Chapter 36 The Child Falls onto the Plate, the Chen Family is Amazed

The capital of Great Shang, Zhaoge.

Time flies like a white horse passing a gap, pausing for neither immortal nor Mortal.

Five years passed in the blink of an eye.

The once world-renowned Gu Ziyuan of the Jie Sect had now become a five-year-old child named Chen Yuan in the Great General Chen's Manor.

The servants of the general's manor all knew that the Young Master of the house was a bit "special."

He did not love swords or spears, did not enjoy playing, and had no interest in the cockfighting and horse racing pursued by the children of the nobility.

While other children rolled in the mud, he sat upright at the stone table in the courtyard, using pebbles and withered branches he had picked up to arrange patterns on the ground that outsiders could not understand.

While other children loudly recited the articles of the Human Race's sages, he remained silent, merely picking up a black stone with his fingertips and sitting still for an entire afternoon before an empty chessboard.

It was as if in his world, there were only those crisscrossing lines and the distinct black and white stones.

"Sigh, this child's personality is too quiet."

In the backyard, watching her son staring blankly at an endgame again, Chen Yuan's mother, Princess Yin Rong, the sister of the current King Wendin, was filled with both affection and worry.

As a princess, she had married the fierce general of Great Shang, Chen Lie. Having a son late in life, she cherished him like a treasure. However, her son's quiet demeanor always left a trace of unease in her heart.

"Is it bad to be like me?"

A booming voice rang out as Chen Lie, stalwart and unable to hide the military Evil Qi even in plain clothes, strode over. He had just returned from a meeting in the palace, his face carrying a hint of alcohol and pride.

He scooped up Chen Yuan from the ground, his coarse stubble making Chen Yuan frown.

"My, Chen Lie's, son should be steady! Those little monkeys jumping around all day don't have half the poise of my Yuaner!"

Despite his words, there was a hint of complexity in the way he looked at his son.

Over the past five years, he had consulted all the famous doctors in Zhaoge, and they all said the boy's body was healthy and his Divine Soul was stable, with nothing wrong. Yet this child had spoken very little since he learned to talk, showing an almost prodigious obsession only with the Dao of Chess.

At three, he could memorize chess manuals; at four, he was undefeated throughout the manor.

Now at five, even Chen Lie, a general known as the "Chess Hegemon" in the army, could not last a hundred moves against his son.

"You've been drinking again." Princess Yin Rong gave him a reproachful look, took her son, and gently wiped his face. "Is there another battle report from the border today?"

"Haha, a minor victory!"

Chen Lie sat down with a flourish, his face glowing with high spirits.

"Those Di tribes in the north are always trying to scavenge from us. A few days ago, my lieutenant, Zhang Kui, led three thousand elite troops to set an ambush at 'Yixian Gorge,' beheading three hundred and achieving a complete victory! The King just praised me in the hall for my disciplined leadership!"

As he spoke, he excitedly picked up peanuts and red dates from the table and began arranging them on the stone surface.

"Look, the Di cavalry charged like this, like a sharp blade! And Zhang Kui, he ambushed his troops here, and here..."

Chen Lie spoke with great animation, turning a small-scale border skirmish into a thrilling tale.

Princess Yin Rong listened intently, nodding occasionally, her eyes full of admiration.

In her arms, Chen Yuan's originally empty eyes flickered with a slight ripple for the first time upon hearing words like "Yixian Gorge," "ambush," and "cavalry."

His pure eyes fell upon the crude "sand table" his father had made with peanuts and red dates.

He watched quietly, his small brow furrowing imperceptibly.

"...With this encirclement, those Di people became like turtles in a jar! Hahaha, how satisfying!" Chen Lie slapped his thigh, concluding his story.

Several stewards and maids passing by in the manor were also enthralled and clapped in applause.

"The General deploys troops like a god!"

"Lieutenant Zhang is mighty!"

For a moment, the courtyard was filled with a joyful atmosphere.

Amidst the compliments, a tender yet incredibly clear voice suddenly rang out.

"Father, you lost."

The voice wasn't loud, but it was like a bucket of ice water, instantly extinguishing all the flames.

The entire courtyard fell silent in an instant.

Everyone's gaze converged on the child in Princess Yin Rong's arms.

The smile on Chen Lie's face froze.

Princess Yin Rong quickly covered her son's mouth and smiled awkwardly at her husband. "Husband, Yuaner is just talking nonsense. A child's words carry no weight, pay them no mind..."

"I'm not talking nonsense."

Chen Yuan broke free from his mother's embrace and walked to the stone table.

His small body could barely reach the tabletop, so he had to stand on his tiptoes.

He reached out his fair little hand, not touching the peanuts or red dates, but instead using the black and white stones he had been clutching to quickly arrange a layout nearby.

His movements were slow and earnest; each stone fell with a strange rhythm.

In just over a dozen breaths, a formation composed of dozens of stones appeared before everyone's eyes.

It wasn't a standard Go pattern, but a... miniature map of the battlefield terrain.

The mountains, canyons, and troop deployments were a hundred times more precise and detailed than what Chen Lie had arranged with peanuts and dates!

"This..."

Chen Lie's drunkenness instantly vanished.

He stared intently at the stone layout, the color draining from his face, replaced by a ghastly paleness.

Because he understood.

What his son had laid out was a true reconstruction of the Battle of Yixian Gorge! Even details he himself didn't know were perfectly presented!

How was this possible? He had only heard a verbal account!

"Father, look."

Chen Yuan extended a small finger, pointing to an area on the left of the board guarded by three black stones. That corresponded to a dense forest to the side and rear of Yixian Gorge.

"Here is a Di sentry post. They had three hundred more men than Uncle Zhang discovered."

He then pointed to another spot, the exit of the canyon.

"Here are their reinforcements. When Uncle Zhang made his move, their reinforcements were already nearly there."

Finally, his finger tapped the center of the white stones representing Zhang Kui's main force.

"Uncle Zhang won because of the wind."

"A west wind blew that day, so the Di smoke signals rose half a quarter-hour late. Their reinforcements were also delayed by half a quarter-hour."

"What if... there was no wind?"

The child's voice was crisp and calm.

He did not continue speaking, but merely reached out his small hand and gently pushed the black stones representing the "Di reinforcements" forward half an inch.

Buzz!

It was as if a giant hammer had struck Chen Lie's head.

Cold sweat instantly soaked his back.

He frantically calculated in his mind: if... if there hadn't been that perfectly timed west wind, Zhang Kui's three thousand men would have been tightly trapped in the narrow pocket of Yixian Gorge by the Di sentries and reinforcements from three directions!

That wouldn't have been a complete victory.

That would have been... total annihilation!

He had won purely because of Luck!

And this massive flaw, one serious enough to cost him his head, had been seen through at a glance by his five-year-old son based only on his verbal description!

Gulp.

Chen Lie swallowed hard, his throat feeling as dry as if it were on fire.

He looked at the son before him, that small figure, those calm and unruffled eyes, and for the first time felt a sense of... dread from the depths of his Soul.

Was... was this truly a five-year-old child?

This wasn't just a son; this was clearly a... Prodigy! A natural-born commander!

The courtyard was deathly silent.

Princess Yin Rong and the servants were completely stunned. They didn't understand anything about winds or reinforcements, but they could understand the unprecedented look of horror on the General's face.

"Hahaha... Hahahaha!"

Amidst the dead silence, Chen Lie suddenly burst into a wild laugh.

In that laughter, there was lingering fear and relief, but mostly an uncontrollable ecstasy!

He had found a treasure!

His Chen family was about to produce a true Dragon!

He swept everything off the table with one hand, and to everyone's astonishment, he dropped to one knee before his son with a thud.

Gone was his general's majesty and his father's air; like the most devout student, his eyes were bloodshot, and his voice trembled with excitement.

"Yuaner... my good son!"

"De... deduce it for Father... one more time!"

...

High above Zhaoge City, deep within the clouds.

A Daoist dressed in a simple cyan robe, holding a green bamboo staff, was looking down at this scene in the Chen Manor.

He was none other than the Incarnation of Sect Leader Tongtian's benevolent corpse, Daoist Qingping.

Looking at the utterly shocked Chen Lie below and the calm child who seemed to have done something trivial, a gratified smile appeared on Daoist Qingping's gentle face.

"Revered Master was right to have you undergo military liberation and Reincarnation to grind away your arrogance."

"Without relying on cultivation or the System, this innate talent for the Way of Chess alone is enough to stir up storms in the Mortal World."

"The Mortal World is the board, and once a piece is placed, there are no regrets... Junior Brother, you have played this first move in the Mortal realm very well."

He nodded slightly, his gaze moving past the Chen Manor toward the majestic palace where the Luck Black Bird circled.

The smile gradually faded.

"However, you are not the only chess player in Zhaoge City."

"The true game has only just begun."