After listening for a while, Bai Jiu felt that the rules weren’t explained very clearly.
“Why do we need to push this cart?” she asked, somewhat puzzled. “Didn’t you say we just need to complete the round trip ourselves?”
“Of course not,” Di Ma replied. “You all don’t strike me as particularly cultured. I doubt any of you have thoroughly read *Romance of the Three Kingdoms*.”
“No,” Yun Shijiu shook his head. “We’ve probably all read it. What’s your point?”
Qiao Jiajin instinctively took a step back.
Yeah, he was probably the only one who hadn’t read it.
“Oh?” Di Ma sneered, stroking his mane. “You’ve all read it? Well, appearances can be deceiving. In that case, tell me—how did the ‘Wooden Ox and Gliding Horse’ come about?”
Yun Shijiu answered almost without hesitation: “The Wooden Ox and Gliding Horse were transport vehicles invented by Zhuge Liang, the chancellor of Shu Han during the Three Kingdoms period. They were divided into two types: the Wooden Ox and the Gliding Horse. Historical records indicate they were used by Zhuge Liang during his northern expeditions between the ninth and twelfth years of the Jianxing era.”
Bai Jiu also smiled slightly and added, “Legend has it that the Wooden Ox and Gliding Horse could carry ‘a year’s worth of provisions,’ roughly over 400 *jin*, with a daily travel distance of ‘dozens of *li* for a single unit, and thirty *li* for a group.’ They were used to transport grain for Shu Han’s army of 100,000 soldiers.”
Di Ma hadn’t expected these casually dressed individuals to be so knowledgeable. He could only nod in slight surprise.
Then, a tall girl spoke up as well: “Even though your game is named ‘Wooden Ox and Gliding Horse,’ no one actually knows their true appearance or design. Many historical texts describe them differently. Some say they were just ordinary wheelbarrows, while others claim they were wooden structures shaped like oxen and horses.”
Qiao Jiajin glanced at the tall girl. If he remembered correctly, her name was Feng Shiqi.
“Well, well,” Di Ma turned to look at the group. “You’re more learned than I thought… But what does that matter?”
“What…?”
“These facts are just words to you…” Di Ma sighed, stroking the wooden cart beside him. “Even if a craftsman painstakingly recreates these lost artifacts, you’d just say no one alive has seen them, so the recreation must be fake.”
Qiao Jiajin scratched his head in confusion. “I… I don’t really get what you mean. Are you saying they’re wrong? If something’s replicated by later generations, isn’t it just a fake?”
“Of course they’re wrong,” Di Ma said. “The purpose of our woodworking lineage is to restore these lost, intricate wooden mechanisms. Yet, no matter how hard we try, we rarely earn anyone’s understanding in our lifetime…”
Qiao Jiajin glanced at the wooden crates placed along the track. Since this was a “woodworking lineage,” did that mean Di Ma had made those crates himself?
“I still don’t get it,” Qiao Jiajin said. “I’ve met plenty from woodworking families… but aren’t you being a bit extreme?”
“Extreme?”
“This ox-and-horse thing…” Qiao Jiajin patted the cart beside him. “Does it mean that much to you?”
“No, as I said… I simply want to recreate these lost artifacts. They’re fragments of history, brilliant yet vanished in the river of time.”
“What’s the point?” Qiao Jiajin asked.
“The point?”
“From what you all just said, it sounds like this thing helped Zhuge Liang, meaning it was a transport device, right?”
“Correct,” Di Ma nodded. “Many ancient texts record that the Wooden Ox and Gliding Horse were carts used by Zhuge Liang to transport provisions through mountainous terrain.”
“Then it should matter to Zhuge Liang, not you,” Qiao Jiajin said. “Are you dedicating your whole life to this? Did Zhuge Liang even approve?”
“Huh…?”
“Maybe I’m overstepping,” Qiao Jiajin chuckled wryly, shaking his head. “I just hope you find time to do something happier, not this.”
“You…” Di Ma sighed, unsure why he was even bothering to talk to this annoying tattooed man. “There’s no need to butter me up before the game. Besides my obsession, I have nothing left that brings me joy. If you fail this game, you’ll die more miserably than anywhere else.”
“Is it really that hard?” Qiao Jiajin said. “Don’t we just need to push the cart back and forth once each to win?”
“No…” Di Ma shook his head. “The original design of the Wooden Ox and Gliding Horse was for ‘transportation’… So simply traversing the track yourselves is meaningless…”
“What?” Qiao Jiajin suddenly looked lost. “Wait a second… Didn’t you just say we’d win if everyone completes a round trip on the track?”
“Yes, but that wasn’t the full rule.” Di Ma smirked. “All seven of you must ride the Wooden Ox and Gliding Horse for a round trip to pass.”
“*What?!*” Qiao Jiajin froze. “You… you damn… you horse lady, what kind of nonsense is that? Running barefoot on the ground doesn’t count?”
“No,” Di Ma said firmly. “I’ll be watching the entire time. All seven must ride the ‘Wooden Ox and Gliding Horse’ for a round trip. Any cheating will result in punishment.”
“This is really tough…” Qiao Jiajin lowered his head, then glanced back at his teammates, as if waiting for their input.
Even though Qi Xia wasn’t here, Qiao Jiajin was still leading a group of “mini-brains.”
“So… what do you all think?”
“Uh… Qiao-ge, come here for a sec.” Bai Jiu tugged at his sleeve.
Qiao Jiajin nodded and followed the others to a corner.
“Got any ideas?”
“Pretty much…” Bai Jiu nodded. “Even though this is a speed-based game, it seems like teamwork is still necessary.”
Yun Shijiu also nodded. “Right. Di Ma only counts the people riding the ‘Wooden Ox and Gliding Horse.’ He didn’t say anything about the ones on the track…”
“Looks like Shijiu and I are on the same page,” Bai Jiu said. “We can send everyone out each round.”
“Everyone…?”
“There are seven of us,” Bai Jiu explained. “Each round, we just need one person sitting on the cart, with three people on each side stabilizing it. That’ll significantly increase our chances of making it across.”
“Is that how it works?” Qiao Jiajin frowned, scratching his head. Something felt off. “Have any of you ever walked hand-in-hand on ice?”
“Uh… no…” The others shook their heads.
“Me neither,” Qiao Jiajin said. “But I can guess—while there’s a chance to keep everyone steady, there’s also a chance that one slip could take everyone down. If one person falls, the rest might lose balance, and even the person on the cart could topple.”
“That… that’s possible…” Bai Jiu admitted.
“Does your team ever play those coordination games…?” Qiao Jiajin asked. “Like moving in sync?”
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