Wen Qiaoyun and Han Yimo exchanged glances, then the two walked toward the door to the side.

“Qiaoyun Jie… that side is…”

“It’s fine, let’s go.”

At this moment, the Man-Boar, who had been dazed for quite a while, finally snapped back to reality and immediately called out to stop them.

“Hey!”

“Hm?” The two looked at him.

“Not that way.” The Man-Boar looked at the door and shook his head. “That’s the path I take to go out. Your ‘door’ is over here.”

He pointed to a solitary “door” in the pitch-black corner behind him.

“I’m a bit curious.” Wen Qiaoyun pointed to the door beside her and said, “Where would it lead if we walked out through this door?”

“Where…?” The Man-Boar thought for a few seconds, then said, “Naturally it would be an ‘exit.’ Not only would you exit from this game, you could also exit from your own life altogether, I suppose.”

“I see…” Wen Qiaoyun nodded. “I won’t go out, but I’d like to open the ‘door’ and take a look. May I?”

After hearing this, the Man-Boar paused for a moment, then replied: “Of course you can. After all, even if you really wanted to go out, it has nothing to do with me.”

He knew that if the “participants” “escaped” through this door, then the ones who killed them would become Zhu Que or Qinglong.

Though it was regrettable, it couldn’t be counted as his achievement. So the Man-Boar wasn’t lying—which door they left through really didn’t matter much to him.

The reason he offered a few words of warning was that he didn’t want his room to be left with a “black shop” reputation. Once someone entered his room but didn’t return the original way, others wouldn’t come.

An ordinary street, small rooms visible everywhere, panicked referees, hastily constructed games.

This was the rest of this “Cangjie Chess” game.

“So it’s just a street.” Wen Qiaoyun said. “Walking out would count as ‘escaping’?”

“That’s right.” The Man-Boar said while tidying up the table. “You look like a clever person. You should know what happens when you escape from a game, right?”

How could the Man-Boar possibly guess that, in her own memory, the Wen Qiaoyun before him was entering a game for the first time?

“I have a general idea.” Wen Qiaoyun said calmly, gently closing the door.

Han Yimo clearly had some attachment to what was outside the door, but after thinking that going out might get him killed, he silently followed behind Wen Qiaoyun without a word.

“Then we’re leaving.” Wen Qiaoyun had already obtained enough information. There was no need to continue wasting time now.

The two opened the “door” they had entered through, and sure enough, the other side was the game venue for “Cangjie Chess.”

They no longer conversed with the Man-Boar and left after entering the door.

The Man-Boar walked forward and slowly closed the wooden door, only hoping he had left a decent impression on the two and that they might introduce some repeat customers.

After Wen Qiaoyun walked out, she headed straight toward Chu Tianqiu’s direction without looking back. Han Yimo hastily pulled her back before the doors on all four sides unlocked.

“Qiaoyun Jie… don’t forget our agreement…”

“Agreement…” Wen Qiaoyun paused. “I won’t forget, don’t worry. As long as you also bring the second ‘character,’ I promise to have the entire team accept you.”

“Good… that’s great then…”

The doors unlocked, and after parting ways, the two hurried back to their own “Preparation Zones.” Since Wen Qiaoyun was currently in enemy territory, she needed to be constantly careful about being robbed a second time. But when she arrived at the “River Path,” the first thing that came into view was Zhang Shan lying on the ground.

She was stunned for a few seconds, then hastily looked around at the surrounding walls, discovering that large areas of blood splatters had almost dyed this place completely.

Zhang Shan had been taken down?

Zhang Shan’s huge body looked just like a dead tiger. Could an ordinary person really defeat him…?

With this much blood loss, could it be that the other side swarmed him and beat him up together?

Wen Qiaoyun wanted to walk forward to check on Zhang Shan’s condition, but then she reached out and felt the two “characters” in her pocket, feeling that now wasn’t the right time.

She had come out from the rightmost room, but Zhang Shan’s fallen position was too far to the left.

Although it was at most a dozen or so steps, who could say what would happen in those dozen steps? Even if she confirmed now whether Zhang Shan was dead or alive, she absolutely had no way to help him up.

Thinking of this, she could only temporarily set Zhang Shan aside, walked forward to open the door directly in front of her, confirmed there was no one inside, then hurriedly rushed back to the “Preparation Zone.” During her movement, she seemed to hear some argument happening in their side’s “Battle Zone,” but the soundproofing here was done very well. She could only hear a few muffled echoes and couldn’t determine the location.

……

Han Yimo arrived at the “Preparation Zone” out of breath. Qi Xia and Zhang Chenze were standing together talking about something, while Qiao Jiajin, covered in blood, lay in a corner against the wall.

“Huh…?” He was slightly stunned, feeling that in the short time since he’d left, something major seemed to have happened here.

Major events could happen even when the protagonist wasn’t present… Was this some kind of side story?

Qi Xia turned around to look at Han Yimo, seeming to confirm his identity in the shortest time possible.

“What happened to him…?” Han Yimo asked, pointing at Qiao Jiajin.

Identity confirmed—not Xu Liunian.

“He’s resting.” Qi Xia said. “What about you? What’s the result?”

“I…” Han Yimo lowered his head in frustration. “I’m sorry! I lost!”

“Good.” Qi Xia wasn’t surprised at all and just nodded, then turned back around and stopped talking. “Lawyer Zhang, help me go watch this room.”

Qi Xia extended his finger and pointed at a map on the wall: “Right now Chen Junnan is invading alone, but I believe he’ll throw the other side into chaos. Tiantian and Zheng Yingxiong have already taken positions on both sides for defense, but the middle part is relatively weak. You go stall until Chen Junnan returns. If you encounter anyone, retreat quickly.”

“Alright, I’ve noted it down.” Zhang Chenze nodded, turned around, and walked out of the “Preparation Zone.”

Han Yimo had thought that after Qi Xia sent Zhang Chenze away, he would say something to him, but instead the other party walked to the side to examine Qiao Jiajin’s injuries.

At this rate… was he not planning to pay attention to him?

No, Han Yimo keenly sensed something. He wasn’t ignoring him—rather, he was waiting for the protagonist to say something to actively trigger the plot.

“You have no idea… how badly I lost just now!” Han Yimo said. “That woman is really not ordinary, just like an ancient supreme being.”

Qi Xia checked Qiao Jiajin’s nostrils to prevent coagulated blood from obstructing his breathing, while softly saying three words from his mouth: “You worked hard.”

“It’s not really about working hard!” Han Yimo said. “Although I lost to that woman, I’ve also found a way to defeat the enemy. I’m confident now. As long as I can get another chance, I can definitely send the other party back in defeat.”

Qi Xia turned around with a cold expression and looked at Han Yimo, asking: “Did you go through the ‘River Path’ just now?”

“River… Path?” After hearing this, Han Yimo shook his head. “No.”

“Good. For the remaining time, you’ll stay in the ‘Preparation Zone.'”