Chapter 1029: Moving Mountains
Qi Xia obtained Lawyer Zhang's "火", scoring a point on the screen, then took her "包" and combined it into "炮".
So far, a total of thirteen points.
Qi Xia lowered his head to study the character "包", finding that, like the character "八", although theoretically separable, in this game they were firmly welded together, unable to budge even with slight force.
"It seems the 'characters' in this game have been calculated," Qi Xia said. "Not every 'character' can be separated without limit."
"Isn't that the truth?" Chen Junnan said. "That old bastard Qinglong doesn't want us to win too quickly, nor does he want us to win too easily."
Qi Xia tried combining the existing "characters" he had on hand and found no other possibilities could be formed.
Apart from his own "兵" and Qiao Jiajin's "相", the remaining "characters", even if stolen, would yield very few points.
The urgent task was to capture the "仕" on Zhang Shan and the "卒" on Jin Yuanxun.
"So, did you see the character '人' on Chu Tianqiu's screen?" Qi Xia changed the subject and asked again.
"Uh..."
Chen Junnan felt that Qi Xia was putting him on the spot. Although he had seen the opponent's screen, it was only a glance.
He wasn't even sure if he could successfully reach the opponent's "Preparation Zone", let alone think ahead to memorize the characters on their screen.
"It seems like there wasn't... or maybe there was..." Chen Junnan muttered. "I should have asked Chu to move aside and let me get a good look."
"It's fine," Qi Xia said. "The fact that you managed to bring back a '巾' shows you acted well enough. Find another opportunity to take another look."
"Haha... I was just thinking the same thing." Chen Junnan nodded with a smile.
"Be sure to avoid everyone," Qi Xia added. "Because your true identity is not Xu Liunian, the game will still be forced to trigger when you enter the same room as an opponent."
"It's probably unavoidable. I was lucky earlier not to run into any opponent," Chen Junnan said. "But the other side will definitely use this trick to test whether I'm the real Xu Liunian or a fake. But they won't expect that once we're in the same room, and they find out I'm a fake, they'll have to enter that 'different door' with me. I'm basically pulling a suicide attack—definitely going to cause chaos on the other side."
"Let's skip the 'suicide'," Qi Xia said. "Just the 'attack' will do."
"Alright then," Chen Junnan nodded. "First 'attack', we'll decide on suicide later."
"Good." Qi Xia looked at Zhang Chenze and Zheng Yingxiong. "Now there are fewer people on the 'front line'. You continue to block the others, don't let them have a chance to enter our 'Preparation Zone'."
Chen Junnan naturally understood Qi Xia's meaning. Once you manage to enter the opponent's "Preparation Zone", you don't even need to smash their screen—just seeing the characters on it is extremely valuable intelligence.
For instance, the character "米" on Qi Xia's screen—Chen Junnan still didn't know how it was assembled.
But if Chu ever saw that character, he would surely figure out a way to replicate it.
"Keep '火' here with me. Zheng Yingxiong will continue to carry '车'," Qi Xia said. "The 'Preparation Zone' cannot store characters. Currently, I have three parts on me: '丘', '八', '火'. A single 'character' can consist of three parts, so storing three parts should not be a violation."
"Are you sure?" Chen Junnan said. "Want me to split a '火' for you?"
"Both you and Zheng Yingxiong currently have two characters on you—you have '包' and '巾', he has '车' and '车'. Strictly speaking, that's not safe," Qi Xia said. "But we need to be cautious. If you do end up gambling with the opponent, don't reveal all the characters at once. Try to make them believe you only have one character."
The three nodded respectively. Qi Xia kept the three radicals: "丘", "八", "火".
Now he could guess about eighty to ninety percent of the characters on the opponent's side.
It was certain that Jin Yuanxun had "卒", and Chu Tianqiu had "将"—the two most important characters were held by the two people least likely to be robbed.
Xu Liunian, impersonating Chen Junnan, had been caught by Zheng Yingxiong and her character taken, so her character was "车".
Yan Zhichun gave Chen Junnan a "包", so her character was "炮". Now she only had "石" left.
Similarly, among the first batch to cross the river was Wen Qiaoyun. She had entered the "door" with Han Yimo for a game. Now the only pieces that could cross the river were "马", so Wen Qiaoyun had "马".
This unimportant character meant it didn't matter who won between her and Han Yimo.
"As for the rest..." Qi Xia squinted and thought for a moment. The situation wasn't hard to analyze.
The two characters not yet revealed on the opponent's side were "象" and "仕".
And the two people whose identities hadn't been determined were Doctor Zhao and Zhang Shan.
Doctor Zhao could not possibly be carrying "仕", because he was too timid and cowardly; he would likely lose that character directly.
So the character on him was the useless "象".
The remaining "仕" was held by that insurmountable mountain.
And someone was about to push that mountain over.
...
Qiao Jiajin had finished his warm-up exercises. Turning his head, he saw a Chen Junnan opening their own door and coming to the "River".
"Lao Qiao, this time it's not simply 'walking through walls'," Chen Junnan said. "This time I'm planning to walk through their hearts."
"Oh? That's impressive."
"Any movement from the other side just now?" Chen Junnan asked.
"Specifically?"
"Can you determine which room has someone?" Chen Junnan said. "I want to take a stroll over there. If I open a door and see someone else, it'll be trouble."
"Standing at the 'River', I can't tell," Qiao Jiajin replied. "I only know that Qiaoyun is in the room behind me, playing a game with the Writer."
"Xiao Han probably won't win," Chen Junnan said. "They entered 'Hai', which is a 'luck' game. Wen Qiaoyun is smart; even if it's rock-paper-scissors, she can win with her brains."
"I don't know either..." Qiao Jiajin shook his head. "But doesn't the Writer still have his 'Echo'?"
"That piece of junk 'Echo' of his... if he doesn't activate it, he might win; once he activates it, it's basically a loss," Chen Junnan said. "The only 'disaster' he can summon in the game is 'failure', because the more afraid he is of 'failure', the easier it is for him to 'fail'."
While they were talking, a door on the other side slowly opened, and Zhang Shan and Yan Zhichun stood inside.