“What…”

“We were misled,” Qi Xia said. “When I first saw our side’s ‘characters,’ I assumed the opponent’s ‘characters’ would also follow chess pieces. But the designer of this game is ‘Qinglong.’ He won’t let us comfortably pass through this game, so even if he changed the characters, it’s within normal parameters.”

Qi Xia stared at the wall full of “characters,” his expression exceptionally grave.

“It’s just unfortunate that by the time I calculated this answer, Fists and Zhang Shan’s battle had already entered its final stage.”

At that point, no one could stop the two of them.

“But won’t this be a bit of a loss…?” Zhang Chenze said. “Although we obtained the ‘character,’ Qiao Jiajin also can’t stand up anymore…”

“Not a loss,” Qi Xia turned his head to look at Qiao Jiajin and said. “If Fists hadn’t blocked Zhang Shan, how many of us do you think could contend with him?”

“This…”

“Zhang Shan would have directly led all his people straight through. We couldn’t trigger the ‘game’ and couldn’t resist the offensive. We would have declared defeat within one minute.”

Zhang Chenze naturally knew Qi Xia was being reasonable, but she still felt this fight was somewhat unfair.

A simple “Shi” had nearly claimed two lives.

But she also knew that grievances have sources and debts have debtors. What they should hate wasn’t the other side, but the person who designed this game, or rather, the person who designed the entire “Land of the End.”

…

Han Yimo had already stayed in this strange place for a while now.

An ordinary “Man-Pig” game.

The coin was tossed high by that ugly boar, then caught between both hands, while he and Wen Qiaoyun each held three cards.

“Flip Card,” “Re-toss Card,” “Exchange Card.”

In this game, both he and Wen Qiaoyun could simultaneously guess “heads” or “tails.” Guessing correctly earned one point, and reaching seven points meant victory.

But he had already lost five rounds in a row.

Five consecutive rounds.

What an incredible number!

Clearly everyone only had a fifty percent chance of guessing correctly, yet his luck seemed to have hit rock bottom. No matter what, he couldn’t score from that damned boar’s hands.

In the third round, after placing her bet, Wen Qiaoyun used the “Flip Card,” causing the coin in the boar’s hands to flip upside down, completely reversing the result that would have let Han Yimo score.

Han Yimo made up his mind right then—if that’s how it was… he would always follow Wen Qiaoyun’s guess. If she guessed “heads,” he would guess “heads.” If she guessed “tails,” he would guess “tails.”

In the fourth round, both guessed incorrectly.

In the fifth round, just after following Wen Qiaoyun’s guess, she decisively played the “Exchange Card,” directly exchanging the guessing result before the coin revealed its face, switching from “guessing heads” to “guessing tails.”

Han Yimo hesitated for a long time, worried that Wen Qiaoyun would still lead him to failure, so he saved his card and lost another round.

At this point, Wen Qiaoyun only had one card left—the “Re-toss Card.”

Han Yimo hadn’t expected anyone to use strategy in this luck-based game. He had already fallen behind in score. Even if he followed her guess correctly in every subsequent match, he could only lose.

“I… I need to pause…” Han Yimo said trembling. “I really can’t do this anymore… I need to pause for a bit… I feel like I’m going to lose…”

“P-pause…?” The boar was slightly stunned upon hearing this, looking quite nervous himself. “Come on… what ‘pause’… Just hurry up and place your bet and lose quickly, don’t waste my time.”

“N-no, I can’t… really can’t…” Han Yimo said. “Your game venue is too dark, I’m a bit scared… I… I have claustrophobia…”

“Dark?” The boar looked up—the light bulb he just hung was still on. “Damn it, kid, what excuse are you making! Hurry up and place your bet…! If something goes wrong with you, I’ll die too!”

“No, no, no…” Han Yimo waved his hands repeatedly. “I’m really sorry… just let me pause for a bit… I… I need to rest…”

“It’s fine,” Wen Qiaoyun said. “I accept the pause. You can rest.”

After hearing this, Han Yimo quickly turned to look at the boar: “See… my opponent agreed!”

The boar looked at Wen Qiaoyun, knowing she was a smart woman. She had already seen through this game. Winning next was only a matter of time. He could only sigh, shake his head, and turn away.

“Sister Qiaoyun…” Han Yimo called out. “Let me catch my breath first… I have something to tell you…”

“Oh?” Wen Qiaoyun raised an eyebrow. “Here?”

“Yes…” Han Yimo swallowed and steadied his breathing. “I’m really not good at games, so could we make a deal…?”

“Speak,” Wen Qiaoyun replied with an unchanged expression.

“Could you deliberately lose this round to me… so I can have something to show after I get out…”

Wen Qiaoyun seemed to have heard an extremely absurd suggestion and didn’t know how to respond for a moment.

“You might not know… Sister Qiaoyun, actually I’m on your side.” As Han Yimo spoke, he kept pinching his thigh hard.

He felt his current state was somewhat unworthy of a “protagonist’s” identity. He was actually afraid, trembling.

He was not only acting as a mole in Qi Xia’s team, preparing to bring down a monster like Qi Xia, but also facing off one-on-one with the ancient strategic genius Wen Qiaoyun in a “Zodiac Game.”

Before the game started, Doctor Zhao told him that Wen Qiaoyun was an extremely intelligent person. He didn’t know if she could compare to Qi Xia, but she definitely wasn’t inferior to Chu Tianqiu.

So at this moment, he was really nervous, so nervous that his legs kept trembling.

No, in his own words, he was nervous like a supporting character.

“Our side?” Wen Qiaoyun asked without showing any emotion. “What do you mean?”

“I-I’m a mole!” Han Yimo explained loudly. “Before the game started, I made an agreement with Doctor Zhao. We formed an alliance… I’m here to dismantle Qi Xia from the inside…!”

After hearing this, Wen Qiaoyun paused and said: “So does Qi Xia trust you? Why do you think you can dismantle him?”

“How… how could he not trust me? I came from the same room as him, and I have a ‘character’… a very important ‘character’!”

Han Yimo pulled out a “Ma” (馬).

“Ma”—where exactly was it important?

After seeing it, Wen Qiaoyun sighed and said: “You might not know this, but not to mention you, even the ‘Doctor Zhao’ who formed an alliance with you cannot guarantee his own innocence right now.”

“Huh…?” Han Yimo was slightly stunned upon hearing this. “How is that possible… Old Zhao switched sides?”

“I don’t know him well,” Wen Qiaoyun said. “So I’m not sure either. It’s just that I saw him exchanging glances with that Chen Junnan, so there’s no way to make us completely trust him.”

After hearing this, Han Yimo immediately found himself in a difficult position. He had agreed to form an alliance with Doctor Zhao, but if Doctor Zhao really had switched sides…

Then which side was he on?