“The most strokes…”
Qinglong murmured, then turned to look at Qixia.
“The most strokes…”
Qinglong murmured, then turned to look at Qixia.
“Let me reiterate the rules one last time,” Qinglong said. “The ‘characters’ we create must use either ‘丘’ or ‘八’, or both parts, and then we compare whose character has more strokes.”
Qixia nodded upon hearing this. “Understood. Who goes first?”
Qinglong lowered his head in thought. All possible combinations of the “characters” were fixed, meaning the character with the “most strokes” likely had only one possibility. Therefore, taking the initiative was the best choice.
The onlookers—Zhang Chenze, Tiantian, and Han Yimo—began tracing characters on their palms upon hearing the rules.
Creating a character that included part of “兵” and had the most strokes didn’t sound difficult, but both of them had just eliminated a character from the game. Did Qixia have some plan?
“I’ll go first,” Qinglong said.
Qixia nodded and took a step back.
Qinglong turned to Xuanwu and said, “Bring me all the ‘characters.’ I need some time.”
Xuanwu vanished upon hearing this, instantly reappearing beside the pile of characters. She picked them up, then disappeared again and reappeared beside Qinglong.
“Hey…” Chen Junnan interjected, “Sis Xuanwu, as the referee, you shouldn’t be hiding any ‘characters’ now, right?”
Xuanwu paused for a moment upon hearing this. “I have nowhere to hide them.”
“Uh…”
Although the “Land of the End” had left Chen Junnan baffled many times, this time was especially confusing. Xuanwu wasn’t wearing any clothes, relying solely on her hair for coverage—how could she possibly hide any “characters”?
“My apologies.”
Chen Junnan chuckled awkwardly and fell silent.
Qinglong took all the “characters” behind the wall, and Qixia and the others looked up at the display screen on the front side.
Soon, the character “石” appeared on the screen. Qixia stroked his chin thoughtfully. It seemed Qinglong had used the radical of the character “砲” first, so his answer was quite obvious.
Next to “石,” the character “士” appeared.
A few seconds later, “士” rotated and became “干,” followed by “八” lighting up on the screen.
“八” rotated and turned into “丷.”
“石,” “干,” and “丷” combined, and the character “砰” appeared on the screen.
“Ten strokes,” Zhang Chenze said.
“Not enough,” Qixia replied.
Qixia knew Qinglong’s thinking couldn’t be so limited.
After all, upon learning that they had to use “兵” or part of “兵” to create a character with the most strokes, many people’s first instinct would be to utilize the entire character “兵.”
Sure enough, a few seconds later, the character “砰” disappeared from the screen, as if Qinglong had revised his answer.
This time, the wait was slightly longer. After a full ten seconds, the character “木” appeared on the screen.
Soon, “兵” appeared next to “木,” and the character “梹” was prominently displayed on the screen.
“Eleven strokes…” Zhang Chenze said, staring at the screen. “Can it be more?”
Qixia didn’t answer, only shook his head.
Qinglong tried again, changing his answer to “眯,” but everyone noticed this character still had eleven strokes.
“Is this old guy at his limit?” Chen Junnan whispered from the side.
“Hard to say,” Qixia replied. “After all, it’s a best-of-three game. No one would use their ultimate move in the first round.”
After settling on “眯,” Qinglong sighed and slowly emerged from behind the wall. “That’s it.”
“Not going to try again?” Qixia asked.
“I’d like to see how you plan to try,” Qinglong said with a laugh. “The ‘characters’ are right there. Do you have some brilliant insight?”
“Maybe.”
“Then I’ll wait and see,” Qinglong nodded.
Qixia glanced around at everyone and then walked behind the massive wall.
He examined the layout and found it similar to the previous “preparation area”: a “Phoenix Book-Carrying Platform” for arranging the “characters” and a “display screen” for handwriting.
But this game had a significant advantage: there was no need to write “homophones.” Theoretically, they could win with “obscure characters,” but this time…
The group stared at the large display screen for a long time before Qinglong grew impatient. “What’s wrong, Qixia? Are you planning to concede?”
As soon as he finished speaking, a character appeared on the screen.
“目.”
Qinglong frowned at the character.
There weren’t many characters with the “目” radical that also included part of “兵.” Was Qixia’s final answer still “眯”?
“Are you aiming for a draw?” Qinglong asked again.
Qixia didn’t answer. After a few seconds of silence, he placed a “木” next to it.
Everyone was puzzled by this.
Was Qixia going to form a “相”?
Before anyone could figure it out, Qixia rotated “目” into “罒” and combined it with “木” to form “䍒.”
“Wow!” Qiao Jiajin exclaimed. “I know this character!”
“What is it?” Chen Junnan turned to look at him. “You recognize it?”
“Yeah,” Qiao Jiajin nodded seriously. “It might be pronounced ‘Lín.’ ‘Four woods,’ so it’s ‘Lín.'”
“Makes sense,” Chen Junnan nodded.
But Qinglong frowned deeply upon seeing this. “Qixia… did I not explain the rules clearly?”
“What?” Qixia’s voice came from behind the wall.
“The new ‘character’ must use all or part of ‘兵,'” Qinglong said. “Which part does this obscure character use?”
He paused, then shook his head. “Besides, your character only has nine strokes. Even if you’re going easy on me, you can’t do it like this, right?”
“I’m really not going easy on you,” Qixia said. “How about this?”
After a few seconds of silence, the large screen flickered again.
The structure of “䍒” began to change. The “木” at the bottom started shifting left, looking extremely peculiar.
Just as everyone was confused, another “木” suddenly appeared on the screen.
After a brief transformation, the original “䍒”赫然 became a new obscure character:
“罧.”
Qinglong and everyone present widened their eyes in shock.
“What…” Qinglong was stunned. “Are you messing with me using ‘obscure characters’? Does this ‘character’ use any part of ‘兵’?”
“Coincidentally, it does,” Qixia said.
“You…”
Qinglong was speechless. He quickly turned to Xuanwu, who understood his meaning and walked behind the massive wall to verify whether Qixia’s combination violated the rules.
A few seconds later, Xuanwu said, “No violation. Half of ‘兵’ was used.”
Qixia nodded after hearing this. “Understood. Who goes first?”
Qinglong lowered his head in thought. All possible combinations of the ‘characters’ were fixed, meaning there was likely only one ‘character’ with the ‘most strokes.’ Therefore, making the first move was the best choice.
On the sidelines, Zhang Chenze, Tiantian, and Han Yimo traced strokes in their palms as they watched the rules unfold.
“The most strokes…”
Qinglong murmured, then turned to look at Qixia.
“Let me reiterate the rules one last time,” Qinglong said. “The ‘characters’ we create must use either ‘丘’ or ‘八’, or both parts, and then we compare whose character has more strokes.”
Qixia nodded upon hearing this. “Understood. Who goes first?”
Qinglong lowered his head in thought. All possible combinations of the “characters” were fixed, meaning the character with the “most strokes” likely had only one possibility. Therefore, taking the initiative was the best choice.
The onlookers—Zhang Chenze, Tiantian, and Han Yimo—began tracing characters on their palms upon hearing the rules.
Creating a character that included part of “兵” and had the most strokes didn’t sound difficult, but both of them had just eliminated a character from the game. Did Qixia have some plan?
“I’ll go first,” Qinglong said.
Qixia nodded and took a step back.
Qinglong turned to Xuanwu and said, “Bring me all the ‘characters.’ I need some time.”
Upon hearing this, Xuanwu vanished on the spot, instantly reappearing beside the pile of characters. She bent down, picked them up, and then vanished again, reappearing beside Qinglong.
“Hey…” Chen Junnan interjected, “Sis Xuanwu, as the referee, you wouldn’t hide any ‘characters’ now, would you?”
Xuanwu paused for a moment upon hearing this. “I have nowhere to hide them.”
“Uh…”
Although the “Land of the End” had left Chen Junnan baffled many times, this time was especially confusing. Xuanwu wasn’t wearing any clothes, relying solely on her hair for coverage—how could she possibly hide any “characters”?
“My apologies.”
Chen Junnan laughed awkwardly a few times and then fell silent.
Qinglong took all the “characters” to the back of the wall, while Qixia and the others looked up at the display screen on the front.
Soon, the character “石” appeared on the screen. Qixia stroked his chin thoughtfully. It seemed Qinglong had used the radical of the character “砲” first, so his answer was quite obvious.
Next to “石,” the character “士” appeared.
A few seconds later, “士” rotated and became “干,” followed by “八” lighting up on the screen.
“八” rotated and turned into “丷.”
“石,” “干,” and “丷” combined, and the character “砰” appeared on the screen.
“Ten strokes,” Zhang Chenze said.
“Not enough,” Qixia replied.
Qixia knew Qinglong’s thinking couldn’t be so limited.
After all, upon learning that they had to use “兵” or part of “兵” to create a character with the most strokes, most people’s first reaction would be to utilize the entire character “兵.”
Sure enough, a few seconds later, the character “砰” disappeared from the screen, as if Qinglong had modified his answer.
This time, the wait was slightly longer. After a full ten seconds, the character “木” appeared on the screen.
Soon, “兵” appeared next to “木,” and the character “梹” was prominently displayed on the screen.
“Eleven strokes…” Zhang Chenze said, staring at the screen. “Can it go any higher?”
Qixia didn’t speak but simply shook his head.
Qinglong tried again, changing his answer to “眯,” but everyone noticed this character still had eleven strokes.
“Is this old guy at his limit?” Chen Junnan whispered from the side.
“Hard to say,” Qixia replied. “After all, it’s a best-of-three game. No one would use their ultimate move in the first round.”
After settling on “眯,” Qinglong sighed and slowly emerged from behind the wall. “That’s it.”
“Not going to try again?” Qixia asked.
“I’d like to see how you plan to try,” Qinglong said with a laugh. “The ‘characters’ are right there. Do you have some brilliant insight?”
“Maybe.”
“Then I’ll wait and see,” Qinglong nodded.
Qixia glanced around at everyone and then walked behind the massive wall.
He observed the layout and found it similar to the previous “preparation area”: a “Phoenix Book-Carrying Platform” for arranging the “characters” and a “display screen” for handwriting.
But this game had a significant advantage: there was no need to write “homophones.” In theory, they could win with “obscure characters.” But this time…
The group stared at the large display screen for a long time before Qinglong grew impatient. “What’s wrong, Qixia? Are you planning to concede?”
As soon as he finished speaking, a character appeared on the screen.
“目.”
Qinglong frowned at the sight of this character.
There weren’t many characters with the “目” radical that also included part of “兵.” Was Qixia’s final answer still “眯”?
“Are you aiming for a draw?” Qinglong asked again.
Qixia didn’t respond. After a few seconds of silence, he added “木.”
Everyone was puzzled by this.
Was Qixia going to form “相”?
Before anyone could figure it out, Qixia rotated “目” into “罒,” combined it with “木,” and formed “䍒.”
“Wow!” Qiao Jiajin exclaimed. “I know this character!”
“What is it?” Chen Junnan turned to look at him. “You recognize it?”
“Yeah,” Qiao Jiajin nodded seriously. “It might be pronounced ‘Lín.’ ‘Four woods,’ so it’s ‘Lín.'”
“Makes sense,” Chen Junnan nodded.
But Qinglong frowned deeply upon seeing this. “Qixia… did I not explain the rules clearly?”
“What?”
Qixia’s voice came from behind the wall.
“The new ‘character’ must use all or part of ‘兵,'” Qinglong said. “Which part does this obscure character use?”
He paused, then shook his head. “Besides, your character only has nine strokes. Even if you’re going easy, you can’t do it like this, right?”
“I’m really not going easy,” Qixia said. “How about this?”
After a few seconds of silence, the large screen flickered again.
The structure of “䍒” began to change. The “木” at the bottom started shifting left, looking extremely peculiar.
Just as everyone was confused, another “木” suddenly appeared on the screen.
After a brief transformation, the original “䍒”赫然 became a new obscure character:
“罧.”
Qinglong and everyone present widened their eyes in shock.
“What…” Qinglong was stunned. “Are you messing with me using ‘obscure characters’? Does this ‘character’ use any part of ‘兵’?”
“Coincidentally, it does,” Qixia said.
“You…”
Qinglong was momentarily speechless. He quickly turned to Xuanwu, who understood his meaning and walked behind the massive wall to verify whether Qixia’s combination violated the rules.
A few seconds later, Xuanwu said, “No violation. Half of ‘兵’ was used.”
“I’ll go first,” Qinglong said.
Qixia nodded and took a step back.
Qinglong turned to Xuanwu and said, “Bring me all the ‘characters.’ I need some time.”
Upon hearing this, Xuanwu vanished on the spot, instantly reappearing beside the pile of ‘characters.’ He bent down, picked them up, and then vanished again, reappearing next to Qinglong.
“Hey…” Chen Junnan interjected, “Sis Xuanwu, since you’re the referee, you wouldn’t hide any ‘characters’ now, would you?”
Xuanwu paused, then replied, “I have nowhere to hide them.”
“Uh…”
While the “Land of the End” had left Chen Junnan baffled many times, this moment was particularly confusing. Xuanwu wasn’t wearing any clothes, relying solely on her hair for cover—how could she possibly hide a ‘character’?
“My apologies.”
Chen Junnan chuckled awkwardly and fell silent.
Qinglong took all the ‘characters’ to the back of the wall, while Qixia and the others looked up at the display screen on the front.
“The most strokes…”
Qinglong murmured, then turned to look at Qixia.
“Let me reiterate the rules one last time,” Qinglong said. “The ‘characters’ we create must use either ‘丘’ or ‘八’, or both parts, and then we compare whose character has the most strokes.”
Qixia nodded after hearing this. “Understood. Who goes first?”
Qinglong lowered his head in thought. All possible combinations of the “characters” were fixed, meaning the character with the “most strokes” likely had only one possibility. Therefore, taking the initiative was the best choice.
The onlookers—Zhang Chenze, Tiantian, and Han Yimo—began tracing characters in their palms upon hearing the rules.
Creating a character that included part of “兵” and had the most strokes didn’t sound difficult, but both of them had just eliminated a “character” from the game. Did Qixia have some plan?
“I’ll go first,” Qinglong said.
Qixia nodded and took a step back.
Qinglong turned to Xuanwu and said, “Bring me all the ‘characters.’ I need some time.”
Xuanwu vanished upon hearing this, instantly reappearing beside the pile of “characters.” She picked them up and then vanished again, reappearing beside Qinglong.
“Hey…” Chen Junnan interjected, “Sis Xuanwu, as the referee, you shouldn’t be hiding any ‘characters’ now, right?”
Xuanwu paused for a moment upon hearing this. “I have nowhere to hide them.”
“Uh…”
Although the “Land of the End” had left Chen Junnan baffled many times, this time was especially confusing. Xuanwu wasn’t wearing any clothes, relying solely on her hair for coverage. How could she possibly hide any “characters”?
“My apologies.”
Chen Junnan laughed awkwardly a few times and then fell silent.
Qinglong took all the “characters” to the back of the wall, while Qixia and the others looked up at the display screen on the front.
Soon, the character “石” appeared on the screen. Qixia stroked his chin thoughtfully. It seemed Qinglong had used the radical of the character “砲” first, so his answer was quite obvious.
Next, the character “士” appeared beside “石.”
A few seconds later, “士” rotated and became “干,” followed by “八” lighting up on the screen.
“八” rotated and turned into “丷.”
“石,” “干,” and “丷” combined, and the character “砰” appeared on the screen.
“Ten strokes,” Zhang Chenze said.
“Not enough,” Qixia replied.
Qixia knew Qinglong’s thinking couldn’t be so limited.
After all, upon learning that they had to use “兵” or part of “兵” to create a character with the most strokes, many people’s first reaction would be to utilize the entire character “兵.”
Sure enough, a few seconds later, the character “砰” disappeared from the screen, as if Qinglong had revised his answer.
This time, the wait was slightly longer. After a full ten seconds, the character “木” appeared on the screen.
Soon, “兵” appeared beside “木,” and the character “梹” was prominently displayed on the screen.
“Eleven strokes…” Zhang Chenze said, staring at the screen. “Can it go any higher?”
Qixia didn’t speak but simply shook his head.
Qinglong tried again, changing the answer to “眯,” but everyone noticed this character still had eleven strokes.
“Is this old guy at his limit?” Chen Junnan whispered from the side.
“Hard to say,” Qixia replied. “After all, it’s a best-of-three game. No one would use their ultimate move in the first round.”
After settling on “眯,” Qinglong sighed and slowly emerged from behind the wall. “That’s it.”
“Not going to try again?” Qixia asked.
“I’d like to see how you plan to try,” Qinglong said with a laugh. “The ‘characters’ are right there. Do you have some brilliant insight?”
“Maybe.”
“Then I’ll wait and see,” Qinglong nodded.
Qixia glanced around at everyone and then walked behind the massive wall.
He examined the layout and found it similar to the previous “preparation area”: a “Phoenix Book-Carrying Platform” for arranging the “characters” and a “display screen” for handwriting.
But this game had a significant advantage: there was no need to write “homophonic characters.” In theory, they could win using “obscure characters.” But this time…
The group stared at the large display screen for a long time before Qinglong finally grew impatient. “What’s wrong, Qixia? Are you planning to concede?”
As soon as he finished speaking, a character appeared on the screen.
“目.”
Qinglong frowned at the character.
There weren’t many characters with the “目” radical that also included part of “兵.” Was Qixia’s final answer still “眯”?
“Are you aiming for a draw?” Qinglong asked again.
Qixia didn’t respond. After a few seconds of silence, he added “木.”
Everyone was puzzled by this.
Was Qixia planning to form “相”?
Before anyone could figure it out, Qixia rotated “目” into “罒,” combined it with “木,” and formed “䍒.”
“Wow!” Qiao Jiajin exclaimed. “I know this character!”
“What is it?” Chen Junnan turned to look at him. “You recognize it?”
“Yeah,” Qiao Jiajin nodded seriously. “It might be pronounced ‘Lin.’ ‘Four woods,’ so it’s ‘Lin.'”
“Makes sense,” Chen Junnan nodded.
But Qinglong frowned deeply upon seeing this. “Qixia… did I not explain the rules clearly…?”
“What?”
Qixia’s voice came from behind the wall.
“The new ‘character’ must use all or part of ‘兵,'” Qinglong said. “Which part does your obscure character use?”
He paused for a moment before shaking his head. “Besides, your character only has nine strokes. Even if you’re going easy on me, you can’t do it this blatantly.”
“I’m not going easy on you,” Qixia said. “How about this?”
After a few seconds of silence, the large screen flickered again.
The structure of “䍒” began to change. The “木” at the bottom started shifting left, looking extremely peculiar.
Just as everyone was confused, another “木” suddenly appeared on the screen.
After a brief transformation, the original “䍒”赫然 became a new obscure character:
“罧.”
Qinglong and everyone present widened their eyes in shock.
“What…” Qinglong was stunned. “Are you messing with me using ‘obscure characters’? Does this ‘character’ use any part of ‘兵’?”
“Coincidentally, it does,” Qixia said.
“You…”
Qinglong was momentarily speechless. He quickly turned to look at Xuanwu, who understood his meaning and walked behind the massive wall to verify whether Qixia’s combination violated the rules.
A few seconds later, Xuanwu said, “No rules broken. Half of ‘兵’ was used.”
“The most strokes…”
Qinglong murmured, then turned to look at Qixia.
“Let me reiterate the rules one last time,” Qinglong said. “The ‘characters’ we create must use either ‘丘’ (qiū) or ‘八’ (bā), or both parts, and then we compare whose character has the most strokes.”
Qixia nodded upon hearing this. “Understood. Who goes first?”
Qinglong lowered his head in thought. All possible combinations of the “characters” were fixed, meaning the “character with the most strokes” likely had only one possibility. Therefore, taking the initiative was the best choice.
Nearby spectators, Zhang Chenze, Tiantian, and Han Yimo, began tracing characters on their palms upon hearing the rules.
Creating a character that included part of “兵” (bīng) and had the most strokes didn’t sound difficult, but both of them had just eliminated a character from the game. Did Qixia have some plan?
“I’ll go first,” Qinglong said.
Qixia nodded and took a step back.
Qinglong turned to Xuanwu and said, “Bring me all the ‘characters.’ I need some time.”
Upon hearing this, Xuanwu vanished on the spot, instantly reappearing beside the pile of “characters.” He bent down, picked them up, and then vanished again, reappearing beside Qinglong.
“Hey…” Chen Junnan interjected, “Sis Xuanwu, as the referee, you wouldn’t hide any ‘characters’ now, would you?”
Xuanwu paused for a moment upon hearing this. “I have nowhere to hide them.”
“Uh…”
Although the “Land of the End” had left Chen Junnan bewildered many times, this time was especially confusing. Xuanwu wasn’t wearing any clothes, relying solely on her hair for coverage. How could she possibly hide any “characters”?
“My apologies.”
Chen Junnan laughed awkwardly a few times and then fell silent.
Qinglong took all the “characters” to the back of the wall, while Qixia and the others looked up at the display screen on the front.
Soon, the character “石” (shí) appeared on the screen. Qixia stroked his chin thoughtfully. It seemed Qinglong had first used the radical of the character “砲” (pào). His answer was now obvious.
Next to “石,” the character “士” (shì) appeared.
A few seconds later, “士” rotated and became “干” (gān). Then, “八” (bā) lit up on the screen.
“八” rotated and turned into “丷” (a variant form of “八”).
“石,” “干,” and “丷” combined, and the character “砰” (pēng) appeared on the screen.
“Ten strokes,” Zhang Chenze said.
“Not enough,” Qixia replied.
Qixia knew Qinglong’s thinking couldn’t be so limited.
After all, upon learning that they had to use “兵” or part of “兵” to create a character with the most strokes, most people’s first reaction would be to utilize the entire character “兵.”
Sure enough, a few seconds later, “砰” disappeared from the screen. It seemed Qinglong had revised his answer.
This time, the wait was slightly longer. After a full ten seconds, the character “木” (mù) appeared on the screen.
Soon, “兵” appeared next to “木,” and the character “梹” (bīn) was prominently displayed on the screen.
“Eleven strokes…” Zhang Chenze said, staring at the screen. “Can it go any higher?”
Qixia didn’t speak but simply shook his head.
Qinglong tried again, changing the answer to “眯” (mī). Everyone noticed this character still had eleven strokes.
“Is this old guy at his limit?” Chen Junnan whispered from the side.
“Hard to say,” Qixia replied. “After all, it’s a best-of-three game. No one would use their ultimate move in the first round.”
Once the answer settled on “眯,” Qinglong sighed and slowly emerged from behind the wall. “That’s it.”
“Not going to try again?” Qixia asked.
“I’d like to see how you plan to try,” Qinglong said with a laugh. “The ‘characters’ are right there. Do you have some brilliant insight?”
“Maybe.”
“Then I’ll wait and see,” Qinglong nodded.
Qixia glanced around at everyone and then walked behind the massive wall.
He observed the layout and found it similar to the previous “preparation area.” There was a “Phoenix Book Pedestal” for arranging the “characters” and a “display screen” for handwriting.
But this game had a significant advantage: there was no need to write “homophonic characters.” In theory, they could win using “obscure characters.” But this time…
The group stared at the large display screen for a long time. Finally, Qinglong grew impatient. “What’s wrong, Qixia? Are you planning to concede?”
As soon as he spoke, a character appeared on the screen.
“目” (mù).
Qinglong frowned at the character.
There weren’t many characters with the “目” radical that also included part of “兵.” Was Qixia’s final answer still “眯”?
“Are you aiming for a draw?” Qinglong asked again.
Qixia didn’t answer. After a few seconds of silence, he added “木” (mù).
Everyone was puzzled by this.
Was Qixia planning to form “相” (xiāng)?
Before anyone could figure it out, Qixia rotated “目” into “罒” (a variant form of “目”) and combined it with “木” to form “䍒” (an obscure character).
“Wow!” Qiao Jiajin exclaimed. “I know this character!”
“What is it?” Chen Junnan turned to look at him. “You recognize it?”
“Yeah,” Qiao Jiajin nodded seriously. “It might be pronounced ‘lín.’ Since it has ‘four woods,’ it’s read as ‘lín.'”
“Makes sense,” Chen Junnan nodded.
But upon seeing this, Qinglong frowned and said, “Qixia… Did I not explain the rules clearly…?”
“What?”
Qixia’s voice came from behind the wall.
“The new ‘character’ must use all or part of ‘兵,'” Qinglong said. “Which part does this obscure character of yours use?”
He paused for a moment before shaking his head. “Besides, your character only has nine strokes. Even if you’re going easy on me, you can’t do it this blatantly.”
“I’m not going easy on you,” Qixia replied. “How about this?”
After a few seconds of silence, the large screen flickered again.
The structure of “䍒” began to change. The “木” at the bottom started shifting left, looking extremely peculiar.
While everyone was still confused, another “木” suddenly appeared on the screen.
After a brief transformation, the original “䍒”赫然 became a new obscure character:
“罧” (sēn).
Qinglong and everyone present widened their eyes in shock.
“What…” Qinglong was stunned. “Are you messing with me using ‘obscure characters’? Does this ‘character’ use any part of ‘兵’?”
“Coincidentally, it does,” Qixia said.
“You…”
Qinglong was momentarily speechless. He quickly turned to look at Xuanwu, who understood his meaning and walked behind the massive wall to verify whether Qixia’s combination violated the rules.
A few seconds later, Xuanwu said, “No rules broken. Half of ‘兵’ was used.”
“The most strokes…”
Qinglong muttered, then turned to look at Qixia.
“Let me reiterate the rules one last time,” Qinglong said. “The ‘characters’ we create must use either ‘丘’ or ‘八,’ or both parts, and then we compare whose character has the most strokes.”
Qixia nodded after hearing this. “Understood. Who goes first?”
Qinglong lowered his head in thought. All possible combinations of the “characters” were fixed, meaning the character with the “most strokes” likely had only one possibility. Therefore, taking the initiative now was the best choice.
The onlookers—Zhang Chenze, Tiantian, and Han Yimo—began tracing characters on their palms with their fingers upon hearing the rules.
Creating a character that included part of “兵” and had the most strokes didn’t sound difficult, but both of them had just eliminated a character from the game. Did Qixia have some plan?
“I’ll go first,” Qinglong said.
Qixia nodded and took a step back.
Qinglong turned to Xuanwu and said, “Bring me all the ‘characters.’ I need some time.”
Upon hearing this, Xuanwu vanished on the spot and instantly reappeared beside the pile of “characters.” He bent down, picked them up, and then vanished again, reappearing beside Qinglong.
“Hey…” Chen Junnan interjected, “Sis Xuanwu, as the referee, you wouldn’t hide any ‘characters’ at a time like this, right?”
Xuanwu paused for a moment upon hearing this. “I have nowhere to hide them.”
“Uh…”
Although the “Land of the End” had left Chen Junnan bewildered many times, this time was especially confusing. Xuanwu wasn’t wearing a single piece of clothing, relying solely on her hair for coverage. How could she possibly hide any “characters”?
“My apologies, ma’am.”
Chen Junnan laughed awkwardly a few times and then fell silent.
Qinglong took all the “characters” to the back of the wall, and Qixia and the others looked up at the display screen on the front.
Soon, the character “石” appeared on the screen. Qixia stroked his chin thoughtfully. It seemed Qinglong had used the radical of the character “砲” first, so his answer was quite obvious.
Next to “石,” the character “士” appeared.
A few seconds later, “士” rotated and became “干.” Then, “八” lit up on the screen.
“八” rotated and turned into “丷.”
“石,” “干,” and “丷” combined, and the character “砰” appeared on the screen.
“Ten strokes,” Zhang Chenze said.
“Not enough,” Qixia replied.
Qixia knew Qinglong’s thinking couldn’t be so limited.
After all, upon learning that they had to use “兵” or part of “兵” to create a character with the most strokes, many people’s first reaction would be to utilize the entire character “兵.”
Sure enough, a few seconds later, the character “砰” disappeared from the screen. It seemed Qinglong had revised his answer.
This time, the wait was slightly longer. After a full ten seconds, the character “木” appeared on the screen.
Soon, “兵” appeared next to “木,” and the character “梹” was prominently displayed on the screen.
“Eleven strokes…” Zhang Chenze said, staring at the screen. “Can it go any higher?”
Qixia didn’t speak but simply shook his head.
Qinglong tried again, changing his answer to “眯,” but everyone noticed this character still had eleven strokes.
“Is this old guy already at his limit?” Chen Junnan whispered from the side.
“Hard to say,” Qixia replied. “After all, it’s a best-of-three game. No one would use their ultimate move in the first round.”
After settling on “眯,” Qinglong sighed and slowly emerged from behind the wall. “That’s it.”
“Not going to try again?” Qixia asked.
“I’d like to see how you plan to try,” Qinglong said with a laugh. “The ‘characters’ are right there. Do you have some brilliant insight?”
“Maybe.”
“Then I’ll wait and see,” Qinglong nodded.
Qixia glanced around at everyone and then walked behind the massive wall.
He observed the layout and found it similar to the previous “preparation area.” There was a “Phoenix Book-Carrying Platform” for arranging the “characters” and a “display screen” for handwriting.
But this game had a significant advantage: there was no need to write “homophonic characters.” Theoretically, they could win with “obscure characters.” But this time…
The group stared at the large display screen for a long time. Qinglong finally grew impatient. “What’s wrong, Qixia? Are you planning to concede?”
As soon as he finished speaking, a character appeared on the screen.
“目.”
Qinglong frowned at the sight of this character.
There weren’t many characters with the “目” radical that also included part of “兵.” Was Qixia’s final answer still “眯”?
“Are you aiming for a draw?” Qinglong asked again.
Qixia didn’t answer. After a few seconds of silence, he added “木.”
Everyone was puzzled by this move.
Was Qixia going to form “相”?
Before anyone could figure it out, Qixia rotated “目” into “罒” and combined it with “木” to form “䍒.”
“Wow!” Qiao Jiajin exclaimed. “I know this character!”
“What is it?” Chen Junnan turned to look at him. “You recognize it?”
“Yeah,” Qiao Jiajin nodded seriously. “It might be pronounced ‘Lin,’ like ‘forest,’ since it has ‘four woods.'”
“Makes sense,” Chen Junnan nodded.
But Qinglong frowned deeply upon seeing this. “Qixia… Did I not explain the rules clearly…?”
“What?”
Qixia’s voice came from behind the wall.
“The new ‘character’ must use all or part of ‘兵,'” Qinglong said. “Which part does your obscure character use?”
He paused for a moment before shaking his head. “Besides, your character only has nine strokes. Even if you’re going easy on me, you can’t do it like this, right?”
“I’m really not going easy on you,” Qixia said. “How about this?”
After a few seconds of silence, the large screen flickered again.
The structure of “䍒” began to change. The “木” at the bottom started shifting left, looking extremely peculiar.
While everyone was still confused, another “木” suddenly appeared on the screen.
After a brief transformation, the original “䍒”赫然 became a new obscure character:
“罧.”
Qinglong and everyone present widened their eyes in shock.
“What…” Qinglong was stunned. “Are you messing with me using ‘obscure characters’? Does this ‘character’ use any part of ‘兵’?”
“Coincidentally, it does,” Qixia replied.
“You…”
Qinglong was momentarily speechless. He quickly turned to look at Xuanwu, who understood his meaning and walked behind the massive wall to verify whether Qixia’s combination violated the rules.
A few seconds later, Xuanwu said, “No rules broken. Half of ‘兵’ was used.”
“The most strokes…”
Qinglong murmured, then turned to look at Qixia.
“Let me reiterate the rules one last time,” Qinglong said. “The ‘characters’ we create must use either ‘丘’ or ‘八’, or both parts, and then we compare whose character has more strokes.”
Qixia nodded upon hearing this. “Understood. Who goes first?”
Qinglong lowered his head in thought. All possible combinations of the “characters” were fixed, meaning the character with the “most strokes” likely had only one possibility. Therefore, taking the initiative now was the best choice.
The onlookers—Zhang Chenze, Tiantian, and Han Yimo—began tracing characters on their palms with their fingers upon hearing the rules.
Creating a character that included part of “兵” and had the most strokes didn’t sound difficult, but both of them had just eliminated a character from the game. Did Qixia have some plan?
“I’ll go first,” Qinglong said.
Qixia nodded and took a step back.
Qinglong turned to Xuanwu and said, “Bring me all the ‘characters.’ I need some time.”
Upon hearing this, Xuanwu vanished on the spot, instantly reappearing beside the pile of “characters.” She bent down, picked them up, and then vanished again, reappearing beside Qinglong.
“Hey…” Chen Junnan interjected, “Sis Xuanwu, as the referee, you wouldn’t hide any ‘characters’ now, would you?”
Xuanwu paused for a moment upon hearing this. “I have nowhere to hide them.”
“Uh…”
Although the “Land of the End” had left Chen Junnan baffled many times, this time was especially confusing. Xuanwu wasn’t wearing a single piece of clothing, relying solely on her hair for coverage. How could she possibly hide any “characters”?
“My apologies.”
Chen Junnan chuckled awkwardly a few times and then fell silent.
Qinglong took all the “characters” to the back of the wall, while Qixia and the others looked up at the display screen on the front.
Soon, the character “石” appeared on the screen. Qixia stroked his chin thoughtfully. It seemed Qinglong had used the radical of the character “砲” first, so his intended answer was quite obvious.
Next to “石,” the character “士” appeared.
A few seconds later, “士” rotated and became “干.” Then, “八” lit up on the screen.
“八” rotated and transformed into “丷.”
“石,” “干,” and “丷” combined, and the character “砰” appeared on the screen.
“Ten strokes,” Zhang Chenze said.
“Not enough,” Qixia replied.
Qixia knew Qinglong’s thinking couldn’t be so limited.
After all, upon learning that they had to use “兵” or part of “兵” to create a character with the most strokes, many people’s first reaction would be to utilize the entire character “兵.”
Sure enough, a few seconds later, the character “砰” disappeared from the screen, as if Qinglong had revised his answer.
This time, the wait was slightly longer. After a full ten seconds, the character “木” appeared on the screen.
Soon, “兵” appeared next to “木,” and the character “梹” was prominently displayed on the screen.
“Eleven strokes…” Zhang Chenze said, staring at the screen. “Can it go any higher?”
Qixia didn’t speak but simply shook his head.
Qinglong tried again, changing his answer to “眯,” but everyone noticed this character still had only eleven strokes.
“Is this old guy already at his limit?” Chen Junnan whispered from the side.
“Hard to say,” Qixia replied. “After all, it’s a best-of-three game. No one would use their ultimate move in the first round.”
After settling on “眯,” Qinglong sighed and slowly emerged from behind the wall. “That’s it.”
“Not going to try again?” Qixia asked.
“I’d like to see how you plan to try,” Qinglong said with a laugh. “The ‘characters’ are right there. Do you have some brilliant insight?”
“Maybe.”
“Then I’ll wait and see,” Qinglong nodded.
Qixia glanced around at everyone and then walked behind the massive wall.
He examined the layout and found it similar to the previous “preparation area”: a “Phoenix Book-Carrying Platform” for arranging the “characters” and a “display screen” for handwriting.
But this game had a significant advantage: there was no need to write “homophonic characters.” In theory, they could win using “obscure characters.” But this time…
The group stared at the large display screen for a long time before Qinglong finally grew impatient. “What’s wrong, Qixia? Are you planning to concede?”
As soon as he finished speaking, a character appeared on the screen.
“目.”
Qinglong frowned at the character.
There weren’t many characters with the “目” radical that also included part of “兵.” Was Qixia’s final answer still “眯”?
“Are you aiming for a draw?” Qinglong asked again.
Qixia didn’t answer. After a few seconds of silence, he added “木.”
Everyone was puzzled by this.
Was Qixia going to form “相”?
Before anyone could figure it out, Qixia rotated “目” into “罒” and combined it with “木” to form “䍒.”
“Wow!” Qiao Jiajin exclaimed. “I know this character!”
“What is it?” Chen Junnan turned to look at him. “You recognize it?”
“Yeah,” Qiao Jiajin nodded seriously. “It might be pronounced ‘Lin.’ ‘Four woods,’ so it’s ‘Lin.'”
“Makes sense,” Chen Junnan nodded.
But Qinglong frowned deeply upon seeing this. “Qixia… Did I not explain the rules clearly?”
“What?”
Qixia’s voice came from behind the wall.
“The new ‘character’ must use all or part of ‘兵,'” Qinglong said. “Which part does your obscure character use?”
He paused for a moment before shaking his head. “Besides, your character only has nine strokes. Even if you’re going easy on me, you can’t do it this blatantly.”
“I’m not going easy on you,” Qixia said. “How about this?”
After a few seconds of silence, the large screen flickered again.
The structure of “䍒” began to change. The “木” at the bottom started shifting left, looking extremely peculiar.
Just as everyone was baffled, another “木” suddenly appeared on the screen.
After a brief transformation, the original “䍒”赫然 became a new obscure character:
“罧.”
Qinglong and everyone present widened their eyes in shock.
“What…” Qinglong was stunned. “Are you messing with me using ‘obscure characters’? Does this ‘character’ use any part of ‘兵’?”
“Coincidentally, it does,” Qixia said.
“You…”
Qinglong was momentarily speechless. He quickly turned to look at Xuanwu, who understood his meaning and walked behind the massive wall to verify whether Qixia’s combination violated the rules.
A few seconds later, Xuanwu said, “No rules broken. He used half of ‘兵.'”
“The most strokes…”
Qinglong murmured, then turned to look at Qixia.
“Let me reiterate the rules one last time,” Qinglong said. “The ‘characters’ we create must use either ‘丘’ or ‘八’, or both parts, and then we compare whose character has more strokes.”
Qixia nodded upon hearing this. “Understood. Who goes first?”
Qinglong lowered his head in thought. All possible combinations of the “characters” were fixed, meaning the character with the “most strokes” likely had only one possibility. Therefore, taking the initiative was the best choice.
The onlookers—Zhang Chenze, Tiantian, and Han Yimo—began tracing characters on their palms upon hearing the rules.
Creating a character that included part of “兵” and had the most strokes didn’t sound difficult, but both of them had just eliminated a character from the game. Did Qixia have some plan?
“I’ll go first,” Qinglong said.
Qixia nodded and took a step back.
Qinglong turned to Xuanwu and said, “Bring me all the ‘characters.’ I need some time.”
Upon hearing this, Xuanwu vanished and instantly reappeared beside the pile of characters. She picked them up, then vanished again and reappeared beside Qinglong.
“Hey…” Chen Junnan interjected, “Sis Xuanwu, as the referee, you shouldn’t be hiding any ‘characters’ now, right?”
Xuanwu paused for a moment upon hearing this. “I have nowhere to hide them.”
“Uh…”
Although the “Land of the End” had left Chen Junnan bewildered many times, this time was especially confusing. Xuanwu wasn’t wearing any clothes, relying solely on her hair for coverage—how could she possibly hide any “characters”?
“My apologies.”
Chen Junnan laughed awkwardly a few times and then fell silent.
Qinglong took all the “characters” to the back of the wall, while Qixia and the others looked up at the display screen on the front.
Soon, the character “石” appeared on the screen. Qixia stroked his chin thoughtfully. It seemed Qinglong had used the radical of the character “砲” first, so his intended answer was quite obvious.
Next to “石,” the character “士” appeared.
A few seconds later, “士” rotated and became “干.” Then, “八” lit up on the screen.
“八” rotated and turned into “丷.”
“石,” “干,” and “丷” combined, and the character “砰” appeared on the screen.
“Ten strokes,” Zhang Chenze said.
“Not enough,” Qixia replied.
Qixia knew Qinglong’s thinking couldn’t be so limited.
After all, upon learning that they had to use “兵” or part of “兵” to create a character with the most strokes, many people’s first reaction would be to utilize the entire character “兵.”
Sure enough, a few seconds later, the character “砰” disappeared from the screen, as if Qinglong had revised his answer.
This time, the wait was slightly longer. After a full ten seconds, the character “木” appeared on the screen.
Soon, “兵” appeared next to “木,” and the character “梹” was prominently displayed on the screen.
“Eleven strokes…” Zhang Chenze said, staring at the screen. “Can it go any higher?”
Qixia didn’t speak but simply shook his head.
Qinglong tried again, changing the answer to “眯,” but everyone noticed this character still had eleven strokes.
“Has this old guy reached his limit?” Chen Junnan whispered from the side.
“Hard to say,” Qixia replied. “After all, it’s a best-of-three game. No one would use their ultimate move in the first round.”
After settling on “眯,” Qinglong sighed and slowly emerged from behind the wall. “That’s it.”
“Not going to try again?” Qixia asked.
“I’d like to see how you plan to try,” Qinglong said with a laugh. “The ‘characters’ are right there. Do you have some brilliant insight?”
“Maybe.”
“Then I’ll wait and see,” Qinglong nodded.
Qixia glanced around at everyone and then walked behind the massive wall.
He observed the layout and found it similar to the previous “preparation area”: a “Phoenix Book-Carrying Platform” for arranging the “characters” and a “display screen” for handwriting.
But this round of the game had a significant advantage: there was no need to write “homophonic characters.” Theoretically, they could win using “obscure characters.” But this time…
The group stared at the large display screen for a long time before Qinglong finally grew impatient. “What’s wrong, Qixia? Are you planning to concede?”
As soon as he finished speaking, a character appeared on the screen.
“目.”
Qinglong frowned at the character.
There weren’t many characters with the “目” radical that also included part of “兵.” Was Qixia’s final answer still “眯”?
“Are you aiming for a draw?” Qinglong asked again.
Qixia didn’t respond. After a few seconds of silence, he placed another “木” on the screen.
Everyone was puzzled by this.
Was Qixia going to form a “相”?
Before anyone could figure it out, Qixia rotated “目” into “罒,” combined it with “木,” and formed “䍒.”
“Wow!” Qiao Jiajin exclaimed. “I know this character!”
“What is it?” Chen Junnan turned to look at him. “You recognize it?”
“Yeah,” Qiao Jiajin nodded seriously. “It might be pronounced ‘Lín.’ ‘Four woods,’ so it’s ‘Lín.'”
“Makes sense,” Chen Junnan nodded.
But Qinglong frowned deeply upon seeing this. “Qixia… Did I not explain the rules clearly…?”
“What?”
Qixia’s voice came from behind the wall.
“The new ‘character’ must use all or part of ‘兵,'” Qinglong said. “Which part does this obscure character use?”
He paused, then shook his head. “Besides, your character only has nine strokes. Even if you’re going easy on me, you can’t do it this blatantly.”
“I’m really not going easy on you,” Qixia said. “How about this?”
After a few seconds of silence, the large screen flickered again.
The structure of “䍒” began to change. The “木” at the bottom started shifting left, looking extremely peculiar.
Just as everyone was confused, another “木” suddenly appeared on the screen.
After a brief transformation, the original “䍒”赫然 became a new obscure character:
“罧.”
Qinglong and everyone present widened their eyes in shock.
“What…” Qinglong was stunned. “Are you messing with me using ‘obscure characters’? Does this ‘character’ use any part of ‘兵’?”
“Coincidentally, it does,” Qixia said.
“You…”
Qinglong was momentarily speechless. He quickly turned to look at Xuanwu, who understood his meaning and walked behind the massive wall to verify whether Qixia’s combination violated the rules.
A few seconds later, Xuanwu said, “No rules broken. Half of ‘兵’ was used.”
“Ten strokes,” Zhang Chenze said.
“Not enough,” Qixia replied.
Qixia knew Qinglong’s thinking wouldn’t be so limited.
“The most strokes…”
Qinglong murmured, then turned to look at Qixia.
“Let me reiterate the rules one last time,” Qinglong said. “The ‘characters’ we create must use either ‘丘’ (qiū) or ‘八’ (bā), or both parts, and then we compare whose character has the most strokes.”
Qixia nodded upon hearing this. “Understood. Who goes first?”
Qinglong lowered his head in thought. All possible combinations of the “characters” were fixed, meaning the “character with the most strokes” likely had only one possibility. Therefore, taking the initiative was the best choice.
The onlookers—Zhang Chenze, Tiantian, and Han Yimo—began tracing strokes on their palms as soon as they heard the rules.
Creating a character that included part of “兵” (bīng) and had the most strokes didn’t sound difficult, but both of them had just eliminated a character from the game. Did Qixia have some plan?
“I’ll go first,” Qinglong said.
Qixia nodded and took a step back.
Qinglong turned to Xuanwu and said, “Bring me all the ‘characters.’ I need some time.”
Upon hearing this, Xuanwu vanished on the spot, reappeared beside the pile of “characters,” picked them up, and then vanished again, reappearing beside Qinglong.
“Hey…” Chen Junnan interjected, “Sis Xuanwu, as the referee, you shouldn’t be hiding any ‘characters’ now, right?”
Xuanwu paused for a moment upon hearing this. “I have nowhere to hide them.”
“Uh…”
Although the “Land of the End” had left Chen Junnan bewildered many times, this time was especially confusing. Xuanwu wasn’t wearing any clothes, relying solely on her hair for coverage—how could she possibly hide any “characters”?
“My apologies.”
Chen Junnan laughed awkwardly a few times and then fell silent.
Qinglong took all the “characters” to the back of the wall, while Qixia and the others looked up at the display screen on the front.
Soon, the character “石” (shí) appeared on the screen. Qixia stroked his chin thoughtfully. It seemed Qinglong had first used the radical of the character “砲” (pào). His answer was now obvious.
Next to “石,” the character “士” (shì) appeared.
A few seconds later, “士” rotated and became “干” (gān). Then, “八” (bā) lit up on the screen.
“八” rotated and turned into “丷” (a variant of “八”).
“石,” “干,” and “丷” combined, and the character “砰” (pēng) appeared on the screen.
“Ten strokes,” Zhang Chenze said.
“Not enough,” Qixia replied.
Qixia knew Qinglong’s thinking couldn’t be so limited.
After all, upon learning that they had to use “兵” or part of “兵” to create a character with the most strokes, most people’s first reaction would be to utilize the entire character “兵.”
Sure enough, a few seconds later, “砰” disappeared from the screen. It seemed Qinglong had revised his answer.
This time, the wait was slightly longer. After a full ten seconds, the character “木” (mù) appeared on the screen.
Soon, “兵” appeared next to “木,” and the character “梹” (bīn) was prominently displayed on the screen.
“Eleven strokes…” Zhang Chenze said, staring at the screen. “Can it go any higher?”
Qixia didn’t answer, only shook his head.
Qinglong tried again, changing the answer to “眯” (mī). Everyone noticed that this character still had eleven strokes.
“Is this old guy at his limit?” Chen Junnan whispered from the side.
“Hard to say,” Qixia replied. “After all, it’s a best-of-three game. No one would use their ultimate move in the first round.”
Once the answer settled on “眯,” Qinglong sighed and slowly emerged from behind the wall. “That’s it.”
“Not going to try again?” Qixia asked.
“I’d like to see how you plan to try,” Qinglong said with a laugh. “The ‘characters’ are right there. Do you have some brilliant insight?”
“Maybe.”
“Then I’ll wait and see,” Qinglong nodded.
Qixia glanced around at everyone and then walked behind the massive wall.
He observed the layout and found it similar to the previous “preparation area”: a “Phoenix Book-Carrying Platform” for arranging the “characters” and a “display screen” for handwriting.
But this game had a significant advantage: there was no need to write “homophonic characters.” Theoretically, they could win with “obscure characters.” But this time…
The group stared at the large display screen for a long time. Finally, Qinglong grew impatient. “What’s wrong, Qixia? Are you planning to concede?”
As soon as he finished speaking, a character appeared on the screen.
“目” (mù).
Qinglong frowned at the character.
There weren’t many characters with the “目” radical that also included part of “兵.” Was Qixia’s final answer still “眯”?
“Are you aiming for a draw?” Qinglong asked again.
Qixia didn’t answer. After a few seconds of silence, he added “木” (mù).
Everyone was puzzled by this.
Was Qixia planning to form “相” (xiāng)?
Before anyone could figure it out, Qixia rotated “目” into “罒” (a variant radical) and combined it with “木” to form “䍒” (an obscure character).
“Wow!” Qiao Jiajin exclaimed. “I know this character!”
“What is it?” Chen Junnan turned to look at him. “You recognize it?”
“Yeah,” Qiao Jiajin nodded seriously. “It might be pronounced ‘lín.’ Since it has ‘four woods,’ it’s read as ‘lín.'”
“Makes sense,” Chen Junnan nodded.
But Qinglong’s frown deepened upon seeing this. “Qixia… Did I not explain the rules clearly…?”
“What?”
Qixia’s voice came from behind the wall.
“The new ‘character’ must use all or part of ‘兵,'” Qinglong said. “Which part does your obscure character use?”
He paused, then shook his head. “Besides, your character only has nine strokes. Even if you’re going easy on me, you can’t do it this blatantly.”
“I’m not going easy on you,” Qixia said. “How about this?”
After a few seconds of silence, the large screen flickered again.
The structure of “䍒” began to change. The “木” at the bottom shifted continuously to the left, looking extremely peculiar.
While everyone was still confused, another “木” suddenly appeared on the screen.
After a brief transformation, the original “䍒”赫然 became a new obscure character:
“罧” (sēn).
Qinglong and everyone present widened their eyes in shock.
“What…” Qinglong was stunned. “Are you messing with me using ‘obscure characters’? Does your ‘character’ use any part of ‘兵’?”
“Coincidentally, it does,” Qixia replied.
“You…”
Qinglong was momentarily speechless. He quickly turned to Xuanwu, who understood his meaning and walked behind the massive wall to verify whether Qixia’s combination violated the rules.
A few seconds later, Xuanwu said, “No violation. He used half of ‘兵.'”
“The most strokes…”
Qinglong murmured, then turned to look at Qixia.
“Let me reiterate the rules one last time,” Qinglong said. “The ‘characters’ we create must use either ‘丘’ or ‘八’, or both parts, and then we compare whose character has more strokes.”
Qixia nodded. “Understood. Who goes first?”
Qinglong lowered his head in thought. All possible combinations of the “characters” were fixed, meaning the character with the “most strokes” likely had only one possibility. Therefore, taking the first move was the best choice.
The onlookers—Zhang Chenze, Tiantian, and Han Yimo—began tracing characters on their palms as they heard the rules.
Creating a character that included part of “兵” and had the most strokes didn’t sound difficult, but both of them had just eliminated a character from the game. Did Qixia have some plan?
“I’ll go first,” Qinglong said.
Qixia nodded and took a step back.
Qinglong turned to Xuanwu and said, “Bring me all the ‘characters.’ I need some time.”
Upon hearing this, Xuanwu vanished and instantly reappeared beside the pile of characters. She picked them up and then vanished again, reappearing beside Qinglong.
“Hey…” Chen Junnan interjected, “Sis Xuanwu, as the referee, you shouldn’t be hiding any ‘characters’ at this point, right?”
Xuanwu paused. “I have nowhere to hide them.”
“Uh…”
Although the “Land of the End” had left Chen Junnan baffled many times, this time was especially confusing. Xuanwu wasn’t wearing any clothes, relying solely on her hair for coverage. How could she possibly hide any “characters”?
“My apologies.”
Chen Junnan laughed awkwardly and fell silent.
Qinglong took all the “characters” to the back of the wall, while Qixia and the others looked up at the display screen on the front.
Soon, the character “石” appeared on the screen. Qixia stroked his chin thoughtfully. It seemed Qinglong had used the radical of the character “砲” first, so his answer was obvious.
Next to “石,” the character “士” appeared.
A few seconds later, “士” rotated and became “干.” Then, “八” lit up on the screen.
“八” rotated and turned into “丷.”
“石,” “干,” and “丷” combined, and the character “砰” appeared on the screen.
“Ten strokes,” Zhang Chenze said.
“Not enough,” Qixia replied.
Qixia knew Qinglong’s thinking couldn’t be so limited.
After all, upon learning that they had to use “兵” or part of “兵” to create a character with the most strokes, most people’s first reaction would be to utilize the entire character “兵.”
Sure enough, a few seconds later, the character “砰” disappeared from the screen. It seemed Qinglong had revised his answer.
This time, the wait was slightly longer. After a full ten seconds, the character “木” appeared on the screen.
Soon, “兵” appeared next to “木,” and the character “梹” was prominently displayed on the screen.
“Eleven strokes…” Zhang Chenze said, staring at the screen. “Can it go any higher?”
Qixia didn’t answer but shook his head.
Qinglong tried again, changing the answer to “眯,” but everyone noticed this character still had eleven strokes.
“Is this old guy at his limit?” Chen Junnan whispered.
“Hard to say,” Qixia replied. “After all, it’s a best-of-three game. No one would use their ultimate move in the first round.”
Once the answer settled on “眯,” Qinglong sighed and slowly emerged from behind the wall. “That’s it.”
“Not going to try again?” Qixia asked.
“I’d like to see how you plan to try,” Qinglong said with a smile. “The ‘characters’ are right there. Do you have some brilliant insight?”
“Maybe.”
“Then I’ll wait and see.” Qinglong nodded.
Qixia glanced around at everyone and then walked behind the massive wall.
He observed the layout and found it similar to the previous “preparation area”: a “Phoenix Book-Carrying Platform” for arranging the “characters” and a “display screen” for handwriting.
But this game had one significant advantage: there was no need to write “homophonic characters.” Theoretically, they could win using “obscure characters.” But this time…
The group stared at the large display screen for a long time. Finally, Qinglong grew impatient. “What’s wrong, Qixia? Are you planning to concede?”
As soon as he spoke, a character appeared on the screen.
“目.”
Qinglong frowned at the character.
There weren’t many characters with the “目” radical that also included part of “兵.” Was Qixia’s final answer still “眯”?
“Are you aiming for a draw?” Qinglong asked again.
Qixia didn’t answer. After a few seconds of silence, he added “木.”
Everyone was puzzled by this.
Was Qixia planning to form “相”?
Before anyone could figure it out, Qixia rotated “目” into “罒” and combined it with “木” to form “䍒.”
“Wow!” Qiao Jiajin exclaimed. “I know this character!”
“What is it?” Chen Junnan turned to him. “You recognize it?”
“Yeah,” Qiao Jiajin nodded seriously. “It might be pronounced ‘Lin.’ ‘Four woods,’ so it’s ‘Lin.'”
“Makes sense,” Chen Junnan nodded.
But Qinglong frowned deeply. “Qixia… Did I not explain the rules clearly?”
“What?” Qixia’s voice came from behind the wall.
“The new ‘character’ must use all or part of ‘兵,'” Qinglong said. “Which part does this obscure character use?”
He paused, then shook his head. “Besides, your character only has nine strokes. Even if you’re going easy on me, you can’t do it like this.”
“I’m not going easy on you,” Qixia said. “How about this?”
After a few seconds of silence, the large screen flickered again.
The structure of “䍒” began to change. The “木” at the bottom shifted leftward, looking extremely peculiar.
Just as everyone was baffled, another “木” suddenly appeared on the screen.
After a brief transformation, the original “䍒”赫然 became a new obscure character:
“罧.”
Qinglong and everyone present widened their eyes in shock.
“What…” Qinglong was stunned. “Are you messing with me using ‘obscure characters’? Does this ‘character’ use any part of ‘兵’?”
“Coincidentally, it does,” Qixia said.
“You…”
Qinglong was speechless. He quickly turned to Xuanwu, who understood his meaning and walked behind the massive wall to verify whether Qixia’s combination violated the rules.
A few seconds later, Xuanwu said, “No rules broken. He used half of ‘兵.'”
“The most strokes…”
Qinglong murmured, then turned to look at Qixia.
“Let me reiterate the rules one last time,” Qinglong said. “The ‘characters’ we create must use either ‘丘’ (qiū) or ‘八’ (bā), or both parts, and then we compare whose character has the most strokes.”
Qixia nodded upon hearing this. “Understood. Who goes first?”
Qinglong lowered his head in thought. All possible combinations of the “characters” were fixed, meaning the “character with the most strokes” likely had only one possibility. Therefore, taking the initiative was the best choice.
The onlookers—Zhang Chenze, Tiantian, and Han Yimo—began tracing characters on their palms as they observed the rules.
Creating a character that included part of “兵” (bīng) and had the most strokes didn’t sound difficult, but both participants had just eliminated a “character” from the game. Did Qixia have some plan?
“I’ll go first,” Qinglong said.
Qixia nodded and took a step back.
Qinglong turned to Xuanwu and said, “Bring me all the ‘characters.’ I need some time.”
Upon hearing this, Xuanwu vanished on the spot, reappeared beside the pile of “characters,” picked them up, and then vanished again, reappearing beside Qinglong.
“Hey…” Chen Junnan interjected, “Sis Xuanwu, as the referee, you wouldn’t hide any ‘characters’ now, would you?”
Xuanwu paused for a moment upon hearing this. “I have nowhere to hide them.”
“Uh…”
Although the “Land of the End” had left Chen Junnan bewildered many times, this time was especially confusing. Xuanwu wasn’t wearing any clothes, relying solely on her hair for coverage. How could she possibly hide any “characters”?
“My apologies.”
Chen Junnan laughed awkwardly a few times and then fell silent.
Qinglong took all the “characters” to the back of the wall, while Qixia and the others looked up at the display screen on the front.
Soon, the character “石” (shí) appeared on the screen. Qixia stroked his chin thoughtfully. It seemed Qinglong had first used the radical of the character “砲” (pào). His answer was now obvious.
Next to “石,” the character “士” (shì) appeared.
A few seconds later, “士” rotated and became “干” (gān). Then, “八” (bā) lit up on the screen.
“八” rotated and became “丷” (a variant form of “八”).
“石,” “干,” and “丷” combined, and the character “砰” (pēng) appeared on the screen.
“Ten strokes,” Zhang Chenze said.
“Not enough,” Qixia replied.
Qixia knew Qinglong’s thinking couldn’t be so limited.
After all, upon learning that they had to use “兵” or part of “兵” to create a character with the most strokes, many people’s first reaction would be to utilize the entire character “兵.”
Sure enough, a few seconds later, “砰” disappeared from the screen. It seemed Qinglong had revised his answer.
This time, the wait was slightly longer. After a full ten seconds, the character “木” (mù) appeared on the screen.
Soon, “兵” appeared next to “木,” and the character “梹” (bīn) was prominently displayed on the screen.
“Eleven strokes…” Zhang Chenze said, staring at the screen. “Can it go any higher?”
Qixia didn’t speak but shook his head.
Qinglong tried again, changing his answer to “眯” (mī). Everyone noticed that this character still had eleven strokes.
“Is this old guy at his limit?” Chen Junnan whispered from the side.
“Hard to say,” Qixia replied. “After all, it’s a best-of-three game. No one would use their ultimate move in the first round.”
Once the answer settled on “眯,” Qinglong sighed and slowly emerged from behind the wall. “That’s it.”
“Not going to try again?” Qixia asked.
“I’d like to see how you plan to try,” Qinglong said with a laugh. “The ‘characters’ are right there. Do you have some brilliant insight?”
“Maybe.”
“Then I’ll wait and see.” Qinglong nodded.
Qixia glanced around at everyone and then walked behind the massive wall.
He observed the layout and found it similar to the previous “preparation area.” There was a “Phoenix Book-Carrying Platform” for arranging the “characters” and a “display screen” for handwriting.
But this game had a significant advantage: there was no need to write “homophones.” In theory, they could win using “obscure characters.” But this time…
The group stared at the large display screen for a long time. Qinglong finally grew impatient. “What’s wrong, Qixia? Are you planning to concede?”
As soon as he finished speaking, a character appeared on the screen.
“目” (mù).
Qinglong frowned at the character.
There weren’t many characters with the “目” radical that also included part of “兵.” Was Qixia’s final answer still “眯”?
“Are you aiming for a draw?” Qinglong asked again.
Qixia didn’t answer. After a few seconds of silence, he added “木” (mù).
Everyone was puzzled by this move.
Was Qixia planning to form “相” (xiāng)?
Before anyone could figure it out, Qixia rotated “目” into “罒” (a variant form of “目”), combined it with “木,” and formed “䍒” (an obscure character).
“Wow!” Qiao Jiajin exclaimed. “I know this character!”
“What is it?” Chen Junnan turned to look at him. “You recognize it?”
“Yeah,” Qiao Jiajin nodded seriously. “It might be pronounced ‘lín.’ Since it has ‘four woods,’ it’s read as ‘lín.'”
“Makes sense,” Chen Junnan nodded.
But Qinglong’s frown deepened upon seeing this. “Qixia… Did I not explain the rules clearly…?”
“What?”
Qixia’s voice came from behind the wall.
“The new ‘character’ must use all or part of ‘兵,'” Qinglong said. “Which part does your obscure character use?”
He paused for a moment before shaking his head. “Besides, your character only has nine strokes. Even if you’re going easy on me, you can’t do it like this, right?”
“I’m not going easy on you,” Qixia said. “How about this?”
After a few seconds of silence, the large screen flickered again.
The structure of “䍒” began to change. The “木” at the bottom started shifting left, looking extremely peculiar.
While everyone was still confused, another “木” suddenly appeared on the screen.
After a brief transformation, the original “䍒”赫然 became a new obscure character:
“罧” (sēn).
Qinglong and everyone present widened their eyes in shock.
“What…” Qinglong was stunned. “Are you messing with me using ‘obscure characters’? Does your ‘character’ use any part of ‘兵’?”
“Coincidentally, it does,” Qixia replied.
“You…”
Qinglong was momentarily speechless. He quickly turned to Xuanwu, who understood his meaning and walked behind the massive wall to verify whether Qixia’s combination violated the rules.
A few seconds later, Xuanwu said, “No violation. Half of ‘兵’ was used.”
“The most strokes…”
Qinglong murmured, then turned to look at Qixia.
“Let me reiterate the rules one last time,” Qinglong said. “The ‘characters’ we create must use either ‘丘’ (qiū) or ‘八’ (bā), or both parts, and then we compare whose character has the most strokes.”
Qixia nodded after hearing this. “Understood. Who goes first?”
Qinglong lowered his head in thought. All possible combinations of the “characters” were fixed, meaning the “character with the most strokes” likely had only one possibility. Therefore, it was best for him to take the initiative first.
The onlookers—Zhang Chenze, Tiantian, and Han Yimo—began tracing characters on their palms as soon as they heard the rules.
Creating a character that included part of “兵” (bīng) and had the most strokes didn’t sound difficult, but both of them had just eliminated a “character” from the game. Did Qixia have some plan?
“I’ll go first,” Qinglong said.
Qixia nodded and took a step back.
Qinglong turned to Xuanwu and said, “Bring me all the ‘characters.’ I need some time.”
Upon hearing this, Xuanwu vanished on the spot, instantly reappearing beside the pile of “characters.” She bent down, picked them up, and then vanished again, reappearing beside Qinglong.
“I say…” Chen Junnan interjected, “Sis Xuanwu, as the referee, you wouldn’t hide any ‘characters’ at this point, would you?”
Xuanwu paused for a moment upon hearing this. “I have nowhere to hide them.”
“Uh…”
Although the “Land of the End” had left Chen Junnan bewildered many times, this time was especially confusing. Xuanwu wasn’t wearing any clothes, relying solely on her hair for coverage. How could she possibly hide “characters”?
“My apologies.”
Chen Junnan laughed awkwardly a few times and then fell silent.
Qinglong took all the “characters” to the back of the wall, and Qixia and the others looked up at the display screen on the front.
Soon, the character “石” (shí) appeared on the screen. Qixia stroked his chin thoughtfully. It seemed Qinglong had used the radical of the character “砲” (pào) first, so his intended answer was quite obvious.
Next, the character “士” (shì) appeared beside “石.”
A few seconds later, “士” rotated and became “干” (gān). Then, “八” (bā) lit up on the screen.
“八” rotated and turned into “丷” (a variant of “八”).
“石,” “干,” and “丷” combined, and the character “砰” (pēng) appeared on the screen.
“Ten strokes,” Zhang Chenze said.
“Not enough,” Qixia replied.
Qixia knew Qinglong’s thinking couldn’t be so limited.
After all, upon learning that they had to use “兵” or part of “兵” to create a character with the most strokes, many people’s first reaction would be to utilize the entire character “兵.”
Sure enough, a few seconds later, “砰” disappeared from the screen. It seemed Qinglong had revised his answer.
This time, the wait was slightly longer. After a full ten seconds, the character “木” (mù) appeared on the screen.
Soon, “兵” appeared beside “木,” and the character “梹” (bīn) was prominently displayed on the screen.
“Eleven strokes…” Zhang Chenze said, staring at the screen. “Can it go any higher?”
Qixia didn’t speak but simply shook his head.
Qinglong tried again, changing the answer to “眯” (mī). Everyone noticed that this character still had eleven strokes.
“Has this old guy reached his limit?” Chen Junnan whispered from the side.
“Hard to say,” Qixia replied. “After all, it’s a best-of-three game. No one would use their ultimate move in the first round.”
After settling on “眯,” Qinglong sighed and slowly emerged from behind the wall. “That’s it.”
“Not going to try again?” Qixia asked.
“I’d like to see how you plan to try,” Qinglong said with a laugh. “The ‘characters’ are right there. Do you have some brilliant insight?”
“Maybe.”
“Then I’ll wait and see.” Qinglong nodded.
Qixia glanced around at everyone and then walked behind the massive wall.
He observed the layout and found it similar to the previous “preparation area.” There was a “Phoenix Book-Carrying Platform” for arranging “characters” and a “display screen” for handwriting.
But this game had a significant advantage: there was no need to write “homophonic characters.” In theory, they could win using “obscure characters.” But this time…
The group stared at the large display screen for a long time. Finally, Qinglong grew impatient. “What’s wrong, Qixia? Are you planning to concede directly?”
As soon as he finished speaking, a character appeared on the screen.
“目” (mù).
Qinglong frowned at the character.
There weren’t many characters with the “目” radical that also included part of “兵.” Was Qixia’s final answer still “眯”?
“Are you aiming for a draw?” Qinglong asked again.
Qixia didn’t answer. After a few seconds of silence, he added “木” (mù).
Everyone was puzzled by this.
Was Qixia planning to form “相” (xiāng)?
Before anyone could figure it out, Qixia rotated “目” into “罒” (a variant radical) and combined it with “木” to form “䍒” (an obscure character).
“Wow!” Qiao Jiajin exclaimed. “I know this character!”
“What is it?” Chen Junnan turned to look at him. “You recognize it?”
“Yeah,” Qiao Jiajin nodded seriously. “It might be pronounced ‘lín.’ Since it has ‘four woods,’ it’s read as ‘lín.'”
“Makes sense,” Chen Junnan nodded.
But Qinglong frowned deeply upon seeing this. “Qixia… Did I not explain the rules clearly…?”
“What?”
Qixia’s voice came from behind the wall.
“The new ‘character’ must use all or part of ‘兵,'” Qinglong said. “Which part does your obscure character use?”
He paused, then shook his head. “Besides, your character only has nine strokes. Even if you’re going easy on me, you can’t do it like this, right?”
“I’m really not going easy on you,” Qixia said. “How about this?”
After a few seconds of silence, the large screen flickered again.
The structure of “䍒” began to change. The “木” at the bottom started shifting leftward, looking extremely peculiar.
While everyone was still confused, another “木” suddenly appeared on the screen.
After a brief transformation, the original “䍒”赫然 became a new obscure character:
“罧” (sēn).
Qinglong and everyone present widened their eyes in shock.
“What…” Qinglong was stunned. “Are you messing with me using ‘obscure characters’? Does this ‘character’ use any part of ‘兵’?”
“Coincidentally, it does,” Qixia replied.
“You…”
Qinglong was momentarily speechless. He quickly turned to look at Xuanwu, who understood his meaning and walked behind the massive wall to verify whether Qixia’s combination violated the rules.
A few seconds later, Xuanwu said, “No rules broken. Half of ‘兵’ was used.”
“Eleven strokes now…” Zhang Chenze murmured, staring at the screen. “Can it go higher?”
Qixia didn’t respond, merely shaking his head.
“The most strokes…”
Qinglong murmured, then turned to look at Qixia.
“Let me reiterate the rules one last time,” Qinglong said. “The ‘characters’ we create must use either the ‘丘’ or ‘八’ component, or both, and then we compare whose character has the most strokes.”
Qinglong nodded. “Understood. Who goes first?”
Qinglong lowered his head in thought. All possible combinations of the “characters” were fixed, meaning the “character with the most strokes” likely had only one possibility. Therefore, taking the first move was the best choice.
The onlookers—Zhang Chenze, Tiantian, and Han Yimo—began tracing strokes on their palms as they heard the rules.
Creating a character that included part of “兵” and had the most strokes didn’t sound difficult, but both of them had just eliminated a “character” from the game. Did Qixia have some plan?
“I’ll go first,” Qinglong said.
Qixia nodded and took a step back.
Qinglong turned to Xuanwu and said, “Bring me all the ‘characters.’ I need some time.”
Upon hearing this, Xuanwu vanished and instantly reappeared beside the pile of “characters.” She picked them up, then vanished again and reappeared beside Qinglong.
“Hey…” Chen Junnan interjected, “Sis Xuanwu, as the referee, you shouldn’t be hiding any ‘characters’ now, right?”
Xuanwu paused. “I have nowhere to hide them.”
“Uh…”
Although the “Land of the End” had left Chen Junnan baffled many times, this time was especially confusing. Xuanwu wasn’t wearing any clothes, relying solely on her hair for coverage. How could she possibly hide any “characters”?
“My apologies.”
Chen Junnan chuckled awkwardly and fell silent.
Qinglong took all the “characters” to the back of the wall, while Qixia and the others looked up at the display screen on the front.
Soon, the character “石” (shí) appeared on the screen. Qixia stroked his chin thoughtfully. It seemed Qinglong had used the radical of the character “砲” (pào) first, so his intended answer was quite obvious.
Next to “石,” the character “士” (shì) appeared.
A few seconds later, “士” rotated and became “干” (gān). Then, “八” (bā) lit up on the screen.
“八” rotated and turned into “丷” (a variant form of “八”).
“石,” “干,” and “丷” combined, and the character “砰” (pēng) appeared on the screen.
“Ten strokes,” Zhang Chenze said.
“Not enough,” Qixia replied.
Qixia knew Qinglong’s thinking couldn’t be so limited.
After all, when told to use the character “兵” or part of it to create a character with the most strokes, most people’s first instinct would be to utilize the entire “兵” character.
Sure enough, a few seconds later, “砰” disappeared from the screen, as if Qinglong had revised his answer.
This time, the wait was slightly longer. After a full ten seconds, the character “木” (mù) appeared.
Soon, “兵” (bīng) appeared next to “木,” and the character “梹” (bīn) was prominently displayed on the screen.
“Eleven strokes…” Zhang Chenze said, staring at the screen. “Can it go any higher?”
Qixia didn’t answer, only shook his head.
Qinglong tried again, changing the answer to “眯” (mī), but everyone noticed this character also had eleven strokes.
“Is this old guy already at his limit?” Chen Junnan whispered.
“Hard to say,” Qixia replied. “After all, it’s a best-of-three game. No one would use their ultimate move in the first round.”
Once the answer settled on “眯,” Qinglong sighed and slowly emerged from behind the wall. “That’s it.”
“Not going to try again?” Qixia asked.
“I’d like to see how you plan to try,” Qinglong said with a laugh. “The ‘characters’ are right there. Do you have some brilliant insight?”
“Maybe.”
“Then I’ll be watching.” Qinglong nodded.
Qixia glanced around at everyone and walked behind the massive wall.
He observed the layout and found it similar to the previous “preparation area”: a “Phoenix Book-Carrying Platform” for arranging the “characters” and a “display screen” for handwriting.
But this game had a significant advantage: there was no need to write “homophonic characters.” Theoretically, one could win with “obscure characters.” But this time…
The group stared at the large display screen for a long time before Qinglong finally grew impatient. “What’s wrong, Qixia? Planning to concede?”
As soon as he spoke, a character appeared on the screen.
“目” (mù).
Qinglong frowned at the character.
There weren’t many characters with the “目” radical that also included part of “兵.” Was Qixia’s final answer still “眯”?
“Are you aiming for a draw?” Qinglong asked again.
Qixia didn’t answer. After a few seconds of silence, he added “木” (mù).
Everyone was puzzled by this.
Was Qixia trying to form “相” (xiàng)?
Before anyone could figure it out, Qixia rotated “目” into “罒” (a variant form of “网”), combined it with “木,” and formed “䍒” (an obscure character).
“Wow!” Qiao Jiajin exclaimed. “I know this character!”
“What is it?” Chen Junnan turned to look at him. “You recognize it?”
“Yeah,” Qiao Jiajin nodded seriously. “It might be pronounced ‘lín.’ ‘Four trees,’ so it’s ‘lín.'”
“Makes sense,” Chen Junnan nodded.
But Qinglong’s frown deepened. “Qixia… did I not explain the rules clearly?”
“What?” Qixia’s voice came from behind the wall.
“The new ‘character’ must use all or part of ‘兵,'” Qinglong said. “Which part does your obscure character use?”
He paused, then shook his head. “Besides, your character only has nine strokes. Even if you’re going easy on me, you can’t do it like this.”
“I’m not going easy on you,” Qixia said. “How about this?”
After a few seconds of silence, the large screen flickered again.
The structure of “䍒” began to change. The “木” at the bottom shifted left repeatedly, looking extremely peculiar.
Just as everyone was baffled, another “木” suddenly appeared on the screen.
After a brief transformation, the original “䍒”赫然 became a new obscure character:
“罧” (sēn).
Qinglong and everyone present widened their eyes in shock.
“What…” Qinglong was stunned. “Are you messing with me using ‘obscure characters’? Does your ‘character’ use any part of ‘兵’?”
“Coincidentally, it does,” Qixia said.
“You…”
Qinglong was speechless. He quickly turned to Xuanwu, who understood his meaning and walked behind the massive wall to verify whether Qixia’s combination violated the rules.
A few seconds later, Xuanwu said, “No rules broken. Half of ‘兵’ was used.”
“Is this old guy at his limit?” Chen Junnan whispered.
“Hard to say,” Qixia replied. “It’s a best-of-three game. No one would reveal their full strategy in the first round.”
“The most strokes…”
Qinglong murmured, then turned to look at Qixia.
“Let me reiterate the rules one last time,” Qinglong said. “The ‘characters’ we create must use either ‘丘’ (qiū) or ‘八’ (bā), or both parts, and then we compare whose character has the most strokes.”
Qixia nodded. “Understood. Who goes first?”
Qinglong lowered his head in thought. All possible combinations of the “characters” were fixed, meaning the “character with the most strokes” likely had only one possibility. Therefore, it was best for him to make the first move.
The onlookers—Zhang Chenze, Tiantian, and Han Yimo—began tracing strokes on their palms as they heard the rules.
Creating a character that included part of “兵” (bīng) and had the most strokes didn’t sound difficult, but both of them had just eliminated a “character” from the game. Did Qixia have some plan?
“I’ll go first,” Qinglong said.
Qixia nodded and took a step back.
Qinglong turned to Xuanwu and said, “Bring me all the ‘characters.’ I need some time.”
Xuanwu vanished on the spot, reappeared beside the pile of “characters,” picked them up, and then vanished again, reappearing beside Qinglong.
“Hey…” Chen Junnan interjected, “Sis Xuanwu, as the referee, you wouldn’t hide any ‘characters’ now, would you?”
Xuanwu paused, looking puzzled. “I have nowhere to hide them.”
“Uh…”
Although the “Land of End” had left Chen Junnan baffled many times, this time was especially confusing. Xuanwu wasn’t wearing any clothes, relying solely on her hair for cover—how could she possibly hide any “characters”?
“My apologies.”
Chen Junnan laughed awkwardly and fell silent.
Qinglong took all the “characters” to the back of the wall, while Qixia and the others looked up at the display screen on the front.
Soon, the character “石” (shí) appeared on the screen. Qixia stroked his chin thoughtfully. It seemed Qinglong had used the radical of the character “砲” (pào) first, so his answer was quite obvious.
Next to “石,” the character “士” (shì) appeared.
A few seconds later, “士” rotated and became “干” (gān). Then, “八” (bā) lit up on the screen.
“八” rotated and turned into “丷” (a variant form of “八”).
“石,” “干,” and “丷” combined, and the character “砰” (pēng) appeared on the screen.
“Ten strokes,” Zhang Chenze said.
“Not enough,” Qixia replied.
Qixia knew Qinglong’s thinking couldn’t be so limited.
After all, when told to use “兵” or part of “兵” to create a character with the most strokes, most people’s first instinct would be to utilize the entire character “兵.”
Sure enough, a few seconds later, “砰” disappeared from the screen, as if Qinglong had modified his answer.
This time, the wait was slightly longer. After a full ten seconds, the character “木” (mù) appeared on the screen.
Soon, “兵” appeared next to “木,” and the character “梹” (bīn) was prominently displayed on the screen.
“Eleven strokes…” Zhang Chenze said, staring at the screen. “Can it go any higher?”
Qixia didn’t answer, only shook his head.
Qinglong tried again, changing the answer to “眯” (mī), but everyone noticed this character still had eleven strokes.
“Is this old guy at his limit?” Chen Junnan whispered.
“Hard to say,” Qixia replied. “After all, it’s a best-of-three game. No one would use their ultimate move in the first round.”
Once the answer settled on “眯,” Qinglong sighed and slowly emerged from behind the wall. “That’s it.”
“Not going to try again?” Qixia asked.
“I’d like to see how you plan to try,” Qinglong said with a smile. “The ‘characters’ are right there. Do you have some brilliant insight?”
“Maybe.”
“Then I’ll wait and see.” Qinglong nodded.
Qixia glanced around at everyone and walked behind the massive wall.
He observed the layout and found it similar to the previous “preparation area”: a “Phoenix Book-Carrying Platform” for arranging the “characters” and a “display screen” for handwriting.
But this game had a significant advantage: there was no need to write “homophonic characters.” Theoretically, they could win with “obscure characters.” But this time…
The group stared at the large display screen for a long time. Qinglong finally grew impatient. “What’s wrong, Qixia? Are you planning to concede?”
As soon as he spoke, a character appeared on the screen.
“目” (mù).
Qinglong frowned at the character.
There weren’t many characters with the “目” radical that also included part of “兵.” Was Qixia’s final answer still “眯”?
“Are you aiming for a draw?” Qinglong asked again.
Qixia didn’t answer. After a few seconds of silence, he added “木” (mù).
Everyone was puzzled by this.
Was Qixia going to form “相” (xiāng)?
Before anyone could figure it out, Qixia rotated “目” into “罒” (a variant form of “网”), combined it with “木,” and formed “䍒” (an obscure character).
“Wow!” Qiao Jiajin exclaimed. “I know this character!”
“What is it?” Chen Junnan turned to look at him. “You recognize it?”
“Yeah,” Qiao Jiajin nodded seriously. “It might be pronounced ‘lín’—’four trees,’ so it’s ‘lín.'”
“Makes sense,” Chen Junnan nodded.
But Qinglong’s frown deepened. “Qixia… Did I not explain the rules clearly?”
“What?” Qixia’s voice came from behind the wall.
“The new ‘character’ must use all or part of ‘兵,'” Qinglong said. “Which part does your obscure character use?”
He paused, then shook his head. “Besides, your character only has nine strokes. Even if you’re going easy on me, you can’t do it this blatantly.”
“I’m not going easy on you,” Qixia said. “How about this?”
After a few seconds of silence, the large screen flickered again.
The structure of “䍒” began to change. The “木” at the bottom shifted left repeatedly, looking extremely peculiar.
While everyone was still confused, another “木” suddenly appeared on the screen.
After a brief transformation, the original “䍒”赫然 became a new obscure character:
“罧” (sēn).
Qinglong and everyone present widened their eyes in shock.
“What…” Qinglong was stunned. “Are you messing with me using ‘obscure characters’? Does this ‘character’ use any part of ‘兵’?”
“Coincidentally, it does,” Qixia said.
“You…”
Qinglong was speechless. He quickly turned to Xuanwu, who understood his meaning and walked behind the massive wall to verify whether Qixia’s combination violated the rules.
A few seconds later, Xuanwu said, “No rules broken. Half of ‘兵’ was used.”
“Not trying again?” Qixia asked.
“I’d rather see what you come up with,” Qinglong said with a smirk. “The ‘characters’ are right there. Do you have some brilliant insight?”
“Maybe.”
“Then I’ll wait and see.” Qinglong nodded.
Qixia glanced at the group, then walked behind the massive wall.
He observed the setup and found it similar to the previous “preparation area”—a “Phoenix Bookstand” for placing ‘characters’ and a display screen for handwriting.
But this game had one major advantage: they didn’t need to write “homophones.” Theoretically, they could win with “obscure characters,” but this time…
The group stared at the display screen for a long while until Qinglong finally grew impatient. “What’s the matter, Qixia? Are you conceding?”
As soon as he spoke, a character appeared on the screen:
“The most strokes…”
Qinglong murmured, then turned to look at Qixia.
“Let me reiterate the rules one last time,” Qinglong said. “The ‘characters’ we create must use either ‘丘’ or ‘八’, or both parts, and then we compare whose character has more strokes.”
Qixia nodded upon hearing this. “Understood. Who goes first?”
Qinglong lowered his head in thought. All possible combinations of the “characters” were fixed, meaning the character with the “most strokes” likely had only one possibility. Therefore, taking the initiative now was the best choice.
The onlookers—Zhang Chenze, Tiantian, and Han Yimo—began tracing characters on their palms as soon as they heard the rules.
Creating a character that included part of “兵” and had the most strokes didn’t sound difficult, but both of them had just eliminated a character from the game. Did Qixia have some plan?
“I’ll go first,” Qinglong said.
Qixia nodded and took a step back.
Qinglong turned to Xuanwu and said, “Bring me all the ‘characters.’ I need some time.”
Upon hearing this, Xuanwu vanished on the spot and instantly reappeared beside the pile of characters. She picked them up, then vanished again and reappeared beside Qinglong.
“Hey…” Chen Junnan interjected, “Sis Xuanwu, as the referee, you shouldn’t be hiding any ‘characters’ at this point, right?”
Xuanwu paused for a moment upon hearing this. “I have nowhere to hide them.”
“Uh…”
Although the “Land of the End” had left Chen Junnan baffled many times, this time was especially confusing. Xuanwu wasn’t wearing a single piece of clothing, relying solely on her hair for coverage. How could she possibly hide any “characters”?
“My apologies.”
Chen Junnan laughed awkwardly a few times and then fell silent.
Qinglong took all the “characters” to the back of the wall, while Qixia and the others looked up at the display screen on the front.
Soon, the character “石” appeared on the screen. Qixia stroked his chin thoughtfully. It seemed Qinglong had used the radical of the character “砲” first, so his intended answer was quite obvious.
Next, the character “士” appeared beside “石.”
A few seconds later, “士” rotated and became “干.” Then, “八” lit up on the screen.
“八” rotated and turned into “丷.”
“石,” “干,” and “丷” combined, and the character “砰” appeared on the screen.
“Ten strokes,” Zhang Chenze said.
“Not enough,” Qixia replied.
Qixia knew Qinglong’s thinking couldn’t be so limited.
After all, upon learning that they had to use “兵” or part of “兵” to create a character with the most strokes, many people’s first reaction would be to utilize the entire character “兵.”
Sure enough, a few seconds later, the character “砰” disappeared from the screen. It seemed Qinglong had revised his answer.
This time, the wait was slightly longer. After a full ten seconds, the character “木” appeared on the screen.
Soon, “兵” appeared beside “木,” and the character “梹” was prominently displayed on the screen.
“Eleven strokes…” Zhang Chenze said, staring at the screen. “Can it go any higher?”
Qixia didn’t speak but simply shook his head.
Qinglong tried again, changing his answer to “眯,” but everyone noticed this character still had eleven strokes.
“Is this old guy at his limit?” Chen Junnan whispered from the side.
“Hard to say,” Qixia replied. “After all, it’s a best-of-three game. No one would use their ultimate move in the first round.”
Once the answer settled on “眯,” Qinglong sighed and slowly emerged from behind the wall. “That’s it.”
“Not going to try again?” Qixia asked.
“I’d like to see how you plan to try,” Qinglong said with a laugh. “The ‘characters’ are right there. Do you have some brilliant insight?”
“Maybe.”
“Then I’ll wait and see,” Qinglong nodded.
Qixia glanced around at everyone and then walked behind the massive wall.
He examined the layout and found it similar to the previous “preparation area.” There was a “Phoenix Book-Carrying Platform” for arranging the “characters” and a “display screen” for handwriting.
But this round of the game had a significant advantage: there was no need to write “homophones.” Theoretically, they could win using “obscure characters.” But this time…
The group stared at the large display screen for a long time. Qinglong finally grew impatient. “What’s wrong, Qixia? Are you planning to concede?”
As soon as he finished speaking, a character appeared on the screen.
“目.”
Qinglong frowned at the sight of this character.
There weren’t many characters with the “目” radical that also included part of “兵.” Was Qixia’s final answer still “眯”?
“Are you aiming for a draw?” Qinglong asked again.
Qixia didn’t respond. After a few seconds of silence, he placed another “木” on the screen.
Everyone was puzzled by this move.
Was Qixia planning to form a “相”?
Before anyone could figure it out, Qixia rotated “目” into “罒” and combined it with “木” to form “䍒.”
“Bloody hell!” Qiao Jiajin exclaimed. “I know this character!”
“What is it?” Chen Junnan turned to look at him. “You recognize it?”
“Yeah,” Qiao Jiajin nodded seriously. “It might be pronounced ‘Lín.’ ‘Four woods,’ so it’s read as ‘Lín.'”
“Makes sense,” Chen Junnan nodded.
But Qinglong frowned deeply upon seeing this. “Qixia… Did I not explain the rules clearly?”
“What?” Qixia’s voice came from behind the wall.
“The new ‘character’ must use all or part of ‘兵,'” Qinglong said. “Which part does this obscure character of yours use?”
He paused, then shook his head. “Besides, your character only has nine strokes. Even if you’re going easy on me, you can’t do it this blatantly.”
“I’m really not going easy on you,” Qixia said. “How about this?”
After a few seconds of silence, the large screen flickered again.
The structure of “䍒” began to change. The “木” at the bottom started shifting leftward, looking extremely peculiar.
Just as everyone was baffled, another “木” suddenly appeared on the screen.
After a brief transformation, the original “䍒”赫然 became a new obscure character:
“罧.”
Qinglong and everyone present widened their eyes in shock.
“What…” Qinglong was stunned. “Are you messing with me using ‘obscure characters’? Does this ‘character’ of yours use any part of ‘兵’?”
“Coincidentally, it does,” Qixia replied.
“You…”
Qinglong was momentarily speechless. He quickly turned to look at Xuanwu, who understood his meaning and walked behind the massive wall to verify whether Qixia’s combination violated the rules.
A few seconds later, Xuanwu said, “No rules broken. Half of ‘兵’ was used.”
Qinglong frowned at the sight.
“The most strokes…”
Qinglong murmured, then turned to look at Qixia.
“Let me reiterate the rules one last time,” Qinglong said. “The ‘characters’ we create must use either ‘丘’ or ‘八’, or both parts, and then we compare whose character has more strokes.”
Qixia nodded upon hearing this. “Understood. Who goes first?”
Qinglong lowered his head in thought. All possible combinations of the “characters” were fixed, meaning the character with the “most strokes” likely had only one possibility. Therefore, taking the initiative was the best choice.
The onlookers—Zhang Chenze, Tiantian, and Han Yimo—began tracing characters on their palms with their fingers upon hearing the rules.
Creating a character that included part of “兵” and had the most strokes didn’t sound difficult, but both of them had just eliminated a character from the game. Did Qixia have some plan?
“I’ll go first,” Qinglong said.
Qixia nodded and took a step back.
Qinglong turned to Xuanwu and said, “Bring me all the ‘characters.’ I need some time.”
Upon hearing this, Xuanwu vanished on the spot, instantly reappearing beside the pile of “characters.” She picked them up and then vanished again, reappearing beside Qinglong.
“Hey…” Chen Junnan interjected, “Sis Xuanwu, as the referee, you shouldn’t be hiding any ‘characters’ now, right?”
Xuanwu paused for a moment upon hearing this. “I have nowhere to hide them.”
“Uh…”
Although the “Land of the End” had left Chen Junnan bewildered many times, this time was especially confusing. Xuanwu wasn’t wearing any clothes, relying solely on her hair for coverage. How could she possibly hide any “characters”?
“My apologies.”
Chen Junnan laughed awkwardly a few times and then fell silent.
Qinglong took all the “characters” to the back of the wall, while Qixia and the others looked up at the display screen on the front.
Soon, the character “石” appeared on the screen. Qixia stroked his chin thoughtfully. It seemed Qinglong had used the radical of the character “砲” first, so his answer was quite obvious.
Next to “石,” the character “士” appeared.
A few seconds later, “士” rotated and became “干.” Then, “八” lit up on the screen.
“八” rotated and turned into “丷.”
“石,” “干,” and “丷” combined, and the character “砰” appeared on the screen.
“Ten strokes,” Zhang Chenze said.
“Not enough,” Qixia replied.
Qixia knew Qinglong’s thinking couldn’t be so limited.
After all, upon learning that they had to use “兵” or part of “兵” to create a character with the most strokes, most people’s first reaction would be to utilize the entire character “兵.”
Sure enough, a few seconds later, the character “砰” disappeared from the screen. It seemed Qinglong had revised his answer.
This time, the wait was slightly longer. After a full ten seconds, the character “木” appeared on the screen.
Soon, “兵” appeared next to “木,” and the character “梹” was prominently displayed on the screen.
“Eleven strokes…” Zhang Chenze said, staring at the screen. “Can it go any higher?”
Qixia didn’t speak but simply shook his head.
Qinglong tried again, changing the answer to “眯,” but everyone noticed this character still had eleven strokes.
“Is this old guy at his limit?” Chen Junnan whispered from the side.
“Hard to say,” Qixia replied. “After all, it’s a best-of-three game. No one would use their ultimate move in the first round.”
After settling on “眯,” Qinglong sighed and slowly emerged from behind the wall. “That’s it.”
“Not going to try again?” Qixia asked.
“I’d like to see how you plan to try,” Qinglong said with a laugh. “The ‘characters’ are right there. Do you have some brilliant insight?”
“Maybe.”
“Then I’ll wait and see,” Qinglong nodded.
Qixia glanced around at everyone and then walked behind the massive wall.
He observed the layout and found it similar to the previous “preparation area.” There was a “Phoenix Book-Carrying Platform” for arranging the “characters” and a “display screen” for handwriting.
But this game had a significant advantage: there was no need to write “homophonic characters.” Theoretically, they could win with “obscure characters.” But this time…
The group stared at the large display screen for a long time before Qinglong finally grew impatient. “What’s wrong, Qixia? Are you planning to concede?”
As soon as he finished speaking, a character appeared on the screen.
“目.”
Qinglong frowned at the character.
There weren’t many characters with the “目” radical that also included part of “兵.” Was Qixia’s final answer still “眯”?
“Are you aiming for a draw?” Qinglong asked again.
Qixia didn’t respond. After a few seconds of silence, he added “木.”
Everyone was puzzled by this.
Was Qixia going to form “相”?
Before anyone could figure it out, Qixia rotated “目” into “罒” and combined it with “木” to form “䍒.”
“Wow!” Qiao Jiajin exclaimed. “I know this character!”
“What is it?” Chen Junnan turned to look at him. “You recognize it?”
“Yeah,” Qiao Jiajin nodded seriously. “It might be pronounced ‘Lin.’ ‘Four woods,’ so it’s ‘Lin.'”
“Makes sense,” Chen Junnan nodded.
But Qinglong frowned deeply upon seeing this. “Qixia… Did I not explain the rules clearly…?”
“What?”
Qixia’s voice came from behind the wall.
“The new ‘character’ must use all or part of ‘兵,'” Qinglong said. “Which part does your obscure character use?”
He paused for a moment before shaking his head. “Besides, your character only has nine strokes. Even if you’re going easy on me, you can’t do it this blatantly.”
“I’m really not going easy on you,” Qixia said. “How about this?”
After a few seconds of silence, the large screen flickered again.
The structure of “䍒” began to change. The “木” at the bottom started shifting left, looking extremely peculiar.
Just as everyone was confused, another “木” suddenly appeared on the screen.
After a brief transformation, the original “䍒”赫然 became a new obscure character:
“罧.”
Qinglong and everyone present widened their eyes in shock.
“What…” Qinglong was stunned. “Are you messing with me using ‘obscure characters’? Does this ‘character’ use any part of ‘兵’?”
“Coincidentally, it does,” Qixia said.
“You…”
Qinglong was momentarily speechless. He quickly turned to look at Xuanwu, who understood his meaning and walked behind the massive wall to verify whether Qixia’s combination violated the rules.
A few seconds later, Xuanwu said, “No rules broken. Half of ‘兵’ was used.”
“Going for a tie?” Qinglong pressed.
“The most strokes…”
Qinglong murmured, then turned to look at Qixia.
“Let me reiterate the rules one last time,” Qinglong said. “The ‘characters’ we create must use either ‘丘’ (qiū) or ‘八’ (bā), or both parts, and then we compare whose character has the most strokes.”
Qixia nodded upon hearing this. “Understood. Who goes first?”
Qinglong lowered his head in thought. All possible combinations of the “characters” were fixed, meaning the “character with the most strokes” likely had only one possibility. Therefore, taking the initiative was the best choice.
The onlookers—Zhang Chenze, Tiantian, and Han Yimo—began tracing characters on their palms as they observed the rules.
Creating a character that included part of “兵” (bīng) and had the most strokes didn’t sound difficult, but both of them had just eliminated a character from the game. Did Qixia have some plan?
“I’ll go first,” Qinglong said.
Qixia nodded and took a step back.
Qinglong turned to Xuanwu and said, “Bring me all the ‘characters.’ I need some time.”
Upon hearing this, Xuanwu vanished on the spot, instantly reappearing beside the pile of “characters.” She picked them up, then vanished again and reappeared beside Qinglong.
“Hey…” Chen Junnan interjected, “Sis Xuanwu, as the referee, you shouldn’t be hiding any ‘characters’ at this point, right?”
Xuanwu paused for a moment upon hearing this. “I have nowhere to hide them.”
“Uh…”
Although the “Land of the End” had left Chen Junnan baffled many times, this time was especially confusing. Xuanwu wasn’t wearing any clothes, relying solely on her hair for coverage. How could she possibly hide any “characters”?
“My apologies.”
Chen Junnan laughed awkwardly a few times and then fell silent.
Qinglong took all the “characters” to the back of the wall, while Qixia and the others looked up at the display screen on the front.
Soon, the character “石” (shí) appeared on the screen. Qixia stroked his chin thoughtfully. It seemed Qinglong had first used the radical of the character “砲” (pào). His answer was now obvious.
Next to “石,” the character “士” (shì) appeared.
A few seconds later, “士” rotated and became “干” (gān). Then, “八” (bā) lit up on the screen.
“八” rotated and turned into “丷” (a variant of “八”).
“石,” “干,” and “丷” combined, and the character “砰” (pēng) appeared on the screen.
“Ten strokes,” Zhang Chenze said.
“Not enough,” Qixia replied.
Qixia knew Qinglong’s thinking couldn’t be so limited.
After all, upon learning that they had to use “兵” or part of “兵” to create a character with the most strokes, most people’s first reaction would be to utilize the entire character “兵.”
Sure enough, a few seconds later, “砰” disappeared from the screen. It seemed Qinglong had revised his answer.
This time, the wait was slightly longer. After a full ten seconds, the character “木” (mù) appeared on the screen.
Soon, “兵” appeared next to “木,” and the character “梹” (bīn) was prominently displayed on the screen.
“Eleven strokes…” Zhang Chenze said, staring at the screen. “Can it go any higher?”
Qixia didn’t answer, only shook his head.
Qinglong tried again, changing the answer to “眯” (mī). Everyone noticed this character still had eleven strokes.
“Is this old guy at his limit?” Chen Junnan whispered from the side.
“Hard to say,” Qixia replied. “After all, it’s a best-of-three game. No one would use their ultimate move in the first round.”
After settling on “眯,” Qinglong sighed and slowly emerged from behind the wall. “That’s it.”
“Not going to try again?” Qixia asked.
“I’d like to see how you plan to try,” Qinglong said with a laugh. “The ‘characters’ are right there. Do you have some brilliant insight?”
“Maybe.”
“Then I’ll wait and see,” Qinglong nodded.
Qixia glanced around at everyone and then walked behind the massive wall.
He examined the layout and found it similar to the previous “preparation area.” There was a “Phoenix Book-Carrying Platform” for arranging the “characters” and a “display screen” for handwriting.
But this game had a significant advantage: there was no need to write “homophonic characters.” In theory, they could win using “obscure characters.” But this time…
The group stared at the large display screen for a long time. Finally, Qinglong grew impatient. “What’s wrong, Qixia? Are you planning to concede?”
As soon as he finished speaking, a character appeared on the screen.
“目” (mù).
Qinglong frowned at the character.
There weren’t many characters with the “目” radical that also included part of “兵.” Was Qixia’s final answer still “眯”?
“Are you aiming for a draw?” Qinglong asked again.
Qixia didn’t answer. After a few seconds of silence, he added “木” (mù).
Everyone was puzzled by this.
Was Qixia planning to form “相” (xiāng)?
Before anyone could figure it out, Qixia rotated “目” into “罒” (a variant of “目”), and after combining it with “木,” he formed “䍒” (an obscure character).
“Wow!” Qiao Jiajin exclaimed. “I know this character!”
“What is it?” Chen Junnan turned to look at him. “You recognize it?”
“Yeah,” Qiao Jiajin nodded seriously. “It might be pronounced ‘lín.’ Since it’s ‘four woods,’ it’s read as ‘lín.'”
“Makes sense,” Chen Junnan nodded.
But Qinglong’s frown deepened upon seeing this. “Qixia… Did I not explain the rules clearly…?”
“What?”
Qixia’s voice came from behind the wall.
“The new ‘character’ must use all or part of ‘兵,'” Qinglong said. “Which part does this obscure character of yours use?”
He paused, then shook his head. “Besides, your character only has nine strokes. Even if you’re going easy on me, you can’t do it this blatantly.”
“I’m not going easy on you,” Qixia said. “How about this?”
After a few seconds of silence, the large screen flickered again.
The structure of “䍒” began to change. The “木” at the bottom shifted left repeatedly, looking extremely peculiar.
While everyone was still confused, another “木” suddenly appeared on the screen.
After a brief transformation, the original “䍒”赫然 became a new obscure character:
“罧” (sēn).
Qinglong and everyone present widened their eyes in shock.
“What…” Qinglong was stunned. “Are you messing with me using ‘obscure characters’? Does this ‘character’ use any part of ‘兵’?”
“Coincidentally, it does,” Qixia replied.
“You…”
Qinglong was momentarily speechless. He quickly turned to Xuanwu, who understood his meaning and walked behind the massive wall to verify whether Qixia’s combination violated the rules.
A few seconds later, Xuanwu said, “No rules broken. Half of ‘兵’ was used.”
The group was baffled.
“The most strokes…”
Qinglong murmured, then turned to look at Qixia.
“Let me reiterate the rules one last time,” Qinglong said. “The ‘characters’ we create must use either ‘丘’ or ‘八’, or both parts, and then we compare whose character has more strokes.”
Qixia nodded after hearing this. “Understood. Who goes first?”
Qinglong lowered his head in thought. All possible combinations of the “characters” were fixed, meaning the character with the “most strokes” likely had only one possibility. Therefore, taking the initiative now was the best choice.
The onlookers—Zhang Chenze, Tiantian, and Han Yimo—began tracing characters on their palms upon hearing the rules.
Creating a character that included part of “兵” and had the most strokes didn’t sound difficult, but both of them had just eliminated a character from the game. Did Qixia have some plan?
“I’ll go first,” Qinglong said.
Qixia nodded and took a step back.
Qinglong turned to Xuanwu and said, “Bring me all the ‘characters.’ I need some time.”
Upon hearing this, Xuanwu vanished on the spot, instantly reappearing beside the pile of characters. She bent down to pick them up, then vanished again and reappeared beside Qinglong.
“Hey…” Chen Junnan interjected, “Sis Xuanwu, as the referee, you shouldn’t be hiding any ‘characters’ now, right?”
Xuanwu paused for a moment upon hearing this. “I have nowhere to hide them.”
“Uh…”
Although the “Land of the End” had left Chen Junnan bewildered many times, this time was especially confusing. Xuanwu wasn’t wearing a single piece of clothing, relying solely on her hair for coverage. How could she possibly hide any “characters”?
“My apologies.”
Chen Junnan laughed awkwardly a few times and then fell silent.
Qinglong took all the “characters” to the back of the wall, while Qixia and the others looked up at the display screen on the front.
Soon, the character “石” appeared on the screen. Qixia stroked his chin thoughtfully. It seemed Qinglong had used the radical of the character “砲” first, so his intended answer was quite obvious.
Next, the character “士” appeared beside “石.”
A few seconds later, “士” rotated and became “干.” Then, “八” lit up on the screen.
“八” rotated and transformed into “丷.”
“石,” “干,” and “丷” combined, and the character “砰” appeared on the screen.
“Ten strokes,” Zhang Chenze said.
“Not enough,” Qixia replied.
Qixia knew Qinglong’s thinking couldn’t be so limited.
After all, upon learning that they had to use “兵” or part of “兵” to create a character with the most strokes, many people’s first reaction would be to utilize the entire character “兵.”
Sure enough, a few seconds later, the character “砰” disappeared from the screen. It seemed Qinglong had revised his answer.
This time, the wait was slightly longer. After a full ten seconds, the character “木” appeared on the screen.
Soon, “兵” appeared beside “木,” and the character “梹” was prominently displayed on the screen.
“Eleven strokes…” Zhang Chenze said, staring at the screen. “Can it go any higher?”
Qixia didn’t speak but simply shook his head.
Qinglong tried again, changing his answer to “眯,” but everyone noticed this character still had eleven strokes.
“Is this old guy at his limit?” Chen Junnan whispered from the side.
“Hard to say,” Qixia replied. “After all, it’s a best-of-three game. No one would use their ultimate move in the first round.”
After settling on “眯,” Qinglong sighed and slowly emerged from behind the wall. “That’s it.”
“Not going to try again?” Qixia asked.
“I’d like to see how you plan to try,” Qinglong said with a laugh. “The ‘characters’ are right there. Do you have some brilliant insight?”
“Maybe.”
“Then I’ll wait and see,” Qinglong nodded.
Qixia glanced around at everyone and then walked behind the massive wall.
He observed the layout and found it similar to the previous “preparation area”: a “Phoenix Book-Carrying Platform” for arranging characters and a “display screen” for handwriting.
But this round of the game had a significant advantage: there was no need to write “homophonic characters.” Theoretically, they could win using “obscure characters.” But this time…
The group stared at the large display screen for a long time. Qinglong finally grew impatient. “What’s wrong, Qixia? Are you planning to concede?”
As soon as he finished speaking, a character appeared on the screen.
“目.”
Qinglong frowned at the sight of this character.
There weren’t many characters with the “目” radical that also included part of “兵.” Was Qixia’s final answer still “眯”?
“Are you aiming for a draw?” Qinglong asked again.
Qixia didn’t respond. After a few seconds of silence, he added “木.”
Everyone was puzzled by this move.
Was Qixia planning to form “相”?
Before anyone could figure it out, Qixia rotated “目” into “罒,” combined it with “木,” and formed “䍒.”
“Wow!” Qiao Jiajin exclaimed. “I know this character!”
“What is it?” Chen Junnan turned to look at him. “You recognize it?”
“Yeah,” Qiao Jiajin nodded seriously. “It might be pronounced ‘Lín.’ ‘Four woods,’ so it’s ‘Lín.'”
“Makes sense,” Chen Junnan nodded.
But Qinglong frowned deeply upon seeing this. “Qixia… Did I not explain the rules clearly?”
“What?” Qixia’s voice came from behind the wall.
“The new ‘character’ must use all or part of ‘兵,'” Qinglong said. “Which part does your obscure character use?”
He paused, then shook his head. “Besides, your character only has nine strokes. Even if you’re going easy on me, you can’t do it this blatantly.”
“I’m really not going easy on you,” Qixia said. “How about this?”
After a few seconds of silence, the large screen flickered again.
The structure of “䍒” began to change. The “木” at the bottom started shifting left, looking extremely peculiar.
Just as everyone was baffled, another “木” suddenly appeared on the screen.
After a brief transformation, the original “䍒”赫然 became a new obscure character:
“罧.”
Qinglong and everyone present widened their eyes in shock.
“What…” Qinglong was stunned. “Are you messing with me using ‘obscure characters’? Does this ‘character’ use any part of ‘兵’?”
“Coincidentally, it does,” Qixia said.
“You…”
Qinglong was momentarily speechless. He quickly turned to look at Xuanwu, who understood his meaning and walked behind the massive wall to verify whether Qixia’s combination violated the rules.
A few seconds later, Xuanwu said, “No rules broken. He used half of ‘兵.'”
“The most strokes…”
Qinglong murmured, then turned to look at Qixia.
“Let me reiterate the rules one last time,” Qinglong said. “The ‘characters’ we create must use either ‘丘’ or ‘八’, or both parts, and then we compare whose character has more strokes.”
Qixia nodded after hearing this. “Understood. Who goes first?”
Qinglong lowered his head in thought. All possible combinations of the “characters” were fixed, meaning the character with the “most strokes” likely had only one possibility. Therefore, taking the initiative now was the best choice.
The onlookers—Zhang Chenze, Tiantian, and Han Yimo—began tracing characters on their palms with their fingers upon hearing the rules.
Creating a character that included part of “兵” and had the most strokes didn’t sound difficult, but both of them had just eliminated a character from the game. Did Qixia have some plan?
“I’ll go first,” Qinglong said.
Qixia nodded and took a step back.
Qinglong turned to Xuanwu and said, “Bring me all the ‘characters.’ I need some time.”
Upon hearing this, Xuanwu vanished on the spot, instantly reappearing beside the pile of “characters.” She bent down, picked them up, and then vanished again, reappearing beside Qinglong.
“Hey…” Chen Junnan interjected, “Sis Xuanwu, as the referee, you wouldn’t hide any ‘characters’ now, would you?”
Xuanwu paused for a moment upon hearing this. “I have nowhere to hide them.”
“Uh…”
Although the “Land of the End” had left Chen Junnan bewildered many times, this time was especially confusing. Xuanwu wasn’t wearing any clothes, relying solely on her hair for coverage—how could she possibly hide any “characters”?
“My apologies.”
Chen Junnan laughed awkwardly a few times and then fell silent.
Qinglong took all the “characters” to the back of the wall, while Qixia and the others looked up at the display screen on the front.
Soon, the character “石” appeared on the screen. Qixia stroked his chin thoughtfully. It seemed Qinglong had used the radical of the character “砲” first, so his intended answer was quite obvious.
Next to “石,” the character “士” appeared.
A few seconds later, “士” rotated and became “干.” Then, “八” lit up on the screen.
“八” rotated and turned into “丷.”
“石,” “干,” and “丷” combined, and the character “砰” appeared on the screen.
“Ten strokes,” Zhang Chenze said.
“Not enough,” Qixia replied.
Qixia knew Qinglong’s thinking couldn’t be so limited.
After all, upon learning that they had to use “兵” or part of “兵” to create a character with the most strokes, many people’s first reaction would be to utilize the entire character “兵.”
Sure enough, a few seconds later, the character “砰” disappeared from the screen, as if Qinglong had revised his answer.
This time, the wait was slightly longer. After a full ten seconds, the character “木” appeared on the screen.
Soon, “兵” appeared next to “木,” and the character “梹” was prominently displayed on the screen.
“Eleven strokes…” Zhang Chenze said, staring at the screen. “Can it go any higher?”
Qixia didn’t answer, only shook his head.
Qinglong tried again, changing his answer to “眯,” but everyone noticed this character still had eleven strokes.
“Is this old guy already at his limit?” Chen Junnan whispered from the side.
“Hard to say,” Qixia replied. “After all, it’s a best-of-three game. No one would use their ultimate move in the first round.”
After settling on “眯,” Qinglong sighed and slowly emerged from behind the wall. “That’s it.”
“Not going to try again?” Qixia asked.
“I’d like to see how you plan to try,” Qinglong said with a laugh. “The ‘characters’ are right there. Do you have some brilliant insight?”
“Maybe.”
“Then I’ll wait and see,” Qinglong nodded.
Qixia glanced around at everyone and then walked behind the massive wall.
He examined the layout and found it similar to the previous “preparation area”: a “Phoenix Book-Carrying Platform” for arranging the “characters” and a “display screen” for handwriting.
But this round of the game had a significant advantage: there was no need to write “homophones.” In theory, they could win using “obscure characters.” But this time…
The group stared at the large display screen for a long time before Qinglong finally grew impatient. “What’s wrong, Qixia? Are you planning to concede?”
As soon as he finished speaking, a character appeared on the screen.
“目.”
Qinglong frowned at the sight of this character.
There weren’t many characters with the “目” radical that also included part of “兵.” Was Qixia’s final answer still “眯”?
“Are you aiming for a draw?” Qinglong asked again.
Qixia didn’t answer. After a few seconds of silence, he added “木.”
Everyone was puzzled by this move.
Was Qixia planning to form “相”?
Before anyone could figure it out, Qixia rotated “目” into “罒,” combined it with “木,” and formed “䍒.”
“Wow!” Qiao Jiajin exclaimed. “I know this character!”
“What is it?” Chen Junnan turned to look at him. “You recognize it?”
“Yeah,” Qiao Jiajin nodded seriously. “It might be pronounced ‘Lín.’ ‘Four woods,’ so it’s read as ‘Lín.'”
“Makes sense,” Chen Junnan nodded.
But Qinglong frowned deeply upon seeing this. “Qixia… Did I not explain the rules clearly?”
“What?”
Qixia’s voice came from behind the wall.
“The new ‘character’ must use all or part of ‘兵,'” Qinglong said. “Which part does this obscure character of yours use?”
He paused, then shook his head. “Besides, your character only has nine strokes. Even if you’re going easy on me, you can’t do it this blatantly.”
“I’m really not going easy on you,” Qixia said. “How about this?”
After a few seconds of silence, the large screen flickered again.
The structure of “䍒” began to change. The “木” at the bottom shifted continuously to the left, looking extremely peculiar.
Just as everyone was baffled, another “木” suddenly appeared on the screen.
After a brief transformation, the original “䍒”赫然 became a new obscure character:
“罧.”
Qinglong and everyone present widened their eyes in shock.
“What…” Qinglong was stunned. “Are you messing with me using ‘obscure characters’? Does this ‘character’ use any part of ‘兵’?”
“Coincidentally, it does,” Qixia replied.
“You…”
Qinglong was momentarily speechless. He quickly turned to look at Xuanwu, who understood his meaning and walked behind the massive wall to verify whether Qixia’s combination violated the rules.
A few seconds later, Xuanwu said, “No rules broken. Half of ‘兵’ was used.”
“Woah!” Qiao Jiajin exclaimed. “I know this one!”
“Seriously?” Chen Junnan turned to him. “You recognize it?”
“The most strokes…”
Qinglong murmured, then turned to look at Qixia.
“Let me reiterate the rules one last time,” Qinglong said. “The ‘characters’ we create must use either ‘丘’ or ‘八’, or both parts, and then we compare whose character has more strokes.”
Qixia nodded. “Understood. Who goes first?”
Qinglong lowered his head in thought. All possible combinations of the “characters” were fixed, meaning the character with the “most strokes” likely had only one possibility. Therefore, taking the initiative was the best choice.
The onlookers—Zhang Chenze, Tiantian, and Han Yimo—began tracing characters on their palms as they pondered the rules.
Creating a character that included part of “兵” and had the most strokes didn’t sound difficult, but both of them had just eliminated a character from the game. Did Qixia have some plan?
“I’ll go first,” Qinglong said.
Qixia nodded and took a step back.
Qinglong turned to Xuanwu and said, “Bring me all the ‘characters.’ I need some time.”
Upon hearing this, Xuanwu vanished and instantly reappeared beside the pile of characters. She picked them up and then vanished again, reappearing beside Qinglong.
“Hey…” Chen Junnan interjected, “Sis Xuanwu, as the referee, you wouldn’t hide any ‘characters’ now, would you?”
Xuanwu paused, looking puzzled. “I have nowhere to hide them.”
“Uh…”
Although the “Land of the End” had left Chen Junnan baffled many times, this time was especially confusing. Xuanwu wasn’t wearing any clothes, relying solely on her hair for coverage—how could she possibly hide any “characters”?
“My apologies.”
Chen Junnan laughed awkwardly and fell silent.
Qinglong took all the “characters” to the back of the wall, and Qixia and the others looked up at the display screen on the front side.
Soon, the character “石” appeared on the screen. Qixia stroked his chin thoughtfully. It seemed Qinglong had used the radical of the character “砲” first, so his answer was quite obvious.
Next to “石,” the character “士” appeared.
A few seconds later, “士” rotated and became “干,” followed by “八” lighting up on the screen.
“八” rotated and transformed into “丷.”
“石,” “干,” and “丷” combined, and the character “砰” appeared on the screen.
“Ten strokes,” Zhang Chenze said.
“Not enough,” Qixia replied.
Qixia knew Qinglong’s thinking couldn’t be so limited.
After all, when told to use “兵” or part of “兵” to create a character with the most strokes, most people’s first reaction would be to utilize the entire character “兵.”
Sure enough, a few seconds later, “砰” disappeared from the screen, as if Qinglong had revised his answer.
This time, the wait was slightly longer. After a full ten seconds, the character “木” appeared on the screen.
Soon, “兵” appeared next to “木,” and the character “梹” was prominently displayed on the screen.
“Eleven strokes…” Zhang Chenze said, staring at the screen. “Can it go any higher?”
Qixia didn’t answer, only shook his head.
Qinglong tried again, changing his answer to “眯,” but everyone noticed this character still had only eleven strokes.
“Is this old guy at his limit?” Chen Junnan whispered from the side.
“Hard to say,” Qixia replied. “After all, it’s a best-of-three game. No one would use their ultimate move in the first round.”
Once the answer settled on “眯,” Qinglong sighed and slowly emerged from behind the wall. “That’s it.”
“Not going to try again?” Qixia asked.
“I’d like to see how you plan to try,” Qinglong said with a smile. “The ‘characters’ are right there. Do you have some brilliant insight?”
“Maybe.”
“Then I’ll be watching.” Qinglong nodded.
Qixia glanced around at everyone and then walked behind the massive wall.
He observed the layout and found it similar to the previous “preparation area”: a “Phoenix Book Pedestal” for arranging characters and a display screen for handwriting.
But this game had one significant advantage: there was no need to write “homophonic characters.” Theoretically, they could win using “obscure characters,” but this time…
The group stared at the large display screen for a long time before Qinglong grew impatient. “What’s wrong, Qixia? Are you planning to concede?”
As soon as he spoke, a character appeared on the screen.
“目.”
Qinglong frowned at the character.
There weren’t many characters with the “目” radical that also included part of “兵.” Was Qixia’s final answer still “眯”?
“Are you aiming for a draw?” Qinglong asked again.
Qixia didn’t answer. After a few seconds of silence, he added “木.”
Everyone was puzzled by this.
Was Qixia planning to form “相”?
Before anyone could figure it out, Qixia rotated “目” into “罒,” combined it with “木,” and formed “䍒.”
“Wow!” Qiao Jiajin exclaimed. “I know this character!”
“What is it?” Chen Junnan turned to look at him. “You recognize it?”
“Yeah,” Qiao Jiajin nodded seriously. “It might be pronounced ‘Lín.’ ‘Four woods,’ so it’s read as ‘Lín.'”
“Makes sense,” Chen Junnan nodded.
But Qinglong’s frown deepened. “Qixia… Did I not explain the rules clearly?”
“What?” Qixia’s voice came from behind the wall.
“The new ‘character’ must use all or part of ‘兵,'” Qinglong said. “Which part does your obscure character use?”
He paused, then shook his head. “Besides, your character only has nine strokes. Even if you’re going easy on me, you can’t do it this blatantly.”
“I’m not going easy on you,” Qixia said. “How about this?”
After a few seconds of silence, the large screen flickered again.
The structure of “䍒” began to change. The “木” at the bottom shifted leftward, looking extremely peculiar.
Just as everyone was baffled, another “木” suddenly appeared on the screen.
After a brief transformation, the original “䍒”赫然 became a new obscure character:
“罧.”
Qinglong and everyone present widened their eyes in shock.
“What…” Qinglong was stunned. “Are you messing with me using ‘obscure characters’? Does this ‘character’ use any part of ‘兵’?”
“Coincidentally, it does,” Qixia replied.
“You…”
Qinglong was speechless. He quickly turned to Xuanwu, who understood his meaning and walked behind the massive wall to verify whether Qixia’s combination violated the rules.
A few seconds later, Xuanwu said, “No rules broken. He used half of ‘兵.'”
“Makes sense,” Chen Junnan agreed.
But Qinglong’s expression darkened. “Qixia… did I not explain the rules clearly?”
“Hmm?”
Qixia’s voice echoed from behind the wall.
“The most strokes…”
Qinglong murmured, then turned to look at Qixia.
“Let me reiterate the rules one last time,” Qinglong said. “The ‘characters’ we create must use either ‘丘’ or ‘八’, or both, and then we compare whose character has more strokes.”
Qixia nodded. “Understood. Who goes first?”
Qinglong lowered his head in thought. All possible combinations of the “characters” were fixed, meaning the character with the “most strokes” likely had only one possibility. Therefore, making the first move was the best choice.
The onlookers—Zhang Chenze, Tiantian, and Han Yimo—began tracing characters on their palms upon hearing the rules.
Creating a character that included part of “兵” and had the most strokes didn’t sound difficult, but both of them had just eliminated a character from the game. Did Qixia have some plan?
“I’ll go first,” Qinglong said.
Qixia nodded and took a step back.
Qinglong turned to Xuanwu and said, “Bring me all the ‘characters.’ I need some time.”
Xuanwu vanished and reappeared instantly beside the pile of characters. She picked them up, then disappeared again and reappeared beside Qinglong.
“Hey…” Chen Junnan interjected, “Sis Xuanwu, as the referee, you wouldn’t hide any ‘characters’ now, would you?”
Xuanwu paused. “I have nowhere to hide them.”
“Uh…”
Although the “Land of the End” had left Chen Junnan baffled many times, this time was especially confusing. Xuanwu wasn’t wearing any clothes, relying solely on her hair for coverage. How could she possibly hide any “characters”?
“My apologies.”
Chen Junnan laughed awkwardly and fell silent.
Qinglong took all the “characters” behind the wall, and Qixia and the others looked up at the display screen on the front side.
Soon, the character “石” appeared on the screen. Qixia stroked his chin thoughtfully. It seemed Qinglong had used the radical of the character “砲” first, so his answer was obvious.
Next to “石,” the character “士” appeared.
A few seconds later, “士” rotated and became “干.” Then, “八” lit up on the screen.
“八” rotated and turned into “丷.”
“石,” “干,” and “丷” combined, and the character “砰” appeared on the screen.
“Ten strokes,” Zhang Chenze said.
“Not enough,” Qixia replied.
Qixia knew Qinglong’s thinking couldn’t be so limited.
After all, when told to use “兵” or part of “兵” to create a character with the most strokes, most people’s first reaction would be to utilize the entire character “兵.”
Sure enough, a few seconds later, “砰” disappeared from the screen. It seemed Qinglong had changed his answer.
This time, the wait was slightly longer. After a full ten seconds, the character “木” appeared on the screen.
Soon, “兵” appeared next to “木,” and the character “梹” was prominently displayed on the screen.
“Eleven strokes…” Zhang Chenze said, staring at the screen. “Can it go any higher?”
Qixia didn’t answer but shook his head.
Qinglong tried again, changing his answer to “眯,” but everyone noticed this character still had eleven strokes.
“Is this old guy at his limit?” Chen Junnan whispered.
“Hard to say,” Qixia replied. “After all, it’s a best-of-three game. No one would use their ultimate move in the first round.”
Once the answer settled on “眯,” Qinglong sighed and slowly emerged from behind the wall. “That’s it.”
“Not going to try again?” Qixia asked.
“I’d like to see how you plan to try,” Qinglong said with a laugh. “The ‘characters’ are right there. Do you have some brilliant insight?”
“Maybe.”
“Then I’ll wait and see.” Qinglong nodded.
Qixia glanced around at everyone and walked behind the massive wall.
He observed the layout and found it similar to the previous “preparation area”: a “Phoenix Book-Carrying Platform” for arranging characters and a “display screen” for handwriting.
But this game had a significant advantage: there was no need to write “homophonic characters.” In theory, they could win with “obscure characters.” But this time…
The group stared at the large display screen for a long time. Qinglong finally grew impatient. “What’s wrong, Qixia? Are you planning to concede?”
As soon as he spoke, a character appeared on the screen.
“目.”
Qinglong frowned at the character.
There weren’t many characters with the “目” radical that also included part of “兵.” Was Qixia’s final answer still “眯”?
“Are you aiming for a draw?” Qinglong asked.
Qixia didn’t answer. After a few seconds of silence, he added “木.”
Everyone was puzzled.
Was Qixia going to form “相”?
Before anyone could figure it out, Qixia rotated “目” into “罒” and combined it with “木” to form “䍒.”
“Wow!” Qiao Jiajin exclaimed. “I know this character!”
“What is it?” Chen Junnan turned to him. “You recognize it?”
“Yeah,” Qiao Jiajin nodded seriously. “It might be pronounced ‘Lin.’ ‘Four woods,’ so it’s ‘Lin.'”
“Makes sense,” Chen Junnan nodded.
But Qinglong frowned deeply. “Qixia… Did I not explain the rules clearly?”
“What?” Qixia’s voice came from behind the wall.
“The new ‘character’ must use all or part of ‘兵,'” Qinglong said. “Which part does your obscure character use?”
He paused, then shook his head. “Besides, your character only has nine strokes. Even if you’re going easy on me, you can’t do it like this.”
“I’m not going easy on you,” Qixia said. “How about this?”
After a few seconds of silence, the large screen flickered again.
The structure of “䍒” began to change. The “木” at the bottom shifted left repeatedly, looking extremely peculiar.
Just as everyone was confused, another “木” suddenly appeared on the screen.
After a brief transformation, the original “䍒”赫然 became a new obscure character:
“罧.”
Qinglong and everyone present widened their eyes in shock.
“What…” Qinglong was stunned. “Are you messing with me using ‘obscure characters’? Does this ‘character’ use any part of ‘兵’?”
“Coincidentally, it does,” Qixia said.
“You…”
Qinglong was speechless. He quickly turned to Xuanwu, who understood his meaning and walked behind the massive wall to verify whether Qixia’s combination violated the rules.
A few seconds later, Xuanwu said, “No rules broken. He used half of ‘兵.'”
He paused, then shook his head. “Besides, your strokes only total nine. Even if you’re going easy, this is too much.”
“I’m not going easy,” Qixia replied. “How about this?”
After a few seconds of silence, the massive screen flickered again.
“The most strokes…”
Qinglong murmured, then turned to look at Qixia.
“Let me reiterate the rules one last time,” Qinglong said. “The ‘characters’ we create must use either ‘丘’ or ‘八’, or both parts, and then we compare whose character has more strokes.”
Qixia nodded upon hearing this. “Understood. Who goes first?”
Qinglong lowered his head in thought. All possible combinations of the “characters” were fixed, meaning the character with the “most strokes” was likely unique. Therefore, taking the first move was the best choice.
The onlookers—Zhang Chenze, Tiantian, and Han Yimo—began tracing characters on their palms upon hearing the rules.
Creating a character that included part of “兵” and had the most strokes didn’t sound difficult, but both of them had just eliminated a character from the game. Did Qixia have some plan?
“I’ll go first,” Qinglong said.
Qixia nodded and took a step back.
Qinglong turned to Xuanwu and said, “Bring me all the ‘characters.’ I need some time.”
Upon hearing this, Xuanwu vanished on the spot, reappeared beside the pile of characters, picked them up, and then vanished again, reappearing beside Qinglong.
“Hey…” Chen Junnan interjected, “Sis Xuanwu, as the referee, you wouldn’t hide any ‘characters’ now, would you?”
Xuanwu paused for a moment upon hearing this. “I have nowhere to hide them.”
“Uh…”
Although the “Land of the End” had left Chen Junnan baffled many times, this time was especially confusing. Xuanwu wasn’t wearing any clothes, relying solely on her hair for coverage. How could she possibly hide any “characters”?
“My apologies.”
Chen Junnan laughed awkwardly a few times and then fell silent.
Qinglong took all the “characters” to the back of the wall, and Qixia and the others looked up at the display screen on the front.
Soon, the character “石” appeared on the screen. Qixia stroked his chin thoughtfully. It seemed Qinglong had used the radical of the character “砲” first, so his answer was obvious.
Next to “石,” the character “士” appeared.
A few seconds later, “士” rotated and became “干.” Then, “八” lit up on the screen.
“八” rotated and became “丷.”
“石,” “干,” and “丷” combined, and the character “砰” appeared on the screen.
“Ten strokes,” Zhang Chenze said.
“Not enough,” Qixia replied.
Qixia knew Qinglong’s thinking couldn’t be so limited.
After all, when told to use “兵” or part of “兵” to create a character with the most strokes, most people’s first reaction would be to utilize the entire character “兵.”
Sure enough, a few seconds later, “砰” disappeared from the screen, as if Qinglong had revised his answer.
This time, the wait was slightly longer. After a full ten seconds, the character “木” appeared on the screen.
Soon, “兵” appeared next to “木,” and the character “梹” was prominently displayed on the screen.
“Eleven strokes…” Zhang Chenze said, staring at the screen. “Can it be more?”
Qixia didn’t answer, only shook his head.
Qinglong tried again, changing the answer to “眯,” but everyone noticed this character still had eleven strokes.
“Is this old guy at his limit?” Chen Junnan whispered from the side.
“Hard to say,” Qixia replied. “After all, it’s a best-of-three game. No one would use their ultimate move in the first round.”
After settling on “眯,” Qinglong sighed and slowly emerged from behind the wall. “That’s it.”
“Not going to try again?” Qixia asked.
“I’d like to see how you plan to try,” Qinglong said with a laugh. “The ‘characters’ are right there. Do you have some brilliant insight?”
“Maybe.”
“Then I’ll wait and see,” Qinglong nodded.
Qixia glanced around at everyone and then walked behind the massive wall.
He examined the layout and found it similar to the previous “preparation area”: a “Phoenix Book Pedestal” for arranging characters and a “display screen” for handwriting.
But this game had a significant advantage: there was no need to write “homophones.” Theoretically, they could win with “obscure characters.” But this time…
The group stared at the large display screen for a long time before Qinglong finally grew impatient. “What’s wrong, Qixia? Are you planning to concede?”
As soon as he finished speaking, a character appeared on the screen.
“目.”
Qinglong frowned at the character.
There weren’t many characters with the “目” radical that also included part of “兵.” Was Qixia’s final answer still “眯”?
“Are you aiming for a draw?” Qinglong asked again.
Qixia didn’t answer. After a few seconds of silence, he added “木.”
Everyone was puzzled by this.
Was Qixia going to form “相”?
Before anyone could figure it out, Qixia rotated “目” into “罒” and combined it with “木” to form “䍒.”
“Wow!” Qiao Jiajin exclaimed. “I know this character!”
“What is it?” Chen Junnan turned to look at him. “You recognize it?”
“Yeah,” Qiao Jiajin nodded seriously. “It might be pronounced ‘Lín.’ ‘Four woods,’ so it’s ‘Lín.'”
“Makes sense,” Chen Junnan nodded.
But Qinglong frowned deeply upon seeing this. “Qixia… Did I not explain the rules clearly…?”
“What?”
Qixia’s voice came from behind the wall.
“The new ‘character’ must use all or part of ‘兵,'” Qinglong said. “Which part does your obscure character use?”
He paused, then shook his head. “Besides, your character only has nine strokes. Even if you’re going easy, you can’t do it like this, right?”
“I’m really not going easy,” Qixia said. “How about this?”
After a few seconds of silence, the large screen flickered again.
The structure of “䍒” began to change. The “木” at the bottom shifted left repeatedly, looking extremely peculiar.
While everyone was still confused, another “木” suddenly appeared on the screen.
After a brief transformation, the original “䍒”赫然 became a new obscure character:
“罧.”
Qinglong and everyone present widened their eyes in shock.
“What…” Qinglong was stunned. “Are you messing with me using ‘obscure characters’? Does this ‘character’ use any part of ‘兵’?”
“Coincidentally, it does,” Qixia said.
“You…”
Qinglong was momentarily speechless and quickly turned to look at Xuanwu. Understanding his meaning, Xuanwu walked behind the massive wall to verify whether Qixia’s combination violated the rules.
A few seconds later, Xuanwu said, “No rules broken. Half of ‘兵’ was used.”
“The most strokes…”
Qinglong murmured, then turned to look at Qixia.
“Let me reiterate the rules one last time,” Qinglong said. “The ‘characters’ we create must use either ‘丘’ or ‘八’, or both parts, and then we compare whose character has more strokes.”
Qixia nodded upon hearing this. “Understood. Who goes first?”
Qinglong lowered his head in thought. All possible combinations of the “characters” were fixed, meaning the character with the “most strokes” likely had only one possibility. Therefore, taking the initiative was the best choice.
The onlookers—Zhang Chenze, Tiantian, and Han Yimo—began tracing characters on their palms with their fingers upon hearing the rules.
Creating a character that included part of “兵” and had the most strokes didn’t sound difficult, but both of them had just eliminated a character from the game. Did Qixia have some plan?
“I’ll go first,” Qinglong said.
Qixia nodded and took a step back.
Qinglong turned to Xuanwu and said, “Bring me all the ‘characters.’ I need some time.”
Upon hearing this, Xuanwu vanished on the spot, instantly reappearing beside the pile of characters. She bent down to pick them up, then vanished again and reappeared beside Qinglong.
“Hey…” Chen Junnan interjected, “Sis Xuanwu, as the referee, you shouldn’t be hiding any ‘characters’ now, right?”
Xuanwu paused for a moment upon hearing this. “I have nowhere to hide them.”
“Uh…”
Although the “Land of the End” had left Chen Junnan bewildered many times, this time was especially confusing. Xuanwu wasn’t wearing any clothes, relying solely on her hair for coverage. How could she possibly hide any “characters”?
“My apologies.”
Chen Junnan laughed awkwardly a few times and then fell silent.
Qinglong took all the “characters” to the back of the wall, while Qixia and the others looked up at the display screen on the front.
Soon, the character “石” (shí) appeared on the screen. Qixia stroked his chin thoughtfully. It seemed Qinglong had used the radical of the character “砲” (pào) first, so his intended answer was quite obvious.
Next to “石,” the character “士” (shì) appeared.
A few seconds later, “士” rotated and became “干” (gān). Immediately after, “八” (bā) lit up on the screen.
“八” rotated and transformed into “丷” (a variant form of “八”).
“石,” “干,” and “丷” combined, and the character “砰” (pēng) appeared on the screen.
“Ten strokes,” Zhang Chenze said.
“Not enough,” Qixia replied.
Qixia knew Qinglong’s thinking couldn’t be so limited.
After all, upon learning that they had to use “兵” or part of “兵” to create a character with the most strokes, most people’s first reaction would be to utilize the entire character “兵.”
Sure enough, a few seconds later, “砰” disappeared from the screen, as if Qinglong had revised his answer.
This time, the wait was slightly longer. After a full ten seconds, the character “木” (mù) appeared on the screen.
Soon, “兵” (bīng) appeared next to “木,” and the character “梹” (bīn) was prominently displayed on the screen.
“Eleven strokes…” Zhang Chenze said, staring at the screen. “Can it go any higher?”
Qixia didn’t speak but simply shook his head.
Qinglong tried again, changing the answer to “眯” (mī). Everyone noticed that this character still had eleven strokes.
“Is this old guy at his limit?” Chen Junnan whispered from the side.
“Hard to say,” Qixia replied. “After all, it’s a best-of-three game. No one would use their ultimate move in the first round.”
Once the answer settled on “眯,” Qinglong sighed and slowly emerged from behind the wall. “That’s it.”
“Not going to try again?” Qixia asked.
“I’d like to see how you plan to try,” Qinglong said with a laugh. “The ‘characters’ are right there. Do you have some brilliant insight?”
“Maybe.”
“Then I’ll be watching.” Qinglong nodded.
Qixia glanced around at everyone and then walked behind the massive wall.
He observed the layout and found it similar to the previous “preparation area”: a “Phoenix Book-Carrying Platform” for arranging the “characters” and a “display screen” for handwriting.
But this game had a significant advantage: there was no need to write “homophonic characters.” Theoretically, they could win using “obscure characters.” But this time…
The group stared at the large display screen for a long time. Finally, Qinglong grew impatient. “What’s wrong, Qixia? Are you planning to concede directly?”
As soon as he finished speaking, a character appeared on the screen.
“目” (mù).
Qinglong frowned at the character. There weren’t many characters with the “目” radical that also included part of “兵.” Was Qixia’s final answer still “眯”?
“Are you aiming for a draw?” Qinglong asked again.
Qixia didn’t answer. After a few seconds of silence, he placed another “木” (mù) on the screen.
Everyone was puzzled by this.
Was Qixia planning to form a “相” (xiàng)?
Before anyone could figure it out, Qixia rotated “目” into “罒” (a variant form of “目”) and combined it with “木” to form “䍒” (an obscure character).
“Wow!” Qiao Jiajin exclaimed. “I know this character!”
“What is it?” Chen Junnan turned to look at him. “You recognize it?”
“Yeah,” Qiao Jiajin nodded seriously. “It might be pronounced ‘lín.’ Since it’s ‘four woods,’ it should be ‘lín.'”
“Makes sense,” Chen Junnan nodded.
But upon seeing this, Qinglong frowned and said, “Qixia… Did I not explain the rules clearly…?”
“What?”
Qixia’s voice came from behind the wall.
“The new ‘character’ must use all or part of ‘兵,'” Qinglong said. “Which part does your obscure character use?”
He paused for a moment before shaking his head. “Besides, your character only has nine strokes. Even if you’re going easy on me, you can’t do it this blatantly.”
“I’m really not going easy on you,” Qixia said. “How about this?”
After a few seconds of silence, the large screen flickered again.
The structure of “䍒” began to change. The “木” at the bottom started shifting leftward, looking extremely peculiar.
While everyone was still confused, another “木” suddenly appeared on the screen.
After a brief transformation, the original “䍒”赫然 became a new obscure character:
“罧” (sēn).
Qinglong and everyone present widened their eyes in shock.
“What…” Qinglong was stunned. “Are you messing with me using ‘obscure characters’? Does your ‘character’ use any part of ‘兵’?”
“Coincidentally, it does,” Qixia replied.
“You…”
Qinglong was momentarily speechless. He quickly turned to look at Xuanwu, who understood his meaning and walked behind the massive wall to verify whether Qixia’s combination violated the rules.
A few seconds later, Xuanwu said, “No rules broken. Half of ‘兵’ was used.”
After a brief transformation, the original “䍒” morphed into an entirely new obscure character:
“The most strokes…”
Qinglong murmured, then turned to look at Qixia.
“Let me reiterate the rules one last time,” Qinglong said. “The ‘characters’ we create must use either ‘丘’ or ‘八’, or both parts, and then we compare whose character has more strokes.”
Qixia nodded after hearing this. “Understood. Who goes first?”
Qinglong lowered his head in thought. All possible combinations of the “characters” were fixed, meaning the character with the “most strokes” was likely unique. Therefore, taking the initiative now was the best choice.
The onlookers—Zhang Chenze, Tiantian, and Han Yimo—began tracing characters on their palms upon hearing the rules.
Creating a character that included part of “兵” and had the most strokes didn’t sound difficult, but both of them had just eliminated a character from the game. Did Qixia have some plan?
“I’ll go first,” Qinglong said.
Qixia nodded and took a step back.
Qinglong turned to Xuanwu and said, “Bring me all the ‘characters.’ I need some time.”
Upon hearing this, Xuanwu vanished and instantly reappeared beside the pile of characters. She picked them up, then vanished again and reappeared beside Qinglong.
“Hey…” Chen Junnan interjected, “Sis Xuanwu, as the referee, you shouldn’t be hiding any ‘characters’ now, right?”
Xuanwu paused for a moment. “I have nowhere to hide them.”
“Uh…”
Although the “Land of the End” had left Chen Junnan bewildered many times, this time was especially confusing. Xuanwu wasn’t wearing any clothes, relying solely on her hair for coverage—how could she possibly hide any “characters”?
“My apologies.”
Chen Junnan chuckled awkwardly and fell silent.
Qinglong took all the “characters” to the back of the wall, while Qixia and the others looked up at the display screen on the front.
Soon, the character “石” appeared on the screen. Qixia stroked his chin thoughtfully. It seemed Qinglong had used the radical of the character “砲” first, so his intended answer was quite obvious.
Next, the character “士” appeared beside “石.”
A few seconds later, “士” rotated and became “干.” Then, “八” lit up on the screen.
“八” rotated and transformed into “丷.”
“石,” “干,” and “丷” combined, and the character “砰” appeared on the screen.
“Ten strokes,” Zhang Chenze said.
“Not enough,” Qixia replied.
Qixia knew Qinglong’s thinking couldn’t be so limited.
After all, upon learning that they had to use “兵” or part of “兵” to create a character with the most strokes, most people’s first reaction would be to utilize the entire character “兵.”
Sure enough, a few seconds later, the character “砰” disappeared from the screen, as if Qinglong had revised his answer.
This time, the wait was slightly longer. After a full ten seconds, the character “木” appeared on the screen.
Soon, “兵” appeared beside “木,” and the character “梹” was prominently displayed on the screen.
“Eleven strokes…” Zhang Chenze said, staring at the screen. “Can it go any higher?”
Qixia didn’t answer, only shook his head.
Qinglong tried again, changing his answer to “眯,” but everyone noticed this character still had eleven strokes.
“Is this old guy already at his limit?” Chen Junnan whispered from the side.
“Hard to say,” Qixia replied. “After all, it’s a best-of-three game. No one would use their ultimate move in the first round.”
After settling on “眯,” Qinglong sighed and slowly emerged from behind the wall. “That’s it.”
“Not going to try again?” Qixia asked.
“I’d like to see how you plan to try,” Qinglong said with a laugh. “The ‘characters’ are right there. Do you have some brilliant insight?”
“Maybe.”
“Then I’ll be watching.” Qinglong nodded.
Qixia glanced around at everyone and then walked behind the massive wall.
He observed the layout and found it similar to the previous “preparation area”: a “Phoenix Book-Carrying Platform” for arranging the “characters” and a “display screen” for handwriting.
But this round of the game had a significant advantage: there was no need to write “homophonic characters.” In theory, they could win using “obscure characters.” But this time…
The group stared at the large display screen for a long time before Qinglong finally grew impatient. “What’s wrong, Qixia? Are you planning to concede?”
As soon as he finished speaking, a character appeared on the screen.
“目.”
Qinglong frowned at the character.
There weren’t many characters with the “目” radical that also included part of “兵.” Was Qixia’s final answer still “眯”?
“Are you aiming for a draw?” Qinglong asked again.
Qixia didn’t answer. After a few seconds of silence, he placed a “木” next to it.
Everyone was puzzled by this move.
Was Qixia planning to form a “相”?
Before anyone could figure it out, Qixia rotated “目” into “罒” and combined it with “木” to form “䍒.”
“Wow!” Qiao Jiajin exclaimed. “I know this character!”
“What is it?” Chen Junnan turned to look at him. “You recognize it?”
“Yeah,” Qiao Jiajin nodded seriously. “It might be pronounced ‘Lín.’ ‘Four woods,’ so it’s ‘Lín.'”
“Makes sense,” Chen Junnan nodded.
But Qinglong frowned deeply at the sight. “Qixia… Did I not explain the rules clearly…?”
“What?”
Qixia’s voice came from behind the wall.
“The new ‘character’ must use all or part of ‘兵,'” Qinglong said. “Which part does this obscure character use?”
He paused, then shook his head. “Besides, your character only has nine strokes. Even if you’re going easy on me, you can’t do it this blatantly.”
“I’m not going easy on you,” Qixia said. “How about this?”
After a few seconds of silence, the large screen flickered again.
The structure of “䍒” began to change. The “木” at the bottom shifted left repeatedly, looking extremely peculiar.
Just as everyone was baffled, another “木” suddenly appeared on the screen.
After a brief transformation, the original “䍒”赫然 became a new obscure character:
“罧.”
Qinglong and everyone present widened their eyes in shock.
“What…” Qinglong was stunned. “Are you messing with me using ‘obscure characters’? Does this ‘character’ use any part of ‘兵’?”
“Coincidentally, it does,” Qixia said.
“You…”
Qinglong was momentarily speechless. He quickly turned to Xuanwu, who understood his meaning and walked behind the massive wall to verify whether Qixia’s combination violated the rules.
A few seconds later, Xuanwu said, “No rules broken. Half of ‘兵’ was used.”
Qinglong and the others gaped in shock.
“The most strokes…”
Qinglong murmured, then turned to look at Qixia.
“Let me reiterate the rules one last time,” Qinglong said. “The ‘characters’ we create must use either ‘丘’ or ‘八’, or both parts, and then we compare whose character has more strokes.”
Qixia nodded after hearing this. “Understood. Who goes first?”
Qinglong lowered his head in thought. All possible combinations of the “characters” were fixed, meaning the character with the “most strokes” likely had only one possibility. Therefore, taking the initiative was the best choice.
The onlookers—Zhang Chenze, Tiantian, and Han Yimo—began tracing characters on their palms with their fingers upon hearing the rules.
Creating a character that included part of “兵” with the most strokes didn’t sound difficult, but both of them had just eliminated a character from the game. Did Qixia have some plan?
“I’ll go first,” Qinglong said.
Qixia nodded and took a step back.
Qinglong turned to Xuanwu and said, “Bring me all the ‘characters.’ I need some time.”
Upon hearing this, Xuanwu vanished on the spot, instantly reappearing beside the pile of characters. She bent down, picked up the characters, and then vanished again, reappearing beside Qinglong.
“Hey…” Chen Junnan interjected, “Sis Xuanwu, as the referee, you wouldn’t hide any ‘characters’ now, would you?”
Xuanwu paused for a moment upon hearing this. “I have nowhere to hide them.”
“Uh…”
Although the “Land of the End” had left Chen Junnan baffled many times, this time was especially confusing. Xuanwu wasn’t wearing any clothes, relying solely on her hair for coverage. How could she possibly hide any “characters”?
“My apologies.”
Chen Junnan laughed awkwardly a few times and then fell silent.
Qinglong took all the “characters” to the back of the wall, while Qixia and the others looked up at the display screen on the front.
Soon, the character “石” appeared on the screen. Qixia stroked his chin thoughtfully. It seemed Qinglong had used the radical of the character “砲” first, so his intended answer was quite obvious.
Next to “石,” the character “士” appeared.
A few seconds later, “士” rotated and became “干.” Then, “八” lit up on the screen.
“八” rotated and turned into “丷.”
“石,” “干,” and “丷” combined, and the character “砰” appeared on the screen.
“Ten strokes,” Zhang Chenze said.
“Not enough,” Qixia replied.
Qixia knew Qinglong’s thinking couldn’t be so limited.
After all, upon learning that they had to use “兵” or part of “兵” to create a character with the most strokes, many people’s first reaction would be to utilize the entire character “兵.”
Sure enough, a few seconds later, the character “砰” disappeared from the screen, as if Qinglong had revised his answer.
This time, the wait was slightly longer. After a full ten seconds, the character “木” appeared on the screen.
Soon, “兵” appeared next to “木,” and the character “梹” was prominently displayed on the screen.
“Eleven strokes…” Zhang Chenze said, staring at the screen. “Can it be more?”
Qixia didn’t answer, only shook his head.
Qinglong tried again, changing his answer to “眯,” but everyone noticed this character still had eleven strokes.
“Is this old guy at his limit?” Chen Junnan whispered from the side.
“Hard to say,” Qixia replied. “After all, it’s a best-of-three game. No one would use their ultimate move in the first round.”
After settling on “眯,” Qinglong sighed and slowly emerged from behind the wall. “That’s it.”
“Not going to try again?” Qixia asked.
“I’d like to see how you plan to try,” Qinglong said with a laugh. “The ‘characters’ are right there. Do you have some brilliant insight?”
“Maybe.”
“Then I’ll wait and see,” Qinglong nodded.
Qixia glanced around at everyone and then walked behind the massive wall.
He observed the layout and found it similar to the previous “preparation area”: a “Phoenix Book-Carrying Platform” for arranging characters and a “display screen” for handwriting.
But this game had a significant advantage: there was no need to write “homophonic characters.” Theoretically, they could win with “obscure characters,” but this time…
The group stared at the large display screen for a long time before Qinglong finally grew impatient. “What’s wrong, Qixia? Are you planning to concede?”
As soon as he finished speaking, a character appeared on the screen.
“目.”
Qinglong frowned at the character.
There weren’t many characters with the “目” radical that also included part of “兵.” Was Qixia’s final answer still “眯”?
“Are you aiming for a draw?” Qinglong asked again.
Qixia didn’t answer. After a few seconds of silence, he placed another “木” on the screen.
Everyone was puzzled by this.
Was Qixia going to form “相”?
Before anyone could figure it out, Qixia rotated “目” into “罒,” combined it with “木,” and formed “䍒.”
“Wow!” Qiao Jiajin exclaimed. “I know this character!”
“What is it?” Chen Junnan turned to look at him. “You recognize it?”
“Yeah,” Qiao Jiajin nodded seriously. “It might be pronounced ‘Lín.’ ‘Four woods,’ so it’s ‘Lín.'”
“Makes sense,” Chen Junnan nodded.
But Qinglong frowned deeply upon seeing this. “Qixia… did I not explain the rules clearly?”
“What?” Qixia’s voice came from behind the wall.
“The new ‘character’ must use all or part of ‘兵,'” Qinglong said. “Which part does this obscure character use?”
He paused, then shook his head. “Besides, your character only has nine strokes. Even if you’re going easy on me, you can’t do it this blatantly.”
“I’m not going easy on you,” Qixia said. “How about this?”
After a few seconds of silence, the large screen flickered again.
The structure of “䍒” began to change. The “木” at the bottom started shifting left, looking extremely peculiar.
Just as everyone was baffled, another “木” suddenly appeared on the screen.
After a brief transformation, the original “䍒”赫然 became a new obscure character:
“罧.”
Qinglong and everyone present widened their eyes in shock.
“What…” Qinglong was stunned. “Are you messing with me using ‘obscure characters’? Does this ‘character’ use any part of ‘兵’?”
“Coincidentally, it does,” Qixia said.
“You…”
Qinglong was momentarily speechless. He quickly turned to Xuanwu, who understood his meaning and walked behind the massive wall to verify whether Qixia’s combination violated the rules.
A few seconds later, Xuanwu said, “No rules broken. Half of ‘兵’ was used.”
“Actually, it does,” Qixia said.
“You—”
Qinglong was at a loss for words. He quickly turned to Xuanwu, who understood his meaning and strode behind the wall to verify whether Qixia’s combination violated the rules.
“The most strokes…”
Qinglong murmured, then turned to look at Qixia.
“Let me reiterate the rules one last time,” Qinglong said. “The ‘characters’ we create must use either ‘丘’ (qiū) or ‘八’ (bā), or both parts, and then we compare whose character has the most strokes.”
Qixia nodded upon hearing this. “Understood. Who goes first?”
Qinglong lowered his head in thought. All possible combinations of the “characters” were fixed, meaning the “character with the most strokes” likely had only one possibility. Therefore, it was best for him to take the initiative first.
The onlookers—Zhang Chenze, Tiantian, and Han Yimo—began tracing characters on their palms as they heard the rules.
Creating a character that included part of “兵” (bīng) and had the most strokes didn’t sound difficult, but both of them had just eliminated a “character” from the game. Did Qixia have some plan?
“I’ll go first,” Qinglong said.
Qixia nodded and took a step back.
Qinglong turned to Xuanwu and said, “Bring me all the ‘characters.’ I need some time.”
Upon hearing this, Xuanwu vanished on the spot, instantly reappearing beside the pile of “characters.” She bent down, picked them up, and then vanished again, reappearing beside Qinglong.
“I say…” Chen Junnan interjected, “Sis Xuanwu, as the referee, you wouldn’t hide any ‘characters’ at this point, would you?”
Xuanwu paused for a moment upon hearing this. “I have nowhere to hide them.”
“Uh…”
Although the “Land of the End” had left Chen Junnan bewildered many times, this time was especially confusing. Xuanwu wasn’t wearing a single piece of clothing, relying solely on her hair for coverage. How could she possibly hide any “characters”?
“My apologies.”
Chen Junnan laughed awkwardly a few times and then fell silent.
Qinglong took all the “characters” to the back of the wall, while Qixia and the others looked up at the display screen on the front.
Soon, the character “石” (shí) appeared on the screen. Qixia stroked his chin thoughtfully. It seemed Qinglong had used the radical of the character “砲” (pào) first, so his intended answer was quite obvious.
Next, the character “士” (shì) appeared beside “石.”
A few seconds later, “士” rotated and became “干” (gān). Then, “八” (bā) lit up on the screen.
“八” rotated and transformed into “丷” (a variant form of “八”).
“石,” “干,” and “丷” combined, and the character “砰” (pēng) appeared on the screen.
“Ten strokes,” Zhang Chenze said.
“Not enough,” Qixia replied.
Qixia knew Qinglong’s thinking couldn’t be so limited.
After all, upon learning that they had to use “兵” or part of “兵” to create a character with the most strokes, many people’s first reaction would be to utilize the entire character “兵.”
Sure enough, a few seconds later, “砰” disappeared from the screen, as if Qinglong had revised his answer.
This time, the wait was slightly longer. After a full ten seconds, the character “木” (mù) appeared on the screen.
Soon, “兵” appeared beside “木,” and the character “梹” (bīn) was prominently displayed on the screen.
“Eleven strokes…” Zhang Chenze said, staring at the screen. “Can it go any higher?”
Qixia didn’t speak, only shook his head.
Qinglong tried again, changing the answer to “眯” (mī). Everyone noticed that this character still had eleven strokes.
“Is this old guy at his limit?” Chen Junnan whispered from the side.
“Hard to say,” Qixia replied. “After all, it’s a best-of-three game. No one would use their ultimate move in the first round.”
Once the answer settled on “眯,” Qinglong sighed and slowly emerged from behind the wall. “That’s it.”
“Not going to try again?” Qixia asked.
“I’d like to see how you plan to try,” Qinglong said with a laugh. “The ‘characters’ are right there. Do you have some brilliant insight?”
“Maybe.”
“Then I’ll be watching.” Qinglong nodded.
Qixia glanced around at everyone and then walked behind the massive wall.
He observed the layout and found it similar to the previous “preparation area”: a “Phoenix Book-Carrying Platform” for arranging the “characters” and a “display screen” for handwriting.
But this game had a significant advantage: there was no need to write “homophonic characters.” In theory, they could win using “obscure characters.” But this time…
The group stared at the large display screen for a long time. Finally, Qinglong grew impatient. “What’s wrong, Qixia? Are you planning to concede directly?”
As soon as he finished speaking, a character appeared on the screen.
“目” (mù).
Qinglong frowned at the sight.
There weren’t many characters with the “目” radical that also included part of “兵.” Was Qixia’s final answer still “眯”?
“Are you aiming for a draw?” Qinglong asked again.
Qixia didn’t answer. After a few seconds of silence, he placed another “木” on the screen.
Everyone was puzzled by this.
Was Qixia planning to form “相” (xiāng)?
Before anyone could figure it out, Qixia rotated “目” into “罒” (a variant form of “目”) and combined it with “木” to form “䍒” (an obscure character).
“Wow!” Qiao Jiajin exclaimed. “I know this character!”
“What is it?” Chen Junnan turned to look at him. “You recognize it?”
“Yeah,” Qiao Jiajin nodded seriously. “It might be pronounced ‘lín.’ Since it’s ‘four woods,’ it should be ‘lín.'”
“Makes sense,” Chen Junnan nodded.
But Qinglong’s frown deepened upon seeing this. “Qixia… Did I not explain the rules clearly…?”
“What?”
Qixia’s voice came from behind the wall.
“The new ‘character’ must use all or part of ‘兵,'” Qinglong said. “Which part does your obscure character use?”
He paused, then shook his head. “Besides, your character only has nine strokes. Even if you’re going easy on me, you can’t do it this blatantly.”
“I’m not going easy on you,” Qixia said. “How about this?”
After a few seconds of silence, the large screen flickered again.
The structure of “䍒” began to change. The “木” at the bottom started shifting leftward, looking extremely peculiar.
Just as everyone was baffled, another “木” suddenly appeared on the screen.
After a brief transformation, the original “䍒”赫然 became a new obscure character:
“罧” (sēn).
Qinglong and everyone present widened their eyes in shock.
“What…” Qinglong was stunned. “Are you messing with me using ‘obscure characters’? Does your ‘character’ use any part of ‘兵’?”
“Coincidentally, it does,” Qixia replied.
“You…”
Qinglong was momentarily speechless. He quickly turned to look at Xuanwu, who understood his meaning and walked behind the massive wall to verify whether Qixia’s combination violated the rules.
A few seconds later, Xuanwu said, “No rules broken. Half of ‘兵’ was used.”
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