Chapter 158
Chapter 158
The two signed the Soul Contract in full view of everyone, while the insect race remained eerily silent.
Not one player dared speak.
That did not mean they had failed to hear the conversation.
In such silence, it would have been difficult not to hear them.
But what did they mean by a game of Go?
Were they going to use insects as stones on some murderous Go board?
Would the players be swept into the conflict?
Every player was nearly frantic with anxiety.
Xiao Qian kept his gaze on Xiao Huai. Suddenly, Little Magician poked his head out of Xiao Huai’s trouser pocket. When he saw his master, his eyes widened, and he quickly clambered free.
Xiao Huai paid no attention to Little Magician’s actions. Ling Chen did not even bother looking.
After all, something much more interesting stood before them.
Little Magician hurried over to Xiao Qian on tiny feet and passed along every piece of intelligence he had gathered.
Xiao Qian read extraordinarily quickly. Before long, surprise appeared on his face.
He swiftly concealed the emotion, then raised his head to watch the two men.
“You know how to play Go, don’t you?” Xiao Huai walked forward, glancing at Ling Chen from the corner of his eye.
His expression remained calm and indifferent.
Following him, Ling Chen tilted his head slightly. “When you said Go, you didn’t mean them?”
Ling Chen glanced at the insect swarm around them.
Had Xiao Huai truly brought the insect race here merely to play Go?
Xiao Huai’s lips curved. A Go board appeared before him, already prepared with black and white stones.
“I meant it literally. I want to play a game of Go with you.” He turned to Ling Chen.
The glow of the fireflies made his eyes look extraordinarily clear.
Even knowing there was a trap, Ling Chen could not help falling into it.
He said, “Heh. You’re the first person who has ever dared challenge me to Go.”
A Go board was a battlefield. Only through deception and painstaking strategy could one remain undefeated.
Ling Chen was a master tactician. How could he not understand Go?
A coin appeared in Xiao Huai’s hand. “Heads, I take black. Tails, you do. Is that acceptable?”
“No objections.”
In a high-level Go match, securing black was extremely important.
Every player watched with complete concentration, hoping the goddess of fortune would briefly bless Xiao Huai.
But when Xiao Huai tossed the coin into the air and it fell,
Their hearts sank as they saw which side faced up.
Tails.
Ling Chen took black.
The goddess of fortune had not favored Xiao Huai.
Just as Ling Chen had said, killing the yellow insects had lowered his Luck.
No matter how fervently the players wished for Xiao Huai to enjoy a little good fortune, it changed nothing.
Ling Chen was not surprised by the result. He approached the left side of the Go board.
The instant he opened the container of black stones, every firefly went dark.
The entire area fell pitch-black, and sharp wingbeats sounded around them.
Countless insects suddenly surged out from among the black stones, brimming with murderous intent.
Though Ling Chen could not see them, the instant he sensed them launching a surprise attack, he reflexively drew his gun and shot each one with swift, perfect accuracy.
Bullets pierced the insects with faint pops, and a pungent, fishy stench filled the air.
Ling Chen’s expression remained cold and stern. His gun cracked again and again as he moved with effortless grace. Then the wingbeats faded, and he heard someone laugh.
Xiao Huai was laughing.
Ling Chen’s finger froze on the trigger.
This was an overt scheme nested inside a covert one.
The fireflies’ light returned. The entire sequence had lasted less than a minute, yet it was enough to leave every player frozen in shock.
Light filled the area, revealing the insect corpses beside Ling Chen.
Every one was a yellow insect, though much smaller than the ones they had seen before.
That did not matter. They only needed to be yellow insects.
Ling Chen’s pupils widened slightly. The game System had already sent him a notification.
As an NPC who had taken the lead in killing yellow insects, he suffered twice the reduction to his Luck.
He raised his eyes and looked coldly at Xiao Huai. “I assumed you would attempt something as foolish as an ambush. I didn’t expect you to hide your true purpose beneath it.”
A simple ambush could never have affected Ling Chen.
But extinguishing the fireflies, then making him sense murderous intent, had triggered his reflex to eliminate every creature threatening him.
It had been effortless.
Xiao Huai did not manipulate only human hearts. He even dared predict the thoughts of a god.
He lounged in his chair. “Isn’t this fairer? Now we’re both unlucky.”
Ling Chen glanced at the insect queen. Her face was full of worship and adoration. “Unlucky? You seem quite fortunate to me. The insect queen appears to like you very much.”
Xiao Huai looked at the insect queen with a raised brow. “Yes and no. Her falling in love with me at first sight was both fortunate and unfortunate, wasn’t it?”
His good fortune was being loved by the insect queen. His misfortune was also being loved by the insect queen.
Ling Chen laughed. “It seems quite a lot happened after I left you there. At the very least, she willingly gave you that gem.”
“I have you to thank, Commander.”
Xiao Huai tilted his head slightly and casually reached for his stone container. “My lord, please make the first move.”
Ling Chen’s smile faded. He sat down and placed the first black stone.
As the two played, Xiao Qian still found Xiao Huai’s adventure unbelievable.
When Xiao Huai encountered the first swarm while critically wounded, Na Ran had used her powers as a witch to communicate effortlessly with the insect race.
The insects had spared them and brought them before the queen for a simple reason.
Xiao Huai had offered them a conspiracy theory. He told the insect race that someone coveted their entire species and intended to wipe them out in one stroke.
Na Ran embellished his story, even conjuring an image of Ling Chen destroying their world.
The intelligent members of the insect race naturally reported the news to their highest leader, the insect queen.
What even Xiao Huai had not expected was the insect queen’s appearance, much less that she would fall in love with him at first sight.
Na Ran had originally worried whether he could survive after she left.
But when she saw this, she laughed so hard she snorted, without the slightest sympathy.
She even teased him. “Being beautiful comes with its troubles. You certainly attract a lot of admirers.”
Xiao Huai looked helplessly at Na Ran. Forget attracting admirers. Romance had never once entered his life.
No ordinary person would dare pursue him.
After Na Ran left, Xiao Huai devised a plan.
The sole method of securing fairness in an unfair game.
He was not especially skilled at chess, but there was one thing he did very well: rigging the game.
Even if he cheated, he might not defeat Ling Chen under ordinary conditions.
But what if Ling Chen became extraordinarily unlucky?
Xiao Huai had tampered with the Go board. The entire insect race supported him, and even the players wanted him to win.
When the people’s hearts were united behind him, all things became possible.