The work of the Go master

Matsunaga Tingko went to the notice board, wiped away all the traces of Keiji Hikaru's previous solution, and then let Yamaoka solve it.

Ke Zhiguang arrived at the courtyard, intending to investigate the source of the incident, but found a boy with an unremarkable hairstyle digging in the soil under a peach tree.

Ke Zhiguang recognized him; they had brushed past each other briefly in the corridor. His name was something like Tamura, and he was a superstar.

"Hey Tianwang, what are you doing?" Ke Zhiguang suddenly called out from behind him.

Tamura was startled and quickly turned around: "Who are you!"

However, because he accidentally fell and sat down, Ke Zhiguang was able to see all the stolen goods that he was busy destroying.

A large stack of crumpled banknotes worth ten thousand yuan.

Hmm, it seems this child was indeed possessed last night and went out to play a game of chess with multiple opponents.

"This is filthy stuff! This is filthy stuff!" Tamura quickly accelerated the disposal of the stolen goods.

"This... is burying filth under a peach tree a unique exorcism method in the chess world?" Ke Zhiguang asked in surprise.

He vaguely knew the story of a corpse buried under a cherry blossom tree, but he really didn't know any similar stories about peach blossom trees.

Oh, by the way, peach wood swords can fight zombies. Burying things under peach trees might actually ward off evil spirits.

As Tamura buried the object, he said, "This is our local tradition. If we encounter anything unlucky, we just bury it under the peach tree. Everyone does it this way."

"Something unlucky?" Ke Zhiguang asked in surprise.

"It's something that you think might bring you bad luck. I can't really give specific examples, but there are definitely such things."

After thinking about it, Ke Zhiguang felt that what Tamura was talking about might be some spiritual objects that bring negative effects, such as the decorations around the room where the demon dragon was playing.

So that's how it is. After reaching the level of Tian Tianwang, he also became sensitive to these things consciously or unconsciously.

"What happened to all those things that were buried there?" Ke Zhiguang asked.

"I don't know. There should be people specifically assigned to dig up the things the students buried. After all, if this tradition had been continued, this place would have been filled in long ago."

Even so, Ke Zhiguang always felt that what was buried had truly disappeared into the soil and could never be found again.

Just like the quantum mechanics offering box at Yugenji Temple, this place is also the soil of quantum mechanics.

Yugenji Temple is used to purify people, while this place is probably used to purify negative spiritual entities.

Based on his habitual understanding of the world, Ke Zhiguang deduced in this way.

He suddenly noticed strange particles scattered all over the ground, picked them up and examined them closely.

It looks like a seed.

"Tian Tianwang, do you know what this is?" Ke Zhiguang asked.

Tamura glanced at it: "Those are cherry blossom seeds."

"Cherry blossom seeds..."

This is what Japanese style should be, not a peach tree with a distinctly Chinese flavor.

However, regarding cherry blossoms... the potato chips that popped out of the dormitory supervisor's clothes seem to be cherry blossom flavored potato chips.

Ke Zhiguang paused, sensing a strange connection.

Chapter Twenty-Four: A Peach Tree Overshadows Cherry Blossoms

"Are these cherry blossom seeds also treated as unlucky things?" Ke Zhiguang asked.

"This touches on a blind spot in my knowledge. Perhaps it was scattered by the predecessors who lived here before... But speaking of which, peach blossoms and cherry blossoms really are incompatible." Tamura suddenly muttered this.

Is there any contradiction between peach blossoms and cherry blossoms?

“Although the two have similar growth habits, their appearance after flowering is too similar, both being beautiful pink. From a visual point of view, one is enough, right?” Tamura said matter-of-factly.

"Hmm, that makes a lot of sense." Ke Zhiguang seemed to understand. "Since they have similar growth habits, peach trees and cherry trees can actually be planted together, right?"

"How would I know that? But it definitely can't grow here because... this peach tree blocks out all the light, and no plant can grow under it."

Hearing this, Ke Zhiguang looked up at the sky.

It's a rainy day now, and the rain is falling, pattering on the peach trees. The soil is muddy, and the grass is fragrant.

"Actually, we can't say for sure. It's already strange enough that this peach tree can grow here, let alone grow this big. It wouldn't be surprising if a cherry blossom tree really did grow here... Wait, who are you? Why are you talking to me for so long all of a sudden!" Tamura suddenly realized the problem.

"The residents who will be moving to 336."

"336?" Tamura was both shocked and frightened, and he retreated repeatedly as if he had seen an ominous person.

He darted away, not forgetting to turn back and shout, "You bastard, go wash away your bad luck by the peach tree!"

It seems that the legend of 336 does indeed have a deterrent effect here.

After concluding his investigation of the peach trees, Ke Zhiguang left the apartment.

Just then, Yasuhiro Yamaoka also finished solving the problem and showed a smug look on his face.

10 minutes and 28 seconds is a very fast time to solve the problem. He thought he had won and confidently covered his face.

"What a pity, you were one minute behind that student, and your subsequent solution wasn't as good as his."

Yasuhiro Yamaoka seemed to choke, and his posture instantly fell to the ground.

"Ke, are you leaving today?"

"I still have Saito-sensei's class to teach next."

"Welcome to come again next time," Matsunaga Tingko said, bowing her head behind him.

Yamaoka looked resentful, biting her collar as she watched him leave, like a bullied woman.

......

......

At noon, in Saito's Go classroom, tea was bubbling away.

“There really is someone who likes to follow the ancient Japanese way of playing Go and also likes to challenge Harushima Isshin,” Saito said as he placed a stone on the Go board.

"His name is Sugimoto Teikyu. He is a very frail chess fanatic. If you go to the Go Association and look through the roster, you should be able to find a series of information files about him."

How did he die?

“Ordinary people die in only a few ways, and he died of illness,” Saito replied.

"What happened to the saying that playing Go would bring good fortune? Mr. Isshin has passed away, and Sugimoto Teikyu has also passed away?" Koji Mitsuaki complained as he placed his stones, both of them playing with ease.

"Like Isshin, he had an illness that he contracted before he started playing Go. It was an incurable disease. Do you know Honinbo Shusaku? He also died of illness at a young age, only 33 years old... To put it bluntly, Go requires sitting still all day long, so don't expect to be in good physical condition."

This criticism is even more ruthless and direct.

When Shusaku was alive, his Go skills were unparalleled. He was undefeated when playing black and set a record of nineteen consecutive wins at the Osaka Go Tournament.

This "Imperial Castle Chess" does not refer to the current title, but to the historically existing Imperial Castle Chess, a Holy Grail War-level competition.

However, what's amazing is that in the year he died, the Imperial Castle Chess event was also discontinued due to the overwhelming momentum of the "Revere the Emperor and Expel the Barbarians" movement. He was hailed as a chess player "born for Imperial Castle Chess," and of course, he died for Imperial Castle Chess.

As the saying goes in "The Masters," "With the defeat of a game, the player's life also comes to an end, as if this game determined his life or death."

Perhaps this is also a kind of luck.

According to this logic, I might actually kill someone in the future.

Thinking about it this way, it's definitely necessary to boost your health stat.

"So... today is the last day of Golden Week, what's the answer you've come up with?" Saito paused, put his hands in his pockets, and asked solemnly.

Ke Zhiguang also sighed and stopped, striking the same pose, his gaze shifting to the window, his thoughts merging with the rain.

"What would you do if you were in that situation?"

After thinking for a moment, Saito said, "I have no choice now, but if one day my granddaughter also embarks on the path of Go, I will tell her that it is best not to quit school easily. In that case, although she may succeed in Go, she will also lose a lot."

"Hmm...that makes sense. With the difficulty level of female Go players being so low, plus your guidance as their grandfather, Saito-sensei, your granddaughter will definitely be able to achieve double success," Koji Mitsuaki nodded.

"What do you mean? Are you jealous? Do you want to change your gender and experience the difficulty of the female Go player's 'fish pond'?" Saito teased, also using Koji Mitsuaki's vocabulary.

"Hey, if I turned into a girl, why would I still play chess? I'd definitely choose to go to sea." Ke Zhiguang gave a devilish smile.

“That’s true.” Saito understood immediately and smiled in the same way, probably thinking the same thing.

The game continued, and the issue was temporarily set aside.

......

......

At five o'clock in the afternoon, the already gray sky appeared even darker. The traffic light at the intersection turned green, and the umbrellas of different colors intertwined, like a flowing rainbow.

Standing by the window of a dessert shop, Bai Meng gazed wistfully at the rainy day.

"Xingyue, what's the date today?" she asked weakly.

"Stop asking. No matter how much you ask, today is May 5th, the last day of the holiday. It won't suddenly go back a day because of your resentment." The vice president sat opposite Bai Meng, munching on a piece of Black Forest cake with a small fork in his mouth.

"It's the last day, and I only got to see Hikaru-kun for one day..."

"Let's change the line, I'm sick of hearing this one." The vice president yawned loudly, looking quite relaxed.

"This Golden Week was supposed to be a great opportunity for Guangjun and me to get closer, but it ended like this without anything happening. Can you understand my pain?" Bai Meng looked at her friend with bright eyes, almost like she was trying to charm her best friend.

"Hiccup... I really don't know that much." The vice president burped and said with ease, "If I had to describe it, it would be that I'm not as clueless as you."

Bai Meng let out a groan and collapsed onto the table. The word "freebie" felt like a 5-ton iron block hitting the back of her head.

Recently, the vice president has frequently used this word to describe Bai Meng.

"I'm not exactly his target. Think about it carefully. So far, he's only addressed me as the vice president. My feelings for him are limited to club hero, future chess star, and just a friend. I'm not like you, who just gave myself to him for no reason."

Under the vice president's relentless criticism, Bai Meng finally couldn't hold back anymore, slammed her hand on the table and shouted, "In the end, it's all Qingdao Lu's fault!"

The vice president choked on his words, barely managing to say, "This... I don't think this has much to do with them."

Chapter Twenty-Five: This woman's level is too high!

"No, it's all Harushima Shika's fault. If she hadn't left so suddenly, Hikaru wouldn't have had the idea to do things he shouldn't do on vacation... Otherwise, there wouldn't be just the two of us sitting in this shop now!" Bai Meng said indignantly.

"Alright, it's her fault, it's her fault. Have a piece of cake to calm your nerves, consider it the last glimmer of sunshine of this Golden Week holiday." The vice president pushed a piece of rich and delicious white chocolate cake toward her.