Chapter 29 The Chess Master's Game

While Lao Liu was speaking, the four ghost-deities stopped digging, each standing with a look of terror on the edge of the deep pit they had excavated.

Lao Liu's heart trembled slightly. "What did you dig up?"

Tigu stuttered, "I… I was buried here…"

Lao Liu strode to the edge of the pit, and when he peered into the bottom, he couldn't help but gasp. There were four skulls and a box placed at the bottom of the pit.

The four skulls faced in different directions, tightly pressing down on the lid of the box.

It was as if they were suppressing something, or guarding it.

Lao Liu said in a deep voice, "Move your bones away!"

The four ghost-deities simultaneously grabbed a skull and retreated, revealing the witch咒 (wuzhou) inscribed on the box.

Lao Liu took a deep breath, preparing to jump into the pit, when Hei Ye Xiao suddenly blocked his path. "Don't touch it! The box is inscribed with 'Heaven is unjust, ghosts and gods cannot rest.' Whatever is sealed in the box represents an immense amount of resentment."

"If you open the box, you'll be releasing a demon. Have you considered the consequences?"

Lao Liu shook his head. "Lao Hei, we've known each other for years. You should know that a strategist values his lord more than his own life! I am a strategist, so step aside."

Hei Ye Xiao stared at Lao Liu for a long while before stepping aside. However, the position he chose was one that would protect Lao Liu.

Lao Liu used his fan to lift the edge of the box lid and quickly adopted a defensive stance.

But when Lao Liu saw what was inside the box, he was stunned. There was only a corpse dressed in a Daoist robe, sitting cross-legged. In its open left hand, it held a blood-red chess piece.

The Yi Tian Chess Master!

This was indeed the labyrinth left behind by the Yi Tian Chess Master.

After Lao Liu gently took the chess piece from the corpse's hand, the corpse actually opened its eyes and looked at Lao Liu: "The chess piece is delivered; fortune and misfortune are self-inflicted."

Lao Liu bowed. "A descendant of the Divine Strategist and Ghost Calculator pays respects to Senior Calculator."

Lao Liu was certain that the Yi Tian Chess Master was not only a Qi cultivator but also a supreme expert in the art of calculation.

He was not only proficient in Qi cultivation but also knew destiny and calculated heavenly secrets.

Since ancient times, calculators and life-readers could not cultivate together; otherwise, there would be nothing in heaven and earth that they couldn't calculate.

Penetrating the will of Heaven would inevitably incur heavenly retribution.

Heaven would not allow such a person, who could be described as "cheating" or "exploiting loopholes," to live in the world.

However, if the Yi Tian Chess Master hadn't cultivated all three paths simultaneously, how could he have planned everything in advance? And if he had cultivated all three paths simultaneously, how could he have survived in the world?

The Daoist corpse slowly opened its mouth and said, "What do you want to ask? Hurry and speak! While I still have some time, I can try to answer your questions!"

Lao Liu said in a deep voice, "I want to know the secret of the Iron Tile Temple!"

The Daoist corpse said, "Inside the Iron Tile Temple is a coffin left behind by Ling Guan San Ren."

Lao Liu couldn't help but be slightly taken aback.

The Nine-Coffin Daoist's name came from the fact that he possessed nine coffins.

People in the martial world thought that the nine coffins should all be in the hands of the Nine Veins of the Coffin Gate.

In fact, apart from the Dragon Blood Coffin in Xie Ban Gui's hands and the Soul-Suppressing Coffin in the Two Realms Hall, even Marshal Qisha Wang Hun had never obtained the treasure of the Coffin Gate.

This hidden secret was a piece of information that Chen Shu Yu had later found out. Lao Liu was naturally shocked when he heard this legend.

The Daoist corpse ignored Lao Liu and continued, "Back then, Ling Guan San Ren left the Ghost-God Coffin in the Iron Tile Temple to create a Ban Gui (half-ghost) person."

"All Ban Gui under heaven come from the Coffin Gate."

"The one who can enter the Iron Tile Temple and obtain the Ghost-God Coffin must be a Ban Gui."

"I calculated Ling Guan San Ren's plan, so naturally, I had to join in the fun."

Lao Liu's eyes narrowed slightly. "So, you plotted against the four ghost-deities and fabricated rumors, turning the Iron Tile Temple into a demonic path?"

The Daoist corpse laughed. "Minor tricks, not worth mentioning. Conspiracies and schemes are but petty ways; a good strategist disdains conspiracies. I only did it casually."

Lao Liu couldn't help but feel another tremor in his heart.

Those who are truly good at strategy do disdain conspiracies.

Strategists have always been divided into two types: those who work in the open and those who work behind the scenes. The former strategizes for the country and lays out plans on the battlefield, using methods that are aboveboard. The latter uses all sorts of tricks and unscrupulous means.

Was the Yi Tian Chess Master only doing it casually?

No, he was leveraging the situation!

Lao Liu shook his head slightly. "According to you, both you and Ling Guan San Ren are calculating the path of術 (shu) and laying out plans for the world. What are you doing it for?"

The Daoist corpse replied, "Ye Qian Yang is gathering the three stars, and I am welcoming the emperor."

"It is easy to manifest the three stars, but difficult to make them descend. I have to give the three stars a reason to be loyal to the emperor, don't I?"

"If you can break the Iron Tile Temple's game, I will give you a great gift."

"If you can't break the game, you can use the blood chess piece in your hand to contact me."

The Daoist corpse suddenly laughed. "I really want to see what kind of choice Li Po will make."

He seemed to be talking to himself. "If he doesn't seek me out, is he Tan Lang (Greedy Wolf)? If he comes to seek me out, will he still be Tan Lang? I think this game of finding Tan Lang is more interesting."