“What exactly is ‘luck’?”
This question involuntarily popped into Qi Xia’s mind.
Just how sorrowful must a person be to have the character ‘哀’ (sorrow) written on all three fans he draws consecutively?
The current situation was extremely tricky. No matter whom Qi Xia partnered with, they could only produce two ‘Sorrow’ fans. In other words, no one could escape with him.
If the rule required everyone to present two folding fans, there was absolutely no way for anyone partnering with Qi Xia to complete a full set of ‘Joy, Anger, Sorrow, and Happiness’.
So, what should he do next?
Frowning, Qi Xia pondered for a moment. Assuming his luck was extremely good, and when the fans were replenished half an hour later, he drew another ‘Sorrow’…
“Hey! Buddy!” A square-faced man patted Qi Xia on the back. Immediately, Qi Xia snapped his fan shut.
“How come you’re here?” the man asked.
“I…” Qi Xia turned around and put the fan into his pocket, “I just wanted to check my fan’s surface.”
“What does it say?” The square-faced man asked again.
Qi Xia was puzzled by the man’s straightforwardness—why would he ask someone else’s hidden cards so directly?
If word got out that this person had ‘Sorrow’ on all three of his fans, who would still be willing to partner with him?
“Except for ‘Joy,’ I have the other three,” Qi Xia replied.
“Oh? Really?” The square-faced man thought for a moment. “I actually have ‘Joy,’ and I have two left! So, it seems like the two of us can form a complete set of ‘Joy, Anger, Sorrow, and Happiness!'”
“So, you want to get out quickly?” Qi Xia asked.
“Of course…” The square-faced man nodded vigorously. “This place can kill people. Who wouldn’t want to get out as soon as possible?”
“Oh…” Qi Xia responded indifferently, then shifted the topic. “I can agree to partner with you, but you need to give me a ‘Joy.'”
“No problem.” The square-faced man nodded. “Then I’ll take out one ‘Joy’ and one ‘Anger,’ and you take out the remaining two.”
“You misunderstood me,” Qi Xia shook his head. “I said I want one ‘Joy’ alone.”
“What…?” The square-faced man paused for a moment, “Buddy… Did I hear you wrong?”
“No,” Qi Xia shook his head again. “If you want to partner with me, you need to give me the third fan you have.”
“Why should I?” The square-faced man looked at Qi Xia somewhat displeased. “Although I said I wanted to partner with you, it’s not like I have no other options.”
“Of course,” Qi Xia nodded. “You can find other teammates, but my principle remains unchanged. If you want to partner with me, I need that third fan of yours.”
“You’re crazy,” the square-faced man waved his hand and walked away.
Di Yang looked around at everyone and stood in front of the central table, announcing, “Ten minutes have passed. The game will now officially begin.”
As soon as he said this, the crowd around began to move.
Sighing deeply, Qi Xia slowly walked around the venue with his fan tucked in his pocket.
In such a large-scale game, the first round was nothing more than sifting the wheat from the chaff. The timid, the accidental entrants, or those who had second thoughts would escape in large numbers, leaving only the real ‘participants’ of this game.
By now, some people had already begun conversing with each other, and some even displayed their fan surfaces to others.
Everyone was smiling, creating a relaxed and cheerful atmosphere all around.
Qi Xia knew his purpose for coming here was different from others. Besides wanting to survive, he needed to obtain as much ‘Dao’ as possible.
But how could he take the first step with three ‘Sorrow’ fans?
Contrary to what Qi Xia had expected, after a full ten minutes had passed, only two pairs had managed to escape.
After their success was verified, those four people walked up the stairs to the upper floor.
It seemed Qi Xia had been too optimistic. Human greed was far more terrifying than he had imagined.
Since Di Yang would replenish the folding fans after half an hour, in other words, each remaining player would have at least four fans in hand. After pairing up, two fans would remain, and the reward would increase from five ‘Dao’ to ten ‘Dao.’ Therefore, escaping at the beginning wasn’t the wisest choice.
Yet Qi Xia always had an ominous premonition—after all, Di Yang could lie.
Had he lied about the rules?
As Qi Xia was strolling around the room, he suddenly heard a commotion from a corner. Turning his head, he saw human nature revealing itself.
A burly man was now snatching folding fans from a thin man’s hands.
“What are you doing…?” The thin man looked extremely nervous. “Referee! Someone is stealing things!”
Di Yang’s gaze slowly shifted toward the two, but he made no other move.
“Y… You won’t do anything about it?” The thin man was so scared that his glasses fell to the ground.
To everyone’s surprise, Di Yang slowly closed his eyes.
Seeing Di Yang’s reaction, the burly man felt even more emboldened.
“Damn it… Give it to me!”
He stretched out his hand and yanked hard, snatching two fans.
The thin man tightly clutched his last fan, refusing to let go no matter what. Without giving him time to react, the big man forcefully pulled at it.
Within a few seconds, a crisp tearing sound was heard—the third fan had been ripped apart.
The burly man picked up the torn fan and examined it in his hand. At this moment, the broken fan resembled a pair of scissors; one end in his hand, the other end drooping down.
Unsure whether the torn fan could still be used, he thought for a few seconds before tossing it back to the thin man.
“Leave a path for others, and you’ll have a way to meet again in the future,” the burly man smiled. “I’ll give this one back to you.”
The thin man looked furious, but he dared not resist at all. Dozens of nearby people watched coldly, and not a single one stepped forward to stop the man.
However, the atmosphere among the crowd clearly changed at that moment.
“I have a suggestion,” a very fashionable woman suddenly spoke up loudly. “None of us should partner with this bad man. Let him stay here and die.”
“What?!” The burly man suddenly became furious, taking two steps forward to stand in front of the woman. “Woman, are you asking for death?!”
“Are you going to kill me?” The fashionable woman smiled. “I have a feeling that if you kill me, even fewer people will dare to partner with you.”
“What…?” The burly man slowly extended his hand, seemingly hesitating whether to slap the woman across the face.
Qi Xia felt that even if the man didn’t kill her, he would definitely make the woman suffer somehow.
“Hey, enough already,” a young man who looked about twenty suddenly appeared, stepping in to block the big man’s path. “This is a game where cooperation is needed to escape. You wouldn’t want to provoke public anger, would you?”
Qi Xia looked up at the wall clock.
Only fifteen minutes had passed since the game began, and already so many people couldn’t contain their inner selves?
He shook his head, no longer paying attention to the noisy crowd, and instead walked over to the thin man.
This man had just had his fans taken and was now sitting on the ground, hugging a torn fan and crying.
“Hey, stop crying,” Qi Xia said.
“Huh?” The man looked up, teary-eyed, at Qi Xia.
“What character was on your torn fan?”
Tai Sui Yellow Amulet Paper FuLu Taoist Love Talisman Traditional Chinese Spiritual Charm Attracting Love Protecting Marriage