The Path Toward Heaven

It was at that moment that Bai Zhao had arrived outside the pavilion, standing quietly among her colleagues.

Her beautiful and feeble face had been revealed after the veil covering her face was tousled by the breeze.

She furrowed her thin eyebrows slightly, looking somewhat worried.

Other disciples of the Center Sect weren’t worried because they had never thought Tong Yan could possibly lose the game, so their expressions were quite peaceful. Only Xiang Wanshu was playing the game on the Go board seriously in his mind.

Guo Dong stood outside the crowd, keeping a far enough distance from Zhao Layue’s group. She was looking at Zhao Layue while everybody else was watching the chess pavilion.

Zhao Layue was aware that Guo Dong was staring at her. Usually Zhao Layue would stare back at her, but right now she had to focus her energy on Jing Jiu.

Se Se grew bored watching the Go game. She brought the barbecued fish in her hand to the front of Zhao Layue, and said in a hushed voice, “Take a bite. It tastes really good.”

Zhao Layue shook her head to decline the offer as she seldom ate anything whether she was on the Green Mountain or outside it.

Looking at this scene, Guo Dong had a satisfied look on her face.

He Zhan suddenly yelled, “How could he make such a move? It doesn’t make any sense.”

The crowd turned their attention to the inside of the pavilion in tandem, wondering who had made a wrong move?

Inside the pavilion, Jing Jiu and Tong Yan still focused on the Go board, as if they didn’t hear what He Zhan had said.

It was Jing Jiu who had made that move. Many people thought that it was an ordinary and safe move, so they failed to understand why He Zhan reacted so negatively.

Tong Yan had his own response; it looked like he placed this white Go piece on a whim.

This move was rather ordinary and safe.

Unexpected He Zhan yelled again, “This move makes even less sense!”

Many people stared at He Zhan.

They didn’t understand why this high-level Go player reacted so negatively to these two ordinary Go moves.

It was then that Jing Jiu put down another black Go piece.

He Zhan paid no need to those staring at him. “Can it be played this way?” commented He Zhan surprisingly, while staring at the Go board.

Tong Yan placed his next white Go piece somewhere else.

He Zhan couldn’t control his emotion anymore, yelling, “It’s relentless! You two are so relentless!”

His bodily movements were exaggerated and his voice was quite loud, which sounded even louder on the quiet Chess Board Mountain.

Guo Dong pulled back her gaze from Zhao Layue and looked at He Zhan, asking emotionlessly, “Do you always talk so much?”

Yelling wasn’t an elegant thing to do during the chess games.

He Zhan was of course fully aware that it was an inappropriate behavior; he was simply unable to control himself as he witnessed such a strange Go game.

“Okay, I’ll shut up.”

He lifted the jar of alcohol to his mouth and downed a mouthful of wine.

The special Dragon-Bone Wine tasted a little bitter somehow.

It was because he drank his wine in a depressed mood.

The depression wasn’t caused by the fact that he wasn’t allowed to speak, but by an indescribable emotion, making him feel depressed.

…

…

Having seen He Zhan’s behavior and the expressions of Queniang, Shang Jiulou, and Gu Yuanyuan, the crowd had finally understood something. As a matter of fact, this Go game wasn’t as ordinary as they had thought, and there were many surprising strategies hidden in it. It was just that so far the game was incomprehensible for them as their level of Go playing wasn’t high enough yet.

At this point, the crowd became excited again, and looked more closely at the Go board, hoping to discover some hidden wonders.

Regardless of how meticulously they had thought of and deduced the game, they still couldn’t find out anything special about it.

Wasn’t it the most common opening of a Go game?

…

…

In the Pure-Three Temple.

The Young Zen Master sat on a futon cross-legged, and his two bare feet peeking out from the Buddhist robe were shaking in some kind of rhythm.

His sight line landed on the Go board.

A jar of Go pieces was placed on both sides of the Go board.

The photinia was blooming outside the window. However, its odor was so strong that the actual fragrant scent had turned into something smelling awful.

It was probably because of this reason that he furrowed his eyebrows the entire time.

After a long while, he had finally finished pondering, and he picked up a black Go piece and put it on the Go board.

As he felt relieved and was about to get up to leave, he noticed the Daoist monk’s expression wasn’t quite right.

“What’s wrong?”

After some hesitation, the Daoist monk said cautiously, “It seems…this Go piece wasn’t placed on this square.”

Having heard this, Young Zen Master was taken aback slightly, looking at the Go board again.

…

…

On the Chess Board Mountain.

An official asked State Duke He with a grin, “State Duke, what do you think about this Go game?”

State Duke He glanced at him before saying, “How do I know? It’s too complicated for me to understand it.”

The official wasn’t afraid, asking again with a smile, “Whom did you bet on then?”

The Plum Meeting was a popular event for the Cultivation practitioners, but it also affected the mortal world. At least, the betting games in Zhaoge City were closely tied to the Plum Meeting at the moment.

State Duke He patted on the back of that official, saying with a smile, “You take me as a fool. I of course bet on Tong Yan winning. Though I won’t win much, it’s a sure winning anyway.”

…

…

It was very slow at Taichang Temple.

As a well paid high-level official in the imperial court, Jing Shang was famous for his rectitude, so he always attempted to avoid appearing too diligent at work.

Yet he seldom acted the way he did that day, staring at the tea in the teacup dazed for a long time.

Eventually he couldn’t sit there any longer. He walked toward the outside of the office after informing the vice chancellor of the temple.

Watching his figure disappearing in the street, discussions broke out in the office.

Jing Shang had a young brother, sent out of Zhaoge City at a young age to an unknown place. Though the Jing family had concealed the matter, there was no true secret in the official setting. A few years ago, many people learned that the younger son of the Jing family should have joined a big Cultivation sect.

As soon as this year’s Plum Meeting took place, more betting games started up in Zhaoge City. When the name of Jing Jiu appeared frequently in the wagers, it was natural that some people associated him with the younger son of the Jing family.

“Nobody could have thought that his young brother would become an immortal master of the Green Mountain Sect. With such a background, he is of course unwilling to sit in the office, that’s why he has left early today.”

“The Cultivation practitioners lack affection and humanity, and their connection with their mortal family are fairly loose, and so not so much help can be offered. Besides, his young brother is merely a disciple of the Green Mountain, not really an important figure.

“At least the imperial court won’t treat them so harshly. Their close relatives will get some benefits as long as they are alive. Did you see how popular the Zhao manor house has become in recent years?”

“You’re right. I went to visit Mister Zhao around the New Year’s time. Tsk, tsk, the precious goods and gifts were piled up like a little mountain inside the house. I heard that they were sent from Nanhezhou.”

…

…

Jing Shang didn’t know what his colleagues were discussing behind him. Even if he knew, he wouldn’t be in a good mood to deal with it.

The news spread quite fast in Zhaoge City. Pretty soon he heard what was happening on the Chess Board Mountain.

As Jing Shang learned that the opponent of Jing Jiu’s first game was Tong Yan, he almost passed out with a buzzing sound in his head.

As there wasn’t any brotherly affection between Jing Jiu and him, Jing Jiu’s loss wouldn’t affect the future of his career; but…

He had been thinking about these matters on the road. Gradually his thinking turned blurry, and his clothes were soaked with cold sweat. As he came back to his senses, he had already arrived in front of the State Duke Cheng’s manor house.

The entire Zhaoge City knew that State Duke Cheng liked Go playing, and the best and the safest betting games on the chess tournament of the Plum Meeting were offered here.

A caretaker noticed him and greeted, “Master, you’re here at last. Please come in.”

Jing Shang took out a handkerchief to wipe off the sweat on his forehead. “Can I cancel my betting now?” he asked in a low voice after a moment of hesitation.

The caretaker smiled at him without saying anything.