Playing Go

Qin Yuan stepped down from the carriage and tilted his little face up at the three vigorous, powerful characters on the plaque: "Chess Saint Pavilion." Expectation gleamed in his clear black-and-white eyes.

There must be lots of Go masters inside... Qin Yuan thought as he strode into Chess Saint Pavilion. Li Fu followed close behind without a word.

Chess Saint Pavilion wasn't nearly as lively as he'd imagined. On the contrary, it was extremely quiet.

There were plenty of people, though. Nearly every Go table was surrounded by a crowd, and the crisp clicks of stones landing rang out one after another like jade beads clashing.

The players and Go enthusiasts rarely spoke, and everything was orderly.

Qin Yuan had only been watching for a little while when a kind-faced young man in white hurried over.

The young man first glanced at Li Fu behind Qin Yuan, then turned his gaze to Qin Yuan and asked with a smile:

"Young... brother, have you come to learn Go?"

"No, I've come to play." Qin Yuan gave a slight shake of his head. He looked at the young man, lifted his chin, and deliberately struck a haughty pose. "I'm just wondering how good the players here are."

That sounded like a challenge. Chess Saint Pavilion's players couldn't possibly be bad, could they?

The young man's brows twitched almost imperceptibly. If the other party hadn't been a mere child, he would've suspected him of coming to challenge the pavilion.

The young man said nothing. He thought he'd find this kid a formidable opponent and show him that Chess Saint Pavilion wasn't some trashy Go club.

He'd just choose a senior brother who'd reached the third dan in the Chess Path. That would be more than enough to deal with a child... As he thought this, the young man's lips curled up almost imperceptibly. He glanced at Qin Yuan and chuckled.

"Come with me."

Qin Yuan followed the young man, brimming with anticipation. He figured that after provoking them like that, they'd surely find him a top-notch player. He was so excited.

Meanwhile, on the second floor of Chess Saint Pavilion, Wang Qingyuan, Qian Feng, and Liu Yuan were drinking tea and chatting.

Ever since parting ways with Zhang Kaiming two days ago, they hadn't invited him over again. They disdained his company and had ostracized him.

As the three chatted, the conversation turned to Zhang Kaiming.

Wang Qingyuan shook his head and sighed. "Sigh, that old Zhang Kaiming has really fallen so low. He's become a bootlicker, too!

"He even claimed that Qin Yuan reached the threshold of a Chess Path Grandmaster in just half a year. What a joke!

"My eldest disciple is exceptionally talented. He's studied Go for thirty years, and he's only just entered the sixth dan of the Chess Path."

As Wang Qingyuan spoke of his eldest disciple, Zhao Ye, a trace of pride appeared on his aged face, and the corners of his mouth lifted slightly.

In his eyes, reaching the beginning of the sixth dan after only thirty years of studying Go was already an impressive feat. Though Zhao Ye was nowhere near as good as him, he was certainly better than Zhang Kaiming's disciple, Qin Yuan!

"Heh, your eldest disciple's talent in the Chess Path is probably surpassed in the entire Heavenly Dou Empire only by those of your Heavenly Star Chessboard lineage. That Qin Yuan can't possibly compare."

Qian Feng chuckled, then gave a helpless, scornful laugh.

"Zhang Kaiming's gone senile, too. He actually said something like that two days ago. Sigh, honestly..."

He hadn't finished speaking when Liu Yuan, a Chess Path Grandmaster beside him, snorted and said coolly:

"Half a year of studying the Chess Path, and he reaches the threshold of a Chess Path Grandmaster? Then what does that make us, who spent fifty or sixty years studying the Chess Path before finally reaching the Grandmaster realm?

"Such a person simply can't exist in this world! If there really were a monster like that in the Chess Path, the three of us old men might as well go smash our heads against a wall!"

"Alas." Wang Qingyuan let out a soft sigh.

"That old Zhang Kaiming would say something like that just to curry favor with the noble in the Imperial Palace. He's lost all dignity! Sigh, what a joke, what a lament, what a tragedy..."

At his words, Qian Feng and Liu Yuan shook their heads and sighed, too. They hadn't expected Zhang Kaiming to be that sort of person.

While Wang Qingyuan, Qian Feng, and Liu Yuan were condemning Zhang Kaiming, Zhang Kaiming's disciple, Qin Yuan, was already sweeping all before him downstairs.

"Bang!!"

Qin Yuan's fair little hand slammed against the Go table. Without even looking at Wang Qingyuan's ninth disciple, who sat opposite him with a deathly pale face, as if trapped in a nightmare, he sprang to his feet and glared angrily at the young man in white who'd arranged his opponents.

"Can Chess Saint Pavilion even play Go or not?! Five people have taken me on one after another, and I still haven't even warmed up! Is this what you meant when you said Chess Saint Pavilion was full of masters? Are you messing with me?"

Seeing that even his ninth senior brother had been crushed, the young man in white gaped in shock, his heart trembling.

At Qin Yuan's furious complaint, he turned to look at the four senior brothers slumped on the floor nearby, staring blankly into space as if their hearts had shattered.

Then he looked at his ninth senior brother opposite Qin Yuan, at that pale, vacant face and hollow stare. A bitter smile spread across his own face.

The other Chess Saint Pavilion disciples and Go enthusiasts who'd come to play were all staring fixedly at the ten-year-old boy with astonishment, looking at him as if he were a monster. Their shock was impossible to suppress.

Whose kid was this? He was terrifying! Even Chess Saint's ninth disciple, who'd reached the fifth dan of the Chess Path, was no match for him. Truly frightening!

"What happened? Why is everyone gathered here?"

Just then, a steady middle-aged voice sounded from behind them.

The young man in white had no idea what to do. At the sound of that voice, he felt as if he'd heard a heavenly melody. He hurriedly turned, pushed through the crowd, and ran to a middle-aged man in a reddish-brown robe at the back, explaining the situation at top speed.

"What?!"

After hearing the young man's explanation, Zhao Ye, Wang Qingyuan's eldest disciple, shook all over. His pupils contracted, and he was utterly stunned.

He glanced at the five dazed junior brothers inside, then at the exceptionally handsome ten-year-old boy by the Go table, and believed the young man's account.

He immediately drew a deep breath, suppressing the storm raging within him. With a grave expression, he passed through the crowd and walked up to Qin Yuan, who was glaring at him in displeasure and anger.

Forcing an awkward smile onto his solemn face, Zhao Ye said:

"I'm the eldest disciple of Chess Saint Pavilion. My skill at Go is decent. I'll play you."

He was confident, and he didn't believe the ten-year-old boy in front of him could have reached the sixth dan of the Chess Path. Still, defeating his ninth junior brother, who was at the fifth dan, meant the boy deserved to be taken seriously.

A child with such peerless talent had to be kept at Chess Saint Pavilion. Once he'd defeated the boy, he'd report it to his teacher at once... Zhao Ye thought to himself.

Qin Yuan glanced at Zhao Ye and said, displeased:

"I'll give you one last chance. I hope your skill at Go isn't as lousy as the first five players'!"

With that, he sat down at the Go table and began tidying up the stones and clearing the board.

Zhao Ye's mouth twitched slightly. Since when could a fifth-dan Go master be called "lousy"?

It seemed he'd have to show this arrogant child that there was always someone better and a sky beyond the sky. He shouldn't be so conceited—he needed to learn humility!

He let out a breath, tamped down his emotions, sat across from Qin Yuan, and began their game.