Chapter 451: The Martial Star Descends to Earth
"I know..." Bai Jiu frowned in reply, "But could it be possible... that out of these seven wooden boxes, each with seven 'orbs', among these forty-nine orbs, only one contains a reward?"
Jia Qiaojing paused at Bai Jiu's line of thinking.
Yes, if there really was only one orb with a reward, then the rules wouldn't necessarily be lying, since Dihi had said that a *minority* of the 'orbs' would have rewards.
If there was only one...
"I don't care anymore," Jia Qiaojing said. "I'm not as smart as you guys. I've always been simple-minded. I said I can catch them, so I can catch them. Even if only one orb has a reward, I'll accept it."
The others didn't know how to persuade him, so they just nodded.
For the second round, they chose Ning Shiba, who was only slightly taller than Bai Jiu, to sit on the 'Wooden Ox and Flowing Horse'. Because the first round went very quickly, they had saved a considerable amount of time.
"Brother Joe, I think your strategy is right," Bai Jiu said. "Having two people specifically blocking the orbs seems like the best choice."
"No..." Jia Qiaojing slowly shook his head this time. "I have a new plan this time."
"A new plan?"
"Astrology Girl," Jia Qiaojing said. "Tell me which one is the second mechanism."
Ning Shiba, sitting on the 'Wooden Ox and Flowing Horse', was momentarily stunned, then pointed towards the end of the track and spoke: "It's the furthest one, 'Wu Qu', close to 'Po Jun'."
"Alright," Jia Qiaojing nodded. "This round, Grumpy can take a break. He did catch quite a few ice orbs."
"I-I rest?" Qiu Ershi didn't understand. "If I rest, what about you? Are you going to guard this cart by yourself?"
"No, no, no..." Jia Qiaojing shook his head. "I don't think guarding the cart is the solution at all. I'm planning to... have a one-on-one fight with the Wu Qu star."
"Oh..." The group nodded after hearing this, but quickly realized how absurd the statement was. "Huh?!"
One-on-one?!
Jia Qiaojing ignored their reactions, walking straight down the linear track until he reached the end. He stepped over the glass shards and stood opposite 'Wu Qu'.
"I heard you're 'Yin Metal'..." Jia Qiaojing said with a slight smile. "I wonder who's harder, you or me?"
"Hey!!" Dihi also felt this was bad. "You can't destroy the game props, or the 'rules' will become invalid, and it'll count as a foul on your part!"
"Destroy the props...?" Jia Qiaojing shook his head. "No... destroying props would be completely dishonorable. These mechanisms were crafted by you with great care. Even if they were to be destroyed, it should be you who does it, not an outsider."
"Huh...? You, you person..." Dihi couldn't quite grasp Jia Qiaojing's motive. If he didn't plan to destroy the props, what was he doing standing in front of 'Wu Qu'?
"One-on-one is one-on-one," Jia Qiaojing said, standing just one meter from 'Wu Qu', slowly raising both hands into a fighting stance. "I'll block every single 'orb' right here. No one will get hurt."
"Huh?!"
This time, not only all members of the 'Cat' team, but even Dihi was taken aback.
"W-wait, Brother Joe..." Ning Shiba, sitting in the chair, nearly fell off. "Wh-what are you saying? You're way too close to that mechanism! This time, it might be 'metal balls'!!"
"I know," Jia Qiaojing said with a serious nod, his face full of determination. "Precisely because this task is so difficult, it's one for me to handle."
"This!" Bai Jiu added nervously from the side, "This isn't even a question of difficulty... there's no way anyone can do something like this!"
"Astrology Girl!" Jia Qiaojing called out nonchalantly. "You can roughly predict the timing of the 'orbs' launch, right?"
"Y-yes."
"Remember to give me a heads-up," Jia Qiaojing said. "I can't see any of you behind me, and I don't know exactly when the 'orbs' will be fired, so I'll need your reminder."
Ning Shiba felt that even just a 'reminder' was a stretch. Barehandedly deflecting seven metal balls traveling at 80 km/h from a distance of less than a meter? What kind of skill was that?
At that distance, even a single blink would be a fatal opening.
Jia Qiaojing slowly widened his horse stance, positioning his left and right hands in a yin-yang formation, one front and one back. His entire body swayed slightly with the air, fluid as clouds and flowing water.
"Softness overcomes hardness... using minimal force to deflect great force," Jia Qiaojing murmured under his breath. "Lord Guan, I've heard you are the Martial Star descended to earth. It's not right to fight you... But you once traveled a thousand miles alone to escort someone important. I believe you can understand me. If I don't stand here, the young ones behind me will die."
The cold wooden mechanism before him, just like 'Po Jun' earlier, slowly rose with a mechanical sound, as if responding to Jia Qiaojing's words.
"They are all standing here because of me. If even one of them gets hurt, it's my responsibility," Jia Qiaojing settled deeper into his horse stance, lowering his center of gravity as much as possible. "So this is my 'personal code of honor'. As the 'Martial Star', you must understand."
Watching Jia Qiaojing seemingly talk to himself while addressing the wooden box, the members of the 'Cat' team could only stop wasting time, steady their formation, and start walking onto the track again.
Only a little over a minute had passed. For this game, time was still reasonably plentiful.
"Brother Joe, be careful, we're starting!" Ning Shiba called out from the 'Wooden Ox and Flowing Horse'.
"I know..." Jia Qiaojing turned his right hand into a palm and slowly placed it just a few dozen centimeters from the opening of the wooden box. "'Wu Qu', forgive the discourtesy."
As the words faded, the others pushed the cart forward cautiously.
Although the 'orbs' for this round would inevitably be blocked by Jia Qiaojing's physical body, everyone still felt incredibly tense.
This feeling was even more intense than when they themselves had stood before the wooden box.
Ning Shiba roughly calculated the distance traveled, looked up, and shouted: "Brother Joe! Look out!"
Jia Qiaojing's eyes turned cold, staring intently at the opening. With a loud *bang*, a pitch-black object shot out like a living creature.
Jia Qiaojing instantly adjusted his palm's position, probing towards the bottom of the black ball. In a split second, he let the black ball roll a few inches along his forearm. In that fleeting moment, he shifted his arm, redirecting the ball's trajectory. Just as the ball was about to leave his arm, his entire body gave a fierce tremor. With a wide, powerful swing of his arm, he hurled the hard, black metal ball directly onto the ground not far away.
*Boom*!!
The black metal ball smashed a small crater into the wooden floor not far away.
This brief scene left everyone present with their mouths wide open.
Was that really a move you could only see in movies?
Even someone as formidable as Dihi was slightly stunned. Although her body was enhanced and she could withstand being hit by a metal ball at such close range without injury, she knew she could never change the direction of a metal ball at that distance.