Unsheathed

Dawn arrived, and Chen Ping’an had just finished practicing the Heaven and Earth Stance when someone knocked on his door. He walked over to open the door, and what greeted him was a listless and bleary-eyed little girl. By the looks of it, Cui Dongshan’s kind-hearted warning last night had frightened Pei Qian quite a bit.

Seeing this, Chen Ping’an told her to come inside to catch up on some sleep. Pei Qian felt immense relief, and she immediately lay down in bed and fell asleep.

After tucking her in, Chen Ping’an sat down at the table and started to read the alchemy book given to him by Earth Immortal Lu Yong from the Green Goat Palace. Even though this book simply explained the process of pill refinement, it was still a secret scripture from a Nascent Tier earth immortal that contained many exquisite comprehensions of the Great Dao. Thus, Chen Ping’an would reap benefits from this book every time he settled down to read it with a clear mind. It could be said that opening this book was sure to benefit him.

The inn was quite basic, with not a single meal provided. Guests would need to leave the inn to look for food themselves. The innkeeper and the workers were also very short-tempered, and Chen Ping’an and his companions had seen them arguing with a group of merchants upon first arriving here. Both sides clearly detested the other.

However, Chen Ping’an had Cui Dongshan, Lu Baixiang, and Sui Youbian to support him, and it was clear that the inn would treat guests differently depending on what said guests looked like. They were much more hospitable to Chen Ping’an and his companions, and they actively recommended a few local delicacies for them to try.

When Pei Qian woke up, Chen Ping’an brought her out to eat breakfast. After they finished eating, they purchased a few other portions to bring back to the inn. Chen Ping’an didn’t return to his room, and he told Pei Qian to bring the food to Cui Dongshan and the others. He also told her to inform them that they would be staying in the county city for two more days. He was going to wander around for a bit.

Pei Qian was delighted to hear that they were going to rest for two days. Not needing to travel meant that she didn’t need to practice the dry and uninteresting six-step walking meditation. This was simply amazing.

While Chen Ping’an was wandering around the county city by himself, Cui Dongshan, Wei Xian, and the others accepted the food from Pei Qian and gathered together to eat breakfast. Cui Dongshan was filled with gratitude, and he claimed that his master was looking out for his disciple. Where else could someone find a master as thoughtful and well-intentioned as Chen Ping’an? Pei Qian didn’t dare to retort, so she could only grumble in her mind. Looking out for him? What a joke. It was clear that Chen Ping’an didn’t trust Cui Dongshan.

Cui Dongshan was in a sparkling mood after breakfast, and he smiled at Pei Qian and asked, “Do you know how to play five-in-a-row? Small gambles can bring entertainment, so why don’t we gamble one copper coin per match?”

Pei Qian had played this before; it was a simple game that Lu Baixiang had taught her. The rules were very simple and easy to understand, so Pei Qian would often borrow Lu Baixiang’s Go set and drag Wei Xian over to play with her. The two of them would engage in intense back-and-forth battles, and the games between them would appear much more lively than the solemn and uninteresting games of Go between Lu Baixiang and Sui Youbian.

The Go pieces would make increasingly loud cracking sounds as they were placed on the Go board, and it was as if Pei Qian and Wei Xian wanted to smash a hole into the board. Lu Baixiang would feel immense regret whenever he saw this.

Pei Qian won more games than she lost against Wei Xian, who was a very terrible Go player. She also liked to goad him when she was winning, yet she would immediately try to retract her moves when she was losing. Fortunately, Wei Xian wasn’t too concerned about winning or game etiquette.

Upon hearing Cui Dongshan suggest that they gamble, Pei Qian immediately shook her head in earnest. She wasn’t stupid. Even though Cui Dongshan had asked to learn Go from Lu Baixiang, five-in-a-row was a simple game with no barrier to entry to speak of. Thus, Pei Qian wasn’t confident that she could beat Cui Dongshan. After all, few people in the world would be as stubborn and idiotic as Old Man Wei.

Cui Dongshan chuckled and suggested, “As fellow disciples of Chen Ping’an, we naturally can’t spoil the relationship between us for a small board game like this. How about this: whoever loses the game wins the copper coin!”

Pei Qian’s eyes immediately lit up. Winning a copper coin for each game that she lost? There existed such an amazing deal in the world?

And thus, Lu Baixiang brought his Go set to Pei Qian’s room, after which the two fellow disciples who were yet to figure out the seniority between them started to play a terrible game of five-in-a-row. In fact, it could be said that they were desecrating the Go set.

As if in tacit understanding, the four martial artists stood together to observe the battle between Pei Qian and Cui Dongshan.

Pei Qian was placing pieces randomly, with each piece being placed as far from the others as possible. Cui Dongshan was no different, and his placement of pieces also appeared completely random. He would sometimes place his pieces beside Pei Qian’s pieces, and he would sometimes place his pieces in the north, south, east, and west, respectively. He started to utilize some elementary Go formations, and it looked like Pei Qian was more likely to lose than him.

However, as the Go board filled up and reduced the amount of available space for them to play with, Pei Qian was astonished and pained to discover that it was becoming easier and easier for her to achieve five in a row. When the Go board eventually became filled with crisscrossing black and white pieces, Pei Qian was shocked to discover that she had actually won. She would achieve five in a row no matter where she placed her pieces.

After frustratingly losing a copper coin like this, Pei Qian felt such immense regret that she felt a strong urge to eat the entire Go board. That way, she could retract all of her moves. However, she didn’t dare to cheat after she stole a glance at Cui Dongshan who was sitting there and snacking on roasted seeds.

Cui Dongshan shot a sideways glance at the Go board and sighed in sympathy, “Ahhh, it looks like I’ve lost by a single move. It seems like my gambling fortune is slightly better than yours. How about we play another game? If you feel like a single Go board is not enough for you to display your full skills, then we can add another one, two, or even three Go boards. But we’ll need to increase the wager by one copper coin for each additional Go board. I’ll immediately pay up once I win a game. You can continue to play and add as many Go boards as you want until you lose and win money. This is quite fair, isn’t it?”

Pei Qian hesitated and said, “But we can’t fit two Go boards on the table.”

Cui Dongshan pointed at the floor and replied, “Then we can play on the floor. What is there to be afraid of? If there are too many Go boards, then we can even play in the corridor outside the room, right? In any case, the more Go boards there are, the more copper coins you can win. My memory is so-so, but I know that your memory is very good. We can ask Lu Baixiang or Sui Youbian to borrow two pieces of charcoal from the inn, and I’ll use them to draw up some Go boards for us to use. We’ll rely on our memory instead of using actual Go pieces, and it will count as my loss if I remember anything wrong.”

Pei Qian turned around and glanced at Old Man Wei. Wei Xian most likely felt like pursuing defeat instead of victory was far too braindead, so he directly turned around and walked away. Zhu Lian rolled his eyes and left the room.

In the end, it was surprisingly the two Go masters from the Lotus Flower Blessed Land who remained. Sure enough, Lu Baixiang left to borrow some charcoal from the inn. Meanwhile, Sui Youbian stood beside Pei Qian and Cui Dongshan with an apathetic expression. It was quite unexpected that the two of them were patient enough to stay here and watch the two disciples of Chen Ping’an squatting on the floor and mucking around with each other.

Chen Ping’an and the four martial artists from the Lotus Flower Blessed Land were well aware of just how good Pei Qian’s memory was. In fact, it could be said that her memory was outstanding. This was an innate talent of the little girl, and Chen Ping’an had to concede that he was inferior. Even Lu Baixiang, who was extremely skilled at playing Go and reviewing finished games of Go had to admit that he was no match for Pei Qian in terms of memory.

Thus, after using two entire boxes of Go pieces, Pei Qian and Cui Dongshan were not only competing to see who was more shameless. They were also competing to see who had a better memory.

There were already two additional Go boards drawn on the floor using a piece of charcoal, yet Pei Qian would still achieve five in a row and defeat Cui Dongshan if she didn’t add an additional Go board. Thus, she had no option but to ask Cui Dongshan to draw another Go board.

Lu Baixiang quietly left the room, and Sui Youbian departed soon after him.

Standing in the corridor, Sui Youbian asked, “Were you able to determine his skill level?”

Lu Baixiang shook his head and replied, “Five in a row is too simple, so Pei Qian won’t be able to draw out this person’s true skill even if she adds another ten Go boards.”

“If you don’t hold back and play with your full strength, how great would the difference between us be?” Sui Youbian asked.

Lu Baixiang smiled and replied, “To be very honest, you might not be skilled enough to make me use my clever plays.”

So-called clever plays were skillful moves on the Go board used when both sides evenly matched or when one side wanted to salvage a seemingly unfavorable situation. Skillful moves would be used to seize the initiative and capture pieces.

Lu Baixiang was hinting at the fact that he only needed to play normally as if he were a tiler methodically placing pieces. Playing calmly like this would allow him to comfortably defeat Sui Youbian.

Sui Youbian didn’t feel offended or angry. The difference in their skill level was laid bare on the Go board, and she had frequently played against Lu Baixiang during their long trip. During these games, Sui Youbian would either push aside the Go board or place two pieces in the lower right corner to admit defeat. Almost no Go masters in the world would utter the words “I admit defeat.” However, pushing the Go board aside or placing two pieces in the lower right corner of the board were both silent ways of admitting defeat.

Even though Sui Youbian was extremely competitive, she had always viewed Go as nothing more than a small pastime. Victory or defeat in Go wouldn’t affect her much more important Sword Dao. She wouldn’t be a sore loser about it.

Moreover, according to the Go World of the Future Generations that Zhu Lian had once mentioned, the Go masters of the various nations in the Lotus Flower Blessed Land felt immense respect and admiration for the skills of Lu Baixiang. Of course, the Go masters of each nation, each generation, and each faction would still have conflicting opinions when it came to choosing the best Go player in history. But if they were to choose the top three, Lu Baixiang would invariably occupy one of the positions. This was a reflection of Lu Baixiang’s incredible skills and reputation in the Go world.

As for the two other people, one was Go Saint Wang Jiyuan, and one was Huang, someone who was later confirmed to be an otherworldly immortal. At the same time, Huang was also the clan rejuvenation ancestor of the Pine Song Nation’s Lake Mountain Faction. In other words, he was Yu Zhenyi’s senior. It was this person who had borrowed the huge influence and reputation of his sect, as well as his peerless Go skills, to abolish the initial position system.[1]

This was a watershed moment in the Go world of the Lotus Flower Blessed Land, and it had led to the creation of the ancient Go faction and the new Go faction.

Wang Jiyuan was born sixty years after Huang, and Huang had gone missing while in his seventies. Thus, the two Go masters never had the opportunity to play against each other.

Regarding the three Go masters from different generations, the grandmasters of future generations argued incessantly about who possessed more profound skills. Lu Baixiang was undoubtedly the pinnacle of the ancient Go style, while Wang Jiyuan was recognized as the pinnacle of the new Go style. In fact, Wang Jiyuan was also profoundly skilled at all kinds of set formations, so many people were convinced that he could definitely start with a handicap of two moves if he played against Lu Baixiang. In their opinion, Lu Baixiang didn’t have the right to enjoy an equal standing with Wang Jiyuan.

However, Go masters who had carefully studied the ancient Go manuals claimed that Lu Baixiang could easily defeat Wang Jiyuan if he were given two or three months to familiarize himself with the new Go style. He could easily gain himself a new disciple and have Wang Jiyuan bow in submission.

There were many spirited debates, and everyone held their own opinions. However, no Go master as skilled as these three people appeared among the future generations, and no one was able to offer a convincing argument about who was the most profoundly skilled of the three people either. Thus, this was destined to remain an unsolved mystery that everyone continued to argue about.

“Don’t lose to that person,” Sui Youbian suddenly said.

Lu Baixiang smiled faintly and replied, “We’ll wait and see.”

1. The initial position system (座子制) refers to how a game of Go starts. Using this system, two white pieces and two black pieces are placed at set locations on the board to start the game. ☜