Starting from Tianlong, Wudu Tianxia

"Five sons then, five sons."

"Alright, you are a senior master, while my chess skills are mediocre. I will make the first move." Gao Yuan sat down again, and to take the first move, he changed his address from "you" to "senior."

He never underestimated Duan Yanqing and kept pushing his luck, hoping to gain the upper hand in this game.

As for face!

What a joke. As long as he wins, that's all that matters. He's younger than Duan Yanqing anyway. It's only natural for a senior figure to defer to a junior.

The opponent did not immediately agree, and instead allowed five pieces to be taken first. If the skill difference was not significant, wouldn't the opponent make a mistake?

"What, senior, are you unwilling?" Gao Yuan spoke again, giving him no time to think.

"Okay, let's begin."

Duan Yanqing did not hesitate for long. Since he had already yielded the piece, if he insisted on who went first, it would make him seem petty and lose his magnanimity.

He tapped his iron staff lightly to signal the start.

Gao Yuan smiled slightly, picked up the chopstick holder on the table, took out a chopstick, gently broke it into two small sections, and flicked it with his index finger and thumb.

"Whoosh!"

The broken pieces landed steadily between the horizontal and vertical lines, like two white pieces being placed.

In ancient chess, white moves first. Gao Yuan had studied countless chess manuals at Fan's residence, so he naturally wouldn't make a fool of himself.

"The two children will stay here. Please, senior."

As soon as Duan Yanqing saw him place his piece, a strange, gurgling laugh came from his abdomen. He swiftly struck with his iron staff, his strength precisely controlled, and two dents immediately appeared in the brick.

The concave hole went three-tenths of an inch into the ground, perfectly positioned, and two black stones were placed there.

The two players moved their pieces swiftly, and in the blink of an eye, more than twenty pieces had been placed on the chessboard.

Gao Yuan's moves may seem scattered, but they are actually full of hidden sharpness.

Duan Yanqing, on the other hand, was upright and dignified, and every step he took revealed a rigorous and methodical approach.

"Senior's playing style is steady and has a touch of antiquity." As he spoke, he placed another piece, seemingly poised to encircle and attack.

Duan Yanqing's iron staff hovered in mid-air, not falling for a long time. He suddenly realized that the five sons seemed to have overestimated themselves.

Damn it, that brat tricked me!

Gao Yuan's chess moves are unpredictable and treacherous, clearly indicating that he has learned from a master.

"Who taught you your chess style?" Duan Yanqing finally brought down his iron staff, his voice even more hoarse.

Gao Yuan focused intently on his move, then placed another piece, looking up and smiling, "Chess is like life; why ask about the past?"

"Excellent! How true it is that chess reflects life; why ask about the past?"

Although Duan Yanqing was surprised, seeing that Gao Yuan really understood chess and was quite skilled, he praised him.

At this point, a complex situation gradually emerged on the chessboard.

Gao Yuan, taking advantage of his first move, built up a strong position in all four corners, while Duan Yanqing's position in the center was already vast, like a black dragon coiled up, its power overwhelming.

"Snap!" Gao Yuan broke off another piece of chopstick and flicked it into the chessboard, landing near the center point, directly attacking the heart of the black dragon.

After reaching forty or fifty moves, the two engaged in a fierce battle, constantly depleting their internal energy. They focused on winning while simultaneously circulating their qi to replenish their strength.

"A brilliant tip from the senior!"

A single move, seemingly within Duan Yanqing's impenetrable formation, unexpectedly created a ko fight.

"What a cunning little brat!" Duan Yanqing's expression changed drastically.

Outside the window, the sun was setting in the west, and inside the restaurant, only the sounds of iron rods striking the ground and chopsticks breaking through the air could be heard.

Both men had beads of sweat on their foreheads. In order to resolve the conflict, Duan Yanqing had no choice but to abandon the three sons in his middle abdomen.

In order to seize the corner, Gao Yuan was also forced to give up the key position. The two had gains and losses, and the two remained deadlocked.

At this point, there are fewer and fewer areas left to contest on the chessboard.

Gao Yuan reacted quickly and seized the last major move, while Duan Yanqing, with his profound chess skills, played the minor moves flawlessly.

When the last piece was placed, both players stopped playing at the same time and stared at the chessboard.

After a short while, Duan Yanqing's hoarse voice broke the silence: "Including the five-piece handicap, you actually won by half a piece."

Duan Yanqing paused with his iron staff. In the game of chess, victory and defeat were determined by the outcome. This time, losing a piece was inexplicably painful, leaving him feeling empty and desolate.

Why?

Duan Yanqing looked at Gao Yuan with a look of disbelief. Chess is different from martial arts. No matter how talented you are, without analyzing chess scores day after day, you will never amount to anything.

Where did he get so many chess game records to analyze?

Gao Yuan let out a long sigh, wiped the sweat from his forehead, and smiled, "Senior's chess skills are profound. Even with my best efforts, I can only win half a point."

"Boss Gao, you've won."

Gao Yuan shook his head and said, "It's not that I won, it's just that your chess skills are too high. If you hadn't given me a five-stone handicap and had the first move, I would have been defeated long ago."

Duan Yanqing remained silent for a long time, then suddenly let out a meaningful sigh:

"Master Gao, you're a formidable young man!"

"Speak, what is it you want to do?" He called himself the most wicked man in the world, and he thought highly of himself. Giving up his son was his own choice and not something Gao Yuan forced him to do, so he naturally did not want to dwell on this matter.

"I'll owe you for now, and I'll let you know when I have an idea."

"The journey through the martial world is long, and now that we're parting ways, are you so certain we'll meet again?"

Gao Yuan stood up, clasped his hands in a fist salute, and thought to himself: "What I seek is not urgent. If I truly cannot find you, senior, it is fate, and the fault does not lie with you."

Duan Yanqing stiffened almost imperceptibly beneath his blue robe, and the sound of his ventriloquism deepened slightly:

"Fate? I don't believe in fate, I only believe in the staff in my hand and the chessboard on the board."

He looked up at Gao Yuan, his eyes swirling with a complex light:

"What's right or wrong? Am I the kind of person who goes back on his word?"

"Very well, if you ever ask for anything in the future, just carve this chessboard layout on the back of the stone tablet at the foot of Cangshan Mountain and leave your contact information. When I see it, I will come to find you."

Having lost his son to a young boy, he felt empty inside and naturally did not want to stay any longer.

As the man in the green robe was about to leave the restaurant, a disciple of the Shennong Gang chased after him and handed him a celadon wine bottle.

The sweet spring water of Cang'er, the green plums placed in the jar, are actually aged wine sealed by Heshan Restaurant.

"Excellent, it's top-quality plum wine."

One cup of this Yunnanese wine is enough to intoxicate you; it truly lives up to its reputation as a tribute wine of Dali.

Gao Yuan presented Duan Yanqing with wine, and Duan Yanqing pondered and sighed.

With a slight twitch of the nose, a familiar sweet and sour aroma filled the nasal cavity.

The sounds of traditional palace banquets, the wine offered by his father, the early plum blossoms of Dali, the spring waters of the snow-capped mountains, and the laughter of the princes of Wuhua Tower, all mingled with the fragrance of green plums, surged up, causing a barely perceptible tremor to appear on his stiff face.

The smell of alcohol seemed to carry... the sound of his childhood and teenage horse hooves.

"You...you...you brat!"

......

Having dealt with Duan Yanqing, Gao Yuan felt relieved.

He had no desire to follow in Old Duan's footsteps and become one of the Four or Five Great Villains, enduring wind and rain every day, and dreaming of restoring his kingdom and ascending the throne like Murong the Old Man.

After going outside, I briefly checked on the Muwu Talisman.

There were only some cuts and lacerations. Given Lao Duan's character, he probably didn't kill them because he was hoping to recruit them, so he showed them mercy.

He had Mu Wufu carried back to the camp, and after reassuring the shopkeeper, Gao Yuan went back to Qingjing Street on his own.

but.

When Gao Yuan returned to Qingjing Street, a chill instantly ran from his spine to the top of his head!

The gate to the mansion was half-closed, the setting sun cast a golden glow through the crack in the door, and fine dust motes floated on the surface.

Touching the door studs, they were still warm.

who is it?

Gao Yuan's heart tightened, and he hurriedly pushed open the door and rushed to the front of the house.

Upon entering the courtyard, one sees the setting sun casting its rays upon the flowerbed in the corner, making the little girl's face appear as if it were rouged.

At this moment, she was squatting on the ground, holding a handful of broken rice and scattering it grain by grain. The speckled chicken she had bought yesterday was pecking at her, occasionally making soft "clucking" sounds.

On the stone table in the courtyard, freshly picked green vegetables were laid out, and rice was soaking in an earthenware basin, waiting to be washed.

"Brother, why do you look so rushed?"

Chang Ying glanced up at him, then continued to bury her head in teasing the speckled chicken.

Seeing that the little girl was unharmed, Gao Yuan's stiff facial muscles immediately relaxed.

"Did someone come to the house just now?"

Chang Ying stood up, her brow furrowing slightly. "Big brother, how did you know someone was coming to the house?"

"You always lock the door when you're home. The door is still warm from the last nail being pulled. That's why someone leaves the house."

Upon hearing this, Chang Ying placed the broken rice on the low stool:

"It was an old man in a gray cloth shirt who said he knew you, brother."

Gao Yuan's heart skipped a beat, and he pressed, "What does he look like? When did he leave? You dared to let a complete stranger in? Where's your usual quick wit?"

"Small eyes, and a mole on her chin." Chang Ying recalled, counting on her fingers, then looked unconvinced.

"The door wasn't closed because you were thinking you'd be coming back, so we left it there. Didn't we do the same thing a few days ago? Humph!"

Gao Yuan thought about it and realized it was true, but he was the eldest brother, how could the eldest brother be wrong? He immediately put on a stern face: "It's never a bad thing to be careful."

Chang Ying pouted, glared at him fiercely with her small eyes, and then ran into the house to get a letter.

"That old man in the gray shirt just passed it through the crack in the door and asked me to give it to you."

Gao Yuan glanced up and saw no markings on the envelope, so he pulled out a piece of paper from the inner room.

The words were written in black calligraphy:

"Meet me at Qingfeng Tea House on Junle Street at 3:45 PM tonight."

The handwriting is delicate and small, as soft as newly sprouted willow branches, quite similar to Chang Ying when she was just learning to read.

Glancing at Chang Ying, Gao Yuan would most likely have assumed she wrote it herself if he didn't know her personality.

"What did you write?"

Chang Ying was curious, so she put down a low stool and stood on it to take a look.

"It's nothing, go cook."

"Hmph, fine, I don't care if I don't want to look!"

Gao Yuan examined the handwriting: "So mysterious, I wonder who it is."

He felt a sense of unease, as if he were being watched without knowing who it was.

He was not afraid when the letter arrived home, but he couldn't let Chang Ying follow him all the time, as he would have to go out eventually.

No matter who the other side is, Gao Yuan has to go.

......