Chapter 462: The True Mu Niu Liu Ma
As Qi Xia finished speaking, Earth Horse slowly furrowed her brow.
Today was a strange day. Every person she met gave her a sense of familiarity.
The man before her... was even more familiar than the burly tattooed man who had thrown those Muay Thai punches.
"How strange..."
Earth Horse felt that these people should have long since become natives, so why were they starting to move again?
"Wen Qiaoyun... you just won't give up..." Earth Horse's gaze gradually turned cold. "How many times have we lost... and you still won't let it go?"
At this moment, White Nine, who was pushing the cart on the track, turned his head to look at Qi Xia, a hint of doubt in his mind.
This man had just said there was no need to hit the balls?
But he hadn't even heard the rules—how could he have a way to solve it?
"You... you said no need to hit the balls—what do you mean?"
"Can these balls hit you?" Qi Xia asked, expressionlessly scanning the circle. "Or maybe you're all asking to be hit?"
"What—" Everyone in the venue was stunned by his words, and asked with displeasure, "What do you mean, asking to be hit? Aren't the iron balls the ones coming for us?"
Qi Xia looked at the handcart in the distance and pointed at the sphere at its base. "Has anyone ever stopped to consider why the bottom of this thing is a ball?"
White Nine thought for a moment. "Replacing wooden wheels with wooden balls is obviously meant to make it harder for us to push the cart forward on the ice... This cart is designed to slide."
"Is that so?" Qi Xia shook his head slightly. "But this handcart looks exceptionally stable. Its craftsmanship is probably more refined than you imagine. Even after all the heavy attacks you've suffered, it hasn't tipped over, has it?"
The crowd paused, realizing it was true.
No matter how much the cart slid, it never showed any sign of rolling over.
"If Earth Horse's goal was to 'reduce stability,' why would she give you such a stable handcart?"
Qi Xia's few simple words made everyone frown.
White Nine hesitated and then asked, "Then... what do you think the ball at the bottom means?"
Qi Xia rubbed his chin and said slowly, "Could it be to 'hide' something?"
As soon as he said that, not only the participants in the game, but even Earth Horse's expression changed.
"So it really is you..." Earth Horse murmured to herself. "This is going to be troublesome..."
Upon hearing this, the crowd quickly examined the handcarts in their hands. Upon closer thought, there were indeed some very strange aspects.
This handcart called "Mu Niu Liu Ma" was extremely heavy. If it were made purely of wood, would it really be that heavy?
It could hardly be lifted off the ground at all—only Earth Horse could raise it.
What's more... when everyone first pushed the cart onto the track, for an instant it seemed to lose all its weight... as if...
It had connected to some kind of track?
"Everyone, stand behind the cart now and listen to my command," Qi Xia said.
The crowd slowly moved to the back of the cart. Qiao Jiajin had originally wanted to stay far away and catch the balls, but under Qi Xia's persuasion, he also abandoned his defense and came behind the cart. Then everyone looked toward Qi Xia, wondering what he had in mind.
"Have you ever seen 'curling'?" Qi Xia asked.
As expected, since they weren't all from the same era, several people silently shook their heads.
"Simply put, I need you to push the cart out sharply from here and let it slide all the way to the finish line by itself."
"This...?" White Nine looked down at the handcart and suddenly understood Qi Xia's meaning. "Are you saying that the 'ball' at the bottom of the cart is constantly triggering the mechanisms?"
"Yes." Qi Xia nodded. "You should have felt it yourselves. The triggering principle of all the mechanisms here is based on 'distance,' not 'time.' When the cart passes a certain distance, it triggers the mechanisms. So the iron balls are most likely 'magnets.'"
Everyone now fully understood all the hidden information of the game.
Yes. Such a stable cart, yet everyone was cowering in fear of the flying balls.
Why not just push it straight out?
Why keep slowly waiting for those "balls" to come flying at them?
"But in that case... wouldn't the person sitting in the cart be left alone?" White Nine turned to ask. "Wouldn't he be in even more danger?"
"The person sitting in the cart doesn't need to dodge," Qi Xia said. "As long as the speed is fast enough, he can reach the finish line before all the balls come. Then at the finish line, you do the same thing—push the cart back to the start in one go. It'll take about thirty seconds to complete a round trip, and everyone stays safe."
"Everyone stays safe...?" The crowd felt something was off. "But in the final round, Earth Horse throws the balls..."
"Final round?" Qi Xia turned to look at Earth Horse, who was staring back at him with a strange expression. "Hey, what 'final round' are we talking about?"
Hearing Qi Xia's question, Earth Horse knew her game had truly been cracked.
"The final round... is the 'seventh round'..."
Qi Xia nodded and turned to White Nine. "What round are we on now?"
"It should be the fifth round," White Nine said.
"Then isn't that perfect?" Qi Xia lifted the corner of his mouth. "Just as I said, no one is going to get hurt. Just push the cart with confidence."
The crowd felt their thoughts blocked again.
It really was puzzling. The test-setter had given everyone the same puzzle, yet only a few could see through the layers of fog and give the right answer.
Standing behind the cart, everyone felt its weight. Even when they loosened their grip a little, the cart remained stable.
The "way to survive" in this game had been painfully obvious from the start, yet everyone had overlooked it.
Their attention had always been on the "balls," never on the "cart."
But think about it—what was this game called?
It had nothing to do with "balls" or "Big Dipper." It was called "Mu Niu Liu Ma."
It was meant to traverse countless obstacles and safely and quickly deliver what was on the cart to the destination.
That was the true "Mu Niu Liu Ma."
"So that's how it is..." Qiao Jiajin had also considered this and turned back to nod at the others. "In that case... everyone follow my rhythm. When I count to three, let go at the same time. Keep the cart as steady as possible going forward, no turning."
At this, Qi Xia shook his head helplessly. "Fist, since when did you become so cautious?"
"Huh?" Qiao Jiajin was confused. "What do you mean, conman? Did I say something wrong?"
"Well, there is a bit of a problem. The bottom of the cart is a 'ball,' and the sides of the track are lined with dense glass." Qi Xia pointed at the ground and said, "Have you considered that even if the cart spins all the way forward, it can never leave the track?"