The City Lord's Manor, in the study in the rear courtyard.
The study measured three zhang on each side and was simply furnished.
A purple sandalwood Go board stood on a low table by the window, with a stone bowl on either side, the black and white Yunzi stones clearly separated.
Outside the window, bamboo shadows swayed in the afternoon sunlight, casting scattered flecks of light onto the board that shifted gently with the rustling leaves.
Fang Han and the Old City Lord, Sun Moting, sat facing each other across the board, each playing one color.
Black and white stones interlaced across the board, with more than a hundred moves already played.
Fang Han played white, while the Old City Lord played black.
White had now built three strong formations that supported one another from afar, loosely encircling a group of black stones in the center.
The three white formations resembled three towering walls, with only narrow gaps between them that looked as though they could be breached at any moment.
But anyone who ventured into them would discover that every cutting point had a follow-up defense. Attack one, and the other two would inevitably counterattack.
Black had secured territory in all four corners, while an isolated group fought to break out through the center, its shape sharp and aggressive, every move pressing hard.
The Old City Lord's play was seasoned and steady. More than thirty years as city lord had given him extraordinary patience.
He calculated every move repeatedly, never advancing rashly.
At that moment, the Old City Lord held a black stone suspended above the board, hesitating to place it.
He stared at a ko fight in the lower-right corner, his brows tightly knitted, and thought:
*The ko threats here are complicated. If black wins this ko, I