Great Song Dynasty Writer

Chapter 66 Wild Herbs Can Be Gathered in the Mountains

Indeed, as the game progressed, subtle connections gradually emerged between the seemingly scattered white pieces.

After another forty or so moves, the old monk's moves were all unremarkable, yet he unknowingly blocked all of Black's escape routes.

When Lu Guangyu realized this, his dragon was trapped in the center, surrounded by white pieces like an impenetrable wall.

Fine beads of sweat appeared on his forehead, and his hand holding hers hung suspended in mid-air.

The mountain wind suddenly turned fierce, making his wide sleeves flutter loudly.

"Snapped!"

After a long period of deliberation, he made a sharp attack, and the black piece, like a sword drawn from its sheath, pierced straight into the heart of the white territory.

The old monk's brow twitched slightly, and the white piece lightly blocked the attack, seemingly gentle yet firm.

Lu Guangyu gritted his teeth and launched three consecutive strong attacks, instantly turning the chessboard into a battlefield of deadly intent.

"We're about to slay the dragon!" Ji Yun couldn't help but exclaim in a low voice.

However, just when Black seemed to be about to break through, the old monk's "point to the square" was as light as a dragonfly skimming the water, but it made Lu Guangyu's face turn pale instantly. It turned out that the previous breakout was a trap, and White had already calculated all his escape routes.

The black dragon collapsed with a roar, like a building crumbling.

Lu Guangyu's chess piece clattered onto the chessboard and rolled to the old monk's feet.

"You're too kind," the old monk said, pressing his palms together. "Your chess skills are quite good, but..."

Lu Guangyu smiled wryly and replied, "Being too fixated on winning or losing makes it difficult to see the bigger picture."

Each team selected its own members to play chess against the old monk.

In the end, just as the old monk had said, there was only who "lost less," not who could win.

He Cong, sent by the Xianzhen team, adopted a tortoise-like strategy from the start, only managing to survive in the corners. Even when the overall situation collapsed, he still managed to save some territory in the corners and lost less than the others.

"The first team wins the second round!"

This result brought smiles to the faces of both Xianzhen and He Cong.

The group continued climbing the stone steps, and as the mountain became steeper, many people began to pant.

Teams began to fall behind one after another.

The team order is based on the fact that all members of the team are present. If someone falls behind, even if someone in the team is the first to arrive, they will still have to be moved to the back of the line.

In terms of mountain climbing progress, Lu Beigu's team was clearly at a disadvantage because of the young girl in their group.

When they reached the middle of the mountain, a pavilion appeared before them.

Meanwhile, many teams had already arrived and were drinking water and resting around the pavilion.

The gatekeeper waited a while longer until the brown-robed monk told him that everyone had arrived. Then he put his palms together and said, "The third challenge is 'Responding with Poems in the Pavilion.' I will use a line from the Book of Songs as an introduction. Everyone will compose a poem according to their seating order. The time limit is thirty breaths. Those who cannot continue or whose tonal patterns or rhymes are obviously wrong will be eliminated."

"Who will go?" Ji Yun asked.

At this point, Han San Niang and Lu Guang Yu had already fought in the first and second rounds respectively, and they had done their best regardless of whether they won or lost. Next, only Han Zi Yu, Ji Yun, and Lu Bei Gu could fight.

Because they had to take care of Han San Niang, their climbing speed was slower, so they fell behind the Xianzhen team. They needed to select people first.

The opposing team, having won the second round, will most likely still field He Cong in the third round, so they need to choose their characters with He Cong as their hypothetical enemy.

Han Ziyu hesitated for a moment, then thought that the ranking of strength in the team should be that he was stronger than Ji Yun, and Ji Yun was stronger than Lu Beigu.

Logically speaking, as a student in the lower-level dormitory of the state academy, Ji Yun's strength should be similar to that of top county students like He Cong, while Lu Beigu's strength is slightly inferior. Therefore, either Ji Yun should be sent, or Han Ziyu should go himself.

Assuming the other side doesn't change their players, it's definitely better for Han Ziyu to go on stage himself, because as a student in the state school's middle dormitory and even frequently in the upper dormitory, Han Ziyu is sure to outperform He Cong in poetry.

This way, they will most likely win the third round, and if they don't change players in the fourth round, and Han Ziyu wins again, then regardless of whether they win or lose the fifth round, they will be in first place.

But there's a problem here.
"Will they replace them?" Han San Niang asked worriedly, wiping the sweat from her neck.

“It’s possible. If we let Brother Han go up, the other side might replace He Cong and put themselves in charge first. If they make a mistake, they might not have any chance left,” Ji Yun said after thinking for a moment.

This leads to a dilemma in the game.

If you send your strongest forces and the opposing team sends theirs as well, then it's highly likely that your strongest force will be wiped out, and you can forget about progressing to the next level.

If a weaker opponent is sent, although Han Ziyu can preserve her strength, she will most likely be eliminated easily.

The situation was indeed somewhat passive, but at this point no one complained about Han San Niang's slow climbing speed causing the passive position in the game; they were all just weighing how to deal with it.

“I can go,” Lu Beigu said.

After his trip to Chengdu, with Zhao Bian's guidance and his recent insights, Lu Beigu's poetry skills have improved dramatically compared to before.

After thinking for a moment, Han Ziyu shook his head and said, "Brother Lu, let's wait for now."

Han Tzu-yu really didn't dare to take the risk.

After all, in everyone's mind, Lu Beigu might have a small chance of beating He Cong, but he would definitely not be a match for Xian Zhen!

While Han Tzu-yu could definitely beat He Tsung, it's not certain she could beat Sin-chen.

Therefore, neither of them is the best choice.

Lu Beigu didn't say anything; he probably understood what the other party was thinking. But it didn't matter. When the time came, he would naturally step in to save the day.

But don't ask why the building is about to collapse.

After considering all these factors, Han Ziyu said to Ji Yun, "You go first."

Ji Yun entered Luzhou State School last year with the third-highest score in Jiang'an County School. In terms of ability, he is definitely not good enough for the state school, but he is on par with the top county students. Even if the opposing team sends He Cong, who is the top student in Hejiang County School, he should be evenly matched.

Therefore, this arrangement theoretically provides an opportunity to pass the third stage while preventing Han Tzu-yu from making a mistake that could lead to a complete defeat.

Ji Yun nodded and followed the other teams into the pavilion, where they sat in a circle in order.

The selection order is based on the team's climbing sequence in reverse order, while the seating arrangement is based on the order of progress. This is also a reward for the team that is leading in the climbing progress.

Lu Guangyu, who was watching from outside, frowned secretly. He tugged at Lu Beigu's sleeve and whispered, "He Cong's poems are always very strict in their rules. Is this young man confident?"

Lu Beigu shook his head.

Ji Yun wrote a supernatural tale at the literary banquet last time, but did not compose a poem. How could he know the level of Ji Yun's regulated verse?
Moreover, while there is indeed a gap between state students and county students, there may not necessarily be a gap between the bottom student in a state school and the top student in a county school.

Moreover, even among the middle and upper students of the state academy, each person has different strengths. It's not that a high ranking in the state academy necessarily means that one is overwhelmingly superior in a particular area. Zhou Mingyuan is an all-rounder in all four areas, but he is not good at poetry, yet he is still an upper student.

Therefore, although Lu Beigu hoped that Ji Yun could beat He Cong, whether he could actually win depended on his performance.

Seeing that all the challengers from each team had arrived, the gatekeeper monk pointed to the lush pea bushes beside the pavilion and said...

"The five-character regulated verse is adapted from the Book of Songs, Minor Odes. The first line is 'In the mountains, one can gather wild herbs,' which rhymes with 'wei'."

(End of this chapter)