Chapter 448: The Big Dipper
"Ning Shiba, did you find something?" Bai Jiu asked from the handcart.
"Ninth Sister, I'm not sure yet." Ning Shiba shook his head. "I just have a rough guess. We need to race against time."
"Race against time?" Qiao Jiajin didn't quite understand. "Isn't our time allocated equally each round?"
"I hope so too." Ning Shiba shook his head, closed his eyes, and muttered to himself. "But this Horse is more vicious than we thought."
"Vicious?" Bai Jiu frowned.
"She's misleading us." Ning Shiba replied. "Ninth Sister, her game probably doesn't just include Zhuge Liang's 'Wooden Ox and Flowing Horse,' but also another of Zhuge Liang's specialties."
"What is it?"
Ning Shiba took a deep breath. "Star-gazing."
Seeing everyone's confusion, Ning Shiba continued, "'Pojun Star,' attributed to Water, the seventh star of the Big Dipper. Its essence is expenditure, governing spouses, children, and servants. It represents the suicide squads and vanguard units in an army, charging into battle with the goal of victory, but the risk to themselves is also great. Casualties are inevitable. Being attributed to Water also makes it fragile—precisely the 'ice ball' that shatters on contact."
Only then did everyone remember that Ning Shiba had once mentioned he studied 'Ziwei Doushu' (Purple Star Astrology), but in the 'Land of the End,' whether at night or during the day, no one could see any stars in the sky.
Ning Shiba himself probably never imagined that the star-gazing technique he learned in his spare time would prove useful in a Horse's game.
Qiao Jiajin steadied the cart again and moved forward with the group, then turned back with a serious expression and asked, "So what did you mean by 'race against time' just now…?"
Ning Shiba took a breath and replied, "If we follow the order of the Big Dipper stars from 'seven' to 'one,' then the next round we'll face is the sixth star, 'Wuqu Star.'"
"Is there something wrong with 'Wuqu Star'?" Qiu Ershi asked from the other side.
"Of course there is. 'Wuqu Star' governs the world's military fortunes, and its Five Elements attribute is 'Yin Metal.'"
"'Yin Metal'…?" Qiao Jiajin's lips twitched. "Holy shit! If the 'Water-attributed' one is an 'ice ball,' then the 'Metal-attributed' one probably isn't… an 'iron ball'?!"
"Very likely!" Ning Shiba said. "So we need to make good use of time in this round, because the next round might be our death sentence. Brother Qiao, you can shatter a high-speed ice ball with your bare hands, but if it's an iron ball flying toward us…"
"No problem, I'll figure something out…" Qiao Jiajin nodded with a grave expression, then bent down again and led everyone forward.
Supporting an extremely slippery handcart on an ice surface was incredibly difficult for the group.
There were three people on each side of the handcart. If anyone's strength fluctuated even slightly, the entire 'Wooden Ox and Flowing Horse' would slide sideways, requiring the others to exert even more force to pull it back.
After just a dozen meters, everyone felt drenched in sweat and struggling to move forward.
*Whoosh!*
The 'Pojun' wooden crate rumbled and fired another ice ball at the group. Qiao Jiajin's eyes were fixed on the direction of the opening, and he reacted almost instinctively the moment the ice ball launched.
If he wasn't mistaken, the target this time was still Bai Jiu.
Qiao Jiajin let go of the cart, took a big step forward, and leaped into the air again. Everyone felt that this time, he jumped even higher than before.
The cart also changed direction due to Qiao Jiajin's sudden release.
"Brother Qiao, you…"
Bai Jiu was stunned because, from his perspective, Qiao Jiajin hadn't jumped straight up but had lunged toward the ice ball like a starving tiger pouncing on its prey.
His eyes locked onto the high-speed ice ball, and he reached out in midair, grabbing at it with force.
*Bang!!*
A dull sound rang out. The ice ball, just like last time, shattered into pieces in midair.
Although the angle of his grab was correct, the ice ball's texture was too fragile, and it shattered upon contact with his hands.
Qiao Jiajin stumbled and landed on the ground. Everyone noticed that this time, he didn't slip. It seemed he had already figured out the trick to jumping on ice after just two attempts.
"Damn… I still can't catch it. Do I need to absorb the force…?"
He shook his stinging hands, realizing that catching these high-speed balls was no easy task.
All of this happened in an extremely short time. Qiao Jiajin managed to grab the cart again before it veered off track.
Although a group of smart people was assisting him in this game, Qiao Jiajin felt that if he was catching the balls, he couldn't push the cart, and if he was pushing the cart, he couldn't focus on catching the balls.
Otherwise, his inconsistent strength would make the 'Wooden Ox and Flowing Horse' even harder to stabilize.
"This won't work…" Qiao Jiajin glanced at the others, his gaze finally settling on Qiu Ershi. "Hey, annoying kid."
"Huh? Annoying kid?" Qiu Ershi was taken aback. "Me?"
"Yeah. Weren't you the one who pissed off that big Horse woman a moment ago?" Qiao Jiajin waved his hand. "You don't need to push the cart anymore. Come here."
Qiu Ershi thought for a moment, then slowly let go, and Qiao Jiajin released his grip at the same time.
Now only two men and two women were pushing the cart. Their speed had dropped, but the cart remained stable.
"Come with me."
Qiao Jiajin signaled Qiu Ershi with his eyes, and they both moved to the side of the track, facing the wooden crate marked 'Pojun.'
"Annoying kid, the two of us will block the ice balls here to protect the cart behind us and let it move forward steadily."
"This…" Qiu Ershi hesitated. "I'm not as skilled as you, Brother Qiao… I'm afraid…"
"It's fine." Qiao Jiajin shook his head. "Have you ever played badminton with someone else?"
"Badminton?"
"Yeah." Qiao Jiajin said. "I used to play badminton with my best brother. The ones I couldn't catch, you catch. The ones you couldn't catch, I catch. It's that simple."
Hearing Qiao Jiajin's casual description, Qiu Ershi gained a little confidence, but thinking about the ice balls that were almost too fast to see, he still felt uneasy.
*Whoosh!!*
Before Qiu Ershi could steady himself, an ice ball came flying straight toward them. Qiao Jiajin squinted and judged that its landing point would be right at Qiu Ershi.
"Annoying kid—"
Before he could even finish the three words, the ice ball was already in front of Qiu Ershi.
His eyes turned cold, and he crossed his arms in front of his face. The ice ball exploded against his forearms.
Although the impact wasn't overwhelmingly strong, his unstable footing caused Qiu Ershi to stumble backward, falling toward the small cart.