The Way of the Blind Girl Chess Saint

"Phew, referee, could you please count the pieces?" Luo Zhuyu breathed a sigh of relief, rubbing her dark green hair and closing her eyes.

173, 175, 177... White has won by half a point. Player Luo Zhuyu has won the game. Bai Li announced.

"Damn it... that brat! If only I had used my positional advantage earlier. If I had had enough ko threats in that last single-point ko, I would have won... This brat even dared to lie to me and say I lost by one and a half points. You only won by half a point after winning that ko, didn't you?"

Ji Qiuyao gritted her teeth. Her winning streak had been broken by this brat. Her long, dry, yellow hair cascaded down her back. Exhausted and weak all over, Ji Qiuyao lay back in her chair as if paralyzed.

[ps: As mentioned in the previous chapter, Ji Qiuyao wasn't without any strategic moves, but when she tried to use them, she found herself too tired to do so.]

Chapter 109: The Eighth Round

Boom!! A thunderbolt struck out of nowhere, black clouds covered the sky, and the entire Crescent Province, a third of the lunar landmass, was drenched by torrential rain.

The moon has four provinces: the Full Moon Province, the New Moon Province, the Imperial Moon Province, and the Crescent Moon Province.

However, the Province of the Crescent Moon is an island built on the edge of an artificial lunar sea, so there are only three provinces on the mainland: the Province of the Full Moon, the New Moon, and the Imperial Moon.

In the examination hall of Huangyue City, Crescent Moon Province, a boy with short, white spiky hair looked up at the window obscured by the torrential rain. The sound of the downpour could be heard even inside the examination hall.

"Today should be the provincial competition day, right..."

Lian Hezhou said in a low voice, his ice-blue pupils slightly dimmed.

At this time last year, he was winning a winning streak in Go competitions, but this year he is sitting in the middle school entrance exam hall, buried in his test papers.

However, he had already decided to retire from the world of Go... That's for the best.

1+1=2, Lian Hezhou wrote down the answer to a math problem, then twirled his pencil and continued to ponder.

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"Huff, huff, huff," Ji Yingting buried her head in her long, bluish-green hair. Li lay on the table, resting softly, her bluish-green eyebrows fluttering gently in profile.

"Sakuraba, aren't you going to have lunch?" Ji Hongying asked casually.

"Hmm... I'll wait here until the eighth round of the competition. Wake me up later." Ji Yingting yawned, then buried her head in the water lily-colored sleeve of her robe and continued to sleep.

Ji Yingting, 7 wins and 0 losses.

The provincial competition, which had been going on for several days in Crescent City, was nearing its end, with all the contestants only having three rounds left to compete in…

Then, as of this moment, three players have achieved a seven-game winning streak, which guarantees their promotion to amateur fifth dan.

Inside a hotel room, a girl with an ice-blue bun hairstyle and bangs covering her eyes sat quietly drinking tea on the sofa. Sitting opposite her was Ji Qiuyao, whose face was ashen and whose maple-leaf hair was slightly disheveled.

Ji Bingyuan, 7 wins and 0 losses.

Ji Qiuyao, six wins and one loss.

In the hotel restroom, a little girl with pink bob haircut sat on top of the toilet. Her pupils were pale pink and butterfly-shaped. She looked happy, and her two slender, fair thighs were exposed. A series of snoring sounds came from below her body.

Hua Shenxi has a record of six wins and one loss.

In her cubicle, a young girl with long black hair and blood-red eyes was also sitting on the toilet, staring blankly at the wall.

"Oh no, I can't completely empty my bladder..."

An Ruotong has a record of six wins and one loss.

In the cubicle next to the little girl with black hair and red eyes, there was another cute girl with long, dark green hair. She wasn't using the restroom; she was just holding a large, white steamed bun in her hands and taking small bites.

"It looks like we won't be able to use our positional advantage in this afternoon's game," she muttered to herself in a voice no one could hear.

Luo Zhuyu, 7 wins and 0 losses.

"Sakuraba-nee said she doesn't want to go out for dinner," the little girl with black buns said to a purple-haired girl, and she seemed to be in a good mood.

Xin Yufei, 5 wins and 2 losses.

Qi Yue, six wins and one loss.

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The eighth round of the Crescent City Provincial Tournament... after a long wait of noon for many players, is finally about to begin.

Boom!! Accompanied by several flashes of lightning, the sound of the torrential rain outside the window grew even louder. Ji Yingting gently rubbed her pale purple eyes, tossed her long, bluish-green hair, and climbed up from the table.

When the time came, many contestants began to enter the venue one after another.

Ji Yingting slowly opened her pale purple pupils and squinted at the starry chessboard. It was still table number 2, but this time she was playing black. Sitting opposite her was a girl with long, dry yellow hair, whose face looked somewhat stiff.

Ji Qiuyao... huh.

Ji Yingting thought to herself, "So she is the biological sister that Ji Bingyuan mentioned. She does look very much like Bingyuan, but her expression is a bit fierce, and she even has wrinkles on her forehead."

Ji Qiuyao tossed her long, withered yellow hair and took the white chess box off the chessboard. She was in a very low mood. She, who usually didn't look people in the eye, didn't even notice Ji Yingting's gaze.

But... when she looked up, she was suddenly stunned.

"Ji Hongying?"

"Ok?"

Ji Qiuyao said blankly. As soon as she finished speaking, Ji Yingting, who was looking down, froze for a moment, her green hair covering her eyes.

“But I’ve never heard of Ji Yingting in the Ji family before… But you two look so alike,” Ji Qiuyao said, resting her chin on her arm and frowning.

"........."

“Sister Qiuyao, her name is Ji Yingting, she is Aunt Qinghe’s niece… We met once when we were little… I’ve been forgetting to tell you,” Ji Bingyuan suddenly said.

Ji Qiuyao was playing white at table number 2, while Ji Bingyuan was playing white at table number 1. She happened to be sitting not far from Ji Qiuyao.

A bead of cold sweat slid down Ji Bingyuan's cheek. She looked up at the crowd of people competing, and Ji Hongying seemed to still be patrolling far away.

"Hello..." Ji Yingting said in a low voice and then fell silent again.

"Oh, so you're Aunt Qinghe's niece. No wonder you two look so alike." Ji Qiuyao nodded lightly and then said nothing more. Given her current dejected mood, she certainly wouldn't care about such trivial matters.

Of course... if it were before Ji Qiuyao lost the game, she would definitely have been able to hear the loopholes in Ji Bingyuan's words.

What do you mean Ji Yingting is Aunt Qinghe's niece? Aunt Qinghe and Aunt Hongyun are sisters who got married, so shouldn't Aunt Qinghe's niece be her daughter?

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PS: A reader previously mentioned that in the provincial competition with 1000 participants, there was more than one team that won all their matches; there should have been more than 20.

因为我是个学渣……所以1000人的胜负完全就是按照1000人除2，除2，除2这样来计算的……现在想想这样计算的方式确实不对…………

However, the provincial competition is almost over, so there's no way to start revising from scratch. Just pretend you're reading this volume without thinking!

Also, it was really exciting to finish writing in the last two minutes before the end of the perfect attendance period.

Chapter 110: The Frozen Crown - Complete Liberation

With her long, dark green hair cascading down her back, Luo Zhuyu looked up at her opponent.

Ji Bingyuan is an adorable girl with short, icy-blue hair styled in a bun that covers her eyes. She wears a light blue Taoist robe and has a slightly smiling expression.

In amateur competitions, due to the frequent frequency of matches, many amateur players with good game positions can only use their positions in one game a day.

Among chess players who have a position in the game, this is basically common sense.

Luo Zhuyu was no exception, and besides, she didn't intend to use any strategic moves in this game.

The drawback of her strategy is that it wastes too much time, so Luo Zhuyu is often forced into a situation of having only one minute left in the second half of the game by her counter-attacking opponent.

Ji Bingyuan... Her chess move is just the auxiliary chess move inherited by the Ji family, the Frost Crown. An auxiliary chess move is not very helpful to amateur players. She can win this game.

Luo Zhuyu nodded, her long, dark green hair swaying, and gently picked up a black chess piece with her right hand.

Thud, her first move landed on the star position.

Ji Bingyuan stared intently at the chessboard, her right hand picking up a white chess piece.

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Ji Yingting has a record of 7 wins and 0 losses, while Ji Qiuyao has a record of 6 wins and 1 loss, so the player with the black pieces must be Ji Yingting.

"pat"

Lifting the lid of the chess box, Ji Yingting shook her long, light green hair and straightened her posture. She pondered for a moment before placing her first move on the star point.

"Huff, huff, huff," Ji Qiuyao didn't rush to play chess. She slowly closed her gray eyes, her chest rising and falling gently.

The game with Luo Zhuyu greatly affected her mood... It wasn't until after that game ended that Ji Qiuyao regained her memories of Luo Zhuyu's chess moves.

At the time, I didn't realize that I had fallen into her trap of "Chess Strategy: Spear Dance Reincarnation"... It seems that I still have some immaturity. My chess skills are clearly slightly better than Luo Zhuyu's.

Gently calming herself down, Ji Qiuyao knew it was impossible for this game to be completely unaffected by the previous one, but maintaining composure was a fundamental skill for any chess player.

How can one play chess if one's mind is not at peace?

"Huff, huff, huff," Ji Qiuyao breathed softly. She slowly opened her clear gray eyes and gently raised her right hand.

With a crisp click, a sound rang out on the chessboard. Ji Qiuyao, playing white, placed her first move in the upper right corner, at the small point.

With a soft thud, her long, light green hair swayed back and forth in the cold air from the air conditioner. Ji Yingting then made her third move, a small eye.

The fourth move was made by Ji Qiuyao, and her right hand still landed on the small eye position... Star small eye and wrong small eye, both of which are relatively common openings used by both players.

Starry Eye is also one of the initial layouts that Ji Yingting is very good at using; she uses Starry Eye second only to Eye Outer in number of times.

As for the fifth move, Ji Yingting hesitated for a moment, then narrowed her pale purple starry eyes and raised her right hand, her small eye raised high.

Ji Qiuyao, playing white, pushed the stone along the third line, while Ji Yingting, holding a black stone, rushed into the small goal area.

Huh? Ji Qiuyao frowned, her gray pupils slightly puzzled, and gently put down the white piece in her right hand.

She crashed into me? Is she trying to walk with me through an avalanche? Is she not satisfied with the simple push-and-pull pattern?

If it were me... I would definitely play the retreating opening obediently, and my sense of direction would be very good. Why did she have to barge in?

Ji Qiuyao squinted and began to think quietly.

The Great Avalanche is one of the three most complex joseki in Go, alongside the Demon Blade and the Great Diagonal Thousand Variations.

After letting out a soft breath, Ji Qiuyao reached out her right hand and gently picked up the white chess piece on the table. She already knew how to respond.

"My mistake in the last game was due to my immaturity... In this game, I will not hesitate again."