The special hobby of the Clubs teenager still hadn’t changed. After entering the Clubs room, Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang automatically changed clothes. Both of them were wearing a black suit, a tie and a silver mask.
Xiao Lou had heard about the rules of 4 of Clubs from Ye Qi. This was a pure lottery. If they had good luck then they could get many gold coins and card rewards. if they had bad luck then they might lose the resources previously obtained.
This level had grids of different colours. Each of the grids corresponded to one secret room and there was a question and answer session. It was a bit like a ‘competition’ game.
The consolation was that regardless of whether they won or lost, this room wouldn’t force the elimination of challengers. Bad luck just meant losing some cards and gold coins. Thus, Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang were very relaxed.
The Clubs boy asked, “Have you ever played the game called Flying Chess?”
Yu Hanjiang usually didn’t play many games. He turned his head to look inquiringly at Xiao Lou.
Xiao Lou had never played it but he had heard of Flying Chess. “Isn’t it the game where everyone has to throw a die? We will move forward according to the number of points thrown.”
The Clubs teenager nodded. “Almost, but there are some rule changes in the rules of Card Flying Chess. You have to roll a die and step forward according to the number but the board of Card Flying Chess is according to the suit of our playing cards.”
The Clubs teenager paused before continuing, “The other two challengers are also coming in. I’m too lazy to tell you separately. Come with me and explain the rules of the game.”
Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang glanced at each other and followed the teenager onto the playing field.
Unlike the poker table of 2 of Clubs and 3 of Clubs, the game field was extremely open and as big as two football fields.
A large number of small grids were painted on the ground. The length and width were around a metre and the grids were connected together, forming a large diamond-shaped area. From the starting point, the grids were arranged in the order of Hearts, Spades, Diamonds and Clubs. The grids at each corner were marked with the K of Hearts, K of Diamonds, K of Clubs and K of Diamonds.
The four K cards formed a path that led directly to the centre of the field. The centre of the venue contained a big joker and small joker, with gold and silver chests on top.
There were four people involved in the game. Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang were a team. The other team was a combination of a man and a woman. Xiao Lou looked at them.
The girl had her hair in a ponytail and wore a suit. Since her face was covered with a silver mask, her appearance couldn’t be seen but her eyes were bright and familiar. In addition, her height reached Xiao Lou’s chest. This was similar to Liu Qiao, who they had met in 4 of Spades not long ago.
Her partner was a tall man who also looked familiar. It was the masked man they encountered in Liuxi Village.
Xiao Lou asked, “Is it Little Liu?”
Liu Qiao heard the familiar gentle voice and wanted to call out ‘Professor Xiao.’ Then she thought about how Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang used a pseudonym in front of outsiders and hurriedly changed her words. “Mr Xiao, Old Han, is that you?”
Xiao Lou smiled and nodded as he looked at the masked man, “Didn’t we just see each other in Liuxi Village?”
“Yes.” The masked man gently smiled. “It seems that our secret rooms progress is consistent. Little Liu and I were single teams in 4 of Spades but 4 of Clubs requires a team of two. Thus, we were matched together.”
“I just recognized him,” Liu Qiao said. “I didn’t expect to meet you in 4 of Clubs. It is really a coincidence.”
In the former Clubs secret rooms, teams of challengers faced each other and the losing party was likely to be eliminated. However, today’s Card Flying Chess game depended on luck and there was no direct competition between challengers. Therefore, the four people didn’t need to be too nervous. Liu Qiao and Xiao Lou might be on different teams but there was no need to worry about being eliminated.
A of Clubs wondered, “The four of you know each other?”
Xiao Lou smiled and explained, “We just met in 4 of Spades.”
The Clubs teenager nodded. “Okay, look at the specific rules of the game. I will give you a demonstration.”
The boy picked up the die and threw it. The number that appeared was a one and he took one step forward from the star, landing on a Hearts grid.
A box popped up. “What’s the name of the killer in 2 of Hearts, Rose Funeral? The countdown is three seconds.”
Xiao Lou was surprised. Ye Qi previously said there would be a question and answer and the topic would be random. The killer of 2 of Hearts, he remembered it. The surgeon Zhao Sen who killed his wife and cousin and placed his wife’s body on a rose bed.
Xiao Lou replied, “Zhao Sen.”
The Clubs boy spoke lightly. “The answer is correct. You can unlock the reward of this grid.”
Yu Hanjiang frowned. “What if I can’t answer?”
“It is a punishment. The punishment pattern of every grid is different.”
Then Xiao Lou asked, “What about the reward? Is it also different?”
The Clubs keeper nodded. “The rewards are provided by us four keepers. Hearts, Diamonds and Spades will randomly give cards or upgrade items while Clubs will give gold coins.”
The teenager pointed to the two chests in the middle of the venue. “Do you see the two chests?”
The four people nodded.
“That is the reward we offer. Anyone who lands on one of the four K cards can go to the middle for a draw. The diamond field had four corners with K of Hearts, K of Diamonds, K of Spades and K of Clubs respectively. Step on the red Ks and you can draw from the gold chest. Step on the black Ks and you can draw from the silver chest. All the cards in the chest are S-grade.”
His eyes swept over the entire field. “Once the game starts, the four of you will stand at the blank starting grid. Throw the die until two people land on the K cards and draw from the gold and silver treasure chests. Then the game will end.”
He turned and sat down on the sofa in the middle of the field. “The game has begun. The countdown is 10 seconds. Please draw a number card first and the game will be carried out according to the number.”
The teenager gently waved and four serial numbers floated in front of them. Everyone looked at each other and reached out their hands. Xiao Lou pulled number one, Yu Hanjiang number two, Liu Qiao number three and the masked man number four.
The teenager stated, “The four of you, please go to the starting grid and stand there.”
The four of them entered the game venue and stood at the starting point. Since Xiao Lou was first, he threw the die first.
The teenager ordered. “The die is shared. The first player, please start.”
The moment he finished speaking, a disc appeared in front of Xiao Lou and there was a die that was twice as big as the usual size. Xiao Lou picked up the die and threw it into the disc. It was a three.
He started to move forward. A few steps later, he was on the Diamonds grid. A transparent LCD screen appeared in front of him with a question on it. It happened to be the sudoku math problem that Xiao Lou was good at.
4/3/X
9/X/1
X/X/6
Q: What should be filled in at X? Please answer in 10 seconds.
8527. Xiao Lou gave the answer at almost the moment he read the question.
A prompt appeared on the screen. “You have answered correctly. The reward card [Tool Card: Scissors] has been acquired!”
Xiao Lou picked up the card and looked at it closely. This was a B-grade tool card. The role was to cut all things that could be cut. For example, the ring he drew with the Compass and the previously confiscated white silk could be cut with the scissors to make them ineffective.
It was a very good card. Unfortunately, there was a restriction that it could only be used nine times. This was in line with the strength of a B-grade card. Xiao Lou was in a happy mood. He smiled and put away the reward tool card into his card pack.
The second player Yu Hanjiang followed by rolling the die. He rolled a five and walked forward, landing on Hearts.
Xiao Lou thought that the Hearts grid would ask about the killer and Group Leader Yu would definitely have no problems. As a result, the question was, “In the Extremely Quick Train case, name all of the group of female friends. The time limit is 5 seconds.”
Xiao Lou, “…”
The ‘X XiaoX’ friends group had really difficult names to remember. Xiao Lou had just remembered Liu Xiaoyan and Song Xiaoyu when he heard Yu Hanjiang answer with great speed, “Liu Xiaoyan, Zhang Xiaozhu, Wu Xiaofei, Song Xiaoyu, Cheng Xiaoli.”
Five seconds was extremely short for a challenger. It was saying one name in almost one second! Yu Hanjiang’s answering speed was very fast and the three people at the scene gave him a thumbs up.
A prompt appeared on the screen. “Congratulations, the answer is correct! The reward is an opportunity to upgrade a card to the full level. Please select the card in the card pack that needs to be upgraded.”
Yu Hanjiang chose the weapon card Silver Moon. The sniper rifle’s initial range was 800 metres and he hadn’t used it once. Now he got an opportunity to upgrade it and it rose to the full level, increasing the range to 1,500 metres.
The reward of the Hearts grid was very useful. Yu Hanjiang stopped in place and looked back at Xiao Lou. Xiao Lou also looked at him. The two people thought that the start was very smooth and they hoped it would continue like this!
The third one was Liu Qiao. She threw a four and took a few steps forward onto the Clubs grid. A prompt appeared on the screen. “Go to the reward slot and receive 100,000 gold coins.”
Liu Qiao was happy. The Clubs reward was really simple. There was no need to do anything and she could directly get 100,000 gold coins.
The fourth masked man threw a one. He stepped forward onto a red Hearts and the prompt appeared on the screen. “What are the names of the teaching buildings of Maple Forest High School? The time limit is 10 seconds.”
The masked man spoke with a bitter face, “The Zhiyuan Building, the Shuxiang Building…”
He really didn’t remember the other buildings!
The Clubs teenager spoke lightly. “The time is up and the answer is incomplete. Please accept the punishment. For this grid, the punishment is to leave behind one card in your card pack.”
The masked man was helpless. He had to pull out the least important card from his pack to give it to the Clubs teenager.
The teenager stated, “Player 1, please continue.”
Xiao Lou was currently on Diamonds. In front of him was Clubs and then Hearts, Spades, Diamonds, Clubs. He wanted to try and throw a four so he could continue to a Diamonds grid.
He hoped that Diamonds was the subject since he was the best at this.
Xiao Lou took a deep breath and picked up the die in the disc, gently throwing it while inwardly praying, ‘A four to land on Diamonds or a one to go to Clubs. I can’t throw a three to go to Spades. I don’t know what Spades will be like but it definitely isn’t simple.’
The die rolled in the disc and eventually stopped on a three.
Xiao Lou, “…”
It was the last number he wanted!
Xiao Lou helplessly stepped forward into Spades.
He was worried about what game he would face when he saw a red warning prompt on the big screen. “Warning! The Tibetan mastiff is a fierce dog with a strong sense of territory. If you enter the Tibetan mastiff’s territory by mistake, please run for your life at the fastest speed and don’t be caught. Note: After running a clockwise lap, the Tibetan mastiff will disappear. If knocked down halfway, the challenger will fail and receive punishment. Countdown 5, 4, 3, 2, 1!”
Xiao Lou was shocked by the sudden appearance of a Tibetan mastiff. His heart slowed a beat and he immediately turned to run!
Fortunately, before leaving 4 of Spades, Yu Hanjiang had given the acceleration shoes to Xiao Lou. He increased his speed by five times and barely ran faster than the Tibetan mastiff. The fierce dog was only one metre behind him and opened its mouth wide, sharp teeth almost biting his leg!
Xiao Lou’s face turned white as he ran with all his strength.
These short minutes felt as long as a few hours. From small to big, Xiao Lou had never experienced something so thrilling. The huge size of the Tibetan mastiff gave him great psychological pressure so that he was almost unable to breathe.
Xiao Lou’s heart was about to pop out of his chest and his mind was blank. He had only one thought, ‘Run!’
If he ran slowly then he would be caught by this ferocious dog. If he was bitten…
He didn’t dare think. He ran a whole lap with the acceleration shoes and the Tibetan mastiff disappeared into the Spades grid. Throughout the process, Yu Hanjiang had been staring at Xiao Lou out of fear that the Tibetan mastiff would really knock Xiao Lou down. Xiao Lou finally ran to the end and stopped with trembling legs. He almost couldn’t stand as he placed both hands on his knees and gasped. Yu Hanjiang asked with worry, “Are you okay?”
Xiao Lou waved his hand. “No, it’s fine.”
The prompt appeared on the screen in front of him. “The challenge is successful. You have received the reward [Weapon Card: Night Devil Saber]!”
Xiao Lou picked up the reward card and saw a military knife that was around 20cm long. It was an A-grade card with no special skill effects but the blade was extremely sharp. Xiao Lou thought it would be something that Group Leader Yu would like.
Helping Group Leader Yu win a card, this effort wasn’t in vain. His speed had really soared to the extreme as human potential was forced out in a critical moment. However, he would definitely have a psychological shadow when he saw the Tibetan mastiff in the future.
The Clubs teenager stated, “The game will continue.”
The number 2 Yu Hanjiang followed by rolling the die.
He was on the Hearts grid and it would continue in the order of Spades, Diamonds, Clubs and Hearts. Yu Hanjiang dropped it and rolled a two. He took two steps in a blank manner and stepped into Diamonds. Yu Hanjiang looked at the complex mathematical equation on the board and gave up thinking.
The Clubs boy spoke lightly, “The challenge has failed. Please accept the punishment.”
Then there was a loud booming sound and the grid at Yu Hanjiang’s feet collapsed. His entire body fell into a big pit, followed by water pouring over his head.
Yu Hanjiang, “…”
Xiao Lou, “……”
The soaking wet Group Leader Yu returned to the ground, his face as dark as a pot. What was this broken thing? Xiao Lou stepped into the physical Spades that he was the worst at while Yu Hanjiang stepped into the most annoying Diamonds. Could they change spots?
