You Just Tell Me Whether I Won!

Chapter 39: You Just Tell Me Whether I Won!

The National Master went completely limp, slumping against the back of her chair. Her vision swam, and she could only vaguely see Chu Lu solemnly putting away the wooden stick. "See? If you don't wear a helmet, it's easy to get beaten."

National Master: "??"

She wanted to speak, but she could not open her mouth at all.

At that moment, Chu Lu placed a stone. "All right, your turn."

The National Master was full of question marks again.

—What do you mean, my turn? You hit me! You hit someone!

"Huh? Why aren't you playing? Can't think of your next move? Ah, then I'll count that as a timeout and skip you. It's my turn again." Chu Lu placed another stone.

The National Master immediately grew anxious. Ignoring everything else, she struggled to reach for a stone, but she did not even have the strength to speak. How could she possibly stretch out her hand?

She could only watch helplessly as time slipped away, as Chu Lu picked up another stone.

"Why did you time out again? Sigh, my turn again."

"Timed out again?"

"Still timing out?"

"Do you actually intend to play Go?"

"You're not letting me win, are you?"

"Oh dear, that's far too embarrassing."

Clack, clack, clack. Stones fell one after another, and the originally hopeless position suddenly turned around.

At last, Chu Lu set down a stone. He glanced at the Go board and pretended to be surprised. "Huh? I won."

At those words, the string in the National Master's mind suddenly snapped. In her extreme fury, she briefly overcame the restraints of her injuries and slammed a fist onto the table. "Stop!"

"Huh? What's wrong?" Chu Lu asked with an innocent expression.

"What do you mean, what's wrong? What do you mean, what's wrong?!" the National Master rebuked. "You beat people with a stick! How can you beat people with a stick? We're playing Go! What is this supposed to be? What did you win?!"

The instant the National Master finished speaking, Chu Lu's expression abruptly turned grave.

"You refuse to accept it?" he asked.

"Of course I refuse to accept it!" the National Master roared.

"So that's it. You can't accept beating people with a wooden stick." Chu Lu revealed an expression of surprise and admiration. "As expected of the number one National Master in the world. Though you're young, you place great importance on rules. A crooked path like using a wooden stick is naturally beneath your contempt!"

"Of course!" the National Master shouted herself hoarse. She thought, What Go player could possibly accept something like that?!

"Since that's the case." Chu Lu said seriously, "then let me follow the old rules."

"That's how it should have—"

Before the National Master could finish, Chu Lu let out a furious roar and violently flipped the Go board.

The stones on the board immediately flew out, pelting the National Master's face like raindrops.

Chu Lu sprang to his feet, planted one foot on the stone table, and raised the Go board high above his head. "Sure enough, using a Go board is the orthodox way to play Go, right?!"

National Master: "Huh?"

Bang!

Chu Lu swung the Go board down violently, smashing it hard onto the National Master's head.

The intense shock immediately traveled from her scalp down through her entire body.

A fierce buzzing instantly rang in the National Master's ears.

But Chu Lu did not pause in the slightest. He immediately raised it again and swung it down again, smashing her more than ten times in one breath.

As he smashed her, he cursed.

"Do you accept it now?"

"Do you accept it?!"

"Did I win or not? Tell me, did I win or not?!"

"Fuck, I was going to let you off. You insisted on courting death! You insisted on courting death!"

"You're the number one in the world, huh? You're exactly who I'm beating!"

Bang bang bang bang bang bang bang!

At that moment, only the unceasing sound of pounding remained in the pavilion.

Watching this scene from the side, Liu Jin'er's legs began trembling involuntarily, and none of her earlier smugness remained on her face.

Chu Lu's sudden, heaven-sent strike with the stick had already scared her senseless.

And now, the utterly deranged, lunatic-like scene before her made her wonder whether she was trapped in a nightmare.

Thud.

The National Master finally could not bear the burden any longer. She fell from her chair, unable to rise again, and lost this game of Go.

Chu Lu set down the Go board and began panting.

Playing Go was such exhausting work. For his body, which was still very weak, the burden was simply too great.

But he knew it was not over yet, so he did not hurry to rest. Instead, he turned to look at Liu Jin'er beside him.

At Chu Lu's glare, Liu Jin'er was so frightened that she dropped straight to the ground on her knees.

"I've already won. It's time for you to fulfill the wager," Chu Lu said. "Tell me your sister's weakness."

"Huh? Um, well..." Liu Jin'er's mind was still a muddle, and she did not know what to say.

"What do you mean?" Chu Lu narrowed his eyes and reached for the bloodstained Go board again. "Do you think I didn't win?"

Liu Jin'er shuddered in alarm. Driven by her desire to survive, she shouted, "You won, you won! You won!"

"Very good. Then what is the Empress's weakness?"

A few beads of sweat immediately appeared on Liu Jin'er's forehead.

The truth was, she had no idea what the Empress's weakness was.

The reason she had dared to use it as a wager was because she had thought that she had invited the current number one National Master to play Go against Chu Lu. How could she possibly lose?

But she had never expected Go could be played like this.

She had intended to make something up at random and muddle through, but just then, Chu Lu seemed to see through her thoughts. "Don't lie. You can't bear the consequences."

Liu Jin'er immediately trembled. Too frightened to dare, she could only force herself to say, "I... I don't know..."

"Really?" Chu Lu asked.

"Really! I didn't lie to you." Liu Jin'er said with a miserable face.

"That's what I guessed." Chu Lu was not surprised. This Liu Jin'er looked like there was something wrong with her head, so it was perfectly normal for her not to know such a secret.

"Then, tooth for tooth." Chu Lu said blandly, "You'll spin in circles and bark like a dog too."

"Huh?" Liu Jin'er's face turned pale. She was a daughter of the Liu Family. How could she do something so humiliating? She was unwilling a million times over.

"You refuse?" Chu Lu reached for the Go board again.

"I'll do it!" Liu Jin'er immediately stood up. "I'll do it!"

Life was more important than dignity.

Gritting her teeth, Liu Jin'er spun three times and barked three times. Her face shifted between green and white as she lowered her head and said with difficulty, "I've done it. I can leave now, right?"

"No rush. You still owe four more rounds." Chu Lu said leisurely.

"Huh?!"

A little later, Liu Jin'er left the garden in a daze.

She obediently completed the remaining four rounds, then Chu Lu warned her not to tell anyone about what had happened today. She felt that all her dignity as a person had been lost, and now she only wanted to find somewhere to cry.

In the pavilion, Chu Lu called Xiao Lizi over to clean up the corpse, while he continued admiring the flowers.

In his mind, Xu Liniang had finally calmed down from the shock brought by Chu Lu's astounding Go skills. Worried, she said, "Chu Lu, you made such a huge commotion. The Empress won't stand by and do nothing. You warned Liu Jin'er, but she can't truly obey you so meekly. This matter can't be concealed for more than a few days."

"It doesn't matter. If it's exposed, then it's exposed," Chu Lu said. "I killed the Empress's cousin, and she still didn't dare tear off all pretense. What does killing one of her younger sister's Go players amount to?"

"I suppose so..."