The Five Elements Card Game (The Card Chess Player) Chapter 146: The Five Elements Card Game

"The Five Elements generate each other; the Five Elements conquer each other." — The Card Player.

After entering the game, Wu Hui clutched his head and gasped on the floor for a moment before beginning to observe his surroundings and the rules of the game.

The area was a small room, resembling a... secret chamber.

On the nearby Eight Immortals table sat a metal incense burner with a stick of incense inserted into it, and a candle was burning in a candlestick. Not far away was a small cup containing tea.

"Task: Escape the secret chamber. Time limit: five minutes. Items in pockets are temporarily sealed."

He did not know if the time in the outside world was paused during this game.

There was no pattern to whether it paused or not; it seemed to depend entirely on the mood of the Demon God. However, players had summarized that the Card Player and the Playwright liked to pause the outside world at the start of a game, while the Dominator did so less frequently. The Gladiator did not care much for such things.

As for the Black Death, the game took place directly in reality, so pausing was irrelevant.

"..." Wu Hui stood up and began to examine his surroundings by the faint light of the incense burner. Under his glasses' scan, everything appeared as question marks; clearly, the system would not allow him to cheat using that.

First, observation.

The door was locked. By common sense, a key was required, and theoretically, there would be no other exit.

Combining this with the hint about the Five Elements generating and conquering each other, the Eight Immortals table represented Wood, the burning incense represented Fire, the incense burner represented Metal, the incense ash represented Earth, and the tea represented Water.

Reaching out and running his fingers over the table, he felt sticky spots in several places. He sprinkled the incense ash over them and blew away the excess, revealing handwriting.

"The key belongs to Fire."

Belonging to Fire? What kind of material for a key would belong to Fire? Wu Hui frowned, feeling his headache returning.

"No, it shouldn't be the material; it means..."

Wu Hui's eyes lit up as he realized something. The door was made of wood, and it was dry and old. Was this asking him to burn the door down to leave?

It seemed impossible to ignite a door with a single stick of incense, even though this incense glowed with an unusually high intensity. Furthermore, he had to ensure the fire wouldn't spread or burn him to death. Perhaps it meant something else, such as needing to use fire to burn the door lock.

There was nothing under the incense burner or the Eight Immortals table. The tea... Wu Hui did not rush to pour it out, but he noticed something odd about the dust on the floor.

The Eight Immortals table had been moved; its original position should have been... over here.

He returned the table to its spot, but nothing happened. Wu Hui then climbed onto the tabletop and reached toward the ceiling. Holding up the incense burner for light, he saw a groove that seemed to match the style of the tea cup.

Not yet.

He searched the floor and found a narrow opening containing a layer of standing water, though it seemed to be some distance away from the markings inside.

He poured the tea into it and heard a click. A match popped out near the narrow opening. Afterward, Wu Hui placed the tea cup into the groove on the ceiling, and with another click, a candle fell down.

Could the candle not be lit with the incense? Wu Hui frowned, reached out to try, and discovered that although the incense was bright, it truly could not ignite anything. Thus, the purpose of the match was confirmed.

Light the fire, burn the lock.

Click.

The door opened.

It took two minutes. Not particularly fast, but considering his head was still aching, it was good enough.

"Ding. Item unlocked."

"Obtained Five Elements Card: Fire - Lock-Burning Candle. One-star."

It was a card with a back resembling an old advertisement from decades ago, and the front depicted a candle burning through a lock.

Fire: Lock-Burning Candle
Level: One-star
Type: Puzzle-solving
Effect: Breaks original metal locks that lack special powers.

After exiting the secret chamber, he saw a peach orchard. Wu Hui looked around and clutched his head again.

The scenery was beautiful, but the smell in the air was hard to compliment; the scent of pig manure mixed with a faint, bloody odor combined to make one nauseous.

There was no one else around, and the game rules were officially announced.

"Find the Five Elements cards within the scene; head to the duel arena in six hours for a duel."

"The rules for the Five Elements cards are as follows."

"Both sides play one card simultaneously each turn. A higher star rating defeats a lower star rating."

"If the two elements have a generating relationship (Metal generates Water, Water generates Wood, Wood generates Fire, Fire generates Earth, Earth generates Metal), the star rating of the generated element is considered +1."

"For example, if Metal generates Water, and one party plays a 3-star Metal card while the other plays a 3-star Water card, according to the generation rule, the 3-star Water card is treated as 4-star."

"If the two elements have a conquering relationship (Metal conquers Wood, Wood conquers Earth, Earth conquers Water, Water conquers Fire, Fire conquers Metal), the star rating of the conquered element is considered -1."

"For example, if Metal conquers Wood, and one party plays a 3-star Metal card while the other plays a 3-star Wood card, according to the conquest rule, the 3-star Wood card is treated as 2-star."

"The card played by the losing party in each turn does not take effect. The card played by the winning party takes effect according to its final calculated star rating after the generation/conquest settlement."

"If one side runs out of cards or dies, they are judged to have failed completely, and the game ends."

"Current remaining opponents: 3."

Not a complicated set of rules, but a very complex game. Strategy could play a huge role.

Wu Hui wanted to sit down and analyze it, but his head was too painful, so he had to give up on thinking for now and start looking for cards. He had six hours total; he couldn't waste them.

The method for finding cards was most likely puzzle-solving, just like before...

Usually, Wu Hui hoped for more brain-teasing elements in games and less fighting and luck. Now, he just wanted to cough up blood. He had gotten a headache just from solving a not-so-difficult room escape; if he had to solve puzzles for six hours, he might be completely ruined.

No, he couldn't look at it that way. Wu Hui took a deep breath and put away the Lock-Burning Candle.

Perhaps there were Five Elements cards that could help him solve his soul-exhaustion problem. The effects of these things shouldn't be too bad.

Wu Hui began his search. Knowing the name, the Five Elements cards must be related to the Five Elements. He would look for things related to Metal, Wood, Water, Fire, and Earth. Peach trees, well water, pig-slaughtering knives, stove fire, bluestone—regardless of anything else, he would take a closer look and study them.

The peach trees were twisted in shape, looking like markers. Following the direction in which the trees tilted, he could see another tilted tree. He followed these trees to the end and obtained a Five Elements card.

Wood: Tree-Pointing Path
Level: One-star
Type: Puzzle-solving
Effect: Points to the location of a called item.

"The types are all puzzle-solving... but Tree-Pointing Path was a bit too simple. I wonder if this type refers to the effect or the way it's obtained," Wu Hui muttered to himself. Without hesitation, he called out "metal lock." Following the direction pointed, he found a thatched cottage.

After confirming he couldn't open it by hand, Wu Hui didn't consider the puzzle behind the lock and directly activated the Lock-Burning Candle. The metal lock was burned through, and the wardrobe pulled open.

He saw a knife and a tattered piece of clothing. He obtained a Five Elements card.

Metal: Blade-Dodging Person
Level: Three-star
Type: Support
Effect: Automatically dodges the body when suffering the next attack.

In the wardrobe, a "Blade-Dodging Person"? Wu Hui frowned, feeling that this name implied something.

Trading two one-stars for one three-star was not a loss. But this was clearly not enough. He would continue searching.