The Legend of Fangren

Chapter 162 Beast Chess

However, to bring the board games from the previous life to the Xuan Realm, some localization changes are needed. After all, even the most commonly heard of chess has historical anecdotes as its basis.

Therefore, Fang Shi does not plan to bring out a game with complex rules like chess. If he wants the other party to quickly understand and appreciate the fun, he needs a game with simple and easy-to-learn rules.

Go would be a good fit.

As one of the simplest board games in terms of rules, Go is a typical example of a game that is easy to learn but difficult to master.

Fang Shi took out a wooden board and used a knife to carve nineteen vertical and horizontal lines on it, weaving them into a square grid.

Upon seeing this, Huang Ying breathed a sigh of relief and said, "So it turns out that what Brother Fang likes is playing chess. I misunderstood."

"Hmm?" Fang Shi's heart skipped a beat. What? Could it be that the Xuan Realm also has a deep-rooted chess culture? If so, he would be proven wrong.

Huang Ying continued, "So the fun that Brother Fang was talking about was playing chess? I had forgotten for a moment. It does seem like something that children like to play."

Fang Shi was puzzled when he heard this. Why was playing chess something only children liked to do in the Xuan Realm?

"In that case, I'll give you a chess set." Since there was nothing wrong with Fang Shi's hobby, Huang Ying naturally still wanted to continue her bottle business.

She turned to the maid behind her and said, "Go to our carriage and get a set of animal chess that we usually play on the road, and show it to this young man."

"Oh?" Upon hearing the name "Animal Chess," Fang Shi immediately thought of the game of Fighting Animals. When the maid brought it over, it looked like a wooden box with grid lines carved on the back. After opening the lid and taking out the chess pieces, you could flip it over and start playing.

Each piece in the Animal Chess set is intricately carved with animal heads, many of which are mythical beasts that Fang Shi has seen before. Some of the others, which he has never seen before, may be special products from other regions.

Seeing Fang Shi's curious gaze, Huang Ying thought there was hope. Sure enough, no one is immune to the allure of money; those who don't simply haven't found what they truly love.

While the iron was hot, she introduced it to Fang Shi: "People play this animal chess in every realm. However, the pieces will vary depending on the animal species in each realm, but the rules are similar. Many children love to play it, and we merchants also play a few rounds when we have nothing to do while traveling."

The rules of Beast Chess are very simple. Each piece is a mythical beast that can devour each other. At the beginning, each player has nine pieces. These nine pieces are not ranked, but are divided into five elements and devour each other according to the principle of mutual generation and restraint.

The grid of the Animal Chess board is not a regular square grid, but a grid of lines that simulates various complex terrains. The artist first draws a simple background picture, and then connects irregular terrain lines in the background picture according to the terrain in the picture. Animal chess pieces move on the nodes where these lines intersect, to simulate the mythical beasts moving forward and hunting in the mountains and fields.

The chess pieces are essentially a tabletop simulation. Unlike the previous world, which had many dynasties that accumulated a large number of historical events, the main worries of the human race here come from natural disasters caused by wild beasts. Therefore, the objects simulated by the chess pieces are also due to this.

It's just that fighting between beasts is too simple. Although there are five elements that counteract each other, similar to the game of beast chess, if all the chess games in this world are of this level, it's no wonder that Huang Ying said it's something for children to play.

"How about it? If you're interested, shall we play a game now?"

"Alright."

Scratching his head, Fang Shi realized he hadn't played chess in a long time. Today, he suddenly had the idea to bring out the chess from his previous life, but he needed to get familiar with the chess in this world first, right? Otherwise, what would he rely on to promote his new chess method to others?

Huang Ying then had a maid bring over a small table and chairs. After all, she was tall, and it would be unseemly for her to sit directly on the ground, while squatting would be inconvenient for playing chess on the ground. The table was the most suitable place for her.

"Miss Huang still loves to have fun."

"Yeah, she keeps saying chess is for kids, but she's been asking us to play chess the whole way here, hasn't she?"

The male and female servants in the caravan huddled together whispering, while many passersby, attracted by Huang Ying's beauty, stopped to watch the game under the guise of observing the chess pieces, but in reality, their eyes were wandering and stealing glimpses of her beauty.

Before long, the two were exchanging blows.

Huang Ying coaxed him like a child, saying, "Young Master Fang is quite skilled. Have you played Animal Chess before? You've become proficient so quickly."

""

Fang Shi stared at the chessboard, his eyelids lowered: "I have fought against many mystical beasts in the mountains and rivers. The principle of this game is nothing more than the mutual generation and restraint of the five elements. I have practiced it a lot and understand it well."

Although it is a simple game, there are some tricks to it. Animal Chess reduces the diversity of pieces, but emphasizes the differences in terrain on the board.

Even from the perspective of both sides, the terrain distribution on the chessboard is not fair, presenting a situation of offense and defense.

In the blink of an eye, the two had finished three games, all won by Huang Ying. Seeing the smug little expression on her face, Fang Shi thought to himself, "Who was it that said only children like to play this kind of chess?"

Unfortunately, the game was a bit too simple, and the onlookers were getting a little bored. If it weren't for Huang Ying's magnanimous spirit, they probably would have scattered long ago.

"Alright, Brother Fang, we've had our fun after three rounds. Let's talk about business."

Although Huang Ying has some quirky habits that seem to contrast with her personality, the chess game she just played was indeed just a social obligation, and ultimately it was for business.

Furthermore, her abrupt removal of the chessboard would only make Fang Shi, who was still unsatisfied, fall into her business trap.

However, after Fang Shi and the other maids took away the chessboard, they brought up their own wooden board with squares carved on it, and also took out two small wooden boxes from their person.

"Miss Huang, you were playing your game just now, how about you play mine?"

"This is also acceptable." Huang Ying assumed that Fang Shi was still young and was still upset about losing a few games to others, so he wanted to gain an advantage by using his own rules of chess.

The square chessboard was rather uninteresting at first glance, and when the wooden box was opened, the chess pieces inside were just a pile of uncarved round pebbles.

Huang Ying frowned slightly, asking with some doubt, "Brother Fang, our chess pieces are only black and white, and the chessboard only has repetitive, monotonous squares. What's the point of playing this game?"

Not to mention Huang Ying had never seen it before, even the passersby from all over the country who were watching had never seen it before. This kind of chess game was so boring that Huang Ying's broad-mindedness couldn't keep the onlookers. They might as well go about their own business and save themselves from delaying their own work.

"Miss Huang, please listen to me explain the rules of the game; they are very simple and easy."

"Go ahead and tell me," Huang Ying sighed almost inaudibly, treating it as playing house with a child.