Chapter 1102: Add Annotation

Zheng Yingxiong's nose twitched slightly, and he actually caught a faint scent of "hesitation" coming from Qi Xia's direction.

But that scent vanished in an instant, replaced only by caution.

Zheng Yingxiong looked at Qi Xia with confusion. How could the phrase "the one with the largest area wins" make Qi Xia hesitate again...?

Was it possible that Qi Xia had never been certain of winning this game...?

Zheng Yingxiong recalled the scene from their earlier "Shuo Wang Yue" game. Based on his understanding of Qi Xia, if they played with the same rules repeatedly, Qi Xia should have figured out the game rules in the first round, found the solution in the second, and broken the game in the third.

Now, with the third round being the decisive one, where on earth was this hint of "hesitation" from Qi Xia coming from?

Zheng Yingxiong turned his head toward Xuanwu, knowing the issue had to be with the judge.

After all, the more a judgment relied on common knowledge, the stranger Xuanwu's decisions would be.

Chen Jun'nan pointed at the paper in Xuanwu's hand and said,"The rules are getting more abstract, Qinglong.""How do we calculate the area? Should we use square meters?"

The others also pondered the rule carefully, feeling it wasn't much different from the second round. Since both players could only provide a single "character," the concept of "area" remained vague and unclear.

For example, if one person gave "Qiu" and the other gave "Lin," even though both characters represented large areas, there was no way to specify exactly how much area they covered or prove that one was definitively larger than the other.

In the end, it would still devolve into the same debate as the second round, depending entirely on how Xuanwu judged it—who she deemed larger would win that round.

So, this game of "Cangjie Qi" involved far too many factors: not only following the rules and including "Bing," but also guessing Xuanwu's perceptions. Only by meeting all these conditions could someone possibly win.

After thinking for a long time, Chen Jun'nan concluded that this time, the two players would likely just give "Qiu" and "Lin." After all, Qi Xia had managed to come up with two "Mu" before, but Qinglong couldn't, so these two characters were probably the final answers.

Qinglong would give "Qiu," and Qi Xia would give "Lin"—these were the largest things Chen Jun'nan could imagine.

As for whether a hill or a forest was larger... no one could predict what Xuanwu would think, so Chen Jun'nan quickly signaled to Qiao Jiajin with his eyes. The two of them immediately began organizing their arguments, preparing for a full psychological assault at the last moment.

Qinglong stepped forward, pondered for a moment, and said,"This time, it's still me first."

"You guessed it," Chen Jun'nan replied. "You're not one to take any losses."

Qinglong ignored Chen Jun'nan completely and turned to Qi Xia:"Dare you?"

"No problem," Qi Xia nodded. "I've let you go twice already. Letting you a third time would be pointless."

"What do you mean by 'pointless'?"

"I've told you, I'm holding back."

"But I don't think so." Qinglong shook his head. "In the second round, that 'Fu' was clearly something you thought up on the spot. Even though you're saying you're holding back, you don't seem confident you'll win. I've never seen anyone hold back without being sure."

"I really don't have confidence, but I'm still holding back." Qi Xia said. "Aren't you trying to beat me fair and square through this game? If I let you win three times in a row and you still don't win, what would you do then?"

"Hah..." Qinglong's forehead vein twitched slightly. "What a nice way to put it—'letting me win three times in a row.'"

"That's just how it looks." Qi Xia nodded.

"But in this world, people don't remember the process, only the result." Qinglong said. "To you, it might be three rounds of letting me win, but if you lose, all that holding back will just become a joke. People will only remember that I won, not how it happened."

"So, it's a gamble." Qi Xia said. "Holding back is my extra stake. If I win, it'll make your loss even worse. Then everyone will know that you, the great Qinglong, lost the game even after I held back three times in a row."

"Using 'holding back' as a stake...?"

"And just as you said, no one remembers the process. If I really lose, no one will care that it was because I held back. To the world, you'd just have a normal win—after all, you're Qinglong, so you're supposed to win anyway." Qi Xia said. "But if I win, I'll get a better reward. That's my bet."

Qi Xia left out the second half—he was also betting on Xuanwu.

Qinglong paused for a moment: "Not bad... For most people, the decisive moment in a gamble is the end, but for you... you start setting up from the very moment you place your bet."

"Maybe even earlier." Qi Xia replied. "I could set up before placing the bet."

"Is that so..." Qinglong knew Qi Xia was implying something, so he said, "I know you've been up to your own schemes all along. It doesn't matter how early you started this time—as long as you kill Tianlong, I can even forgive all your rude behavior."

"I'm working on it." Qi Xia replied.

"I've reminded you countless times: make sure to tell me before you kill Tianlong." Qinglong said with a laugh laced with anger. "I don't want this deal to fall apart at the last minute."

"But you're trying to kill me right now." Qi Xia said. "If I die..."

"From what I know about the situation, the plan won't stop if you die." Qinglong said. "As long as the others follow through, it'll be fine. We both want Tianlong dead—that's the only link between us."

"We're both using others as tools to kill." Qi Xia said. "It's just a matter of who ends up holding the knife."

After a moment of silence, Qinglong stopped talking and walked straight toward the massive wall.

Chen Jun'nan and Qiao Jiajin looked up at the screen intently, but Qinglong didn't display his character for a long time.

Qinglong stood there with a heavy expression, his head bowed, holding a "Qiu" in his hand.

His mind was in turmoil. When he designed the life-or-death rules earlier, he had planned for every scenario, but why hadn't he anticipated that the judge would be Xuanwu?

How could a judge who didn't even understand what "Fu" was make the next judgment?

So, winning this game with "Qiu" would be extremely difficult, since Qinglong couldn't guess what Qi Xia would create.

"The only way is to think from Xuanwu's background..." Qinglong narrowed his eyes and muttered to himself, "For her... what would be the largest thing in her memories?"