The street outside the old Plum Garden had the greatest concentration of chess stalls in Chaoge City.
Some stall owners were genuine masters from the streets, and some were even bored disciples from major Go Parlors. Naturally, there was no shortage of swindlers who used chessboards to cheat people.
Endgame puzzles demanded the most finesse, and the least. They were the easiest way to swindle money.
Solving an endgame puzzle often required only a single move, but that move was often one nobody could think of.
This endgame puzzle had stood at the end of this street for ten years, and no one had solved it yet. Even masters from some major Go Parlors had come after hearing of its reputation, only to fail.
The sudden silence came from the young man's move with a horse.
Judging by the puzzle owner's expression, people guessed at a possibility and were stunned into silence.
The first stall owner to lose and the puzzle owner were not merely neighbors. They were fellow disciples under the same master.
He knew how difficult this puzzle was-or rather, how insidious.
After their master passed this puzzle down to them, it had become the greatest secret of the two Senior Brothers. There was no telling how much money it had helped them win.
No matter how the disciples of those major Go Parlors tempted them with rewards, or even threatened them, they had never told anyone. Six years ago, his junior fellow disciple had even had a hand broken over it.
Yet... why had this man moved the horse on his very first turn? Had he seen through the puzzle's secret at a glance?
He exchanged a look with the puzzle owner and saw the shock in the other's eyes.
Someone who could solve the puzzle their