Chapter 1102: Raising the Stakes
Zheng Yingxiong's nose twitched slightly. He had actually caught a faint scent of "hesitation" emanating from Qi Xia's direction.
But that scent vanished in an instant, replaced by nothing but caution.
Zheng Yingxiong couldn't help but look at Qi Xia with confusion. The phrase "The one with the largest area wins" had actually made Qi Xia hesitate again...?
Could it be that he had never been confident in winning this game from the start...?
Zheng Yingxiong then recalled the scene from their previous game of "Synodic Month." Based on his speculation about Qi Xia, if the same rules were applied consecutively, Qi Xia should have figured out the game rules in the first round, found a solution in the second round, and broken the game in the third round.
Now that the third round was also the decisive round, where exactly did this trace of "hesitation" come from for Qi Xia?
Zheng Yingxiong turned his head to look at Xuanwu, knowing that the problem could only lie with the referee.
After all, the more common-sense the knowledge required, the stranger Xuanwu's judgment would be.
"Qinglong, the rules are getting more and more abstract." Chen Junnan pointed at the note in Xuanwu's hand and said, "How do we calculate the area? Do we include the shared area?"
The others also pondered this rule carefully, feeling that it wasn't much different from the second round. Since both players could only submit one "character," the concept of "area" was usually vague.
For example, if one person submitted "hill" (丘) and the other submitted "forest" (林), although both characters had a large area, there was no way to specify exactly how much area they occupied, nor was there a way to prove that the area one listed was definitely larger than the other's.
So it would ultimately fall into another debate in the second round, depending on how Xuanwu judged it. Whoever she deemed larger would win this round.
Thus, this game of "Cangjie Chess" required considering too many factors. Besides following the rules, one had to consider including the "soldier," and then guess Xuanwu's cognition. Only by meeting all these conditions could one win.
Chen Junnan thought for a long time, feeling that this time the two should only submit "hill" and "forest." Since Qi Xia could find a way to assemble two "wood" radicals, but Qinglong couldn't, these two characters were likely the final answer.
Qinglong would submit "hill," and Qi Xia would submit "forest." That was the largest thing Chen Junnan could think of at the moment.
As for hills and forests... no one could guess which Xuanwu would consider larger. So Chen Junnan decisively signaled to Qiao Jiajing, and the two immediately began organizing their words, ready to launch a full-scale psychological assault at the last moment.
Qinglong stepped forward, pondered for a moment, and said, "This time, it's my turn first."
"Figured as much," Chen Junnan replied. "You're not willing to take a loss at all."
Qinglong completely ignored Chen Junnan and instead turned his head to look at Qi Xia. "Dare you?"
"No problem," Qi Xia nodded. "I've already conceded twice. There's no point in conceding a third time."
"What do you mean by 'point'?"
"I've already said it. I'm throwing the game," Qi Xia replied.
"But I don't think so," Qinglong shook his head. "The 'father' in the second round was clearly something you came up with on the spot. Although you say you're 'throwing the game,' you weren't sure you'd win, were you? I've never seen anyone throw a game without being certain of the outcome."
"I wasn't sure, but I still had to throw the game," Qi Xia said. "Didn't you want to win against me fair and square in a game of strategy? If I let you have three consecutive turns and you still didn't win, what would you do then?"
"Heh..." A vein on Qinglong's forehead twitched slightly. "What a nice way to put it, 'letting me have three consecutive turns.'"
"It certainly looks that way," Qi Xia nodded.
"But in this world, many things don't care about the process, only the result," Qinglong said. "From your perspective, you've let me have three consecutive rounds. But once you lose, all this 'throwing the game' will become a joke. People will only remember that I won; they won't care about how it happened."
"So this is also a gamble," Qi Xia said. "'Throwing the game' is just my added stake. If I win, these bets will make you lose even more miserably. Then everyone will know that you, the esteemed Qinglong, lost a game after I let you have three consecutive turns."
"Using 'throwing the game' as a stake...?"
"And just as you said, no one remembers the process. Even if I really lose, no one will care that I lost because I was throwing the game. To the world, it's just an ordinary victory for you. Because you are Qinglong, you were supposed to win anyway," Qi Xia said. "But if I win, I get a greater reward. That's my bet."
Qi Xia left the latter half unsaid. In fact, even Xuanwu was part of his bet.
After hearing this, Qinglong paused. "As expected of you... For normal people, the moment a gamble is decided is usually at the end. But for you... a gamble can be set up from the moment the 'bet is placed.'"
"Perhaps even earlier," Qi Xia replied. "I can set things up before placing the bet."
"Is that so..." Qinglong knew Qi Xia was insinuating something, so he said, "I know you've been up to your little tricks. No matter how early you set things up this time, it doesn't matter. As long as you kill Tianlong, I can even forgive all your impolite behavior."
"I'm working on it," Qi Xia replied.
"I've reminded you countless times. You must tell me before you kill Tianlong," Qinglong sneered angrily. "I don't want this deal to go wrong at the last moment."
"But right now, you're trying to kill me," Qi Xia said. "If I die..."
"From what I understand of the current situation, even if you die, the plan won't stop," Qinglong said. "As long as the remaining people act on this order, that's enough. You and I both want Tianlong's life. That's the only link between us."
"We're both using others to kill," Qi Xia said. "Let's see who can keep the knife in their own hands in the end."
After a moment of contemplation, Qinglong stopped speaking and walked straight behind the massive wall.
Chen Junnan and Qiao Jiajing looked up and stared intently at the screen, but Qinglong didn't display his "character" for a long time.
Qinglong lowered his head with a heavy expression, holding a "hill" in his hand.
His mood was also quite troubled. When he had previously designed the rules for the life-or-death game, he had planned for every possible situation, so why hadn't he anticipated that the referee would be "Xuanwu"?
How could a referee who didn't even understand what "father" meant make a judgment?
So if he wanted to win this game, using "hill" was difficult, since Qinglong couldn't predict what Qi Xia would create.
"I have to start from Xuanwu's background..." Qinglong muttered to himself with narrowed eyes. "What is the largest thing in her memory?"