“And so, another round has ended just like that.” Guo Jia said as she played with the celery she had picked out, making a *gachi* *gachi* sound. “I think we should be able to conclude the game with this round.

At this time, Meng De was the one left standing on her side.

As though they were cursed, people went down one by one in horrific fas.h.i.+ons.

“Th, this meat… I can’t.”

“That’s right, though it’s not a chilli, this is too…” Dian Wei’s chopsticks slipped from her hands and she collapsed before she could finish her statement.

At the start of the second round, Xu Chu and Dian Wei stepped on the absolute worst landmines and collapsed before they were carried out.

And when it came to the third round, disaster struck Li Dian and Yue Jin.

“…” Yue Jin’s chopsticks held a chilli (looks like the Jing state one).

“…” Li Dian’s chopsticks held a chilli (looks like the Jing state one).

I must say, these 2 have really terrible luck, seeing as they’ve had chillies every round. But what truly amazed me was their willpower that has allowed them to last through 2 chillies thus far.

But–

“… I still think that Yi state chilli has a deeper taste.” Yue Jin said as she collapsed onto the table with a deep red face after eating the chilli.

“… Jing state chilli is indeed good, I give a full 100 marks.” Li Dian gave her review as her hands trembled uncontrollably after eating the chilli before collapsing onto the table as well.

— From the results, seems like 3 times is the absolute limit.

As for our side, there were some who left their seat, but this was after what happened to Li Dian and Yue Jin.

Mi Zhen was still a little kid, and it wasn’t good for her to stay hungry for too long so Gan Qing bade her to go and have some food inside first so she could sleep early.

“No, I want to continue…” Mi Zhen tried to protest but her stomach was growling profusely and her eyes were already closing.

“Don’t push yourself too much.” Gan Qing said with concern to Mi Zhen and shook her shoulders so she could stay awake a little while more, “I’ll bring her to go eat first. But let me say this, I am not forfeiting!” Gan Qing then brought Mi Zhen to the back after saying so.

n.o.body had any objections, since Mi Zhen needed someone to look after her.

As for Meng De, from the first round up till now, all she had been getting was my tofu.

As for me, apart from the first round, I hadn’t gotten any landmines.

And so, just like that, the 7 of us entered the fourth round.

“Geh, I feel a little disgusted after what I’ve been eating~~” Zhang Liao said with a pale face as she covered her mouth and reached into the cauldron with her chopsticks. “Th, this one then.”

Zhang Liao picked– Pork ribs. Looks a little uncooked despite being inside for so long.

“Ah, I brought that!” Yi De exclaimed happily. “I was planning to eat that myself too. You sure got it good, Zhang Liao!”

“Ha… Though this is not bad in and of itself, but after soaking in this soup…” Zhang Liao said helplessly and made to eat it.

And at that very moment–

*w.a.n.g*! *w.a.n.g*!

“Waa!!!!~~~”

Red Hare, who had been obediently in Feng Xian’s arms, suddenly barked when it saw the pork ribs in Zhang Liao’s chopsticks, which frightened Zhang Liao who had been apprehensive of Red Hare all this while.

“Wh, what’s the matter? Red Hare.” Feng Xian hurriedly hugged Red Hare tight so that it could not jump onto Zhang Liao.

“D, don’t come over–” Zhang Liao said fearfully as she stood up and backed out toward the courtyard as her pupils dilated as she looked at Red Hare while her lips were open and quivering, as though she were looking at a monster.

“Zhang Liao! Throw away the chopsticks in your hands!” Yun Chang shouted anxiously at Zhang Liao. Only then did I realise that Zhang Liao was still holding on to the chopsticks which held the pork ribs.

“Ah? Ah!” Zhang Liao flung the pork ribs away once she realised it.

Oi oi oi, this is way too high!

Zhang Liao threw the pork ribs into the air, on a trajectory which was aimed towards us.

—- A-hen.

“Un?”

All of a sudden, Yo De flew from her seat and opened her mouth wide and ate the meat in mid-air.

“Thank you for the treat.” Yi De said as she spat the bone out.

“Red Hare, don’t eat that, your stomach will be bad.” Feng Xian admonished Red Hare, who was now a lot more obedient.

“Hu~~” Zhang Liao heaved a sigh of relief as she saw that Red Hare’s attention wasn’t on her anymore.

Feng Xian patted Red Hare’s head lightly to punish it, and then brought out a carrot from her bag. Looks like she didn’t put them all into the cauldron.

Ah, I really envy Red Hare. I want to eat something normal too.

“Out!” Just then, Guo Jia yelled out unhappily.

“Un?”

“Ah, it should be my turn now.” Feng Xian said as she put down the carrot and made to pick something out from the cauldron.

“No, I’m not talking about that.” Guo Jia grabbed Yi De’s hand. “Lord Zhang Fei, Lord Lu Bu, Lord Zhang Liao. — You 3 are disqualified. To put it simply, you 3 are now forced to retire from the game.”

“W, why!”

“Being disqualified all of a sudden…”

“That’s right, at least give us a reason why.”

Naturally, all 3 protested this but Guo Jia was calm as she explained. “Though I didn’t specially say it, it is obvious–” Guo Jia pointed at the 3 in turn as she continued, “Lord Zhang Liao gave the food she took to someone else without permission, Lord Lu Bu took out something that wasn’t from the cauldron to eat, Lord Zhang Fei ate someone else’s food without permission.

… She’s right though.

“That’s way too nitpicky!”

“And the carrot I took out wasn’t even for myself…”

“I didn’t give my food to General Yi De, she ate it herself.”

“Objections overturned.”

Beh–

Everyone stuck out their tongues in dissatisfaction.

But thinking about it another way, it is as she said, Yi De and the rest did violate the rules.

After a long while of protest with no results, the 3 could only give up reluctantly and head to the eating room.

And so, there were only 3 partic.i.p.ants, no survivors, left in the main hall– Me, Meng De and Yun Chang… Ah, there’s 4 including Gan Qing.

Really, I didn’t expect things would progress so quickly.

Yun Chang’s POV

Though I feel bad for my little sister and the rest, I am thankful for this situation as we can quickly enter the final stages of the game.

It was great that I managed to withstand the attack from the chilli in the first round. As expected, there’s no rainbow if there’s rain.

But I know full well, that as we closer we get to the end, the stronger the opponents that are left are.

I lowered my head and looked toward Lord Cao Cao, and saw that she still had her signature confident smile on her.

“… Maa, in any case, it’s my turn now.” Big brother seems to have regained his composure and reached into the cauldron with his chopsticks.

Actually, I had seen through big brother’s actions, and I know that he has been trawling the bottom of the cauldron in the hopes of picking a jade stone. I, too, have been cheering him on in the hopes he may be able to get out of this game safe but what was truly surprising was that even I had a hard time lifting the jade stones out.

Exactly how did Hua Tuo pick it out? Not only is it slippery, it’s also heavy. Have we all judged her wrongly? Or could it be that there’s some technique to it?

“Ah… Celery huh.” Big brother said as he took what he had picked out of the cauldron and placed it in his mouth with a look of pain.

By now, most of everyone’s ingredients has been exposed. There were some who have not admitted to any ingredients thus far, but I doubt that should pose a problem.

“Now then, next is me.” I said as I picked up my chopsticks and reached into the cauldron.

Maybe the others don’t know yet, but for me, I came to realise that there’s a small trick to this game after 4 rounds. Though I call it a trick, it is nothing more than feeling with your chopsticks. Overall, vegetable leaves are the safest, and it is easy to discern their somewhat crunchy feel.

But… Vegetable leaf, vegetable leaf… Why are there none?

I frantically swirled my chopsticks around the bronze cauldron.

Big brother’s tofu then… None either~~~

No, it’s not that there aren’t any anymore… It’s that all the vegetable leaves have disintegrated into the soup.

Who did it?!

I looked angrily at Lord Cao Cao, who only smiled in response. But with this smile, I finally understood what went on.

Lord Cao Cao has destroyed all the vegetable leaves before I noticed!

I really cannot underestimate her huh~~ As expected, she is a strong opponent.

Eh! No choice, if it’s like this, I can only choose between the spicy gingers or the carrots that are swollen from absorbing the soup.

As I thought so, my chopsticks chanced upon something– A carrot.

No way about it– Ahen.

Geh, no matter how many times I eat it, the taste of the soup if really unbearable. Even though I’m someone who likes strong tasting foods, I simply can’t stand this somewhat sourish thing and feel nausea every time I eat.

“My turn now.” Meng De said as she picked up her chopsticks.

For the past few rounds, there has been one point that has been bugging me.

Why? Why has Lord Cao Cao– Why does she always get the tofu that big brother put inside the cauldron?!

Meng De’s POV

— Tofu, good.

It’s only the fourth round but so many have already retired due to all the dangerous foods and special events such that only 3 of us are left.

Of course, I didn’t actually arrange for all of this. Don’t think that I always use schemes for everything. I actually adhere to the principle of fairness in compet.i.tions.

But though fairness is important, compet.i.tion is the key.

I looked at Guan Yu. From her expression, seems like she doesn’t understand why I always get tofu each time. Maa, I don’t blame her, not being able to tell why is quite normal.

As for how I did it, well, it’s actually quite simple. I had moved all the tofu to my side from the very beginning.

The structure of the bronze cauldron consists of a stove in the center with a circular metal plate around the stove. It is in this metal plate which we stir our ingredients. Since Yun Chang sits opposite me, she can never reach to the part of the plate in front of me.

And I, of course, can get the tofu easily.

The amount of tofu left at this point should be sufficient to last me for a few more rounds so as long as luck runs out for Xuan De and Guan Yu, this game is mine.