Chapter 459: An Unexpected Turn
"So that's it...?" Qiao Jiajin nodded. "So the Malaysian woman was playing a word game. These 'balls' do have rewards, but all the rewards are concentrated on this 'Lu Cun' star..."
Bai Jiu suddenly thought of something too: "Ah, then she's really despicable... Isn't this guiding the 'participants' to choose to catch the balls in the early stages? But catching those balls leads to death."
"It doesn't matter." Qiao Jiajin said. "I'm out of the mountain now."
"This..." Everyone felt a strong sense of security hearing Qiao Jiajin say that, but looking closely at his burned arms, the blood blisters were even more obvious now. It would be a lie to say he was fine.
The next two balls were both of the 'Earth' element. Optimistically, they would be 'stone balls', but pessimistically?
Would that bizarre mechanism fire stone meteor hammers to kill people?
"I'll catch them." Qiao Jiajin said resolutely. "This isn't your area of expertise... Since I'm here as your 'big shot', it's my responsibility to protect you."
"Big shot...?"
Everyone hesitated. Wasn't Qiao Jiajin their 'team leader'? When did he become a big shot?
Qiao Jiajin waved his hand to dispel the growing chill in the arena, then walked step by step towards 'Lu Cun'.
From this round onward, things seemed to be changing.
All the previous mechanisms had been on the right side of the straight track, arranged in a diamond shape. Each mechanism was placed at a vertex of the diamond, and these four represented the last four stars of the Big Dipper.
Now it was the turn of the first three stars of the Big Dipper. They were all on the left side of the track, arranged in a diagonal line.
Was there any difference between the mechanisms on the right and those on the left...?
Since Qiao Jiajin had no idea what projectiles this mechanism would shoot out, he could only stop five or six steps away from 'Lu Cun'.
"Come on..." Qiao Jiajin used the same trick, assuming a Tai Chi stance facing 'Lu Cun', but cold sweat was already trickling down his forehead.
At this distance, what difference would a fist-sized 'stone ball' and an 'iron ball' make when hitting someone?
The only certainty was that any ball hitting the body would cause severe injury, except that a 'stone ball' would likely shatter on impact, while an 'iron ball' would not.
"I can't get tired yet..." Qiao Jiajin took a deep breath and slowly moved his palm closer to 'Lu Cun'.
"We're moving out too!" Bai Jiu turned back to command the others. Since everyone was now highly skilled, pushing the cart this time was faster than ever.
The 'Lu Cun' in front of Qiao Jiajin began to activate as well. Soon, a gray-black 'ball' shot out. He flipped his palm again and pressed the ball firmly to the ground.
It was an ordinary 'stone ball', without blades or high temperature.
"Huh...?" Just as Qiao Jiajin was wondering why this round's difficulty had suddenly dropped, he heard chaos breaking out not far away.
He quickly turned around and saw that every mechanism was now active, shooting stone balls simultaneously. Some aimed at the 'riders', some at the 'pushers'.
Even the other two mechanisms beside Qiao Jiajin that shouldn't have been active this round, 'Tan Lang' and 'Ju Men', also shot out stone balls.
Because everyone had fallen into a pattern of thinking, no one was prepared. Even Qiao Jiajin, who was right next to the mechanisms, couldn't block those two balls.
"Damn it!"
In the distance, several men and women were cleanly knocked down by stone balls without any preparation. The only one who reacted and counterattacked was the astrologer girl, Ning Shiba.
She curved her arms to protect her chest and slightly twisted her body, slightly changing the trajectory of a stone ball so that it grazed her arm and flew past.
But before she could catch her breath, she saw another stone ball flying towards Luo Shiwu on the 'Wooden Ox and Flowing Horse'.
Without a moment's hesitation, Ning Shiba stepped on the ice and leaped into the air, using her own body to block the stone ball.
The stone ball hit her ribs squarely, and when she landed, she spat out a mouthful of blood.
"Hey!!" Qiao Jiajin's eyes turned red at the sight. "You cheating, vicious, despicable Malaysian woman! What the hell are you doing?! Is this what the rules say?"
"Rules...?" Di Ma found it somewhat amusing. "What did my rules say?"
"Are these balls allowed to fly everywhere wildly in a single round?!"
"I did state the rules, but when did I ever say that only one mechanism would activate per round? And when did I ever say that there would only be seven 'balls' per round?"
Qiao Jiajin was about to retort when he realized that Di Ma wasn't actually wrong.
The rules never mentioned these things. Whether it was the 'activation order' of the mechanisms or the 'number of attacks' per round, everything was deduced by the participants themselves.
"You misled us..." Qiao Jiajin gritted his teeth. "You used this strategy to attack my people?"
"Don't get it twisted." Di Ma said. "The most naive one in this game is you. If it really went as you wished, with one person blocking the mechanisms and everyone else getting rescued... what would be the point of me being a 'Di-level'?"
"If you have a problem, take it out on me..." Qiao Jiajin said dejectedly. "Malaysian woman, let's make a deal... aim all the mechanisms at me, how about that?"
"Heh..." Di Ma chuckled lightly. "What an absurd joke. What do you think I, 'Di Ma', am here for? To watch a race? To give out rewards? To let you play the hero? Don't be naive! I want lives! The lives of the participants!"
Hearing this, Qiao Jiajin's eyes gradually turned cold. All traces of his previous lightness vanished, replaced by a killer's icy demeanor.
"So that's how it is...?" He paused briefly, then walked over to the 'Wooden Ox and Flowing Horse', helping up those who had fallen.
"Qiao... Qiao-ge..." Ning Shiba grabbed Qiao Jiajin's hand, but she couldn't stand up no matter what. Blood stained the corner of her mouth, and she gritted her teeth, saying viciously, "Don't worry about me... I'm done for..."
"Astrologer girl, you're the hero of this round. Even if you have to die, you'll die after me." Qiao Jiajin reached under Ning Shiba's armpit and lifted her up.
"What kind of hero am I..." Ning Shiba wiped the blood from her mouth and smiled bitterly. "I should have thought of it sooner... the 'Wooden Ox and Flowing Horse' was used to transport military supplies... how could this road be without danger? How could we, the transporters, be so safe...? If I had thought of it earlier..."
"No." Qiao Jiajin shook his head, cutting off Ning Shiba's words. "Astrologer girl, you really are the hero. Were you wrong about the iron balls before? Were you wrong about the fireballs before? Were you wrong about the Five Elements for each star? Without you, the one vomiting blood while supporting a teammate right now would be me."