Only now did everyone realize that Qiao Jiajin’s rhetoric had truly taken effect.

Xuanwu’s originally rock-solid answer had actually begun to waver at this moment.

Between “father” and “rice,” which one would Xuanwu judge as the victory?

Although Xuanwu only revealed one eye through her hair, that eye was truly filled with confusion.

In previous games, she could easily judge victory or defeat, but this time, no matter what, she couldn’t reach a conclusion.

Since she was no longer “human,” naturally there was no way to think from a “human” perspective.

But what should she do now?

“It doesn’t matter.” Qi Xia spoke to Xuanwu at this moment. “There’s no need to listen to what others say. Just judge according to the answer you recognize.”

The brief words were like a lifeline, pulling Xuanwu out of her conflicted feelings.

“The answer I recognize…” Xuanwu lowered her head and pondered for a moment.

After a moment, she slowly raised her head: “A draw.”

“A draw…” Qinglong frowned and said, “Have you thought it through?”

Xuanwu nodded slightly, causing her hair to sway: “I’m clear. I cannot judge this round, so both are correct.”

“Hooo~~~~~”

Chen Junnan suddenly spoke loudly at this moment: “Old Qiao, Old Qiao! If I’m not mistaken, a certain small deity has played two rounds of the game with us and hasn’t scored a single point.”

Hearing this, Qinglong’s expression turned cold. Unable to tolerate Chen Junnan’s mouth any longer, he instantly vanished from his position.

Seeing this, Xuanwu’s brow furrowed, and she also instantly disappeared from her spot.

The next second, Qinglong suddenly appeared before Chen Junnan, then raised his palm to strike. Xuanwu immediately appeared beside Qinglong and grabbed his wrist.

Within one second, both had already moved, but Xuanwu had saved Chen Junnan’s life at the critical moment.

Chen Junnan and Qiao Jiajin beside him came to their senses. The two quickly retreated a step, only then seeing clearly what was happening before their eyes.

Xuanwu’s action seemed to have greatly angered Qinglong. His wrist was held motionless, and his entire expression became increasingly grim.

After a few seconds, his wrist suddenly shook, actually forcing Xuanwu back several steps.

Xuanwu rapidly retreated several steps before finally standing firm, then coughed lightly.

No one knew how much force Qinglong had used, but anyone could see that Xuanwu was not feeling well at this moment.

“Xuanwu…” Qinglong laughed in extreme anger, turning back to look at her. “Remember this moment. I won’t let you live and I won’t let you die. I’ll only give you deeper torment.”

After hearing this, Xuanwu’s eyes revealed a trace of panic, but she quickly calmed down and said: “The game has not ended. Both sides cannot fight each other and can only decide victory or defeat through ‘Cangjie Chess.'”

Qinglong snorted coldly, flicked his sleeves, and once again came before the giant display screen.

Seeing him like this, everyone couldn’t help but exchange glances with one another.

It seemed that no matter how this game proceeded, Xuanwu would find it difficult to escape punishment. If Qinglong won the third round, this game would still end in a draw, very likely proceeding to a fourth round tiebreaker.

But Qi Xia knew he couldn’t possibly drag it to a fourth round and continue winning.

Qinglong would soon know where the crux of this game’s mystery appeared. Thinking he could continuously defeat Qinglong four times through this method was simply a pipe dream.

There was only one reason for his victory, and that was the “Pawn.”

When Chu Tianqiu declared his surrender outside the “Cangjie Chess” venue, to be safe, Qi Xia took the “General” from his person and the “Pawn” from Jin Yuanxun’s person.

After thinking for a while, Qi Xia put the “Pawn” in his pocket and returned the “General.”

Adding the “Advisor” that Tiantian had subtly created, the total number of characters in this game had not decreased.

Therefore, Qinglong had no way to quickly find out which “character” was missing from the many chaotic radicals at the first moment.

At this time, Qi Xia had Chen Junnan and Qiao Jiajin conduct “psychological attacks,” making the truth, which was already difficult to discover immediately, even more obscure.

But Qi Xia also knew that Qinglong would realize this problem sooner or later. To be even safer, he proactively suggested that both sides each eliminate one “character” and not inform the other which “character” they eliminated. He then handed the “Advisor” that Tiantian had created to Xuanwu.

This way, even if the other party discovered that the “Pawn” was missing, they would first think it had been eliminated by themselves, and absolutely could not imagine that in this game there was also a seemingly real or unreal “Advisor.”

Just as Qi Xia had said before, as long as this “character” wasn’t held in hand and carefully examined, it would forever be real.

Thus, Qi Xia used “eye” (目) and “wood” (木) to form “罧.”

He also used the “ten” (十) from “Pawn” and the “eight” (八) from “Soldier” to form a second “wood” (木), combining them to make “罧.”

Just as Xuanwu had said, the combination Qi Xia used contained half a “Soldier.”

In the second round, when Qi Xia was making combinations in his mind, he discovered that “ten” (十) could be rotated to become “乂.” At this time, adding “eight” (八) could form “father” (父).

However, “十” and “乂” had different strokes after all; they were only highly similar in shape. The only concern was whether the “Phoenix Book-Carrying Platform” could recognize this abstract typeface.

He had thought it would be absolutely impossible to achieve the combination, but in a certain instant in Qi Xia’s mind, he remembered the “屮” that Chen Junnan had created.

Theoretically speaking, “屮” and “towel” (巾) also had different strokes, similarly only highly similar in shape. If “屮” could be recognized, then “乂” should be recognizable.

Soon he discovered his speculation had no deviation. This game must have Baiyang’s interference.

After all, even the “乂” that Qinglong hadn’t noticed could actually be received by the “Phoenix Book-Carrying Platform.”

From this level, the question setter and the answerer had fought to a draw. Only Qinglong had been kept in the dark.

He and Chu Tianqiu therefore discovered how important the “Pawn” was. After all, the two radicals “十” and “亠” could be combined into an extremely complex array of “characters.” If one could freely use all “characters” for combination, the “Pawn” would even be omnipotent.

But Qinglong was not stupid. Once three consecutive rounds were played, he would inevitably discover that Qi Xia had used “characters” that weren’t in the character pile. Once this round wasn’t won, the “Pawn” couldn’t possibly continue to be used.

This way, Qi Xia would fall into a completely passive situation. After all, Qinglong had already thought through many possibilities in advance. In a situation where both sides could use the “Pawn,” the best outcome Qi Xia could think of was a draw, but there was a greater probability of consecutive defeats.

Therefore, the third round could only be won, directly ending this game here.

“Next, we’ll draw the rules for the third round.”

Hearing this, Xuanwu paused, then pulled out the final rule for the third round from the box.

Several people looked intently and saw written on the slip of paper:

“The one occupying the largest ground area wins.”