The Way of the Blind Girl Chess Saint

She squinted her eyes, and after a brief moment of thought, Ji Yingting nodded gently, her long, light green hair swaying up and down with her nod.

"Thud!" Ji Yingting placed her piece.

How could this be! She's taken off her clothes again! Could she not even be at the rank of a professional?!

"Impossible. Although I didn't see their opening moves, the black pieces' shape is something no one without skill could possibly have achieved," Fei Qiluo shook her head in denial.

He looked down in shock at the black stone that Ji Yingting had just placed. With this move, she had chosen to block the white stone in the upper right corner.

Although this blocked all of White's escape routes, the entire board was almost completely taken over by Black.

But... is she confident she can kill the white pieces at the bottom of the board? Three consecutive moves for the white pieces... can she calculate blindly?

………………

Chapter 26: Fairness

I am very tall, extremely tall.

Ever since I started elementary school, I've noticed that... my height is a bit abnormal compared to my classmates.

Many people say... I should play basketball, because "two meters" is only considered normal height in basketball.

However, I don't like playing basketball at all. I only learned for a month before giving up. What's so fun about a game where you can score a goal with just a slight lift of your arm?

Later... my mom took me to learn volleyball again. This time I only learned for a week. What's so fun about a game where you can just lift your arm and hit the ball back?

Then... I came across chess... This time, I studied it for two months.

Because my height doesn't give me any advantage in playing chess... this gave me a long-lost sense of fairness and fulfillment.

"Teacher, why does chess stipulate that the red side moves first? Doesn't moving first offer an advantage? For example, being able to use the cannon to capture the opponent's horse at the very beginning of the game?"

"Then your cannon will get eaten by the vehicle..."

"Oh, I see. Chess is a game where Red doesn't have a cannon and Black doesn't have a knight."

"..."

Eventually, I learned Go.

"Teacher, why is it stipulated that Black moves first in Go? Doesn't moving first give you an advantage? For example, you have a few more points than White at the start of the game."

"Hahaha, Black needs a seven and a half point advantage over White to win... so actually, more people prefer to use White."

I play Go because, in my opinion, it's an absolutely fair game.

But it wasn't until that moment that I realized... Go is not a fair game at all.

I was so wrong...

If someone's chess skills are many times better than yours, is it still a fair game?

If someone lets you take several steps ahead and can still kill you, is that still a fair game?

I've never felt such a strong urge to be taller as I did in that instant...

But even if I become taller, incredibly tall, will I be able to escape that sky-covering cage?

Because, compared to the entire starry sky, my height is still too insignificant...

I watched in disbelief as five fuzzy, bluish-green fingers fell from the starry sky, obscuring the universe.

It was an enormous cat... bigger than the starry sky... a bluish-green cat.

"Click"

............................

"I see...."

Ji Yingting sat alone in front of the chessboard, lost in thought. It was late, and people were leaving one after another, but she remained quietly pondering on the starry chessboard.

Minghai Ji Middle School finally won today, defeating Yuqu Middle School 3-2, their first victory since the training camp began.

Of course, Xin Yufei still lost; she unfortunately lost by three points.

Ji Yingting turned her head slightly, her star-filled purple eyes gazing at the huge blue cat behind her. The cat, with its green fur, tilted its head in disbelief.

Today's setup was deliberately created by her to draw out this illusion.

[Bang] As a wisp of smoke dissipated, the starry sky returned to its original tranquility, with countless stars scattered throughout, beautiful and mysterious.

Ji Yingting thought of Wang Jun again, and the black Libra that could be seen with the naked eye. She frowned and pondered for a moment. Could it be that what she saw before was not her own illusion?

Today's layout is somewhat similar to the layout she casually made on the first day when her memories were just awakened, during her battle with Lin Hao.

At the time, Ji Yingting didn't look closely; she just felt something strange blowing on her head and tickling her.

She initially thought it was Wang Xi, who was leaning against her, acting silly, so she didn't pay any attention.

It wasn't until then that Ji Yingting realized something was wrong.

It seems that her victory over Wang Jun was not entirely due to her own abilities, but also to the seemingly illusory comet collision and meteor bombardment.

That was the perfect move, a move that resonated with one's own heart and mind.

"Then we'll have to try it one more time."

So... Ji Yingting deliberately played defensively today to increase her opponent's survival rate, but... that group of stones was almost impossible to kill.

In such a chaotic situation, it is not uncommon for top professional chess players to spend hours in deep thought.

But in Ji Yingting's eyes, her leaving meant she lived, and her killing meant she died.

If anyone were to notice, they would see that Ji Yingting's pale purple starry eyes would turn into pale green moonlight eyes.

Three or four spots on the chessboard glowed with a bluish light, seemingly guiding her. Whenever she placed a piece in one of these spots, she could potentially kill her opponent's piece.

No, that's not right!!!

It wasn't the blue light guiding her, but rather her fingers guiding the blue light; it was she herself who had become stronger, transforming into a blue-green cat.

The emerald green light was serene and beautiful; the cat's moves were absolutely perfect, far superior to a dazzling meteor falling from the sky, or a fierce comet crashing down like a meteorite...

The light green cat was deep in thought, its head bowed.

It wasn't that reckless comet, but it was also one.

If we have to say, then the green cat is the complete form of the comet, only the starry chessboard and the meteor comet, not the complete form of Ji Yingting's chess position!

She understood a little.

Only under special circumstances can one fully transform into a cat; under normal circumstances, the chess position is like a comet collision.

Ji Yingting pursed her lips, and the giant cat with green fur casually placed a piece, swallowing the tiny "giant" into its belly.

Actually, she hadn't finished calculating yet, but based on her chess intuition, she knew it was the absolutely correct choice.

...........

Five black pieces fell into the game in succession. Han Wei stared blankly at the chessboard, seemingly possessed. His white pieces... were dead?

Even though she had almost given up her chance, I still couldn't secure a kill.

His tall figure now appeared rather forlorn and melancholic.

Tick-tock.

A tear slid down my cheek.

In that instant, I understood...

There is no such thing as fairness in this world, and there never has been. Even mountains and rivers have their ups and downs, and Go is certainly not a fair game.

She's better than me... that's inherently unfair.

There are many people better than me... as many as the stars in the sky.

To achieve fairness, one must become stronger, then climb the boundless path of the stars, becoming stronger than anyone else!

Go is not a fair game...

However, this time, I did not give up on Go, nor did I give up because of the unfair rules.

It's not because there's no fairer game in the world than Go.

It's because... I've come to like Go...

Chapter 27: Night Talk

With a clattering sound, a can of beverage fell out of the vending machine.

"What would you like to drink?" Fei Qiluo gently picked up a can of cola and turned to look at the figure with long, light green hair beside her.

"Murderous banana!" Ji Yingting said, extending a slender white finger.

"Ah, thank goodness there's only one can left. I heard it's the most popular drink among kids these days..."

"Thank you," Ji Yingting said, holding the plastic can in her small, gloved hands.

The moonlight was pale green, and the snow kept falling, creating a vast white world.

Ji Yingting wore a large white hat, squinted her eyes, and only a few soft, bluish-green strands of hair fell from the edge of the hat and draped over her chest.

"So, what brings you out so late?" Ji Yingting asked softly, taking a small sip of her drink.

"I'm telling you... you really are Ji Hongying's sister, aren't you?" Fei Qiluo leaned against the edge of the fence outside the hotel and said calmly.

His tone was as if he had already made up his mind, and he didn't care if Ji Yingting didn't tell him.

Are you curious about that?

Ji Yingting frowned; she was somewhat puzzled.

Why does Fei Qiluo keep trying to find out this? If he knew Ji Hongying... wouldn't it be better to just ask her directly?

"Um...because I like her."

"..."