Qinglong toyed with the character “hill” in his hand, then began to carefully consider the rules from Xuanwu’s perspective.
It was almost laughable—after all these years of setting rules, he had never once needed to consider the participants’ circumstances. But now, he had to think about Xuanwu’s life.
Was there something… something that had once felt overwhelmingly vast to Xuanwu…?
At the very least, it wasn’t “hill.” Xuanwu might not even know what a “hill” was.
This thing had to be larger than a “hill”—not in the physical sense, but psychologically.
Once it existed, Xuanwu would be trapped within it forever. Even if others could walk away, Xuanwu never could.
She was born in it, grew in it, and would die in it.
In her heart, this character was even more terrifying than “rice.”
After a long contemplation, Qinglong finally arrived at an answer.
It was an answer that only Xuanwu would recognize as “correct,” something that loomed far larger than “hill” in her mind.
With this realization, Qinglong picked up the character “wood” and gently placed it on the “Phoenix Book Pedestal.”
Outside, the crowd quickly began analyzing the character “wood,” trying to deduce what Qinglong was creating.
Chen Jun’nan, too, noticed that what Qinglong was crafting didn’t seem to be “hill.”
A moment later, the character “inch” from “general” slowly appeared. The final answer to Qinglong’s last question was—
**”Village.”**
Qi Xia’s eyes flickered rapidly at the sight of the character, his thoughts thrown into disarray.
Qinglong’s answer was “village”? Had he stopped caring about the rules altogether?
Xuanwu blinked in confusion and asked, “What character is this?”
“Village,” Chen Jun’nan answered. “The kind in ‘township, county.’”
“‘Village’…” Xuanwu murmured, her eyes shimmering. “‘Village’ is so vast…”
“Huh?” Chen Jun’nan frowned. “Village is big?”
“Uh…” Qiao Jiajin scratched his head. “Hey, Jun’nan, what’s the biggest village in the world?”
“How the hell should I know?” Chen Jun’nan scowled, feeling like Qinglong had given an absurd answer.
How big could a “village” really be? Bigger than a “hill”?
From a certain perspective, comparing the size of a “hill” to a “village”… it wasn’t immediately obvious which was larger.
After all, “hills” could be big or small, and “villages” could thrive or decline.
If these two had to compete, the outcome would depend on Chen Jun’nan’s eloquence and Qiao Jiajin’s reasoning.
Sensing that persuasion should start early, Chen Jun’nan spoke up, “Sis, villages aren’t that big. You must be mistaken.”
“‘Village’ is too vast…” Xuanwu said softly. “I’ve never left the ‘village’… There’s ‘rice’ in the ‘village.’ ‘Rice’ is important, but I have no ‘father’…”
“Hold on!” Chen Jun’nan’s brain felt like it was overheating. “Are we playing word association here? We’re talking about the size of a ‘village’…”
“Isn’t it big?” Xuanwu turned slightly, a sliver of her face visible through her hair. “I can’t leave… I’ve never been able to leave…”
Tian Tian, silent until now, brushed a strand of hair behind her ear.
Her eyes flickered as she murmured, “‘Village’ is indeed vast. Some people spend their entire lives trapped in it. But a ‘village’ isn’t that big—if you want to leave, you can.”
“Really…?” Xuanwu paused. “If I just… want to?”
For the first time, Zheng Yingxiong clearly caught the scent wafting from Xuanwu—it was “sorrow.”
It was only then that Chen Jun’nan realized the atmosphere had shifted. Tian Tian and Xuanwu seemed to have sunk into some emotional abyss, but he had no idea why.
Panicking slightly, he tugged at Lawyer Zhang’s sleeve. “Zhang-jie! What’s going on here? Can you help talk her down? I don’t know what to say—what’s up with ‘village’?”
Zhang Chenze’s gaze turned cold. “I don’t want to talk about this.”
“Eh…?”
Chen Jun’nan stood frozen, utterly lost, and could only fall silent in the strange tension.
Qinglong stepped out from behind the screen, glanced at Xuanwu’s state, and, reassured, took his place beside the others.
Seizing the moment, Qi Xia finally voiced the question that had been burning in his mind. “Qinglong, what do the sufferings of others mean to you?”
“Oh?” Qinglong raised an eyebrow. “Suffering is suffering. What else could it be?”
“Is ‘the suffering of others’ just a tool for you to win when it counts?” Qi Xia pressed.
“That’s an interesting question,” Qinglong mused. “Not just ‘suffering.’ Anything that makes me feel comfortable can be my winning tool.”
“Fair enough.” Qi Xia nodded, then ignored Qinglong and moved behind the screen.
He picked up a pile of scattered characters and tossed his own “pawn” into the mix.
The situation was undeniably precarious.
Qinglong had been constructing characters strictly according to the “rules,” while Qi Xia had been forced to react to Qinglong’s choices.
That meant he had very little time each round.
Given the current circumstances, Xuanwu considered “village” vast because she had never left it. She had no parents and had grown up starving.
“No wonder you’ve always wanted to die…”
For Xuanwu, the desire for death might have already peaked before she even entered the “Land of Finality.”
The cruel irony was that after dying, she arrived here—and due to the nature of “immortality,” she could never die again.
She yearned for death eternally, yet death eluded her forever.
This was the first time Qi Xia truly understood how tragic “eternal life” could be.
In that case… what character could possibly be larger than “village” for someone like Xuanwu?
The problem was that “village” was like an inescapable prison, pressing down on Xuanwu and obscuring everything else from her sight.
Even if Qi Xia formed characters like “mountains,” “rivers,” “lakes,” “seas,” “sky,” or “universe”—things that dwarfed “village” in sheer scale—none might feel larger to her.
Realizing this, Qi Xia forcibly cut off that line of thought and considered another possibility: Was there a way to make Xuanwu leave the “village,” even temporarily?
If just one character could breach the boundaries of “village,” they could win this game outright.
The crowd waited in silence before the screen, having learned from the last round not to speak prematurely.
After a while, the character “wood” appeared on the screen.
Everyone’s brows furrowed. Both Qinglong and Qi Xia had started with “wood,” suggesting their answers wouldn’t differ much.
Moments later, another “wood” appeared.
**”Forest.”**
Once again, silence fell over the group—but this time, it was different.
They weren’t stunned by Qi Xia’s answer. Instead, they felt like he was about to lose.
Comparing “forest” to “village”… While most people might struggle to say which was larger, to Xuanwu, “forest” likely held no special significance.
“Hah…” Qinglong’s lips curled. “Qi Xia, Qi Xia… Even the largest forest in the world can’t surpass the ‘village’ in Xuanwu’s heart.”
But Qi Xia didn’t stop after creating “forest.”
He took the character “evening” from “general” and carefully placed it beneath “forest.”
Perhaps this was the only way to gamble on that slim chance.
**”Dream.”**
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