Chapter 1192 - Do You Have the Capability To Say That Someone Has Cheated, But Don’t Have the Capability To Point It Out?
Chapter 1192: Do You Have the Capability To Say That Someone Has Cheated, But Don’t Have the Capability To Point It Out?
Translator: Lordbluefire
Each match would be broadcast live on the wooden tablet, with professionals to explain the matches. Therefore, Sun Mo had noticed the few mistakes that Li Xuan had made.
It’d be acceptable if it happened once or twice, but when he made mistakes every time they reached a crucial point, it was hard for one to not have any doubts. Therefore, Sun Mo paid extra attention to Li Xuan’s condition.
“Teacher, what dirty trick did Xia Taikang use?”
Qin Yaoguang’s voice rang out from outside the door.
“Why did you guys not come in?”
Sun Mo frowned.
“We’re watching the door so that other people won’t listen to your conversation!”
Lu Zhiruo wanted to do something for her eldest martial sister.
“Even if you guys stay outside, you won’t be able to stop other people’s tricks!”
Sun Mo laughed and continued to reply. “If my guess is correct, Xia Taikang used some kind of spiritual control technique to make Li Xuan make mistakes.”
“Huh?”
Hearing this term, Lu Zhiruo felt troubled. It was because this subject was very mysterious and it was too difficult for one to want to grasp the flaws.
“Will my royal brother’s life be in danger?”
Li Ziqi was worried.
“I don’t think he’ll die!”
Sun Mo wasn’t sure either. “Given how ‘well-prepared’ others are, haven’t you guys thought of similar tricks?”
“My father has great trust in Great Teacher Han and thinks that he can deal with everything!”
Li Ziqi smiled bitterly. “Moreover, who’d expect that Xia Taikang would be so despicable just to win?”
“It’s better to make more preparations.”
Sun Mo felt that Li Xuan might not do well in the next few matches either.
…
In the afternoon, the matches started again!
Li Xuan vs. Xiang Zhao, Li Ziqi vs. a prince from Qi Country.
These two matches continued until the incense finished and then the players started a 10-second quick match.
The victor wasn’t decided between Li Xuan and the Chu Crown Prince [1] even after 15 minutes had passed. In the end, when they counted the pieces, Xiang Zhao had won the match by just 1.5 moku.
Li Ziqi played a quick match, making only 30 moves for it. This Qi Country’s prince then admitted his loss.
Li Xuan’s mentality was crashing a little after having lost two consecutive rounds. Han Cangshui ignored him and left immediately.
Li Xiu didn’t know what to say. She had thought that it was almost definite that he was going to clinch this match, but Li Xuan ended up making a lot of mistakes.
“That Chu Crown Prince is very strong.”
Lu Zhiruo was soft-hearted. When she saw Li Xuan’s eyes turning red and was so angry that he was biting his lips, she consoled him. “After you guys reach this phase in the match, all that’s left is dependent on your luck. And you’re slightly unlucky today.”
“Shut up!”
Li Xuan bellowed.
The papaya girl’s neck shrank back and she hid behind Ying Baiwu.
“Royal Brother!”
Li Ziqi wanted to say something, but Li Xuan refused to listen and walked off quickly.
“Looking at his state, his third match will be a goner too!”
Qin Yaoguang mocked.
“For this round, Li Xuan lost in his mentality. As he had lost one match in the morning, he had a great urgency to win this match. This led to him having an unstable mind and Xiang Zhao took this chance.”
Sun Mo said a word in fairness and then looked at Li Ziqi.
The little sunny egg lowered her head. She knew that her tricks had been seen through.
“Ziqi, what is the reason you’ve come to participate in the Five Empires War Discussion?”
Sun Mo looked toward the Xia Country’s spectators’ stand. Xia Taikang had won again and he left amidst the cheers.
“To win! To show off the Great Tang’s prowess!”
These were her heartfelt words. Li Ziqi wasn’t fighting for herself.
“Then have you thought of how people would look at you and Li Xuan if he continues to lose like this and you’re winning with so much difficulty?”
Sun Mo asked.
Li Ziqi fell silent.
“Ziqi, sweeping out at your enemies with exhilaration and giving them a crushing defeat is even more relishing compared to an ordinary victory!”
Sun Mo thought of those e-sports competitions he had seen in the past. People would always look at the gridlock matches as a fight between newbies, and no one would remember them. One would only be seen as the strongest if they were to have a crushing victory or turn the tables around in an amazing manner.
“Think about it carefully!”
Sun Mo patted the little sunny egg’s shoulder and walked off.
“Eldest Martial Sister, what’s going on?”
Lu Zhiruo couldn’t understand.
“Ziqi, did you hold back?”
Li Xiu had guessed the reason from Sun Mo’s words.
“En!”
Li Ziqi nodded. In order to number her opponents and make it hard for them to figure out her capabilities, she had intentionally played a gridlock match.
The truth was that the match’s progress was all within the little sunny egg’s control.
“Huh? This could be done too?”
Xianyu Wei was surprised. “You aren’t scared that things will go wrong and you’ll lose?”
“That won’t happen!”
Li Ziqi was very confident.
“Ziqi, what is your level in chess?”
Li Xiu was astonished too. The fact that Li Ziqi could put up such a performance showed that she was a lot stronger than her opponent.
“I don’t know!” Li Ziqi sighed. “I can’t win even if Teacher were to give me a six-stones handicap!”
“…”
Li Xiu was stunned. A six-stones handicap was considered a very big advantage in Go.
Could it be that Sun Mo was a national player?
That couldn’t be, right?
Even a grandmaster, that was one notch weaker than the national player, would be very reputable in the world of Go.
In the Nine Provinces, a Chess Sage was worth more money than a Music Saint.
The next day, the chess battles continued.
This time around, it was Li Xuan vs. Jiang Yuzhen, while Li Ziqi was up against a prince from Chu Country.
After Sun Mo had talked to the little sunny egg, her mentality had changed and she stopped holding back. Instead, she went all out and crushed her opponent just in time for one incense stick to finish burning.
Li Xuan also managed to win this match and clear his humiliation.
However, Li Xuan’s mood was still bad. It was because, like him, Jiang Yuzhen had also lost two consecutive matches yesterday. She was a weakling, so it wasn’t convincing at all to be winning against an opponent like her.
The people from Qi Country didn’t mind it either. After all, Jiang Yuzhen’s reputation had been built up from her powerful battle prowess and military commanding capabilities. She was the only candidate to be a Military God amongst the younger generations across the different countries.
After a short afternoon break, the fourth round started.
Li Xuan was up against Wei Wu`an, while Li Ziqi was up against a princess from the Great Xia. Her name was Xia Qiyun.
“Even if you’re a great teacher, I’m not afraid!”
Li Xuan was ready to show off his skills, but after the match started, he realized that his opponent was quite capable.
The two of them put up a strong battle, attacking fiercely or defending firmly. It was hard to decide a victor between them.
On the other side, Li Ziqi also encountered trouble.
At the start of the match, the little sunny egg had an advantage. However, after ten moves, she felt that the other party’s chess skills had surged up fiercely and her style changed. After 100 moves, she was put at a disadvantage!
“This won’t do! If this continues, I’ll lose!”
Li Ziqi thought very hard about how she could break out of this predicament.
“This is bad! Eldest Martial Sister is going to lose!”
Lu Zhiruo panicked when she saw Li Ziqi holding onto a chess piece but not placing it down after very long. The burning incense wasn’t going to wait for anyone.
The match had just started, but to think that she was starting to think long about the match. She was clearly on the losing end.
“Teacher, what do you think?”
Qin Yaoguang asked.
Li Xiu perked her ears.
“In terms of chess skills, Ziqi will definitely lose. But if she can find the other party’s flaws, she’ll definitely win!”
Sun Mo drank the tea.
“Huh?”
Lu Zhiruo looked stunned. It was just a game of chess, but there were flaws? It wasn’t as if this was a cultivation art!
“You’re saying that the other party has cheated?”
Qin Yaoguang was very smart and immediately understood what Sun Mo meant.
“En!”
Sun Mo’s impression of the princes and princesses from Xia Country was really bad.
They were willing to use all kinds of despicable tricks just to win.
Li Xiu’s nervous expression relaxed. With that, even if Li Xuan were to lose, they’d be able to win six rounds and would at least not be ranked last.
But Li Xiu soon realized that something was amiss. Sun Mo was sitting steadily there, not showing any intention to expose Xia Qiyun.
“Great Teacher Sun, it’s better to expose Xia Qiyun earlier. Once the results come out, others may think that we are a sore loser if we expose them then.”
Li Xiu suggested.
Moreover, she was also worried that once the match ended, the other party would stop cheating. This would make it even harder to expose them.
“Why do I have to expose her?”
Sun Mo asked.
“Huh?”
Many people were stunned. (What do you mean by that?)
“Great Teacher Sun, this isn’t funny!”
Li Xiu frowned.
“I’m not joking!”
Sun Mo looked at the arena where the little sunny egg was frowning and deep in thought. “This match is an experience for Ziqi. I hope that she can see through the opponent by herself. If she can’t, then she should accept this loss and withstand the regret from the lack of judgment and her inexperience! A person will only remember a lesson for life if the fall they went through is hard enough!”
“…”
Li Xiu’s lips that were painted red almost cursed out.
(You aren’t caring about our Great Tang’s honor by doing this.)
“Eldest Princess, please be patient and watch. Ziqi is a lot more outstanding than you think!”
Sun Mo believed in his eldest disciple.
In the arena, Li Ziqi tossed the chess piece in her hand back into the holder.
“If you’re throwing your piece to admit your loss, you should be putting two chess pieces here!”
Xia Qiyun reached out her index finger and tapped on the lower right corner of the chessboard.
Right now, she was looking at Li Ziqi with a gaze as if she was looking down on her. Her expression was filled with pride.
“So what if you’re the youngest great teacher in the Nine Provinces? You still end up losing!”
Xia Qiyun’s lips twitched. In this world, there was nothing better than dealing a blow to a genius who was in the limelight.
Even though the crown princes were the main characters of the Five Empires War Discussion this time around, the most famous participant was Li Ziqi. She herself had not only broken the great teacher record, but the fact that she was Sun Mo’s personal disciple was enough to win her a lot of attention.
It was because Sun Mo’s reputation was unparalleled amongst those with power and wealth!
Who wouldn’t want to enjoy his God Hands?
Who wouldn’t want his Skyward Spirit Rune?
Look at how the Qi Emperor had chosen not to play host to the other countries’ crown princes and grand tutors, choosing to look for Sun Mo directly. He was also after his God Hands.
“Li Ziqi, you’re just lucky that you’ve acknowledged a good teacher!”
Xia Qiyun said in disdain. She wanted to take this chance to perform well and move Sun Mo, so she would be accepted to study under him. (By then, I’ll be the number one princess in the Nine Provinces.)
“Who says that I’ve lost?”
Li Ziqi smiled.
“Hehe, I don’t care to quibble with you!” Xia Qiyun sneered, “You can continue to make your move!”
“Do you think that other people can’t tell that you’ve cheated?”
Li Ziqi sneered coldly.
Bang!
Xia Qiyun slammed her palm onto the table, looking furious. “Li Ziqi, you can eat whatever you want, but take care of what you say! Do you have any proof?”
“Oh my, Princess Ziqi and Princess Qiyun seem to be having some conflicts!”
The ceremonial officer immediately walked over, planning to give a live broadcast of the situation.
The audience’s gazes turned over too.
This abruptness was a selling point to hype up the atmosphere.
“Why? Speak up. Do you have the capability to say that someone has cheated but don’t have the capability to point it out?
When Xia Qiyun saw that Li Ziqi wasn’t saying anything, her words became more agitated, as if she was a fierce woman who had caught her husband’s mistress.