The work of the Go master

Besides, it seems that he was just imagining things and that the Lord of the Swamp was a man with a seaweed-like hairstyle; maybe he was a woman.

"In the past few minutes, did you notice anyone whose clothing was the most peculiar, or whose aura made you feel the most uncomfortable?" Ke Zhiguang asked in a metaphysical and abstract way.

Ke Zhiguang didn't expect to get a proper answer to this question, but to his surprise, Shuicheng Xiyue actually thought about it seriously and recalled it.

"It seems there really is such a person. He walked past me, and you just didn't notice him."

"What are your physical characteristics?" Ke Zhiguang asked.

"It was a man, very short, wearing a light green robe or yukata, and his hairstyle... actually did look a bit like seaweed."

"Which direction did he go?"

He has already left in a taxi.

Ke Zhiguang's tense breath relaxed, and he also felt a little disappointed.

The suspense will have to wait until later to be resolved.

Chapter 40 Friends (Dads, please vote!)

A rain fell late at night. Not far from the gate of Yunjing Middle School, in a ramen cart shop, Cang Yuqiao finally met his three old friends.

"It's such a rare opportunity for us to get together again," a kind old man said, raising his glass.

"You guys really know how to have fun. I usually drink at places like Matsuya or Kuroko Restaurant. I took some time out of my busy schedule to get together with you guys, and all you do is treat me to ramen?"

"Saito 9-dan, don't say that. The ramen shop near the school gate is a symbol of my youth."

Cang Yuqiao listened to the conversation of his three old friends and was filled with emotion.

Cang Yuqiao is actually only in his 40s, while these three old guys are 66, 60, and 56 years old respectively.

And these three old guys are even more renowned.

Saito Sando, 66 years old, is a professional 9-dan player who has won the Dragon Throne, one of the three major titles, multiple times. He enjoys extremely high honors and has not yet retired. He is a dashing man as free as the wind.

60-year-old Kuranosuke, a professional 8-dan player, has won many cup championships. He recently finished as runner-up in the HNK rapid chess tournament. He is also a celebrity who is often invited to dinner by many people when he goes out. Now he is semi-retired.

Lin Yingwei, 56, is an amateur 7-dan, the highest rank among amateurs. He once dominated various amateur tournaments in the industry, but now he has retired and runs a Go room in an old commercial area in Suginami Ward, where he teaches children to play Go and lives a secluded life.

Compared to their experiences, Cang Yuqiao felt like a younger brother, and didn't even dare to breathe loudly.

However, since they were from the same school, they were indeed friends and quite close.

"Cang Yu, how is Bai Mengyin Yu, whom you've always regarded as the apple of your eye, doing lately?" Saito Sando asked, emboldened by alcohol.

"As usual, I firmly believe that as long as she plays to her level, she will achieve an excellent ranking," Cang Yuqiao said.

Naoka Kuranosuke adjusted his refined glasses, poured himself a glass of the weakest sake, and asked, "Saito, didn't you never care about high school Go players? You said that once a person is over 12 years old, they have no value for training, meaning female high school students are an exception?"

Saito gave a smug, old-fashioned laugh: "Bai Mengyin is going to take the entrance exam for Tokyo University. Amateur Go players who can get into prestigious universities like this have always been the focus of the Go Academy. Professional Go players are the performers on the stage, while amateur Go players with spare money are the audience who buy tickets to enter the venue. Tell me, which one is more important?"

After listening, Naoka Kuranosuke laughed twice: "That makes sense, that makes sense, that's true. For people like us who really rely on our skills to compete, it's natural to have as few strong opponents as possible who are proficient in Go, and as many people who understand Go but aren't proficient as possible."

Listening to the two big shots chatting and laughing, Cang Yuqiao didn't dare to utter a sound.

Naoka Kuranosuke continued, "But speaking of which, the young people these days are really amazing. They play chess so fast and ruthlessly. That's how I was defeated by Taketsuto. He's a very promising chess player. I really hope that he can win the title of Oshiro Go someday and continue our chess luck."

"Chess luck, does that thing really exist?" Cang Yuqiao interjected.

The other three did not respond.

It was as if he had asked a pointless question.

What do you mean? Does it mean that the moment I opened my mouth, the conversation immediately went silent?

“Speaking of young people, I have some experience with them. I recently got myself into trouble with a young man,” Saito Sando said.

"Haven't you had any matches lately?" Naosaka asked.

"It wasn't a competition; it was a set of problems that I hadn't even published yet, and a high school student solved them." Saito recalled the black broth incident.

He frequented this shop and had a good relationship with the employees. So he simply left a set of unpublished questions there for them to organize some activities and make things difficult for passersby.

But to his surprise, the high school students he always criticized solved the problem in a very short time.

"As for high school students, I recently met a very interesting one. Even Qingdao is very interested in him, and he plays Go with me whenever he has free time. He looks forward to him coming to the Go room every day." Manager Lin Ying, who hadn't spoken until now, said, twirling the small glass of wine in her hand.

“Even Princess Harushima is interested? Then I really would like to meet her. In my impression, Princess Harushima is the type who wouldn’t be interested in romance before the age of twenty-nine,” Saito Sando said.

"Twenty-nine years old, is there any significance to this specific age?" Cang Yuqiao seized the opportunity to ask, hoping to avoid an awkward silence.

The atmosphere was still lukewarm.

“Once a woman reaches thirty and is still unmarried, she tends to become anxious and becomes indiscriminate in her choices. So, a man who can make Princess Harujima, who is only 15 years old, fall in love must be quite something, right?” Saito lit a cigarette and explained slowly.

"I never said that Harushima was in love... Well, although her series of actions are indeed quite confusing and worrying." Manager Lin Ying thought for a moment and then stopped. As an older person, he really didn't understand Harushima's various ways of rubbing against people.

"Everyone, I've actually met a very special high school student recently!" Cang Yuqiao finally seized the opportunity to join the conversation. If the conversation continued to be so awkward, he felt like he was going to become the marginal figure at his classmates' dinner party.

“Oh, so what did he do?” Saito asked.

"His progress has been incredibly rapid. Two weeks ago he only had a grasp of the basics, but now he can beat me in points."

"That's it?"

"this......"

what does it mean?

Does that mean beating me isn't news?

Well, Cang Yuqiao also admitted that his description was weak, and that the man's charlatanism was interesting.

While eating his noodles, Zhiban said, "Although I haven't encountered any mysterious high school students recently, based on your three descriptions, I think I've discovered something."

"What's the problem?"

"Don't you all think that the high school student you're talking about is the same person?" Naosaka asked from an outsider's perspective.

The three of them looked at each other in bewilderment.

They do seem to have some similarities.

“Why don’t the three of you say this high school student’s name at the same time and see if you can match it up?” Naosaka suggested.

“Sure, I happen to know his name too,” Saito said, having also learned the name from the manager.

"One, two, three, Ke Zhiguang."

The three of them spoke in unison, perfectly matching each other.

After a surprised exchange of glances, they burst into laughter, as if time had turned back several years, and the old guys had become young men.

Suddenly, through the thin veil of rain, a sinister, smiling voice drifted in from outside the noren: "Saito-senpai, it's been a long time."

Cang Yuqiao tapped his chopsticks, as if he was numb by the sound.

Saito frowned and stood up from his seat: "I'm sorry, old friends, but I actually had other appointments with people tonight, it's for work."

"Who is it, that person?" Cang Yuqiao asked subconsciously.

"He's an insignificant nobody, a guy as murky as a swamp. You'd better not get to know him, or you'll have bad luck."

Cang Yuqiao was stunned.

swamp.....

Ke Zhiguang asked him if he knew a chess player nicknamed the Lord of the Swamp.

Could this be the person?

Cangyu Bridge peeked out from behind the noren curtain and saw the other person.

The man stood under the streetlight across the street, exuding an unsettling aura. He was not tall, dressed in traditional wooden clogs and a green yukata, and wore an old-fashioned top hat, as if he had stepped out of the Taisho era.

But his hairstyle was quite avant-garde, parted in front of his forehead like seaweed.

A dark and damp aura emanated from him, and even the rain seemed reluctant to touch him.

The title "Lord of the Swamp" truly suits him.

Chapter 41 Indecisiveness Leads to Another Bump

Friday, another day is almost over, and it's time for the sun to set again.

Since he has been officially registered as a player for the competition, Ke Zhiguang is exempt from classes today and can spend the whole day in the Go club making final preparations for the competition.

I also took down the trio I beat yesterday again, this time in a proper one-hour match, eliminating any element of luck and letting skill decide everything.

Impressed.

The three of them finally gave in.

"Well then, thank you for your guidance. That's all for today." Ke Zhiguang yawned as he stood up from the chessboard, looking as if he hadn't yet given it his all.

"Yes... Farewell, Brother Ke..." Senior Tsuda slumped into his chair, unable to get up.

"Have a safe journey..." Ping Shisheng said breathlessly.

Under the watchful eyes of his fellow members who saw him as a demon king, Ke Zhiguang walked out of the gymnasium with an air of nonchalance.

He was officially promoted to the senior disciple of the sect.

——Alright, now it's time to get down to business.

After returning home yesterday, he thought about how to find the Lord of the Swamp. The most feasible way at present is to go back to the place where he met him yesterday and wait for him to come to him.

It's near a subway station, probably the place where the [Lord of the Swamp] passes by every day on his way to and from get off work. The chances of spotting him here shouldn't be low.

The system will also issue a notification sound if you get close to him.

Furthermore, Koji Hikaru also had an impression of his appearance: wooden clogs, yukata, and seaweed-like hair.

With all these favorable conditions, finding him in the crowd shouldn't be too difficult.

The reason we didn't catch him yesterday was because Ke Zhiguang overlooked one thing—this person isn't very tall, and his height isn't very noticeable in a crowd. Just be careful today.

As Ke Zhiguang walked out of the gymnasium, Cang Yuqiao happened to walk over as well: "Ke-kun, are you going home?"

"Yes, by the way, I haven't seen President Bai Meng all day today?" Ke Zhiguang asked.

“She seemed very tired when she came back from the training camp, so I gave her a day off, and her homeroom teacher approved it,” Cang Yuqiao said. The main reason was to let her rest and recover at home.