Chapter 1099: Rotation
After confirming the answer on the screen, Qinglong flicked his sleeves and slowly walked before the crowd, as if victory was already within his grasp.
"Qi Xia, it's your turn," Qinglong said.
A flicker of hesitation crossed Qi Xia's face. He only knew that conceding was not something he would do, so he strode toward the massive wall.
"Playing dirty," Chen Junnan said sourly.
"How is that playing dirty?" Qinglong replied. "Qi Xia just agreed to let me create first. This was the result of mutual negotiation."
"Ha," Chen Junnan laughed. "If we were fighting, would I stab you first, and then you stab me? What, now you get to stab first every time?"
"Unfortunately, that's how gambling with lives works," Qinglong said. "Once both parties agree, there's no room for regret."
Zheng Yingxiong sniffed the air at that moment, clearly detecting the scent of hesitation coming from Qi Xia not far away.
It seemed that even he wasn't confident in his own answer this time.
Now, no one could see Qi Xia's face, and they had no idea what he was pondering.
What other possibilities remained for a "character" that contained "soldier" and was important to humanity?
Han Yimo stared blankly at the people within the venue, still somewhat unclear about his own position.
Was he on Chu Tianqiu's side or Qi Xia's side?
If Qi Xia failed in this life-or-death gamble... would he have to die along with him?
But fortunately, Chu Tianqiu's entire team had already left this place. Having accomplished his mission, he wasn't particularly worried anymore.
Chen Junnan, Qiao Jiajin, Tiantian, and Zhang Chenze were all sweating for Qi Xia.
Now that the "rules" had become increasingly abstract, it was uncertain whether he could win the next round.
If Qi Xia could secure victory in the second round, there would be no need for a third.
But now... could he still find a "character" more important than "rice" from the remaining ones?
The crowd waited quietly for almost a minute, yet Qi Xia still made no move.
Standing before the "Phoenix Bearing the Writing Platform," he stroked his chin and began carefully considering this abstract rule.
Qinglong had clearly rehearsed beforehand. He hadn't even hesitated when creating "rice." Considering this line of thought, it meant that even after rehearsal, Qinglong believed "rice" was the only answer. As long as he created "rice," this game was already invincible.
In that case... was there any way to break this stalemate?
The rules were against him, the situation was against him, the order of moves was against him... So what was in his favor?
Qi Xia narrowed his eyes and looked up at Xuanwu standing beside the massive wall.
Ah, that's right. What might be most in his favor in this game was the "judge."
Because it involved "gambling with lives," this game no longer used the built-in scoring system of the display screen, instead letting Xuanwu determine victory or defeat.
So, was there a "character" that could steal the concept and confuse Xuanwu's thinking?
Qi Xia silently closed his eyes, his thoughts spinning rapidly.
Countless "characters" spread out in his mind like bamboo shoots after a spring rain, then broke apart into countless radicals and components.
These radicals and components combined, dispersed, and rotated again, fluttering forward like dancing butterflies in his mind to recombine with "soldier" through rotation.
And Qi Xia, like a creator looking down from above, observed all the possible rotations of every "character."
Ninety degrees, then another ninety degrees—each radical had already rotated two hundred and seventy degrees, yet Qi Xia still hadn't found a suitable "character" to counter "rice."
"Wait..."
Qi Xia furrowed his brow with his eyes closed, sensing a strange spark of inspiration in the darkness.
Just now, some "character" seemed to flash by, but it was fleeting—gone in an instant, lost in the vast sea of characters.
If that "character" really existed... it might be able to confuse Xuanwu's thinking.
He imagined the radicals composing those two "characters" separately, rotating them ninety degrees several times, but after a moment, he found it didn't quite work.
This "character" wouldn't appear when the radical was rotated ninety degrees; it only emerged for an instant when the radical was rotated forty-five degrees.
So, to form this "character," one radical needed to be rotated forty-five degrees, creating it at an angle.
Realizing this answer, Qi Xia couldn't help but curl his lips.
Was this the hidden mystery of "Chinese characters"?
He had just said that Qinglong's thinking had limitations, but he hadn't expected to be trapped himself.
Who said every rotation of a radical had to be ninety degrees? Why couldn't there be a forty-five-degree rotation?
Qi Xia slowly opened his eyes, looking at the various devices before him.
The only problem now... was whether the "Phoenix Bearing the Writing Platform" could recognize such a bizarre "character."
"The strokes aren't the same, only the shape is identical," Qi Xia murmured.
If it could be recognized... there might still be hope for this round.
After all, when the ancients created characters, they didn't consider strokes—they only pursued shape.
Qi Xia shook his head helplessly. Who could have imagined, at the start of "Cangjie Chess," that this "character" would appear in the game?
The crowd stared at the empty screen in front of the massive display. Lawyer Zhang and Tiantian's palms were sweating, yet Qi Xia still hadn't moved.
A look of displeasure hung on Qinglong's face. He turned to Xuanwu and said, "That's enough, isn't it? Even 'creating characters' should have a time limit. Are we supposed to wait until dark?"
"Alright..." Xuanwu nodded and was about to say something when he noticed the giant screen flickering.
Everyone looked up, watching the answer Qi Xia was about to give.
A few seconds later, a character—"eight"—slowly lit up.
The crowd fell silent. Although it was a