Qiao Jiajin led his team around for quite some time before finally finding their second Terrestrial Earthly Branch.
The three men and three women in the group had no idea what Qiao Jiajin was hesitating about, but since not even the combined forces of all {Cats} who’d gone out before had managed to defeat him, they could only follow his lead without question, wandering aimlessly through the streets.
At last, they caught sight of a Terrestrial Horse in the distance.
This Terrestrial Horse appeared to be a woman, with a pure white horse’s head and a mane that flowed down like long hair. She wore a white two-piece suit, crisp jacket and trousers complemented by a burgundy dress shirt, and stood before an indoor basketball court.
“Greetings.” The moment she saw someone approaching, Terrestrial Horse called out to them from afar.
Seeing her, Qiao Jiajin scratched his head and walked forward slowly.
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“Horse... Horse...” Qiao Jiajin stammered for a long while before uncertainly uttering three syllables, “Horse jie jie?”
“What ‘jie jie’...” Terrestrial Horse frowned at Qiao Jiajin. “How rude. At the very least, you should address me as {Terrestrial Horse}.”
“Alright, alright...” Qiao Jiajin nodded quickly. “Terrestrial jie jie, then.”
“How utterly disrespectful!” Terrestrial Horse snapped. “How can someone as impolite as you even exist?!”
“Eh?” Qiao Jiajin felt wronged. “What disrespectful thing did I say? Didn’t you just ask me to call you Terrestrial, ma’am?”
(TLN: Basically our boy misheard her and thought Terrestrial Horse said, ‘At the very least, you should address me as Terrestrial’ bc ‘horse (马)’ and the Chinese final interrogative particle ‘吗’ are homophones.)
“Cut the nonsense.” Terrestrial Horse’s tone turned sharp, her refined demeanor vanishing in the span of a few words. “Are you playing or not?!”
“Uh...” Qiao Jiajin hesitated. “O–Okay... we’ll play... but can you at least tell me what we’re playing?”
“A lethal shuttle race.” Terrestrial Horse explained impatiently. “Admission is five {Dào} per person. Survivors receive ten each. Hurry up.”
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Qiao Jiajin glanced back at the few people behind him, looking somewhat troubled. He whispered, “Did I do something to make her angry? Are Earthly Branches’ surnames {Terrestrial} or {Horse}?”
“I don’t think it’s about {surnames} at all...” Bai Nine covered her mouth and giggled. “The problem lies with {jie jie}.”
“{Jie jie}?” Qiao Jiajin furrowed his brows, puzzled. “She’s almost two meters tall. Shouldn’t I call her jie jie?”
“You’re well-built yourself.” Bai Jiu knocked lightly on Qiao Jiajin’s arm. “I would’ve never guessed from your slim frame that you’re this dense.”
“Sigh...nevermind that...” Qiao Jiajin shook his head. “Do ✧ NоvеIight ✧ (Original source) we even have enough {Dào}? Seven people, five each...that adds up.”
“Don’t worry.” Bai Nine replied before crouching down and pulling out dozens of {Dào} from her small backpack, counting them carefully with her not-so-large hands. She then stood and handed them to Terrestrial Horse. “Jie jie, please don’t be angry anymore, okay? Here’s the {Dào}.”
“Good girl.” Terrestrial Horse reached out to pat Bai Nine on the head and collected all the {Dào}.
Qiao Jiajin scratched his head in confusion. “I still don’t get it... why is it fine when you call her ‘jie jie’?”
“Qiao ge, please don’t question it anymore." Bai Nine and Yun Nineteen both forced a wry smile. “Let’s just go inside.”
Terrestrial Horse put away the {Dào} and nodded to the group, then turned to open the large door behind her.
A wave of cold air rushed out, as though the room were running a high-powered, icy air conditioner.
“If any of you have thick clothes, make sure to wear them,” Terrestrial Horse said in a gentle voice, her dignified composure restored. “It will be very uncomfortable if you catch a cold. This way, please.”
The group inhaled sharply at the doorway, then bracing against the icy air, slowly stepped into the basketball hall.
Fortunately, the court’s construction was fairly simple, and the group could almost immediately take in the entire layout.
Though technically a {basketball court}, the place looked like a small plaza that had been entirely remodeled. The hoops on both ends had been removed, leaving only a flat expanse of floor.
A closer look revealed that the floor itself seemed tampered with; a thick layer of ice covered it. It wouldn’t be unreasonable to mistake this place for an ice rink rather than a basketball court.
At the center of the floor, numerous shards of glass with pointed ends were neatly arranged in two rows, subtly forming a straight track along the middle of the ice.
Alongside the track, several wooden boxes about half a person’s height stood on both sides, each featuring a small round hole, though their purpose remained unclear.
At the end of the track, something roughly the size of a motorcycle was hidden beneath a dark cloth.
“Ladies and gentlemen, I call this game {Wooden Ox and Flowing Horse}.”
“Flooring Ox Flowing Horse?” Qiao Jiajin stammered.
“Wooden Ox and Flowing Horse.”
“Woo—Wooden Ox Flowering Horse?”
“Wood...” Terrestrial Horse, who was going to correct him again, abruptly turned her head away in irritation. “It’s fine if you don’t get it. Why add trouble? Even if a rough fellow like you grasped it, it wouldn’t be of any use!”
Qiao Jiajin could only feel that the da jie before him was genuinely angry, though he had no idea what exactly he had done wrong.
“Now, let me explain the rules. Pay close attention.” Terrestrial Horse slowly stepped around the ice and walked to the end of the straight track. “My game is very straightforward... All seven of you must complete a full lap of the track within fifteen minutes. Completing this counts as a victory.”
“A full lap?” Qiao Jiajin looked at the thick layer of ice forming the track and swallowed nervously. “Will you provide us with ice skates?”
“Ice skates...?” Terrestrial Horse smiled faintly, and it was then that they noticed her dark lips were coated in red lipstick, giving her an odd, almost uncanny look. “Ice blades are out of the question, but I’ll provide you with another item, far more formidable than mere ice skates.”
“What is it?” Qiao Jiajin looked down at his worn leather shoes, feeling that this task was going to be difficult.
Terrestrial Horse paused, then reached out and pulled aside the nearby draped cloth, revealing a wooden structure hidden beneath: a very peculiar wheelbarrow.
At first glance, the wheelbarrow looked no different from an ordinary one, but above its platform sat a chair. The chair seemed seamlessly integrated with the cart, as if it had been fixed in place with mortise and tenon joints during its construction.
Qiao Jiajin gave the wheelbarrow’s wheel a look, and that brief glance unnerved him.
Although the wheel was positioned like those on a regular wheelbarrow, at the center of the cart, it was no ordinary wheel. Instead, it was a wooden sphere, carved smoothly and precisely.
“Damn...” Qiao Jiajin muttered under his breath. “Terrestrial ma’am, you’re kidding, right? You expect us to push a cart with a spherical wheel across ice?”
“Correct,” Terrestrial Horse replied. “Not only must you traverse the ice, but you also have to return before the time runs out. Otherwise, everyone dies.”
“Do you think I’ve never pushed a wheelbarrow before?” The game seemed ludicrous to Qiao Jiajin. “Even ordinary wheels might struggle on ice, let alone spheres...”
“Hence the need for someone to push it,” Terrestrial Horse remarked. “Reasonable enough, don’t you think?”
