Chapter 10: The Game of Chess

"It seems that treasure must have come from a Mahayana-level master. With our mere Nascent Soul cultivation, we simply cannot dispel such harm!" Yu Qiushui gave a helpless, bitter smile. "It seems we have no choice but to ask Senior Zhu for help once more!"

In the courtyard, Zhu Xiaoyuan had just finished scattering feed and was now leisurely reading beneath the peach tree. As dusk approached, he gathered his painting box and other items, preparing to set off. At this hour each day, he would climb to the mountain peak to capture the sunset in his art.

At first, this was a task the system had forced upon him, but through constant practice, Zhu Xiaoyuan had come to love this pastime. Using his brush to capture the spirit and essence of the setting sun with mystical strokes, transcribing it onto paper, he found a unique sense of tranquility blossomed in his heart.

As he stepped out of the courtyard, he saw a group of little children, naked as the day they were born, playing boisterously in front of his door.

"You bunch of little rascals, be careful! Don’t go hurting yourselves," Zhu Xiaoyuan called out in exasperation.

"Brother Xiaoyuan, are you going to paint the sunset again?" one of the children, a boy named Dai Xiaowei, asked cheerfully. These children were all very familiar with Zhu Xiaoyuan.

"That's right," Zhu Xiaoyuan replied.

"Brother Xiaoyuan, you drew a sun for Fatty last time—I want one too!"

In an instant, the group of children surrounded Zhu Xiaoyuan, clamoring for his attention. The sunsets Zhu Xiaoyuan rendered were lifelike and deeply beloved by the children. Moreover, some villagers reported that if one of Zhu Xiaoyuan’s paintings was hung over a bed, children would sleep soundly and sweetly through the night. Thus, his paintings had become very popular in the village.

A gentle smile appeared on Zhu Xiaoyuan’s face. "Don’t worry. I still have several finished pieces from yesterday. I’ll give them to you."

He opened his painting box and handed a sunset painting to Dai Xiaowei. Overjoyed, Dai Xiaowei jumped up and down, while the other children clamored around him, their faces full of envy.

Zhu Xiaoyuan only chuckled softly and set out on his way.

...

"We only just left and now we’re returning so soon—do you think we might offend Senior Zhu?" Huang Xiantang asked anxiously. After all, they were facing an extraordinary figure and could not be too careful.

"Senior Zhu has a gentle temperament. I don’t think he’ll mind, but..." Yu Qiushui said, though uncertainty still clouded his heart.

Just then, a group of children ran past them, apparently squabbling over a painting.

"Dai Xiaowei, hurry and give me the painting!"

"No way, it’s mine!"

Suddenly, Dai Xiaowei tripped over a stone and nearly fell. Leng Qianxue, quick as lightning, rushed forward to steady him and patted his head. "Careful, little rascal, watch where you’re going!"

"Pretty big sister, they’re trying to take my painting!" Dai Xiaowei hid behind Leng Qianxue.

"But Brother Xiaoyuan said he’d share the paintings with all of us, not just you," another child protested.

"That’s right! Hand it over!"

Hearing this, Leng Qianxue asked, "Little rascal, this Brother Xiaoyuan you mentioned—does his surname happen to be Zhu?"

"Yes! It’s the painting that Brother Zhu gave me!" Dai Xiaowei replied.

At that, Yu Qiushui and the others’ expressions changed.

"May I have a look at the painting?" Leng Qianxue asked.

Dai Xiaowei handed it over. "Here, this is the sunset Brother Xiaoyuan painted. Isn’t it beautiful?"

Leng Qianxue took the painting and glanced at it—just one look, and shock filled her eyes. On the paper, a round sun sank slowly into the sea, the scene so vivid it was as if she stood there in person. Yet more astonishing, the painting brimmed with endless Daoist resonance and the laws of heaven and earth; just a glance left her dizzy and her mind reeling.

She quickly averted her gaze.

"Qianxue, is something wrong?" Huang Xiantang asked.

"Master, come and see for yourselves..." Leng Qianxue handed the painting to the two men.

Yu Qiushui and Huang Xiantang focused their gaze on the painting.

Bang!

It was as if thunder exploded in their minds. A force combining the natural world with the laws of the Dao began to unfurl gently within them, every brushstroke etched with the lines of the Great Dao. This was no mere painting—it was a diagram of the Dao itself.

For someone whose cultivation had stagnated, just seeing this painting would be enough to trigger enlightenment and a breakthrough. At the same time, the moment the painting entered their sight, the sinister energy in their bodies dissipated like mist before the sun.

"This... the malevolent energy within me is completely gone!" Huang Xiantang exclaimed in disbelief.

Yu Qiushui’s eyes contracted sharply. "Senior Zhu’s painting contains the power of the Great Dao, saturated with the purest yang energy—no wonder the yin and evil energies are instantly cleansed!"

"Could it be that Senior Zhu foresaw this, and that’s why the children happened to meet us with these paintings?" Huang Xiantang wondered aloud.

"It’s very likely," Yu Qiushui said gravely. "With Senior Zhu’s peerless cultivation, all things are surely as clear to him as daylight."

At that moment, his suspicions became certainty. "Now I understand. The reason Yin Shihang was able to leave unscathed must be because Senior Zhu allowed it. Otherwise, he would have struck him down long ago."

"If Yin Shihang possesses such treasures, there must be a Mahayana master supporting him... I suspect Senior Zhu is orchestrating a grand design, and we might just be the opening move in his game of chess."

A light of wisdom shone in his eyes.

Huang Xiantang nodded deeply. "That explains why Senior Zhu granted us this fortune. Perhaps he already regards us as his own people..."

"No," Yu Qiushui shook his head. "With our strength, we’re not even qualified to enter the game yet."

At these words, Huang Xiantang’s expression grew complicated.

"Let’s go. Since Senior Zhu has left us the painting, he clearly doesn’t wish to see us. We should take our leave," Yu Qiushui said.

Leng Qianxue returned the painting to Dai Xiaowei and instructed, "You children don’t need to fight over it. Just take turns, but remember—don’t look at it for too long."

Even as she spoke, her heart was full of envy. These children saw the painting as nothing more than a pretty picture, never realizing they held an unparalleled treasure in their hands.

...

Scarlet Flame Mountain!

The void rippled, and then the fabric of space tore open. A battered figure tumbled out.

"Sect Master!"

Within the ancient hall, the elders sensed his arrival at once and flashed over in streaks of light to catch Yin Shihang.

"What happened?"

"Why is the Sect Master so weak?"

The elders were all shaken to the core.

Yin Shihang grimaced in pain. "Quickly, take me to the secret chamber!"

Without hesitation, the elders carried him inside.

The chamber was covered wall to wall with blood-red skulls. At its center stood a painting—its subject a fiendish god of unrivaled evil: two heads, eight arms, claws outstretched, radiating a dreadful aura.

Yin Shihang lit the blood incense in front of the painting. As the crimson smoke curled through the air, the figure in the painting seemed to come alive.