Earth-Horse felt that these uniformly dressed people in front of her seemed different from ordinary participants.

“You… are some kind of organization?” Earth-Horse slowly pushed away Bai Jiu’s hand, then looked around at everyone. “Are you specifically here to tackle the games?”

“No.” Bai Jiu shook her head, and her twin ponytails swayed along with her movement. “Not recognizing us is a good thing. If one day we really showed up here with a purpose… that would be quite unfortunate.”

“How mysterious.” Earth-Horse stepped aside and reached out her left hand. With just a little effort, she dragged the entire wooden ox and flowing horse contraption forward, then step by step brought it before everyone.

“Huh?” Qiao Jiajin was first surprised by her strength, but soon realized something was wrong. “Bloody hell, you want us to try it here? Not on the ice surface?”

“Is there a problem?” Earth-Horse pushed the cart forward. “This is my game, the rules are set by me. Wherever I tell you to try it, that’s where you try it.”

“But there’s no ice here.” Qiao Jiajin said. “Big Horse Lady, aren’t you being a bit unreasonable?”

“Forget it, Qiao Ge…” Bai Jiu tugged on Qiao Jiajin’s sleeve. “It was a free opportunity given to us anyway, let’s cherish it first.”

“Ai…” After hearing this, Qiao Jiajin nodded helplessly. “Alright then.”

“Who’s going to sit?” Bai Jiu asked.

“No need to sit.” Qiao Jiajin walked to the side, picked up a medium-sized discarded stone, and walked over easily to place it on the seat. “Our main purpose isn’t to practice sitting in the cart, it’s to practice pushing the cart.”

“Wow…” Bai Jiu looked at this stone that weighed about as much as a person and felt somewhat astonished. “Qiao Ge, you look so thin, yet you’re so strong?”

“Yes, I’ve got skills.” Qiao Jiajin nodded. “Let’s pretend there’s a person sitting in this cart, and practice pushing it in groups of six. This basketball court looks about twenty-something meters, we’ll all try walking twenty-something steps too.”

“Alright, Qiao Ge.”

Everyone agreed to Qiao Jiajin’s suggestion, then tried out this strange pushcart on the flat ground.

Soon everyone gradually felt relieved. Although this pushcart was made entirely of wood, the mortise and tenon structure was extremely sturdy. Not only was the weight appropriate when pushing it, but the balance was also excellent.

Even more wonderful were the wheels at the bottom.

When the ordinary wheels were removed and replaced with a freely rotating sphere, this pushcart could not only move straight forward and backward, but could even slide horizontally. As long as stability could be maintained, this pushcart could move at any angle without tipping over.

Everyone put down the pushcart and roughly discussed tactics, but Qiao Jiajin was almost entirely listening on the side, unable to provide any constructive opinions.

“We need to transport seven people back and forth within seven rounds…” Bai Jiu said. “Then naturally we should start with the weakest person riding the cart.”

“Oh?” Qiao Jiajin pondered for a while and nodded. “Then wouldn’t I be last?”

“Yes, Qiao Ge.” Bai Jiu nodded. “We’ve fought with you before. More than ten people surrounded you and still couldn’t kill you. Your stamina and fighting skills should be very top-notch.”

“Ah… you mean that ‘Heaven’s Gate Total Annihilation Battle’…” Qiao Jiajin scratched his head somewhat embarrassedly. “Actually that time it wasn’t just me being skilled, Liar also helped.”

“This is what I’m thinking.” Bai Jiu ignored Qiao Jiajin and continued. “Since we’ll be directly going onto the ice surface in a bit, the first few rounds should be the hardest to adapt to. At that time we should try to find physically strong people to push the cart, and find the knack and method faster. After that, each round we’ll select one person to get on the cart. This way we can ensure that among the six people pushing the cart, at least five people have continuously pushed for two rounds. Everyone will be in a relatively experienced state.”

“Old leading the new, huh.” Chou Twenty nodded lazily. “Fine, what Sister Jiu said is right, I agree.”

After hearing this, Qiao Jiajin learned Qi Xia’s manner and stroked his chin. Every time Qi Xia stroked his chin like this, he would have some new insights.

Indeed there was insight.

Qiao Jiajin felt that the chin was a very magical thing. After just three or four days without shaving, it felt somewhat rough to touch.

“Qiao Ge, what do you think?”

“I…” Qiao Jiajin came back to his senses, then frowned. “To be honest, I’m not as smart as you all… The problems I think of might not even be problems. Don’t laugh at me when I say this.”

“Go ahead and say it.”

“What if someone dies?” Qiao Jiajin blinked and asked.

“What?”

Qiao Jiajin lowered his head and organized his words again, then asked with a serious expression: “You said we need to conduct seven rounds of the game in total… but what if we don’t need that long at all?”

After these words, everyone instantly understood what Qiao Jiajin meant.

“If one person dies… we can end the game in six rounds. If two people die…” Qiao Jiajin felt he was undermining morale and could only change his words. “I’ve participated in Earth-level games, and I’ve also heard Liar talk about some incidents. These Zodiac intestines don’t play by common sense. Although the rules say ‘people sitting in the chair will be eliminated if hit by the ball,’ but what if she doesn’t attack people sitting in the chair at all?”

“Ah?” Bai Jiu was stunned. “You, you mean…”

“If she specifically kills the ‘cart pushers’…” Qiao Jiajin sighed. “Then what should we do at that time?”

After hearing this, everyone fell silent. The tactics they had just been thinking about were merely built upon the rules.

But who said the ‘rules’ were the Zodiacs’ true intent?

Their intent had always been to kill.

In other words, Earth-Horse had two ways to obtain lives. One was to constantly attack people sitting in the chair, making everyone continuously fail at transportation, and after seven rounds everyone would receive punishment.

The second method was simpler and more convenient… she would directly use iron balls to kill all the ‘cart pushers.’ This way, the ‘cart riders’ would also lose their meaning and could only wait for death.

“I understand your concern, Qiao Ge.” Bai Jiu nodded. “But she shouldn’t directly leave us with no place to be buried. I’ve heard Fifth Brother say that every game must have a ‘way to survive.’ In the entire ‘Land of the End,’ there are no games that are certain death.”

“If that’s the case…” Qiao Jiajin nodded. “Then she should use a combination of both methods… Looking at it this way, your tactics should be applicable.”

“Mm.” Bai Jiu said. “We don’t have any better methods now.”

Earth-Horse watched everyone from the side, the expression on her face gradually becoming impatient.

“Are you done yet?”

“Almost.” Qiao Jiajin said. “Earth Lady, I want to confirm with you again.”

“Confirm what?”

“If I can catch those ‘balls’… will we really have rewards?”

“Yes.” Earth-Horse nodded. “We ‘Horses’ are not allowed to lie in the rules, so every word I’ve said is true.”

“All the ‘balls’ have rewards?”

“Very regrettably.” Earth-Horse let out a cold laugh after hearing this. “Not all the ‘balls’ have rewards written on them. That is to say, you might risk your life to catch those ‘balls,’ and in the end you might only get a ‘fracture.’ Only a small portion of the balls will have rewards written on them.”