Longevity, starting from traveling and telling stories

Chapter 125: The Lan Ke Chess Game
"Lan Ke chess game?" Ao Qin had never heard of this term before and asked in a puzzled tone, "What is Lan Ke chess game?"

If the moves in a chess game are profound, reminiscent of immortals playing chess, or even contain philosophical insights such as the passage of time and the impermanence of the world, then if the game's dynamics shift unpredictably, even allowing one to glimpse fate, then it's a game of Lan Ke.

"Hey!" Seeing Ye Beixuan still in a daze, Ao Qin dragged out his words, "Explain it to me!"

At the same time, she was speechless. This idiot doesn't even know how to coax me. Can't he see that this girl is impatient?

Pulled back to his thoughts by Ao Qin, Ye Beixuan said, "Would you like to hear a little story?"

"Stories?" Ao Qin's eyes lit up. She knew that storytelling was his strong point and no one could compare to him.

"Tell me quickly." As she said this, she grabbed his arm and shook it hard. Those who didn't know would think that it was a sister begging her brother for help, but those who knew would know that this woman could be his great-grandmother.

Ye Beixuan was so overwhelmed by her coquettishness that he could only speak out, "Once upon a time, there was a man named Wang Zhi. He went up the mountain to chop wood and saw two boys playing chess on a large rock.

He put down his axe and watched. During this time, Wang Zhi felt hungry, so the boy gave him something that looked like a date and asked him to eat it. Then he no longer felt hungry and continued to watch the game.

After the game of chess was over, the boy urged him to go home quickly. He turned around to take the axe and leave, but suddenly found that the axe handle was rotten.

When he returned home, he learned that his elders, relatives, and friends had already passed away. He then realized that over a hundred years had passed. (From Wang Zhi's "Lost Ke" in "Records of Strange Things")
At this point, Ye Beixuan said in a deep voice: "And the chess game that the boys played was the Lan Ke game."

[Storytelling Level: LV4 (43000/100000)]

Today's storytelling chapter

[Reward for completing the Lan Ke chess game: The Power of Lan Ke]

[The Power of Lan Ke: Extraordinary chess skills, passing the years like days]

This ability is strange! What does it mean to live like a year? This ability was a magical skill for those students in my previous life. What are you doing to me? I haven't lived enough.

After hearing this, Ao Qin questioned, "How is it possible that a few children playing chess and a mortal watching the game haven't changed in a hundred years, unless..."

At this point, as if she had thought of something, she immediately exclaimed in a surprised tone: "Could it be that they are..."

"That's right, the boy is an immortal, and Wang Zhi ate the immortal fruit or immortal pill given to him by the immortal, and a hundred years seemed like only one day." Ye Beixuan explained.

Ao Qin suddenly transformed into Ao Ke, reasoning thoroughly, "Are you saying that this Lan Ke chess game is placed here for us to solve?"

"As long as we solve this Lan Ke chess game, we can get out of here?"

I have to say that this unreliable mother dragon is sometimes quite smart. This is exactly what Ye Beixuan thought. He also believes that by solving the Lan Ke chess game, he can get out from here. However, everything is just his and her speculation. Whether it is correct or not is not known, but he has no choice at the moment and can only give it a try.

"Let's give it a try!" Ye Beixuan said in a deep voice, "Let me try to solve it."

So, with a nervous heart, he slowly walked to the other side where the stone men were playing chess and sat down.

As soon as he sat down, the scene changed and the surrounding environment suddenly changed drastically. Ye Beixuan's eyes blurred and when he opened them again, he found himself in a pavilion on a mountain, surrounded by birdsong and flowers, and lush branches and leaves.

The stone man opposite also turned into an old man with an immortal look.

"Please." The old man smiled slightly and stretched out his hand to signal Ye Beixuan to play chess.

"Where is this?" Ye Beixuan did not dare to move, but asked in confusion.

I am invulnerable to all evil, so this shouldn't be an illusion, but how can I explain it? Where is Ao Qin now?
"Please." The old man opposite stroked his long beard and said in a calm tone.

"Okay." There was no other way at the moment, I could only try to beat him.

After saying this, the two men sitting opposite each other turned serious. The old man placed a chess piece between his legs, but his expression was extremely calm, as if everything was under control.

Ye Beixuan stared at the situation on the chessboard, thought for a moment, and then placed a piece.

Soon the two of them were playing fast and the game progressed quickly. Neither of them was willing to give in. Every time the old man made a move, he smiled, as if the situation was under his control.

On the other hand, every time Ye Beixuan made a move, his brows became more and more furrowed, almost forming a "川" shape.

The situation on the chessboard became increasingly tense, with black and white pieces fighting each other. The complex situation made both sides start to think involuntarily.

However, the surrounding environment is also constantly changing. Leaves fall and grow, flowers bloom and fade, and this happens over and over again. The trees that have just sprouted grow slowly, until the number of annual rings inside becomes more and more, even hundreds, but this has never made the two players playing chess notice it at all.

Just when the old man thought the game would continue, Ye Beixuan suddenly made a big losing move, which stunned the old man.

"It is true that even the wisest man can make mistakes!" After saying this, the old man dropped his last piece, stroked his beard and laughed without saying a word.

Ye Beixuan was stunned for a moment, then he laughed out loud. The white piece in his hand suddenly emitted a bright light. Snap! Then he dropped the piece heavily.

The old man who had just been laughing suddenly stopped laughing, with an expression of disbelief on his face.

Then he stroked his beard and smiled slightly, "Good, good, good chess, you fought back with one move, and I lose with a sincere heart." After saying "good" three times in a row, he stood up and bowed.

Ye Beixuan let out a long breath and said, "Can you tell me now where the road is?"

The old man stroked his long beard, smiled slightly and said, "Actually, the path is in your heart."

In my heart? What path is there in my heart? A highway? A road? A waterway? Or perhaps the path to immortality?

"I have no idea." Ye Beixuan didn't want to play tricks and said directly.

Now he realized that pretending to be superior was really annoying, and what was even more annoying than pretending to be superior was others pretending to be superior in front of him.

"Hahahaha." The old man stroked his beard and laughed, "Look around carefully, where is the road?"

Ye Beixuan suddenly looked up and around, only then realizing that the surroundings had changed so much that he no longer recognized them. Where was the path he had just taken? The only thing that remained unchanged was the chessboard.

"Where did you come from?" Ye Beixuan asked subconsciously.

"There is no such thing as a way. It's just that when more people walk on it, it becomes a road. If no one walks on it, there will no longer be a road. Look, no one has walked here for a hundred years, so naturally there is no road." The old man smiled.

Hundreds of years? Has it been a hundred years? Impossible, this is impossible. If so many years have passed, then they...
Stay calm, don't panic. Ye Beixuan calmed himself down and thought carefully, knowing that it was no accident that he came here.

So he asked, "Where is this place?"

The old man stroked his beard and smiled, "This is in your heart."

"." If he could kick someone, what Ye Beixuan wanted to do most at this moment was to kick him a few times, step on his head, pull his beard and question him, asking him if he was still pretending to be a master.

But he still swallowed his anger and said calmly: "Then who are you? What is your purpose in bringing me here?"

"As for me! I am you." After saying that, the old man waved his hand, and an identical old man Ye Beixuan stood beside him.

Ye Beixuan's pupils shrank. They were too similar, even he couldn't tell them apart. But he still said calmly, "You are me, then who am I?"

This round of questions and answers even confused Ye Beixuan himself.

(End of this chapter)