Zuan smiled slightly and said, "Although this game of Gomoku is simple, it actually contains hidden dangers."

"Oh?" Hei Baizi immediately became interested. "Then I really want to see for myself."

If someone else were to say that there's more to Gomoku than meets the eye, he'd be lucky to even acknowledge it; he'd probably just spit out a whole bunch of insults.

But the person in front of him was the creator of Gomoku (Five in a Row), and in his mind he had already imagined him as a Go master, so he subconsciously believed what he said.

The two quickly took their seats in the pavilion. Xie Xiu, with her keen eye, helped them set up the chessboard, and even Jiang Luofu became interested and stood by.

Born into a prominent family, she naturally knew about Go, but she had never been interested in it. Instead, she preferred Gomoku, which had simpler rules.

Now that she has seen two chess masters playing against each other, and they are playing Gomoku, she wants to see who will win.

Her gaze fell on Zu'an's face, and she was momentarily lost in thought.

Back in Mingyue Academy, this guy was a recognized good-for-nothing. If I hadn't accidentally learned about his super-level aptitude, I probably would have had the same opinion.

Despite his superior talent, he was so weak back then that I could kill him with a single finger. How much time has passed, and he has grown to this level?

Their cultivation level is almost catching up with mine. The key is that they also have such profound attainments in other fields. You know, Yin Shi, Wang Shuyang, and Hei Baizi are all kings in their respective fields. If you can gain their approval in any one of them, you will be famous in the world. I didn't expect that they would be impressed by every single one of them.

Is this person a monster?

She had unprecedented confidence in Zu'an at this moment, and secretly transmitted her voice: "Zu'an, beat him, that will make it much easier to ask the teacher for a title for you later."

"Reputation..." Zu'an looked puzzled. "Big sister, you're being way too confident in me. I don't even know if I can win."

At this moment, Xie Xiu placed the bowl of black stones next to Zu An and placed the white stones next to his master.

Hei Baizi frowned slightly. He knew that in Go, Black moves first, so it was usually the beginner or the weaker player who would take the black pieces.

He was worried that this would offend Zuan.

However, if he were to play black, given his reputation as a chess master, he would find it difficult to back down, leaving him in a dilemma.

Zu'an noticed his embarrassment and said with a smile, "You are a renowned master of chess, and naturally you are older, so I will play black."

Hei Baizi breathed a sigh of relief and said with a smile, "Mr. Zu is indeed magnanimous, please!"

Having secured the black pieces, Zu'an felt more confident. The reason he dared to play against this chess master was because Gomoku had a winning strategy, and the prerequisite for winning was to have the first move.

He calmly placed the chess piece at the center of the board, the zengen point.

Black and White's expression changed slightly, because generally speaking, the edges and corners of Go are easier to capture, and playing at the center point at the beginning is not very effective and is a bit of a waste.

So, when starting with the center point, it's more of a gesture of deference. Does the opponent intentionally want to let you win by playing there?

You know, when masters compete, the outcome is often decided by a hair's breadth. How dare he let me win at the beginning? Does he think his chess skills are far superior to mine?

Thinking of this, the figure of Zuan sitting opposite him became increasingly unfathomable in his eyes.

He dared not be careless at all, and quickly sat up straight, focusing all his attention on dealing with the situation.

He had played Gomoku before, so he knew which positions needed to be defended in advance, and at the same time, he needed to turn defense into offense, otherwise he would be exhausted by his opponent.

The two players moved their pieces swiftly. At first, Hei Baizi appeared relaxed and normal, but gradually his expression became more and more serious.

A faint smile appeared on Jiang Luofu's face. Even though she was not good at this, she could tell that Zu An had the upper hand.

For some reason, knowing that Zaun was about to win made her happier than if she had won a game herself.

Xie Xiu on the other side was practically celebrating with gongs and drums.

You old scoundrel, you've finally met your match!

You've been torturing me these past few days, haven't you? Well, today you got torn apart by a young upstart. Let's see how arrogant you can be now.

Of course, he only dared to think these things; on the surface, he showed a pained expression, afraid that his master would take his anger out on him.

At the same time, he secretly glanced at Zu'an a few times, thinking to himself that this guy was getting better and better. His sister's taste in men was definitely better than his...

Pshaw, my discerning eyes are for women, not men.

For example, Principal Jiang across the street is quite nice, with those long legs...

He suddenly sensed a murderous aura, hurriedly looked up, and found Jiang Luofu staring at him with an unfriendly expression. He quickly and guiltily looked away.

It's not that I'm resentful and thinking, "Why doesn't Zu'an glare at me? Zu'an can, but I can't."

There's also Miss Chu in Zu'an, Miss Pei, and my sister...

Of course, he was just thinking about it. In the end, he became more and more convinced that he should go find those gentle and kind girls in the future. Those women are gentle and understanding. Let Zu'an suffer these tigresses.

After glaring at him, Jiang Luofu said to Hei Baizi, "Fifth Senior Brother, are you going to move or not? This step is taking way too long; the sun is almost setting."

Hei Baizi's face turned pale and then red, and finally he helplessly put down his pieces and resigned, saying, "I lost."

Zuan breathed a sigh of relief. The chess master was indeed a chess master. He already knew the winning move, but he almost lost several times because of the opponent's divine move. In the end, he was under great tension and dared not make the slightest mistake. Otherwise, he would have won now.

My dear reader, there's more to this chapter! Please click the next page to continue reading—even more exciting content awaits!