TDU Chapter 367
Chapter 367 Means of Attack
‘Why can I see the words...?’ Su Shan furrowed her brows, deep in thought, but no clear answer came to her.
She lowered her head and inadvertently glanced at Lin Qin’s desk—and then suddenly froze.
Even from a considerable distance, Su Shan could see the writing on Lin Qin’s {fortune sticks} with absolute clarity.
Her vision seemed truly transformed; those sticks were not only far, their inscriptions facing away. Still, Su Shan, like one with clairvoyance, could see every character with perfect clarity.
“{Flowers Bloom With Spring Warmth} and {Default}...”
After reading the inscriptions, Su Shan turned her head and looked at Qin Dingdong.
Qin Dingdong met her gaze.
She could see Su Shan’s eyes now shimmered with dazzling brilliance, though they were bloodshot from strain, as if already overworked.
“What a hassle...” Qin Dingdong muttered, shaking her head. “You just got your ability and already you’re overdoing it? What if you go blind?”
Su Shan had no idea what Qin Dingdong was mumbling about, she simply looked down at the {fortune sticks} in front of her.
{Autumn Wind Clears the Leaves} and {Water Recedes Without a Trace}.
"I see..."
What she needed now was to know what was written on Lawyer Zhang’s {fortune sticks}.
Since she embodied {Spring}, she knew that without foresight for the entire year, victory could not be achieved.
She stared hard at the gray-green swarm of locusts. Each insect was accompanied by a flicker of light, forcing Su Shan to strain her eyes just to make out Zhang Chenze’s vague outline. Only when her eyes began to burn did the image start to come into focus.
Zhang Chenze seemed to have calmed down somewhat—no longer flailing, but still trembling violently.
Su Shan tried to peer through the glow of every locust to catch a glimpse of the tabletop.
But each {fortune stick} was covered in locusts, making the writing nearly impossible to discern.
She took a step forward and forced her eyes open even wider. It felt as though only by summoning all her strength could her gaze pierce through the veil of insects.
She could feel her eyes growing hotter and hotter, and just as a wave of crimson dizziness washed over her vision, the text on the sticks finally came into focus.
{Torrential Rain Pelts Down Fiercely} and {Radiant Sun Embraces the Earth}.
Now, every one of her teammate’s {fortune sticks} has been revealed.
In the first two rounds, Zhang Chenze had played a {Default}, and in the third round, she played the {Masses Unite in Disaster Relief} stick passed to her by Su Shan.
Lin Qin had played {Default} three rounds in a row.
Qin Dingdong, on the other hand, had more to work with. She had played an unnamed {Thick Smoke} stick, a {Default}, and a {Firecrackers Close Out the Year}.
Aside from the {default sticks}, combined with all the {wish sticks} expended so far, eleven {wish sticks} had appeared in total.
Among them, {Firecrackers Close Out the Year} had appeared twice.
This meant there were currently nine unique {wish sticks} with five-word names.
‘Something’s off…’ Su Shan frowned, already beginning to think more deeply. “If each {fortune stick} corresponds to a {Calamity}, why are there nine unique five-word {fortune sticks}? Terrestrial Dog’s {Calamities} only number eight, so what is that extra {fortune stick} meant to do?”
Su Shan glanced at the only {wish stick} left in her hand: {No Land Shall Lie Fallow}.
If her hunch was correct, this was the extra one.
Her earlier deduction had likely been right. {No Land Shall Lie Fallow} didn’t counter any specific {Calamity}, instead, it was a form of {accumulation}. Since it offered no {defensive measures}, it must serve as an {offensive mechanism}.
Looking at it from another angle, the remaining eight {fortune sticks} had all already appeared. From this point forward, everyone could only draw one of two {fortune sticks}: {Default} or {Firecrackers}.
Whether this was some eerie twist of fate or the Terrestrial Dog’s doing was unclear—but now, both the {Four Seasons} and the {Nian Beast} had drawn every {fortune stick} capable of influencing the game. What remained was pure strategy.
Su Shan slowly shut her eyes. They stung with dryness and pain, and her cheeks felt cold, as though tears had slipped down without her realizing. She didn’t dwell on it. Instead, she firmly slotted the {No Land Shall Lie Fallow} stick into the hole in the table.
No one could save Zhang Chenze now. The only hope was that she could endure the swarming locusts and continue the game within the confines of the chamber.
It would be difficult, but it was the only path forward.
…
Zhang Chenze’s entire body trembled as she kept her eyes tightly shut, the deafening hum of the swarm echoing relentlessly in her ears. The cold, hard bodies of the insects crawled over her body, causing every pore on her body to involuntarily tighten.
The sensation of the locusts was unmistakable. To cling to any kind of crop, their legs were lined with sharp, barbed hooks.
Now, tens of thousands of those barbs clung to Zhang Chenze’s skin. It should have been excruciating, but she felt nothing at all.
She was teetering on the edge of collapse, too afraid to breathe, too afraid to open her mouth, and even more terrified of opening her eyes.
It had taken every ounce of willpower to spit out the locusts that had crawled into her mouth. The bitter taste still lingered. It was a feeling she never wanted to relive.
Terrestrial Dog lifted his head and glanced at Su Shan’s eyes, as if intending to say something. But in the end, he changed his mind; he simply cleared his throat and announced, “Player One’s {wish} completed. Player Two, kindly {draw}.”
The announcement made Zhang Chenze pause for a brief moment.
Though her body was wrapped in this disgusting swarm, she knew she could not afford to stop. If this really was a game tied to the fate of the {Four Seasons}, then she could not fall here.
It would be unfair for others to perish simply because she couldn’t move.
From a broader perspective, she was indeed the one who ought to die this round. After all, she wasn’t a {Reverberatee} like Lin Qin or Qin Dingdong, nor was her mind as sharp as Su Shan’s. If someone had to be sacrificed to win, then her death was unquestionably the optimal outcome.
‘Yes. That would be fair.’ With that thought, she slowly opened one eye. After confirming there were no locusts on her eyelid, she mustered her courage and cautiously waved her arm.
Things couldn’t possibly get worse than they already were.
‘It’s just bugs crawling all over me…’ Zhang Chenze took a slow step forward, the crunch beneath her feet like withered leaves cracking under pressure. ‘Unfortunately for them, I’ve been through this before… I can handle it.’
She forced herself to sweep the locusts off the table, trying to clear the blocked hole. However, no matter how she waved them off, the insects clung stubbornly to the surface.
Zhang Chenze clenched her teeth, then pressed her palm flat against the table, using force to shove the locusts aside.
At last, this round’s {fortune stick} came into view.
She could just barely make out the five words on the {fortune stick}, but before she could get a clear look, her vision was flooded by a chaotic flurry of locusts. She hurriedly shielded her eyes and cautiously crouched down. After brushing away the locusts in front of her, she lowered her head and carefully examined the five words on the {fortune stick}—
{Toil’s Sweat Nourishes the Soil}.
TL Note: Rant goes here ( •̯́ ₃ •̯̀)
