The work of the Go master

Haha, this little guy especially emphasized the pronunciation of the word "也".

So Ling skipped and hopped home, just like a pure first-year junior high school girl.

Ke Zhiguang and Qingdaolu exchanged another glance...

Well, thanks to Zero's help, those things that were originally only in his mind have now been said in reality.

Night fell.

Chapter Seven: How to Train Your Dragon

It's past midnight now.

After the banquet, instead of going home, the large group of them checked into a hotel and discussed whether to have some plans for the night, such as a late-night snack.

But this was just a plan. Most people, after drinking too much, would lie down on the bed and stop thinking about anything.

Ke Zhiguang waited quietly on the balcony of the room, as mercury-like moonlight streamed in.

The streets were lit by scattered streetlights, and occasionally a car would drive over the road, making a brief noise.

Ke Zhiguang is waiting for Qingdao Deer.

The lights had been turned off, and the entire room was filled with the flowing moonlight.

Two glasses of red wine with ice floating on them were placed on the table, along with a small vase containing a fresh rose, which bloomed quietly at midnight, its intoxicating fragrance filling the entire room.

Not long after, there was a soft knock on the door. Harushima Kaoru chirped from outside, "Is anyone home? Are you asleep?"

“I’m here, I’m here,” Ke Zhiguang replied readily.

The door opened with a creak, a sound that was particularly clear in the darkness.

As soon as the door opened, Harushima Kashiwagi hurriedly darted in. After making sure she was safe, she bent over and gasped for breath.

"That really scared me to death. I almost got spotted when I turned the corner," Harujima Kashima said, still shaken.

“To be honest, I’m more worried about scaring others with you looking like this,” Ke Zhiguang said.

At this moment, Harushima Deer was wrapped in a thick blanket, looking like someone who was too lazy to get out of bed in winter but had to get up to do something, so he simply rolled himself up with the blanket.

Of course, we're far from the dead of winter now, so for a deer on a sunny island to wear one of these things is probably just... well... to cover up its identity—one of the most perplexing things people do.

Just recently, as the banquet was ending, Harushima Deer was dragged back to their large room by her drunken best friends, who insisted on having a pillow fight.

Although Shizuka cursed and yelled at them to let her down, she was too small for them to handle, and they carried her away like a rice sack. Koji Hikaru watched them walk away in a daze, waving goodbye in confusion.

Only now has the deer managed to escape from their clutches.

"So, what exactly are you wearing right now...?" Ke Zhiguang looked Qingdaolu up and down at the blanket wrapped around her, his eyes looking somewhat unnatural.

"Pah, pah, pah, what are you thinking? I'm wrapped in this blanket so no one will recognize me," Harushima Kashima retorted.

Hmm... that's what they say, but it only makes it more noticeable...

Harujima Shika let go of her hand, and the blanket slipped off her shoulders like a bath towel.

Her wedding dress had been changed out, and now she was wearing a spaghetti strap dress, the complete opposite of the daytime color, with her two fair arms exposed. The hem of the dress covered her knees, and below were her smooth and shapely calves.

Her long, dark hair cascaded down her back, glistening water droplets rolling across the ends of her hair and neck; perhaps she had just taken a shower.

The moonlight seemed to possess magic, displaying an eerie form in the night sky. An incredible power surged into the room, making her skin appear even more supple against the backdrop of her black dress. Her toes rubbed and tossed restlessly on the carpet.

Breathing begins to heat up; in this room of less than a few square meters, there are still restless and agitated elements.

"Then... what should we do next?" Harushima Kaoru sat on the bed awkwardly, and even demurely smoothed out her skirt.

Her gaze quickly fell on the wine glasses on the table, and she knew that one of them was for her.

She cautiously reached out her hand, gripped a glass of red wine, and began to sip it, like a squirrel nervously munching on a pine cone.

"Yes, what should we do?" Ke Zhiguang also sat down on the edge of the bed. The sudden sinking of the bed core made Qingdao Lu shrink back, and the red wine spilled out.

"Aaaaah, it's all spilled!" Harushima Kashiwa cried out in a low voice, not knowing why she was lowering her voice, perhaps worried that her neighbors would hear her.

In this quiet yet unsettling night, every sound is amplified—heartbeats, breathing...

Ke Zhiguang poured another glass of red wine and handed it to Qingdaolu.

"Uh... thank you."

Two stemmed wine glasses clinked together, producing a crisp, tinkling sound. The two men then downed their red wine in one gulp, exchanging no words with each other in perfect harmony.

The temperature rose, and her face flushed slightly. Stimulated by the ice, it felt as if she were being baptized by both ice and fire at the same time, and her soul became transparent and clear.

After finishing her long drink, Qingdaolu raised her head with a delightful sigh, her face flushed.

She looked out onto the balcony through the remaining red wine and ice in her glass; the moon seemed to be bathed in the red of roses.

"Do you need more? If not, we can add more," Ke Zhiguang asked.

"Okay, another one." Harushima Kashiwa nodded and obediently handed over the glass, which was now filled with red wine.

"Have you thought about what you want to do in the future?" Ke Zhiguang leaned forward slightly, and he could see his own reflection in the other person's eyes.

"The future should be wonderful..." Harujima Shika's thoughts became hazy, and she smiled faintly.

"Of course it will be wonderful, as wonderful as this night, as wonderful as the wine glasses in our hands, as wonderful as the moon tonight." Ke Zhiguang gently put down the wine glass in his hand.

"Then what else does it resemble?" Harujima felt dizzy and about to collapse... In fact, she really was collapsing.

She was gently pushed down and lay flat on the pillow. Suddenly, the wine glass in her hand rolled onto the carpet, spilling red wine.

"Perhaps, it's like a game of chess."

"Yes, it's like... a game of chess."

In the stillness of the night, the game of chess began.

Just like in the hotel during the Nova Battle, when Shireshima Kakashi was extremely tired, he played a game of Go with Koji Mitsuaki in a daze. Perhaps tonight will be the same?

Right?

Right?

First, the game begins with a coin toss. The pieces are shoved out of the box with a clatter, each rub sounding like a musical note.

The rules are the same as the Moon and Sky title match during the day, both using the ancient chess format, with white players moving first.

Unfortunately, Shizuka guessed wrong this time. The right to play white went to Koji Mitsu, and the game was also lost.

Tap... Tap... Tap...

The four chess pieces were placed one by one and stuck to the warm chessboard.

In the past, the chess pieces had always been extremely fierce, but on this night, they were as gentle as feathers.

In the upper right corner of the chessboard, a small battle broke out, so gentle that it was almost imperceptible.

The pieces gradually spread and intertwined in this area, moving close to each other, forming a mutually acceptable joseki (opening pattern). White gained territory, while Black gained strength.

However, Ke Zhiguang quickly discovered the weakness and flaw of this thick wall. A point of attack flowed from his fingertips and pierced the tiger's mouth of the black piece, demanding that the opponent obediently connect.

After some thought, Harushima Shika decided to launch a counterattack in this local area, turning her hand to touch the point and continuing to play closely.

Ke Zhiguang shook his head. He knew that this was an extremely excessive move that needed to be punished.

He reached into the chess box and extended the piece forward one square, embedding it into the gap that Shizuka hadn't filled in earlier. A complex local battle began in the upper right corner of the chessboard.

The pieces slowly fell, and warm sparks flew between the black and white pieces. The black piece jumped out, while the white piece blocked the direction in which the black piece was trying to escape.

Black tries to cross from below, but White firmly places its stones on the ground, forming a solid shape without any weaknesses, steadily blocking the crossing.

Black attempted to connect with two stones, but failed to anticipate that White had a clever move hidden in another jumping position. Ke Zhiguang astutely placed his stone and immediately occupied this crucial point in the formation.

A new round of long deliberation began, but because she had just drunk some alcohol, she felt a little dizzy...

Haha, it turns out that glass of red wine offered before the game was a trap, just to mess with her mood.

But upon closer reflection, since the other person also drank, let's consider it a fair duel.

Harushima Kashima continued to place her pieces. After a long period of deliberation, she discovered a method to make her pieces live on the spot.

She arranged the chess pieces into a crooked four-shaped pattern, a clever but unseen move. The shape was a bit messy, but at least the game could be played slowly.

By targeting the weakness and vulnerability in Black's thick position, White successfully achieved a complete victory in the local area.

Harushima Kashima quickly realized that the situation was not right, but the good news was that she had the upper hand at the moment, so she still had some chance to fight back.

After adjusting her mindset, she placed the piece at the bottom of the board, making a low move to attack a lone white piece scattered at the bottom.

Without much thought, Ke Zhiguang pressed down on top of his opponent's piece, engaging in close-quarters combat in such a narrow space, which was exactly what he excelled at.

The chess pieces flourished in this place, wrestling and fighting with each other, each holding the other's breath, and each piece could feel the warmth between them.

But in the blink of an eye, the white stones suddenly squeezed into the black stones' shape... This time it was Ke Zhiguang's turn to make a good move.

So, if I weren't so drunk like I am now, I would definitely have been able to figure out that there was a game here very quickly.

Suddenly, the black stones' blockade above the white stones became precarious, like a thin veil that could be easily pierced at any moment... In fact, Ke Zhiguang did just that.

With an easy step, White slipped through the gap between the two black stones, breaking through the opponent's blockade and regaining control of the attack.

With White's escape, Black's entire local position became weak, and they had to start thinking about how to make things work.

First, you deal with the pieces above. You make a move that grows out of the opponent's capture, then you capture two pieces and return one... You capture two pieces, and I return one to you, like gently holding a flower in my mouth.

Next is the group of stones below, which makes things even more difficult for Shiori Shika. She can only crawl along the second line, humiliatingly managing to live with four points in place, while the outside has already been completely encircled by the white stones.

Clearly, the advantage was now entirely in Ke Zhiguang's favor. However, his tendency to overextend himself when he had the advantage suddenly kicked in, and he boldly stopped playing.

Harushima Kashima's cheeks puffed up with anger. In a normal match, she would never accept such a humiliating pause, but today's situation was special, and she had to win no matter what.

So she began to play the game seriously.

The center is the final decisive point. Through scattered moves, Black has formed a fairly sizable shape here.

Although for Ke Zhiguang, a simple shallow cut at the endgame would have been enough to win, he resolutely pushed his pieces deep into the territory, intending to win more.

After all, this is the ancient chess rule. The explicit rule is to set up the pieces and return the pieces, while the implicit rule is that the more points you win, the more you earn.

Besides, she just took away my important title match and 100 million yen during the day with her underhanded tactics of guessing first and the ultimate underhanded tactic of taking off my socks. Now, if I retaliate a little more fiercely, I don't think anyone will object, right?

The final battle in the center began. White entered Black's territory, and all the traditional maneuvering techniques were displayed: touch and lean, cross twist, false clamp and tiger's mouth.

Indeed, securing a living group of stones has always been Ke Zhiguang's forte. Long ago, people described his chess as slippery, impossible to catch, as he was incredibly agile and elusive. Yet, in crucial moments, he never faltered in terms of explosive power.