The Way of the Blind Girl Chess Saint

Beneath her snow-blue uniform skirt, she wore two pairs of white over-the-knee stockings, maintaining a perfect leg shape despite her unrestrained diet. With the aid of blind boots that corrected her gait, Ji Yingting walked just like anyone else.

Winning the match was certainly exciting, but... this game was much easier than I expected. Her pale purple eyes narrowed to slits as Ji Yingting hummed a song as she walked through the player tunnel.

"I see. Up close, she really is a rare beauty. Doesn't she look a lot like Ji Hongying? Her small eyes are so cute!"

In the corridor, three women with long black hair watched Ji Yingting's back, and Ke Jiuman admired them greatly.

"Hmm? Small eyes are cute? But she's blind." Ke Jiurui was slightly taken aback.

Just by looking at her squinty eyes, she would think Ji Yingting was a very fierce girl.

Unfortunately, the two didn't have much opportunity to communicate, and their last conversation in the new beginner's group was even banned. However, their next opponent was Ji Yingting's younger sister... Ji Hongying from the Ji family.

In stark contrast to the Ji family team, who were on high alert, the other two members of the Ke family already considered the Three Lives Cup championship theirs for the taking.

Ji Heiyu gently tossed her hair with her small, red-manicured hands. "Oh, right, I've changed my mind. Let me go first in the first round."

"Hey! Didn't Miss Blackfish just say she didn't want to play chess with those players from the Ji family?"

Ke Jiurui asked in confusion, and the black-haired girl also looked at Ji Heiyu with a puzzled expression.

The next moment, the girl gently untied her hair ribbon.

Her jet-black hair cascaded down to her waist like a waterfall, her three-pronged, flat-topped hairstyle ending at her ear tips.

"I may not want to, but... just like becoming a professional Go player, to win thirty games, you have to overcome all your opponents. For me, this is a transformation. A... necessary path to becoming the Honinbo."

Ji Heiyu's eyes focused on a single point, glancing sideways at the calm-looking black-haired girl. Through the battle between Ke Jiuman and Manyue Chess Academy, Ji Heiyu had seen many things clearly.

Although she defeated Feng Shen in place of Ke Jiuman, it was clearly not Feng Shen's peak condition.

If she were the first to go up, then... if Feng Shen, Ke Jiuman, or even Feng Kuangyu himself came, could she really defeat them?

If it were her, not Ji Yingting, playing against the three members of the Luo family today.

If it weren't Xia Tianran who would face Luo Dule in the quarterfinals, but herself...

"Thinking back to the professional exams, there were occasionally players I felt were very strong and didn't want to play against... But when I came to my senses, I found them kneeling in front of the chessboard, weeping bitterly. That's the cruelty of the professional path."

"Game after game, I grew rapidly in a very short time; this is fate."

The year Ji Heiyu became a professional Go player was perhaps a coincidence. In the five games she ultimately won, all five players were just one game away from becoming professional Go players.

"My strength is far from sufficient. My Go skills have not yet been fully unleashed. My... Honinbo title..."

Ji Heiyu's words to the two members of the Ke family seemed like a provocation, but Ke Jiurui was helpless.

"Miss Blackfish, no one in the Ke family can stop you from winning the Honinbo title this year."

Ke Jiurui whispered, but Xiaoman Ancestor didn't react much, because everyone already knew about it. Ke Jiurui was unable to play, and the Honinbo semi-finals were postponed for a year.

The Ke family also placed their only hope on Ke Jiuyou, a 25-year-old professional 8th dan...

However, Sister Jiuyou's record this year is simply explosive! She suffered seven consecutive losses in the top league, and she was completely defeated when facing players who were not as good as her, let alone playing against Miss Heiyu... Ji Heiyu is almost universally recognized as the new generation Honinbo in the Moon Go world.

Xiaoman believes that winning the Honinbo title once is completely unimportant, as long as she can win it back next time...

Ke Jiurui clenched her fists inwardly. Losing time and time again, she had been insignificant since birth, and her career had declined after reaching the professional level.

In just three short years, the once-mighty family has fallen into decline. Perhaps, the fate of the Ke family has truly come to an end.

Just as Ke Jiurui was lost in thought, the black-haired girl yawned and said, "No matter what, Miss Black Fish should beat that guy from the Ji family first... I really want to see what the Go skills of the so-called 'Number One Go Family on the Moon' are like."

As soon as Ke Jiuman finished speaking, the three of them looked across the corridor at the brightly lit chess hall...

A petite girl with long, curly black and yellow hair walked out. She was Ji Tuntao, a professional fourth-dan player. She took a deep breath and silently sat down at the chess table.

"Good luck"

As Ji Heiyu walked into the chess hall, the black-haired girl suddenly kicked Ke Jiurui's butt.

"Snapped!"

"Ah! Xiaoman, what are you doing?"

Ke Jiurui blushed and asked with a strange expression.

"Xiao Rui, answer me, are you the strongest professional Go player under eighteen in the Ke family?"

"Hmm? I think so..."

"What do you mean by 'should'? Didn't you pass all the professional assessments?"

"But... the professional exams in Di Yue Province are relatively simple, and last year the Go Association also prohibited cross-province exams, so there's basically no difficulty."

"Hey, then tell me, what is strong, and how can one be weak? Looking at the entire moon, how many amateur Go players are there? How many professional Go players are there? Are there really any weak professional Go players?"

"I..." Ke Jiurui was a little stunned. It was the first time she had ever seen Xiaoman so serious.

The black-haired girl's eyes narrowed. "The Ke family has long since stopped playing Go. You... are merely chasing that illusory, unrealistic title called 'Honinbo,' which can even surpass the titles of Meijin and Kisei."

"..."

"Ugly desires, the shackles of aristocratic families. I grieve, I pity, when did the Ke family begin to force even a young girl like you to accept such a fate?"

Fighting for the Honinbo title? Have you lost your way because of that thousand-year-old lineage's glory?

"..."

"Go was never created to cause pain to players, was it? Xiao Rui, you've never really looked at the expressions of other players, have you? Your smile is so bitter that I can't bear to look at it." Ke Jiu Man turned her head away.

………………

Tick, tick, tick...

Ke Jiurui never imagined that after suppressing her emotions for so long, after accumulating them for so long, after wanting to break free countless times, after wanting to explode countless times, she would ultimately still be helpless.

Tears, without my noticing, slid down my cheeks and onto my fingertips.

"Of course I know that kind of thing, I know it better than anyone! But!! No one expects anything from me, no one forced me to bear these shackles. Because everyone knows I'm weak, very weak, hopelessly weak, even Xia Tianran..."

Chapter 473: Ghost Beauty

"........."

“Even Xia Tianran… she…”

At this point, Ke Jiurui fell silent, letting her tears flow uncontrollably.

She understood, but couldn't comprehend...

Is it really true, as Xiaoman said, that wanting to bear more expectations... is a mistake?

Perhaps that heavy responsibility is a shackle for other chess players, like Sister Jiuyou and the other professional chess players from the Ke family.

However... Ke Jiurui has experienced indescribable ups and downs since birth.

Despite being the daughter of the Honinbo, she has absolutely no talent for Go.

She works harder than anyone else... Is this effort laughable? Is her love for Go fake?

Looking at her melancholy face, Ke Jiuman sighed softly, tiptoed, and patted Ke Jiurui's head. "Don't worry, I never said I disliked a child like you. What I said earlier was too aloof; don't overthink it."

"Ok?"

"Hmm, it's okay..." Ke Jiurui nodded obediently, though she was puzzled.

The two returned to the lounge, and Ke Jiuman's eyes followed the chessboard screen. However... recalling Ke Jiurui's expression earlier, her heart was filled with unease.

It's so similar...too similar.

Xiao Rui looks so much like her when she was little!!! She's just like the Ke family's... "First Honinbo".

The only difference is that she is just too strong, a chess player that even Ke Jiuman himself can hardly reach.

Even though Ke Jiurui was already used to the pressure, she performed better than other players when the Ke family declined. Little by little, she surpassed her peers who were once difficult to compete with, and barely became a professional player with a perfect record.

Unfortunately... her chess skills had ultimately reached their limit.

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

[Professional 6th Dan - Ji Heiyu] vs. [Professional 4th Dan - Ji Tuntao]

"Thud!!"

With a light, delicate sound, Ji Heiyu's jade-like hand held a black piece and placed it on the star point in the upper right corner of the chessboard.

She squinted at Ji Tuntao. "In the Ji family... you should be considered a very talented professional chess player, right? I've seen far too many ordinary geniuses, or monsters from aristocratic families. Actually, if it's not an opponent of this caliber, I wouldn't be interested at all."

What's wrong with this guy? He talks so much...

Ji Tuntao's eyes twitched a few times, but sweat kept pouring out from her forehead... What exactly is wrong?

Staring into Ji Heiyu's dark eyes, her presence was even more oppressive than her father's! Even more profound…

The surrounding air seemed to have sunk into an abyss, making it difficult to breathe. Ji Tuntao picked up a white piece and placed it at the small eye, but her small hand trembled uncontrollably.

"Little Peach... even your first move is so slow!"

Sitting in the bedroom, Ji Yingting used a small comb to comb her smooth, long, light green hair.

An Ruotong and Luo Zhuyu sat at the chess table with the chess manual laid out. Even though the Luo family had been eliminated, there was still one day left before the Three Lives Cup ended.

The three members of the Luo family were not in a hurry to set off back to Xinyue Province. After all, no one wanted to rush home to be scolded... An unimaginable ending. The lineup that was thought to be the strongest in this Three Lives Cup stopped at the top four.

An Ruotong asked curiously, "Little Tuntao? When did Sister Yingting get to know that Ji family girl? I only know that she and Sister Hongying are very close."

"Wait, when did you meet Ji Hongying? And why are you calling her 'Sister Hongying' so intimately?" Luo Zhuyu's expression was somewhat strange.

"Oops! I let it slip!!"

Little peach...

Ji Yingting clenched her small hands, and her light green eyebrows furrowed slightly.

From Ji Tuntao's slow, deliberate move, she could vaguely sense her anxiety, even though she was a chess player who didn't seem to care much about winning or losing. She absolutely couldn't let herself be consumed by that strange aura emanating from her opponent.

Tap, tap, tap, tap... Black's star point is small, White's is small.

Her jade-like hand, with skin as smooth as cream, emerged from her black sleeve, placed a piece, and then rested it flat on her knee. Ji Heiyu's beautiful face during the game could even give one a strong sense of suffocation.

Blood-red eye makeup, startlingly eerie. However... even more captivating than her was her move... *thud!* The black piece pressed tightly against the white piece.

"........."