Shangjing City.
The warm winter sun hung far away in the gray sky. A cold wind swept through the bustling streets, coating the damp ground by the roadside with a thin layer of frost.
Beside the dark-brown bare tree trunks, countless pedestrians wrapped in thick down jackets lowered their heads and breathed warm air onto their reddened hands. After grumbling about the weather, they shoved their hands into their pockets and hurried away.
Holding a cup of hot tea, Zuo Qing stood before the floor-to-ceiling window. Steam rose slowly from the cup, condensing into a cloud of white mist before the glass.
His eyes fixed on the distant sky, and no one knew what he was thinking.
"Heaven has emerged..."
He paused and let out a long sigh. "These peaceful days are finally over... We won't be able to celebrate the New Year properly either."
On the sofa behind him, an old man in white held a black stone between his fingers and gently placed it upon the chessboard on the coffee table, smiling faintly.
"Can't bear to let it go?"
"Of course. After all, who doesn't enjoy peaceful days?" Zuo Qing said slowly. "But since war has come looking for us, we can't just sit back and take the blows... Once we win, peaceful days will return."
He turned around, walked over to sit opposite the old man in white, took out a white stone from the chess container, and placed it on the board.
"Grand Tutor, what are our odds of winning?" Zuo Qing asked.
Jiang Ziya did not answer immediately. Instead, he picked up another black stone and set it down. There were now four black stones on the board before him, surrounding that lone white stone.
"If we merely defend passively, at most ten percent."
"What