It wasn’t strange for a human to appear in such a place. The strange thing was that the dimensional creatures on the opposite bank didn’t show him any animosity. Furthermore, Zhou Wen had a vague feeling that the dimensional creatures were mainly led by the elder.
“Grandpa, why are you here alone?” Li Xuan shouted.
The elder ignored Li Xuan and looked at Feng Qiuyan. “Since you know Chinese chess, play a round with me. You can leave alive if you win.”
“Grandpa, you are also a human. Why are you making things difficult for your own kind?” Li Xuan shouted again.
The elder sneered and said, “Whether you are human or not has nothing to do with me. Since you are here, you only have two choices. Win or die.”
“Why is this old fellow so inhumane?” Li Xuan muttered.
The elder continued, “The rat is Elephant, the fox is Advisor...”
He told Feng Qiuyan which chess pieces were represented by which various dimensional creatures before saying, “I’m the General The rules are somewhat different from the old Chinese chess. There’s no limit to the number of steps. As long as you have the ability, you can simultaneously move as many pieces as you can.”
With that said, the dimensional creatures moved according to the elder’s orders.
Unlike real Chinese chess, they didn’t take a step turn after turn. When the elder gave the order, many dimensional creatures moved at the same time.
As the Companion Beasts weren’t Feng Qiuyan’s, Feng Qiuyan could only inform Zhou Wen to get him to control the movement of the Companion Beasts. This naturally slowed things down.
But even so, Feng Qiuyan wasn’t at a disadvantage. Their chess pieces kept decreasing, and it looked like they were evenly matched.
However, Feng Qiuyan’s side suffered a hidden danger. Apart from himself, all the old man’s chess pieces could be sacrificed. However, Feng Qiuyan had four chess pieces that could not be sacrificed. In late game, it would spell a greater disadvantage.
Feng Qiuyan wasn’t anxious at all. Seeing the number of chess pieces decreasing, he remained as calm as still water. He constantly communicated with Zhou Wen and directed the remaining Companion Beasts to fight.
As Zhou Wen took in the orders to move the Companion Beasts, he had gained a deeper understanding of the rules of Chinese chess and knew Feng Qiuyan’s disadvantage.
Soon, most of the Companion Beasts on both sides were sacrificed. Apart from the four of them, there was only one Chi that represented Horse.
As for the old man, other than his General piece, he also had a Horse, a Cannon, and two Chariots.
In terms of lineup, Feng Qiuyan was clearly at a disadvantage. Furthermore, other than the Chi, they couldn’t make any sacrifices.
The elder said sinisterly, “It looks like you need to decide which one to sacrifice next.”
Apart from the elder, the Horse, Cannon, and two Chariots attacked Zhou Wen and company.
The two Chariots were the most powerful. As long as one stood in a straight line with them, they would be instantly killed. The Horse and Cannon were equally shocking.
If one stood in a straight line with the Horse in front of the Cannon, they would be hit by the Cannon. If one took a diagonal path, they might be killed by the Horse.
As for Zhou Wen, he was in a somewhat miserable state. Although Li Xuan represented Advisor—meaning he could walk diagonally—he could only walk one unit of distance each time. No matter how fast Li Xuan was, he couldn’t speed up due to the restrictions of the dimensional zone. His damage range was much shorter than Horse.
Zhou Wen was a Soldier—a pawn—who could only take one step at a time. Furthermore, he could only advance and not retreat. At most, he could move horizontally. He was almost no threat to the elder.
Only Feng Qiuyan’s Chariot posed a greater threat to his opponent. However, because he couldn’t take the initiative to stand in a straight line with his opponent, he hadn’t found an opportunity.
Soon, the Chi that represented the Horse was killed. The four of them could no longer continue making any sacrifices.
“From the looks of it, your skill in chess is only so-so. How disappointing.” The elder held the absolute advantage and wasn’t in a rush to continue attacking.
Feng Qiuyan’s expression remained unchanged as he looked at the elder and said, “My chess skill is inferior to yours. If this was a real game, I would definitely lose. However, this isn’t a real chess game, so I will definitely win.”
“Everything in the world can be distilled as chess. This is a true chess game,” the elder said.
“Everything is chess, but chess pieces are different,” Feng Qiuyan said.
“It’s no different. No matter how powerful a creature is, it’s just a chess piece in this game. It can be killed easily,” said the elder.
“That might not be the case. Sometimes, a chess piece can influence the chessboard.” Feng Qiuyan turned around and said to Zhou Wen and Li Xuan, “Coach, President, this is all I can do. I can only weaken my opponent to such an extent. All of you are already very clear about the rules. What’s next is the battle, not the game. You are all experts in combat, so there’s no need for me to command you.”
With that said, Feng Qiuyan drew his saber and charged forward. Zhou Wen and Li Xuan didn’t say a word as they followed Feng Qiuyan.
Previously, Zhou Wen hadn’t known the rules, but now, he knew them like the back of his hand. Furthermore, Feng Qiuyan had eliminated most of the chess pieces, simplifying the complicated chess game and minimizing the possibility of being accidentally killed.
Just as Feng Qiuyan had said, they only needed to fight under the restrictions of the rules. They didn’t need to think about how to play chess.
Apart from their movements being restricted and having to be careful not to be instantly killed, it was no different from normal battles.
The three of them moved together. Feng Qiuyan was very fast, but Zhou Wen and Li Xuan were very slow. They could only take one step at a time.
One Horse, one Cannon, and two Chariots attacked the two of them, but the two of them made use of their positioning and judgment to avoid being killed.
Instead, Feng Qiuyan used the opportunity to quickly kill a Horse.
The remaining two Chariots and one Cannon could only move in straight lines. The threat was immediately reduced.
Hence, the three of them ignored the chess pieces and charged towards the elder.
Just as Feng Qiuyan had said, if it was a real game, he would have lost. However, this wasn’t a real game.
In a real game, it was impossible for Ya’er and Li Xuan’s chess pieces to cross the river. Even their movement range was limited, but it was different in reality.
Seeing Zhou Wen and company coordinate with each other and how the remaining three chess pieces failed to kill any one of them, the elder’s expression turned nasty.
“Unforgivable... Unforgivable... That’s not how chess is played...” Anger appeared on the elder’s face.
“You no longer have a chance of winning. It’s best you admit defeat and let us pass,” Feng Qiuyan said. The other party was a human, so he wasn’t willing to really kill the elder.
“Lose? It’s impossible for me to lose. No one can defeat me on the chessboard. No one...” As the elder spoke, he stood up and let out a long roar.
Many dimensional creatures rushed out and replenished the dead pieces. As for Zhou Wen and company, they immediately fell into a hopeless situation as they fell into the attack range of many pieces.
“Holy sh*t, you are cheating!” Li Xuan shouted.
“So what? As long as I win, all of you can die. I’m number one in chess. No one can defeat me in chess,” the elder shouted with a ferocious expression.