In mid-June, the heat in the south of the Yangtze River is especially strong.
However, the old man was still wearing a brown cloak, sitting on the stone bench of Huanxin Pavilion and playing chess with others.
Accompanying the old man to play chess was Yi Zhongren.
Although he has passed the age of Jiazi, apart from his full head of white hair, the old man is in better shape than Yi Zhongren in terms of mental state and physical appearance.
He doesn't have the potbelly of Yi Zhongren.
There is no gloss on Yi Zhongren's face.
Nor will he regret his mistakes like Yi Zhongren.
Sometimes he found it hard to believe that he had been a close friend with such a cunning businessman for most of his life.
He coughed twice, tapped the chessboard with his finger, and said to Yi Zhongren, who was so undecided that he made a cup of tea: "If you have anything to say, just say it."
Yi Zhongren frowned, put on a smile, straightened his body, raised the chess piece with his right hand high and slowly lowered it, finally about to make the move.
Taking advantage of the situation, he thrust his left elbow forward, and was about to quietly disrupt the chess game on the edge of the chessboard. A hand came from the opposite side. It was as strong and powerful as an ancient pine on the cliff. It not only supported his entire left arm, but also supported it. He held back his face that was about to fall.
The old man raised his white eyebrows, smiled, and made a gesture of invitation with his free left hand.
The little abacus was exposed, and Yi Zhongren was not embarrassed at all. He placed the undecided chess piece without blushing or heartbeat.
Said: "The remaining gangs in Sichuan and Guizhou are less than half of the original ones. Is it too much trouble?"
The old man said nonchalantly while making his move: "Has the imperial court come out to take care of it?"
Yi Zhongren stared at the chessboard closely, with the word "regret chess" on his lips. When he heard what the old man said, he couldn't help but reply: "Haowao... Well, yes, I don't care."
The old man said: "The imperial court doesn't mind, so what are you worrying about?"
Hearing this, Yi Zhongren became anxious. He threw the chess piece he had just squeezed into his hand back into the chess basket and said, "What are you worrying about? What are you worrying about? Aren't you worried about Chen'er's safety!?"
The old man was not surprised. He waved his hands up and down to help Yi Zhongren calm down and said, "Chen'er has grown up and has learned to take care of himself..."
Yi Zhongren waved his sleeves with his big hand, cutting off the old man's clichés, and said: "That's enough, that's enough, I've heard these words a hundred times, and I haven't even dug out the calluses I got in the spring of this year!" "
"Last time this kid jumped off a bridge, no, he jumped into an abyss. I wanted to find him, but you stopped him."
"Last time, this kid just crawled out of the Yin-Yang Valley, and he was still blind. I said we should send him to the Medicine Valley. You are too busy to ask him to accompany you to escort the Niu family and his daughter."
"This kid is looking for trouble for those gangs all by himself this time. Those big guys have calmed down without taking action personally. If they don't stop, even if they and the court don't end up, there is no guarantee that the boat will not capsize."
"You must listen to me this time!"
The old man smiled and said nothing, pointed at the chessboard, indicating to continue playing chess.
Yi Zhongren was as anxious as an ant on a hot pot, but he didn't lift the chessboard when he saw this situation.
He just muttered softly: "What a bad temper. A game of chess has to be played before it counts."
At the same time, he secretly cursed in his heart: "Dear me, even if my chess skills are not inferior to yours, my state of mind has already been messed up. How can I win?"
They have known each other for decades, and they have played thousands of games, with half the wins and losses. Yi Zhongren never thought that he was weaker than the old man. However, in more than half of the games he won, he regretted more than ten moves.
Of course, Yi Zhongren never agreed that there was anything wrong with regretting chess. The existence was reasonable, otherwise how could there be such a thing as regretting chess?
Today's game of chess is really about winning and not losing, because he feels that only by winning this game can he have the confidence to stand up to the old man, or in other words, have enough reasons to convince the old man!
It was another half hour of fierce fighting, and even though Yi Zhongren played three moves in a row and struggled to hold on, it was still difficult to turn the tide.
The situation for White has been established. No matter how merciful the old man is, Black, who is stubbornly resisting, cannot escape the situation of slow death.
Yi Zhongren pinched his brows, exhaled, and dropped the sunspots feebly.
In the blink of an eye, the white chess piece finished its move, one piece determined the situation, and Black's chess piece was defeated!
Seeing this, Yi Zhongren felt as if he was discouraged. The beard on his cheeks no longer rose, and the big belly under the brocade clothes no longer bulged, and everything drooped.
He suddenly slapped the case and was startled. He was about to regret it, but the old man saw it first and raised his hand to suppress it.
"I know you didn't want to go this way just now, but you didn't have many choices anymore. Unless you admit defeat in advance, you will still try and make mistakes even if it is the wrong way."
Yi Zhongren didn't know the deep meaning of what the old man said, so he could only nod in agreement.
The old man added: "The reason why I made my moves so quickly was not that I didn't think about it, but that the situation was too clear and the chess pieces were taking me along."
Yi Zhongren hummed twice.
The old man didn't take it seriously and continued: "They say life is like chess, you have no regrets when you make a move..."
Yi Zhongren finally couldn't help it and choked: "You can regret it."
The old man said: "I also hope that I can regret my move. After trying and making mistakes, I can go back one step, two steps, three steps, try other options, or even go back to the starting point and start over in other ways."
Yi Zhongren stopped talking. People can regret it, but they cannot regret the game.
The old man said: "Everyone in the world thinks that Chen'er and Xiao Luo are two chess pieces set by our Dao Yi Alliance."
Yi Zhongren said: "Xiao Luo probably wouldn't think so, but Chen'er might."
The old man said: "Originally, I did treat them as pawns."
Yi Zhongren smacked his mouth, speechless.
The old man said: "Later, just like this chess game, the chess player can no longer control how the chess moves are made. Especially when the general trend is established, the chess player can only follow the trend."
Yi Zhongren said with surprise and joy: "Are you saying that Chen'er's situation is complete?!"
The old man let out a rough breath, blew up his white beard, and said, "The situation has already been settled for Tingyu Pavilion."
Yi Zhongren was not stupid at all, but he was led by the old man at first and his thinking failed to keep up. But now he understood everything and said yes.
The old man said: "In my original expectation, Chen'er's weak but stubborn temperament needs to be polished. I hope he can become a cold and invincible sword."
Yi Zhongren said: "Fortunately, Chen'er did not develop exactly according to the trajectory you imagined. If he could really be cold-blooded and ruthless, he would be a more powerful killer, but he would not draw his sword at Ji Qianlin on the Sword Dance Platform. Then he will still be Hei Wuchang of the Nether Sect."
The old man said: "Yes, once the Nether Sect makes a mistake in the next situation, Hei Wuchang, who is both a killer and a pioneer, may die first."
Yi Zhongren said: "Chen'er is easily swayed by emotions. He not only let go of several Disha Sect masters in Jinzhou City, but also attacked Ji Qianlin on Wujianping. It can be a blessing in disguise.”
The old man nodded and said: "Although Lu Hao died in his hands, his bond with the Nether Sect is still there. To him, he is already a great killer. Those good karma and good destinies can't save his life at the critical moment. He Will live better than I ever imagined.”
This statement obviously greatly benefited Yi Zhongren. After rubbing his chin for a while, he said, "Then what were your original expectations for Tingyuge and Piaoling?"
The old man said: "Piao Ling is an extremely smart kid. In the past, he would use his intelligence in martial arts. It would only be a matter of time before he surpasses Long Yao with his qualifications. Even if he stands side by side with Yan Qing, I won't be surprised at all."
"After being deposed, I focused solely on strategy. I can't even compare to him."
"When Nangong brought Shifu and his party to Juyuan, I had the intention of cooperating with Piao Ling in the future."
"At that time, I always felt that with his character, although he was not indecisive, it was too difficult for him to make decisive decisions, so I would be the villain."
"Unexpectedly, he has been doing so well that I even doubted whether he might be the illegitimate son of that old stone."
"However, they don't look alike at all. Piao Ling is still more handsome than the tiger-headed General Shi."
"All in all, Piao Ling made me feel what it is like for the waves behind the Yangtze River to push the waves ahead. He stands higher than me, sees farther than me, dares to use means more than me, and is more unafraid of sacrifice than me. He can do things that I can't do! "
"This 'chess piece' has become a climate, and what we can and should do now is nothing more than to add fuel to the flames."
The old man concluded: "Do you understand?"
Yi Zhongren nodded as if he was enlightened, and for a long time suddenly exclaimed: "No, no, we were talking about Chen'er earlier, why did we talk about Xiao Luo?!"
The old man covered his face and sighed: "Confused, confused!"
Yi Zhongren suddenly realized and said: "Oh, I'm asking you what you think of Xiao Luo. But do you mean that Chen'er won't listen to your greetings now?"
The old man rolled his eyes and said, "Chess pieces also have their own ideas, let alone people."
Yi Zhongren said reluctantly: "Chen'er ignores you, but he will definitely not ignore me. In this way, if I edit a letter and send it to him as soon as possible, he will definitely be obedient."
The old man took the rare opportunity to spit into the fish pond outside the pavilion, and said with piercing eyes: "Who said Chen'er ignores me? We have received a lot of letters these days. If you don't believe me, come with me to the study, so you can count them all!"
Yi Zhongren was doubtful and said: "Really? I don't believe it!"
The old man said angrily: "If you send this letter, 80% of it will be lost in the sea!"
"Impossible!" Yi Zhongren argued harshly, but then asked in a coy whisper, "Why?"
Seeing that Yi Zhongren's old face turned red from holding back, the old man replied with satisfaction: "Chen'er is no longer there."
Yi Zhongren was even more puzzled, frowning, and said: "As for yesterday's news, there are still people over there who were assassinated by the hidden sword."
The old man said: "The people there can be compared with Wu Yue in terms of concealment, and can be named one of the Four Swordsmen of Zhongzhou in terms of swordsmanship."
Yi Zhongren became more and more confused and said: "What you said seems to be directly referring to the three people, the Smiling Maitreya and Shadow Buddha of the Tusita Gang, and the Sword Demon Xie Fei of Buji Island. Why do they want to help Chen'er there? Murder, or assassination?”
The old man shook his head, no longer had any hope for Yi Zhongren, and said bluntly: "They helped Chen'er, either because they were asking for Chen'er, or they made a deal with Chen'er."
Yi Zhongren said: "What do you want, what kind of deal do you want?"
The old man said: "I don't know."
Yi Zhongren quickly reacted and asked, "Are those just your speculations?"
The old man nodded in acquiescence.
Yi Zhongren said in disbelief: "The ANBU couldn't find out anything?"
The old man said: "You can't get away without the moon."
Yi Zhongren said: "Since Chen'er has the ability to avoid ANBU spies, more than 70% of the people in the world will have trouble finding him. Another 10% will be deceived by blinders, and the remaining 20% either maintain their own identity or have no time to clone themselves. So At first glance, no one really knows where it went.”
The old man smiled and said, "Maybe he came to Jiangning County."
Yi Zhongren was shocked when he heard this. He hurriedly kept silent and said in a low voice: "If you can guess it, can't others guess it too?"
The old man said calmly: "I guess there is a sequence, and it depends on what Chen'er is here to do."
