“It’s me,” came Zhou Liu’s voice slowly in his ear. “Our game is over here. The team leader named Qi Xia said he wants to come help you guys. Have you started your game yet?”
“Ah, yes,” Bai Jiu replied. “We’re already in the game. You finished yours so quickly?”
“Mhm,” Zhou Liu answered. “Give me your location. We’ll come assist you.”
“Assist us?” Bai Jiu felt something was off. “Sixth Sis, didn’t Fifth Bro give us a whole day? Have you completed all your tasks already? Has everyone achieved ‘Echo’?”
“Uh…” Zhou Liu hesitated, finding it hard to explain. “It’s… it’s really hard to believe, but that guy actually finished all the tasks in just one game…”
“What?!” Bai Jiu knew she wasn’t stupid, but even if she were to devise a plan, she wouldn’t have the confidence to make Zhou Liu, Wang Ba, Luo Shiyi, and Qiu Shiliu all achieve ‘Echo’ in a single game.
Why was that man Qi Xia so strong?
Could it be that all three team leaders this time were this capable?
Bai Jiu lowered her head and glanced at Qiao Jiajin, feeling like she might be overthinking things.
Qiao Jiajin was still striking a martial arts pose from a movie, earnestly facing a wooden crate.
“Uh…” Bai Jiu didn’t know how to respond, nor could she predict what would happen next. She could only relay their general location to Zhou Liu.
If Qi Xia was really that strong, having him come help would be fantastic.
Just as she finished communicating with Zhou Liu, another ice ball came flying over.
Since they were already far from “Pojun,” Qiao Jiajin, knowing the exact trajectory of the ice ball, shattered it effortlessly with his fist.
These freezing projectiles gave Qiao Jiajin a headache. If they were facing a person, they’d surely be exhausted after attacking so many times.
But machines had no reason to stop.
“That’s six times now…” Qiao Jiajin shook his right hand. “Does every round involve six attacks?”
As he predicted, in the following moments, the group simply pushed the cart forward slowly, and “Pojun” made no further moves.
Ning Shiba, walking slowly beside the cart, felt something was off. Just as Qiao Jiajin had said, these were lifeless wooden contraptions… So why could they track and attack them so precisely?
“Six attacks…?” Ning Shiba counted on her fingers again. The frequency of the earlier attacks seemed to correspond to something. “Interesting. Still ‘Big Dipper’…”
She closed her eyes briefly, calculating the distance they’d traveled and the number of attacks they’d endured. Then, she looked up at the slightly relaxed Qiao Jiajin and Chou Ershi. “Brother Qiao, Twenty, there should be one more attack.”
“Huh?” Qiao Jiajin looked at her in surprise. “You can even predict that?”
“Yes,” Ning Shiba nodded. “On the way out, roughly one every eight meters, totaling three. On the way back, roughly one every six meters, totaling four. If you treat each ball as a ‘star,’ it matches the ‘Big Dipper.'”
“I didn’t understand a word of that…” Qiao Jiajin said. “But you’ve given me some really useful intel.”
Dima, watching from a distance, furrowed her brow slightly.
Just how unlucky was she?
Her game arena had participants every day, but she’d never encountered someone proficient in astrology before.
“Be careful, Brother Qiao,” Ning Shiba warned. “If I’m not mistaken, the last one should launch just as we’re about to return to the starting point.”
“Got it,” Qiao Jiajin nodded, taking the chance to stretch his limbs. The prolonged tension had left his entire body feeling fatigued. “Astro Sis, if it really goes as you predicted, you’ll have done us a huge favor.”
“Astro… Astro Sis?”
The timing of the projectile attack matched Ning Shiba’s prediction perfectly—just as the “Wooden Ox and Gliding Horse” crossed the finish line, “Pojun” sprang into action again.
If not for Ning Shiba’s heads-up, Qiao Jiajin felt this attack could have caused serious trouble.
Since the starting point was farthest from “Pojun,” this time, the launch was almost silent. Moreover, with everyone’s guard down right before finishing the first round, it was hard to imagine the consequences if they hadn’t been prepared.
Spotting the ice ball’s trajectory aimed at Bai Jiu on the cart, Qiao Jiajin leaped up immediately. But this time, he didn’t use his hands—instead, he thrust his chest forward to meet the projectile.
The moment the ice ball struck his chest, Qiao Jiajin used its momentum to execute a backflip midair, firmly trapping it against his body.
However, upon landing, he lost his balance and fell hard to the ground. Fortunately, he was far from the glass and unharmed.
At the same time, the group pushed the “Wooden Ox and Gliding Horse” back to the starting point.
Bai Jiu had cleared the round.
“Brother Qiao!” Bai Jiu immediately jumped off the cart and rushed to Qiao Jiajin, who was still lying on the ground. Though he didn’t seem injured, he was clutching his chest with a pained expression.
The others quickly abandoned the cart and hurried over to check on him.
“Bro, you okay?”
Qiao Jiajin grimaced for a long moment before finally squeezing out two words: “So… cold…”
“Huh?”
He shifted his hands slightly, revealing the ice ball he’d been holding.
“Ah! It really is freezing!” Qiao Jiajin confirmed the ball hadn’t shattered before tossing it aside. “Is this what heartbreak feels like? Is this the sensation of a cold heart?”
The others standing nearby were momentarily speechless but quickly refocused on the ice ball on the ground.
There was no denying Dima’s craftsmanship was otherworldly.
Up close, the ice ball was flawlessly transparent, like a crystal sphere. Only perfectly pure water could freeze into something so clear.
But for a weapon meant to attack “participants,” was this level of detail really necessary?
Bai Jiu bent down, picked up the ice ball, and examined it closely. She realized it wasn’t just “pure”—its surface had been meticulously polished and engraved with fine grooves, as if mimicking a real “star.”
Unfortunately, there were no words inscribed on it.
“What’s wrong?” Qiao Jiajin asked, noticing Bai Jiu’s troubled expression as he stood up.
“Brother Qiao… do we really need to catch these balls?” Bai Jiu asked hesitantly.
“Why not?” Qiao Jiajin countered. “There might actually be a reward… Plus, didn’t that Horse Lady say it herself? She doesn’t lie.”
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