The Runic Heavy-Armored Warrior’s body shattered into pieces. At the same time, a dimensional creature that looked like a squirrel landed and stood in the wreckage blasted open by the Runic Heavy-Armored Warrior.
“Holy sh*t, that little squirrel is so strong!” Li Xuan’s eyes nearly popped out.
He had seen Runic Heavy-Armored Warriors before. Although they were only at the Epic stage, their defense was extremely powerful. It wasn’t easy for Mythical creatures with weaker offensive strength to break through their Runic Heavy-Armored Armor, much less shatter them directly. Only a powerful Mythical creature like Tyrant Behemoth could do so.
However, this tiny squirrel looked inconspicuous. He never expected it to have such terrifying strength.
Zhou Wen found it unbelievable as well. He immediately used Truth Listener to observe the tiny squirrel. No matter how he looked at it, it didn’t look like a dimensional creature that could kill a Runic Heavy-Armored Warrior with one strike.
“Something’s amiss. Perhaps it’s not that the squirrel is strong, but the taboo of this dimensional zone,” Zhou Wen said as he stared at the squirrel on the opposite bank.
Li Xuan suddenly thought of something and suddenly said to Zhou Wen, “Old Zhou, your reconnaissance abilities are strong. Look behind that squirrel. Are there any other dimensional creatures in a straight line?”
Zhou Wen nodded and extended Truth Listener’s ability. Indeed, he discovered a gray rabbit squatting further away. It was in a very straight line from the squirrel.
Zhou Wen told Li Xuan this outcome and Li Xuan immediately exclaimed, “I understand. This dimensional zone’s taboo might be related to Chinese chess.”
“Chinese chess?” Zhou Wen didn’t know how to play Chinese chess, so he asked Li Xuan what he meant.
Li Xuan explained, “You don’t know how to play Chinese chess. Otherwise, it would be easy for you to figure out that in the rules of Chinese chess, different pieces have different ways of motion. Horse moves in an L shape while Elephant moves in a shape similar to an L, but with both sides equal in length, like two sides of a square. They are the most representative. For example, I can only walk diagonally. I’m guessing that it might be one of the two or another type of Advisor. Little Yanyan can only walk in a straight line, so he might be a Chariot or Cannon. You can only walk in a straight line and can’t retreat. You should be a Soldier in Chinese chess. You can only advance but not retreat.”
Feng Qiuyan thought for a moment and said, “President, what you said makes sense. If this is really a dimensional zone following Chinese chess rules, it can explain why a tiny squirrel can instantly kill a Runic Heavy-Armored Warrior. This is because in Chinese chess, all the pieces have single lives. Regardless of whether one is strong or weak, one will die if they are hit.”
“I don’t know the rules of Chinese chess. Do you have a solution?” Zhou Wen asked the two of them.
“I only know a few rules. I’m not good at it. How about you, Little Yanyan?” Li Xuan asked Feng Qiuyan.
Feng Qiuyan thought for a moment and answered, “My grandfather likes to play Chinese chess very much, so I learned it from a young age. However, I’m only average. Furthermore, there is no chess board here, only rules. It’s still a little different from real Chinese chess. I wonder if it will work.”
“Let’s try using Companion Beasts first. Tell me what to do.” Zhou Wen summoned another Runic Heavy-Armored Warrior.
When Li Xuan and Feng Qiuyan saw the spot where Zhou Wen summoned the Runic Heavy-Armored Warrior, they shouted at the same time, “Quick, dodge.”
The Runic Heavy-Armored Warrior that Zhou Wen summoned was in front of him, forming a straight line with the squirrel.
Boom!
The squirrel tore through the air and struck the spot where Zhou Wen had been standing. Thankfully, with Feng Qiuyan and Li Xuan’s warning, Zhou Wen had dodged in advance. Otherwise, the outcome would have been unimaginable.
“What happened?” Zhou Wen asked in surprise.
“This little squirrel should be a Cannon in Chinese chess. It needs a chess piece to be in the way to launch an attack,” Feng Qiuyan explained.
With that said, Feng Qiuyan moved to a spot that was a straight line away from the little squirrel and attacked. Just as his saber touched the little squirrel, its body exploded.
“From the looks of it, I represent Chariot.” Feng Qiuyan thought for a moment and said to Zhou Wen, “Coach, we need some chess pieces now. Summon more Companion Beasts. They don’t need to be too strong. Legendary ones will do. Let’s first determine what they represent in Chinese chess before figuring out what chess pieces are on the other side of the river.”
Zhou Wen had many Companion Beasts, but he really had very few Legendary Companion Beasts. As they weren’t of much value, he seldom hatched them. Typically, he directly fed them to pets.
Zhou Wen summoned some Epic Companion Beasts and Li Xuan said, “Old Zhou, there’s no need to be so extravagant. Just a few worthless Legendary Companion Beasts will do.”
“These are already my most worthless Companion Beasts. Feel free to use them. It’s useless to keep them anyway. I still have plenty,” Zhou Wen said as he summoned some Companion Beasts. They were also at the Epic stage.
However, after summoning twelve, Zhou Wen realized that he couldn’t summon any more Companion Beasts.
“I suddenly realized that we aren’t on the same frequency,” Li Xuan said with an aggrieved look.
Feng Qiuyan counted the number of Companion Beasts and said, “From the looks of it, there’s nothing wrong about this dimensional zone following Chinese chess rules. There are sixteen pieces for each side. Twelve Companion Beasts plus the four of us makes sixteen. Now, we have to figure out what pieces these Companion Beasts represent. Coach, try getting them to walk.”
Zhou Wen made the Companion Beasts move. According to their movement, Feng Qiuyan quickly determined what pieces they represented.
“If my judgment is right, Ya’er might very well represent the General. Coach, you have to protect her no matter what. If the General dies, it means game over. No one knows what the outcome will be,” Feng Qiuyan said to Zhou Wen.
“Alright.” Zhou Wen nodded. Although he had roughly understood the rules, chess was a skill. Knowing the rules wasn’t enough.
“Now, we need to know what’s on the other side. Coach, look at what dimensional creatures there are,” Feng Qiuyan said as he looked across the river.
Truth Listener played its role. Zhou Wen told Feng Qiuyan about the various dimensional creatures that had appeared across the river. However, they were all small animals like rats, sheep, cats, and dogs. They didn’t look very strong.
Feng Qiuyan thought for a moment and said, “Now, we don’t know what chess pieces those dimensional creatures represent. We can only test them in actual combat. When the time comes, it’s inevitable that some chess pieces will be sacrificed.”
“It’s fine. They are all unimportant Companion Beasts,” Zhou Wen said.
Feng Qiuyan nodded. Just as he was about to get a Companion Beast to cross the river, he suddenly heard a voice from the other side of the river. “Interesting. I never expected there to be someone proficient in the Way of Chinese chess among the youths these days. How rare.”
The three of them were slightly taken aback as they looked towards the opposite bank. They saw an old man sitting on a boulder that was more than ten meters tall. He was staring at them with his eyes glowing.
“Human?” Zhou Wen was somewhat surprised.