Chapter 50 – The All
After parting with the scholar, Qin Manyun's face was full of awe. The more she thought about it, the more terrified she was. Perhaps, the ending of the ‘Journey to the West' was prefixed. It was all but a trap from the beginning, merely showcasing the matches and fights of the characters.
Since the beginning, Wukong appeared as the awesome monkey, with his head glowing with celestial lights and celebrated by the world. He was the main character of the world. Yet, the truth had proven that the so-called ‘main character of the world' was nothing but a joke! There was no ‘main character' in the world, only those who controlled the chess pieces from behind the scenes!
No matter if it was the scholar or Luo s.h.i.+yu, they referred to this expert as ‘Mr. Li'. Obviously, he was one of the bigshots who controlled the game. This Immortal Realm could merely be a small, insignificant corner on his chessboard.
Qin Manyun's brows tightened into a firm gaze. It was rare for such a bigshot to arrive in this ordinary realm. If she did not seize this opportunity, she definitely deserved to have no luck with Immortality! So what if she died because Mr. Li did not like her? The entire goal of cultivating was all for that faint gleam of life anyway!
"s.h.i.+yu, I've decided to visit Mr. Li tomorrow!" Qin Manyun said solemnly. She bowed at Luo s.h.i.+yu. "Please, introduce me to him."
Disturbing a G.o.dly figure like Li Nianfan out of the blue might end up offending him. Having someone's referral could increase the impression score somehow.
"Al—alright, then," Luo s.h.i.+yu hesitated for a while before nodding. She had not visited Mr. Li for a while now. When she had the breakthrough to Golden Core, she did not know why but the first person she was hoping to tell was Mr. Li. She was just afraid to disturb him, so she held herself back from visiting him until now.
The following day, Luo s.h.i.+yu brought Qin Manyun to the foot of the hill before climbing up on foot.
Although there were no restrictions, to show their respect to Mr. Li, they would all instinctively climb up the hill by foot, regardless if it was Bai Wuchen or the Holy Emperor.
They could not afford to offend the expert!
With that, Qin Manyun agreed wholeheartedly.
"Sister Manyun, please, remember that the expert lives with the ident.i.ty of a completely ordinary man. Please, remain calm. Mr. Li doesn't like it when his guests are shocked or startled by his doings, especially about the cultivation of immortality," Luo s.h.i.+yu kept repeating on the way up.
Qin Manyun nodded seriously. "I know."
Not long after, an ancient-looking four-part architecture appeared in front of their eyes. Qin Manyun's beautiful eyes narrowed. Her body froze as she remained transfixed.
She stared blankly at the couplet hung on the door, as if she had seen an Immortal right in front of her eyes. A faint wave of Insights crashed over her, suffocating her.
"Hey! Sister Manyun! Wake up!" Luo s.h.i.+yu called out. "You can't go in like this! You have to pretend to be unimpressed, alright? Just pretend you're at an ordinary man's house."
Qin Manyun regained her composure and nodded with difficulty.
"Th—this couplet was written
"That's right," Luo s.h.i.+yu said with a hint of nostalgia. "I still remember. Mr. Li said that he's been receiving more visitors lately, so he decided to write a couplet for his door to act as a façade."
A façade?
Qin Manyun's scalp was itching. This couplet could be the greatest treasure of any sect placed in any spot! Yet, this was merely a façade in the eyes of the expert?
Was this the world of a bigshot?
No way!
There was a deeper purpose to this. The expert did everything with deeper implications!
Qin Manyun's heart was moved and she fell deep in thought.
The expert said that he was getting more and more visitors. Perhaps he had figured that there would be many people visiting him from that day onward!
Why did he write this couplet as his façade, though? Was he trying to scare off the less-adequate cultivators? Surely, if his guests were not qualified and spoke foolishly, they would easily affect his mood. Therefore, he wrote this couplet intentionally to warn his visitors not to be disrespectful!
A true bigshot indeed!
Qin Manyun became more respectful than before. She bowed at the couplet.
Meanwhile, Li Nianfan was playing chess with Daji. To be precise, he was teaching her how to play! One had to admit that Daji's chess skills were really bad! She needed advice on almost every move! Or else, the game could have ended as soon as it started.
Daji took a glimpse of Li Nianfan. She held a white piece in her hand and asked cautiously, "Hmm…can I…put it…here?"
"Sigh…" Li Nianfan shook his head as he sighed. "Then, I'll move my piece here and this game will be over."
Daji bit on her lip and lowered her head in embarra.s.sment.
The expert must be so disappointed by her. He had been teaching her for a good few days now, but whenever she was caught up in the game, she would lose very soon. Her heart was overwhelmed with fear and terror. Would he kick her out due to her lack of understanding?
Li Nianfan took back the piece in his hand, pondering.
Daji was like a kid who had done something wrong, waiting for punishment. She did not even dare to take another breath.
There was too big of a gap between Li Nianfan's chess skills and Daji's. Though he could improve her skills through playing the game, when the gap between opponents was too big, it would cause more harm than good.
Li Nianfan came up with an idea. He smiled, "What about this. I'll set up a chess game for you to practice your solving process. I think it might be quite helpful."
"Hmm! Thank you, Mr. Li. I'll try my best," Daji nodded anxiously as her eyes reddened. As long as he did not kick her out, she would work as hard as she could. If she did not have enough understanding, she would break a sweat to learn it to avoid disappointing him.
Li Nianfan looked at the cautious look on her face, feeling rather hurt. He did not mean to stress her out, but since only the two of them lived here—a man and a woman—they would eventually be bored if they did not have something to occupy their time with. He could only watch this little girl suffer for now.
Meanwhile, a respectful voice called out from outside the door. "May I know if Mr. Li's home?"
Li Nianfan paused slightly. He said, "Xiao Bai, go and open the door!"
Xiao Bai rushed to the door.
Click!
The door was opened.
Xiao bai greeted the visitors like a gentleman, "Greetings to my two beautiful ladies."
"h.e.l.lo, Xiao Bai," Luo s.h.i.+yu greeted Xiao Bai with a smile.
Qin Manyun forcefully controlled the look on her face, trying to force a more natural smile.
Spiritual Robot!
An actual Spiritual Robot!
It was even put in a human-shaped machine. If one were to put a layer of human skin on it, it would probably have no difference from an actual human!
This kind of Spiritual Robot was definitely the greatest of its kind!
Although she had heard Luo s.h.i.+yu mentioning this before, she was still unable to control her emotions upon seeing it with her own eyes!
Luo s.h.i.+yu led Qin Manyun inside. Then, she introduced, "Mr, Li, Miss Daji, this is my friend, Qin Manyun."
"Greetings to Mr. Li. Greetings to Miss Daji," Qin Manyun instantly greeted them with respect.
Glancing at the chessboard, her heart sank vigorously. She just had a discussion of how Li Nianfan treated the world as a chess game with the scholar yesterday, and now she walked into him doing exactly that! How could this be a mere coincidence!
Impossible!
He must have calculated all these. He must have even expected her arrival. He was obviously making fun of her!
With another look at the chessboard, she saw the word ‘Answer' written boldly on the board.
Bam!
Qin Manyun's mind went blank instantly, overwhelmed by a soaring chill that was sent up from her spine to the sky!
As expected, the expert was indeed treating the world as his chess game!