Chapter 248 Triad of Sorrow
‘What even is {luck}?’
This question inevitably arose in Qi Xia’s mind.
How much {sorrow} must one endure to end up with three fans, each marked with {Sorrow}?
The situation had become quite troublesome. No matter who he teamed up with, he would only be able to offer two {Sorrow} fans, meaning no one could escape if they were to pair with him.
If the rule required each person to offer two fans, whoever teamed up with Qi Xia would never be able to complete the {Joy, Anger, Sorrow, Happiness} set.
What should he do next?
Qi Xia furrowed his brows, thinking for a while. Suppose his luck was off the charts, and when he replenishes his folding fan in half an hour, he’ll draw another {Sorrow}...
"Oi! Mate!" The man with the square face patted Qi Xia’s back, snapping him out of his thoughts. Qi Xia immediately concealed his fans.
"I…" Qi Xia turned his head and tucked his fans into his pocket. "I just came to check my fans."
"So? Whit’s written on them?" the square-faced man continued to question.
Qi Xia found it strange that the man would so openly inquire about his cards.
If word got out that {Sorrow} was written on all of his fans, who would want to team up with him?
"All except {Joy}," Qi Xia replied.
"Oh? Really?" The square-faced man thought for a moment. "Well, I’ve got {Joy}, an’ I’ve got two o’ them! Looks like we can complete a set o’ {Joy, Anger, Sorrow, Happiness}!"
"You want to leave as soon as possible?" Qi Xia asked.
"O’ course!" the square-faced man nodded vigorously. "This place is a bloody death trap—who wouldnae want tae leave quick?"
"Mm…" Qi Xia responded nonchalantly, then shifted the conversation. "I’m willing to team up with you, but you’ll need to give me one of your {Joy} fans."
"Nae problem," the square-faced man nodded. "When the time comes, I’ll put oot one {Joy} an’ one {Anger}, an’ ye’ll fill the remainin’ two."
"You misunderstood me," Qi Xia shook his head. "I want a single {Joy}."
"Whit…?" The square-faced man froze for a moment. "Mate… I didnae hear that wrong, did I?"
"No," Qi Xia shook his head. "If you want to cooperate with me, you’ll need to give me the remaining {Joy} fan you have."
"Why should I?" The square-faced man looked at Qi Xia with a hint of displeasure. "Though I said I’d cooperate wi’ ye, it’s no’ like I have tae cooperate wi’ ye."
"Of course," Qi Xia nodded. "You can find another teammate, but my principle remains unchanged: if you want to cooperate with me, I want the third fan you’re holding."
"Yer aff yer rocker." The square-faced man waved his hand and turned away.
Terrestrial Goat surveyed the crowd before stepping up to the table in the center, and calmly announced, "Ten minutes are up. The game officially begins now."
As soon as his words were spoken, the crowd around them began to stir.
Qi Xia let out a deep sigh, clutching his fans as he slowly observed the scene.
In a game with so many participants, the first round would merely serve to filter out the weaker players—those who were too timid, those who had mistakenly entered this place, or those who had second thoughts. Only those who remained after this purge would truly be the {participants} of this game.
At this moment, some people had begun to talk to each other, with some even displaying their fans to one another.
Smiles filled the air, and the atmosphere seemed light and carefree.
Qi Xia knew that his purpose for being here was different from the others. Aside from surviving, he also had to acquire as much {Dào} as possible.
But how could he proceed with three {Sorrow} fans?
Contrary to what Qi Xia had anticipated, after a full ten minutes, only two pairs had managed to escape.
The four people walked up the stairs leading to the upper floor after their identification was successful.
It seemed Qi Xia had been overly optimistic—human greed was even more terrifying than he had imagined.
Since Terrestrial Goat would be providing more fans after half an hour, the remaining participants would each have at least four fans. After pairing up, they would have two fans left, and the final reward would increase from five {Dào} to ten {Dào}. Thus, escaping early was not a wise decision.
However, Qi Xia couldn't shake the uneasy feeling gnawing at him—after all, Terrestrial Goat was bound to lie.
Had he lied about the rules?
As Qi Xia wandered around the room, lost in thought, a commotion suddenly broke out in the corner. He turned to look and saw human nature reveal itself in a brutal form.
A burly man was currently fighting with a thin man, trying to snatch the fan from his hands.
"What are you doing?!" The thin man looked extremely nervous. "Umpire! Someone's stealing my stuff!"
Terrestrial Goat's gaze slowly drifted toward the two of them, but he made no move.
"Are—Aren't you going to do anything?!" The thin man was so frightened that his glasses fell to the ground.
Terrestrial Goat, at this moment, slowly closed his eyes.
The burly man, seeing Terrestrial Goat's response, felt even more confident.
"Motherfu— give it to me!" He reached out and yanked violently, pulling the two fans from the thin man's hands.
The thin man clung desperately to his last fan, refusing to let go no matter what. The burly man didn’t give him a chance to react and forcefully yanked the fan out of the thin man's hands.
No more than a second later, the third fan tore with a sharp {rip}.
The burly man picked up the torn fan, inspecting it in his hand. The damaged fan now resembled a pair of scissors; when he held one end, the other drooped down. He wasn’t sure if the fan was still usable, but after pondering for a few seconds, he tossed it back to the thin man.
"Leave some leeway in what you do, so future meetings stay warm and true," the burly man chuckled. "Here, you can have this back."
The thin man appeared furious, but he dared not resist. The dozens of people nearby merely watched with cold eyes, none of them stepping forward to intervene.
Yet, the atmosphere among the crowd had clearly shifted in that moment.
"I have a suggestion," a very fashionable woman suddenly raised her voice, "Let’s all refuse to team up with this bad man and leave him here to die."
"What?!" The burly man immediately stormed up to the woman, his anger flaring. "You asking for death, you filthy bitch?!"
"Are you going to kill me?" The fashionable woman smiled. "I have a feeling, if you kill me, no one will dare to team up with you after that."
"What…?" The burly man slowly extended his hand, as if hesitating whether to slap the woman.
Qi Xia could tell that even if he didn’t kill her, the woman would surely suffer some consequences.
"Hey, that's enough," a young man who appeared to be around twenty suddenly stepped in, blocking the burly man. "This is a game where cooperation is required to escape. Do you really want to stir up public anger?"
Qi Xia glanced up at the clock on the wall. The game had only been going on for fifteen minutes, and yet so many people were already struggling to contain their emotions?