Chapter 28 028 The manipulator has never entered the game personally...
The moment the feeling of weightlessness disappeared, the environment she saw was far beyond Zhuang Ronger's expectations.
She was sure that when she visited the Xingluo Sea decades ago, it was definitely not what it is today.
——This is a sword tomb.
In the center stands a sword-making platform, where perhaps there used to be burning lava, but now, due to the location in the deep sea and the passage of time, only a piece of burnt black rock remains.
A magic sword was quietly inserted into the rock, the sword body emitting a bright white glow, like a sleeping star, guarding this desolate seabed alone.
...divine weapon?
The magical weapon that even the descendants of the Liao family don’t know about, buried in the deep sea with Liao Shiquan?
This is not a rumor...
Liao Shiquan died in a natural disaster more than a hundred years ago, but the appearance of the magic weapon was definitely later than his death.
How could a dead person continue to forge swords? What happened in the meantime?
Zhuang Rong'er felt dizzy. She saw some bones scattered on the ground around her. Some were still intact, even with flesh that had not yet decayed. It seemed that they had not been in this place for long.
All of these bones were piled on the periphery, not a single one of them entering the perimeter of the sword-making platform. It was as if there was some kind of barrier nearby, preventing anyone from getting close.
really.
Zhuang Rong'er stretched out her hand tentatively, and felt a strong burning sensation from her fingertips. Even though she didn't actually touch it, her fingers had turned red.
The person who left the barrier must have a higher cultivation level than her.
But Jing Huai walked into the barrier without realizing it, and before she realized it, she had entered safely.
To him, the barrier that was invisible to the naked eye seemed to not exist.
Isolated outside, Zhuang Rong'er's heartbeat became abnormally fast.
……Why?
Could it be that the person who left the barrier also mistook him for Jing Huai?!
Her chest heaved uncontrollably, and she looked up at the sword again.
There are no flashy carvings on the sword, and the sword light is faint and weak, unobtrusive.
It exudes a unique certainty and silence, and does not require any exaggerated proof to be an unparalleled magic weapon.
——The sword belonging to Jing Huai.
She couldn't imagine anyone else being able to pick him up.
Her gaze fell on Ah Huai again.
Although he entered, he knelt directly on the ground, his eyes closed and his head lowered, as if he was in the posture of receiving ordination in front of the ancestral hall.
He was experiencing some opportunities that she could not know about.
It was this sword that was leading him here, which was why he was falling uncontrollably before...
"Valley Master."
The call sent into the ears by spiritual power made Zhuang Rong'er, who was in a state of confusion, quickly turn her head. At a glance, she saw a man sitting beside the empty stone table, playing chess with the void.
The Laughing Buddha mask hung at his waist, swaying slightly for a moment as he raised his hand.
"Valley Master." He turned his head to look at Zhuang Rong'er and said with a smile, "Would you like to play a game of chess with me?"
——Qinghai Tower appeared here out of nowhere.
“…”
"Why is the Valley Master silent?" Qing Hai Lou's hand holding the chess piece stopped in mid-air. "Perhaps I haven't introduced myself yet? I am a casual cultivator from Qing Hai Lou."
"...Why are you here?"
He smiled and said, "I came here to play chess. Luckily I met the Valley Master. It's lonely playing chess alone."
“…”
Zhuang Rong'er looked at him twice, put away all her emotions, and walked to the empty stone bench opposite him and sat down.
There was an invisible strong pressure permeating the place, but she could not show any abnormality.
Qinghailou's motives are unpredictable, and it is unknown whether he is an enemy or a friend.
There was already a patchwork of black and white chess pieces on the table. Qing Hailou had no intention of resetting them. After handing the white chess piece to her, he dropped the black piece in his hand.
Zhuang Rong'er doesn't know how to play chess.
She didn't even hold the piece elegantly with two fingers like Qing Hailou did. She just picked up a piece stiffly and dropped it onto the board, her eyes still sweeping towards the direction where Ah Huai was kneeling.
She knew that Ah Huai was probably inspired by the magic sword.
In this case, it usually means that the sword-sacrificing spirit has something to say to him.
She felt a little confused.
That sword is most likely the sword that Jing Yixu gave to Jing Huai.
Could it be that not only the creator of the barrier, but even the remaining consciousness in the divine sword mistook Ah Huai for Jing Huai?
This level of distinction is definitely not something that can be achieved with the naked eye. There should be no confusion due to similarities in appearance, looks, or even temperament...
All the evidence seems to indicate that Jing Huai is back.
But, it's obviously impossible.
His residual soul was stored in her pavilion, and his body was weathered in the ancient battlefield of Soul Ruins!
None of this is gone, and there's no way he's coming back.
Is everyone deceived by the absolute similarity?
Then where does that leave Jinghuai...
What is Ah Huai’s origin? Could he be Jing Huai’s brother?
She didn't want to think about it before, and now she can't figure it out...but the person in front of her may know best.
She made a deal with him, exchanging the life-threatening insect for the man she named Ah Huai.
"Where did Ah Huai come from?" Zhuang Rong'er's face turned pale, but her voice was very clear when she asked the question.
Qing Hailou paused slightly, then curled his lips and said, "...If Valley Master defeats me, I will answer your question."
…
"You're here."
The old man sat quietly on the chess table, holding a piece in his hand, and it fell to the ground with a "click".
Ah Huai looked up in a daze and found that everything around him had disappeared. There was only darkness. There was nothing else except a chess table, two stone benches and the old man who was talking to him.
Zhuang Rong'er was no longer by his side, and the attraction that had been affecting him also dissipated like dust settling after he came to this strange pure black area.
His Adam's apple rolled slightly and he looked up at the old man.
The other party didn't care about his slow reaction. He raised his hand and waved to him, smiling, "Come and sit down. Play a game of chess with me."
...What does it mean to be a teacher?
"Why are you standing there like an idiot? I don't have much time left." The old man sighed.
Ah Huai subconsciously took a step forward, walked to the chess table and sat down cooperatively.
He could sense that this old man had no ill will towards him and was very familiar with him. He called himself Master...
Before he lost his memory, perhaps he was his disciple.
Why not ask all the questions about his past here? But he also understood that this was a space beyond reality, and that he and the old man were probably only communicating on a conscious level. It was even possible that everything he saw was just an illusion.
He remained silent for some unspeakable reason, as if speaking would break the illusion.
The old man holds the black pieces, while he holds the white pieces.
Seeing him pick up the white piece, the old man's expression relaxed a bit. He shook his head and said, "I made a bet with Liao Shiquan that you could find this place... and I won."
"Is it Master Weapon Refiner Liao Shiquan?" Ah Huai's fingers trembled slightly. He was silent for a moment before asking in a low voice, "May I ask your name?"
The old man did not answer. He stared at the chessboard in deep thought, muttering, "Play here... No, it should be here..."
Ah Huai had no choice but to stare at the chessboard with him.
He felt that before he lost his memory, he might have known how to play chess.
Just like Xi Jian, he just looked at it quietly for a few times, as if he could foresee the situation a few steps later.
But this game of chess...can I win?
…
Qinghailou's chess style is steady, and he is incredibly experienced in making his moves, looking like he is completely confident of winning.
As a complete novice, Zhuang Rong'er did not seem hesitant or nervous.
She frowned slightly and looked a little distant, as if she was not playing the game herself, but just watching from the sidelines, with a calmness that could be described as indifference.
Every move she makes doesn't seem to be based on winning or losing, and wherever she makes it seems a little unusual.
The moment she dropped another chess piece, Qing Hailou raised his eyebrows slightly.
This is a chess piece that clearly violates the rules and should not be here.
Qing Hailou looked up at her with a hint of doubt in his eyes, but he did not warn her.
But he would definitely regret his first silence later - because Zhuang Rong'er learned from her experience and when the game was halfway through, she simply picked up the chess piece that had been taken away and put it back on the chessboard quietly.
This practice was almost a blatant violation of the rules, but she did not feel any guilt or remorse at all.
As soon as the chess piece fell, the black chess piece that originally had the upper hand was directly blocked, and the white chess piece suddenly appeared to lock the situation, and the outcome seemed to be decided.
"...Valley Master, it seems that this is against the rules." Qing Hailou tapped the table with his fingertips holding the chess piece and looked up at Zhuang Rong'er.
"Did you explain the rules of the chess game to me beforehand?" Zhuang Rong'er asked coldly. "The game was almost complete before I sat down. Perhaps you'd already set up an opening that was favorable to you. Does that count as a violation?"
"...Ha." Qing Hailou laughed, perhaps driven mad by Zhuang Rong'er's sophistry. He clapped his hands and exclaimed in admiration, "The Valley Master is a man of great wisdom. Such a person can always turn the tide."
“…”
"It's just that, in my opinion, there's no reason for the person manipulating the situation to actually get involved."
"So, you refuse to admit defeat?"
"No, I lost." Qing Hailou put down the black piece and met Zhuang Rong'er's gaze calmly, "I will answer the Valley Master's questions."
"Where did Ah Huai come from?"
"I don't know." Qing Hailou shook his head and continued, "Today, I really don't know. Yesterday, I might have understood."
What are you talking about?
Zhuang Rong'er felt a little angry as if she had been teased.
She asked again: "Ahuai, who is he? Who is he to Jinghuai?"
"It's indeed very similar, so similar that it's trance-inducing, so similar that even Jing Yixu's remaining soul can't tell them apart." Qing Hailou sighed vaguely, then suddenly changed the subject, "The Valley Master should also know that the creature from the Abyss has made a comeback. This time, the entrance to the evil spirit isn't in the ancient battlefield of the Soul Ruins, so where else could it be?"
Like, that is not.
She had no way of thinking about his second question, so she instinctively asked, "...You know?"
"I don't know, that's why I'm asking you." Qing Hailou curled his eyes at her mischievously and chuckled, "He's about to wake up, and it's time for me to leave. The Valley Master is a superb chess player, and I've learned a lot from him. Thank you..."
After saying this, he disintegrated like a drop of water, turning into stars and completely blending into the sea of stars.
The one who came here was not his real body.
It's a clone, or an afterimage.
As soon as the figure of Qinghailou, who knew nothing about anything, disappeared, Zhuang Rong'er vomited blood from her throat.
This space does not welcome her and is strongly rejecting her.
The water-repellent beads in her mouth were dissolving at an extraordinary speed. The oppressive force she felt was also continuously intensifying, even to the point of affecting her internal organs.
Before Qinghailou disappeared, she was trying to pretend to be normal and mobilized all her spiritual power to deal with it.
If you stay here for a long time, after the spiritual energy that protects your body is exhausted, serious injuries are the least of your worries, but death is the worst.
It is not difficult to imagine that Nian You, who suddenly crawled out from here, and the pile of bones on the ground that had not crawled out, had all experienced the same difficult situation as she was at this moment.
But Ah Huai is an exception.
…
In the pure black space, Ah Huai and the old man stopped talking, and for a while, there was only the sound of hands being raised and pieces being placed.
Gradually, the situation has become very uncertain - the white pieces are completely surrounded by the black pieces. Under the situation of being attacked from all sides, there seems to be no possibility of counterattack.
The black pieces have firmly occupied the center of the chessboard, clustered together, while the white pieces are isolated and helpless.
The old man's face glowed red, and he said with emotion: "I have no regrets."
Ah Huai looked at him, gently picked up a white piece in his right hand, and shook his head slightly.
The next second, his chess piece landed steadily on a certain position on the chessboard, making a crisp sound.
This step seems very ordinary.
The old man's eyes fixed and his brows furrowed slightly.
The situation seemed to have not changed. At first glance, White was still visibly at a disadvantage...
But he paused for a long time, and the black piece in his hand could not fall down for a long time.
“…”
After a while, the old man sighed softly, his eyes gradually relaxed, the corners of his mouth slightly raised, revealing a relieved smile.
He said nothing, but silently removed his hand from the chessboard, indicating that he had admitted defeat.
After winning a round, Ah Huai pursed his lips and said, "May I ask your name, Senior?"
"Your chess skills are still the same as before." The old man did not answer, but looked at him with a half-smile, his voice becoming a little distant. "I have no regrets, I have no regrets... You have not let me down, Jing Huai."
“…”
Jinghuai?
Ah Huai was stunned.
It wasn't a strange name, but he couldn't relate it to himself at all.
Zhuang Rong'er clearly regarded them as two people... and he was Jing Huai's substitute.
But the old man in front of him completely mistook him for Jing Huai.
He looked at him seriously, as if he was looking at a younger person whom he hadn't seen for a long time.
This seemed to be the last time they saw each other, and he was about to leave.
Ah Huai suddenly felt a little lost and helpless. He reached out to grab the old man's sleeve almost without thinking, but he touched nothing.
The old man, whose figure was becoming increasingly blurred, continued, "Go and retrieve your things, and protect the people of the world..."
He slowly closed his eyes, and his voice became weaker and weaker until it was inaudible.
"I bet you, I'll win this time too..."
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
