Chapter 137: Finding Life Within Death Is My Strong Suit!

Su Ming's heart trembled.

The figure before him.

It lacked the celestial aura and Daoist bearing imagined.

Nor the world‑shaking ferocity.

Nor the youthful vigor of his younger days.

Only a hint of refined elegance, stripped of gaudy brilliance.

And...

Fatigue that seeped into the marrow.

The eyes that once held a sky of stars now are as deep as a well.

Just standing there made Su Ming feel a pressure even more terrifying than when he faced the will of a hundred thousand Shu soldiers.

"Would you be willing to play a match with Zhuge Liang?"

Zhuge Liang's voice came, calm and unruffled.

Like the cold dew of an autumn night, dripping onto a dead battlefield.

A match?

Playing chess with this ancient sage of wisdom?

Su Ming's mind and spirit were violently shaken.

What a joke!

Gomoku, Chinese chess?!

Even if he logs back onto the software, he might still not win?!

But he has no other choice.

Stepping into this place, he is already a player in the game.

He wants to break the deadlock.

He also wants the Chancellor to break the Prison!

"Fine!"

"Chancellor, please impart your teaching!"

"Very well."

Zhuge Liang nodded slightly, his Feather Fan gently swaying in his hand.

"Take a look around."

Su Ming looked around; a charred expanse of earth scorched by raging fire stretched before him.

"Qishan Dao, impassable."

"Chencang Dao, impassable."

"Baoxie Dao, also impassable."

With each sentence spoken, the scorched ground beneath Su Ming began to tremble, revealing the outlines of mountains and rivers.

Su Ming's pupils contracted.

Wuzhangyuan!

This place is precisely where this ancient sage of wisdom burned the last spark of his life, ultimately falling in resentment at Wuzhangyuan!

"Zhuge Liang has spent his life mastering knowledge, calculating the heavens, wishing to prolong the Han court's reign, and seeking peace for the people of the world."

"But when I calculate and recalculate, looking over this board, no matter how I place the pieces, how I struggle..."

In Zhuge Liang's voice there was a deep sense of helplessness.

"In the end, there is only one word: 'Death'."

"Zhuge Liang, having exhausted all strategies, there is... no way forward."

He lifted his gaze, those dead eyes for the first time looking directly at Su Ming.

"Now, the board is yours."

"If you were me, how would you break this deadlock?!"

His words fell.

A massive topographical map of mountains and rivers, formed of light and shadow, erupted between the two.

Ancient Yongliang and Hanzhong were all there!

Mountains, rivers, cities, passes...

Everything was crystal clear.

Su Ming's Eye of Truth activated.

In his view, countless red threads representing marching routes intertwined and spread across the map.

Each line represented a possible northern expedition.

However, at the end of each red line...

was shrouded by a dense, impenetrable black fog.

The black fog signified irreversible defeat, signified Death!

Su Ming's thoughts turned sharply.

A strong assault?

No! Sima Yi has fortified the walls and cleared the fields; the Wei army is massive; Shu‑Han's strength cannot afford the cost.

A surprise attack?

Useless!

Useless! That Lao Gou's sense of smell is sharp, steady as Mount Tai, and will never give any chance.

Split the troops?

It's courting death! It will only let the already weak forces be picked off one by one!

Time passes second by second.

Cold sweat beads increasingly on Su Ming's forehead.

He finally experiences firsthand the desperation of that ancient sage of wisdom.

Not even he can manage.

How could he possibly?!

This…

It's a chessboard no mortal can solve!

It is the Mandate of Heaven!

It is a death net woven from national strength, Human Heart, and the tide of fate, inescapable!

"How?"

Zhuge Liang's voice sounds again, calm and unruffled.

"Your Dao, your wildfire, cannot pierce this Mandate of Heaven?"

Su Ming gives no answer.

He shuts his eyes tightly, his body trembling from extreme mental tension.

The conventional routes are all dead ends…

All wisdom and stratagems are already useless…

This game was never meant for anyone to win!

If that's the case…

Su Ming opens his eyes, his pupils burning with the madness of being forced into a corner!

"I won't take the Qishan Dao!"

He extends a finger, pointing at none of the known routes on the map.

Instead, he points to a pitch‑black gorge marked by countless skeletons and ominous symbols.

"I'll go Ziwu Gu!"

Dangerous!

Extraordinary danger!

When those words are spoken, the surroundings fall silent for a moment.

Back then, the great general Wei Yan once presented this brilliant scheme.

Leading five thousand elite troops, within ten days the army would stand beneath Chang'an Cheng.

If this plan succeeds, it could overturn the world in one stroke!

But because it is too perilous, the variables are too many.

Zhuge Liang, ever cautious and averse to risky troops, outright rejected it.

And now.

His first move is this very risky chess move that the Chancellor rejected for a millennium!

The sword takes an off‑center edge!

He has no choice but to gamble!

Zhuge Liang's motion of shaking the Feather Fan pauses briefly.

"Troops may take a cunning path, permissible."

In his calm voice, a ripple finally appears.

"But do you know, taking this risky move will cost you seventy percent of troops and all provisions."

"A lone force deep inside, nine deaths to one life."

"You, still want to go?"

Su Ming laughs, his hoarse laugh carrying the ferocity of an outlaw.

"Seeking life within death…"

"It's what I'm better at!"

As the words fall, his thoughts shift.

A black piece representing him suddenly appears on the light‑shadow board.

Without any hesitation, that black piece turns into a decisive flash of light, ignoring all conventional routes.

It boldly thrusts into Ziwu Gu!

Buzz—!

On the board, the winds change again!

Su Ming only feels a flash before his eyes.

He is no longer a player, but has personally merged into that lone army.

Cliffs and sheer walls make the march arduous.

Miasma, poisonous insects, ferocious beasts…

They constantly erode the already fragile team.

Flash floods erupt, the plank road is swept away, and soldiers plunge into a ten‑thousand‑foot abyss.

Scouts are discovered, the Wei army's cavalry, like a festering wound, continuously harasses from afar.

Rations cut, panic, despair…

On the board, that black piece representing him dimmed its light rapidly.

It could be extinguished at any moment.

But…

In the end, there is none!

With the ruthless determination that one cannot live without going mad, and the fierce bravery that would rather die in battle than retreat.

That black piece dragged the last sliver of faint light.

It appeared at the White side's main camp—

Below Chang'an Cheng!

It's done!

Su Ming's consciousness returned; watching the result on the board, his chest rose and fell, and a faint joy welled up inside him.

Did we win?

He instinctively lifted his head, looking toward the silhouette opposite.

He wanted to see his shock and approval, even if it were a complex expression.

However…

On Zhuge Liang's face, there was still not a ripple of emotion.

He didn't even look at the board.

He remained unhurried, gently shaking the Feather Fan in his hand.

Something's off!

Su Ming met those dead, hollow eyes.

In an instant, the surrounding light-and-shadow board twisted wildly, spinning madly.

The charred Wuzhangyuan receded.

The crimson Chang'an Cheng receded.

All mountains and rivers, all soldier pieces, turned in his sight into a streak of flowing light, finally fading into void.

When he opened his eyes again.

"Cough cough!"

A pungent, choking medicinal odor, mingled with a hint of Decay, rushed into his nostrils.

He found himself standing inside a dim, oppressive military tent.

Inside, candle flames flickered, shadows wavering.

On the bed before him lay an emaciated, dying Emperor.

Su Ming shivered all over.

He recognized this scene.

It was exactly the moment when he had previously been inside the Eight Formation Diagram, hoarse and screaming in fury!