Chapter 1029: Moving Mountains

Qi Xia took Zhang Lüshi's "huo" and earned a point on the screen. Then, he asked for "bao" and combined them to form "pao".

So far, the total score was thirteen points.

Qi Xia lowered his head to study the character "bao" and realized it was like "ba"—theoretically separable, but in this game, it was firmly welded together, impossible to pry apart even with a little force.

"It seems the 'zi' in this game have been calculated," Qi Xia said. "Not every 'zi' can be separated freely."

"Isn't that right?" Chen Junnan said. "That old guy Qinglong doesn't want us to win too quickly or too easily."

Qi Xia tried combining the "zi" he had on hand but found no other possibilities.

Besides his own "bing" and Qiao Jiajin's "xiang", the remaining "zi" would yield very few points even if they managed to grab them.

The priority was to take the "shi" from Zhang Shan and the "zu" from Jin Yuanxun.

"So, did you see the character 'ren' on Chu Tianqiu's screen?" Qi Xia suddenly asked.

"Uh..."

Chen Junnan felt Qi Xia was putting him on the spot. He had glanced at the other screen, but that was all.

He wasn't even sure if he could successfully reach the opponent's "beizhan qu", so how could he have thought to memorize the "zi" on their screen?

"It seems like I didn't... or maybe I did..." Chen Junnan muttered uncertainly. "I should have asked Chu to step aside and let me take a good look."

"It's okay," Qi Xia said. "The fact that you brought back a 'jin' means you played your role well. Just find another chance to take a peek."

"Ha... That's exactly what I was thinking." Chen Junnan nodded with a smile.

"Remember to avoid everyone," Qi Xia added. "Since your real identity isn't Xu Liunian, the game will still force a trigger if you and the opponent enter a room at the same time."

"It's probably inevitable. I didn't run into anyone earlier—that was just luck," Chen Junnan said. "But they're definitely going to use that trick to test if I'm the real Xu Liunian or not. What they won't expect is that once they end up in the same room with me and figure out I'm a fake, they'll have to go through that 'different door'. This move of mine is like a suicide attack—it's going to throw their whole side into chaos."

"Skip the 'suicide' part," Qi Xia said. "Just the 'attack' is fine."

"Alright then," Chen Junnan nodded. "Attack first, and we'll discuss the suicide later."

"Good." Qi Xia glanced at Zhang Chenze and Zheng Yingxiong. "Now that there are fewer people on the 'qianxian', you two keep blocking the others and stop them from entering our 'beizhan qu'."

Chen Junnan understood what Qi Xia meant. Once you could enter the opponent's "beizhan qu", you didn't even need to smash their screen—just seeing the "zi" on it would be valuable intelligence.

For example, he still didn't know how Qi Xia's "mi" was put together.

But if Xiao Chu saw it, he could definitely come up with a way to imitate it.

"Keep the 'huo' with me," Qi Xia said. "Zheng Yingxiong can take the 'che'. The 'beizhan qu' can't store 'zi', but I'm carrying three parts right now—'qiu', 'ba', and 'huo'. Since a 'zi' can be made of three parts, storing three parts should be okay."

"Are you sure?" Chen Junnan said. "Want me to take a 'huo' off your hands?"

"You and Zheng Yingxiong each have two 'zi' now—you've got 'bao' and 'jin', and he's got 'che' and 'che'. Neither of you is safe. But always keep something up your sleeve. If it comes to a gamble with the opponent, don't lay out all your 'zi' at once—make them think you only have one."

The three of them nodded, and Qi Xia kept the three radicals: "qiu", "ba", and "huo".

Now, they could guess about eighty or ninety percent of the "zi" on the opponent's side.

It was certain that Jin Yuanxun had "zu" and Chu Tianqiu had "jiang"—the two most powerful "zi", held by the two people least likely to lose them.

Xu Liunian, pretending to be Chen Junnan, had been exposed by Zheng Yingxiong and lost her "zi", so she must have "che".

Yan Zhichun had given Chen Junnan a "bao", so she was "pao", and now she had "shi" left.

By the same logic, among the first group to cross, there was Wen Qiaoyun. She and Han Yimo had triggered a battle and entered the "door", so the only piece that could cross now was "ma", meaning Wen Qiaoyun had "ma".

That unimportant "zi" meant it didn't matter who won or lost between her and Han Yimo.

"As for the rest..." Qi Xia narrowed his eyes in thought, feeling the situation was straightforward to analyze.

The opponent's unrevealed "zi" were only "xiang" and "shi".

And the people whose identities weren't confirmed were just Zhao Yisheng and Zhang Shan.

Zhao Yisheng couldn't possibly have "shi", because he was too timid and weak—he might just lose it outright.

So, his "zi" was the useless "xiang".

And the remaining "shi"... was held by that insurmountable mountain.

Right now, someone was preparing to topple that mountain.

...

Qiao Jiajin had finished his warm-up exercises and turned to see a Chen Junnan opening their side's door and stepping into the "he dao".

"Jun Nan Zi, wall-hopping again?" Qiao Jiajin asked.

"Lao Qiao, this time it's not just 'wall-hopping'," Chen Junnan said. "I'm planning to go straight for their heart."

"Hmm? That's pretty fierce."

"Any movement from the other side just now?" Chen Junnan asked.

"What exactly do you mean?"

"Can you tell which room has someone in it?" Chen Junnan said. "I'm heading over for a stroll, and if I open a door and see someone, it'll be trouble."

"I can't see from here in the 'he dao'," Qiao Jiajin replied. "I only know that Qiaoyun girl is in the room behind me, playing the game with the writer guy."

"Han Yi Mo probably won't win," Chen Junnan said. "They went into 'hai', which is a 'luck' game, and Wen Qiaoyun is smart—she could even win rock-paper-scissors by thinking ahead."

"I don't know..." Qiao Jiajin shook his head. "But the writer guy still has 'hui xiang', right?"

"That crappy 'hui xiang' of his... if he doesn't use it, he might win, but once he does, it's basically a loss," Chen Junnan said. "In the game, the only 'zai' he attracts is 'failure'. The more he fears 'failure', the more likely it is to happen."

As the two were talking, a door on the opposite side slowly opened, with Zhang Shan and Yan Zhichun standing inside.