Chapter 165 Wits and Courage
"What?!" Su Shan shot to her feet, her voice sharp with disbelief. "You clearly—"
Qi Xia raised a finger, gently tapping his brow before allowing it to drift downward in a {slight tremor}.
"You mean this?" Qi Xia asked, his tone calm. "You caught that?"
Su Shan's gaze lingered on him, her eyes narrowing as gears turned in her mind. After a brief pause, she sank slowly back into her seat, her expression darkening.
Only now did she realize she had underestimated her opponent. She and Zi Chen had been navigating this bizarre and perilous place for over a day, facing numerous adversaries. Yet this was the first time she had encountered a situation where her life was truly at risk—and the first time she faced someone as shrewd as Qi Xia.
He had manipulated her thoughts with nothing more than micro-expressions.
Why was this game unlike the ones before?
Why was their opponent this time so much stronger?
Given the properties of {combat}, {shields} were likely in short supply. If the deck contained an abundance of {shields}, it was highly probable that neither side would sustain any injuries. Consequently, the ability to deploy {shields} with precision had become the key to safeguarding one's own {combatant}.
Yet now, she found herself facing the worst-case scenario.
{Rope} against {Shield}—it was no different from pitting a {fine steed} against an {inferior horse}.
"Now things are getting interesting." Qi Xia shuffled the cards in his hand, his gaze sharp. "Based on my expression, can you tell whether I have a {knife} in my hand this time?"
Su Shan’s brows furrowed ever so slightly. She knew that if she wanted to outmaneuver the man before her, she had to think more meticulously—more thoroughly. At this juncture, she couldn’t afford to follow his rhythm. Whether or not he truly possessed a {knife}, her thoughts needed to be several steps ahead of his.
Meanwhile, inside the glass room, props rained down once more.
A loud {clang} rang out as a round shield landed before Zi Chen. It was a wooden shield reinforced with a metal rim, roughly a meter in diameter.
Zi Chen hurriedly grabbed the shield, bracing it before him. His eyes darted nervously toward Doctor Zhao, who stood poised at the opposite end.
Doctor Zhao stared at the rope lying on the ground, his expression tangled with frustration. This was the third time the same prop had dropped.
"Qi Xia… did you give me all these ropes so I could knit you a damn net?!" He snatched up the coarse hemp rope, glaring furiously at the man across from him who now stood shielded behind the wooden barrier.
He had finally been handed a chance to strike—yet all he had was another rope to pit against that solid wooden shield. The more he thought about it, the more his irritation boiled over. He turned his gaze to Qi Xia outside the glass room, his eyes brimming with disbelief.
‘How rotten is your luck, punk…?’
Qi Xia offered a helpless shrug toward Doctor Zhao outside the glass room. Then, with deliberate clarity, he mouthed the words, "Whip him."
Doctor Zhao, still nursing the dull ache in his thigh from the earlier brick attack, was already simmering with frustration. Now, with his anger bubbling over and no other outlet in sight, he fixed his glare on the man cowering behind the wooden shield like a turtle retreating into its shell.
His irritation flared. ‘To hell with it—let’s just end this!’
He strode forward a few steps, swinging the rope overhead in wide arcs. With a sharp snap, he lashed it down hard against the wooden shield, the impact echoing through the room.
Doctor Zhao had never wielded a hemp rope as a weapon in all his thirty years of life. Despite the deafening crack his strike produced, his aim was laughable—wild and unsteady.
He yanked the rope back and swung it down again with all his might. This time, as the middle of the rope smacked against the shield, the tail end suddenly changed direction, whipping around and—by sheer accident—striking his opponent squarely on his face.
“Ah!!” Zi Chen let out a pained wail, the shield slipping from his hands and clattering to the ground.
Doctor Zhao froze, staring at him in disbelief. He had clearly heard a sound that could only be described as a sharp slap. ‘Did I actually hit his face?’
Qi Xia slowly turned his head to Su Shan, only to find her staring in disbelief, utterly dumbfounded.
What were the odds of someone hiding behind a shield getting struck by a rope?
It was sheer coincidence, but it only required two conditions to occur. First, the person with the shield had to remain completely still. Second, the distance between them had to be just right.
This bizarre outcome could only happen when two cowards faced off.
Su Shan’s brow furrowed deeply.
The {rope} had managed to injure the {shield}...
Did this mean her so-called {fine steed} had actually lost to an {inferior horse}?
Zi Chen clutched his eye, his expression teetering on the edge of hysteria.
Slowly lowering his trembling hand, he revealed his left eye—bloodshot and alarmingly red, as though the vessel within had burst.
"Huh?" Doctor Zhao froze, stunned. Had the rope actually struck his eye?
"You—you..." Zi Chen jabbed a finger toward Doctor Zhao. "You trying to kill me?!"
"N—No, I didn’t..." Doctor Zhao hurriedly waved his hands, stepping closer to examine the injury. "Listen, lad, your eye’s blood vessels might’ve ruptured. You need to shut your eye and rest immediately, or the damage could worsen—and you might not be able to save it—"
"Bullshit!!" Zi Chen’s furious shout cut him off. "Ju—Just you wait!!"
Following Terrestrial Chicken’s command, the two combatants discarded their props once more.
Qi Xia’s lips curled into a faint smirk as he observed the unfolding chaos.
What began as a simple attempt to pressure the opponent had escalated beyond expectation—Doctor Zhao’s reckless strike had directly injured Zi Chen’s eye. While unintended, it wasn’t necessarily a bad outcome.
Left undisturbed, the crickets in the bowl would struggle to eliminate each other. External interference was often the key to breaking such deadlocks.
However, his carefully calculated strategy was now compromised. With the injury, their adversary would no longer act rationally. They were akin to a rabid dog, unrestrained and unpredictable—ordinary tactics would be rendered useless against such madness.
"Please draw a card," Terrestrial Chicken instructed.
Su Shan extended her hand and drew a card, followed closely by Qi Xia.
He examined his card carefully.
Qi Xia’s hand had now reached perfection.
Knife, stick, stone, stone, shield.
With this combination, he was poised for both offense and defense.
The most challenging phase, the {rope phase}, was now behind him. As long as Qi Xia maintained control of his hand and used any additional {rope} he might draw, the initiative would be entirely his.
From the perspective of the {battle of wits}, Qi Xia had already achieved everything he needed in the early stages, slowly gaining the upper hand. If his assumptions were correct, Su Shan must have accumulated a substantial amount of {rope} by now. The fault, however, lay in her overly aggressive early offensive, which had disrupted her ability to stabilize and build a solid foundation.
It seemed she hadn’t studied the Art of War—had she understood that good preparation is the key to success, she would have been in a better position. Now, she was on the verge of a short period of weakness, becoming consumed by {killing intent} without the {killing move} to back it up.
However, this game could not be won through {wits} alone.
From the perspective of the {battle of courage}, Doctor Zhao was at a severe disadvantage. Zi Chen, now visibly furious, could likely turn even a {stone} into a weapon as effective as a {knife}.
The real question remained, though: did she even have a {stone} in her hand?
"Round four, please play your card!" Terrestrial Chicken gestured with his hand again.
Qi Xia paused for a moment, then selected a {stone} and placed it on the table before him.
‘Doctor Zhao's current killing intent is not enough; this is the only way...’ he thought to himself as he pushed the card forward.
Su Shan also took a moment to deliberate, before following suit and playing her card.
Both turned their cards at the same time.