"Senior's chess skill is exquisite. I am far beyond compare!" Xiao Hua said with an ingratiating smile as he arranged the pieces, then looked toward the little monk and listened quietly to his explanation.
Yet the little monk pointed with a finger and said, "Only with no distractions can one comprehend the mysteries of the Way of chess. With stray thoughts in your heart, how can you defeat this poor monk? Again!!"
"O-okay!" Xiao Hua looked at the unfathomable little monk, pondered briefly, then raised his hand and began playing again to the little monk's rhythm. Naturally, Xiao Hua lost the second game as well, though the position looked much better and the game lasted far longer. Seeing the little monk beaming with delight, he seemed to be enjoying himself immensely.
Without another word, Xiao Hua set out the pieces again and accompanied the little monk in a third game!
The sun seemed to hang motionless directly above their heads, yet Xiao Hua and the little monk had already battled through nearly thirty games! At first, Xiao Hua was no match for the little monk. After five games, he had gradually caught up. After ten games, he had already held victory in his grasp. No matter how the little monk placed his pieces, Xiao Hua handled them with effortless ease, dropping his stones at will and repeatedly forcing the little monk into a dead end. After fifteen games, it was entirely a reenactment of Xiao Hua's first game: the little monk collapsed at the opening and was no longer Xiao Hua's opponent at all. Yet what Xiao Hua could not understand was that the little monk never tired of these simple games. Game after game, he was slaughtered; game after game, he refused to give up. Apart from the growing