"Zhao Shengtian, the game has just started to get interesting, why such a rush?"
Shen Lang looked at the chessboard with a lazy, unperturbed expression, smiling as he said, "I've long heard you were a madman, but today I see you're even crazier than I imagined. You dare to leap into any trap and discard any piece. It seems your teacher didn't lie; you truly possess considerable talent."
"One hundred stones have been played. You have eighty left, and I have eighty-one. Let's continue."
With that, Shen Lang picked up a white stone, weighed it gently in his hand, and then placed it on the board.
"Zhao Shengtian, you appear refined, but you are actually a fierce tiger. You remind me of the Hegemon of Western Chu, Xiang Yu. Therefore, next, I will show you the 'Song of the Chu Soldiers' and lead you to commit suicide at the Wu River."
Shen Lang's gaze was sharp as he stared intently at Zhao Shengtian and said, "I have 'Ten Ambush,' invite you to try it. Do you dare?"
"Shen Lang, you cannot see through me, but I have long seen through your methods. You are no match for me. Forget 'Ten Ambush,' even ten times the ambushes, and I will simply tear them apart."
Zhao Shengtian looked at the confident and composed Shen Lang, a broad smile on his face. He said, "You just said I'm Xiang Yu, the Hegemon of Western Chu? Good, I like that comparison."
"However, I will only be the Hegemon who turns defeat into victory, never the Xiang Yu who dies by the Wu River in the end."
"My name is Shengtian (Heaven's Victory). Even Heaven can be defeated, so why fear mere mortals?"
Zhao Shengtian lightly tapped the go canister. A black stone flew out from the board and froze in mid-air. Zhao Shengtian controlled it remotely, directly dropping it onto the board.
The ability to manipulate objects remotely required immense internal energy. It seemed Zhao Shengtian was no ordinary person.
Seeing Zhao Shengtian's extraordinary skill, Yu Youwei's face showed a hint of shock. She regarded this young master of the Zhao family with a newfound wariness.
However, these young masters from prominent families were all masters of concealment, each hiding their true depths. None of them were as simple as they appeared on the surface. Qi Tuojiang and Kong Wudao were like that, Rong Haodong and Zhou Jian were like that, and Zhao Shengtian was no different.
"Clack—"
After Zhao Shengtian placed his stone, Shen Lang also placed a white stone.
For the next half hour, under Yu Youwei's gaze, she witnessed the most intense, perilous, and breathtaking game of go she had ever seen.
This match was the highest level of play Yu Youwei had ever witnessed. She believed that if she were in either player's position, she would have lost her mind and ultimately committed suicide out of despair.
The game lasted only half an hour, yet Yu Youwei felt as though a century had passed.
Yu Youwei's forehead was beaded with sweat, her clothes soaked. Her rapid breathing caused her to gasp for air, and her pupils were filled with shock and fear.
She recalled a story she had learned in middle school.
During the Western Jin Dynasty, a young woodcutter named Wang Zhi stopped to watch two elders playing go. Captivated by the brilliant match, he lost track of time.
When the elders finished their game, Wang Zhi reached for the axe at his waist, only to find its handle had rotted away. When he returned to his village, his parents and family had been dead for over a hundred years.
In this moment, Yu Youwei was like Wang Zhi from a thousand years ago. And the players before her, though not mortals, played with a skill that could rival immortals.
Yu Youwei knew that no game in this world could be more brilliant than this.
Yu Youwei's eyes were bloodshot with anticipation, a mixture of excitement, tension, and unease.
Just as Yu Youwei was tense, Zhao Shengtian, sitting opposite Shen Lang, was equally so. His eyes were wide open, bloodshot, and he gasped for air, his previous composure completely gone.
In the frantic battle of the past half hour, Shen Lang had set ten ambushes, each more dangerous and insidious than the last. Zhao Shengtian, driven by a surge of madness, pushed forward relentlessly, breaking through all ten ambushes and leaving Shen Lang in disarray.
However, while Shen Lang was in disarray, Zhao Shengtian had also suffered heavy losses. After both players had placed 179 stones each, Zhao Shengtian was left with only one stone, while Shen Lang, though with two stones remaining, had less than half the number of live stones on the board compared to Zhao Shengtian.
"Shen Lang, it's time to end this. Everything should end now."
After Shen Lang placed a white stone, Zhao Shengtian followed with a black stone. This black stone formed a large encirclement, trapping Shen Lang's stones and capturing a large number of them.
Looking at the board, Shen Lang's live stones were less than half of Zhao Shengtian's. It was clear that Zhao Shengtian had won.
"Shen Lang, you lost. However, I must admit, you are the strongest opponent I have ever faced, without exception."
Zhao Shengtian wiped the sweat from his forehead and said, "You made me feel pressure I've never felt before, and tension I've never experienced. It's a shame I still won in the end."
"Is that so?"
As Zhao Shengtian finished speaking, Shen Lang let out a cold laugh. "You are indeed fierce, like an unstoppable tiger or dragon. I originally thought you could only break through three to five layers of ambush, but I never expected you to break through all of them."
"However, do you think there is safety after 'Ten Ambush'? No, I must cruelly tell you, after 'Ten Ambush,' that is the true dead end."
"The Han army has taken the land, and the song of the Chu soldiers is heard from all sides. The king's spirit is exhausted, how can I, a humble servant, live on?"
Shen Lang's previously lazy face instantly turned grim, like a sudden shift from a scorching summer to a bitter winter, causing both Zhao Shengtian and Yu Youwei to change their expressions.
"Clack—"
The next second, Shen Lang placed his last white stone in the center of the board.
"No..."
As this white stone landed, Zhao Shengtian's face instantly turned red. With a loud cry, he spat out a mouthful of blood, dyeing the stones on the board crimson.
"This..."
Although Yu Youwei did not vomit blood, her eyes widened, her breathing became rapid, her heart rate surged, and she stumbled back several steps, her face filled with horror.
With this single move, the white stones instantly killed ninety-nine percent of Zhao Shengtian's black stones. In a desperate situation, it was a reversal, a comeback, an astonishing, divine move.
Yu Youwei then looked at Zhao Shengtian and saw that the light in his eyes had vanished, and his defiant arrogance was gone.
In Zhao Shengtian's eyes, there was only emptiness, despair, and fear.
Suddenly, Zhao Shengtian grabbed the go canister in front of him and was about to smash it down on his own head.
The go canister was not made of wood but of marble. If he smashed it down, Zhao Shengtian would surely bleed to death on the spot, his life extinguished.
Witnessing this, Yu Youwei suddenly thought of eight words: "At one's wit's end, suicide at the Wu River."