Chapter 983: Summoning Generals
Qi Xia and Chu Tianqiu turned to look at the light door.
The interior of the light door was pitch black, swirling endlessly like a vortex, impossible to discern where it led with the naked eye.
After hesitating for a moment, Qi Xia took the lead and strode toward the light door.
Without a moment's hesitation, he stepped directly into it. The light door, as if it were a living creature with a soft body, expanded slightly as Qi Xia entered, as if actively swallowing his figure.
Chu Tianqiu followed closely behind, also swallowed by the darkness in the same instant.
Dilong watched the two enter one after the other, then stepped through the door herself.
Before Chen Junnan and Qiao Jiajin could ask a few questions, the man-high light door abruptly vanished without warning in midair.
"Damn it..." Chen Junnan muttered softly, turning to look at Qiao Jiajin and Yan Zhichun. None of the three knew what to do now.
Dilong had said that everyone except the two commanders should wait here... but how long were they supposed to wait?
It was supposed to be a "team" battle... yet the entire team couldn't enter together.
...
Qi Xia opened his eyes and looked at where he was. It was a very strange, vast space.
All around was pitch black, empty and boundless.
Above the spots where he, Chu Tianqiu, and Dilong stood, a beam of light shone down. Amid the darkness, it was as if three spotlights had been set up, making them the focus of this space.
The three of them stood scattered in a triangular formation, and behind Dilong stood a strange door.
The door had no building or wall behind it; it stood there alone.
"Gentlemen," Dilong said first. "Welcome to 'Cangjie Chess.' I am Dilong, the referee for this game."
The two men turned to look around, neither responding.
"Now we begin the first phase of the game: 'Summoning Generals.'"
With that, she waved her hand lightly, and in front of each of them, a rough, black electronic screen rose from the ground, like a blackboard.
Qi Xia reached out and touched the screen. Where his fingertip passed, a dazzling red light lit up, as if he could write on it.
"Now let me explain the rules for 'Summoning Generals,'" Dilong said. "You two will take turns writing names to 'summon generals.' The chosen individuals will become your teammates for this game. Each side, including the 'commander,' needs a total of seven people."
"Write names...?" Chu Tianqiu, after hearing this, also reached out and gently swiped his finger across the screen, stirring up a small array of red lights.
"Correct." Dilong nodded. "The screens in front of you are specially made. Their cathode ray tubes light up when heated, allowing you to write names."
"Using red font to write the names of teammates isn't very auspicious, is it?" Chu Tianqiu laughed.
"Ha..." Dilong was amused by Chu Tianqiu's remark. "Auspicious...? How many people on this land can participate in a 'Dilong' game? To them, the 'generals' you summon are no different from a death warrant. So feel free to go all out."
Hearing this, neither Chu Tianqiu nor Qi Xia moved to write any names. They were already well-versed in how these 'Earth-Level' referees operated.
There might be a trap in this. They couldn't act rashly.
"What's the matter...?" Dilong asked again. "It's supposed to be a 'team battle,' but you don't have suitable teammates?"
Qi Xia paused for a few seconds, then asked, "What do you mean by 'taking turns choosing'?"
"You decide among yourselves," Dilong replied. "Each time, one person chooses. After one chooses, the second person chooses."
"Is there any requirement for the person being chosen?" Qi Xia asked.
"None at all," Dilong replied.
At this point, Chu Tianqiu suddenly thought of something and asked, "Does that mean... we can choose people from the 'opponent's' side?"
"Theoretically, yes." Dilong nodded. "But I must also explain the situation... Each time you choose a teammate, I will open the door behind me, directly locate that person, and explain the situation to them. If the person chooses to 'refuse,' they will be considered a 'fleeing general' and will be executed by me on the spot."
"'Fleeing general'..." Chu Tianqiu pondered for a moment, then said with a smile, "What a dirty game this is... Put nicely, it's called 'summoning generals.' Put bluntly, you're just asking us to kill the people the other side trusts by 'summoning' them, aren't you?"
Qi Xia knew the game had already begun from this rule.
Once he and Chu Tianqiu chose people from the opponent's camp, those chosen would have only two options.
Either join the opponent's side, or be killed by Dilong on the spot.
"It's already come to this..." Qi Xia reached up and touched his forehead, thinking to himself, "I need to preserve the belief of 'endless life' as much as possible... After all, there's still a tough battle to fight after this game."
"Who goes first?" Dilong asked.
Chu Tianqiu and Qi Xia looked at each other. Qi Xia said, "You go first."
"Alright."
Without any hesitation, Chu Tianqiu reached out and wrote two vivid red characters on the screen in his elegant, slender handwriting:
"Zhang Shan."
The screen flickered, then swallowed the characters. The wooden door behind Dilong also began to glow at that moment.
Dilong smiled, turned around, and opened the door. A blinding light shone into the endless darkness.
Outside the door was a classroom in "Heaven's Mouth." Zhang Shan was standing with his back to the door, talking to Old Lu, who was in front of him.
Old Lu was the first to notice something. He pointed shakily behind Zhang Shan, unable to speak.
Zhang Shan sensed something was wrong, frowned, and turned his head. He saw a black portal glowing behind him, and in the center of the portal were the blood-red words "Zhang Shan, Accept the Order."
"What the hell..." Zhang Shan had never seen such a scene before. It looked like some kind of military order, but the black background and red letters gave it the vibe of a summons of death.
Before he could say anything, a faint, ethereal voice came from near the portal:
"Commander 'Chu Tianqiu' hereby summons 'Zhang Shan' to assist in 'Cangjie Chess.' To accept the order, step into the portal. To refuse, step back five paces."
"Chu Tianqiu..." Zhang Shan frowned, pondering.
From the perspective of Chu Tianqiu and the other two inside the portal, Zhang Shan seemed to be facing a huge mirror. He stared at it with furrowed brows, apparently at a loss.
After about a minute, Zhang Shan decided to trust what the portal said. He got up and walked into the door. Dilong closed the door after Zhang Shan's figure disappeared from the image.
However, unlike Qi Xia and the other two, Zhang Shan did not appear directly beside them after passing through the door. Instead, he vanished completely after entering the portal.
"What's this?" Chu Tianqiu asked. "Where's my man?"
"This is the 'Summoning Platform,'" Dilong said. "Ordinary generals are not allowed on the platform. They will wait in the 'Preparation Area.' Please continue with your 'Summoning.'"