The Way of the Blind Girl Chess Saint

Click, she gently snapped the timer back on at the last second.

"The counterattack has begun," Luo Zhuyu said calmly.

"The Initial Formation of a Chess Move: Luo's Counterattack"

Chapter 114: Thunder [Second update will be a little later]

Inside the venue for the eighth round of the competition.

“Plop…” A bluish-green mist spread out from the squares of the chessboard, and Ji Qiuyao’s long, withered yellow hair was lifted by the bluish-green air current.

Her long, bluish-green hair was constantly being blown by the cold wind. Accompanied by the torrential rain and thunder outside, Ji Yingting slowly withdrew her slender right hand from the chessboard.

The starlight shimmering from her fingertips gradually faded, and with her arms crossed over her chest, Ji Yingting slowly closed her pale purple starry eyes.

She... defeated me.

Ji Qiuyao's crimson eyes trembled slightly. Her right hand trembled and hesitated for a few seconds, but in the end, she couldn't lift it up again. "I lost."

Her pupils turned gray again, and Ji Qiuyao's withered yellow hair gradually slipped down her shoulders. No matter how she predicted the outcome of the game, she could not see any chance of winning; the difference in their chess skills was simply too great.

Who exactly is she? Is she Ji Hongying's cousin? I've never heard of her before!

Ji Qiuyao stared in disbelief at Ji Yingting's long, bluish-green hair.

Because of Ji Yingting's move 11, Ji Qiuyao, who had a clear advantage in the opening, was unable to hold on until the end of the game and collapsed before even entering the endgame.

If losing to Luo Zhuyu by a point and a half made her extremely unwilling, losing to Ji Yingting felt somewhat unreal; she had lost without having done anything at all.

With her gray eyes staring blankly at the chessboard, she placed a white piece on it, then bowed slightly and lowered her head. Ji Qiuyao conceded defeat.

----

"That makes it eight consecutive wins..." Ji Yingting nodded slightly and gently put away the chess pieces on the board.

Ji Yingting, Eight Victories.

She knew that her opponent in the next round, the ninth round, would be the loser from table 1, because there were still two rounds left in the competition, and only two players remained who were still on a winning streak after the eighth round.

Because the official competition mode will try to ensure that the two undefeated players face off in the final round, Ji Yingting's next opponent will be the loser of Luo Zhuyu and Ji Bingyuan.

So, the opponent of the victor among the two of them... in the ninth round, their opponent should be Hua Shenxi and others who have only suffered one loss so far... Of course, the opponent will still be determined based on the tiebreakers.

"Yawn," Ji Yingting reached out and gently patted her little mouth. So sleepy... I might as well skip dinner and go straight to my room to sleep.

After tidying up her two light green buns and carrying a light green satin robe with ribbons, Ji Yingting walked past Luo Zhuyu with her eyes narrowed.

At the same time, Luo Zhuyu's right hand transformed into a dark green spear, and the aura emanating from her caused Ji Yingting to slightly furrow her light green eyebrows.

hiss! !

A piercing sound rang out, and the black piece that Luo Zhuyu was holding tightly in his right hand transformed into a spear-like beam that pierced through the ice and landed on the white piece at its break point.

"Love's Cut" [A Go term. A type of cut. Although called a cut, it is actually for the purpose of connection. No matter how the opponent responds, their important stones will ultimately be unable to escape being captured. The image shows a "Love's Cut".]

Luo Zhuyu's dark green pupils opened fully, and she withdrew her right hand from the chessboard.

At the critical moment, the countdown timer on Luo Zhuyu's right hand returned to 30 seconds.

Her dark green eyes darted around the chessboard. Although this "love break" move wouldn't allow Black to fully reconnect, it would allow her to engage in a ko fight with White. This was her last chance!

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"Oh no, the downpour is still going on. How am I going to get back to the hotel?"

Ji Yingting lowered her head, the sound of raindrops pattering in her ears.

Boom! Boom! Boom! Just then...

A violent bolt of purple lightning struck the hillside not far from the Crescent Hotel with a deafening roar. The white flash illuminated the dark clouds, and the deafening thunderclap startled many people.

Ji Yingting played with her long, light green hair, standing expressionlessly at the front of the roof as if she hadn't heard the thunder, without even covering her ears.

"Little girl, aren't you afraid of thunder?" A middle-aged woman who was waiting for her child's competition to end asked curiously. She had almost wet herself in fright, but this cute little green-haired girl didn't seem to have any reaction at all.

"Huh?" Ji Yingting blinked her pale purple starry eyes gently, then turned her head with some confusion.

"Little girl? Are you calling me?" Ji Yingting asked, tilting her long, bluish-green hair.

The woman's voice suddenly broke.

"Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't say anything."

So this cute little green-haired girl has hearing problems! The woman suddenly realized that the thunder probably wasn't that scary to her, since she hadn't heard it clearly even though she was so close to her.

If Ji Yingting knew what she was thinking, she would definitely be furious. How dare she falsely accuse me of being deaf?! I'm clearly blind!

Actually, Ji Yingting wasn't afraid of thunder not because she didn't hear it, but because she had been playing chess with players every day recently.

Every day there's a constant booming sound! Boom! Boom boom boom!!

The sound of chess pieces being placed, louder than thunder or rocket launcher explosions, and the clatter of pieces shattering, are played to your ears every day. Any normal person would become somewhat immune to it.

If Ji Yingting had only heard the sound of thunder, she would have thought it was a chess player playing a game.

"Sakuraba, are you going back to the hotel? Do you have an umbrella?"

Just then, Qi Yue, a little girl with light purple hair and a bob haircut, walked out of the competition venue while talking to her junior from Ziyuan Middle School. She happened to see Ji Yingting, who had a light green bun hairstyle, standing under the eaves.

"No……"

Ji Yingting puffed out her cheeks and shook her long, light green hair. She really wanted to go back to the hotel and sleep.

"Ah, come over here!! We can share an umbrella!! I happen to have one here."

Qi Yue snatched a white women's umbrella from her junior schoolmate and then happily pulled Ji Yingting by her light green hair.

Standing to the side, the junior student looked a little aggrieved. She tugged at Qi Yue's arm and asked, "Senior Qi Yue... what about me? How am I going to get back to the hotel?"

"Ah... Little Fish, I'll come back with an umbrella to pick you up in a bit. Be a good girl here and wait for me. I'll take my friend home first."

Qi Yue patted the junior's head and then held an umbrella for Ji Yingting before leaving, leaving the junior alone to pitifully watch her purple figure.

"Waaaaah, Senior Qi Yue doesn't want me anymore!! And that umbrella was clearly mine! Waaaaah!"

Chapter 115: The Eighth Round Ends

"Ah... Little Fish, I'll come back with an umbrella to pick you up in a bit. Be a good girl here and wait for me. I'll take my friend home first."

Qi Yue patted the junior's head and then held an umbrella for Ji Yingting before leaving, leaving the junior alone to pitifully watch her purple figure.

"Waaaaah, Senior Qi Yue doesn't want me anymore!! And that umbrella was clearly mine! Waaaaah!"

The rain poured down relentlessly, and even with Qi Yue holding an umbrella, it could barely cover their heads. Ji Yingting's green hair was also damp with a few water droplets.

"How many wins has Qi Yue achieved now?" After finally returning to the hotel, Ji Yingting asked under the eaves, her green hair curled up, as large water droplets were squeezed out.

The purple-haired girl, who was folding her umbrella nearby, hesitated for a moment before saying, "Six wins and two losses. We have to win another game tomorrow."

Qi Yue looked slightly worried as she gently tugged at a strand of purple hair on her forehead.

She needs to win at least 7 out of 10 games to guarantee her promotion to 5-dan. Although... it feels a bit risky to gamble the remaining half of her hopes on tomorrow. Unfortunately, she only has 6 wins.

Although Qi Yue is already considered a top-tier fourth-dan player in Huangyue City, the sudden emergence of so many young elementary school students as well as several players from other provinces has drastically reduced the number of players who can advance to fifth-dan.

"It's okay, it's okay, keep up the good work tomorrow!!" Ji Yingting gently patted Qi Yue's purple bob, as if to comfort her.

Qi Yue and Ji Yingting walked into the hotel while discussing the game. It seemed that she had long forgotten about her junior schoolmate who was still waiting for her under the eaves of the competition venue.

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Today, one player who was undefeated yesterday has fallen from grace: Ji Qiuyao.

She lost to Luo Zhuyu and Ji Yingting in the seventh and eighth rounds respectively, and her overall ranking is about to fall out of the top ten.

"I concede..." (At table number one in the competition hall...)

Luo Zhuyu touched her dark green hair and said softly, "Although she managed to recover a lot of points by using the 'Lovesickness' skill to create a ko fight in the middle game, she was continuously suppressed by Ji Bingyuan in the endgame due to the tight time limit, and lost a lot of territory."

After calculating, if it comes down to a point, I'll probably lose by five and a half points, she thought to herself.

After quickly collecting the chess pieces, Luo Zhuyu shook her long, dark green hair and turned to leave. She was not in a good mood after losing the game.

"Did White win this game, Ji Bingyuan?" A referee happened to walk over and noticed that the game between the two had ended.

"Hmm," Ji Bingyuan responded softly, meaning that she and Ji Yingting were still on a winning streak.

But... my sister lost again, didn't she? Oh dear, it seems my sister lost two rounds in a row.

Ji Bingyuan's lips curled into a slight smile, and her lovely smile turned slightly sinister.

Turning to look at Ji Qiuyue, who was sitting silently beside her with her head down, Ji Bingyuan straightened her two icy blue buns, stood up with a cold smile, and muttered to herself, "As expected... a piece of trash is a piece of trash."

"Big sister! Congratulations on your victory!" Ji Bingyuan's dark smile suddenly disappeared, and she showed a cute and innocent smile to Ji Qiuyao, who was bowing her head and remaining silent.

"No, I lost... Bingyuan," Ji Qiuyao said in a low voice, her expression somewhat blank. Losing two games in a row today made her doubt her own chess skills.

[What?! Big sister, you actually lost?! Isn't it only natural for a loser to lose?!]

After Ji Qiuyao finished speaking, Ji Bingyuan, who had her hair styled in an ice-blue bun, immediately showed an incredulous expression and said, "Could it be that you, Big Sister, lost to Miss Sakuraba??"

Although I don't know Sakuraba-nee's skill level, I wouldn't be surprised if you, a piece of trash, lost to anyone.

"Big sister, please don't be sad... Just try your best tomorrow, I believe in your abilities."

Ji Bingyuan hesitated before gently tugging at Ji Qiuyao's dry, yellow hair to comfort her.

I think you're a piece of trash and should lose two more games tomorrow.

"Bingyuan... thank you." Ji Qiuyao looked up and smiled with relief; her mood had improved considerably.

"Okay, big sister, let's go eat together! We'll study the chess scores properly tonight!" Ji Bingyuan shook her ice-blue bun and walked out of the competition venue with a cute smile on her face, taking Ji Qiuyao's arm.

[Your ability to comfort yourself is truly amazing; I'm ashamed of you...]

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"So, a loss is a loss. You're annoying. Also... that woman is very strong. You need to be careful tomorrow, although I think you're definitely going to lose," Luo Zhuyu said dismissively, his expression clearly displeased.

"Xiaoyu, I already agreed to lend you my umbrella! Why are you still treating me so badly! You need to show me some respect!!" The little girl with pink pear-shaped hair said angrily. What do you mean I'm sure I'll lose? Seriously.