Chapter 130: The Chess Pass

Three people at the scene had already woken up, leaving only the masked woman seemingly still under the control of the zither's melody.

Hidden behind the mask, her features remained obscured. Through the two eye holes of the mask, her pained gaze and the protruding veins on her fair hands revealed that she was enduring intense agony.

Ghost One played the zither even faster, the notes flowing melodiously and gracefully.

Accompanied by the resonant melody, the masked woman lowered her head.

"Heh... heh... heh... Is that really all there is?"

A pleasant female voice rang out. The masked woman jerked her head up; the pain in her eyes had vanished, replaced by absolute clarity.

Ghost One sighed, and the zither in his hands gradually turned to ash. "Passed."

Hearing this, Fang Mu frowned.

He felt an increasing sense of déjà vu regarding the masked woman, yet he could not quite place it, recalling only a vague outline.

"An outline... an outline..."

The moment the word "outline" crossed his mind, that silhouette overlapped perfectly with a figure locked in his memory.

Fang Mu abruptly drew his butcher's knife and slashed toward the masked woman.

"So it was you..."

He remembered now. This masked woman was none other than the strange practitioner who had ambushed him in the ruins—the one capable of manipulating corpses.

A flash of blade light sliced right through the masked woman's body.

Fang Mu turned his head and looked at Ghost One standing behind him.

"Sir, within the rules, you are not permitted to resort to violence," Ghost One said, shaking his head. "Once you have passed, you may act as you please."

Fang Mu let out a cold snort and sheathed his knife.

The masked woman said nothing, merely sitting quietly as if she had some reliable backing.

In the sky, only a single chessboard remained. It descended slowly and finally landed in Ghost One's hands.

At this point, Ghost One had become almost translucent, as if he might vanish at any moment, yet he showed no panic, remaining entirely calm.

"The fourth trial is chess, and it is the final one. This last trial offers you the greatest advantage," Ghost One said slowly, extending a hand as the chessboard dissolved into a flurry of scattered lights.

Four separate chessboards appeared before the four individuals.

Ghost One clapped his hands and said, "The rules have been unfair, to the extent that I set the challenges for the first three rounds. But the rules are also fair, because this fourth round is handed over to you."

The group remained puzzled, none of them making a move.

Fang Mu looked at the bare chessboard and rubbed his chin.

This game was the most popular in this world, known as the Longitudinal and Latitudinal Game.

However, he did not know how to play chess, and that was the biggest problem.

Fang Mu asked, "What do you mean when you said just now that the fourth round is handed over to us?"

Ghost One's ambiguous words a moment ago had left him completely baffled.

Pointing at the chessboard, Ghost One explained, "The core of this trial is playing chess, but the method of playing is entirely up to you to decide. As long as the rules acknowledge it, the ultimate outcome is... defeating me. And most importantly... as long as half of you manage to defeat me."

At this, Ghost One paused.

Fang Mu frowned and asked, "As long as half of us defeat you? What is that supposed to mean?"

"I said before," Ghost One explained, "after passing four trials, I die and you live. But I forgot to mention that there is an additional requirement: at least half must pass the final trial."

Fang Mu sneered. "Just as expected of an ominous entity, forgetting something so crucial."

The importance of this final round lay entirely in the word "half."

For instance, if everyone passed the preceding rounds and more than a dozen people reached the final stage, half would mean seven or eight people, undoubtedly increasing the difficulty.

Even with only four people left, it remained exceedingly difficult.

After all, if three people lost, even the fourth one winning would mean death.

"There is no absolute fairness, only relative fairness," Ghost One said slowly. "Therefore, you shall determine the rules of this round, provided it does not stray from the theme of chess. Oh, and one more thing—a draw counts as a win for you."

Fang Mu looked back and saw expressions of helplessness on the faces of the Fortune Diviner and Zhang Liu. He couldn't help but twitch the corner of his mouth. "Neither of you knows how to play chess?"

The Fortune Diviner shook his head. "I know how to cast divination."

Zhang Liu said with a dark expression, "I only know how to kill ominous entities."

Speechless, Fang Mu muttered, "You two are absolute illiteracy cases. How can neither of you know how to play chess?"

To be fair, he didn't know how to play either, but there seemed to be a loophole to exploit here.

None of them made a move, until the masked woman raised her hand.

"I want the pieces," the masked woman said slowly. "We will play the Simplified Longitudinal Game."

The Simplified Longitudinal Game was a streamlined version of the standard board game, though the board itself was half the size.

As soon as the masked woman spoke, the chessboard instantly shrank by half.

Ghost One nodded, and with a wave of his hand, chess pieces materialized by the masked woman's right side.

The masked woman picked up a single piece and casually placed it on the board.

A single piece now sat on the otherwise bare board, revealing no discernible strategy.

Ghost One flicked a ray of light, and a piece dropped onto the board.

The two traded moves back and forth, and a short while later, the board was completely filled.

Ghost One lowered his hand and sighed, "You truly are clever. A draw. I'll count that as a pass for you."

The masked woman nodded without adding anything further.

Fang Mu rubbed his chin, silently remarking on her cleverness.

The masked woman had aimed for a draw from the very beginning, which was why she chose the Simplified Longitudinal Game.

A fundamental rule of the game was that once the board was full, it resulted in a draw. By choosing the simplified version, she had halved the size of the board and accelerated the outcome.

"We cannot let her live," Zhang Liu said grimly. "Brother Fang, when it's time to kill, you must kill."

Fang Mu nodded. Even without Zhang Liu's reminder, given the opportunity, Fang Mu would never show mercy; instead, he would deliver the most lethal blow possible.

Ghost One turned his head and looked at the remaining three. "It is your turn. Choose one among you."

Knowing that Fang Mu and the other two were allied, it left the choice among the three of them.

Fang Mu looked left and right, feeling that both companions were thoroughly unreliable.

Both had explicitly stated they didn't know how to play. Sending either of them up would be no different from marching to their deaths.

"Brother Fang, I'm counting on you for this one," the Fortune Diviner said, trying his best to act like dead weight. "I really don't know how."

Fang Mu sighed and stepped forward.

Ghost One extended a hand. "It is my honor to play against you, Sir. Please, make your first move."

Fang Mu stared at the chessboard without moving, lost in thought.

Ghost One shook his head. "Sir, a move must be made eventually."

Lifting his head, Fang Mu said, "You said it yourself—I set the rules, as long as it doesn't depart from the chessboard."

Ghost One nodded.

Fang Mu continued, "I don't know how to play this game. Why don't we switch to a different kind of chess?"

Ghost One was momentarily stunned. For some reason, looking at Fang Mu's calm expression, it had a lingering intuition of capsizing in a drainage ditch.

However, the rules were set, and having reached this stage, Ghost One could not alter them.

Ghost One asked, "Sir, what kind of chess do you wish to play?"

All variations of chess evolved from the standard longitudinal template, and Ghost One felt confident it could handle whatever was thrown its way.