Chapter 1104: Where Does the Dream Lie?
Xuanwu stared at the strange pattern on the enormous screen, her lips moving slightly as she asked softly, "This is..."
"A dream..." Chen Junnan replied. Though he said it, his heart was a little uneasy.
Could this single "word" really triumph over "Village"?
It wasn't that Chen Junnan felt there was anything wrong with Qi Xia's reasoning; rather, the word "dream" seemed somewhat out of bounds.
Now he could only hope that Qinglong wouldn't notice such a detail.
"A dream..." Xuanwu froze for a moment before speaking again. "A 'dream' is good... in a 'dream,' there is everything. Only in a 'dream' can one leave the 'village'..."
Qi Xia, with a cautious expression, stepped out from behind the screen. The third round had come to an end.
Both Qinglong and Qi Xia looked somewhat uneasy, as if each harbored some concern in his heart.
Rarely, neither of them spoke first. They simply stood beside Xuanwu, awaiting her judgment.
Just as Qiao Jiajin was about to say something, Chen Junnan reached out and stopped him. He felt that now was not the time to initiate "psychological warfare."
Chen Junnan knew that Qi Xia had done everything he needed to do.
With Xuanwu as the judge, Qinglong had given an absolutely unassailable answer—one that stemmed from his opponent's life obsession, offering something beyond mere physical meaning.
Under any normal circumstances, this game should have been lost. But Qi Xia's thinking was unorthodox; he had proposed the solution of "dream."
He had done everything he could. Looking at all possibilities, only the word "dream" could make Xuanwu begin to hesitate.
But Chen Junnan knew that this round was very different from the previous ones, because Qi Xia had broken the rules.
If they initiated psychological warfare first, there was a good chance Qinglong would spot the logical flaw and turn it against them. So the best approach was to let Qinglong attack first, and then he and Qiao Jiajin could counter with logic.
Perhaps, with a very slim chance... if neither side raised any objections, the game could end directly with "dream" as the winner.
Xuanwu dragged her floor-length hair and took a slow step forward.
"Village" and "dream"—the answer seemed rather obvious to her.
How could a "village" that traps you ever match a "dream" that holds infinite possibilities?
But what she wasn't used to was that no one had yet come to explain to her which of these two characters was greater.
"A 'dream' is good..." Xuanwu murmured to herself, seemingly tipping the scales of this contest toward Qi Xia.
"Wait..." Qinglong seemed unable to restrain himself, ready to speak first.
Qi Xia and Chen Junnan both looked at him at the same time, their expressions different.
"Xuanwu," Qinglong said. "Where is the 'dream'?"
"What...?" Xuanwu asked.
"You know where the 'village' is, but do you know where the 'dream' is?" Qinglong pressed.
Chen Junnan's brow furrowed. He knew Qinglong had finally spotted Qi Xia's flaw, and the situation was about to get dangerous.
He turned his head imperceptibly toward Qi Xia, only to find that Qi Xia's expression remained unchanged, merely looking coldly at Qinglong.
"Where is the 'dream'..." Xuanwu murmured. "The 'dream' seems to be..."
Qinglong snatched the slip of paper from Xuanwu's hand and unfolded it in front of everyone. "The final rule of this game is 'the one with the largest area wins.' But the 'dream' does not exist in reality—how can it 'occupy an area'?"
Everyone turned to look at Qi Xia, expecting some insight, but Qi Xia remained silent. After a moment, he shook his head. "I really hadn't thought of that."
"...?" Chen Junnan exchanged a glance with Qiao Jiajin. Something seemed off about Qi Xia's demeanor.
Was this... admitting defeat?
"So is 'village' truly greater...?" Xuanwu blinked in confusion. "'Dream' does not exist in the real world. Only 'village' exists... The 'village' has an area, but the 'dream' has none."
Qi Xia nodded. "Not much different from what I imagined. I also feel that 'dream' isn't quite suitable."
"Oh?" Qinglong raised an eyebrow. "So you knew you couldn't win the third round?"
"More or less," Qi Xia nodded. "After all, the 'word' you gave hit Xuanwu's thought process perfectly. That exceeded my expectations. I know nothing about Xuanwu, so I couldn't predict how she would judge."
"Then you could have at least put up a fight," Qinglong said. "If I were you, even after pulling out 'dream,' I could have come up with some argument."
"Is that so?" Qi Xia nodded ambiguously. "Perhaps your 'village' crushed me the moment I saw it. What followed was just a death throes—anything more would have been sophistry."
"Ha..." Qinglong slowly grinned. "Qi Xia, Qi Xia... seeing you like this brings me indescribable joy."
"What do you mean?"
"The expression on your face when you admit defeat," Qinglong replied.
"But I feel I have no expression right now," Qi Xia said coldly. "Besides, I haven't lost. Even if you win this round, we're still one to one."
"So what?" Qinglong countered. "I know what 'rules' are in that box. From now on, I can hit Xuanwu's life obsession every time. You, on the other hand... well, that's hard to say."
"Is that so...?" Qi Xia nodded. "You think there's plenty of time left to slowly crush me. You also believe the score in this game so far is really one to one... That actually surprises me."
"Isn't it?" Qinglong said.
"This time, at the root of it, I failed to 'interpret the question,' but you 'broke the rules,'" Qi Xia said. "I wonder, in Xuanwu's eyes... how does she judge someone who 'breaks the rules' during a game?"
"You...?" Qinglong faltered.
"The so-called 'Azure Dragon,' the so-called 'god,' is ultimately just an ordinary person who thinks he's clever. But then again, if you had truly exceptional wisdom, you wouldn't have let the 'Land of Finality' come to this," Qi Xia said. "I'd like to know... what was the order when you created 'village'?"
"The 'village' only requires two components. Does it need any particular order?" Qinglong asked.
"Well said, 'two components.'" Qi Xia nodded. "'Wood' and 'cun,' right? A simple 'village' appeared in your hands just like that."
Qinglong was about to agree, but suddenly realized something and fell silent.
"You think you're a 'god,' so every goal you achieve is beyond question. You also assume that every path leading to 'wood' is reasonable." Qi Xia looked up at the 'village' on the screen. "But you have no idea how long it took us so-called 'mortals' to piece together that same 'wood.'"
"Qi Xia... you..."
"Every step we take is so cautious, because one misstep means utter annihilation. That's why we always follow the rules."