Chapter 438: The Last White Stone Reverses the Victory!
Translated by: Hypersheep325
Edited by: Michyrr
w.a.n.g Chong had already known of Xu Qiqin"s true ident.i.ty and also that she was a woman. However, Xu Qiqin"s true beauty really had surpa.s.sed his expectations.
"…I forgot to tell you, I"m not called Xu Chong. My name is Xu Qiqin, the oldest daughter of the Xu Clan. In a little while, when you announce to everyone that you"re inferior to me, don"t forget this point."
Xu Qiqin had no idea what w.a.n.g Chong was thinking. A proud expression on her face, she lightly flung her black hair behind her and casually used a white hairtie to tie it together.
Although there had been a few twists and turns, w.a.n.g Chong had still lost to her.
"Young Lady! Wow! You really won!"
A shriek came from out of the crowd as Xu Qiqin"s dainty and delicate maid ran out. She was jumping and yelling, her face covered with excitement.
"You won, you really won!"
The little maid was so excited that it seemed like she was the one that had won.
"Little girl, you"re so annoying!"
Xu Qiqin impatiently gave the maid a light slap on the back of the head.
"w.a.n.g Chong, what are you doing? Quickly make the announcement!"
Xu Qiqin turned around and looked at w.a.n.g Chong, the look of victory on her face. She made a gesture with her hand, indicating that w.a.n.g Chong should go into Deflecting Blade Manor and announce her victory to everyone.
"Haha, you"ve won? Then why don"t I see it?"
w.a.n.g Chong sat like an unmoving mountain on his seat, watching with a faint smile as Xu Qiqin played out the part of the rejoicing victor.
"w.a.n.g Chong, the outcome has already been decided. With so many people watching, are you still thinking about going back on your word?"
Xu Qiqin"s pupils constricted and her expression s.h.i.+fted.
"The w.a.n.g Clan is still a clan of ministers and generals. You wouldn"t be so lacking in character, would you?"
The maid immediately came to her lady"s defense. "That"s right. w.a.n.g Chong, are you a man or not? Do you want to go back on your words after playing chess with my clan"s young lady?"
The atmosphere in the Chess Hall also began to get a little strange.
Xu Qiqin"s victory truly had been surprising, but so had w.a.n.g Chong"s reaction. Deflecting Blade Manor had been established for more than half a year, and w.a.n.g Chong had left a very good impression on its students.
No one believed that w.a.n.g Chong was someone who would so easily break a promise, but the scene taking place had left many of them confused.
"Hey hey, I didn"t say anything about taking back my words! But, Xu Qiqin, do you not know that this game"s outcome is only decided once I play my last piece? …You didn"t forget that you were the one who went first this game, did you?"
As he spoke, w.a.n.g Chong took his last white stone from the box.
Buzz!
The appearance of this white stone instantly caused the atmosphere in the Chess Hall to s.h.i.+ft. Xu Qiqin acted like someone had stung her, her entire body trembling.
In just an instant, some matters that had been forgotten quickly resurfaced to the top of the mind with the appearance of this white stone.
Indeed, she really had been the one to go first in this game!
In the game of chess, there was one who went first and one who went second. Although she had already put down her last stone, this game could only truly conclude when w.a.n.g Chong put down his last stone.
w.a.n.g Chong was completely correct when he said that victory had not been decided!
Bzzt!
Like a lightning bolt flas.h.i.+ng through her mind, Xu Qiqin suddenly had a bad feeling. The smile on her face quickly vanished.
Xu Qiqin had never dared to look down on w.a.n.g Chong, and now was no different.
However, Xu Qiqin quickly regained her composure.
"Hmph, w.a.n.g Chong, stop trying to mess with me. With the board in this state, I don"t believe that your last piece can still bring you victory!" Xu Qiqin coldly said.
Sweeping one"s gaze across the gilded chessboard, one would only see white and black stones intertwining like a map of broken hills.
Xu Qiqin could be sure that w.a.n.g Chong"s forces had been scattered and smashed, completely losing any ability to threaten her.
"Hahaha, Xu Qiqin, remember these words: the one who laughs lasts laughs best!"
Right in front of everyone"s eyes, w.a.n.g Chong gave a hearty laugh as he put down the last white stone.
Time seemed to slow to a crawl. The white stone in w.a.n.g Chong"s hand seemed to a weigh a thousand jun, attracting everyone"s attention.
Even Xu Qiqin couldn"t help but follow the slow descent of the white stone onto the board.
Xu Qiqin found it impossible to believe that this white stone could pose any threat to her, but w.a.n.g Chong was too calm, too carefree. This made her unconsciously feel a tinge of unease.
It was just a second, but to the crowd, it felt like countless epochs. Finally, peng! With this sound, w.a.n.g Chong"s last white stone fell on Xu Qiqin"s lower left corner, a position that she had never once paid attention to.
The moment this stone fell, the entire Chess Hall shook. It was as if w.a.n.g Chong"s stone was not falling on their chessboard, but on the hearts of every person present.
"Check1! Xu Qiqin, you"ve lost!"
w.a.n.g Chong said a term that Xu Qiqin didn"t understand. But Xu Qiqin very quickly put aside her attempts to understand what w.a.n.g Chong had meant, because with w.a.n.g Chong"s final white stone, everyone"s gazes had gathered on that unremarkable spot.
And when the dust had settled, everyone suddenly discovered that this originally unimportant spot had become extremely important.
w.a.n.g Chong"s efforts had been like constructing a giant net, one that had begun being woven from the first stone, but that only now finally took shape.
w.a.n.g Chong"s scattered, broken, and formless white stones seemed to revolve around this white stone, transforming into a ma.s.sive and lethal trap.
And Xu Qiqin was the prey sitting in the very center of this trap.
"This is impossible!" Xu Qiqin"s eyes went wide as she stared with disbelief at the sudden reversal on the board, her chest heaving up and down.
"Nothing is impossible. Xu Qiqin, you"ve lost!"
w.a.n.g Chong grinned as his hands stretched out to collect the pieces. Under Xu Qiqin"s stunned gaze, he began to collect the first prey caught in the net he had spent so much time constructing: Xu Qiqin"s first large dragon, formed from black stones.
Next was a little dragon in the corner, and then a second, a third…
A part of the once-packed board was suddenly emptied by w.a.n.g Chong, and then a second part, a third part…
Xu Qiqin"s black stones were different from w.a.n.g Chong"s. She had const.i.tuted them into many dragons, large and small, all of them connected to support each other.
It seemed like a masterful layout, but at this moment, it became her greatest error.
As s.p.a.ce after s.p.a.ce was emptied, when the pieces were all collected, the black stones were scattered and spa.r.s.e. w.a.n.g Chong"s originally shattered army of white stones now occupied the absolute advantage.
The layout of those spa.r.s.ely scattered stones at first seemed like the result of Xu Qiqin"s fusion of logistics and chess, but now it seemed like a masterstroke from w.a.n.g Chong.
Because it was now impossible for Xu Qiqin to take any of w.a.n.g Chong"s pieces off the chessboard.
w.a.n.g Chong had won!
The situation on the chessboard could be recognized at a glance. Even the most ignorant of chess players could see it.
"Impossible, impossible… This can"t be happening!"
Xu Qiqin"s entire body trembled. The stark contrast in the state of the board from just a single move truly had dealt her a heavy blow. Even if you beat her to death, Xu Qiqin would have found it impossible to believe that she could have lost!
And even though she had held the upper hand against w.a.n.g Chong for the entire game, she had lost at the final move.
"How could this be? How could this be?" Xu Qiqin muttered to herself, her face pale, her body swaying.
"Young Lady!"
The delicate little maid hurriedly went to a.s.sist her young lady while shooting a glare at w.a.n.g Chong.
It was all this scoundrel"s fault that her young lady had received such a blow. Did he not know what it meant to hold back?
And he had even seen her young lady"s true appearance. He truly knew nothing of what it meant to be graceful!
w.a.n.g Chong only smiled at the maid"s vicious glare. If this had been a contest of wills or a leisurely game, he wouldn"t have minded holding back.
However, w.a.n.g Chong had set up this board precisely so that he could subdue Xu Qiqin, the future King of Logistics, and bring her under his command. Thus, he could not possibly hold back.
"To be able to fuse your Xu Clan"s logistics skills with your chess style, Xu Qiqin, your talent really is incredible!"
w.a.n.g Chong slowly swept a large pile of black stones into a chess box and then stood up.
"Alas, you were so focused on the local situation that you disregarded the whole! After all, chess is not a simple contest of logistics!"
With this last word, w.a.n.g Chong began to exude a mighty aura, one that he had always had.
As a War Saint in his last life, w.a.n.g Chong had been speaking as a teacher to Xu Qiqin.
Xu Qiqin"s talent truly was excellent, but it was barely excellent. There was still a large gap between her and w.a.n.g Chong. One could see it from this game.
Xu Qiqin had held the advantage throughout the game, but at the very end, w.a.n.g Chong"s last white stone had ruined all her efforts and turned victory into defeat.
Xu Qiqin might have been surprised by this result, been astonished, found it impossible to accept, but to w.a.n.g Chong, this had all been part of the plan.
Xu Qiqin was not the first opponent w.a.n.g Chong had faced, nor would she be the last, and she certainly wasn"t the most formidable.
In w.a.n.g Chong"s life, he had encountered innumerable opponents of impressive caliber, and those had been on the dangerous battlefield. And these famous generals, Great Generals, and even the foreign invaders had all suffered a bitter defeat at his hands, so why would Xu Qiqin be the exception?
The t.i.tle of "War Saint" was not something one could just give oneself!
Boom!
The moment w.a.n.g Chong finished speaking, those students who wors.h.i.+ped and supported w.a.n.g Chong immediately broke into cheers, soon followed by the rest of the students.
w.a.n.g Chong and Xu Qiqin"s chess match had been truly too amazing, especially w.a.n.g Chong"s divine last stone that had instantly turned defeat into victory and thoroughly routed Xu Qiqin.
This unfathomable chess style had completely overcome everyone present.
Just this alone was enough to win w.a.n.g Chong a great number of unswerving fans, and even more people had been completely bewitched by the profundity of chess.
None of them had expected the way of chess to be so strange and wonderful. It was like a mysterious world bursting with infinite light, enrapturing all the people looking in.
"Good job!"
"Young Master really is Young Master. No one can lightly challenge him in his area of expertise!"
……
Wei Anfang and Old Eagle were also smiling.
The pair had never doubted w.a.n.g Chong"s ability, but the brilliance of this game had far surpa.s.sed their expectations.
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1. "Check" was written in English in the original text.