, most players would only come into contact with two game props.
One was the “character,” and the other was the “door.”
Since the “character” didn’t change when someone “illegally crossed the river,” the issue must lie with the “door.”
“I see… so that’s how it is,” Qi Xia said. “Simply ‘crossing the river’ won’t cause any problems…”
“Huh? Then where’s the problem?”
Qi Xia organized his thoughts and said, “Chen Junnan, if you plan to continue ‘illegally crossing the river,’ go investigate inside the ‘door.'”
“Inside the ‘door’?”
“I suspect the ‘door’ will change…” Qi Xia’s expression grew serious. “Earlier, when both sides opened the ‘door’ to investigate, we were only checking our own territories. This led us to mistakenly believe that the ‘doors’ only led to some Human-level 「Zodiacs」. But we overlooked one thing: the other side of the ‘door’ can change. These ‘doors’ don’t necessarily lead to fixed rooms.”
“Damn…” Chen Junnan’s eyes widened. “Are you saying the ‘person who opens the door’ affects ‘what’s inside the door’?”
“It’s just my speculation,” Qi Xia said. “There shouldn’t be any other ‘punishment.’ Once a ‘piece’ that shouldn’t cross the river does so and triggers the ‘game inside the door,’ what’s inside the door will change.”
“Alright… I understand!” Chen Junnan said. “Then I’ll go investigate alone first.”
Qi Xia nodded and took the “chariot” character from Zheng Yingxiong.
“Old Qi,” Chen Junnan added, “the other side didn’t use the ‘chariot’ to score. You write first. After you write it, I’ll find a way to hide the ‘character’ in my mouth so they’ll never find it.”
Qi Xia held the “chariot” and thought for a moment, unable to understand why Chu Tianqiu hadn’t used it to score.
But after a moment, he realized the issue.
The difficulty wasn’t with the “chariot” itself but with its homophone.
“Chu Tianqiu, I remember you’re a biology Ph.D. How could you not have thought of this?”
Qi Xia placed the “chariot” on the “Phoenix Book-Carrying Platform” and then wrote a homophone:
「砗」.
“What character is this?” Chen Junnan stared at the character Qi Xia had written for a long time. “Does it also read ‘chē’?”
“It’s ‘chē’ as in ‘chēqú’ (砗磲), a relatively common type of shellfish,” Qi Xia explained. “As long as this ‘character’ can form a word, I probably recognize it.”
“You’re something else…” Chen Junnan said.
“Lawyer Zhang, give me your ‘fire’ as well,” Qi Xia said. “The ‘bag’ has already been used. Now we need your ‘fire.'”
Zhang Chenze nodded upon hearing this and took the “cannon” out of her shirt pocket.
“This game is a bit too unfair,” Zhang Chenze said. “The other side has two ‘characters’ that can be split into three parts. Not only can they score more points from the start, but their personnel arrangements are also more flexible than ours.”
“Oh?” Qi Xia asked casually while disassembling the “cannon” in his hand. “How so?”
“If Chen Junnan could carry both a ‘bag’ and a ‘cloth’ earlier, then I wouldn’t need to carry the ‘fire’ either, since it’s too dangerous,” Zhang Chenze said. “I could just leave it with you and only carry a ‘bag.'”
“I see. That makes sense,” Qi Xia nodded.
“Right now, we’re really too passive,” Zhang Chenze added. “It feels like this game wasn’t designed for us to win from the start.”
“No,” Qi Xia said. “I think it’s quite the opposite.”
“What?”
“Although it seems like the other side has two ‘characters’ that can be split into three parts, they’re also more afraid of having them stolen,” Qi Xia explained. “In contrast, if our ‘characters,’ whether it’s the ‘cannon’ or the ‘marshal,’ are stolen, it won’t be a significant loss. It actually gives us a higher margin for error.”
Chen Junnan thought about it and realized it was true. After the other side took his “marshal,” they could only form “marshal” and “cloth,” with no other possible combinations.
But if their side could steal the other’s “pawn” or “general,” they could potentially widen the score gap instantly.
“What the hell is this character?” Chen Junnan stared at the character Qi Xia had written. “Does it also read ‘Chē’?”
“Surround that kid Jin Yuanxun…” Chen Junnan seemed a bit puzzled by this statement. “Old Qi… you might not know, but that kid can’t be surrounded…”
“We can surround him now,” Qi Xia said. “Xu Liunian has already obtained the ‘Echo.’ If she returns to the ‘preparation zone’ and shares this method, others can gradually obtain the ‘Echo’ as well. By then, Jin Yuanxun holding the ‘Pawn’ will be unstoppable. We won’t be able to catch him.”
“Damn… is it that tense?” Chen Junnan said. “When I came back, I saw Old Qiao standing by the riverbank soaking up the sun. I called him to join me.”
“He has his own battle to fight,” Qi Xia said. “You go and ‘Attack the Heart’ first.”
“Alright…” Chen Junnan nodded.
“By the way,” Qi Xia asked again, “just now when you crossed the river with the ‘Package,’ did anything strange happen?”
“Strange…?” Chen Junnan naturally knew what Qi Xia was asking. “Although I’m an export package, no one along the way warned me that I was ‘violating the rules.’ The two guys watching the show up there didn’t make a move either. I guess this rule doesn’t exist?”
“If it doesn’t exist, that would be good,” Qi Xia said. “Fist is the ‘Minister.’ Once he and Zhang Shan settle their fight, he can go with you to ‘Attack the Person.’ It’s just…”
“Still have concerns…?” Chen Junnan asked. “I already scouted it out earlier. I wandered around on the other side with a ‘Package’ for a long time, and nothing happened. Could it be that the ‘Package’ really can cross the river?”
Qi Xia still felt something was off.
“Crossing the river”—such an obvious trap. The pit was dug, the branches were laid over it, and people had even fallen in, yet there were no spikes at the bottom.
This didn’t seem like Qinglong’s style at all.
Both he and Chu Tianqiu were on guard against this seemingly non-existent rule, yet Qinglong and Dilong acted as if they had completely forgotten about it.
Looking at it from another angle, if “illegally crossing the river” really had some “consequence,” how would it manifest in this game?
Typically, all “Earth-level referees” might conceal some rules, but they would always clarify the conditions for triggering “sanctions” before the game began. Otherwise, if someone died without understanding why, it would be no different from a one-sided massacre.
Since Dilong didn’t clarify at the beginning that “illegally crossing the river” would result in “sanctions,” it meant that even if there were consequences, they wouldn’t be death.
“Wait…” Qi Xia suddenly thought of something.
This game might seem vast in scale, but when it came down to it, most players could only interact with two game elements.
One was the “character,” and the other was the “door.”
Since the “character” didn’t change when someone “illegally crossed the river,” the problem had to lie with the “door.”
“I see… so that’s how it is,” Qi Xia said. “Simply ‘crossing the river’ won’t cause any issues…”
“Huh? Then where’s the problem?”
Qi Xia organized his thoughts and said, “Chen Junnan, if you plan to ‘illegally cross the river’ again later, go investigate inside the ‘door.'”
“Inside the ‘door’?”
“I suspect the ‘door’ will change…” Qi Xia’s expression grew serious. “Earlier, when both sides opened the ‘door’ to investigate, we were only checking our own territories. This led us to believe that the ‘doors’ only led to some Human-level ‘Zodiacs.’ But we overlooked one thing: the other side of the ‘door’ can change. These ‘doors’ don’t necessarily lead to fixed rooms.”
“Damn…” Chen Junnan’s eyes widened. “Are you saying that the ‘person who opens the door’ affects ‘what’s inside the door’?”
“It’s just my guess,” Qi Xia said. “There shouldn’t be any other ‘punishment.’ Once a ‘piece’ that shouldn’t cross the river does so and triggers the ‘game behind the door,’ what’s inside the door will change.”
“Alright… I understand!” Chen Junnan said. “Then I’ll go investigate alone first.”
Qi Xia nodded and took the “Chariot” character from Zheng Yingxiong.
“Old Qi,” Chen Junnan added, “the other side didn’t use the ‘Chariot’ to score. You write first. After you write it, I’ll find a way to hide the ‘character’ in my mouth so they’ll never find it.”
Qi Xia held the “Chariot” and looked at it for a while, unable to understand why Chu Tianqiu hadn’t used it to score.
But after a moment, he realized the issue.
The difficulty wasn’t with the “Chariot” itself but with its homophone.
“Chu Tianqiu, I remember you’re a biology Ph.D. How could you not think of this?”
Qi Xia placed the “Chariot” on the “Phoenix Book-Carrying Platform” and then wrote a homophone:
“砗” (chē).
“What character is this?” Chen Junnan stared at the character Qi Xia had written for a long time. “Does it also read as ‘chē’?”
“It’s ‘砗’ as in ‘砗磲’ (chēqú), a relatively common type of shellfish,” Qi Xia said. “As long as this ‘character’ can form a word, I probably recognize it.”
“Only you…” Chen Junnan said.
“Lawyer Zhang, give me your ‘Fire’ as well,” Qi Xia said. “The ‘Package’ has already been used. Now we need your ‘Fire.'”
Zhang Chenze nodded upon hearing this and took the “Cannon” out of her shirt pocket.
“This game is a bit too unfair,” Zhang Chenze said. “The other side has two ‘characters’ that can be split into three parts. Not only can they score more points from the start, but their personnel arrangements will also be more flexible than ours.”
“Oh?” Qi Xia asked casually while disassembling the “Cannon” in his hand. “How so?”
“If Chen Junnan could carry both a ‘Package’ and a ‘Towel’ earlier, then I wouldn’t need to carry the ‘Fire’ either, since it’s too dangerous,” Zhang Chenze said. “I could just leave it with you and only carry a ‘Package.'”
“I see. That makes sense,” Qi Xia nodded.
“Right now, we’re really at a disadvantage,” Zhang Chenze added. “It feels like this game was designed from the start to make it impossible for us to win.”
“No,” Qi Xia said. “I think it’s quite the opposite.”
“What?”
“Although it seems like the other side has two ‘characters’ that can be split into three parts, they’re also more afraid of having them stolen,” Qi Xia said. “In contrast, the ‘characters’ on our side, whether it’s the ‘Cannon’ or the ‘Marshal,’ won’t cause much loss if stolen, and it also gives us a higher margin for error.”
Chen Junnan thought about it and realized it was true. After the other side took his “Marshal,” they could only form “Marshal” and “Towel,” with no other possible combinations.
But if their side could steal the other’s “Pawn” or “General,” they could potentially widen the score gap instantly.
“Only you…” Chen Junnan muttered.
“Lawyer Zhang, give me your ‘Fire’ too,” Qi Xia said. “We’ve already used the ‘Bao.’ Now we need your ‘Cannon.'”
Zhang Chenze nodded and took the “Cannon” out from her shirt pocket.
“This game is way too unfair,” she said. “The other side has two ‘characters’ that can be split into three parts. Not only can they score more points from the start, but their personnel arrangements are also more flexible than ours.”
“Oh?” Qi Xia dismantled the “Cannon” in his hands and asked casually, “How so?”
“If Chen Junnan could carry both a ‘Bao’ and a ‘Jin,’ then I wouldn’t need to carry the ‘Fire’ either—it’s too dangerous,” Zhang Chenze said. “I could just leave it with you and carry only a ‘Bao.'”
“I see. That makes sense,” Qi Xia agreed.
“We’re at such a disadvantage now,” Zhang Chenze continued. “It’s like this game was designed from the start to make us lose.”
“No,” Qi Xia said. “I think it’s the opposite.”
“What?”
“Even though the other side has two ‘characters’ that can be split into three parts, they’re also more afraid of having them stolen,” Qi Xia explained. “On our side, whether it’s the ‘Cannon’ or the ‘Marshal,’ losing them wouldn’t be a huge setback. It actually gives us more room for error.”
Chen Junnan thought about it and realized Qi Xia was right. If the enemy took their “Marshal,” it could only form “Marshal” and “Jin”—no other combinations.
But if their side managed to steal the enemy’s “Pawn” or “General,” they could instantly widen the score gap.
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