Fairyland Sunshine

Chapter 185: The Broken Chess

Jiuxiao Mountain is located in the south of the sky.

Although it is called a mountain, it is actually a large plateau. It is far higher than the surrounding areas and stretches for tens of thousands of miles. There are mountains, rivers and gullies inside.

However, if someone could look at its true appearance from above the sky, they would find that Mount Jiuxiao is faintly divided into nine parts from the outside to the inside, each layer higher than the previous one, and above the central pillar, it has already surpassed the heavy clouds.

That is the so-called Xuanjing Mountain above the Nine Skies, where the gate of the Xiandu Sect is located.

Legend has it that the scenery on Xuanjing Mountain is extremely beautiful, and it is a true fairyland atmosphere. Unfortunately, Xu Heng will not pass by Xuanjing Mountain on this trip, and he has no reason to rashly visit the mountain fairyland.

He wanted to visit several scenic spots in Jiuxiao Mountain one by one, and had already planned the route. The first place he would go to was on the "Three Heavens", which was quite far away from where he was.

However, when Xu Heng went up to Jiuxiao Mountain, he found a fairy city and took the teleportation array. It didn't take much effort for him to reach the third sky.

He found the direction according to the map and flew leisurely for only a day. When he lifted the clouds and looked up, he found that he had reached his destination.

This place is called "Lan Ke Mountain", which is a famous scenery in the south of China. It is said that someone once saw immortals playing chess in the mountain and was so immersed in it that when he returned, he found that the immortals were no longer there.

This legend was quite similar to some stories about gods in Xu Heng's distant memory. However, the Xuanzhou characters originated from Taoist talismans, which were actually different from the characters in his previous life. The two words "Lan Ke" were similar in meaning but not identical in characters. It would be far-fetched to force a connection between them, so he did not think much about it.

Xu Heng slowly descended from the clouds and took a walk around Lanke Mountain.

The Lankao Mountain is not majestic. In fact, it is just a small hill about a hundred feet high. The scenery on the mountain is not very good. However, since it is a famous scenic spot in the cultivation world, it is naturally not just because of a legend, but there is a mysterious thing about it.

Only those who are destined to do so can follow the path of their predecessors and reach the place where immortals play chess.

This is quite strange, and no one can explain what is meant by fate. But it is true that many people have gone to Lanke Mountain but returned empty-handed, and there are also many people who have gone to the place where the immortals play chess.

As time went by, many people wanted to see whether it was true or not, and whether they had the chance to see it, which led to a constant stream of visitors to Lanke Mountain, making it even more famous.

When Xu Heng arrived at Lanke Mountain, there were already three or five young men and women in the mountain.

They were traveling together, but seemed to have not found their destiny, which made them feel disappointed. They were about to leave, but when they saw Xu Heng coming alone, they suddenly stopped, wanting to see if he was destined to be with them as well.

Unexpectedly, after Xu Heng took a walk around, he put away the cloud method and walked leisurely in the mountains, as if he was strolling, and he stopped frequently, and he didn't get tired even after half an hour.

When they saw this, some of them became impatient and proposed not to stay any longer. The majority agreed, so they really prepared to leave. The leader released the magic weapon, and everyone got on one by one. At this time, someone looked back and couldn't help but exclaimed.

It turned out that he saw Xu Heng walking into a thin mist on the mountainside, but in a blink of an eye, he saw the greenery in the mountains, without any thin clouds or mist, and there was no trace of Xu Heng.

Everyone was amazed and rushed to the mountainside to look for traces of him. They wanted to imitate him and walk. However, Xu Heng was no longer aware of anything.

As he walked into the mist, he had a vague feeling in his heart and walked forward based on his intuition. Before long, he suddenly saw a stone wall with a narrow gap through which he could see the blue sky. Xu Heng saw that there was enough space for one person to move forward, so he walked straight through it without thinking much. The view in front of him immediately opened up and he arrived at a paradise.

This place seems to be surrounded by mountains, with stone walls on all sides, but they are hidden by green branches and flowers. The middle seems sparse and spacious, with green grass growing on it, and only a piece of green rock is not covered with green.

Beside the green rock, there was a woman sitting quietly, seemingly fiddling with something. Xu Heng looked over and saw that there were forty-nine horizontal and vertical lines on the green rock, just like the pattern of a Xuanzhou chessboard, and it was already covered with cloud pieces, and the woman was holding a white chess piece and placing it upwards.

It turned out that this girl was playing chess with him, but at this moment she seemed to have noticed Xu Heng's gaze and couldn't help but raise her head to look at him.

Xu Heng found that this woman's appearance was very ordinary, even ugly among the beautiful practitioners, but her eyes were very bright.

"Greetings, fellow Taoist." Xu Heng bowed and said, "May I bother you?"

"No." The woman shook her head. Of course Xu Heng was just being polite. After all, this was not a private place, so there was no question of disturbing her.

Xu Heng nodded, then walked closer to Qingyan and asked, "Excuse me, but is this a game of rotten chess or a game of chess played by you?"

The so-called Lan Ke chess game is actually quite mysterious. There are quite a few people who have come to Lan Ke Mountain and have had the chance to do so, but some say that it is completely empty, with nothing on the chessboard, while others say that they have seen a Lan Ke chess game in it, and can even reproduce it, which is quite controversial.

Since Xu Heng came here, he naturally wanted to take a look at the so-called "Lost Chess Ending". However, if it was ruined by a woman, he could only sigh that he had no chance.

"This is a rotten chess endgame." The woman also knew what Xu Heng was thinking. After answering, she paused and said, "But a rotten chess endgame is meaningless. If you want to see it, I'll set up a game for you. It won't make any difference."

"Oh?" Xu Heng raised his eyebrows and asked, "Why do you say that?"

"Because the so-called rotten chess game is just a legacy left by our ancestors." The woman explained: "Today someone set up a chess game here, and tomorrow someone will come here and see the 'rotten chess game'."

"Some greedy people, unable to see the difference, want to take away the chess pieces at the last minute, and the 'Lost Chess Ending' is gone again."

Xu Heng's expression became strange, and he asked, "Is that all?"

“That’s all.” The woman replied, “So it doesn’t matter whether you look at it or not.”

Xu Heng didn't know whether the woman's words were true or not, but there was nothing to pursue now, so he just responded: "Thank you for your advice."

The woman nodded, and then returned her gaze to the chessboard. She seemed to think about it, and suddenly asked, "Would you like to play a game?"

Xu Heng was a little surprised, but thinking that playing chess here would be quite interesting, he could not help but become interested and replied, "Of course."

The woman said nothing more, and she cleared the remaining chess pieces. She took out a box of black chess pieces and handed them to Xu Heng, "Please."

Xu Heng was not polite either. He picked up a piece with one hand and placed it on the chessboard.

The origin of chess is very long, even can be traced back to ancient times. Countless fixed patterns have been developed long ago, and there is a reason for each pattern.

For those who practice chess, mental arithmetic can provide countless variations, and the moves are more unconstrained, so they can play chess naturally and freely.

Therefore, when they started, neither of them thought much, and after a short while, they had already made forty or fifty moves.

(End of this chapter)