"Then enough with the small talk. Let me see what my junior fellow students are made of."
Wu Shuheng smiled and walked to the first Go board, taking a white stone from the stone box and placing it.
After Wu Shuheng made his move, the student seated at the first board immediately took a stone from the stone box and gently placed it.
Tap.
Tap.
Tap.
The two sides played at lightning speed. In less than ten seconds, they had made seven or eight moves.
It was Black's turn again, but the student seated at the first board did not continue. Instead, he furrowed his brows and stared at the board, beginning to think.
Seeing this, Wu Shuheng did not wait around. He walked to the next board and made several moves there. Once his opponent began thinking as well, he continued on to the next board.
Before long, Wu Shuheng reached Yu Shao's table and took a stone from the stone box, placing it on the board.
Tap.
Third column, fourth row. Mokuhou.
Yu Shao immediately followed with his move.
Sixteenth column, sixteenth row. Star point.
Wu Shuheng's expression remained calm, and he placed his stones just as quickly.
Fourteenth column, seventeenth row. Small knight's move approach.
The two sides traded moves back and forth. Soon, they had played more than a dozen moves, all at lightning speed.
Tap.
Tap.
Tap.
The sound of stones hitting the board rang out without pause.
However, as the stones continued to fall, the students below the stage quickly noticed that something was off.
The others had also played their first few moves quickly, but after Wu Shuheng made several more moves, his opponents began thinking and stopped placing stones.
But why did it keep going at this table?!
The two sides continued making moves. Almost every time one side finished placing a stone, the other side's next move followed in less than a second, as if they had anticipated exactly where the opponent would play.
Just then, after Wu Shuheng made a move, Yu Shao immediately followed with another swift placement.
Tap.
Fourteenth column, eighteenth row. Seal!
Seeing the move, Wu Shuheng, who had already taken out a stone and was preparing to play, froze slightly. His hand stopped in midair.
"Black actually chose to seal, intending to settle the lower-right corner directly..."
Wu Shuheng frowned slightly and lowered his head to examine the game, falling into thought.
"Should I block and split Black's stones, continuing to fight in the lower-right corner, or should I tenuki for now and play on the right side?"
Seeing this, all the students below the stage looked at one another in bewilderment.
Had they gotten things backward?
The two of you had played more than a dozen moves, fine—but why was Wu Shuheng the first one to stop and think?!
At that moment, the cameraman behind Wu Shuheng could not help reminding him in a low voice, "Teacher Wu, there are still several more boards behind you."
Wu Shuheng suddenly came to his senses and realized that this was a simultaneous exhibition, not a game between just two people.
He lowered his head and glanced at the board again, but did not continue playing. Instead, he put the stone back in the stone box and walked toward the next table.
Soon, after a few moves, the student at that table also stopped and fell into deep thought.
Wu Shuheng continued to the next table, took out a stone, and placed it.
However, it was obvious that Wu Shuheng was somewhat distracted at these two tables. He was still thinking about the game at Yu Shao's table, considering how to respond to Black's sealing move.
After the student at this table also stopped to think, Wu Shuheng continued forward and arrived at the board where Xu Ziqin was seated.
Instantly, every student's attention focused on this game.
"He's at Xu Ziqin's table!"
"Xu Ziqin can play Go too? I'm only finding out now."
The students below the stage began discussing among themselves. Everyone was surprised that Xu Ziqin had joined the simultaneous exhibition. No one had expected her to know how to play Go.
Even the students from Class Six, who were Xu Ziqin's classmates, had not known about it.
Tap.
Accompanied by a crisp sound, Wu Shuheng placed a white stone.
Xu Ziqin lowered her eyes to the board, extended her slender, fair hand, took a stone from the stone box, and gently placed it on the board.
It was an utterly ordinary move, but because the person making it was Xu Ziqin, it somehow possessed a stunning charm.
"Kill me! Big sister, kill me!"
Some male animal in the audience let out a wail.
"Are you a senior? You're almost nineteen, yet you're calling a sixteen-year-old junior 'big sister'? Have some shame!"
"Her aura is so lethal, especially when she's playing Go. Holy crap!"
"Those animals in Class Six really deserve to die!"
As everyone knew, there were only two kinds of people in Senior One Class Six—Xu Ziqin and those animals.
Xu Ziqin and Wu Shuheng continued placing stones one after the other, both moving at lightning speed. Before long, they had finished more than twenty moves.
The students below the stage were dumbfounded once again. The scene felt strangely familiar.
Finally, after they continued for several more moves, Wu Shuheng placed another black stone. Xu Ziqin did not immediately respond as she had before.
Her delicate brows drew together slightly as she stared at the board and began to think as well.
"Phew..."
Seeing this, Wu Shuheng let out a slight sigh of relief and walked toward the next table.
Before long, Wu Shuheng had completed a full round at all ten tables and returned to the first one.
By then, after a long think, the student at the first table had also placed his stone.
Wu Shuheng merely swept his eyes over the board before immediately taking a stone from the stone box and placing it.
The student furrowed his brows tightly and also placed a stone at once.
Soon, after only six moves, the student at the first table fell into thought again. Seeing this, Wu Shuheng immediately walked toward the next table.
Before long, Wu Shuheng returned to Yu Shao's table.
While playing at the other tables, Wu Shuheng had already thought of how to respond to Black's sealing move. He took out a stone and immediately placed it.
Tap.
Sixth column, seventeenth row. Small knight's move approach.
Faced with Black's seal, Wu Shuheng did not choose to continue fighting in the lower-right corner. Instead, he tenukied and played a small knight's move approach in the lower-right corner, deciding to wait for a new development on the board before making his decision.
Yu Shao's expression remained calm. He immediately took a stone from the stone box and placed it again.
Tap!
Third column, fourteenth row. Small knight's move!
Wu Shuheng also immediately took out a stone and placed it. The two sides once again began playing at lightning speed, and the sound of stones landing on the board rang out without pause.
Soon, the black and white sides had played nearly another dozen moves.
The audience below was utterly silent. Almost everyone stared at the game projected on the white screen with strange expressions.
Wu Zhixuan, seated in the first row, watched the game with a somewhat surprised expression. She had not expected that the boy who had asked her for an autographed photo would possess such decent Go strength.
Most of the students below were merely astonished by the game and by how quickly Yu Shao was playing. But as a Professional First Dan, Wu Zhixuan could see much more from the board.
Wu Zhixuan blinked her lively eyes and thought smugly, Hmph, my autographed photo must deserve some of the credit!
Meanwhile, onstage.
As the stones continued to fall, Wu Shuheng was already sweating profusely.
"Doesn't he need to think at all?!"
Wu Shuheng found it hard to believe. As the stones continued to be placed, the game gradually became more complicated. Some moves required even him to think for a while.
Yet the junior fellow student sitting across from him was still playing at lightning speed—and every move was excellent!
This put enormous pressure on Wu Shuheng. He had to place his stones as quickly as possible. Otherwise, if his opponent played one move and he spent ages thinking about it, it would be far too embarrassing.
Finally, after Wu Shuheng made another move, Yu Shao did not continue playing. He seemed to have fallen into thought as well.
"Phew—!"
Wu Shuheng exhaled a long breath of relief, wiped the sweat from his face, and walked toward the next table.
Yu Shao continued staring at the board, deep in thought.
If I hane directly here, there's a risk of splitting the opponent's shape. If I throw in directly, it can lead to a ko fight afterward...
If I play more aggressively, I could even consider extending directly and launching an attack. But jumping away also seems like an excellent move, as it would create pressure on the upper-left corner later.
Or should I tenuki directly and expand the battlefield?
Yu Shao was having trouble deciding. There were simply too many possible moves, and every choice would inevitably leave him with an advantage. He did not even need to calculate the subsequent variations too deeply, because there was no point.
The advantage was simply too overwhelming. He had almost forgotten how to play.
What should I do? I'm asking online, and it's urgent!
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