The next day, Yunhai Bookstore.

Today, Ningzhe was uncharacteristically up early.

On the one hand, it's because today's game is held in the morning, and on the other hand, Ningzhe didn't sleep well last night.

Just kidding, who can sleep with all the blood-red eyes in his head?

Of course... the more important reason is: when he thought that the vest he had worked so hard for might fall off, an indescribable melancholy filled his heart.

He was extremely convinced that he could pass the blame to Ning Yu perfectly, and even take the blame off himself.

It's just that this vest will never be worn again...

In fact, from another perspective, Hutao may not have seen the specific content, right?

"Why..."

Sighing, Ningzhe put on a black gown and left the bookstore without looking back.

It is said that there will be some new rules in today's knockout round, and I don't know what new tricks my sinister sister will come up with...

Will four people be selected into the finals out of ten people?

Well... Ningzhe has already begun to imagine who his teammates will be.

As long as it's not Natalie, everything is easy to talk about.

However, you still have to be prepared.

Because he believed that his sister would definitely operate behind the scenes and might do some "terrible" things.

...

Yujingtai.

For some unknown reason, a huge screen was placed in the center of Yujing Terrace, and there were several masked people guarding the screen.

After hurriedly and slowly arriving at Yujing Terrace, Ningzhe realized that almost everyone had arrived.

Most of the onlookers were the players who lost in the preliminary round yesterday. They got up early in the morning just to see how far the person who defeated them could go.

Apart from the audience, Qianyanjun coach Tou Fengyan was sitting with six other players, while Ningguang seemed to be chatting and laughing about something with Natalie.

Um?

Including myself, there are only nine players in total?

At a glance, there were indeed only eight players surrounding Ningguang.

"Hey, Ningzhe, come over here!"

Ningzhe was thinking wildly when he suddenly heard Natalie waving her hand to greet him.

Natalie's face was rosy and she seemed a little excited, while Ning Guang kept a mysterious smile, which made Ning Zhe feel a little panicked.

"Uh-huh..."

Ningzhe waved in response in an extremely perfunctory manner, and Ningzhe quickly looked around.

Um--

There are Qianyan troops stationed there and a large number of onlookers...

In addition, Feng Yan was sitting inside, so it was impossible for this honest man to ambush him.

Then it shouldn't be the Hongmen Banquet. You can walk there without any problem.

After clarifying his thoughts for a moment, Ningzhe also smiled and walked towards Natalie.

"Ningzhe, I heard that your final score in the preliminary round was ranked last?"

What Ningzhe didn't expect was that the first person to attack was not Natalie, but her good sister Ningguang.

At this moment, Ningguang opened her mouth with a smile, and at first glance she looked like a close elder sister.

"I...well, that's right. I can't help it. Everyone is very strong. It's already good if I can enter the knockout round."

Although Ning Guang acted quite calmly, Ning Zhe did not dare to be careless at all and immediately spoke with a look of helplessness.

"Really?" Ningguang's expression remained unchanged and he still said with a smile: "But I also heard that someone slept on the field all afternoon. Do you think this is true?"

"I think this matter is completely false."

Ningzhe's expression did not change and he said loudly: "This competition is a major event of the Zhuyue Festival. Since all the players have participated in the competition, they will definitely go all out. There is absolutely no chance of such laziness!"

"Really?"

"This is absolutely impossible!"

Ningzhe patted his chest confidently and looked upright.

That serious look even seemed to be condemning Ning Guang for questioning the attitude of the contestants.

"That's it..."

Ningguang forcibly resisted the idea of ​​​​stroking Ningzhe's head, turned to look at Natalie, and said softly: "As for the diplomacy between Liyue and Nata that you mentioned before, how about we discuss it in detail after the game is over?

"

"Of course you can."

Natalie nodded.

"Very good...then there is only one person left."

After saying that, he looked down at the Yujing Terrace and said nothing.

One more person left?

Speaking of which, the time is almost up and this guy hasn't appeared yet.

He actually came later than me?!

Ningzhe thought that he was lazy enough, but he didn't expect that there was someone even lazier here?

As for the "diplomacy between Nata and Liyue" that Ningguang mentioned just now, Ningzhe selectively ignored it.

As long as he doesn't hear it, trouble won't come to him.

"Ah...I'm sorry everyone, I'm late..."

While Ningzhe was thinking wildly, a lazy young man squeezed his way through the crowd of onlookers.

The young man had messy gray hair that he couldn't take care of. Although the clothes he was wearing looked valuable, they looked a little rumpled because they had not been tidied up.

This is an unkempt young man.

But from the occasional flash of light in his lazy brown eyes, it can be seen that this young man with a non-aggressive appearance is somewhat hidden.

interesting...

Ningzhe nodded secretly.

If we could find out his identity and bring him to Yunhai Bookstore...that would be a beautiful thing.

"...It's okay. The game hasn't started yet, so you're not late."

When seeing this young man, Ningguang just said this in an understatement, and then looked at Feng Yan and the remaining contestants around him.

"There is still half an hour before the start of the game. But since everyone has arrived, and the onlookers are looking forward to it... why not start the game now?"

Hearing this, except for Ningzhe, Natalie, Feng Yan and Jiang Guo, the other players looked at each other, as if they couldn't make up their minds for a moment.

"Of course. I can't do anything in half an hour, so it's better to start right away."

Soon, Feng Yan, the man, could no longer keep his composure and spoke.

"Hmm, I don't think there's any problem."

Ningzhe also chimed in.

"no problem."

Seeing that two contestants agreed, other contestants who were still a little hesitant also agreed.

"Very good. Then I will explain the rules of this knockout competition."

Ning Guang nodded slightly and spoke calmly.

As soon as these words came out, the contestants, including Natalie, all fell silent and listened carefully.

"The ultimate goal of this knockout competition is to determine four of the ten players here to participate in the 2V2 team competition in the finals. I don't need to elaborate on this."

The players nodded slightly, but Natalie secretly glanced at Ningzhe, wondering what she was thinking.

"The rules of this knockout round are different from those of the preliminary rounds. You do not need to compete individually."

Um?

Feng Yan frowned.

Without separate competitions...then how will victory be determined?

"...In this knockout round, all players will operate on the same chessboard."
To be continued...