The work of the Go master

"Speaking of which, Hokkaido is truly a charming place. It has hot springs, and it snows either heavily or quietly. Staying here must be a great experience, right?" Ke Zhiguang walked forward against the wind and snow fog, tucking his hands into his sleeves in what is commonly known as the "farmer's bow." Although the gesture is not very elegant, it is quite practical.

“You’ve only seen the good side of it, not the bad. When the snow melts in the spring, you’ll see how bad the roads are. And the heating costs here are very high. In my opinion, the only advantage here is that it’s cheap.” Saito, like Koji Hikaru, also moved forward in the same manner.

“The heavy snow is both a gift and a curse to this place, isn’t it?” Ke Zhiguang said.

"That makes a lot of sense, but if you have spare money in the future, you can consider buying an apartment here. It's very cheap."

"That's a good option. I'll wait about four or five years until the bubble bursts and land prices drop. Then I'll consider buying a house with its own hot spring."

"Then remember to invite me to visit your hot springs, and... your trophy collection room," Saito said with a smile in the snow, his relationship with Koji Mitsuki inexplicably like that of close friends despite their age difference.

"No problem, I guarantee that next year's Dragon Throne trophy will be placed first, so you can see it at a glance."

"I'm sorry, this trophy is mine..."

Their voices faded into the distance through the snow and mist.

This afternoon's skiing trip has come to an end. After returning the ski equipment, Saito disappeared immediately, probably rushing to his next meeting.

Ke Zhiguang also joined the rest of his companions and embarked on their return journey.

"Hey, why did you suddenly disappear this afternoon?" Harushima asked, sitting next to him on the way back.

"I met Saito and couldn't help but chat with him for a bit."

"Oh, so it was just with Saito. I thought it was with someone else... cough cough, it's nothing!" Harushima Shika immediately sat up straight.

"And what about you? What were you doing this afternoon?" Ke Zhiguang asked.

"It's nothing. By the afternoon, there were so many people, and you suddenly disappeared again, so I just found a place to sit and enjoy the scenery," Harujima Deer said somewhat dissatisfied.

Well......

That makes sense. If I hadn't taken her out to play, she probably would have just been silently rubbing her bottom against the snow all by herself.

"Then it's decided. I'll play ten games of blitz chess with you for free as compensation!"

"At least remove the 'super fast chess' prefix! And besides, who wants to play chess when we're out having fun?" Harushima Kashiwa complained weakly.

Suddenly, Xiong Ying squeezed between the two with a "heave-ho!" and asked, "Alright, what are we going to do tonight? Build a snowman, or have a snowball fight?"

“Only little kids would play with these things,” Harushima Kashima said.

"That's right, I only brought this up because I was taking care of Lulu."

"Bah bah bah."

The return journey was still filled with a joyful and playful atmosphere.

Due to the characteristics of high-latitude regions, sunlight quickly disappears from the sky.

Night fell in an instant.

Chapter Nine: The Genius Mahjong Player

Bamboo Blade woke up from his slumber with a frown, finding himself lying in a place that looked like a medical room.

This is the hotel's own medical room. There are always some stubborn guests who like to stay in the hot spring to see who has more health, but the result is often that both of them collapse. In order to deal with such situations, the hotel simply built its own medical room.

Once he regained consciousness, he began to carefully recall what had happened before he lost consciousness.

He had completed the final test his master had given him, immersing himself in the Emperor's Pool for an hour.

The moment he finished soaking, he did indeed feel a powerful force surge into his body, and his blood turned into boiling magma.

Although he was now filled with passion, his mind was incredibly calm, like solid ice; ice and fire had achieved a perfect balance within him.

—Is this the perfect state the teacher was talking about? It's unbelievable.

No, it's not just perfect condition, there are other bonuses as well.

According to the teacher, this unparalleled state will last for six months, covering not only the upcoming Battle of the Great Generals, but also the Battle of the Dragon Throne.

But upon closer reflection of his memories before falling into a coma, he realized something was amiss.

Through the hazy mist, the figure of a boy of similar age appeared before me. He... introduced himself as Ke Zhiguang.

this!!!

The wounds of memory were torn open like lightning, sending a jolt through his body.

Has he arrived?

He's finally here!

With a graceful rise, Zhu Daojian effortlessly donned the hotel yukata hanging nearby, then rushed to the front desk, slamming his palms against the counter: "Where is Ke Zhiguang!"

"In...in the recreation hall..." The receptionist was startled by his aggressive behavior.

"The recreation room? So they've already been waiting in front of the chessboard." Bamboo Blade revealed a hint of disdainful smile.

Bamboo Blade Forging turned and ran again, kicking into the recreation hall and shouting loudly, "Sorry to keep you waiting, Ke Zhiguang, let's have a showdown..."

The outcome is still undecided.

"bump!"

"Three of bamboo!"

"Haha, I've won!"

"Oh, I touched it."

"Seriously, why are you so lucky, Hikaru?"

Bamboo Blade was stunned. The situation before him was not what he had expected. He thought that Ke Zhiguang was already waiting in front of the chessboard, ready to invite the moon to battle, but this person... was playing mahjong, and with a group of cute girls at that?

The game ended with Ke Zhiguang winning by drawing the winning tile himself. Everyone gritted their teeth and angrily gave him 1000 yuan. Then a new round of mahjong began, with the tiles being rubbed together making a noisy sound.

After returning from the ski resort, we enjoyed a delicious dinner of king crab and shrimp skewers. We had originally planned to have a snowball fight and build a snowman in the evening, but the weather station suddenly issued a cold wind warning, so we decided to skip it.

According to the meteorological bureau, Hokkaido will experience this strange weather for the next few days, which is considered abnormal compared to previous years.

Ke Zhiguang originally planned to take the opportunity to challenge the Cold War Group, but Shuicheng suddenly pulled out a mahjong set from somewhere, and then everyone was hooked.

Playing mahjong is so much fun, and playing chess is so much fun too.

It's decided, this series will be renamed "Saki".

The group of people were happily playing mahjong in the recreation room, completely unaware that someone was standing at the door.

They were left hanging.

Still being ignored.

They're still being ignored.

Bamboo swordsmith stood awkwardly at the door for a while, listening to the laughter and chatter from the mahjong table, feeling like he was being mocked.

His fingers snapped, making a restless sound as if he was about to rush up and overturn the table.

Ke Zhiguang calmly considered the game of cards, much like he would when facing a chess game.

This zero-sum game is still exciting to play; everyone's eyes are darting left and right, revealing hostility towards each other.

Ke Zhiguang activated his Go-specific skill—observing his opponents' expressions, his gaze sweeping across the faces of Xiong Ying, Qingdao Lu, and Ying Mei.

All three of them had smug expressions, clearly indicating that they had already won their hand.

He was now in a hopeless situation where he couldn't win, and was completely at the mercy of others.

Calm down, calm down and think of a solution...

"Haha, I have a feeling, this is the card! Come on, my little three of wan!" Xiong Ying excitedly reached for the deck of cards and even touched the cards with her finger.

"That's right, it's thirty thousand!"

Just as Xiong Ying was about to smash the card face down, Zhu Dao Tuan finally couldn't take it anymore and rushed forward, overturning the table: "You bunch of people, at least pay attention to my presence! Who do you think you are!"

Literally, it means to flip the table.

The tiles in Xiong Ying's hand flew out and mingled with the rest of the mahjong tiles on the ground.

Everyone present was stunned; the entire scene had turned gray and white.

"Who the hell are you?! I finally managed to win a game!" Xiong Ying was furious, and her ponytail floated up like flames.

"I'm about to win too! You'd better pay me back!" Harushima Deer also raised her little fist.

"Kill him!" Takami had already rolled up the sleeves of her yukata, revealing the strong, muscular physique that only women who frequent the gym possess.

Bamboo Knife Forger suddenly realized that he had acted impulsively, but it was too late to apologize, so he could only run away first.

As a result, he couldn't escape and was brutally beaten by three enraged women.

Ke Zhiguang breathed a sigh of relief.

This guy's appearance couldn't have been more timely.

Just when he was about to lose the game... he suddenly appeared, flipped the table, and used the most powerful off-board move to interrupt the game.

We should thank him in every sense of the word.

"I was so sure I was going to win this round, but you just took it away like that. You think you can get away without paying a price?" Ke Zhiguang also joined in the brawl.

Well, let's pretend we can win this round first, otherwise these three will turn their demands for compensation on us later.

As for expressing gratitude, I can simply treat him to some local Hokkaido ice cream afterwards.

After sensing that a fourth person had joined the attack, Zhudao Tuan couldn't hold back any longer. He suddenly sprang up and sent everyone flying: "You're all talking nonsense! So, in a game of mahjong, four people think they've got it in the bag?! And I have to pay for it all? What kind of god-like game is this?!"

That... actually makes a lot of sense. As if realizing they were in the wrong, everyone hesitated and stopped.

No one could tell that Ke Zhiguang was the only one who might lose.

Bamboo Sword Forger swayed as he stood up from the tatami mat. He wasn't very tall, but the moment he stood up, it was as if a samurai had awakened and picked up the broken blade from the dirt again. His extraordinary aura made everyone subconsciously take two steps back... for fear that the first thing he would do after getting up was to retaliate against the previous beating.

Only then did Ke Zhiguang realize that the other party... was actually a bamboo knife forger.

"Why is this person here? I thought it was just the few of us here," Harujima Shika muttered under her breath. Bamboo sword forging was considered a peculiar celebrity in the industry.

“Ah, as for A-Duan, he’s actually been here all along. As far as I know, he’s been staying at this inn for quite a while now, since spring,” Xiong Ying explained.

"He's in seclusion here? What about his training opponents?" Shizuka Harujima was even more puzzled.

"You'll have to ask him about that."