Chapter 166: The Function of the Rope
"Su Shan, you're staking everything on one throw. This will cost you," Qi Xia said. "When you're planning a strategy, you'd better examine the battle situation from the enemy's perspective."
"Is that so?" Su Shan replied indifferently. "Are you teaching me how to use tactics?"
Inside the glass room, with a crisp sound, a brick dropped from above both of their heads.
This was the first time Dr. Zhao had seen something that could be used for self-defense. He hurried forward to pick up the brick.
But as soon as he looked up, he saw something swinging toward him. Instinctively, he raised his arm to block it, only to feel himself hit by a brute force. He stumbled back a few steps and fell to the ground.
Zi Chen's eyes were bloodshot. He straddled Dr. Zhao, picked up the brick, and slammed it down hard.
Dr. Zhao quickly dropped his own brick and covered his head with his arms.
The tall man's attacks landed chaotically on his arms. He had never been beaten like this in his life. He felt as if his arms were broken.
"Ahhh!" Dr. Zhao shouted in panic. "Murder! Murder!"
Zi Chen smashed down like a madman many times, until Dr. Zhao's screams turned into tearful wails. Only then did the Earth Chicken's voice slowly ring out: "Time's up. Stop all actions."
Hearing this, Zi Chen froze for a moment, then came to his senses and looked down at the man beneath him, who was already whimpering in pain from the beating. Although he had protected his head with his arms, his mouth and nose were now bleeding.
"You…" Zi Chen wanted to say something, but swallowed it back. He slowly stood up, took the brick back, and threw it away.
Qi Xia sighed helplessly. Just as he had expected.
Under the same card being played, Dr. Zhao was bound to lose.
While he was thinking, the Earth Chicken slowly picked up the walkie-talkie and said coldly, "Please discard the item immediately."
Qi Xia was startled and quickly turned to look. Dr. Zhao was lying on the ground, tossing and turning and groaning, as if his whole body hurt. His brick lay nearby, untouched.
"Hey…" Qi Xia slowly stood up, walked over to the glass wall, and tapped on it. "Dr. Zhao, are you okay? You need to discard the item immediately."
"I'm not doing this anymore…" Dr. Zhao's muffled voice came from inside the glass room. "You've been messing with me the whole time. If I keep fighting, I'll die…"
"I'm not messing with you," Qi Xia said. "If you give up now, we'll both really die."
He knew the hardest part of this game was that the "Strategist" and the "Fighter" had almost no communication. The two sides could only cooperate through their own independent tactics.
Once their opinions diverged, it was certain death.
"Strategist, please move away from the glass," the Earth Chicken said coldly.
"Dr. Zhao," Qi Xia called out coldly. "Stand up first."
"Then promise me… next round, give me the 'Knife'!" Dr. Zhao said from the ground. "I want to kill him. Give me the 'Knife'!"
Hearing this, Qi Xia squeezed the cards in his hand slightly. He did have a "Knife" card, but as the key to winning, he absolutely could not play it recklessly.
"Dr. Zhao… what cards to play is up to me," Qi Xia said. "I am the 'Strategist.'"
"I don't care if you're the 'Strategist' or not! If you don't give me the 'Knife'! Next round, I'll make sure we both die!!!" Dr. Zhao rolled around on the ground, yelling hysterically.
"Strategist, move away from the glass immediately!!!" the Earth Chicken shouted sharply.
Qi Xia's eyes suddenly dimmed. Cooperating with someone like Dr. Zhao was indeed problematic. He wouldn't trust him.
Or perhaps…?
Thinking this, Qi Xia paused and then spoke: "Alright, Dr. Zhao, I understand. Get up first."
Hearing this, Dr. Zhao slowly stood up, picked up the brick from the ground, and walked cursing toward the window behind him.
The pained expression on his face disappeared the moment he turned around. His expression instantly turned cold, and he gave Qi Xia a meaningful look.
"Kid, got it?" Dr. Zhao thought to himself.
Seeing Dr. Zhao's expression, Qi Xia's mouth twitched into a smile. "I knew it…"
Dr. Zhao discarded the brick, and Qi Xia sat back down at the square table.
The fifth round was about to begin.
"Please draw cards," the Earth Chicken said, gesturing.
Su Shan, who had always been eager to draw cards before, did not act quickly this time.
Qi Xia looked up at her curiously and asked, "What's wrong?"
"You go first," Su Shan said coldly. "It's always me first. That doesn't seem fair."
"Unfair?"
Qi Xia thought for a moment, didn't refuse, and decisively reached out to draw a card.
As expected, it was the most numerous one: "Rope."
Was this a bad card?
No, it was a card that came at just the right time.
Qi Xia shuffled all the cards in his hand, then pulled out the "Rope" and placed it face down on the table.
Dr. Zhao, being a brain surgeon, was certainly no fool. His earlier act of suffering was meant to trick the opponent into using up all their "Shields."
This "Rope" came at the perfect time. Let it serve an extraordinary purpose.
Su Shan thought for a moment, then also placed a card face down. Her expression looked extremely cautious.
"Please reveal the cards."
The two revealed their hands simultaneously. It turned out to be two "Ropes."
"Qi Xia, I guessed it," Su Shan said in a low voice.
Qi Xia saw the opponent's card and didn't show a surprised expression.
This girl named Su Shan was indeed very smart. Seeing through Dr. Zhao's trick was to be expected.
But unfortunately, this round's strategy had successfully consumed one of the opponent's "Ropes."
Dr. Zhao naturally wouldn't be so melodramatic as to gamble two people's lives on a "Knife," but his tactic was a bit hasty.
Inside the glass room, two ropes dropped down.
Dr. Zhao walked over expressionlessly and picked up the ropes. He knew Qi Xia understood his intention.
But why was the opponent also playing "Rope"?
Had the opponent run out of "Shields"?
Or had that girl seen through this plan?
Zi Chen received the "Rope" for the first time, and his expression was very unnatural. In the previous four rounds, the items he had gotten were either knives or stones. Now he had gotten the least lethal item, a rope.
Just as he was hesitating, Dr. Zhao swung the rope in his hand and lashed out.
Before Zi Chen could even raise his hand to block, the rope struck his arm.
The pain was even worse than being hit with an iron rod.
"Ah!!" Zi Chen yelled loudly, almost dropping the rope. "You son of a bitch…"
He folded the rope in his hand, then stepped forward angrily: "You dare hit me!!"
Knowing that he couldn't swing the rope freely in his hand, Zi Chen tried to shorten its length as much as possible, holding it like a whip and swinging it, then fiercely striking Dr. Zhao a few times.
Dr. Zhao didn't back down either. After blocking a few strikes with his arms, he also folded the rope and whipped back.
Seeing this scene, Qi Xia nodded.
So the "Rope" was not a useless weapon. When both sides had "Ropes," they unconsciously kept their distance.
This situation forced both sides to swing the ropes at each other. Once this happened, the game would spiral out of control.