Chapter 621: Chess

Chapter 621: The Game

"But... these birds, I feel like I’ve seen them somewhere before..."

Li Huowang frowned slightly as he stared at the vultures sprawled on the ground, trying to recall something.

Suddenly, his expression stiffened—he remembered it now. A few years back, when he had left Qingqiu, he had encountered a lama accompanied by vultures!

"Could it be them? Those lamas who perform rituals for the dead in Qingqiu? But why would they attack the Heavenly Observing Bureau?"

Just as Li Huowang pondered this question, he suddenly sensed an imbalance behind him!

He reached back with his hand, and his face darkened instantly—his spine sword was gone! These vultures were just a distraction! Their target was his spine sword!

"My sword is missing!" Peng Longteng appeared beside Li Huowang, grabbing him and throwing him into the air.

From a high vantage point, Li Huowang, furious, swept his gaze frantically around.

If they had merely come to kill him, he might not have been so enraged—but they had come specifically to steal his spine sword! He swore to grind that man to dust!

"Monk! Your sword is right there! Look!" The monk behind Li Huowang shouted joyfully, pointing out what he'd discovered.

In the next moment, the monk’s body solidified. Li Huowang grabbed the monk’s robe and yanked hard, sending him flying toward the direction the monk had indicated.

Closer! Even closer! Li Huowang saw it was a mountain demon wearing a Buddha mask, clutching his spine sword as he darted through the forest.

This mountain demon seemed to have mastered some kind of martial art, flipping and dodging through the trees with incredible speed.

"You think you can run!"

Li Huowang immediately pressed his left eye to his palm and burst it open. A strange light enveloped the monkey from afar, slowing him down like a snail crawling.

Just as Li Sui's tentacles reached out from a distance to reclaim the spine sword, a flash of cold light sliced through the air, severing the tentacle into several pieces.

A strange rhythm drumbeat echoed, and an old lama draped in black sheepskin stood between Li Huowang and the spine sword.

As he beat his bone drum at his waist, he spun a bone scripture in his hand and began chanting.

"Venerable Anuruddha, Venerable Kasyapa, Venerable Nadi Kasyapa, Venerable Mahakasyapa, Venerable Shariputra, Venerable Maudgalyayana..."

Screams filled the sky as pus-filled vultures once again circled overhead.

"I have no grudge with you! What is going on?! Do you really think I’m still the same weakling I used to be?!"

Blood streaming from his eyes, Li Huowang roared and lunged at the lama.

At that moment, the lama in the sky dove down upon him.

"Jump horse, take your cannon."

Li Huowang sat on a plastic red stool, dressed in blue-and-white striped hospital pajamas, frowning slightly at the chessboard before him.

His opponent was his attending physician, Wu Cheng. As he played, Wu Cheng spoke through a Bluetooth earpiece.

Li Huowang picked up his left chariot with two fingers and slammed it against his pawn.

"Snap!" His copper coin sword whipped through the air like a whip, striking the lama and cutting off the drumbeat.

When Li Huowang gripped the spine sword again, feeling its familiar touch, he exhaled deeply.

But when he looked up again, he found that the enemy had grown larger—he was surrounded.

Not only the black-robed lama from earlier, but also many others wearing white headscarves and black sleeves—followers of the Dharma Sect!

"We came out without even disguising ourselves, aren’t we just giving this kid a chance to recognize us?"

"It doesn't matter—we just need to kill him. No one will recognize us if he’s dead. Let’s end this quickly."

"Checkmate."

Li Huowang slowly raised his head, looking at Wu Cheng, whose lips curled into a smile.

"Did you cheat me using a master-level computer? I've seen this trick before."

"Little Li, don’t worry about winning or losing. You should calm your mind. It’s just a game after all. Losing isn’t the end."

"I really don’t see how playing chess has anything to do with my condition."

"Don’t overthink it. Maybe I just enjoy playing chess, so I found someone to play with."

Li Huowang took a deep breath and continued playing, desperately searching for a turning point.

"Take the horse." Li Sui’s blood-soaked head broke through Li Huowang’s abdomen, tearing apart his intestines.

"Move the advisor." Li Huowang’s last eye was covered by darkness.

"Hey! Playing chess! Playing chess!"

Some mentally ill patients gathered curiously, offering advice to Li Huowang.

"Erjiu! We’re here to help you!"

Hearing the chatter around him, Li Huowang felt annoyed. "Shut up!!"

Suddenly, the other patients realized who Li Huowang was and fell silent.

Li Huowang continued playing, each move becoming harder. If not for Wu Cheng letting him win a bit, he would’ve already lost.

Looking at the board, Li Huowang grew increasingly irritable. He suddenly slammed one hand onto the board, ready to flip it over, but Wu Cheng held him firmly in place.

"Little Li, don’t just throw the table every time things go wrong. Some problems can be solved by throwing tables, but many cannot."

As Li Huowang glared at Wu Cheng, a hand reached from his shoulder, five fingers gripping a chariot piece, moving it three spaces forward and then placing it back.

Li Huowang turned slightly, surprised to see it was the autistic chubby boy.

Saliva dripped from his mouth, eyes fixed on the board, blinking not even once.

Li Huowang slowly released the board, letting the boy play with Wu Cheng.

Though slow, the boy consistently blocked Wu Cheng’s checkmate attempts.

Gradually, he started capturing pieces—first pawns, then more. Soon, the tide shifted.

Li Huowang tore off the wrinkled skin covering his face, staring at the old lama with hungry eyes.

The lama had transformed completely—now he had three heads and six arms, each head representing a different death: drowning, hanging, stabbing.

As his bone scripture wheel spun again, Li Huowang drew his spine sword without hesitation and slashed it into the Great Qi.

Finding the lama’s position within the Great Qi, Li Huowang reopened the rift.

He didn’t leap to ambush him—instead, he plunged directly into the lama’s body through the rift.

Just as Wu Cheng moved his final advisor, Li Huowang smiled faintly, moving his general to cover the opponent’s general.

"General versus General!"

The old lama’s grotesque body swelled, and in the next instant, countless tentacles burst from every hole in his body, flailing in the air.

"Boom!" His entire body exploded, and from within, a bloodied, tentacled figure emerged—Li Huowang.

He shouted at the followers of the Dharma Sect: "Checkmate! Checkmate!!"

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Next chapter updates at 11:30 PM.

(End of Chapter)