The Way of the Blind Girl Chess Saint

Wow, wow, wow, is this the Luo family's inherited chess formation?! I've never seen such a terrifying chess formation before.

Ji Qiuyao, looking terrified and breathing heavily, clutched her chest with both hands and hid against a maze wall.

This is a huge maze shrouded in mist, surrounded by countless enormous chess pieces. Ji Qiuyao stands in this maze like a dwarf, running frantically through the endless maze.

"Where are you?"

Not far from her, around the corner, a cute little girl with long, dark green hair was wearing a dark, floor-length Taoist robe. In her right hand, she held a dark green spear that was more than a meter long, with a strand of withered yellow hair hanging from the tip.

The dark green spear was engraved with ancient patterns, and the ornate spear looked slightly out of place in the hands of the petite girl.

"Where are you? Stop struggling in vain... It's ugly, woman."

Luo Zhuyu's face was icy cold. Her right hand skillfully twirled the spear as she slowly walked towards Ji Qiuyao's position.

"Phew, no way! I absolutely can't let her catch me, or I'll lose!!"

Ji Qiuyao pondered for a while before continuing her escape through the maze. She knew that she was currently only the soul of her original body, and had been forcibly drawn in by Luo Zhuyu's chess moves.

Presumably, her true form is currently playing chess with Luo Zhuyu, but... if I die in the maze, then my dragon will be killed by her!!

pat...

Holding a black chess piece, Ji Qiuyao gently placed her right hand on the chessboard. A bead of cold sweat slid down her cheek, and she could feel a chill running from her toes straight to her head.

What's going on... what happened? I've felt something was off since just now; she was radiating an ominous aura.

Luo Zhuyu stared blankly with her two dark green pupils, her long dark green hair rustling loudly in front of the air conditioner.

She glanced at the chessboard, and with a thud, Luo Zhuyu placed a white chess piece onto the board. The white piece, like a sharp spear, abruptly severed the black pieces in the middle, causing Ji Qiuyao's brows to furrow deeply.

If she chooses to cut directly, although it's a common move, it will greatly affect her own shape. If two cuts are exposed, she can only choose to remedy one of them.

In Go, a "cutting point" is a point where one player's position can be cut off by the opponent.

Huff, huff, huff.

The magnificent dark green spear spun in Luo Zhuyu's hand, and her expressionless face made her look as cold and robotic as a robot from afar.

She wore two dark green embroidered shoes and carried a dark green spear in her right hand as she slowly chased after Ji Qiuyao. Suddenly, an ominous smile appeared on her cold face.

Boom!! A huge beam of dark green light shot out instantly, and Ji Qiuyao, who was several buildings away, widened her eyes in an instant.

Boom! Dozens of stone walls were pierced by the dark green beam of light from the spear, and a large amount of blood slid down Ji Qiuyao's right arm. She gritted her teeth.

Although I can't feel any pain... I have to run fast, because the interval between her attacks is very long!!

With her long, dry, yellow hair tossing, Ji Qiuyao crouched down and slowly crawled up from a small gap in a maze.

Huff, huff.

Thud... Ji Qiuyao placed a black chess piece between her fingers and slowly withdrew her arm.

……it's wired.

Ji Qiuyao suddenly shook her forehead. A feeling of fatigue came from the depths of her soul. What was wrong? Was she too nervous? She felt a little tired.

Luo Zhuyu picked up a white chess piece from the white chess box, remained silent for a while, then put the white chess piece down and placed her hands flat on her knees, lost in thought.

--------------------------------------------

Inside the maze, Luo Zhuyu, carrying a dark green spear, began to shake her dark green hair as she searched for the hidden Ji Qiuyao.

Her "Chess Strategy: Spear Dance Reincarnation" is a family-inherited chess strategy from the Luo family, a renowned Go family. It is an extremely powerful and terrifying chess strategy.

As long as they kill the opponent's soul in the maze, they can eat their pieces. The maze has no exit, and their only way is to hide until the game ends... Under her chess skills, Ji Qiuyao is constantly consuming excess energy.

After her soul was injured, an extreme sense of fatigue overwhelmed her.

Of course... Luo Zhuyu's chess moves are not without flaws. For example, she plays very slowly because she has to be distracted by calculating the game while chasing her opponent in the game.

Under the cool breeze of the air conditioner, Luo Zhuyu gently swayed her dark green hair, glancing at the timer on her right-hand side near her chessboard with a slightly icy expression.

Nine minutes... Only nine minutes left.

With a click, after she gently tapped the timer, Luo Zhuyu frowned, her dark eyebrows furrowing, and her expression turned somewhat unpleasant.

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Boom!!

In the center of the maze, another dark green light shot out from Luo Zhuyu's right hand. The dark green light pierced through countless walls and struck Ji Qiuyao. A thick mass of blood suddenly burst out of her left arm, and her left hand was severed at the root by Luo Zhuyu's spear.

Luo Zhuyu twirled his dark green spear, watching Ji Qiuyao's retreating figure in the distance. Gradually, he sheathed the spear... The outcome was decided.

"Phew, what's going on?! Something's not right!!"

At the same time, the black chess piece in Ji Qiuyao's right hand fell from her palm onto the table and spun twice. She vigorously shook her long, dry, yellow hair.

Since just now... I've had this inexplicable feeling of fatigue, it's strange.

Ruffled her dry, yellow hair, looked up at Luo Zhuyu's ominous smile, and suddenly froze.

Could it be... that I've unknowingly fallen into her trap? Oh no... I've been outmaneuvered! Ji Qiuyao rubbed her forehead, feeling a headache coming on.

Given my current physical condition, it's probably too late to start a new game. The momentum won't last long. Although my black stones managed to live with great difficulty, defeat is inevitable...

However... I still have one last sliver of hope!!

Ji Qiuyao couldn't help but glance at Luo Zhuyu's timer... She actually... had already started counting down? The game wasn't even completely over in the middle game yet... I still have a chance in the endgame.

"Naive," Luo Zhuyu said softly, her dark green pupils narrowed.

Chapter 108: The Winning Streak Holder

The rain poured down relentlessly, filling the windows of the venue with water. Countless raindrops pattered against the windows. The venue was dimly lit, making the room feel somewhat gloomy even in broad daylight.

"Phew, I heard it's going to rain heavily for several days in the entire Crescent Province... I hope it won't cause any trouble for the competition."

Standing in front of the door, the stunningly beautiful girl with long, fiery red hair looked up at the sky shrouded in dark clouds.

She also remembers that on the day she became a professional player, it was raining just as heavily.

Within minutes, the outdoor ground was already covered with rainwater, and many chess players who had finished their matches stood in front of the door waiting for the hotel's dedicated staff to bring them umbrellas.

"What, are there still a few games over there that haven't finished? It looks like a lot of people are counting down the seconds," a referee asked as he walked over. Several games at the very front of the venue were still being watched by a large number of people.

After all, the players usually leave right after finishing their game, but today, with the heavy rain, they were eager to watch someone else's match.

Snap... Snap.

"Hoo," Ji Yingting breathed a soft sigh of relief. Above the starry chessboard, a huge, greenish-blue creature called Forgive Cat sat crouching, with a magnificent, enormous creature pressing down on its green rear end.

The cat that was pressing down on the Nine-Tailed Autumn Water Butterfly's head was like putting a bright green hat on her head.

She won... Ji Yingting placed the white chess piece into the chessboard with a thud in her right hand. For her, who was already able to fully unleash the chess moves of Azure Cat Devouring the Moon and use the fusion chess move of Frost Forgive Cat, maintaining the initial form of Forgive Cat was very easy.

With her pale green hair styled in a shaggy style, Ji Yingting lowered her eyelids and closed her pale green pupils. When she opened her eyes again, they had turned back to pale purple.

"Ah, it's already over?... Wow, that's amazing, I couldn't understand their game at all," a player standing near the chessboard exclaimed in surprise.

Because there are no level restrictions in the provincial competition, people from amateur fourth dan to amateur ninth kyu, and even those without a level, can participate in the provincial competition, such as Ji Yingting.

Unlike the city-level competitions, which are grouped by rank, the skill gap among players in the provincial-level competitions is enormous.

"I won by 6 points, do I still need to count?" Ji Yingting asked calmly. Hua Shenxi had already played very well without him using his full strength. If she had played white, the gap between the two players would have been even smaller.

As is well known, with a basic komi of seven and a half points, Black is at a disadvantage when trying to enclose territory against White.

Well……

Hua Shenxi rested her chin on her hands, staring at the chessboard with a complicated expression for a while. A few seconds later, she pursed her lips and slowly shook her pink pear-shaped hair.

"Fine, you win, you win. Seriously, don't tell me after you've revealed the plot. Spoilers are so boring. Can't you give me a little more hope?" Hua Shenxi said, tidying her pink pear-shaped hair with obvious dissatisfaction.

"...Six and a half points should be a difference that high-level players can see at a glance," Ji Yingting said somewhat speechlessly, but she also understood the gambler's mentality of Hua Shenxi.

"Hmph, it's precisely because knowing the outcome beforehand is so boring that I never reveal the goal," Hua Shenxi said gently as she stood up from her seat. Above the starry sky, the nine-tailed butterfly that had been sat on by the forgiveness cat instantly dissipated into starlight.

After Hua Shenxi's chess moves disappeared, the giant turquoise cat gradually became transparent, Ji Yingting's long turquoise hair was blown by the cold wind, and the cat quickly disappeared as well.

"Really? Is she really not going to reveal her goal? She seems to be quite good at chess," several chess players standing to the side whispered among themselves.

"Huh? The results are out over there too. Ji Bingyuan won! Another player with a seven-game winning streak. After this round, only three players will remain on a winning streak."

Ji Yingting's ears perked up quietly. Sitting to Hua Shenxi's right, a girl with short, ice-blue bangs covering her eyes gently tidied up the chess pieces.

"Damn it... Hmph, I've lost two rounds now." A little girl with long white hair slammed her hand on the table in frustration. Her name was Luo Qiu'er.

A bald man named Wu Ke, dressed in referee's uniform, stood near the group. Referee Bai Li took out his notebook and recorded the results of the two rounds. Both Ji Bingyuan and Ji Yingting maintained a seven-game winning streak.

Next... there's only one match left, the match between Ji Qiuyao and Luo Zhuyu at the first table in the competition venue.

As the torrential rain pounded against the window, all the chess players gathered around the first table, where a little girl with long, dark green hair and a woman with long, withered yellow hair were playing a game that appeared to have ended.

A few drops of cold sweat slid down Ji Qiuyao's cheeks as she frantically thought through the thirty seconds of countdown. Luo Zhuyu's expression was also somewhat grim; her slender left hand anxiously kneaded her long, dark green hair, because only one single ko remained on the chessboard!

"pat"

"pat"

"pat"

"pat"

"Woman, what are you still persisting in? Even if you win this round, you've already lost by half a point. Admit defeat. In the end, I won by one and a half points."

Luo Zhuyu opened her dark green pupils and spoke calmly, taking a black chess piece from the chessboard with her right hand.

With a "thud," Ji Qiuyao silently placed a piece, bringing the ko back to normal. Both sides entered the countdown phase, and there were still many ko threats on the board.

"Why don't you give up? Even if you don't want this setback, you can still win by half a point, right?" Ji Qiuyao said slowly after wiping the cold sweat from her cheeks. She reached out and tapped the timer.

As for what Luo Zhuyu said, Ji Qiuyao completely ignored it.

Even if she wins this battle, she will still lose half a point. Ji Qiuyao simply doesn't believe that Luo Zhuyu, whose timer has already entered the countdown, will have time to count the points.

"If you don't believe me, fine, but you'll be the one who loses face in the end anyway," Luo Zhuyu sneered.

"No one is allowed to interfere with their opponent during a game of chess. Anyone who makes a sound again will lose," Bai Li interrupted the two men's conversation in time, and the sound of pieces being captured echoed on the chessboard once again.

Three minutes later, Luo Zhuyu raised her slender, fair right arm and placed the last white piece onto the chessboard.

I have one more ko threat than Black... I won this ko.