Chapter 368: The Power of Fairness
“This is a verse from 'Sympathy for the Peasants'…” Zhang Chenze murmured under her breath.
In the ancient poem, “Sweat drips and waters the soil” refers to farmers spilling their sweat on the fields during busy seasons, symbolizing the hardship of farming and the scorching heat.
“Busy farming…?”
Zhang Chenze tried her best to ignore the ringing in her ears and carefully considered the current situation.
Since she was “Summer,” she should play this lot representing the “busy farming season.”
After all, “Summer” was far too distant from the Nian Beast; if she wanted to contribute, the best way was to engage in “busy farming.”
Zhang Chenze stood up, took a few steps forward, mustered her courage to clear the locusts from the table, and placed the “Sweat drips and waters the soil” lot inside.
Now completely unable to see what was happening in the other rooms, she could only pray that she had made the right choice—otherwise, it would be unfair to the others.
Just as she breathed a sigh of relief and stepped back, preparing to endure more torment in the room, she suddenly felt a small tear open in the back of her clothes. In an instant, all the locusts swarmed in as if conquering territory, tearing at every inch of Zhang Chenze’s skin.
Yes, locusts didn’t eat people, but they replaced her clothes, covering her entire body.
Having only just gotten used to sharing the room with a sky full of locusts, Zhang Chenze broke down once again.
She could clearly feel every inch of her skin writhing, as if she had become one with the locusts.
The locusts squirmed, pulling at her skin along with them.
In the adjacent room, Su Shan suddenly felt something strange. Turning her head, she saw a massive surge of light rushing toward Zhang Chenze’s room, colliding in rapid succession.
Each time the light collided, two extremely clear characters shot into the air.
「Soul Shift」!
“Could it be…” Su Shan roughly understood the meaning of those characters. They must be what everyone called the “Echo.” Her ability was actually to directly see the names of these Echoes.
Although this supernatural ability was slightly different from what she had imagined, if she could master it, it should bring great contributions to the team.
A full ten seconds or so later, the distant bell finally rang belatedly, announcing to everyone in the “Land of the End” that Zhang Chenze had “Echoed.”
“The bell… slower than me?” Su Shan frowned, feeling she had grasped a thread of a clue.
But now wasn’t the time to ponder these questions; she needed to win this game as quickly as possible.
Judging by the current situation, all four people in the room were “Echoers.” If this game could be won, that would be best; if not, it wouldn’t lead to catastrophic consequences. All of that was probably thanks to these “locusts.”
“But… what does ‘Soul Shift’ mean?”
Zhang Chenze felt a ringing in her ears for a while, then her thoughts cleared somewhat, and the fear from the bugs crawling over her body slightly lessened.
But she had no idea what was happening outside, since besides the buzzing bell in her ears, all she could hear was the chirping of insects.
She walked forward, picked up the remaining two lots on the table, and held them in her right hand. These two lots were “Torrential rains pour like buckets” and “Gentle sun caresses the earth,” which would come in handy at some later moment.
If she didn’t protect these two “lots,” they might be covered in bugs again.
After retrieving the lots, Zhang Chenze crouched down again, carefully feeling the sensation of locusts crawling all over her body.
The next second, a locust flew onto her face. In a panic, she grabbed it with her left hand, hesitated briefly, and then crushed it in her hand.
“Even though this is unfair to you… I really don’t want to be touched by you anymore.”
It felt like crushing a raw quail egg—after the not-so-hard shell broke, a sticky mess clung to her hand.
Zhang Chenze nearly gagged. She quickly wiped her hand on her pants, but at that moment, a thought surfaced—
If she wanted to move freely in this room, was the only strategy now to kill as many locusts as possible?
After all, the locusts appeared only as part of the game; they weren’t a real natural disaster, just a symbol, so their number couldn’t be endless.
Kill one, and one fewer remained.
Before she could come up with a plan to kill the locusts, she suddenly felt one of the “lots” in her right hand begin to move.
It was a very strange sensation. It was just a wooden slip, but that “lot” seemed to have a pulse, now throbbing in her hand like she was holding a worm.
Startled, she threw the “lot” away, and the next second, something bizarre happened.
The “lot” that read “Gentle sun caresses the earth” bent on the ground, bounced with the rebound force, and actually leaped away.
“What…?”
Zhang Chenze stared blankly at the “lot.” It seemed to have come to life, bending and jumping repeatedly on the ground, just like…
A locust.
She felt like she was going insane.
Had she been in contact with locusts for so long and in such numbers that now she was even seeing the “lot” in her hand as a locust?
Seeing the “lot” hopping toward her eyes, Zhang Chenze snapped back to reality and reached out to grab it. But to her surprise, the “lot” sprang up again, leaping straight at her face.
Since she was already crouching, in her confusion she closed her eyes and dodged backward, nearly falling over.
And that “lot” completely disappeared into the swarm of locusts on the ground, gone without a trace.
“Oh no…”
Although she didn’t know what had happened, she had a feeling that the Earth Dog had probably done something.
Maybe each person’s “lot” had a special mechanism. If she didn’t catch them, the game would become increasingly difficult.
This scene was clearly observed by Su Shan from the side.
Amid the shimmering light of the insect swarm, she saw a glowing Zhang Chenze chasing after a “lot” with characters written on it.
Was this caused by the “Echo”?
But based on this strange image alone, Su Shan had no idea what Zhang Chenze’s ability actually did. She realized she still knew too little about “Echoes.” If she could remember the abilities of a few “Echoers,” she might be able to deduce the general principle behind Zhang Chenze’s power.
“The second person’s ‘Wish’ has ended. Next, the third person will ‘Draw Lots.’”
Lin Qin propped up her injured forehead and looked at the table. A “lot” slowly rose there—“Fragrant rice flowers herald a bountiful year.”
Directly opposite her, Su Shan forced her eyes open, enduring a slight sting, and stared at that “lot.”
Now she fully understood the rules of the game.
If she could make the wish “No idle fields in the four seas,” then Summer would draw “Sweat drips and waters the soil.” If Summer successfully used that “Sweat drips and waters the soil,” then Autumn would draw “Fragrant rice flowers herald a bountiful year.”
Whether Summer, Autumn, and Winter could draw these lots depended purely on whether “Spring” had played “No idle fields in the four seas.” This was an “attack method” that required everyone to act together.
Just like in the real world—if there was no labor in spring, the remaining seasons couldn’t reap a harvest out of thin air, and the end result would only be a “neutral lot.”