Killing Chess Match

"Everyone gathered here today was a rare chess master in this world, bringing glory to this hall." The Dragon Lord's voice was crisp. "Rise. No need for such ceremony—now that everyone is here, begin."

The Dragon Lord's voice was clear and bright. The crowd could not help looking at one another. It sounded like a young girl's voice, with a trace of childishness to it.

"The Dragon Lord commands you to begin. You will all play black. Whoever breaks this endgame shall be rewarded. The first to break it shall receive a heavy reward." The Shell Maiden paid no heed to what they thought and immediately announced it.

The Dragon Lord's heavy reward?

It surely would not be anything ordinary!

The dozen or so people who had come with Su Ziji, Zheng Yingci included, could not help but feel their hearts stir.

After all, they were mortal. Who among them had no troubles?

Setting aside everything else, birth, aging, illness, and death alone were enough to weigh upon short-lived mortals.

Legend said that the Dragon Lord of the Water Palace possessed immortal pills. Forget glory and wealth—if they could obtain a few pills and let themselves and their families live forever without aging, that would already be a wonderful thing!

Those who sought wealth could not help thinking of asking the Dragon Lord for a Treasure-Gathering Basin afterward. Then their riches would roll in like a surging tide. At that thought, quite a few pairs of eyes gleamed.

"So it was not a contest between opponents, but the breaking of an endgame. I will surely be the first to break it."

Though there would be a reward for breaking the game, the first to do so would receive a heavy reward. At once, people both high and low could not resist sitting down to play. When Ye Buhui moved her feet, Su Ziji hurriedly caught hold of her.

Ye Buhui looked over in dissatisfaction. Su Ziji gave a slight shake of his head.

Though she too wanted to ask whether the Dragon Lord had pills that could turn danger into safety for mortals, Ye Buhui had one virtue: at critical moments, she could heed the advice of those she trusted.

In her eyes, Su Ziji was someone worthy of trust. Since he was acting this way, Ye Buhui naturally hesitated.

In that moment of hesitation, someone had already seized the initiative and taken a seat before an empty chessboard. The first was the middle-aged man who claimed to have encountered an immortal, and he even swept the others a smug glance.

"Su Ziji, what is going on?" Seeing that the Dragon Lord had stopped speaking, Ye Buhui asked him softly.

"Look at the people who arrived before us," Su Ziji reminded her in a low voice.

Ye Buhui froze. Her gaze fell on those early arrivals, and at the very first look, it was as though a basin of icy water had been poured over her head. Every one of the chess players was pale-faced, forcing themselves not to tremble. Yet as they looked toward those newly seated before the chessboards—especially the middle-aged man—their eyes held the sorrow of a rabbit mourning a dead fox, mixed with the relief of having escaped death.

"This..."

"This game will surely not be easy to break. Let us watch how it ends," Su Ziji said quietly.

In truth, the middle-aged scholar's end came very quickly.

At first glance, the endgame did not seem particularly difficult. Otherwise, Ye Buhui would not have wanted to try it at once. But once the middle-aged man took his seat, the chessboard changed.

"There is an unseen person playing chess." Though no one sat opposite him, the pieces moved, playing against the chess player.

With that movement, the seemingly ordinary endgame became unfathomably profound. Every move contained countless transformations and possibilities.

"It looks like an ordinary endgame, but in truth, one wrong move means the entire board is lost."

Just as Su Ziji's heart turned cold, after only a dozen or so moves, the middle-aged scholar had long ceased placing pieces. Sweat streamed down his face, and his expression grew ugly.

Su Ziji saw surrender in his eyes.

"Forget it!"

When he noticed that several people who had been watching intently suddenly covered their faces with their sleeves, Su Ziji was startled and was just about to warn him when the middle-aged scholar let out a long sigh and casually dropped the black piece in his hand.

Thud!

To Su Ziji's eyes, the black piece's descent suddenly became incredibly slow, as though he could see every movement with perfect clarity. Yet no matter how slow it was, it still had to end. The next instant, the black piece had landed, and the slightly distorted space across from the chessboard returned to normal.

"I lost." The middle-aged man sighed. To him, conceding defeat merely meant losing his chance at the heavy reward.

The endless pressure during that game had been unbearable. When he realized he could not break the game, he immediately chose to give up. Though regretful, he felt no fear.

But in the next instant, the Dragon Lord, who had remained silent throughout the game, said in a cold, clear voice, "Thirteen losing pieces. You have exceeded the limit. Severe punishment."

Before the middle-aged man could understand what that meant, a gust of wind had already pounced before him. The scholar looked up in terror, and in the reflection of his eyes, a bloody maw clamped down.

"Ah—" The scream stopped abruptly. The headless corpse of the middle-aged scholar crashed to the ground, while blood from its severed neck sprayed several feet into the air.

"Ah—" At the sight, everyone present—even Su Ziji—froze where they stood.

Su Ziji was somewhat better off. He had learned martial arts and killed before, so he reacted in an instant. He subtly shielded Ye Buhui behind him, his gaze locked tightly onto the man-eating fish that had suddenly appeared.

Most of the others were scholars who had never even slaughtered a chicken. Their faces turned deathly pale, and they trembled like leaves, even more terrified than those who had arrived earlier.

By now, Su Ziji naturally understood why the early arrivals had worn such complicated expressions when they saw the middle-aged scholar volunteer to play.

"This fish was the size of a grown village dog, ferocious beyond compare. When it opened its mouth, it was larger than its own body. Was it truly a fish, or a Monster?"

"There were actually several of them?"

Seeing several nearly identical man-eating fish appear in a flash and tear apart the scholar's remains, devouring them clean in moments, Su Ziji felt a chill run over his body.

Even dying beneath the blades and swords of one's own kind would be more comfortable than being swallowed alive and torn apart by man-eating fish.

Apart from the Monsters' gazes, those standing in the middle and those still playing chess all held their breath, not daring even to breathe heavily, much less speak.

Yet the chess match clearly had to continue. The Shell Maiden waved a hand, and water rushed over, washing away the remains and blood until everything was spotless. "Next."

The crowd immediately stirred.

Having seen a chess player eaten alive with their own eyes, who still dared to step forward?

Many had been too stunned to react just now. Now, they broke down completely.

"I won't play chess anymore! Let me leave this place!"

"Help! There are Monsters!"

As the first chess player to cry out turned and ran, those who had already wished to retreat followed and fled. Standing still was one thing, but once they moved, Su Ziji did not even need to deliberately sniff to smell the stench of urine spreading. Clearly, someone had wet themselves in terror at the earlier scene, and now the odor had dispersed.

"To behave improperly before the Lord is truly a capital crime!" a Monster official declared. Su Ziji instinctively turned his eyes aside. Sure enough, a series of screams rang out at once.

The screams were the same as the middle-aged scholar's. There was no need to look to know their fate.

Su Ziji sighed softly, thinking, Since the Dragon Palace seized and brought us here, then struck without mercy, it could not possibly let us leave so easily. Trying to escape now would only throw away one's life early.

As he thought this, he suddenly froze.

Not far away, he saw a young woman. She too had closed her eyes in distress.

"Was that the Hu Family's young lady? Why was she here too?"

"Could it be..." Before he could think further, no one had stepped up to fill the empty seat. The Monster official standing on the steps grew impatient and called someone out himself. "You, come play."

"M-me..." A voice on the verge of tears rang out. Su Ziji looked over and saw that the person being stared at was the Examination Student who had spoken rudely aboard the painted pleasure boat. Tears were already about to fall from his eyes, but after seeing the miserable deaths of those before him, how could he dare flee?

He could only sit down with his body trembling, staring at the chessboard in tearless misery, trying to find a flaw that might give him one more thread of hope.