Chapter 575: The Immortal Playing Chess with the Heavenly Lord

At the foot of Flying Mountain, in front of the small house.

The fox sat upright, lowering its head to lick its fur.

Lin Jue looked up, both receiving today's bright sunshine and looking at the landscape ahead, which already had a hint of autumn—the temple on the opposite bank had reached the stage of tiling the roof. The craftsmen were not in a hurry; building a temple was probably a rare and good job for them. They sat on the roof tiling while chatting happily.

"One day in the Immortal Realm is one year in the human realm. In front of the old Heavenly Lord, there is truly no time."

Lin Jue couldn't help but sigh.

"Yes." Another Lin Jue walked out from beside him, stood side by side with him, and also looked into the distance. "But perhaps this is also a way for the old Heavenly Lord to avoid the 'calamity'."

"Where can I find a human master who can play against heaven?"

"I can only inquire."

Before he knew it, the fox sitting in the middle had stopped licking its fur, turned its head, and looked up at them strangely, constantly turning its head, looking at whoever was speaking.

Even for a fox, it was stunned.

"Then you go and ask the human master."

"Then you stay here and comprehend the Great Dao of heaven and earth, the creation of heaven and earth."

"Good!"

A thunder cloud gathered out of thin air in front of them, flashing with electric snakes and thunder light, accompanied by faint thunder, but it seemed that even it couldn't tell who had summoned it, or who it should take away, so it just gathered in the open space in front.

The Lin Jue who appeared later stepped forward onto the thunder cloud, and with a roar, he disappeared.

Only one Lin Jue remained here, which was a good thing for the fox's cervical spine. It turned its head and stared at Lin Jue with a serious face. After a long time, it spat out a sentence:

"Naughty!"

Then it continued to lick its fur.

Licking and licking, it didn't get a response, but instead heard footsteps. Looking up, Lin Jue had already walked toward the river.

The temple had indeed taken shape.

A typical Huizhou temple, like the Three Aunties Temple in Shu Village and the Qingdi Temple where Lin Jue had once stayed overnight. Although it was a small temple, it was not just a small house, but had a main hall, two side halls, an ceremonial gate, and a courtyard wall, a small two-entry courtyard, with a fish pond and a water vat in the middle.

Except for the roof tiles not being complete, it just lacked some grass and wood decorations, and even the divine statue had been transported and placed in the courtyard.

Believers had already come to offer incense and tributes.

"Some people said this place was bad, but I think it's chosen quite well! There is a ferry here, and people traveling by water go up and down. There is also a Flying Mountain, and so many people run over to see it. Those who can come out to play are always richer and have more leisure than us poor people. In my opinion, the incense in this temple of the Emperor Grandpa will probably not be small!" a craftsman said loudly.

"Yes, these tourists come over to ask for directions, beg for a drink of water, hide from the rain, and rest in the cool. Don't they have to offer three sticks of incense?" another craftsman echoed.

"Is the fruit on the other side of the mountain ripe? I saw someone offering tribute to the Emperor Grandpa today, and they put down a few fruits. According to the old rules, should we wait until we finish our work to take them and eat them?"

"The Emperor Grandpa has eaten! It's our turn to eat!"

"Haha, and there's two taels of pork!"

"Hahaha..."

It seems that building a temple here is indeed a good job.

Emotions are truly contagious. These craftsmen were happy and free, and Lin Jue was infected by them. Even when offering incense, he couldn't help but smile.

It's just that I don't know if this "after finishing work, take the offerings in the temple to eat" was told to them by the Southern Heavenly Master in a dream, or by the strange people of the Gathering Immortals Mansion or the officials of the Ministry of Rites.

In the blue smoke, Lin Jue bowed three times before inserting the grass incense into the mud square.

"Five-viscera statue..."

This divine statue was also made with care.

However, this kind of new divine statue generally has no spirit. Either the spirit comes to walk around in person, or it must go through a period of sincere worship and offering by believers before it can reach the spirit.

As for Lin Jue...

After one stick of incense, the divine statue opened its eyes and looked straight at him. Because it was still daytime and there were craftsmen working on the roof, it quickly closed its eyes again.

Lin Jue couldn't help but smile again—

Achieving the Dao has its downsides, such as old acquaintances passing away one after another, like fallen leaves in the wind, leaving one inevitably lonely. Achieving the Dao also has its upsides, such as no matter where you go, finding a temple or shrine, nine times out of ten you can invite an old friend, and you can talk and have fun with old friends anywhere.

Just in the south of the Yangtze River, there is a chess master.

This master is still very young, about thirty years old, but he is already famous all over the world. Even chess masters from the capital have come to him for advice, and chess lovers have constantly come to visit him. Even high officials have repeatedly sent people to invite him to play chess in their mansions, or to teach disciples, or even to take him as a teacher.

The number of people nearby is countless.

Lin Jue stepped on the thunder cloud and stood on the roof of the street outside his house. People came and went on the street, but no one could see him.

Suddenly, a whistle sounded behind him.

Looking back, he realized it was a white fox stepping through the air. With a swish, it also arrived on the thunder cloud and looked up at him.

"Why are you here?"

"The fox is also a clone!" the fox said. "The fox can also clone!"

"So that's how it is."

Lin Jue didn't say much and continued to stare below.

This chess master's surname is Gu, and those who respect him call him Mr. Gu.

Below is the Gu Mansion.

The Gu Mansion did not open its doors, but people constantly came to visit, all related to chess, either to ask for a match or for advice. The door boy had to look bitter and politely decline one after another.

The courtyard was quiet. Only Mr. Gu and his wife were walking hand in hand, discussing chess, as if they were very loving.

"So many people!" The fox stared at the door below.

"Yes."

"They all brought gifts!" The fox looked at the invitations and gift boxes in the hands of those who came to visit, and then looked at the empty hands of the Daoist beside it.

"Yes."

"That woman! She's a demon!" The fox stared at Mr. Gu's wife again.

"Yes."

"And her cultivation is very high!!"

"She has no evil energy on her. I inquired when I came. Both husband and wife are generous and kind-hearted, and both are obsessed with chess," Lin Jue said. "Perhaps she is just a demon who is also obsessed with chess and found a chess master in the human world as a partner. If it were in the previous dynasty, it would be a beautiful story if it spread to the human world."

"Do not look at what is improper!"

oC〇

"Eh? You're teaching me now?"

"You're just a clone!"

"Aren't you too?" Lin Jue smiled. "But you're right. Let's not look anymore."

"Then what should we do?"

"I have to use the old method and disturb them in the dead of night," Lin Jue shook his head helplessly. "I'll replay the chess game between me and the old Heavenly Lord in his dream and see if he's interested."

"Ah~~"

The fox yawned and sat down to scratch its head with its hind legs.

Mr. Gu had a clear dream all night.

This dream was truly elegant. It was a dream about chess games that he often had. Music, chess, calligraphy, and painting were all elegant things, so having such a dream was naturally a clear dream.

It was just that today's dream was a bit special.

The special thing was that this dream was no longer the dream he often had of playing chess with someone, or encountering a difficult chess game. Instead, it was someone else bringing a chess game to ask for his advice. It was also exceptionally real and clear. Every word that person said to him, every expression, the whole process of the chess game, and his own explanation and teaching were all clear to this day.

So much so that he felt exhausted and dizzy now.

"Ah..."

Mr. Gu couldn't help scratching his head and let out a long sigh.

A beautiful woman in white immediately came in. As soon as she saw him like this, she immediately asked with concern:

"Husband, what's wrong?"

"I had a very long dream."

"Isn't it normal for people to dream?" The woman looked at him and smiled, reaching out to stroke his brow. "Why are your brows tightly furrowed?"

"It's a dream about a chess game."

"Doesn't husband often have dreams about chess games?"

"This dream is different. In the past, when I had dreams about chess games, I would start to forget them when I woke up, and by the time I sat up, I had already forgotten most of them. But I remember the chess game in this dream clearly to this day, and it's also very strange."

"Then tell me about it!"

The woman was also obsessed with chess. As soon as she heard that he remembered the chess game in the dream, she immediately sat down.

Mr. Gu didn't hesitate. While frowning and feeling strange, he thought about it and narrated:

"In the dream, it was a Daoist, looking young, about twenty years old, but very dignified and polite, and even very honest in the dream. He told me directly that he was playing chess with a Heavenly Lord, but his chess skills were too poor, and he was disliked by the Heavenly Lord, and he lost to the Heavenly Lord very quickly, making the Heavenly Lord unable to enjoy himself. He had heard of me, so he came to visit me, replayed the chess game for me to see, and asked me to give him advice."

"What did husband say?"

"Of course I was interested, so I looked at his chess game."

A chess master naturally has a superb memory. He immediately took the chessboard and began to place pieces according to the chess game.

While placing pieces, he narrated:

"That person is also a chess player, and his skills are not bad, which can be considered top-tier. But compared to the 'Heavenly Lord' he mentioned on the opposite side, it was far worse. Because the gap was too large, I couldn't see the 'Heavenly Lord's' skills. I only explained it to him according to this chess game, and gave him advice, explaining it to him from different key points, and replayed it with him several times."

"In the dream, it was clearly at most one night, but I felt it was very long."

"Later he wanted to leave and thanked me."

"He said he would go to play chess with this Heavenly Lord on the twenty-first day of the first lunar month every year, and would come to visit me again next year."

"Now I feel like I haven't slept all night."

While listening to his narration, the woman looked at the chessboard and said at the same time: "Husband suspects that the dream didn't come out of thin air, but that a god or monster really entrusted a dream to you, and met with husband in the dream to discuss the chess game?"

"Do you think there is such a thing?"

"There are quite a few such things in books, and there are quite a few in stories.

But how can there be so many in reality? Besides, what Heavenly Lord? It is said that that is the title of the former Heavenly Emperor. Now the temples are all worshipped by the Zi Emperor. Where is there any 'Heavenly Lord'? Even if there is, who can play chess with a Heavenly Lord?"

The woman analyzed for him with a smile.

Analysis is analysis, but she didn't think that a god or monster really entrusted a dream to him.

Because she is actually not a human, but a demon, and she considers herself to have very high cultivation, with over a hundred years of practice. Including this person in front of her, she has also accompanied him for three lifetimes.

Last night she slept beside her husband's pillow. How could an ordinary god or ordinary monster easily entrust a dream to him without her noticing?

"Husband must be too obsessed with the chess game, and his hands are itchy, so he had such a dream, and created a story and a chess game in the dream, consuming too much energy, which is why he is tired." The woman rubbed his head with her snow-white wrists. "Dreaming is originally tiring. I will massage it for you, and then go and cook a bowl of spirit-nourishing tea. You will be fine after drinking it."

"I suppose so..."

Mr. Gu was skeptical, but had to nod.

"Twenty-first day of the first lunar month...

"Playing chess with the Heavenly Lord...

"Come to visit again next year..."

One year is really a long time.