“You… you…” Song Qi felt his brain getting a bit muddled. After chatting with Chen Junnan for just a few exchanges, he felt as dizzy as if he had drunk alcohol.
“Isn’t this plan good?” Chen Junnan said. “Who says that just because Earth-Rabbit tells us to ‘run,’ we have to ‘run’? We’ll find two great closed-door disciples to stand on the other side of the door and curse at him, preventing him from opening the door or getting out. We’ll directly anger him to death at the starting point. Isn’t your humble master a genius?”
“Wait a minute… wait a minute…”
Everyone raised their hands to calm Chen Junnan down, as the plan he proposed was too bizarre for them to accept immediately.
“What?” Chen Junnan looked at them in confusion.
“Even if this plan is feasible…” Song Qi said, “what about these two ‘closed-door disciples’? They won’t be able to escape.”
“Not necessarily,” Chen Junnan smiled. “If the plan goes smoothly, only one person should be unable to escape.”
“A plan?” Song Qi asked. “Do you have a backup?”
“No, I don’t have a backup,” Chen Junnan said. “But at the critical moment, I’ll activate my ‘Echo’ to save one of them. However, the prerequisite for this plan is that I must become one of the closed-door disciples.”
“You…” Song Qi looked at Chen Junnan. “No way. What do you take us ‘Cats’ for? Abandoning teammates to save yourself is too dirty. I can’t accept it.”
“What’s there not to accept?” Chen Junnan said, puzzled. “I’ve already ‘Echoed’ anyway. If I die, I die.”
“Little Jiang Shi and I will do it,” Song Qi said decisively. “Leader, you’re a guest here. You can’t die in our squad, or I won’t have the face to go back and see Fifth Brother.”
“What Fifth Brother are you going to see? If you stay here, you won’t see him anyway,” Chen Junnan waved his hand. “I’m the biggest one here, so it’s decided.”
After hearing this, everyone could only silently look at each other, feeling somewhat uncomfortable.
The “Cat” squad had been self-sufficient in the “Land of the End” for so many years—how could they possibly rely on a leader who had just joined to save them?
Jiang Shi nodded: “Understood.”
He tucked his hands into the sleeves of his long robe, slowly stood up, and his eyes became more spirited.
“Leader, it’s not that we don’t trust you,” Song Qi said. “It’s just that there’s never been a precedent of outsiders dying in the ‘Cat Squad.’ Leave these two ‘great closed-door disciples’ to Little Jiang Shi and me.”
“Huh?” Chen Junnan turned to look at the two who were ready for battle. “How can that work?”
“It might actually work,” Song Qi said. “Although I don’t know what your ‘Echo’ is, I have a feeling that your ability isn’t a good thing. If you activate it, you’ll probably die.”
“Uh…” Chen Junnan gave a bitter smile. “You are somewhat clever after all.”
“But Little Jiang Shi and I might not necessarily die,” Song Qi continued, moving his arms as he spoke to Chen Junnan. “Little Fourteen just asked earlier—we can resist the ‘Hunter.’ If I go crazy, I can tear off one of the ‘Hunter’s’ arms. And if Little Jiang Shi goes crazy…”
“What happens?” Chen Junnan asked with some anticipation.
“…He can tire the ‘Hunter’ to death.”
After hearing this evaluation, Jiang Shi proudly lifted his chin, as if he had received some kind of praise.
“What the hell?” Chen Junnan thought he had misheard. “This is ‘Undying and Imperishable’? I thought you could fight him.”
“You try fighting!” Jiang Shi said irritably. “Why are you so foolish? That’s an Earth-level Zodiac.”
“Fine, fine, fine…” Chen Junnan nodded helplessly. “Are you two sure you can do it?”
“We’re sure,” the two said. “Leave this matter to us.”
“Alright,” Chen Junnan pondered for a moment and nodded. “Then let me give one final instruction.”
“Go ahead,” everyone stared at him seriously.
“We need to confirm the directions,” Chen Junnan pointed at the chessboard he had carved on the wall. “I’m worried that someone might get lost, because when you’re in the center of the board, you’ll completely lose your sense of direction.”
“How can we confirm directions?” Everyone stared at the chessboard on the wall.
“Although our directions are already a bit confused, we still need to communicate according to ‘North up, South down, West left, East right,'” Chen Junnan said. “For example, the room we’re in now only has an ‘East door’ and a ‘North door.’ Most other rooms have four doors. Even if one person loses their direction, it doesn’t matter—the others can help them find it through orientation.”
Seeing that everyone didn’t understand, Chen Junnan pointed at the two doors again: “Suppose I go out through the ‘East door’ and Little Song goes out through the ‘North door.’ If Little Song gets lost, he can call for help, and I’ll tell him that I’m in his ‘Northeast direction.'”
“If that’s the case, as long as there’s one person with a strong sense of direction, none of us will get lost,” Cui Fourteen said, frowning in thought. “That’s also a pretty good idea.”
“Additionally, we need to mark each room,” Chen Junnan pointed at the grid on the wall again. “To know the coordinates accurately, we’ll call the room we’re currently in Room ‘One,’ and going right they’ll be ‘Two, Three, Four.’ The second row will be ‘Five, Six, Seven, Eight,’ and so on up to Room ‘Sixteen.'”
“Understood.”
After several people confirmed their tactics, Chen Junnan quietly came to the doorway and suddenly opened the door, then looked at the situation inside the room.
The muscular fat rabbit was currently sitting in a place far from the door with his eyes closed, resting with no signs of eavesdropping.
“What?” Only after hearing the door open did he slowly open his eyes. “Finished talking?”
“You really are quite a character,” Chen Junnan smiled. “You didn’t even eavesdrop with such a good opportunity?”
“It doesn’t matter,” Earth-Rabbit shook his head. “I have my own tactics. No matter what schemes you come up with, I can handle them.”
“That’s wonderful then,” Chen Junnan nodded. “Fat rabbit, hurry over here and meet your death. We’ve finished our discussion.”
Earth-Rabbit snorted coldly and stood up, patted the dust off his rear, then walked step by step into the room.
“Since that’s the case, let me reiterate one final time,” Earth-Rabbit said after entering the room, scanning everyone present before slowly speaking. “After the game begins, it will be your turn first, then my turn. As long as you can reach the room at the farthest diagonal corner, it will count as your victory.”
“We’ve said it eight hundred times already. Are you starting or not?” Chen Junnan asked, tilting his head back. “Your humble master has important responsibilities. Hurry up.”
After hearing this, Earth-Rabbit said nothing more. Instead, he took out a strange remote control from his pocket and pressed it.
The remote control seemed to be made of emerald green bamboo, as thin and long as a finger, with a thin red string tied to it.
At this moment, a “rustling” sound came from each of the rooms.
A very mechanical voice transmitted from above everyone’s heads: “I am the voice guide for this game. The game will begin in three minutes.”
After hearing the broadcast, Earth-Rabbit tidied up the red string on the bamboo remote control and hung it around his neck, then walked to the side and slowly leaned against the wall.