Chapter 1029: Moving Mountains

Qi Xia brought over Lawyer Zhang’s “fire,” scoring a point on the screen, then asked her for the “bag” component to form the word “cannon.”

So far, a total of thirteen points.

Qi Xia lowered his head to study the character “bag” and found that, like the character “eight,” while theoretically separable, it was firmly welded together in this game—no amount of force could pry it apart.

“It seems the ‘characters’ in this game have been carefully designed,” Qi Xia remarked. “Not every ‘character’ can be split indefinitely.”

“Exactly,” Chen Junan chimed in. “That old bastard Qinglong doesn’t want us to win too quickly or too easily.”

Qi Xia tried rearranging the characters he had on hand but found no further combinations possible.

Aside from his own “soldier” and Qiao Jiajin’s “elephant,” the remaining characters would yield minimal points even if seized.

The immediate priority was securing the “guardian” from Zhang Shan and the “pawn” from Kim Won-hoon.

“So, did you happen to see the character ‘person’ on Chu Tianqiu’s screen?” Qi Xia abruptly changed the subject, asking again.

“Uh…”

Chen Junan felt Qi Xia was putting him on the spot. While he had glimpsed the opponent’s screen, it had been just a glance.

He wasn’t even sure if he could successfully reach their “preparation zone,” let alone memorize the characters displayed there beforehand.

“Maybe not… or maybe yes…” Chen Junan muttered uncertainly. “Wish I’d asked Little Chu to step aside so I could’ve gotten a proper look.”

“It’s fine,” Qi Xia said. “The fact that you brought back a ‘scarf’ component means you played your role well. Just find another chance to check.”

“Heh… that’s exactly what I was thinking,” Chen Junan grinned and nodded.

“Remember to avoid everyone,” Qi Xia added. “Since your real identity isn’t Xu Liunian, the game will still forcibly trigger if you and an opponent enter the same room simultaneously.”

“Probably unavoidable. I was lucky not to run into anyone earlier,” Chen Junan admitted. “But they’ll definitely use that trick to test whether I’m the real Xu Liunian or not. What they don’t realize is that if they’re in the same room as me and confirm I’m fake, they’ll be forced into those ‘different doors’ with me. My plan’s basically a suicide attack—guaranteed to wreak havoc.”

“Let’s skip the ‘suicide’ part,” Qi Xia said dryly. “Just stick to ‘attack.'”

“Fair enough,” Chen Junan conceded. “Attack first, suicide later—maybe.”

“Good.” Qi Xia glanced at Zhang Chenze and Zheng Yingxiong. “With fewer people on the ‘front line’ now, you two keep blocking the others. Don’t give them a chance to enter our ‘preparation zone.'”

Chen Junan understood perfectly. In this game, merely entering the opponent’s “preparation zone” and seeing the characters on their screen—even without breaking it—was valuable intel.

Take the character “rice” on Qi Xia’s screen, for instance. Chen Junan still had no idea how it was formed.

But if Little Chu saw it, he’d surely figure out how to replicate it.

“Leave the ‘fire’ with me. Zheng Yingxiong will take the ‘chariot’ again,” Qi Xia instructed. “The ‘preparation zone’ can’t store characters. Right now, I’m carrying three components: ‘mound,’ ‘eight,’ and ‘fire.’ Since a single character can be made of three parts, holding three shouldn’t violate the rules.”

“You sure?” Chen Junan asked. “Want me to take the ‘fire’ off your hands?”

“You and Zheng Yingxiong are each holding two characters—you’ve got ‘bag’ and ‘scarf,’ he’s got ‘chariot’ and ‘chariot.’ Neither of you is exactly safe,” Qi Xia pointed out. “But stay sharp. If you end up in a gamble with the opponent, don’t reveal all your characters at once. Make them believe you’re only holding one.”

The three nodded in agreement, while Qi Xia kept the three radicals: “mound,” “eight,” and “fire.”

By now, he could guess about 80–90% of the characters on the opposing side.

It was confirmed that Kim Won-hoon held the “pawn,” and Chu Tianqiu had the “general”—the two most powerful characters, held by the two hardest people to rob.

Xu Liunian, disguised as Chen Junan, had her character stolen by Zheng Yingxiong, so she was the “chariot.”

Yan Zhichun gave Chen Junan a “bag,” meaning she was the “cannon,” leaving her with just the “stone” component.

Similarly, among the first wave to cross the river was Wen Qiaoyun. She and Han Yimo triggered a duel and entered the “door.” The only remaining piece that could cross was the “horse,” so Wen Qiaoyun must be the “horse.”

This unimportant character meant it didn’t matter who won between her and Han Yimo.

“As for the rest…” Qi Xia narrowed his eyes in thought. The analysis wasn’t difficult.

The opponent’s unaccounted characters were the “elephant” and the “guardian.”

The unconfirmed identities left were Dr. Zhao and Zhang Shan.

Dr. Zhao couldn’t possibly be holding the “guardian” because he was too timid and weak—he might just lose it outright.

So, the character he carried was the useless “elephant.”

And the remaining “guardian”? That would be held by the immovable mountain.

Right now, someone was preparing to topple that mountain.

……

Qiao Jiajin finished warming up and turned to see a Chen Junan opening their door, stepping into the “river.”

“Handsome, tunneling through walls again?” Qiao Jiajin asked.

“Old Qiao, this time it’s not just ‘tunneling,'” Chen Junan replied. “This time, I’m planning to pierce their hearts.”

“Oh? Sounds deadly.”

“Any movement from the other side just now?” Chen Junan asked.

“Like what?”

“Can you tell which rooms have people? I’m about to take a stroll over there. Would be a hassle if I opened a door and ran into someone.”

“Can’t tell from the ‘river,'” Qiao Jiajin answered. “All I know is Qiaoyun’s in the room behind me, playing a game with Scribbler.”

“Xiao Han’s got an 80% chance of losing,” Chen Junan said. “They’re in the ‘Hai’ room—a pure luck game. Wen Qiaoyun’s sharp; even rock-paper-scissors, she’d outthink him.”

“Not sure…” Qiao Jiajin shook his head. “But doesn’t Scribbler have his ‘echo’?”

“That lousy ‘echo’… If it doesn’t activate, he might win. Once it does, it’s basically a guaranteed loss,” Chen Junan scoffed. “The only ‘disaster’ he can summon in a game is ‘failure.’ The more he fears failing, the more likely he is to fail.”

As they spoke, a door on the opposite side slowly opened, revealing Zhang Shan and Yan Zhichun standing inside.