# Chapter 463: Rule Change
"This..." Qiao Jiajin looked at the field and found that the situation was indeed much as Qi Xia had said.
Even if the cart deviated slightly, the glass panels erected on both sides would pull it back onto track. As long as it didn't charge straight into the glass, derailment should be difficult.
"As expected of you."
Qiao Jiajin nodded to the few people around him. Everyone stepped back a few paces and then pushed with all their strength, sending the cart forward abruptly.
At this moment, all the mechanisms on both sides of the track also rapidly rotated their directions. It seemed everything was exactly as Qi Xia had predicted—these mechanisms had never been aimed at "people," but at the cart.
The magnets at the bottom of the cart should be triggering the mechanisms along the way.
Just as Qi Xia had said earlier, the group slowly pushing the cart forward to deal with the incoming "balls" was essentially "asking for a beating."
After letting go, the several people stepped back a few paces and looked at Luo Shiwu sitting on the cart.
"Oh my god!!"
Luo Shiwu had likely never imagined that the cart would accelerate so quickly when pushed out. But riding in this "Wooden Oxen & Gliding Horses" felt completely different from riding in other carts. Luo Shiwu not only had nothing to hold onto, but the cart also had no restraints or safety measures.
Before he could even scream, he heard a whooshing sound by his ears.
Many stone balls flew past, nearly grazing his scalp. He quickly lowered his head, burying it between his knees.
The others were now far from the cart and saw an even more shocking sight.
This straight track, the moment the "Wooden Oxen & Gliding Horses" passed through, seemed to turn into a battlefield of hail and bullets. Over a dozen fist-sized stone balls flew chaotically in the air. Some collided with each other, some flew to the outer side of the track and struck other mechanisms. The scene was utter chaos.
Luo Shiwu on the cart felt as if he had walked through the gates of hell. This sensation was even more terrifying than being directly hit by a stone ball.
"Oh my..." He looked back in shock at the mess behind him. "That's too scary..."
Before anyone could react, Qi Xia immediately began to speak: "Leave one person to clear the track. Everyone else, go push the cart."
Upon hearing this, Bai Jiu volunteered and stepped onto the track, pushing all the scattered stones and stone balls aside. During this time, she indeed saw an iron ball with writing on it—"Spiked Shoes."
What a ridiculous yet real reward?
"Even at this point, you're still misleading the 'participants'..." Bai Jiu couldn't help but feel that Earth Horse was deep in schemes. After the participants endured untold hardships and risked injury to obtain "Spiked Shoes," they wouldn't think to accelerate their pace. Instead, they would walk slower and more cautiously on the icy surface—that would be their death sentence.
Sure enough, just as Qi Xia had said, if one could clearly see the "path" to victory, there was no need to take shortcuts.
Bai Jiu roughly cleared the debris on the straight track. The others also reached the finish line, turned the handcart around, and came to the back of the cart.
"Ninth Sister, ready?" someone called from afar.
"Ready!" Bai Jiu clapped her hands and stood outside the track.
Everyone took another deep breath, forcefully pushed the handcart forward, and then quickly left the track.
For them, this was not difficult at all. Compared to using their bodies to resist all sorts of dangerous "balls," it was far easier.
All of this was not only thanks to Qi Xia's "brain" but also the stability of the "Wooden Oxen & Gliding Horses." No matter how far it traveled on this icy track, it maintained left-right balance. At most, the cart body would slightly rotate, but there was no sign of tipping over.
So after modifying the spherical wheels, the "Wooden Oxen & Gliding Horses" could no longer be called an ordinary "handcart."
"Hey!" Qi Xia said to Bai Jiu in front of him. "To be safe, go to the starting point and catch it."
"Are you afraid the cart will fly off the track?" Bai Jiu asked.
"No, I'm afraid the cart won't fly out of the track," Qi Xia replied.
"Huh? Okay, okay!" Bai Jiu nodded. Although she didn't understand what Qi Xia meant, she quickly went to the end of the track.
They saw stones and gravel flying everywhere along the way. Since most of the stones were aimed at the rear of Luo Shiwu, he could only hear crackling sounds behind him and didn't dare to look back at all.
The cart reached the starting point in about seven or eight seconds, but its momentum had greatly decreased, and it was about to stop just before the starting line.
Bai Jiu immediately stepped forward. She clearly remembered that the cart would encounter the last round of attacks before returning to the starting point. If the cart stopped now, Luo Shiwu would surely die.
"What a terrifying person..." Bai Jiu grabbed the cart and quietly looked at Qi Xia. "Saying 'afraid the cart won't fly out of the track'... Did you really calculate even this?"
Bai Jiu pulled the cart back a few steps, using its own momentum to send it across the line. The last wave of attacks landed behind Luo Shiwu.
In the distance, Qiao Jiajin saw this and couldn't help shouting, "Amazing, Liar!"
Qi Xia nodded and said to the others far away, "Everyone, return to the starting point. The next round is crucial."
Hearing this, no one dared to delay. They carefully moved their steps on the icy surface and reached the starting point in a few seconds. Along the way, Qiao Jiajin helped Ning Shiba stand up and handed her over to Zhou Liu.
"Liar, what about the next round? Same as before?" Qiao Jiajin asked as he came to Qi Xia.
"Yes," Qi Xia nodded. "But we need to make some slight changes..."
He looked back at the teammates beside Qiao Jiajin and then asked, "Now, who hasn't ridden this cart yet?"
Yun Shijiu and Qiu Ershi both raised their hands at the same time.
Qi Xia frowned slightly upon seeing this.
This team seemed to have used the wrong tactics. They prioritized transporting the easiest people first, leaving the larger men for later.
"That's unavoidable..." Qi Xia immediately thought that when he was absent earlier, everyone relied entirely on Qiao Jiajin.
And Qiao Jiajin had indeed used his unique tactics to protect everyone present. But now that he was here, the tactics needed to change.
"This is the sixth round. I need you two to get on the cart together," Qi Xia said. "If we transport both of you in one go this round, we can skip the seventh round and win directly."
Before anyone could react, Earth Horse in the distance slowly stood up.
"How troublesome..." She smiled insincerely in the direction of Qi Xia and Qiao Jiajin. "The people I least wanted to face have come together. Are you two really trying to drive me crazy?"
Qi Xia and Qiao Jiajin also looked at Earth Horse. Neither of them had ever seen this strange Zodiac before.
"So what?" Qi Xia asked. "What does it matter if you don't want to face us? A few minutes ago, you said you would make a move in the 'seventh round.' Are you going to back out now?"
Earth Horse looked at Qi Xia, her expression gradually turning cold. Her thick lips moved slightly before she finally forced out a few words: "I won't back out. I will indeed make a move in the seventh round."
"Then please step aside," Qi Xia said. "Don't hinder us from playing the game."
"But now I need to announce a rule that was never mentioned before..." Earth Horse snorted coldly. "This 'Wooden Oxen & Gliding Horses' can only carry one person at a time."
(Family member hospitalized for surgery. Don't want to stop updating. One chapter today. Please forgive me.)