Chapter 97: The Three Kingdoms Kill

(1)

“Let me taste your handiwork, kid!”

Fang Qiang reached out his chopsticks toward the steaming braised bamboo shoots, grabbed a piece, and popped it into his mouth.

“Uh—”

“What, not tasty?”

Sun Wei looked a bit nervous but still tried to act confident.

“No way, I swear what I made is flawless!”

“Damn, that’s surprising! You actually did a pretty good job. Damn, it tastes about the same as a restaurant’s!”

“Yeah, it’s really quite good…”

An Jing also picked up a piece.

“Not bad, Ah Wei.”

“Damn, you guys thought I was joking?”

“This cold tossed fern dish is really delicious too.” Yang Lingfei pointed with his chopsticks at the plate of mountain fern, then glanced at Chi Qingyan, who had been quietly sitting without touching her food. “Hey—aren’t you going to eat?”

“Qingyan, don’t be so reserved. We’re all good friends here.”

Zhang Qiqi said as she picked up her porcelain bowl, scooped a small bowl of yam mushroom soup with a long spoon, then put it back in front of her.

“Drink some soup first to whet your appetite, okay?”

“Mm.”

Chi Qingyan gently pinched the ceramic spoon with her thin, almost bony fingers, scooped up a spoonful of yam soup with a small piece of mushroom, and tasted it carefully.

After a long moment of silence, she spoke—not about the taste, but, “Suddenly… I kind of want to go back to school.”

“If it weren’t for that incident, you probably would have skipped a grade and gone to high school already.”

Zhang Qiqi poured some soup for herself too, but instead of using the spoon, she directly cupped the bowl with both hands and drank.

“Mm…”

“It’s been a long time since we had classes; I do kind of miss school sometimes.”

An Jing used a clean spoon to scoop some spinach’s red broth into her bowl, immediately dyeing the white rice purple-red.

“Nonsense. I’m just itching for a longer holiday.”

Sun Wei immediately retorted.

“You’ll have to wait till this summer vacation, then.”

Fang Qiang gave him a sidelong glance.

“I’m gonna retake the year next year, get into high school, then get into college. That’s gonna be awesome. College means I can play around freely.”

Sun Wei said with longing in his eyes.

“Come on, it’d be better to graduate quickly and start working with me.”

“Damn it! You know why I’m determined to retake high school if I don’t get in? Because I don’t want to start working so soon. Life without going to college and having some freedom is incomplete!”

“You’ve been reading too many novels lately, haven’t you?”

“Ah Wei recently asked me what good books to read.”

Zhou Chao, who hadn’t touched his food, stretched out his arm and dropped a chopstickful of stir-fried garlic chives with eggs into Wang Xinru’s bowl just as she was about to get up and grab some dishes.

“I recommended him a whole bunch of urban supernatural novels.”

“What kind of books?”

Yang Lingfei asked with curiosity. “I’m looking for something to read too.”

“Mostly about dancing. Like ‘Desire City’, ‘Sinister Aura’, ‘Grin and Bear It’, and there was one called—”

“Damn, if you hadn’t mentioned it, I almost forgot. That one you recommended—I totally forgot the name. The start was pretty good, gaining some powers, then going to college, but then the male lead cross-dresses and even gets chased by guys, which gave me goosebumps!”

An Jing’s gaze instinctively drifted up to the ceiling.

Zhu Ying beside her giggled and poked her thigh, making her feel awkward.

Though not exactly the same, somehow the core felt very similar.

“That one’s pretty good. I even have the physical copy. One volume has the male lead in cross-dressing on the cover. It looks awesome.”

“Sounds interesting. Zhou Chao, when school starts, can I borrow it?”

Yang Lingfei suddenly got excited.

“Sure, I’ll bring the book to school. But don’t lose it.”

Zhou Chao nodded, then suddenly looked at An Jing.

“An Jing, are you interested?”

“Me? I—I’m not reading that!!”

“Don’t wanna read it, fine. Why such a big reaction?”

Fang Qiang looked puzzled.

“Haha, An Jing’s definitely afraid of the male lead cross-dressing!”

Sun Wei’s insight was scary at times.

***

(2)

After lunch, once the kitchen was cleaned up, it was almost evening.

The little birds stopped on the branches, preening their feathers, and some hopped and chirped, engaging in what looked like very friendly exchanges.

The plastic sealing the box was torn off, and everyone gathered around the wooden table, curiously rifling through the contents.

There was a simple instruction sheet on the back of the box and a more detailed one inside.

“Kill, dodge, Hearts, Spades, judgment… Wow, looks kind of complicated?”

“Not complicated at all, really simple. If you don’t understand, I’ll help you.”

Zhou Chao tidied up the cards.

“Come on, stop staring at that lousy manual. I’ll explain. First are the general cards—each general has different skills and health. Then the identity cards. The lord has one extra health point. The rebels’ job is to kill the lord. The loyalists protect the lord. The traitor’s goal is to kill everyone else…”

After Zhou Chao’s rapid explanation, everyone—including Chi Qingyan—joined the game.

Nine people playing Three Kingdoms Kill together was quite lively.

Since no one knew how to play, when they got their cards, there was a lot of noise with almost everyone asking Zhou Chao questions.

Even with his fast speech, he couldn’t answer all of them.

Once they started playing, mistakes were everywhere—for example, people who had a “Kill” card didn’t use it, and when lightning struck, they argued about whether they could use a “Negate” card…

But that was what made it the most fun.

Actually, many games are like that—the most fun is at the very beginning when you don’t know how to play.

“Kill!”

“Kill again!”

“Damn, how can you keep killing consecutively?”

“Yanjin Zhang Yide is here! Who dares to fight me to the death!”

An Jing shouted, trying to sound imposing.

“What skill is that—”

Sun Wei looked confused.

“It means he can use ‘Kill’ cards without limitation.”

“Damn, that’s so unfair.”

“Actually, it’s okay. Wait, you’re playing Ma Chao, right? You also equipped a horse, so she can’t kill you.”

“Huh?”

An Jing was stunned.

“Not in range.”

“Hahaha, gotcha, idiot!”

Sun Wei laughed triumphantly.

“So who can I kill?”

“You can kill Wang Xinru and Zhu Ying next to you.”

An Jing looked helplessly at Zhu Ying.

“Hmph, Xiaojing, are you sure you want to kill me?”

“…Damn!”

“Damn you, just you wait!”

“If you have a Dodge card, use it; if not, lose one health point.”

“Dodge!”

“Kill!” An Jing threw a ‘Kill’ card at Wang Xinru.

Wang Xinru responded with a ‘Dodge’.

“Arrow Barrage!”

“Everyone, use a Dodge! If you don’t have one, lose health.”

“Damn you, Xiaojing—”

“Southern Barbarians invasion!”

An Jing acted like she didn’t hear and kept playing cards.

“Do you still need to play Dodge for this?”

Zhang Qiqi asked, clutching her cards.

“No, this one needs a Kill.”

“I propose we all kill An Jing first. He must be the traitor!”

Sun Wei shouted.

“Agreed!”

So after An Jing’s turn ended, Fang Qiang, Sun Wei, and Zhou Chao all focused their attacks on him.

“He’s dying. Anyone got a Peach to save him?”

“Haha, let him die, I’m not saving.”

“No saving!”

Yang Lingfei scratched his head.

“I don’t have a Peach.”

“I’ll save him. As long as it’s a red card, right?”

“Yes, Wang Wang, you’re playing Hua Tuo, you can save.”

“Damn, why save him?”

“He just tried to kill you!”

“I just want to help a little…”

Wang Xinru said softly but firmly.

Zhu Ying glanced at her Peach card that she was about to play, pursed her lips, and huffed lightly.

And so the game continued…

***

(3)

When the sky was sparkling with brilliant starlight, they had already played several rounds.

The rules weren’t difficult, and after a while, everyone basically understood them and didn’t keep asking Zhou Chao questions.

“Damn, Ah Wei, you’re a loyalist and you killed me!”

“Do you understand tactics? I was pretending to be a rebel so I wouldn’t get targeted. Who knew you’d just kill me like a fool.”

“Damn tactic!”

“Ever read The Art of War? Know the Thirty-Six Stratagems?”

“Your sister…”

In this round, because a loyalist died too early, the lord Zhou Chao couldn’t handle it and was killed by the others.

Zhu Ying spread out her identity card and casually tossed it aside.

“Phew… Traitor is so hard to play. You have to kill everyone else to win…”

“Right? And there’s only one traitor.”

An Jing nodded forcefully.

“Ah—phew—tired. Going to shower. Today, boys and girls are bathing separately in the hot springs!” Zhang Qiqi stretched with her hands folded.

“Is there any activity after the shower?”

Yang Lingfei asked curiously.

“Let’s gather and tell ghost stories!”

“Ghost stories…”

Chi Qingyan whispered, “Can I not join?”

“No way—all of you must come. Hmph…”

“Boys shouldn’t join. What’s there to tell about ghost stories?”

Fang Qiang said disdainfully.

“We boys aren’t interested in this. Might as well chat about something else.”

“Exactly.”

Sun Wei nodded along.

Yang Lingfei hesitated, but in the end said nothing.

“You boys are so awkward.”

Zhang Qiqi rolled her eyes.

“Anyway, everyone has to join. If you don’t, no food tomorrow!”

“Damn…”

“Well, no choice then.”

Yang Lingfei breathed a sigh of relief and quickly said, “Let’s all tell ghost stories together. More people makes it livelier, right?”

“Let’s go! Why are you still sitting there? Hurry up and shower!”

“Let’s go!”

“An Jing, why are you sitting still?”

Yang Lingfei, already at the door, asked in confusion.

“Uh… well, I think I’ll skip today—”

“Once in a while, come on, there’s nothing else to do.”

“I’m going to… cough.”

An Jing shook her head.

“I… I’m a little hungry and want to make something to eat.”

“Xiaoying not going either?”

Zhang Qiqi asked curiously.

“Because I’m hungry too.”

“Okay, then I’ll leave it to you guys. Nothing else planned today anyway.”

Wang Xinru stood at the doorway, slightly turned to the side.

She hesitated, gripping the doorframe and lightly biting her lip.

Just as she was about to say something, Zhang Qiqi interrupted.

“Xiaoru, what are you spacing out for? Let’s go! Help me carry Qingyan later, okay?”

“Oh… okay…”