Chapter 1002: 奇招 (Unexpected Move)

After hearing this, Qiao Jijin curled his lips and said, "That just means Qing Long isn't a good boss."

"It's inevitable," Qi Xia replied. "Ren Ji holds such a low status compared to Qing Long. I even suspect that in Qing Long's eyes, they might be worth less than ordinary Can Yu Zhe. After all, Can Yu Zhe can provide some entertainment, and you might occasionally find bold newcomers, but Ren Ji just follows orders blindly. Qing Long wouldn't like that kind of person."

"What a rebel..." Qiao Jijin said. "So people who obey him have low status?"

"It's hard to explain, but that's just how Qing Long is," Qi Xia said.

"So what should we do now?" Zhang Chen Ze asked.

"We'll wait for the others to return. I need a complete map of the terrain," Qi Xia said.

The two of them could only wait in silence. During this time, Zhang Chen Ze glanced at the Feng Huang Xian Shu Tai in front of Qi Xia, which still only displayed the character "Bing."

"Qi Xia..." she couldn't help but ask, "even though you're the Zhu Shuai, I have a question."

"What is it?"

"That character you left for yourself... does it really mean anything?"

"Oh?" Qi Xia reached into his pocket and pulled out his pendant with the character on it.

It was "Bing."

The true identity of the red side's Zhu Shuai was "Bing."

"I don't really understand..." Zhang Chen Ze said. "You already have the character 'Bing' on your screen..."

"Just because it's there, does that mean I can't keep it with me?" Qi Xia asked.

"Well, you could, but I think 'Bing' isn't important for us right now," Zhang Chen Ze said. "We don't need this character anymore. In other words, even if it were lost and fell into the enemy's hands, it wouldn't affect us much. Yet you're choosing to keep it with you, in the safest 'Bei Zhan Qu'..."

"No," Qi Xia interrupted. "Lawyer Zhang, I've calculated it. If we lose 'Bing' right now, it's basically the same as losing the whole game."

Lawyer Zhang furrowed her brow, clearly not understanding why protect a character that had already been scored.

Qi Xia didn't explain further to Lawyer Zhang. He just stared at the characters for both sides that he had written on the wall, lost in thought.

Whether it was bad luck or the Di Long's doing, their side's chances of winning were extremely low right now.

This game based on "Xiangqi" was unfair from the start. The more you understood the rules, the more you realized the scales were tipped toward Chu Tian Qiu from the beginning. To turn the tide, they needed more characters and had to protect "Bing" at all costs.

After all, even without seizing any characters, just by piecing together the ones in Chu Tian Qiu's team, they would win first.

"Have I overlooked something..." Qi Xia thought to himself, "or is it that I haven't fully grasped the 'rules'? Why is it so hard for us to win..."

As he was pondering, his teammates started returning one by one. After they shared their experiences, their stories were almost identical: there were ten rooms in total in front of them, each with a single door in the center.

Everyone except Qiao Jijin had entered the doors to check, and without exception, they all encountered Ren Ji Sheng Xiao.

"Twenty doors..." Qi Xia stroked his chin and thought. "But there are only twelve Sheng Xiao. How are they arranged?"

Once everyone reported the positions of the Sheng Xiao they had encountered, they realized that among the twelve, there was no "Yang" and no "Long." Before reaching Chu He Han Jie, there were ten rooms with ten Ren Ji Sheng Xiao.

"Lao Qi," Chen Jun Nan called out, "so 'Long' and 'Yang' are on the other side? Should we cross over to check?"

"I don't think that's necessary," Qi Xia said. "'Yang' represents lying, which is a tactic used constantly in this game, so there's no need for a separate room. And 'Long' represents all kinds, so it doesn't need to be listed out individually."

"Impressive, as expected from you," Chen Jun Nan nodded. "So the rooms on the other side don't have 'Long' or 'Yang' either..."

"Right," Qi Xia agreed. "The two sides are probably mirrored. You all have the same ten rooms in front of you. But be careful... the Di Long mentioned earlier that if we and the enemy enter the same room at the same time, the door will lock until there's a winner, so check first before going in."

"Got it," everyone nodded in response.

"If I'm not mistaken..." Qi Xia narrowed his eyes and said, "Chu Tian Qiu will probably stick to guerrilla tactics and probing in the early stages. He needs to train his team's 'Hui Xiang.' After all, Zhang Shan, Jin Yuan Xun, Xu Liu Nian, and even Zhao Yi Sheng can't use 'Hui Xiang' right away—they need prerequisites. If we really want to take a character, we have to catch them off guard early on."

"So what's our strategy?" Chen Jun Nan asked. "Do we need to pair up for gambles from the start?"

"The other side isn't ordinary," Qi Xia said. "Chu Tian Qiu alone is no pushover, and with Wen Qiao Yun and Yan Zhi Chun, their overall strength is very strong, even if they're not united. So standard tactics won't work—we need something unexpected."

"Unexpected?" Chen Jun Nan paused. "How can we pull off something unexpected here? Who's going to do it?"

No one spoke, and they all turned to look at Chen Jun Nan.

"...?"

Chen Jun Nan blinked in confusion.

"Wait... not again?"

"Chen Jun Nan, I've got an unexpected move for you this time," Qi Xia said with a smile. "Our first step is to make sure the other side can't predict our thoughts at all and to disrupt their unity as much as possible, making them even more divided."

After saying that, he glanced at Qiao Jijin: "Fist, is there a standalone door in Chu He Han Jie?"

"Nope," Qiao Jijin replied, then felt something was off. "How did you know I went to Chu He Han Jie?"

Qi Xia chuckled and turned to Chen Jun Nan: "Chen Jun Nan, your mission now is to go to Chu He Han Jie and conduct a 'full psychological attack.'"

With that, he waved to the group: "Hand over all your characters."

...

Once both sides had discussed their second-round strategies, they began moving through the rooms, each person extra cautious before entering, afraid of running into the enemy.

Jin Yuan Xun pushed open the second door and entered Chu He Han Jie, only to find Chen Jun Nan standing there.

Just as he was about to say something, he noticed something odd. Chen Jun Nan's pants pockets were bulging with chains sticking out, as if he were carrying the entire team's characters.

"Huh...?" Jin Yuan Xun was stunned.

"What are you looking at?!" Chen Jun Nan asked. "Never seen a handsome guy with over eighty characters on him before?"

Jin Yuan Xun blinked, sensing that the rules didn't quite work that way.