The work of the Go master

The center of the chessboard is a complex, saline-alkali-like area. This saline-alkali land is where both sides have pieces, but neither can gain enough points.

But in this very troublesome spot lies a narrow path that allows the white pieces to connect with each other, like a tiny log bridge, requiring extremely powerful computing capabilities to discover.

Harushima Deer had already placed one foot in front of the bridge and was running towards the other side without any regard for anything else!

In the next chapter, Chapter Six, I will teach you how to understand Go.

At this moment, a warm, cherry-colored breeze swirled down, coating everyone's pupils with a dazzling pink light, as if someone were dancing in the center of a chessboard, with countless streams of cherry blossoms swirling around her hair and fingertips.

Ke Zhiguang's vision was filled with swathes of white light. She was clearly wearing a wedding dress, but the way she ran made it seem as if she was riding a silver steed, crossing a surging river. No obstacle could stop her, and no armor could protect her from her attack... that strike filled with intense love!

"Harushima Kashima...she successfully connected the chess pieces!"

On the chessboard, what is unfolding is precisely this scene of breaking through layers of barriers and rushing towards the other side.

In the narrow, saline land, the white chess piece flew out and perfectly stepped onto the narrow path that resembled a single-plank bridge. Urged on by the countdown, the pieces moved faster and faster, and the dense sound of the pieces being placed stole everyone's breath!

Closer...closer and closer...

Suddenly, Shiro felt her body become much lighter, as if she could float away at any moment, and every step she took was in time with the rhythm of the drumbeats.

This is the moment!

The last piece slipped from her hand and was firmly welded to the final missing piece, completing the puzzle. A thin line of white pieces cut through the black formation and connected to the opposite side, as if fingers were tightly clasped together.

A smile appeared on Ke Zhiguang's lips. He broke the standoff, opened his arms, and embraced the Valkyrie-like figure.

Fireworks exploded overhead, and ribbons like fairies flew down.

Applause erupted all around, giving the impression that EVA was on its final episode, with everyone clapping around the main character.

"Lu, congratulations on winning the title of champion of this year's Moon Sky." Ke Zhiguang also joined the applause, gently clapping his hands.

It took Harushima Kaoru a long time to react. A layer of sweat was on her forehead. It was as if she had used all her strength to rush across the narrow bridge. The moment she reached the other side, the tense pressure suddenly disappeared, making her unsure if she had won.

She stared blankly around at everyone applauding her, and pink bubbles enveloped everything, creating a hazy, fairytale-like world.

She won, she won this seemingly invincible match.

"So... I won?" Shiori Shika's eyes were still filled with confusion, unable to distinguish between reality and illusion. Finally, she looked at Koji Hikaru, whose smile was tinged with sunlight.

"That's right, you won. I can repeat it as many times as you want, just like when I said I liked you, I can repeat it as many times as I want." Ke Zhiguang said calmly, as if he were telling the other person that the sky was very clear on a quiet afternoon... There was a hint of happiness in it.

Yes, this is the little happiness, small but real, and right now, Harushima Deer is holding it firmly in his hands.

After the initial joy came tears. Like pearls, shooting stars streaked across Qingdaolu's cheeks and splashed onto the chess pieces. Each piece touched by a tear was worth a fortune.

While wiping away her tears, Harushima Kashima smiled and said, "You're still smiling? Do you know your goal of collecting all seven titles is ruined? At least act a little sad..."

"Well, this is nothing. We can hold it again next year. Anyway, the title battle is still there. It's not like it's going to grow legs and run away." Ke Zhiguang was very optimistic.

"Hehe, sorry, this title is currently with me. When it's to be issued largely depends on my decision." Harushima Shika was taken aback by the other party's overly realistic reply and immediately returned to her usual conversational style.

"Report: I now hold all six titles, and the entire ninth-dan group is under my control. What makes you think you can compete with me?"

"Well, well then! You'll have to keep fighting in all those title battles to reach the difficult goal of 'holding them all at the same time'!"

"See, you said it yourself, it's only as difficult as swinging once." Ke Zhiguang spread his hands frankly, emphasizing the pronunciation of "swing". "But to be fair, the difficulty of you defeating me once is probably higher than me winning all the titles, so... I'm naturally very happy that you won." Ke Zhiguang looked at the other person affectionately, and it seemed as if water was flowing between their eyes.

"What? Is this supposed to be sweet talk to coax me?" Harushima Shika wiped away her tears, a smile appearing on her lips like a sweet little dimple.

"Let's just say it is. Even if it's not sweet talk to flatter people, it's at least the most sincere blessing."

The drooping branches of the cherry blossoms were parted, and the people who had been clapping on the outside came in.

"Well done! Congratulations on winning this coveted Moon God title!"

"It's already the era of Kobe Bryant. Any championship won under his dominance is extremely valuable!"

"Truly unparalleled, the number one female martial artist!"

"No, no, no, I'm already number one in the world! Forget about rules, luck is also part of skill!"

The bridesmaids surrounded Harushima Deer, intending to toss her up and catch her, but then thought better of it, as it would be too attention-grabbing and make them seem like the main characters.

Hoshino took a step closer to Harushima Shika: "Oh, Harushima-senpai, so, what's on this table...?"

"Ptooey, ptooey, ptooey! It's nothing, it's nothing!" Harujima Kaguya reacted quickly, reaching out and stuffing the socks she had just taken off into her little hand.

Xingcai's face showed utter shock and horror as she pointed to a white, fuzzy mass next to the chessboard.

Moreover, she discovered that this whitish thing was closer to the half of Ke Zhiguang's body...

Good heavens, could it be that you guys took care of everything in here while everyone was distracted?

Xingcai looked at Qingdaolu and Kezhiguang with a suspicious gaze. Qingdaolu was blushing and rambling into the microphone handed to her by the interviewer, while Kezhiguang was whistling and humming a song to the side, as if nothing had happened.

The awards ceremony began soon, taking place under the cherry blossom tree. The bridesmaids took their positions again, helping Harushima Deer lift her skirt, as if this were not a chess tournament champion's award ceremony, but a queen's coronation.

At the end of the red carpet, Nikko pushed a cart carrying the championship trophy.

The trophy is made of silver, which perfectly complements Shizuka's shimmering silver wedding dress. Its main body is in the shape of a regular trophy, but dragons and foxes are attached to its exterior.

The dragon is easy to understand, but the fox refers to "Muye Fox," which is also an elegant name for Go. It means that Go is ever-changing, just like a beautiful woman transformed from a fox spirit.

Guided by this meaning, perhaps it was destined from the beginning that a female chess player would lift it up.

“Let me handle the rest of the ceremony.” Ke Zhiguang stepped forward and accepted the trophy, seemingly intending to present the award himself.

"Seriously, you can have your fun this time." Nikkaze chuckled, scratching his head, and tactfully stepped back, giving his seat to Koji Hikaru.

After taking over the position, Ke Zhiguang, under the watchful eyes of countless cameras, picked up the trophy and walked to Harujima Deer.

This scene is reminiscent of Napoleon's coronation. Just as the process was about to proceed as usual, the Emperor suddenly became excited, took the crown, put it on himself, and then helped Empress Josephine put it on as well.

Although this move had countless implications for political struggle, if we limit the scope to just Napoleon and Josephine, it can only be considered romantic and poetic, with the crown as a gift and power as a rose.

"Alright, now you can say those words to me." Ke Zhiguang handed over the trophy, as if it were a token of love like a diamond ring.

"I like you." Harushima Shika took a breath and said the line she had treasured for so long with a serious expression, using the simplest words, like an unpolished natural diamond.

As the trophy was handed over, Kojima leaned down, and Harujima Shika gently tiptoed to press his kiss and love against him.

Countless tears were falling all around, accompanied by thunderous applause. They couldn't remember how long they had been clapping, but the scene before them was simply too beautiful.

Cherry blossoms and spring will forever remember this moment.

......

......

The rest was just going through the motions: acceptance speeches, interviews, and then a banquet. The starry sky was lowered, hanging in the sky like a black velvet crystal pendant, luxurious and mysterious.

The banquet continued until after nine o'clock, when most of the people in the room were drunk and passed out, and it seemed that it was time to end the meeting.

Not only were there bridesmaids who initially accompanied Harushima Deer, but also many colleagues who came from the Go Academy headquarters to freeload and offer their congratulations. In the end, it turned into a large gathering of more than fifty people, like a company annual meeting.

"Hey, what do we do next?" Harushima Deer asked from the side. Surprisingly, she wasn't tricked into having a couple of drinks this time and remained sober.

"Looks like we can't play mahjong at night anymore, everyone's gone." Ke Zhiguang looked around and didn't see many people from the provincial personnel department.

"So, mahjong exists on your tactics panel!"

Just kidding.

Shao Gong and Shui Cheng were carrying Bai Meng, whose eyes were darting around and face was flushed, out of the house. As they walked, she shouted, "Put me down! I just broke up with my boyfriend today. I need to find some people to beat him up!"

Xingcai and her friends were accompanied by Xiong Ying and Ying Mei, who all seemed to have interesting backstories.

"Are they alright?" Ke Zhiguang asked, scratching his head.

"They've already decided to stay at this hotel tonight, two people per room or something..." As Harushima Kaoru spoke, her eyebrows lowered, and her little hands nervously rubbed together under the table.

She was still wearing her wedding dress, but she had taken off the exaggeratedly long skirt... Later, Ke Zhiguang learned that it was actually removable.

Hmm... a hotel, and rooms for two people... that makes me think.

Looking at the neon lights outside the window, Ke Zhiguang had a feeling that something might happen tonight.

So what will actually happen?

Ke Zhiguang glanced at Qingdaolu again.

In the recent chess tournament, she was an invincible Valkyrie, wearing her wedding dress as pure silver armor, commanding her pieces to charge into battle. But as night fell... she seemed to suddenly shrink back, turning into a helpless little Samoyed.

"Let's talk about the past or the future," Ke Zhiguang said casually, pouring himself a glass of wine and adding ice as if he had matured.

There always has to be one mature party leading the other forward.

"There's not much to talk about in the past... let's talk about the future instead." Shika Harushima drew circles on the table with her finger.

"Do you have any ideas about the future? What kind of person do you want to become, what kind of work do you want to do, where do you want to live, and who do you want to live with?" Ke Zhiguang didn't know why, but these profound-sounding words just came out of his mouth.

Perhaps the emotions were already there.

Harushima Shika touched her lips and thought for a long time: "Actually, I thought it would take me a long time to get the title of this month and fulfill my father's last wish, but I didn't expect to do it so quickly..." Harushima Shika muttered as she answered, implying that she didn't yet have a general idea of ​​what the future held.

Just like when Ke Zhiguang first won the Imperial Chess title, he felt that everything was over, and along with the happiness and achievement came confusion.

We can't keep taking the title until it's upgraded to an eternal title, can we?

The goal may sound very challenging, but it always feels like just a simple cycle, drawing circles over and over again, never able to escape the frame.

I want to do something... to make the paint flow out of this frame.

"So, if we bring the future closer to ourselves, what do you want to do next?" Ke Zhiguang continued to ask.

“I…” Harushima Deer’s lips moved, and her pupils twitched.

Like a sharp brushstroke, it kept striking the picture frame; the answer had already been spoken in her heart and reflected in her eyes.

Suddenly, a voice broke between the two: "Brother, are you going home tonight?"

The two were startled and immediately straightened their backs.

Upon closer inspection, Zero was standing behind the two of them with a kind and simple smile... Goodness, this guy walks without making a sound and likes to appear suddenly. I wonder where he learned that from.

It's highly likely that the conversation just now was overheard by the eavesdropper.

"I'm not going back," Ke Zhiguang said calmly, as if he had already accepted the answer.

"What about Sister Harushima Deer?"

Suddenly being called on, Harushima Kaoru tensed up: "I...I won't reply either!"

"So you're not going to reply either."