The more you believe me, the more real it becomes.

Chapter 349 Who exactly are you? (4k)

The evil spirit's expression kept changing as it looked at the chess piece tightly held in Du Yuan's hand.

It couldn't understand why this chessboard was there.

However, after a short while, it put this strange feeling behind it.

Given the passage of so many years, it's not surprising that their various old items, whether sunk to the bottom of the river or reappeared somewhere else, would have remained there.

So after a moment of surprise, it lowered its head and chuckled:
"I never expected to see this chessboard again."

These words prompted Du Yuan to ask with a curious smile:
"Oh? You've met him before?"

The other person seemed lost in some distant memory, looking up at the sky without replying for a long time.

Du Yuan lowered her arm, holding only the chess pieces, and waited patiently.

He knew the origin of this chessboard; he had stolen it from Soa-gyu in Kyoto, the capital of Yakushigan.

Further ahead, there was absolutely no knowledge of what was going on; at most, one might notice that a friend seemed to be quite interested in the chessboard.
Therefore, Du Yuan was also willing to listen to the views of this so-called remnant of the old heavens.

"To talk about this chessboard, we must mention the great battle between water and fire in the past."

The evil spirit slowly spoke:

"Back then, in order to ease the situation, Himegami wanted to shift the outcome of the game elsewhere, which led to the Go we know today. Fire is black, water is white, yin and yang are separate, and heaven and earth are in harmony."

"Unfortunately, it didn't work out in the end. But the game of Go has been passed down, and over time, later generations have even forgotten its origins."

Having said that, it chuckled and glanced at the young man. The latter's cheeks flushed red, and he hurriedly turned his face away.

"As for this one in your hand, hehe, it does have quite a history, but that's all. To say it's anything special is debatable." The evil spirit's tone carried a hint of arrogance. "After all, back then, it was just an experiment, and later it became nothing more than a pastime."

At this point, the mystery is finally revealed:

"This chessboard of yours is the very one used by the goddess Himegami back then. To put it bluntly, it is the 'ancestor' of all Go in the world."

It still remembered seeing two supreme beings from afar, intending to determine who was superior on this chessboard. At that time, they both thought that the war between water and fire might end there.

But in the end, things didn't go as planned. The two great principles are opposed and naturally counteract each other. How could they be resolved so easily?
As it got more excited, it leaned forward slightly, its tone tinged with a hint of teasing:

"How about it, do you feel it's a pity? Logically speaking, such a treasure should be an unparalleled treasure, but both the great masters of that time and your three founders believed that Go was just a minor skill. As a result, your rare treasure could never be among the top."

If this object had truly quelled the war between water and fire back then, it might have been able to join the ranks of the "Great Dao." But since things didn't go as planned, it could only become an object for leisurely enjoyment.

It had hoped to see Du Yuan's disappointed and dejected appearance—most people on the mountain were like that, and each time it witnessed it, it added a bit of amusement to this helpless remnant.

Unexpectedly, after hearing this, Du Yuan simply smiled and said thank you.

"Although I'm definitely going to deal with you, since you told me all this, I still have to thank you!"

Upon hearing this, the other person frowned slightly, then shook their head and smiled:
"You're quite amusing. I admit that there are quite a few among you who could handle me, this remnant of the old regime. After all, I'm in this state now, naturally not as good as before! But, how can you be so confident?"

Du Yuan remained silent, but simply raised the hand that was holding the chess piece again and said:
"Come on, guess first!"

Upon hearing this, the evil spirit could only laugh:
"Okay, I'll guess single!"

Du Yuan nodded:

"Then I'll be in pairs!"

After saying that, several chess pieces fell from Du Yuan's hand.

Not too many, not too few, just a perfect pair.

Seeing this, the evil spirit glanced smugly at the young man behind Du Yuan and said:
"Hehe, it's you guys again. The kid behind you just now did, and now it's you too. But even someone like him, who is considered to have unparalleled chess skills among you, lost so badly. How do you think someone like you who doesn't know chess can beat me?"

Finally, it pointed to its head again and said:
"Why don't you think about whether you have a way to win outside the chessboard? Like, pick up the chessboard and see if you can smash my head or something?"

This statement puzzled Du Yuan, who asked:

"Why do you keep bringing this up? Have you been hit like this before?"

The evil spirit merely smiled faintly, offering no reply, and then raised its hand and waved:
"Come on! Let's see how someone who doesn't understand the principles of chess can beat me!"

Du Yuan's gaze swept across the chessboard, and she casually picked up a black piece, placing it directly on the center position.

Upon seeing this, the evil spirit immediately shook its head and laughed, full of disdain.

Seeing this, the onlookers all sighed in regret – the way of Go has always emphasized the importance of “gold corners, silver edges, and grass belly”!
This means that the "gold corners" at the four corners of the chessboard are the most efficient and valuable for enclosing territory, followed by the "silver edges" on the periphery, while the "grass belly" in the center is the most difficult and least valuable for enclosing territory.

In Go, victory is achieved by controlling territory, and a piece dies when its liberties are exhausted. The corners and edges are easy to defend but difficult to attack, and the first player can quickly make a living group and seize the initiative by placing a piece first.

However, if the opening move lands in the center, the advantage of going first will be greatly reduced, and the center position is a universally recognized taboo in the opening.

If a skilled chess player saw this, and was rather impatient, he might have stormed off on the spot.

Because you start in the Heavenly Palace position, winning only makes your opponent seem far inferior to you, which is tantamount to humiliation; losing, on the contrary, makes you seem arrogant and use your weaknesses to attack others' strengths, which makes you a laughing stock.

This is an absurd approach that pleases neither side!
At this moment, Du Yuan's black stone landed steadily on the center!
Even the young master who had the upper hand in Phnom Penh was utterly defeated.
Upon seeing this, the magistrate of Taotu County immediately changed color and said:
"Shangguan, this person doesn't understand Go at all. He'll probably be defeated soon. But there are so many people in our city, we can't possibly send many out in such a short time!"

When he first saw Du Yuan step forward, he wondered if there was a chance for things to turn around.

But when he turned around, he heard Du Yuan say that he didn't understand the principles of chess. His heart sank immediately, and he hurriedly ordered his men to speed up the process of getting the people out of the city.

At this moment, he even fantasized that Du Yuan could at least buy time by 'expanding the board'.

As a result, they threw the game at the center point right at the start. How are they supposed to buy time?

But the scholar remained calm and said:

"There's no need to rush to send the people out of the city to seek refuge!"

The magistrate of Taotu County was stunned on the spot:
"what?!"

Why did he urge him so earnestly before to arrange for the people to leave the city and take refuge, but now he says it's not necessary?
The scholar simply pointed at Du Yuan and said:
"I believe in this extraordinary person!"

"Shangguan, do you know this person?" The magistrate of Taotu County slowly began to understand the situation.

The scholar's gaze never left Du Yuan's back as he spoke:
"This is the master we wanted to draw at the Broken Bridge, but couldn't!"

The person who can readily offer the Ruyi Stone is not necessarily inferior to this evil spirit; conversely, if even this person is incapable, then whether they escape or not becomes largely irrelevant.

The county magistrate of Taotu County was immediately astonished.

It's this person?!
Could there really be a turning point today?
Although the evil spirit on the other side kept its eyes on Du Yuan, it heard everything that happened inside and outside Taotu County.

At this moment, he asked Du Yuan with even more curiosity:
"They're talking about the broken bridge. Did you do something to it?"

"It's a trivial matter, nothing to worry about. Let's focus on the present. I've already made my move; what about you? Where will you place your next piece?"

The evil spirit casually shook its head and said:

"You've already placed your bet on Tianyuan, what else can I do? Of course, I'll just place a few more bets, finish it quickly, and then collect as many debts as possible!"

When it mentioned the words "debt collection," it cast a sarcastic glance past Du Yuan and landed on the heads of the many panicked people behind him. Clearly, everyone understood what it meant by "debt collection."

"After all, who told you to make such a boastful statement?"

It wanted to make the people of the city hate the guy who stood up for them at this crucial moment.

They hoped that they would blame all their fear of dying a violent death on Du Yuan.

It had even planned how, with just a few words, it would manipulate Du Yuan and the people of this small county, just as it had manipulated the young master.

The human heart is frightening, and human nature is detestable.

This is the clearest thing that this remnant of the regime has seen over the years.

These words chilled the hearts of everyone in the city, and even caused the young master's expression to change drastically.

With the piece placed at the center of the board, and facing such a powerful and malevolent spirit, they really couldn't figure out where their chances of winning lay.

The evil spirit, with a mocking smile, reached out and grasped the object.

But the next moment, its expression suddenly changed.

He then looked at Du Yuan with an extremely heavy expression, and after a long silence, he finally said with a self-deprecating laugh:
"So this is where you were waiting for me! But you're about to miscalculate. After all, no matter how bad I am, I still had a reputation back in the day!"

"What do these things matter?"

Having said that, it picked up a piece and placed it on the edge.

The opponent doesn't understand chess. But if they want to win from the sidelines, then they can play it safer.

Unbeknownst to them, they had inadvertently switched places with the previous young master.

These two sentences left everyone else baffled, wondering what methods the young man had used to make the evil spirit speak in such a way.

Only the young master noticed that when the evil spirit placed its piece, it seemed to deliberately increase the force, causing the chessboard to shatter with a crisp sound.

However, he still couldn't grasp the specific reason for it immediately.

They only thought of evil spirits and didn't consider anything else.

For a moment, everyone in the audience was extremely anxious, thinking about how to help Du Yuan win.

Only Du Yuan remained calm and composed, casually placing another black piece on the chessboard.

At that very moment, the evil spirit suddenly felt as if it heard the sound of surging tides.

He listened intently, but found nothing, and then frowned slightly.

It picked up the coin again, intending to drop it.

But as soon as he tried it out, his brows furrowed even more.

A moment later, he laughed and said:
"Alright, that's interesting, but I'd like to see where you can go!"

Then another piece was placed, and this time, the young master keenly noticed that the sound of it being placed seemed a little louder than before.
Looking at the chess pieces on the board, Du Yuan made her first move and then curiously asked the young man behind her:

"I would like to ask you a question, young master. How can I improve my skills in Go quickly?"

The young man's mind was immediately disturbed by Du Yuan's words.

Without bothering to think about why, he could only bow and say:
"In Go, if you don't have talent, you can only observe more, think more, and play more! Even if you study under a famous teacher, it's hard to avoid this."

Upon hearing this, Du Yuan nodded and smiled:
"It seems I'll need to find more people to play chess with from now on."

After saying that, he placed another piece.

To an outsider, it would be clear that this was indeed a novice who knew nothing about Go, and the moves he made were clumsy and awkward, typical of an amateur.

But gradually, the young master discovered that the evil spirit would put more force into each move, and the time it took to lift its hand to retrieve the piece seemed to be getting slower and slower.

Could it be a problem with the chess pieces?

At this point, not only him, but even the military commanders vaguely sensed that something was wrong.

"It seems that the evil spirit is gripping the weapon with increasing force?"

"Is it about to get angry?"

"It doesn't seem like it, but I can't say for sure what it is."

The crowd whispered amongst themselves. The evil spirit, however, stared intently at the chess box after Du Yuan placed another piece.

It was already almost unable to hold onto that piece.
After a moment's hesitation, it suddenly stood up, and the unfortunate creature it controlled was sent flying backward. It then rolled to the side, where a wisp of black mist appeared. The creature, barely taking on human form, uttered a single sentence:
"I'll put this guy's life on your head for now. If you lose later, I'll take it all back with interest!"

Du Yuan nodded and smiled:

"Fine, I'd like to see how you beat me."

By this point, it had realized that beating Du Yuan on the chessboard wouldn't be difficult, since this person really didn't know how to play chess.

The key question is, how will it pick up the increasingly heavy chess pieces?
The first time it held a piece, it noticed that it was not holding a light, flimsy piece, but a mountain!

Then, as the number of pieces placed increases, the weight of each piece, or rather, each mountain, becomes heavier and heavier.

What started as just a random mountain gradually transformed into a renowned mountain that carries great fortune and enjoys a worldwide reputation.

By this point, it even felt as if it were moving one of the Five Sacred Mountains to suppress the fate of the Great Dynasty.

Left with no other choice, it had to use even greater abilities to avoid the ridiculous situation of having offspring but having none to lay.

There's another thing that's particularly strange and also quite alarming.

That was it; the sound of the surging tide was growing louder and louder!

At first, it was just like an auditory hallucination; then it was like a great river flowing in the distance; and now, it felt like the raging waves were right in front of it.
After struggling to lift and place the piece again.

It suddenly stared blankly at the cuckoo in front of it.

After gazing intently for a moment, just as Du Yuan placed her piece,...

It suddenly changed color, and then raised its hand to snatch the newly fallen child of Du Yuan.

Then, the sound of the rushing water could be clearly heard.

The mighty waterways are right before our eyes!

What terrified it most was that it seemed to have been glanced at from afar by some supreme being whom these remnants of the old heavens held in the utmost reverence?

In a fit of panic, it hastily dropped the chess pieces and pointed at Du Yuan, uttering a horrifying sentence:
"Who the hell are you!?"

(End of this chapter)