The maiden before him looked about seventeen or eighteen. Her features were exquisite and flawless, her black hair fluttering in the wind, already revealing a hint of enchanting charm. A padded cloak meant to ward off the cold wrapped around her delicate body, though it could still faintly be seen that she had a remarkably mature figure.
So beautiful maidens really did come knocking on their own—even in the depths of the mountains.
Lin Tianlu was assailed by a hundred conflicting emotions and let out a long, melancholy sigh.
Yet the bland life of the past dozen or so days seemed to have worn down much of his temperament. Now, his heart merely stirred with the faintest ripples.
To him, suddenly seeing a living person on Taiyi Immortal Mountain was, instead, the more astonishing matter.
However, the atmosphere between the two was somewhat delicate. They simply looked at each other in silence.
Lin Tianlu set down his chess piece and rose to his feet. After clearing his throat, he was just about to speak first and break the silence.
But when the words reached his lips, he hesitated again.
How... should I talk to her?
Relying on fragments of the scholar's memories left behind after his death, he knew that the era he was in resembled the Tang and Song dynasties, differing only somewhat in culture and customs. Ultimately, however, it was still an ancient age whose speech was steeped in archaic diction.
If he opened his mouth and spouted a string of modern plain speech...
Would the other party find it terribly awkward?
While he struggled to organize his words, the young maiden's expression quickly turned solemn. She hurried forward a few steps, bowed, and saluted him.
"Junior Hua Shuya greets the immortal of the Immortal Sect!"
"?"
Lin Tianlu's expression froze slightly.
Immortal? Is she talking about me?
He inconspicuously glanced around. Only after confirming that there was no third person did he tentatively ask in a deep voice, "Why do you say that, miss?"
"Everyone in Xima County knows that there is an Immortal Sect—the Daoist Sect—on Taiyi Mountain, where immortals preach the Dao and teach their disciples. Every disciple under its banner cultivates the arts of immortals and gods and achieves immortality."
The refined maiden named Hua Shuya clasped her hands and bowed, her voice clear and melodious. "Along the way, Junior saw that Taiyi Mountain was utterly devoid of human habitation, without water or rice, without houses or roofs. There was only Senior, sitting alone here and playing chess.
"To possess such leisure and composure, there could surely be no one in this world but an immortal who had attained the Dao—only such a person could have the temperament and ability to remain unshaken even if the sky collapsed."
She raised her head slightly. Faint, unusual light seemed to glimmer in her clear, gentle eyes.
Those eyes really were beautiful. Yet her gaze was like that of someone who had discovered some peerless treasure, burning with a certain heat.
Lin Tianlu felt somewhat uncomfortable under her stare, but merely copied her and clasped his hands. "Your deduction is sound, miss. However, I am not of this Immortal Sect. I am merely a humble scholar who happened to set foot here. Since the mountain paths were steep and difficult to descend, I had no choice but to remain temporarily on the mountaintop."
"A scholar?"
Hua Shuya was somewhat astonished.
Coming back to herself, she examined this 'Senior' carefully. He did indeed seem to be wearing an utterly ordinary coarse white scholar's robe, and his apparent age was about the same as hers. He really had nothing in common with a noble and transcendent immortal.
Could I truly have mistaken him for someone else?
The maiden looked embarrassed and was just about to speak when her heart suddenly jolted.
—Wait!
The summit of Taiyi Mountain was shrouded year-round in damp clouds and mist. The terrain was towering, and the temperature was exceptionally low. As she had made her way up, she had felt the cold biting into her body and had needed these clothes to keep warm.
But the person before her...
He was wearing only an ordinary scholar's robe?!
And when she looked more closely, she realized that she could not sense his presence at all!
She had practiced martial arts since childhood thanks to her wealthy Household. Though young, her discerning eye was already seasoned. A person's bearing, whether they had been pampered and well cared for—such things could be seen after only a few glances.
Yet now, she could not see through this youth her own age in the slightest.
He was clearly standing right before her, but under a martial practitioner's senses, she could not catch even the slightest trace of his aura. It was as though he had completely merged with the surrounding natural world, becoming one with heaven and earth, ethereal as smoke and as elusive as the mountain mist.
His face was handsome and refined, his gaze deep as an abyss. Though he wore no luxurious ornaments, he inexplicably possessed a hazy, transcendent air that made him seem utterly beyond her reach.
Such bearing... she had never encountered it in her dozen-odd years of life!
Even her parents—and even her grandfather, whose great reputation had spread far and wide—fell vastly short!
Yet such a divine immortal figure claimed to be merely a 'humble scholar'... Could he be speaking in code, or testing her?
With this thought, Hua Shuya's tone grew even more respectful. "Senior's words are engraved upon Junior's heart."
"?"
Lin Tianlu was somewhat surprised. He could not help thinking that women in ancient times really did speak with such excessive reverence.
He did not dwell on it, however, and soon asked, "Miss, did you climb the mountain alone? What brings you here?"
Hua Shuya hurriedly bowed and patiently explained, "Senior, Junior was passing through Xima County when I happened to hear the legends of an Immortal Sect on Taiyi Mountain.
"Junior did not believe those folk tales at first. But half a month ago, distant, prolonged roars repeatedly echoed through the mountains, as though an immortal or Immortal Sect had emerged into the world. Furthermore, an elder in my Household has long been ill and frail, so I thought to climb the mountain in search of Immortal Destiny and the path to immortality. Unfortunately, thick fog sealed off the mountain several days ago, making the roads difficult to traverse, and delaying me for some time.
"As for the other attendants, most were unable to endure the journey. They are currently keeping watch halfway up the mountain. I alone reached the summit."
At her words, Lin Tianlu's heart gave a sudden thump.
Had those few karaoke shrieks I usually let loose really carried beyond the surrounding mountains?
But seeing the maiden's solemn expression and focused gaze, he figured... no one probably knew the meaning behind those words and lyrics. Otherwise, he would have died of social embarrassment.
Well, fortunately, I sang plenty of Japanese and English songs. No one could understand them.
Still, quite a few people had come up the mountain.
His eyes soon lit up. "Then, miss, do you have a way down the mountain?"
Hua Shuya answered with utmost seriousness, "Junior has laid down a great many linked iron chains throughout the mountain. When the time comes, I need only follow the chains and descend carefully."
Lin Tianlu's heart leaped with joy.
At last, a route down the mountain had arrived.
Although life on the mountain had been fairly leisurely, living like a savage every day was ultimately strange.
Hua Shuya deliberated hesitantly for a moment before continuing, "Senior, may I ask why you are here alone...?"
Lin Tianlu smiled. "Because of an accident, I became stranded here and could only find little idle tasks to pass the time. This game of black-and-white chess, for instance, is rather interesting as a diversion."
"Black-and-white chess?"
Hua Shuya curiously glanced at the chessboard on the stone table nearby.
Black and white pieces, a disorderly game—at a glance, it looked no different from the Go played on street corners in the marketplace.
Although she had practiced martial arts since childhood, she was also well versed in the written arts and naturally knew a little about the way of chess. From this one glance, it seemed that this immortal was unfamiliar with the techniques of worldly Go and was merely making random—
Hmm?!
Hua Shuya's expression soon changed. Her eyes fixed themselves on the chessboard, as though all her attention had been drawn into the game.
How... how could this be?
Why did this seemingly chaotic and disordered game give her such a wondrous sense of harmony? It was as though the game ought to have been played precisely this way. Every piece, every move, had been placed with perfect steadiness, truly dazzling beyond compare.
As her gaze gathered upon it, she increasingly sensed that the game was extraordinary—profound and abstruse, concealing ultimate truths. For a moment, her mind and spirit even trembled!
Seeing her look dazed, Lin Tianlu chuckled. "Miss, could it be that you are interested in this random game of mine?"
"Senior... may Junior... place a few pieces?" Hua Shuya's voice trembled slightly.
"Of course. Place them wherever you wish."
Lin Tianlu also found himself taking a little interest. He rolled up his sleeves, brimming with enthusiasm.
He had lived alone on this solitary mountain for more than half a month. Now that he suddenly had a graceful, cultured young maiden to accompany him in a game of chess, it was quite a pleasant affair.
Even if they were playing Gomoku.
"Thank you, Senior, for granting me this opportunity."
Hua Shuya drew a deep breath to calm her pounding heart, then sat down opposite Lin Tianlu.
"—!"
The instant she took her seat, her pupils abruptly shrank to pinpoints, and even her breathing seemed to freeze.
The kind-smiling youth sitting before her had concealed his depths without revealing the slightest sign a moment earlier. But now, a terrifying aura like an abyss suddenly erupted from him, godlike yet demonic, pressing down upon her from all directions with the force of heaven collapsing and earth splitting. It nearly caused her soul to vanish in an instant!
In a daze, Hua Shuya felt the endless mountain peaks before her collapse and shatter one layer after another. The starry river across the firmament fell silent and died. Countless fleeting rays and shadows streaked and interwove through her vision, leaving behind strange traces of light that defied description.
When everything had been destroyed, the heavens, earth, mountains, and rivers had long since vanished. Before her, there seemed to be only that ordinary youth, his smile unchanged.
Beneath her, the so-called Taiyi Immortal Mountain had likewise vanished. In its place was an illusory, indistinct galaxy, deep and pitch-black. Countless stars shone and wheeled about, interweaving to form a cosmic chessboard. The vast human realm drifted across it, transforming into countless crystalline black and white pieces that floated and spun around her like a dream.
The youth's smile was inscrutable. He held his left hand behind his back and a black piece in his right.
"Miss, since the piece in your hand has yet to fall, I shall make the first move."
His words sent tremors through the sea of her heart and soul!
The galaxy chess game instantly surged with waves ten thousand zhang high. The stars whirled, as though the infinite cosmos were contained within a single piece between the youth's fingers.
Hua Shuya's eyes trembled, her face deathly pale. In that instant, she felt that her existence was so tiny—like a mote of dust in a river of sand, watched from above by a pair of divine eyes. There was nowhere for her to flee and nowhere to hide!
Within her field of vision, only the chess piece slowly descending from the youth's hand remained—
When the piece landed, a faint, ghostly ripple spread across the chessboard.
"Pffft—!"
Hua Shuya abruptly spat out a large mouthful of blood. Her beautiful eyes rolled back, and she collapsed to the ground, unconscious.
"..."
The smile on Lin Tianlu's face instantly stiffened. He wiped the blood from his face, utterly dumbfounded.
"???"
—What was going on?
He had only been playing a game of Gomoku. How had she suddenly started spitting blood?!
Or... had she climbed the mountain specifically to scam him?
Before you continue