Just two minutes earlier, Chen Junnan passed by this room marked with “巳” (Snake).

After entering and confirming no one was around, while thinking about how to charge into the opponent’s “Preparation Zone,” a scene he could never have imagined occurred.

The “door” in the room opened by itself.

A person wearing a tattered snake-head mask peeked out, and after a few seconds, their gaze met Chen Junnan’s.

Chen Junnan only remembered that Qi Xia had told him to open doors in a rule-breaking manner after crossing the river to investigate what was inside, but he never imagined the “door” would open on its own.

Thinking carefully, this matter seemed to have entered a misunderstanding—the other side of the “door” was also a living person, so why couldn’t it be opened from inside?

It’s just that his life seemed to have always been entangled with “snakes,” and he didn’t know what temperament and nature this snake before him had.

Man-Snake stared at Chen Junnan for a while, then blinked.

“Look familiar, right?” Chen Junnan asked.

“Familiar.”

“Then is there a possibility that we’ve met before?”

“There is.”

Man-Snake nodded, then looked around. “Pretty formal setup. What are we playing?”

After hearing this, Chen Junnan was immediately speechless.

The game’s referee was asking a game participant “what are we playing”—should he know or not know?

“Probably a word-spelling game researched by some illiterate little brat,” Chen Junnan said.

“Spelling?” Man-Snake found himself in an empty room and didn’t quite understand what “spelling” meant.

“More or less, or maybe he is literate but pretending not to be.”

“That interesting?” Man-Snake asked again.

“No…” Chen Junnan was getting confused by this Man-Snake. “Snake Bro, let’s put aside whether it’s interesting or not. Did you just finish hibernation and come out to hunt for food? Why are you actively opening doors?”

“Hunt for food? Not really. I ate a person before coming here, quite full.” Man-Snake answered. “What about you? Just you alone?”

“How could that be? I have over ten thousand people behind me,” Chen Junnan replied.

After a brief exchange, they both discovered that neither had spoken a single truth.

Although Man-Snake wasn’t in a hurry, Chen Junnan was very anxious.

Man-Snake could stick his head out from the door and chat with Chen Junnan all day, but if Chen Junnan continued chatting, he’d be done for.

Now that Xu Liunian had lost her “character,” she would definitely rush back to the “Preparation Zone” immediately. He needed to intercept her before that, otherwise this “piercing arrow” would be declared a failure.

He needed to immediately pretend to be Xu Liunian.

Appearance and personality were manageable, but he was carrying a “bag” and “scarf,” looking exactly like a street vendor selling women’s clothing. How could he possibly fool the other side?

Could he really put the “characters” in his mouth? But these “characters” looked filthy…

A flash of inspiration struck him, and he suddenly thought of an excellent idea.

Since he couldn’t put them in his own mouth, why not put them in someone else’s mouth?

“Snake Bro, can we make a deal?” Chen Junnan said.

“That’s not good,” Man-Snake replied. “I was planning to eat you. How can I bring myself to do it after making a deal?”

“Don’t push yourself too hard,” Chen Junnan said. “Help me with a small favor. If you have any requests, you can also make them.”

After hearing this, Man-Snake’s eyes flickered slightly. Since he was always wearing a mask, Chen Junnan couldn’t see his expression.

“I’m making my request now,” Man-Snake said.

“Oh, you’re also an expert at bargaining.” Chen Junnan calculated the time in his mind, appearing calm on the surface but actually sweating in his palms. “What’s your request?”

“Is that person called Qi Xia with you?” Man-Snake asked.

“You’re a noble person who forgets many things,” Chen Junnan said. “Weren’t you the one who opened the door for us back then?”

“I want to see him,” Man-Snake said. “I’ll wait for him in this ‘door.’ Have him come find me.”

After hearing this, Chen Junnan stood there dumbfounded for a moment before saying, “Hey… I’m a bit pressed for time right now. I don’t have time to explain exactly how this game works, but it’s indeed somewhat difficult for Qi Xia to enter your room. How about you change your condition? Or after the game ends, you name a place, and I’ll have Old Qi go find you. The three of us haven’t seen each other in a long time—let’s have a few drinks and catch up properly.”

“Just this one condition. I have my difficulties right now, and I won’t deceive you,” Man-Snake said. “What’s your request?”

“I… want you to help me store some ‘characters.'”

“‘Characters’?”

Chen Junnan nodded. “They’re the ‘chips’ in this game. Now, due to some special reasons, I need to temporarily transfer the ‘characters’ out.”

“Give me the ‘characters,'” Man-Snake said without hesitation.

“Snake Bro, don’t mess around… I’m in a hurry,” Chen Junnan said.

“I’m also in a hurry,” Man-Snake said. “I don’t have a game venue. After this game ends, I won’t be able to see him anymore, so I can only seize this opportunity to meet.”

“No game venue?” Chen Junnan paused, only then remembering that the other party seemed to be the “Zodiac” responsible for opening doors.

“Your ‘characters’ are useless to me, but I have a favor to ask of you, so I hope you’ll help me with this,” Man-Snake said with a complex expression. “I have something very important to confirm with Qi Xia.”

Chen Junnan blinked. “Don’t you see Old Qi every cycle…?”

“The situation has changed. I’m afraid I can’t wait until the next cycle,” Man-Snake said. “Give me the ‘characters.'”

While Chen Junnan was still hesitating, he heard the door handle being turned. Unable to think much, he immediately pulled out the two “characters” from his pocket and shoved them to Man-Snake, saying:

“Snake Bro, I’ll trust you this once… If I don’t come back within five minutes, destroy these two ‘characters’ for me, and we’ll act as if we never met.”

Man-Snake: “Alright, got it.”

He closed the door and left, leaving Chen Junnan standing there without “characters.” He knew what he was doing was very risky, but when had he ever not taken risks?

The door behind him creaked open. Chen Junnan prayed in his heart for a few seconds, then turned to look and happened to see that the people who came in were Doctor Zhao and Jin Yuanxun.

If either one of them had come in alone at this moment, his plan would have already failed, but they happened to come together.

Before he could speak, the door on the left opened again, and another Chen Junnan also walked in.

What was this called? This was called “what’s meant to be will be; when the boat reaches the bridge, it will straighten itself out naturally.”

Everything was in disarray yet just right.

“Fits my style perfectly.”

Next, Chen Junnan began loudly cursing at Chen Junnan.

He said Chen Junnan actually dared to impersonate Chen Junnan—he really had eaten the heart of a bear and the gall of a leopard. If he had the guts, he shouldn’t pretend to be Chen Junnan and let everyone see who the real Chen Junnan was.

Chen Junnan looked bewildered and hastily explained that he wasn’t Chen Junnan.

Chen Junnan secretly smiled, saying he was Chen Junnan.

As the saying goes, from the south came a Chen Junnan, and from the north came a Xu Liunian.

Chen Junnan pretending to be Xu Liunian said he wasn’t Chen Junnan, while Xu Liunian pretending to be Chen Junnan said he was Chen Junnan.

No one knew whether Chen Junnan was pretending to be Xu Liunian or Xu Liunian was pretending to be Chen Junnan.

Chen Junnan mentally calculated the tongue-twister he had just made up. During this, he accidentally said “damn it” and “your bro” a few times, but fortunately everyone looked confused and didn’t notice, so he hastily muddled through by saying the other party had said it earlier.

The situation fell into a stalemate for a time until the real Xu Liunian came up with an idea.

Chen Junnan felt it didn’t matter either way. If they couldn’t think of a solution, he’d drag Xu Liunian to death; if they did think of a solution, he’d try to get a “character.”

After all, when the cart reaches the mountain, there will be a way through.

It was just a pity that Xu Liunian spoke in such a boring manner—no one got to recite the tongue-twister he had just thought of.