Start with everyday skills and grind your way to immortality.

The sound was not heard, but went straight to the mind.

The bright moon hangs high in the sky.

It wasn't until Chen Qian got closer that he could see who was sitting on the stone bench opposite him.

An old man with white hair wore a tall bamboo crown and a gray robe.

His pupils were white, as if he were blind.

But as Chen Qian approached, his lifeless eyes followed his every step with remarkable precision.

Chen Qian looked at the crisscrossing engraved lines on the stone table and the two jars of chess pieces, one black and one white.

After a moment of silence, I sat down opposite you.

"My chess skills are terrible," Chen Qian said honestly.

"It's alright," the old man said.

"Guess first?"

Chen Qian raised his chess piece and placed it down: "I'll play black and go first."

The old man chuckled and shook his head, then placed a piece on the board.

Are you awake right now, or still dreaming?

Chen Qian paused, holding the chess piece, then looked up and smiled, a smile that held something indescribable: "Is there a difference? The path we must take, we must walk it whether we're awake or dreaming."

The old man remained silent, seemingly pondering his words.

After placing his second black stone, Chen Qian finally asked, "Senior... who is that?"

The white piece in the old man's hand hovered above the chessboard for a moment before gently falling down.

His surname is Wang, and his given name is Shouyi.

Wang Shouyi.

Chen Qian muttered to himself, but couldn't find anyone related in his memory.

A moment later, a white stone appeared out of thin air and landed on a star position in the corner of the chessboard.

"You went into the Black Mountain to gather herbs and ginseng. You made a good price by selling the ashes of the Li family. You also relied on a bit of quick wit and... well, let's call it trickery and deception to get here."

The voice remained calm, yet each word was clear: "How far can your pretentious methods go in this cannibalistic world?"

Chen Qian held the black stone in his hand, without looking at the chessboard.

The gaze seemed to be directed into the distance, yet it also seemed to rest only on the fingertips of one's own body.

He gently placed the black piece in an ordinary, even somewhat clumsy, position.

[Go experience points +1]

Chen Qian smiled, a very unrestrained smile.

His voice wasn't loud, but it was clear: "Then first pretend, then act properly, and finally..."

He paused, his smile deepening slightly. "Pretty good."

Wang Shouyi was taken aback, seemingly not expecting such an answer, and then burst into laughter.

"That's good, that's good."

Wang Shouyi's white piece immediately fell, blocking a seemingly random scattered black piece.

"However, this is all the cards you have up your sleeve now."

"The places where money is hidden, the things one does, and the methods one practices are no different from being exposed to the scorching sun in the eyes of a truly discerning person."

Wang Shouyi's voice seemed closer, carrying a scrutinizing tone, "You've revealed all your cards; what makes you think you can win?"

Chen Qian's gaze finally fell on the chessboard.

He stared for a while at the area where the black and white had been interspersed.

He groped among the remaining black stones, picked one out, and without hesitation, pointed it into what appeared to be an empty area.

"If the cards are open, then the cards are open."

He raised his eyes, the dazedness and amusement gone, replaced by an almost serene calm.

"Have you ever seen anyone who dares to reveal their hand... because they're afraid of losing?"

[Go experience points +1]

The intersecting lines on the chessboard seemed to come alive in his eyes.

The arrangement of the black and white pebbles is no longer chaotic, but subtly reveals a kind of breathing pattern.

"Oh?" Wang Shouyi seemed surprised, and his speed in placing the piece paused almost imperceptibly for a moment.

In the next dozen or so moves, Chen Qian's responses were still somewhat clumsy, but he made no more obvious blunders.

Even occasionally, a single move can be placed precisely at a key point, causing White's advance to be slightly hindered.

[Experience in reading between the lines +1]

[Go experience points +1]

……

"Your chess..."

"He's actually improving?"

For the first time, Wang Shouyi's voice showed a slight ripple.

It wasn't shock or anger, but pure confusion.

Chen Qian did not answer.

His entire mind seemed to be absorbed into this small chessboard.

Fine beads of sweat appeared on his forehead, and his fingers, gripping the chess pieces, turned slightly white from the force, but each move he made was more steady than the last.

From initially following step by step, to gradually being able to anticipate one or two steps ahead.

Later on, he occasionally managed to sacrifice a small move for a larger one, planting one or two inconspicuous "nails" in a predicament for Black.

As the game neared its end, the previously large swathes of white's influence were quietly eroded. Although black's position remained precarious, it was no longer at the mercy of its opponent.

After several pieces were placed, the situation became deadlocked.

Silence pervaded the mountain, with only the soft sound of chess pieces tapping on the stone plate.

Chen Qian made the final move.

He gently pressed the black stone between his fingers at an intersection, filling the last single-point mark.

There are no more spaces left on the chessboard.

Wang Shouyi remained silent, seemingly counting in his mind.

After a long silence, Wang Shouyi slowly spoke:

"draw."

Throughout the entire game, Chen Qian's chess skills were clearly far inferior to his own.

The moves were clumsy, but it was precisely through this process of trial and error, stumbling and falling, that a situation of neither winning nor losing was actually achieved.

Grab a handful of white stones and place them on the board, letting them collide and scatter.

Wang Shouyi glanced at the chaotic pieces, his expression ambiguous: "Is this fate? Even Heaven doesn't want you to lose?"

His white eyes stared at Chen Qian, his gaze seemingly able to penetrate his skin:

"In your first dream, you lived a life worse than a pig or a dog, so why...didn't you just die back then?"

"Second Dream, you are already living a good life, with family and loved ones by your side, so why do you insist on throwing your life away?"

"You could have chosen the safer path, avoiding the risks and the struggle. Why did you insist on doing this?"

Wang Shouyi's questions were like three cold needles, hanging in the silent moonlight.

Chen Qian did not answer immediately.

His gaze, however, was fixed on the village sleeping in the darkness below the mountain, with its faint lights as dim as fireflies.

He spoke slowly, his voice hoarse, "Living worse than pigs and dogs, why not just die?"

He twitched the corners of his mouth, as if he were laughing at himself.

"Because I'm not willing to accept it."

"It's like someone is choking me, forcing me into the same trough as pig feed, and making me squeal like a pig while I'm being grateful."

Even a dog, when cornered, will bare its teeth!

The night breeze ruffled the sweat-dampened hair on his forehead.

"The second time."

His voice lowered, and his gaze became distant, as if he could truly see another warm, welcoming house with harmonious family members.

"I'm still not reconciled. Why should I be treated like this?"

He abruptly turned his head, looking into Wang Shouyi's cloudy yet seemingly all-seeing eyes, and said, word by word:

"My name shall be etched in this world."

Wang Shouyi looked at him quietly, without saying a word for a long time.

After a long silence, he spoke: "If you knew you were going to die, what would you do?"

Chen Qian smiled slightly.

"Knowing one's fate, one is not afraid."

"Renew yourself every day."

A mountain breeze swept by, ruffling Wang Shouyi's graying temples, making him appear somewhat desolate.

"So you chose the hardest one?"

The old man spoke slowly, his voice carrying for the first time a barely perceptible sigh.

"Seventeen times."

"Seventeen times, without exception, you chose this path."

"Time and time again, even if they were bleeding from their heads, they still came to me."

Chen Qian's pupils contracted slightly.

Seventeen times? Those vague, familiar feelings of weariness and struggle.

He stood up, bowed deeply to Wang Shouyi, and spoke sincerely:

"Thank you for sparing my life, senior. You have spared my life; otherwise, I would surely have perished here."

Wang Shouyi slowly rose, stood with his hands behind his back, looked at the bright moon in the sky, and slowly said:

"You are the one we placed our bet on in Linjiang."

"I tried everything to stop you from going to Black Mountain, but it was all in vain."

"You are physically so frail, yet your spirit is as strong as iron."

"Before, I was able to calculate your past lives, present life, and future."

"But now... I can't figure it out."

"Perhaps, this is why my master ordered me to sit here and wait... for a full eighteen years."

Wang Shouyi looked up at the sky and sighed, his voice carrying a hint of relief and expectation:

"May Heaven bless me, the Taiyi Dharma Gate."