Chapter 65: Leisurely tapping the chess pieces, four people enter the temple

【You and Lu Yu find a corner in the temple to sit down.】

【Four people are in the temple, two men and two women sitting before the firewood.】

【The two men, dressed as scholars—one fat and one thin—are chatting and laughing around a woman in white, while the woman in white appears somewhat indifferent, closing her eyes to contemplate alone.】

【Beside the woman in white is another woman in a green dress.】

【One in white, one in green.】

【The woman in white is exceptionally beautiful; even this dilapidated temple cannot conceal her elegance.】

【The two scholars try to steer the conversation toward her, but the woman remains unmoved, offering no response.】

【The woman in green, however, chats happily with the scholars, her crisp laughter ringing out from time to time in the quiet temple.】

【As the two of you step into the temple, the woman in white maintains her indifference, paying no mind to your arrival.】

【The two scholars merely glance at you before continuing their conversation.】

【The woman in green is different; her gaze lingers on you for a moment.】

【However.】

【Seeing that you two have no intention of joining the conversation and are sitting quietly to one side, she quickly withdraws her gaze and continues chatting warmly with the scholars, though her voice is slightly louder.】

【The two scholars seem to find it a bit dull, so they take out a chessboard and two black and white chess canisters from behind a large bamboo chest.】

【"Why not play a game of chess to pass the time?"】

【Upon hearing this, the woman in green happily offers to assist from the sidelines.】

【The woman in white remains as she was.】

【In the south of Daqing, playing chess is a refined pastime, and there is even the classic, famous line: "Leisurely tapping the chess pieces, the lamp flowers fall."】

【The sounds of pressing and placing chess pieces ring out in the temple again.】

【The rain outside becomes increasingly fierce, and you begin to worry about tomorrow's journey.】

【The water level of the Yuetang River will likely rise due to this heavy rain, and the difficulty of crossing will increase significantly.】

【Perhaps you can only travel another hundred miles upstream and take a detour to the capital, but that would mean a one-day delay.】

【You must set off as soon as the rain stops.】

【Just as you are deep in thought, Lu Yu's voice rings in your ear: "Brother, the person outside has extraordinary cultivation; he may have already reached the Grandmaster realm."】

【You nod slightly; with your ability to read people, although you cannot fathom the depth of the green-robed Daoist's cultivation.】

【You perceive the surging killing intent hidden beneath his calm demeanor.】

【You have only seen this level of killing intent in a few generals in the army known for their decisiveness in slaughter, figures like the "Thousand-Man Slayer" and the "Hundred-Man Cutter."】

【To be able to cultivate such killing intent in the Jianghu, he is definitely no ordinary person.】

【However!】

【You are surprised that Lu Yu's method of transmitting sound to your ear is something others cannot hear.】

【He is actually using spiritual energy to gather sound into a line for transmission.】

【Sure enough, the realm above Grandmaster already transcends common sense.】

【To encounter a Grandmaster-level expert in this remote mountain temple.】

【There is no such thing as a coincidence in this world.】

【I fear he has come for you.】

【You look again at the green-robed Daoist outside, who seems to have become oblivious to everything.】

【I wonder, who is this person?】

【Are there only four Grandmasters on the surface in Daqing?】

【Before long!】

【Four people traveling together suddenly pour into the temple, breaking the original tranquility.】

【An old man, a youth, a beautiful woman, and a sturdy man carrying a saber.】

【The four walk in together.】

【The old man wears a Confucian robe and has an impressive bearing, followed by a fair-skinned, red-lipped youth who looks to be about sixteen or seventeen; the two follow one after the other, looking quite like master and apprentice.】

【Immediately after, a beautiful woman steps into the temple; she wears a red dress, soaked by the rain, which only serves to outline her graceful figure, attracting the gazes of the two scholars, their eyes heating up.】

【The last to enter the temple is the sturdy man with a saber; he sweeps his sharp gaze over the green-robed Daoist at the door, seeing that his trouser legs are clean as new and there is no mud on his shoes, clearly having entered this temple before the rain.】

【Of the four people inside the temple, the book boxes of the two scholars suggest they are scholars for the Autumn Examination, seemingly heading to the capital for the exam; this place is not far from the capital.】

【There are also two women, which is curious; with such frail bodies, they dare to venture into this place.】

【However, when walking the Jianghu, one must always be extra vigilant of old men, women, and children.】

【The man with the saber glances at the two of you in the temple, but seems not to care.】

【Lu Yu's realm is unfathomable, naturally far exceeding ordinary people; I fear there are only a handful of people in the world who can discern his depth.】

【You have already cultivated to the twelfth level of the Great Huangting, your aura deep and far beyond what an ordinary Grandmaster can compare to. Your aura is restrained; unless one is a Grandmaster, it is difficult to glimpse your cultivation.】

【Yet you can see through the realm of that saber-wielding martial artist at a glance; although he is not a Grandmaster, he is a true first-class expert in the Jianghu, and his strength cannot be underestimated.】

【In this Daqing, Grandmaster-level powerhouses are already rare; to be called a person of status in a prefecture or county is already a rarity.】

【The old man walks slowly into the temple, his gaze falling on the chessboard where the two scholars are playing, a flash of joy in his eyes.】

【He turns to look at the torrential rain outside the window, then turns his gaze back, smiling and saying to the scholars: "Two young gentlemen, the rain is so heavy, might this old man join in a game of chess?"】

【The two scholars are from the same hometown and have long known each other's chess skills; the thin scholar is highly skilled, and seeing the old man propose a game, he finds it quite interesting and readily agrees.】

【The handsome youth following the old man smiles slightly.】

【The eyes of the two scholars glance from time to time toward the beautiful woman in red to the side.】

【I see】

【The beautiful woman bends slightly, the curves revealed even more graceful, as she carefully wipes the long bench in the temple and places a clean handkerchief on it.】

【The thin scholar plays against the old man, and the old man kindly lets the thin scholar go first.】

【However, within a few dozen moves, the thin scholar begins to scratch his head, clearly falling into deep thought, making frequent blunders.】

【The handsome youth had long predicted this result.】

【He knows well that his grand-uncle, who is also his master, has superb chess skills and is renowned throughout Daqing for his chess path, truly a national master. On the chessboard, there are few players who can defeat the old man.】

【Therefore, the youth only looks at the chessboard a few times before shifting his attention; his gaze is drawn to the woman in white sitting by the firewood, lost in thought.】

【She sits there quietly, only her faint white sleeves swaying gently in the firelight, heart-stirring.】

【Although the woman in green is also quite good, with charm in her brows and eyes, compared to the woman in white, she appears much inferior.】

【To have such a beauty in this crude mountain temple is truly astonishing.】

【Even he, who has had countless women, cannot help but be amazed at this moment.】

【Beauty lies in the bones, not the skin; what is truly heart-stirring is the spiritual aura amidst the delicate grace of the woman in white.】

【The woman in white has it all.】

【The handsome youth, after all, comes from a great family and understands the principle that "a beauty's grace is heavy."】

【A refined person once said that reading a beauty is like fishing; it requires bait, it requires playing the fish, so that one can slowly reel it in, take it into one's possession, and then slowly tame it.】

【He understands that to pursue such a beauty.】

【One cannot be too hasty.】

【The thin scholar places his piece and admits defeat, but the old man is unhurried, slowly helping him review the game.】

【The thin scholar feels somewhat ashamed; he had just been boasting about his chess skills and wanted to save face in front of the two women.】

【Who would have thought he would lose so quickly!】

【Especially now, with the mockery on the face of the woman in green and the indifference of the woman in white, he feels even more unconvinced in his heart, but after reviewing the game, he still feels it is difficult to win; the old man's chess strength is far superior to his.】

【The handsome youth smiles.】

【He walks up and says:】

【"Grand-uncle, why not let me meet this gentleman? You are really bullying him a bit."】

【The old man smiles kindly: "Good, good." He stands up and gives up his seat.】

【The handsome youth takes his seat.】

【The woman in green fixes her beautiful eyes on the handsome youth, seemingly quite interested.】

【The youth returns her smile, not losing his composure.】

【The thin scholar sees this, his eyes flickering obscurely.】

【The sound of wind and rain outside is pattering.】

【The fat scholar sees this and, worried that his friend the thin scholar will be embarrassed by the loss of the chess game, opens a new topic and says:】

【"Last night's heavy rain caused the Yuetang River to flood, and countless fish and shrimp were washed up on both sides of the river; it was truly spectacular."】

【The woman in green seems to be a local and says indifferently: "Every year the tide rises, it's like this; what's so strange about that?"】

【"There are plenty of tide-fish catchers; that's what's lively."】

【Every year when catching tide-fish, many are washed away by the flood, most of whom are good swimmers.】

【It can be said, "good swimmers drown in water!"】

【The fat scholar nods in agreement.】

【Then, mysteriously lowering his voice, under the illumination of the firewood, he continues:】

【"Of course this isn't strange; what's strange is that someone cut open a fish belly and actually found a note inside!"】

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 66 =====