Chapter 166: The Rope's Function

"Su Shan, you're going all in, and that's going to get you killed," Qi Xia said. "When you're planning tactics, it's best to view the situation from the enemy's perspective."

"Is that so?" Su Shan replied indifferently. "Are you teaching me how to use strategies?"

Inside the glass room, with a crisp sound, a brick fell from above, landing on both of their heads at the same time.

This was Zhao Yisheng's first time seeing something that could be used for defense, so he quickly stepped forward to pick up the brick.

But as soon as he looked up, he saw something swinging toward him, so he instinctively raised his hand to block it. He felt a brute force hit him, causing him to stagger back a few steps before falling to the ground.

Zi Chen's eyes were bloodshot as he straddled Zhao Yisheng, grabbing the brick and smashing it down hard.

Zhao Yisheng hurriedly dropped his own brick and raised his hands to protect his head.

The tall man's attacks landed chaotically on his arms. Zhao Yisheng had never endured such a beating in his life and felt as if his arms were breaking.

"Ahhh!" Zhao Yisheng shouted in panic. "Murder! Murder!"

Zi Chen smashed wildly like a madman, continuing until Zhao Yisheng's screams turned into sobbing wails. Only then did Di Ji's voice slowly ring out: "Time's up, please stop."

Hearing those words, Zi Chen paused in surprise, coming to his senses and looking at the man beneath him, who was now wailing continuously. Although he had protected his head with his arms, blood was flowing from his mouth and nose.

"You..." Zi Chen started to say something but swallowed it back. Slowly, he stood up, brick in hand, and walked away to throw it aside.

Qi Xia sighed helplessly, just as he had expected.

In a situation where the same cards were played, Zhao Yisheng was bound to lose.

As Qi Xia was pondering, Di Ji picked up the walkie-talkie and said in a cold tone: "Please discard the prop immediately."

Qi Xia was startled and quickly turned to look. Zhao Yisheng was lying on the ground, groaning and rolling around as if in pain all over, with his brick still untouched nearby.

"Hey..." Qi Xia slowly stood up and went to the glass wall, tapping on it. "Zhao Yisheng, are you okay? You need to discard the prop right away."

"I'm done with this..." Zhao Yisheng's muffled voice came from inside the glass room. "You've been messing with me the whole time. If we keep fighting, I'll die..."

"I'm not messing with you," Qi Xia said. "If you give up now, we'll both really die."

He knew the hardest part of this game was that the "Cehua Zhe" and "Boudou Zhe" had almost no way to communicate, forcing them to cooperate based on their own independent tactics.

If their opinions diverged, it would mean certain death.

"Please step away from the glass, Cehua Zhe," Di Ji said coldly.

"Zhao Yisheng." Qi Xia called out sternly. "Get up first."

"Then promise me... in the next round, give me a 'Dao'!" Zhao Yisheng said from the ground. "I want to kill him—give me a 'Dao'!"

After hearing this, Qi Xia subtly squeezed the card in his hand. He did have a "Dao Zi," but as a key to victory, he absolutely couldn't play it recklessly.

"Zhao Yisheng... it's up to me to decide which card to play," Qi Xia said. "I'm the Cehua Zhe."

"I don't care if you're the Cehua Zhe—if you don't give me a 'Dao'! In the next round, I'll make sure we both die!!!" Zhao Yisheng shouted, thrashing on the ground like a child throwing a tantrum.

"Please step away from the glass immediately, Cehua Zhe!!!" Di Ji shouted sharply.

Qi Xia's eyes suddenly dimmed. Working with someone like Zhao Yisheng was indeed problematic—he just wouldn't trust him.

Or perhaps...?

Thinking of this, Qi Xia paused and said: "Alright, Zhao Yisheng, I understand. You get up first."

Only then did Zhao Yisheng slowly stand up, pick up the brick from the ground, and mutter curses as he walked toward the window behind him.

The pained expression on his face vanished completely after he turned around, replaced by a cold demeanor. He gave Qi Xia a meaningful look.

"Kid, got it?" Zhao Yisheng thought to himself.

Seeing Zhao Yisheng's expression, Qi Xia smirked: "I knew it..."

Zhao Yisheng discarded the brick, and Qi Xia sat back at the table.

The fifth round was about to begin.

"Please draw a card," Di Ji gestured.

Su Shan, who had eagerly drawn cards every time before, didn't move this time.

Qi Xia looked at her curiously and asked: "What's wrong?"

"You go first," Su Shan said coldly. "It's always me first—it doesn't seem fair."

"Not fair?"

Qi Xia thought for a moment and decided not to argue, reaching out to draw a card.

As expected, it was the most common "Shengzi."

Was this a bad card?

No, it was just the right one.

Qi Xia shuffled all the cards in his hand and then placed the "Shengzi" face down on the table.

Zhao Yisheng wasn't a fool—he had become a neurosurgeon for a reason. His earlier act of playing injured was to trick the opponent into using up all their "Dunpai."

This "Shengzi" came at just the right time, so let it play an extraordinary role.

After thinking for a while, Su Shan also placed a card face down. Her expression seemed especially cautious.

"Please reveal your cards."

Both flipped their cards at the same time—it was two "Shengzi."

"Qi Xia, you've let me figure it out," Su Shan whispered.

Qi Xia saw the opponent's card but didn't show any surprise.

This girl named Su Shan was very clever, and seeing through Zhao Yisheng's trick was within expectations.

Too bad this strategy had successfully used up one of her "Shengzi."

Zhao Yisheng wouldn't be so dramatic as to gamble both their lives on a "Dao Zi," but his tactics were a bit rushed.

Two ropes dropped inside the glass room.

Zhao Yisheng stepped forward expressionlessly and picked up the rope. He knew Qi Xia understood his intention.

But why did the opponent also have a "Shengzi"?

Had they run out of "Dunpai"?

Or had that girl seen through the trick?

This was Zi Chen's first time getting a "Shengzi," and his face looked very unnatural. In the first four rounds, his props had been either "Dao Zi" or stones, but now he had the least lethal rope.

As he hesitated, Zhao Yisheng swung his rope and whipped it at him.

Before Zi Chen could block, the rope struck his arm.

The pain was worse than being hit with an iron rod.

"Ah!!" Zi Chen yelled, nearly dropping the rope. "You bastard..."

He folded the rope in his hand and stormed forward two steps: "How dare you whip me!!"

Zi Chen knew he couldn't wield the rope freely, so he shortened its length as much as possible, holding it like a whip, and struck Zhao Yisheng several times.

Zhao Yisheng didn't back down either. After blocking a few times with his arm, he folded his rope and whipped back.

Qi Xia nodded at the sight.

So, a "Shengzi" wasn't completely useless. When both sides had "Shengzi," they would instinctively keep their distance.

This situation forced them to swing the ropes at each other, and once that happened, the game would spiral out of control.