Psychiatric Hospital of the Gods.
Shadows of swaying trees danced in the wind. By the stone chessboard, where black and white pieces intermingled, a figure sat as motionless as a statue.
Those gray eyes reflected the position of every chess piece. A faint light flickered deep within them, sometimes puzzled, sometimes enlightened, as if he were contemplating something.
"What did you see?"
A voice came from behind him. Lin Qiye, dressed in a white lab coat with his hands in his pockets, slowly walked to his side.
An Qingyu did not look up, merely asking in confusion,
"Who did you play this game with?"
"Chaos."
"No wonder..."
Lin Qiye's gaze fell upon the dust-covered chessboard. It had been left behind four years ago, when he and Chaos had fought over control of the hospital. It held no particular deeper meaning. Later, Chaos seemed too lazy to play chess, so it had remained here untouched.
"What did you see?"
"It's a complete mess. I can't make anything of it."
Lin Qiye sat down across from the chessboard. "When was the last time we played?"
"Four years ago, I think." A trace of reminiscence surfaced in An Qingyu's eyes. "Back when we were at Shangjing University, when I was still trying to heal my soul's wounds."
"Has it only been four years...? It feels like it's been ten."
Lin Qiye swept his gaze over the board and lightly waved his hand. All the chess pieces floated back into their two bowls, and the dust on the board's surface instantly vanished.
"Another game?" he asked.
"Sure."
"Just playing chess is a little boring... How about we add some stakes?"
An Qingyu glanced at him. "So you came to pry information out of me."
Lin Qiye only smiled, saying nothing.
"Fine." An Qingyu did