Qiu Wuji sat down opposite Qi Chengtai, and the two began setting up the chessboard.
Zhu Mengmeng nervously gripped Qiu Wuji's hand, wanting to call out "Qiuqiu" but afraid of revealing her identity, her face flushed red.
Qiu Wuji rubbed the back of her hand and smiled, "Mengmeng, be good, watch me teach him a lesson."
Du Lianfeng was smiling at Zhong Yi: "Actually, if you play, your chances of winning are low, but not entirely impossible... Are you sure you want a young person to play?"
Zhong Yi also loved playing chess, and his age was a mystery, but he had been playing for decades. Even if he couldn't beat Qi Chengtai, he probably wouldn't lose too badly.
This female chess player's voice sounded like a young person's... Of course, chess skill isn't calculated that way, but even Zhong Yi himself couldn't believe that a random young woman could beat Qi Chengtai, who made a living this way.
He paid no heed to Du Lianfeng's sarcasm, asking Chu Ge with concern, "Aren't you guys... being too aggressive? Why insist on challenging their strengths?"
Chu Ge simply shook his head: "It's precisely by defeating them with their strengths that we create deterrence. Would throwing him downstairs have any effect?"
No one trusted Qiu Wuji's abilities more than Chu Ge. Even if he didn't trust himself, he wouldn't distrust Qiu Qiu. Besides, this was chess; aside from the different names for the Chu River and Han Border, the rules were exactly the same as in the book. If it were Go, he'd probably have to study the rule variations.
Zhong Yi remained silent.
Chu Ge looked at the chessboard. As both sides placed their pieces, a unique space seemed to form between the board and the players, an invisible aura enveloping it, as if separating them into two dimensions…
Even the rules of the world became the rules of chess; the outcome of the game affected life and death.
Even with all his trust in Qiu Wuji, Chu Ge couldn't help but break out in a cold sweat.
Qiu Wuji, playing red, made the first move.
"Bang!" The central cannon.
To onlookers, all they could see was slender hands moving chess pieces, but to Qiu Wuji, it felt as if she were on a vast plain, both sides arrayed in imposing formations, locked in battle.
She was now a general, issuing commands, her soldiers pushing cannons to their designated positions, pointing them towards the enemy lines.
She knew that if this battle was lost, she, the "commander-in-chief," would be captured, but at this moment, she couldn't help but find it a little amusing.
How did this conform to the rules? Realistically, the cannon should fire, not jump over itself, right? What's the point of jumping a horse to protect a pawn? Or does the cannon also jump over itself to smash the enemy? Oh dear, thinking about it this way, it suddenly seems so cute.
The enemy formation shifted slightly; a knight stepped out, stopping behind the pawns.
Qiu Wuji didn't test whether the cannon actually jumped over itself; she methodically commanded her own knights to step out and await orders.
She found it quite fun, similar to the illusions she'd encountered before, but with a much stronger interaction with reality. Every move was based on her own strategy, and victory depended on her skill.
Qi Chengtai advanced a pawn.
In Qiu Wuji's eyes, the opposing side roared, and the right flank soldiers advanced in orderly formation, their killing intent palpable.
Advancing a pawn was like unleashing a thousand-strong army.
Behind the battle lines, Qiu Wuji's chariot roared.
As the battle intensified, the pieces interacted for the first time.
Qiu Wuji gazed ahead; the soldiers clashed, swords and spears clashed, blood and flesh flew, chariots rolled, and cannons roared.
Looking beyond the battlefield, he could see the opposing commander hidden behind his lines, surrounded by his advisors, his expression grim.
In reality, Qi Chengtai's forehead began to bead with sweat. He realized this Calabash Brother's chess skills were formidable! All his strategies seemed to have been seen through at a glance; any attempts to lure the enemy were futile. His opponent's gaze seemed to see hundreds of paces ahead, encompassing every corner of the battlefield. Every pawn seemed to be perfectly attuned to his every command.
Was this truly a young person facing a life-or-death chess duel for the first time?
Even without chess skill, the sheer carnage and palpable killing intent on the battlefield would have intimidated most people, but this woman remained as calm as ice, not even flinching.
"Checkmate!" Qi Chengtai gritted his teeth and slammed his chariot to the ground.
On the battlefield, the chariot leaped forward, its killing intent aimed directly at Qiu Wuji's side, its long spear about to thrust.
Qiu Wuji coldly glanced at it.
Even though it was an illusory chariot, the knight on it, upon receiving this single glance, felt as if he had been plunged into an ice cellar, frozen in terror.
The chariot on the chessboard tilted slightly, and a tiny crack appeared in one of the pieces.
A single glance in the illusion actually affected the real chessboard!
Qi Chengtai's expression changed drastically in horror. Even Du Lianfeng, watching from the sidelines, couldn't sit still; his cast-covered hands and feet involuntarily braced themselves against the armrests, and he sat up straight.
"Do you know?" Qi Chengtai suddenly heard Qiu Wuji's telepathic transmission: "Actually, if I wanted to beat you, you would have been dead long ago."
Qi Chengtai: "?"
"Your soul is not far from me, like a target for sale. You know how difficult it was for me to restrain myself from directly killing you. The rules of this chessboard are meaningless to me." Qiu Wuji said calmly, "Remember next time, my boyfriend's superpowers aren't causality. Against an opponent with a significant skill gap, don't use your ability; that's suicide."
Qi Chengtai broke out in a cold sweat: "You..."
"Killing you like that, I doubt you'd be satisfied." Qiu Wuji said calmly, "I'll make you fall in your most prized chess game, teaching you a lesson you'll never dare set foot in Nanjiang again."
"Bang!" The horse leaped across the river, the cannon flew to the bottom, and the opponent's chariot exploded. Qi Chengtian's face grew paler and paler.
He was barely holding on to the outcome of the game!
"You...how long have you been playing?"
Qiu Wuji tilted his head and thought for a moment: "Over eighteen thousand years."
"You!" Qi Chengtian's game was clearly losing ground, a fact evident to everyone watching. Zhu Mengmeng's face lit up with joy, while Zhong Yi sighed softly, head bowed in deep thought.
Du Lianfeng clearly saw it too. He straightened up, his expression grim, his gaze towards Qiu Wuji filled with a hint of ferocity.
It seemed he was about to intervene...
His abilities were perfectly suited to assist Qi Chengtian in his off-field maneuvers. Qi Chengtian's game was merely a reflection of the board's position; until the final victory, neither side's generals were harmed. But he was different. He could truly drag others into the game, simulating attacks with real pieces, so that the opponent wouldn't even know if Qi Chengtian's game was already in place or if a third party had intervened.
So these two often acted together, inseparable, and their teamwork was quite effective.
A whirlpool flickered in Du Lianfeng's eyes as he was about to enter the arena when suddenly, Chu Ge appeared, blocking his way: "My girlfriend is here. My opponent is you."
Are you here to fight or to feed them dog food? One's my boyfriend, the other's my girlfriend. Can't you go home?
Du Lianfeng was anxious and didn't bother with Chu Ge's banter. He said directly, "A single duel is rather boring. Since this young brother is also interested, how about we have a match?"
Chu Ge smiled: "Stop pretending. I'm waiting for you."
Qi Chengtai's expression turned ferocious.
Zhong Yi urgently shouted, "Chu Ge, be careful! His attacks are real, but don't get entangled with them. It's pointless..."
The next moment, Chu Ge felt the world spin, and the entire room transformed into a battlefield.
He felt as if he were a soldier in the Chu-Han Contention, right in the middle of the fiercest battle, surrounded by flashing swords and falling comrades, their blood splattering onto his mask.
He touched it; there was indeed blood.
A knight charged through the fray, lance raised, his spear leaving a trail of blood.
The spear's cold gleam was instantly at Chu Ge's throat.
"Clang!" Chu Ge slightly dodged the spear, grabbing the shaft and pulling it away.
The knight screamed and fell from his horse, colliding with Chu Ge.
"Don't get entangled with them, it's pointless." Zhong Yi's words echoed in his mind. Chu Ge grabbed the knight by the neck, using him as a shield to deflect the surrounding swords and spears, then looked up into the distance.
First, he needed to find Du Lianfeng.
This was truly similar to his "Heaven and Earth Shattering Strike," as if time and space had shifted in an instant. Du Lianfeng might not even exist here; this is merely his spiritual sea of consciousness, or perhaps it's been activated.
This is actually just a battlefield of his imagination, one he's seen, thought about, or perhaps… from his past life, deeply ingrained in his memory.
Earth-shattering changes, three lifetimes of reincarnation.
Nothing more than that.
The opponent's tricks are just a small part of the earth-shattering changes…
Then this battlefield of yours is merely a corner of my world. The immortal path is high and distant; the battle cries of this mortal world have long since faded, and no one in the heavens listens.
Chu Ge's perspective slowly rose and receded, gradually becoming an overview.
The battlefield receded, the two sides gradually moving away, like a swarm of ants, the sounds of battle echoing far and wide, rising into the clouds, until they were no longer heard.
A certain peak was faintly visible, where Du Lianfeng stood, nervously watching the battlefield, ready to take control at any moment.
Chu Ge grinned: "Come down!"