This Time, I Won't Run-A Game of Go

A small county town in Southern Border.

The gloomy sky resembled moldy cotton wool, and a strong wind carried fine snowflakes as they fell in a rustling sound. The temperature in the mountains and forests was so low that water would freeze instantly. In such weather, even the most experienced herb gatherers dared not go up the mountain.

But at that moment, a figure moved swiftly through the dense forest, as if in its element.

A vine entangled on a tree was cut off, and the dripping sap was collected in a bamboo tube.

"This year's unusually cold weather means many places are preparing for sacrificial rites again."

Huang Donglai tilted his head back and drank a mouthful of vine juice, looked at the gray sky, and exhaled a breath of stale air.

He was the only 'virgin boy and girl' in Wangshan City to survive the sacrificial ceremony.

His steady and vigilant nature was not innate.

When he was a child, his father died early, and he lived with his mother, a widow and orphan, in Wangshan City. With no man in the family and his mother unwilling to remarry, the town mayor took away the family's land.

Fortunately, this place is barren and desolate, with many wastelands in other people's fields that no man wants to cultivate.

My mother would then go and cultivate the corners and edges of other people's land. Sometimes she was lucky and the harvest would be ready before the other people took it back. Other times, the land had just been leveled and the seeds hadn't even been sown when the original owner took it away.

Mother never argued with anyone; she simply went to find new wasteland in silence.

The cycle repeats itself.

Huang Donglai twelve years old. He is already a master at gathering herbs in the mountains, more agile than even monkeys. He has also learned from his mother how to survive in the cracks of life.

Thus, the widow and her child miraculously survived.

He had thought that things would continue like this forever.

But that day, the town mayor came to his door with a large group of people. He was very scared because his mother had just planted sweet potatoes and promised to make him roasted sweet potatoes.

Surprisingly, the villagers who had visited the village before, more or less, because of the land issue, were not menacing this time.

They were all all smiles, and they brought venison, new clothes, and even maltose, which is only found in big cities.

But her mother's face was as white as snow.

That night, after eating the candy, he felt that the other children in the village were all bragging, and that the candy wasn't sweet at all.

The next morning, his mother personally dressed him in new clothes and shoes he had never worn before, making him look very handsome.

Under the watchful eyes of the other town mayors and High Priest, his mother gripped his hand tightly, so tightly it hurt, and told him he must be obedient.

Huang Donglai was terrified; he had always been very obedient.

Then, he was taken up the mountain by a group of villagers and a girl of the same age. Along the way, they beat drums and gongs, and people kept comforting the two children, saying that they were about to serve the Mountain God and live a good life, with candy to eat every day.

Maltose doesn't taste good at all.

Just as he was thinking this, the lotus seat suddenly began to roll.

The world spun around him, and he fell into the woods.

He saw with trepidation the person who had overturned the lotus throne—a woman who had cultivated countless wastelands and possessed great strength.

The last words Huang Donglai heard from his mother were so hoarse and desperate:

"Run! Never come back!!"

That moment.

The sound of the wind whistling past my ears.

No one can catch him anymore.

"Call..."

Huang Donglai let out a long sigh, suppressing his dazed state.

Daydreaming in the mountains is a very dangerous thing...

Snap--

Suddenly, a sound of a branch snapping underfoot came from afar.

Huang Donglai alert, the porcelain bottle slipping from his hand as he simultaneously surveyed his surroundings, instantly determining the best escape route and even managing to leave behind a few simple traps...

"Cough cough..."

The coughing continued for a long time and then grew weaker.

Huang Donglai silently sensed the other person's presence, then parted the leaves to take a look.

He was a middle-aged man whose tattered clothes barely revealed the uniform of a military scout, and his tattered rattan shoes were worn out, clearly indicating that he had endured an unimaginable long journey.

There was a long, potentially fatal wound on his abdomen; the man was nearly at his last gasp.

But upon noticing Huang Donglai, a glint of light flashed in his eyes.

"Young man."

Who are you?

Huang Donglai did not approach.

"Scout of Greenwood City, I'm out of time. Long story short..."

The man's parched lips moved, and he said hoarsely:

"The Calamity Beast and the Shang Dynasty Remnants in the south are acting strangely. Only Your Prince can resolve this. The military situation I have is extremely urgent."

"If you're willing, young man, please deliver this letter to Greenwood City."

"If you don't want to take the risk, run now, or it will be too late..."

Huang Donglai silent and did not reply.

Because the man who called himself a scout is dead.

He was willing to believe this person, but his instincts told him not to get involved in such a serious matter.

Greenwood City will be the first to bear the brunt of the attack and will inevitably become the site of the most brutal battle.

But after walking half a mile, the image of that man lying in the cold wind, the sudden light in his eyes, just like that woman who had knocked over several strong men and told him to run away in that cold winter many years ago, resurfaced in his mind.

He dreamt of that day countless times, wondering if the outcome would have been different if he hadn't run away.

"May you rest in peace in the grave; do not despise its humble state."

Huang Donglai back, took the sealing wax envelope from the other party, and when he finished digging the pit to erect a monument, he realized that he did not know the other party's name.

He then removed the other party's criticism:

Lu Yi.

Huang Donglai, hands on his hips, gazed in the direction of Greenwood City, muttering to himself.

"Mother... this time, I will not run away."

At the same time.

Greenwood City.

Looking at the scattered army formation and Li Mo still standing in the field, Zhong Ling felt somewhat discouraged.

The Calamity Beast was even more difficult to deal with than she had imagined. She had studied military formations since she was a child and was now able to command tens of thousands of soldiers and armored troops in battle, and thousands of elite soldiers in formation.

Don't underestimate this number. For ordinary people, let alone tens of thousands of soldiers, even a hundred people doing Radio Calisthenics in perfect unison wouldn't be that easy.

The hundred people she consciously commanded had brought the Square of the Zhong Family Military Formation to its fullest potential.

Yet, when faced with the Qiongqi that Li Mo had transformed into, he still felt a deep sense of powerlessness.

"Uncle Qu, was there anything I could have done wrong?"

"Um..."

Qu Sheng thought for a moment, then his gaze involuntarily turned to the composed young girl sitting not far away, and he couldn't help but ask:

"Martial arts and military formations have commonalities. Miss Ying's martial arts skills have been described as transcendent and saintly by the Heaven Derivation Sect. Do you have any thoughts on this?"

"There are some."

Ying Bing put down her teacup, raised her eyes, and said:

"In terms of martial arts, Zhong Ling's mastery of the Zhong Family Military Formation should have reached a minor level of proficiency."

"I saw the four stances of Wind, Fire, Mountain and Forest in the formation. Each stance is impeccable on its own, but they do not complement each other."

"Brilliant!"

Qu Sheng an eyebrow, clapped his hands in praise, and said to the generals beside him, "I made you all study military books so hard, but your skills are not as good as those two young girls."

"Complementary..."

Zhong Ling seemed to understand the principle, but didn't know how to put it into practice, and could only look at Ying Bing blankly.

"You'll know once you play a game."

Ying Bing took out a Chessboard from the Big-Headed Doll.

"Good!"

The game of Go and the changes in military formations share many similarities.

Zhong Ling sat down opposite Ying Bing.

Thirty seconds later.

She was curious about Ying Bing's move; indeed, Cold Fairy's chess style was extraordinary, the pieces moving in a straight line—was there some hidden secret behind it?

She was about to make another move.

You lost.

"Huh? We've only just begun, haven't we?"

"But I already have five in a row."

"Clam?"