“Qi Xia!”

Zhang Chenze saw Qi Xia rush out of the riverway and kept calling out softly from behind.

But Qi Xia merely crouched on the ground, checking Qiao Jiajin’s injuries.

“What is it?” Qi Xia didn’t raise his head and asked in a deep voice.

Zhang Chenze left the doorway and came to the “riverway,” asking with a puzzled expression: “You’re the ‘Commander-in-Chief’… how can you leave the ‘Preparation Zone’?”

Qi Xia still didn’t look up. He reached out to touch Qiao Jiajin’s neck and found his pulse extremely weak, with many wounds on his face.

Right now, it was unclear whether he had fainted or fallen asleep—he had completely lost consciousness.

“The rules never said the ‘Commander-in-Chief’ couldn’t leave the ‘Preparation Zone,’ only that scoring must be done by the ‘Commander-in-Chief,'” Qi Xia said. “I’m also carrying a ‘character,’ so naturally I’m one of the pieces.”

“But it’s too dangerous here…”

Zhang Chenze looked at Qiao Jiajin, then at Zhang Shan lying not far away, naturally understanding that a fierce battle had just taken place here.

She had worried about this problem before the game started—that tall man had an incredibly muscular build. What could be done if he started fighting?

But the Flower-Arm Man before her had truly defeated him.

“Lawyer Zhang, help me retrieve the ‘character.'” Qi Xia said. “The other side couldn’t possibly imagine our ‘Commander-in-Chief’ would personally take the field. Right now, I need your help.”

“Alright…!”

Lawyer Zhang didn’t hesitate and immediately ran to Zhang Shan’s side, reaching to feel his pockets. Sure enough, there was a “character.” But as Lawyer Zhang reached in to explore, her expression quickly changed.

“Qi Xia… but this ‘character’…” Zhang Chenze’s eyes flickered. “If Qiao Jiajin fought this battle for this ‘character’… then what exactly were we fighting for…”

“I only know he won,” Qi Xia said. “That ‘character’ is also his spoils of war. We must take it for him.”

Zhang Chenze knew Qi Xia had already thought of this possibility. She could only remain silent for a few seconds before wordlessly pocketing the “character.”

Just as she was about to stand up, she saw blood foam continuously flowing from the corner of Zhang Shan’s mouth. She paused, then inexplicably reached out to touch Zhang Shan’s neck.

His pulse was nearly gone. He was currently in shock. Without medical assistance, he would die soon.

His throat and temple showed obvious signs of severe trauma, both appearing deformed. It seemed that during their exchange of punches, Qiao Jiajin had instinctively struck his vital points.

But this was unavoidable—it was already a death match that had stained the entire “riverway” with blood… would anyone still care where their fists landed?

In this kill-or-be-killed death match, the two men fought until only subconscious instinct and willpower remained. Zhang Shan must have lost to his own subconscious.

When he threw punches in his dazed state, he ultimately still chose non-lethal attack methods.

This was something even he couldn’t control—shackles rooted deep in his heart.

Zhang Chenze turned her head to look at Qiao Jiajin lying on Qi Xia’s back.

Did he really want to kill?

One could only say his body wanted to win, his fists wanted to win. In those final moments, every limb on his body gained its own consciousness. They took control and won this fight. They believed that even if it meant striking a killing blow and bearing the crime at this moment, everything was worth it.

Now Zhang Shan could only lie in this cold “Chu River-Han Boundary,” moving toward death, with no one able to help him.

“Let’s go,” Qi Xia said. “Don’t let anyone see us.”

Zhang Chenze naturally understood Qi Xia’s meaning. By leaving with Qiao Jiajin now, they would leave the other side with countless questions.

Zhang Shan was beaten to death, but Qiao Jiajin wasn’t at the scene. So how exactly did he beat Zhang Shan to death, how did he leave, and where is he now?

The enemy side would think Qiao Jiajin might have used some trick and then retreated completely unharmed.

Even if Qiao Jiajin spent all the remaining time resting in the “Preparation Zone,” it would still create tremendous psychological pressure on the opponents.

They would always have to guard against that man who could appear at any moment—the man who had beaten Zhang Shan to death.

The three people quickly circled around several empty rooms. During this time, they encountered Zheng Yingxiong and Tiantian. Everyone looked shocked seeing Qiao Jiajin’s blood-covered face, but Qi Xia said nothing.

After returning to the “Preparation Zone,” Qi Xia helped Qiao Jiajin sit down against the wall. After thinking about it, feeling somewhat uneasy, he let him lie down flat instead.

In a daze, he saw Qiao Jiajin’s mouth seem to move slightly, so he quickly bent down and put his ear close to Qiao Jiajin’s mouth.

He was speaking entirely in Cantonese now, but Qi Xia could still roughly understand—

“Big guy… very dangerous… quickly go save people…”

“Don’t worry,” Qi Xia said softly. “He won’t encounter danger anymore. Rest easy.”

After hearing this, Qiao Jiajin’s lips moved as if understanding Qi Xia’s meaning. His expression froze blankly for a moment before quieting down again.

His eyelids were completely purplish-red. From beginning to end, he never opened them. It was unclear whether he was awake or had fallen asleep again.

Only then did Zhang Chenze step forward and take out Zhang Shan’s “character” from her pocket, slowly opening her hand before Qi Xia.

It was a “Shi” (士) stained with fresh blood.

It was “Shi” (士), not “Shi” (仕).

“Qiao Jiajin nearly traded his life for this ‘Shi,'” Zhang Chenze said with sadness in her eyes. “Zhang Shan also died for this ‘Shi’… What exactly is this…”

“It’s fine, give it to me.” Qi Xia took the “Shi” from Zhang Chenze’s hand and turned to walk toward the “Phoenix Bearing Letter Platform.”

“They’re really too calculating…” Zhang Chenze said with furrowed brows. “Wasn’t this supposed to be a fair duel…? The other side’s ‘Commander-in-Chief’ actually reduced the stakes in advance. Qiao Jiajin was always holding ‘Xiang’ and dueling sincerely with his opponent, but the opponent only had a ‘Shi’…”

Qi Xia didn’t answer this question. He simply used “Shi” and “Gan” to score two points.

Total: fifteen points.

“The other side didn’t hide the ‘Ren radical’ away,” Qi Xia said. “Rather, they never had the ‘Ren radical’ from the beginning.”

“What…?”

“My mistake,” Qi Xia said. “I should have calculated this in advance. If the other side had the ‘Ren radical’ from the start, this game should have ended long ago.”

Zhang Chenze was slightly stunned. She looked up at the walls of the entire “Preparation Zone” and only then discovered that Qi Xia had already filled them with characters.

Counting carefully, there were at least over a hundred, including “characters” that didn’t look like characters, and characters that could only be combined using strange methods.

“If the other side had the ‘Ren radical’ from the start, combined with the three-part combination of ‘Jiang’ and ‘Zu,’ the ‘characters’ in their hands could directly form twenty-eight characters.”