The Way of the Blind Girl Chess Saint

The snow-blue sleeves fluttered gently, held tenderly by a small hand that emerged from the fiery red sleeves.

The two walked quietly through the Ji family's courtyard. Ji Yingting let the evening breeze blow her long, light green hair, which hung down to her hips, swaying rhythmically.

Of course, Ji Hongying's hair is much shorter than before.

Even though it grew a little longer during this period, it only barely reached my neck, which is considered medium-short hair.

However... her current look suits her better than her previous long hair. Her arched lion eyebrows are full of heroic spirit, and her fiery red eyes are even more eye-catching.

"I don't want to go home..." Ji Yingting suddenly said halfway through the walk.

Her voice was very different from Ji Hongying's; her nasal tone was very low, and whatever she said always sounded like a whisper, very ethereal.

"I'm tired," Ji Hongying said, not letting go of Ji Yingting's small hand, but instead pulling it tightly, even sweating a little.

I don't want to.

"I think"

"........."

"I don't want to see my dad and mom."

I didn't want to either.

"..."

I don't want to go home.

"Um"

"Huh?" Ji Yingting was slightly taken aback upon hearing Ji Hongying's affirmation.

"I'm not going home."

"Then how will we sleep?"

"I'm not going to sleep."

But I'm sleepy.

"I'm sleepy too," Ji Hongying said, looking somewhat tired.

"..."

"Then... let's go home?" Ji Yingting muttered softly.

“I don’t want to go home,” Ji Hongying said.

"Why?" This time it was Ji Yingting's turn to be puzzled.

"Because I don't want my parents to see you; I want to be with you alone."

"........."

Ji Yingting remained silent, and Ji Hongying did not reply.

The two walked silently along the edge of the path; they had already passed their home but did not go in.

The Ji family's residence was very large, and it took them a long time to walk there.

Under the pale green moonlight, Ji Yingting was led by her to a somewhat empty grassland.

Because it was so open, the evening breeze was quite strong, blowing her long, light green hair into the sky, where it fluttered gently.

Fortunately, since it was springtime, the two of them didn't feel cold.

Ji Hongying knew that Ji Yingting liked this place very much because when she was little... her older sister would often walk the cat here to eat grass, and she came here every day.

When her older sister walks the cat to eat grass, she stands to the side, looking up at the birds in the trees... or just spacing out.

Before learning Go, she never initiated conversations with anyone.

But now, the cat is gone, and the bird is gone too.

However... the two of them are still there.

Of course, everything around us has changed. Dad has changed, Mom has changed, everyone has changed, everything has changed.

Their inner feelings, however, seemed to have never changed, yet also seemed to have changed a lot.

Perhaps, they have simply changed from strange people to... still strange people.

It's strange, but Ji Hongying is very happy today.

Chapter 404: A Single-Colored Chess Piece [Blade Bounty]

"pat..."

Under the moonlight, Ji Yingting gently picked up a white chess piece.

An outdoor ice stone chessboard and ice jade chess pieces are peacefully placed under the night sky.

Inside the Ji family's courtyard, there were many such chessboards and pieces, but they were ultimately just decorations...

Because this is a set of chess pieces of one color.

The chess pieces are not black or white, but rather oval-shaped pieces of ice-blue jade. Playing chess on such a board would leave even the most skilled player at a loss.

Once you can see a piece of a single color that is completely connected, it is even more difficult to judge than blindfold chess.

Of course... for professional Go players, it's not a problem to hold out until the middle game thanks to their powerful calculations.

In the starry chessboard, the face of a girl with fiery red short hair came into Ji Yingting's view. For a moment... she thought she was seeing herself.

Is that so, Hongying? So this is what you look like? This posture is almost identical to mine. You are beautiful.

A slight smile appeared on her pink cherry lips as Ji Yingting spun the ice-blue chess piece wildly between her fingers.

pat...

An ice-blue chess piece fell into Ji Yingting's lower left corner, and Ji Hongying made her first move with black.

pat...

Ji Yingting also placed the chessboard in the star position in the upper right corner.

Pat, pat, pat, pat.

The number of ice-blue pieces on the chessboard gradually increased, and no matter how they were placed, they remained ice-blue. Placing ice-blue pieces on an ice-blue chessboard had a terrifyingly confusing effect on the naked eye.

Both sides understand that they can only rely on their calculation ability to calculate blindly... and cannot rely on their eyes. In fact, the more they look at the shapes, the worse their memory of the chess pieces becomes.

Ji Hongying frowned slightly, her fiery red eyebrows furrowing, while Ji Yingting remained completely calm.

"Has your chess position... changed?"

As Ji Yingting placed a piece, he asked a question. It was only when the two of them passed by a chessboard that Ji Hongying suggested playing chess.

“No…” Ji Hongying raised her fiery red sleeves and placed the ice-blue chess piece down.

She herself felt that her behavior was a bit strange, and her chess moves today were not quite comfortable. Of course, it is difficult to judge the situation when playing with only one color of chess.

Despite being professional Go players, they obediently started playing basic opening moves in front of a team with only one color of Go stones.

"Why?" Ji Yingting raised her green willow eyebrows and casually placed an ice-blue chess piece.

"Since the Ji family's chess strategy is definitely not as strong as mine, and it cannot surpass my own strategy, why waste time?"

Ji Hongying spoke earnestly, her fiery red eyes seemingly burning with brilliant flames. She had terrifying confidence in her chess skills...

When she was eight years old, she awakened her own chess strategy... Eclipse.

That was the strongest, most dazzling chess position in the world, and... that was herself.

Her body looked even more slender and frail than Ji Yingting's, but her soul should be as fiery as the sun; that was the true Ji Hongying.

Ji Yingting narrowed her pale purple eyes slightly. She could tell that Ji Hongying wasn't joking...

Of course, she was different from Ji Hongying, because she saw the Moon-Swallowing Demon Rabbit, the little rabbit that was watching over her eternal life.

Only then can one understand what a wondrous feeling it was, that power, that arrogance, that life... It suits me much better than the Green Cat Devouring the Moon.

pat...

Ji Yingting placed another ice-blue chess piece; neither of them gave it much thought.

Of course... if you put normal pieces on this board, while you can't say they played badly, it would be hard to believe they were professional players.

A fast game without thinking, plus a single color of chess pieces.

They didn't know why they were playing such a strange game of Go at this time and place.

It was already very late at night, and they were exhausted, yet they continued mechanically placing the chess pieces.

However, this game of chess... will be different from now on.

pat...

With a flick of her snow-blue sleeves, Ji Yingting gently placed an ice-blue chess piece, making a soft clattering sound.

Of course, this move was slightly different from the previous ones... somewhat strange and eerie.

Um……?

Finally, Ji Hongying slowly put down the ice-blue chess piece in her hand, her fiery red eyes staring at Ji Yingting for a while.

Her pale purple starry eyes were slightly narrowed, like squinting eyes with only a slit open, as if she were provoking me.

The move Ji Yingting just made was a terrible move, a really bad and malicious one.

Moreover... she did it on purpose, she deliberately made this move.

Although their moves didn't seem like the kind of moves a professional player would make, to an outsider there wasn't much of a problem; they just couldn't determine their skill level.

But... Ji Yingting's move just now seemed like a suicide mission.

At a time like this... to deliberately break things up and then create a trap? She wanted to embarrass herself, to prevent her calculations from lasting until the very end.

Ji Hongying's red eyes twitched slightly a few times; she understood Ji Yingting's mindset somewhat.

She didn't simply want to win the game; she wanted to prevent herself from making any more moves, to lose her ability to judge the game's structure amidst the ever-increasing number of ice-blue pieces on the ice-blue chessboard.

She wanted to create an extremely complex battle with herself in a game of chess... and then force herself to admit defeat.