Chapter 159
Chapter 159
Ling Chen’s loss to Xiao Huai was inevitable.
The outcome had long been determined, as irreversible as the path of the stars.
Even with the board rigged, every move Xiao Huai made could only be called beautiful.
Ling Chen had not played a match like this in a very long time.
Throughout the game, he suffered astonishingly bad luck. His chair kept inexplicably collapsing beneath him, nearly sending him to the ground.
As long as he did not catch Xiao Huai tampering with something face-to-face, it did not count.
Xiao Huai placed the final stone. Every one of Ling Chen’s formations collapsed, leaving him no path to recover.
He looked over the board. Despite his defeat, he smiled.
Ling Chen did not offer to shake hands. He merely stood and looked calmly at Xiao Huai.
His violet eyes held the mutual respect of two worthy opponents, without a trace of his usual mockery or contempt for humanity.
“I lost.”
Ling Chen spoke the words softly.
Xiao Huai raised his eyes and met his gaze.
People said the way someone played Go was closely tied to their character.
After an entire match with him, Xiao Huai seemed to have glimpsed a strategist of world-shaking genius, one who had used every stone to its fullest.
Was the Commander not exactly such a person?
He truly could not be called a good man within the game.
“You must have been a remarkable commander once.” Xiao Huai rose and spoke softly.
Ling Chen’s pupils widened.
There was no clear boundary between human and god.
But becoming a god required endless torment and tempering. One had to relinquish every attachment and extinguish all humanity.
Ling Chen lowered his head in self-mockery, then looked back at him. “It was too long ago. I don’t remember.”
What was he now? A good person or a bad one?
Once, he had fought through blood beside his comrades, charging onto the front lines to kill the enemy.
Now every one of those comrades was dead, leaving him alone.
He still kept that commander’s cap, but the people he had wanted to command and protect were gone.
That was why he felt no sympathy for these players.
Human lives were too brief, no more than a drop in the sea, gone in the blink of an eye.
Ling Chen waved a hand, and several gold coins appeared in his palm. “I’ll give you the fairness you wanted.”
Just as Xiao Huai could see through him on the board, Ling Chen could see through Xiao Huai.
What did Xiao Huai want most at this moment? Nothing more than fairness.
Xiao Huai smiled calmly and nodded. “Thanks.”
Everyone froze. They had never expected this god to hand out gold coins so generously.
Every player who had entered the game received one.
Including Xiao Huai.
The survival game was almost over. In only a few minutes, they would be able to leave.
The insect race had quietly watched Xiao Huai play the entire match.
The admiration on the insect queen’s face was especially impossible to conceal.
Holding the pink gem, Xiao Huai approached the insect queen one step at a time.
The insect queen reached out with a grin, intending to pat his head. Xiao Huai instinctively dodged.
But he took out a doll and offered it to her.
It was a miniature doll made to look exactly like Xiao Huai.
His System Shop had been upgraded and could now produce custom items.
Meeting the insect queen had been unfortunate. Yet within that misfortune lay a stroke of luck: he and this queen seemed destined to cross paths.
Without the insect queen’s wholehearted assistance, the fairness he wanted could never have become reality.
Ling Chen had agreed to play Go not only because of the energy core, but also because the insect race stood behind Xiao Huai.
Sometimes, the weak were suppressed countless times before they revealed their true strength. But once they showed their final card,
Those suppressing them had to consider the consequences.
“Meeting you this time was fate too. Thank you. I’m returning this.” Xiao Huai handed the pink gem back to the insect queen.
The insect queen shook her head. Xiao Huai assumed she meant to give him the gem.
There was no reason to refuse a free windfall.
But in the next second, the insect queen extended one hand. She wore a ring with an empty setting where a gemstone belonged.
Xiao Huai froze when he saw it. When he looked up, an eerie blush had actually appeared on the insect queen’s face.
So she had harbored a private motive when lending him the gem.
He laughed despite himself and slowly returned it to the empty setting.
At that moment, the entire insect race cried out as if cheering.
The massed insects sang together, releasing multicolored light.
Ling Chen folded his arms and muttered where he stood, “How is he so lucky? I’ve been killing insects for years. Why has no insect ever proposed to me?”
“Proposed?” the curly-haired girl repeated softly when she heard him.
Xiao Qian raised a brow at Ling Chen. “Heh. Just look at who you’re comparing yourself to.”
His gaze finally settled on Xiao Huai. “He isn’t ordinary.”
He was special.
His soul was so beautiful that every living thing instinctively longed to draw near.
Elsewhere, Xiao Huai had no idea what was happening, but he maintained a polite smile.
Once the insects finished singing, he placed his left hand over his abdomen, bent slightly at the waist, and gave a gentlemanly bow.
“I am a solitary traveler and cannot spend the rest of my life beside you. Yet the world is vast and the future holds infinite possibilities. You deserve a better match. I am not the one for you. May you find the happiness that belongs to you.”
The insect race and humanity shared no common language.
Though he did not know exactly what had just happened, he could still understand the insect queen’s feelings.
Xiao Huai knew she might not understand a word he said, but he still wanted to tell her.
It was better for everything to have a beginning and an end, to be brought to a proper close.
When the bow was complete, Xiao Huai raised his head and looked at the insect queen.
At that moment, he discovered a sincere smile on her face. As if she had understood, she nodded lightly and pointed into the distance.
She seemed to be saying, “Safe travels, traveler.”
Understanding, Xiao Huai walked back toward the players.
Before he left, a woman’s voice unexpectedly sounded in his mind.
“Goodbye, Xiao Huai. You are a very interesting human. I hope we meet again someday.”
Xiao Huai paused, the corners of his mouth lifting slightly.
Na Ran had explained that different groups within the insect race possessed different language systems. Some communicated through their feelers, while others used certain sound media in the air.
As a witch, she could directly transform anything she wanted to say into those signals.
Some high-ranking insects could even communicate through brain waves.
It seemed all of that was true.
She had understood.
The insect queen had understood Xiao Huai’s farewell.
At that moment, the System issued an alert.
[Congratulations to all players for completing the Main Mission: Survive for twenty-four hours. Returning to the main hall shortly.]
Joy and surprise filled every player’s face. No matter how difficult the process had been, the ending was a happy one.
They had obtained the gold coins they had longed for day and night.
No casualties. Fair and just.
One after another, the players fragmented and departed. Xiao Qian also gestured to Xiao Huai that they would meet outside.
Xiao Huai nodded. But just before leaving, he heard Ling Chen’s voice.