Chutes and Ladders - 205

After playing music with the animals for about an hour, Zhou Fan stood up from his seat. As he did so, the other animals also got up and came towards him. 

"Do you guys want to play a board game?" Zhou Fan asked.

"What's a board game?" 

"It's a game played on a board. Follow me, I'll make one and show you." Zhou Fan said while he walked towards the forest. 

The animals followed him in curiosity.

Once Zhou Fan reached a tree, he put his palm flat on it. As he did, a green light shone. 

The animals looked at the light with bright eyes.

Once the light had shown for a minute, Zhou Fan pulled his hand off the tree and a flat board followed with it. The board was a light wood color and completely square. It was also two inches thick.

"What sounds more interesting?" Zhou Fan began to ask. "Chess or chutes and ladders?"

The chicken was the first to speak up. "Chutes and ladders!"

After he spoke, the other animals all nodded in agreement.

Zhou Fan wasn't surprised at their answers. It was more likely that they would not only like the name of chutes and ladders more than the name of chess, but they would also probably enjoy playing chutes and ladders more than playing chess.

After all, each of the animals had the mindset of a child. The fox was the most mature of them all.

"Okay then. Pay attention as I carve the board and I will explain the rules of the game." Zhou Fan said.

"First, you will create your own characters, or pieces." He said while he carved a ten by ten square checkerboard.

"They will have to be the same size. While you make them, imagine them fitting inside one of these squares."

"Then, you will roll a dice." Zhou Fan said as he pulled some stone out of his spatial ring and carved it into two cubes with dots on the six sides.

"You will move your piece to the right for every dot on the top side of the dice after you roll them." He explained.

The animals continued to watch with concentration.

"If you reach the right-most side, you will move your piece up and start going to the left." He explained while using his finger as an example piece.

"Now for the reason it is called chutes and ladders." He said, making sure that each and every one of the animals was paying attention.

Before he continued speaking, Zhou Fan drew pictures of slides and ladders on the board. 

"If you land on the square on the bottom of one of these ladders, you will go up that ladder and get a boost. If you land on the top of one of these slides, or chutes, you will go down and land on the square the bottom of the chute is on."

"The goal is to reach the very top of the board and leap off of it onto this circle." Zhou Fan said as he carved a circle out of wood and put it above the chutes and ladders board.

"Any questions?" Zhou Fan asked.

"No." The animals said in unison.

"Good, then get to carving your pieces." Zhou Fan said while handing out blocks of wood and chisels.

He also got one for himself and began to design himself a piece.

After finishing his, he helped out the butterfly since she was too small to use the chisel. As for the rest of the animals, he watched them struggle. 

Although they were all at the space shattering realm, so was the wood and the chisel and the board. Therefore, they spent a while struggling before they succeeded.

Excluding the koi that slept in the waterfall pond all day, each of the animals had finished making their pieces.

Zhou Fan put his on the board first. His piece was a ship. There was no deep meaning behind it. He just thought it looked kind of cool.

The chicken arrogantly carved himself a crown as a piece. Zhou Fan had the urge to slap him, but he held back.

The fox simply carved herself a mini fox. The deer, the mole, and the crow also just carved mini pieces of themselves.

The butterfly, or rather Zhou Fan, carved her a flower piece. She was very satisfied with his workmanship.

Finally, the bearded dragon carved himself a mountain. It was actually a very detailed mountain that left Zhou Fan surprised.

'Perhaps the bearded dragon has some talent in wood carving.' He thought to himself.

Once all the pieces were on the board, Zhou Fan picked up the die and rolled them. They landed on a three and two.

Zhou Fan moved his piece five to the right and happened to land on a ladder. That ladder directly took him up to the fifth level.

The animals were clearly distraught by his luck, but they didn't rage quit. After around ten minutes, Zhou Fan was declared as the first winner.

"No fair! You hit a ladder every single time you rolled! You're a cheater!" The chicken said in hatred. 

Although the animals didn't say anything, they were clearly feeling the same way.

"Sorry. Sorry. My luck is just too good. There is nothing I can do about it." Zhou Fan responded.

"Let's play again." He said.

The animals were clearly upset, but they had fun playing the first time, so they played again.

"It's been a while since I played. I think I got beginner's luck." Zhou Fan said while he rolled the dice again.

This time, he didn't land on a ladder. Seeing that, the animals got over their bad mood and started seriously playing again.

After almost twenty minutes, the chicken won the second game.

"Yes! I knew there was a reason I carved a crown. I'm better than each and every one of you losers." He said while pointing out his chicken wings.

The other animals were clearly provoked by his gesture, leading to another game being started instantly.