Chapter 6: I’m a Bit Slow, But Not Stupid

“I don’t understand what you mean.”

Just like He Yimo’s erratic way of playing chess, Mo Yuyan couldn’t figure out what riddle he was trying to solve.

If the black pieces represented misfortune, then he guessed it right.

But in this world, who hasn’t experienced misfortune and regret?

Who can guarantee a bright future?

He could say the same to anyone, as many charlatans do.

Mo Yuyan didn’t believe a mere mortal could predict fate.

With his frivolous and reckless style, he was probably just trying to mess with Mo Yuyan’s concentration while playing chess!

But if it was just a small trick, Mo Yuyan had to admit…

He was indeed making her anxious.

“You are as cunning as the rumors say.”

Under the moonlight, the white-clad fairy stared at He Yimo, biting her silver teeth in secret, hesitating with the black piece in her jade fingers.

She appeared calm, but inside, she was trying hard to stay composed.

How could she let a mortal’s little trick disturb her long-cultivated Dao heart…

“Fairy, are you sure you want to place it here?”

He Yimo raised an eyebrow, feeling a bit hesitant about the newly placed black piece on the board.

Observing the board closely, he suddenly realized an abstract problem.

That is…

In the midst of laughter, he seemed to be winning.

Growing up in the prestigious Taishi Mansion, He Yimo had learned some Go from several ministers, and his skills were decent.

But he didn’t expect Mo Yuyan’s chess skills to be so bad?

Even with his random moves, why didn’t Mo Yuyan follow her strategy and instead got caught up in He Yimo’s chaotic rhythm?

Is she stupid?

Did she not even learn the basic Go strategies?

Mo Yuyan: “…”

As hesitation flashed in He Yimo’s eyes, the white-clad fairy’s jade fingers also hesitated.

She was just thinking about He Yimo’s riddle, and her chess game was disrupted by his rhythm.

Now, calming down, with He Yimo’s reminder, Mo Yuyan suddenly thought of a better solution.

“How about you redo your move?”

He Yimo said awkwardly.

But after a brief inner struggle, the white-clad fairy closed her eyes: “Life has no regrets, and neither does a move in chess.”

“From now on, I won’t let you disturb my thoughts.”

“……”

He Yimo’s lips twitched, feeling it hard to maintain composure.

Even if he wasn’t playing riddles, Mo Yuyan was already at a disadvantage.

With her kindergarten-level skills, how did she dare to bet on chess with He Yimo?

Could she be acting too? With ulterior motives?

But it doesn’t make sense, if she loses, she has to dance for me!

Mo Yuyan’s Dao heart wouldn’t allow her to lose face, and the pride of a genius female sword fairy wouldn’t allow her to flatter a man.

Unless…

She’s really bad.

And, bad but loves to play!

“No, I have to get serious too.”

He Yimo said, feeling the pressure.

In the second half of the game, compared to Mo Yuyan’s careful consideration for each move, He Yimo’s sweat was more exaggerated.

Because it was really hard for him to lose.

He Yimo tried to throw the game, but if it was too obvious, Mo Yuyan would look up with a puzzled expression, reminding him it was a pointless move.

If it wasn’t obvious, Mo Yuyan might not seize the opportunity.

She’s really bad!

She knows the basics, but doesn’t understand the big picture.

Unless He Yimo handed her the pieces, she wouldn’t know how to win, and any complex endgame, she had no idea how to break through!

Now He Yimo was really feeling the pressure.

He was afraid of accidentally letting Mo Yuyan’s black pieces eat them all.

But some black pieces were already doomed, and if He Yimo pretended not to see, Mo Yuyan would look up with a puzzled expression.

In the end, He Yimo was sweating profusely.

He couldn’t act too bad, and had to find ways to guide Mo Yuyan, step by step, to break through and turn the tables.

“With these last seven pieces, you have no way out.”

“Roughly calculated, I should have won.”

Unknowingly, it was already midnight.

Mo Yuyan sat upright, the unease on her fairy face finally revealing a hint of a smile at this decisive moment.

Sitting across from her, He Yimo was also sweating, finally relieved with a long breath.

“Finally let her win.” He Yimo thought to himself.

“I’ll count the pieces.”

Mo Yuyan, confident of victory, smiled with her red lips, and even her tone was no longer so cold.

This was a smile He Yimo had never seen in the illustrations of his previous life.

That cold and mysterious senior sister, even in the original “Fallen Immortal,” never showed joy after winning against the Holy Son of the Heavenly Sword Sect.

He Yimo began to suspect that her interest shouldn’t be in learning the sword, but in learning some gossip formations, so she could play chess at home like those old men.

“No need to count, you’ve definitely won this game.”

He Yimo sighed, standing up to stretch.

“Why?” Mo Yuyan looked up, “Now black and white are evenly matched, rough calculations may have errors.”

She looked at the boy with beautiful eyes, besides confusion, there was a bit of mutual appreciation for a worthy opponent.

She seemed to genuinely feel this was a thrilling and evenly matched game.

He Yimo’s lips twitched.

He never thought that the mysterious sword master senior sister, who seemed so out of reach, would be so naive and silly on his professional chessboard.

“No need, I’ve calculated it several times in my mind.”

He Yimo feigned humility, waving his hand, “You won by two and a half pieces, it’s definitely your win.”

“Is that so.”

Mo Yuyan nodded, still not getting up, looking down at the finished game, seriously counting each piece.

Does she not even know how to use the counting technique?

He Yimo had never seen a fairy like Mo Yuyan.

Her obsession with Go didn’t seem fake, but her skills were so bad, an amateur among amateurs…

Logically, as a genius female sword fairy in the Wuji Sect, if she showed any interest in chess, many formation cultivators would rush to teach her, and the Wuji Sect, as one of the five great immortal sects known for “formations,” had no shortage of sage’s legacy chess manuals in its library.

If she had learned a bit, she couldn’t be this bad.

Did no formation cultivator in the Wuji Sect teach her chess?

At least, He Yimo could be sure, Mo Yuyan hadn’t received any systematic learning in Go.

“By the way…”

“Why does Fairy Mo like to play Go?”

Before leaving, He Yimo couldn’t help but ask the question in his heart at the courtyard gate.

After all, Mo Yuyan was one of his biggest regrets in the original “Fallen Immortal.”

As a hardcore player who died from overplaying “Fallen Immortal,” He Yimo didn’t regret the game lacking a romance plot with a female protagonist, he just regretted what the Wuji Sect’s sword master senior sister went through to become the blackened and pathological evil sword fairy in the later stages.

In his previous life, He Yimo didn’t live to see the final big version update of “Fallen Immortal” revealing the mystery, he died from overplaying and reincarnated as the seventh son of the Taishi Mansion.

But in this life…

Maybe after tonight’s farewell, he wouldn’t see Mo Yuyan for five years.

Maybe when they meet again in five years, Mo Yuyan would have become the blackened evil sword fairy, unable to communicate with people.

So, in this rare last meeting, He Yimo couldn’t help but probe a few more secrets that the original “Fallen Immortal” never revealed.

“……”

Mo Yuyan lowered her eyes, silent.

But silence itself was an answer.

He Yimo wasn’t surprised, although after a few hours of chess, he was her recognized worthy opponent, once they left the small chessboard, he was still the useless seventh son, and Mo Yuyan was still the unreachable genius sword fairy of the Wuji Sect, the future white-clad sword fairy wandering the world.

Mo Yuyan accompanying him in chess was already a heavenly gift, how could she reveal her privacy to a mortal?

“Then I have one more question—”

He Yimo stood at the door, unwilling to give up.

But this time, he didn’t ask directly, instead pausing to observe Mo Yuyan’s attitude.

“Speak.”

The fairy still didn’t look up, her beautiful eyes cherishing the chess game.

At least, she uttered a word this time.

“Have you always played chess with yourself?”

“My master has a rule, I’m not allowed to learn chess.”

Mo Yuyan answered faintly, her voice less cold and more indescribably lonely.

In a few seconds, He Yimo had searched through his memory of Mo Yuyan’s storyline in the original “Fallen Immortal.”

The result was, he still had no clue.

Her master was naturally the sect master of the Wuji Sect, the one who sent Mo Yuyan to the Taishi Mansion to take him as a disciple…

But why did the sect master forbid Mo Yuyan from learning chess?

Did the Wuji Sect have such an unwritten rule?

He Yimo’s mind was blank, after all, in the original, Mo Yuyan was more of a figurehead for the Wuji Sect, her storyline was limited, let alone these minor details!

“Thank you for your generosity, Fairy, I have no more questions.”

“Then, farewell.”

“Tomorrow, I will honor the bet, tell my father I offended the fairy tonight, and have no face to go to the Wuji Sect.”

He cupped his fists in salute and turned to leave.

But this time, a cold voice came from the courtyard, it was Mo Yuyan calling He Yimo before parting—

“Three days ago, my master specifically named you, ordering me to bring you to the mountain from the Taishi Mansion.”

“A rare immortal fate, why don’t you appreciate it, and prefer to hide in the Pin Feng Lou during the day instead of meeting me?”

Her tone returned to coldness, but more puzzled and regretful, no longer holding prejudice against He Yimo as a playboy.

Tonight was her first time playing against someone and winning.

But after tonight’s farewell, Mo Yuyan would return to playing chess with herself day after day.

After all, in the Wuji Sect, besides herself, there was no disciple like He Yimo daring to play chess with her.

Playing chess alone was really boring.

“Wuji Sect?”

“What’s interesting in that deep mountain forest?”

“Are there fairy sisters in Pin Feng Lou dancing and drinking with me?”

He Yimo spoke frivolously, not forgetting to leave Mo Yuyan with an impression of a carefree playboy before leaving.

“——Are you so obsessed with watching dances?”

Mo Yuyan sighed.

Compared to her initial pure dislike for a lecher, now she was more helpless about He Yimo’s character.

“Is the fairy so obsessed with playing chess?”

He Yimo didn’t answer, just threw the corresponding topic back.

With these words, the white-clad fairy slightly parted her red lips, wanting to speak but stopping, finally falling silent with her eyes lowered.

She just stood there, silently watching the boy’s figure disappear around the corner.

“So that’s how it is.”

Reflecting on her restrained life in the Wuji Sect since childhood, Mo Yuyan couldn’t help but feel emotional.

If you set aside cultivation, the Wuji Sect was indeed not as rich in life as Luo City.

At least…

In Luo City, Mo Yuyan could find people to play chess with, and He Yimo in Luo City wasn’t short of beauties flattering him.

……

……

……

It was already late at night.

But Mo Yuyan didn’t rest, her beautiful eyes still fixated on the chessboard.

She hadn’t moved a single piece, preserving the most complete endgame.

Because of her master’s rule, Mo Yuyan hadn’t learned a single chess manual, nor played chess with any sect disciples, and no one in the Wuji Sect knew about her unspeakable obsession with Go.

Mo Yuyan also knew her chess skills weren’t good.

But at least…

She understood the basic rules of chess.

And, as a cultivator, she had a memory far superior to ordinary people.

“Really won by two and a half pieces, no more, no less.”

Mo Yuyan began to replay the game from memory.

It was clearly a victory already conceded by the boy, but the more she replayed, the more confused her beautiful eyes became.

She discovered a strange pattern—

It was as if every move she made, every thought she had, was meticulously planned by the boy, within reason yet unexpectedly allowing Mo Yuyan to achieve a comeback victory.

“He calculated every move of this game to the extreme.”

“But at least, he shouldn’t have calculated that cultivators can recall memories.”

“I’m a bit slow, but I’m not stupid.”

Gazing at the dazzling black and white chessboard, the white-clad fairy lowered her beautiful eyes, a faintly cold and charming smile curling at her lips.