novelraw Chapter 17 : The Ten Commandment of Go
Chapter 17 : The Ten Commandment of Go
Chapter 17: The Ten Commandment of Go
To point it out once more, Matchless in a Single Strike, like the Trackless Divine Beggar, knew about the regression.
If that was the case, the possibility that she possessed a considerable amount of information about me was very high.
She ignored my words, hopped into the chair opposite me, and spoke.
"You are the host, yet you don't bring a cup of tea to your guest. This lady knew you were a monster with the face of a human and the heart of a beast."
I tilted my head at her words and asked.
"Huh, is it really to that extent? I am not the host either, you know?"
It did not take long to realize that the remark just now was her own form of a joke.
The girl's voice had no pitch.
Perhaps because she was an old monster who had lived far beyond a hundred years, she was a person so unfunny that it was confusing whether she was joking or not.
After clearing my throat once, I awkwardly looked around the room.
The Eight Guardians of the Temple were the escorts who protected the Abbot of Shaolin.
Accordingly, they had no choice but to possess extremely stubborn ideologies.
Inside the room, a few Buddhist scriptures, prayer beads, a bed, and a Bodhidharma painting depicting the late Bodhidharma were all there was.
Perhaps only the wooden tea table we were sitting at looked somewhat expensive.
In the ensuing silence, surprisingly, she was the first to open her mouth.
Matchless in a Single Strike, who looked up at me and met my eyes, flickered lightning from her entire body as if it were a habit.
"Do you roughly expect the purpose of this lady's visit?"
I nodded my head.
"Did you not come because of the attack on the Peach Blossom Land? The surveillance on me is just a secondary matter. You must have come upon hearing the command of the Society Leader."
Matchless in a Single Strike nodded her head slightly.
Even at that moment, the skin of my entire body was getting goosebumps, and my sword was screaming like a maniac to be drawn.
Facing her alone in a narrow space, I could feel it.
The distinct aura of a master who had reached the Life and Death Realm was seizing the venue.
'It is to the point of being suffocating.'
Furthermore, right now, she was in a state where she had not hidden her power through something like the State of One's Origin.
A peerless master was precisely someone who could crush an opponent just by directing their gaze.
I thought I had buried hatred in my past life, but apparently, that was not the case.
Because the more I looked at her, a corner of my heart felt unpleasant, and I wanted to cut off her neck with my sword right this instant.
The girl before my eyes was a great evil. That was an undeniable fact.
The master of the single-transmission sect called the Heaven Shattering Sect.
An absolute being who roamed the Jianghu as a freak who belonged to neither the Orthodox, Unorthodox, nor Demonic factions.
She suddenly asked me.
"How was the end of this lady."
The end of Matchless in a Single Strike.
There were many things I could tell her, but I summarized it in one phrase.
"The Red Rain Demon God."
Hungry Wolf let out a long sigh.
"So it ultimately ended up that way."
It was a phrase with an unknown meaning.
I could not well understand whether she had foreseen her own death or if she had intended to die at the hands of the Red Rain Demon God from the beginning.
The Red Rain Demon God, Baek Seolhyang.
The Grand Strategist of the Orthodox Heaven Alliance and the living god of the Sun Moon Divine Cult, the Heavenly Demon.
I recalled the dizzying crimson eyes in my mind and quickly shook my head.
It was best not to associate with her if possible.
Now that I thought about it, how did Baek Seolhyang, who was merely in the Profound Mirror, kill Matchless in a Single Strike?
Since it was not an important fact right now, I decided to move past it.
For a moment, blue lightning flashed.
When I blinked once, Matchless in a Single Strike had placed a Go board on the table.
Where did this come from again?
While I was thinking that, thunder-like radiance repeated its flickering in both of Hungry Wolf's eyes.
"I stole it from the adjacent pavilion."
It was the insight of her Upper Dantian, but I suddenly felt annoyed and spoke to her.
"Stop reading my thoughts."
I did not use honorifics with most of the Jianghu seniors, coming to think of it anew.
I did not really see a reason why I should.
To put it bluntly, why should those who kill people receive respect?
Matchless in a Single Strike took a black stone, placed it in the center of the Go board, and spoke.
"Do you know how to play Go?"
I nodded lightly and placed a white stone next to it.
"When I was young, the Sect Leader often taught me, saying it helps with the battle of wits."
"Correct. Then you must also know the Ten Commandments of Go."
With a tapping sound, she began to place a black stone once again.
I too continued to embroider the board with white stones to match Matchless in a Single Strike.
"The ten proverbs considered most important in Go."
Just because one was a beggar did not mean they lacked common sense.
In the first place, a Jianghu person had to know how to read and write to interpret martial arts formulas, so in some ways, they were smarter than scholars.
Go has something called a playing style.
This playing style refers to the characteristics of the person playing Go, and Matchless in a Single Strike’s style was surprisingly defensive.
On the other hand, I had an extremely aggressive style, so the match was progressing in a situation where I was pressuring her.
However, as if she enjoyed even the situation of being driven into a defensive position, she smiled with her small mouth and pressed down the black stones continuously.
"In this lady's opinion, the probability that these Ten Commandments of Go were written by a Jianghu person is high."
"Why is that?"
"Hungry God, think about it. ‘One cannot win if they are greedy for victory’. The saying that if you covet victory, you will not win, is a famous proverb of the Jianghu. Also, ‘Sacrifice the small for the sake of the large’. The saying that one must discard the small and take the large represents the immense greed of Jianghu people. Are they not crazy for spirit pills, martial arts manuals, or famous swords?"
While nodding, I simultaneously continued to observe Matchless in a Single Strike’s movements.
I had no intention of giving up in despair even upon entering the final spar.
Because it was my nature to do my best even if I were to lose.
"Keep talking."
She furrowed her fine eyes slightly and continued speaking.
"It fits the Jianghu all too well. Is this Go not the same? If one plays a game of Go, one can fathom the characteristics of the opponent. Your fighting technique of pressuring the enemy with non-stop offensive forms also shows in your style."
Was that so?
In fact, I did not yet particularly understand why she was saying such things to me.
Before I knew it, the match between me and Matchless in a Single Strike had changed into a situation where she was cornering me.
When had it become like this?
Could Matchless in a Single Strike’s hobby have been Go?
I too was not bad at Go, so I could not help but be slightly surprised.
How many years had it been since I was giving advice to old men on Go in the marketplace?
Soon, Hungry Wolf elegantly placed a black stone and ate up my entire territory.
I thought I was winning, yet to be defeated so helplessly all of a sudden.
The girl, who wore a mysterious smile, continued her words.
"’Before attacking the opponent, look back at yourself’. Should you not have looked well at your own flaws before attacking me? This is the same for your physical condition. If it were the future version of this lady, I would have vied with you when your talent had completely blossomed. That is quite enviable."
"So, you are saying I should make my body into a state of perfection a bit more?"
Hungry Wolf nodded.
The way she sat with her legs crossed arrogantly was quite natural, of course.
A temperament that had ordered someone around her entire life.
"Only then would this lady not be more joyful. I shall fight with my True Qi adjusted to your level."
She would drag the level of her own martial arts down to the floor just to match me?
Was this not a pure battle-maniac?
The sharpest Divine Sword wielded by the Leader of the Dark Heaven Society. It was certainly difficult to dismiss her as normal.
However, even so, the words of Matchless in a Single Strike were hard to ignore. In truth, my body's condition was close to being a wreck.
First, the Qi Deviation caused by the early entry into the Sun-Drenched Moonlight was the biggest problem.
Because of that, my physical condition was also a mess.
In fact, the only way to resolve this was for me to become stronger.
If that was the case, I had to raise my body's condition first.
'It will get better after a nap.'
Sleep had the function of relieving the fatigue of our bodies that we did not consciously notice.
Since this was a part that could not be solved even with spirit pills or martial arts, I made up my mind to go to bed early tonight without touching liquor.
"Hungry Wolf."
Matchless in a Single Strike, who was playing by flailing both her feet in the chair, answered.
"Hm?"
"If you are done with your business, get lost and stop acting friendly."
Matchless in a Single Strike disappeared like lightning. Simultaneously, intense fatigue simply struck my body. Judging by the sense of my Upper Dantian, it was merely surprising that only one hour had passed. I felt as if I had been tormented for about half a day.
Hwa Pyeong would likely be staying in the Guest Hall as always. Even if it was pitiful, it could not be helped. What could I do about it being his own karma?
I fell into a deep sleep, feeling the soft touch of the blanket. As the Hungry God stated, the night wind was cold, but the blanket was warm.
* * *
The thing I saw as soon as I woke up was the Go board that I could not put away yesterday. I barely regained the focus of my blurred vision and put away the Go board. Should one not fulfill their duty as a guest?
In this regard, the Hungry God Wang Cho could be called a gentleman who surpassed Mencius.
After roughly organizing the Go board and putting it away in a corner, I felt like I should wash up at least, since it was the finals.
I went outside, washed up roughly, and returned. I tied the iron sword, which I had always slept with by my pillow in preparation for a sneak attack since my previous life, to my waist.
I also wore the eight knots representing a Beggar Sect member at my waist. With the last remaining pride of a beggar, I did not change my clothes. The day to change them would come when the time was right. Come to think of it, were these clothes originally red?
I don't know. It is not important anyway.
Knock, knock.
At the sound coming from the door, I stretched once and spoke.
"Come in."
Looking at the door that opened with a creak, a giant figure revealed himself. Unlike his physique, which looked well over six feet, he possessed an innocent face.
He spoke while pressing his palms together in a voice that sounded like a cave.
"I shall escort you to the training ground."
Following the reliable disciple, I left for the Thirty-Six Chambers of Shaolin. Normally, I would have made some trivial joke, but I did not particularly feel like doing so.
It was not anything like nervousness. In the first place, I am a martial artist who has fought not just a hundred, but a thousand and ten thousand battles. If I had the liver and gall to be nervous at this, I would have died long ago.
As I naturally stepped onto the sparring stage, the cheers of the people poured out. Shaolin Temple had turned into a crucible of enthusiasm. It did not look very good to see low-life gamblers associated with a sacred temple. However, since it was merely a scene I had created, I kept my mouth shut and drew the iron sword from my waist.
The iron sword let out a resonant sound of the Unity of Spirit and Sword, woong.
Unity of Spirit and Sword was a state where the bond with the swordsman was important.
The fact that the iron sword let out a sword-cry meant that the bond with me had passed a certain point.
The sound of lightning, zaaap, tickled my ears.
The wind that blew was quite warm.
Because it was the point of transition from summer to autumn.
Matchless in a Single Strike, who was emitting blue electric light from both hands, curled up a smile at the corners of her mouth.
I grit my teeth and smiled while gripping the hilt of the iron sword tightly.
"This lady is quite pleased with your bravado."
"That cringeworthy way of speaking is quite bothersome, you know."
As soon as the referee raised the yellow flag and announced the opening of the spar, we both began to charge without a moment's delay.