Chapter 144
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Chapter 144: The Request
Shi Jin gestured around her, her voice tinged with dissatisfaction,
“This place is utterly desolate; I have no idea where to go.”
It was clear she was being stubborn, having nowhere else to turn. Even if the two children didn’t welcome her, she was determined to stay.
Hearing this, the child in the white robe, who had been composed, suddenly perked up and asked with a meaningful tone,
“Well, what do you think?”
Shi Jin was confused by the question,
“What do you mean?”
“It’s barren, of course. Do you think that’s a good thing?”
“Who in their right mind would think that’s good?”
Shi Jin retorted with irritation.
At this, the child in the blue robe suddenly lit up,
“Exactly! I feel the same way.”
He gave Shi Jin a once-over,
“You must be hungry, aren’t you?”
As he spoke, the child casually took out a white piece from his collection and offered it to Shi Jin,
“Take this.”
“No, take mine!”
Not to be outdone, the child in the white robe also grabbed a black piece and held it out to Shi Jin.
In that instant, a strange choice was laid before the girl.
“Alright, fine.”
After a moment’s thought, and under the hopeful gazes of the two children, Shi Jin took the white piece in her hand.
It seemed the safer choice.
“Hehe~”
“Tsk, no taste.”
The moment the white piece touched her hand, a wave of warmth surged through Shi Jin’s body. Her exhaustion melted away, and her weakened organs seemed to rejuvenate, as if an invisible energy was coursing through her.
She was about to speak when she caught the child in the blue robe giving her a subtle look.
Then, the two children began a game of chess that Shi Jin couldn’t comprehend.
Time around the chessboard seemed to have been severed from the rest of the universe, and the world beyond became a distant, unreachable vista, like a scene outside a window.
Shi Jin lost all sense of time, clutching the piece as if her life would never wane.
As the game progressed into the mid-game, though Shi Jin was a complete novice, she wasn’t entirely oblivious.
She had already noticed the changes in the surroundings; every move the children made seemed to bring a subtle transformation to the barren world.
With each move made by the child in the blue robe, Shi Jin witnessed the surroundings burst into life. Trees and flowers that had withered away began to flourish once again.
Conversely, every move by the child in the white robe seemed to cast a frost over the world, turning vibrant life into decay in an instant.
The game of chess between them was evenly matched, with each gaining the upper hand at different times. Though Shi Jin couldn’t comprehend the game itself, she could feel the ebb and flow of the match through the changing environment.
Gradually, the child in the blue robe appeared to dominate the game. Even when his opponent managed a counterattack, it merely introduced a temporary winter to the lush surroundings, rather than causing total desolation.
After what seemed like an eternity, the child in the blue robe made his final move, securing his victory.
The white pieces on the chessboard glowed with a dazzling light, as if they had awakened with their own consciousness. They engulfed the trapped black pieces and, with a contented roar, faded into nothingness.
At that moment, the barrier surrounding them shattered, and a soft spring breeze caressed Shi Jin’s neck, rousing her from her lethargy.
She looked around to see the old, dead tree now thriving with new life, its ancient and fresh branches intertwined, and its leaves densely clustered.
The child in the white robe’s face first showed surprise, then he sighed in defeat:
“This time, I lost.”
He let go of the black piece he had been toying with and slowly rose to his feet.
The child in the blue robe also stood up from his mat, his smile reflecting the immense joy his victory had brought him.
“When is the next game?”
The child in the blue robe asked cheerfully.
“That’s up to her.”
The child in the white robe, who had always been somewhat aloof, suddenly pointed at Shi Jin. He bent down to pick up the black piece he had cast onto the board and said:
“Take this.”
“Ah?”
Shi Jin responded reluctantly.
She sensed that the child in the white robe’s gesture carried an ominous implication. Accepting his piece might lead to something undesirable…
As she was about to refuse again, a gentle voice intervened:
“Take it. Nothing in this world is eternal; the vitality of this moment is merely the precursor to the next decline.”
Shi Jin took the black piece, and immediately, a new force began to settle within her.
At that moment, Shi Jin understood. Even if she had taken the black piece earlier, the outcome would likely have been the same.
However, her state would have shifted from being full of life to the opposite extreme, like a lifeless statue enduring the endless passage of time.
The child in the blue robe continued,
“From now on, we may need you to guard this chessboard.”
Shi Jin’s perception of time had become hazy. She asked, somewhat confused,
“Until when?”
“If someone finds their way here, simply give them a piece.
“When all the pieces are gone, that will signal the start of the next game.”
Their forms gradually faded until they vanished into the lush forest.
The only remnants of their presence were a path of unusually vibrant greenery and another path strewn with withered, yellow grass.
Shi Jin kept her promise to the two children. She had no memory of her past and little interest in the future; she only knew to fulfill her commitments, especially since they had rescued her when she was in dire need.
She chose not to sit on any of the mats but instead sat on the ground beside a low table.
Time seemed to accelerate once more, and the world’s vitality stabilized at a certain point; even in the depths of winter, it was never completely devoid of life.
As seasons changed from spring to autumn, Shi Jin became increasingly indifferent to the passage of time. Only the occasional visitor could briefly revive her awareness.
These visitors came either by chance or with purpose, dressed in various attire and speaking in different dialects.
Pieces representing life and death were taken away by these visitors, and cycles of conflict began and ended in the lands beyond the mountains.
One day, two familiar figures appeared in Shi Jin’s view. The child in the white robe and the child in the blue robe had returned once more.
“See? I told you she would keep our promise.”
“Pfft, what’s so great about that?”
Their personalities were unchanged, and the passage of countless years had left no mark on them.
They reclaimed their piece from Shi Jin and began to personally clean the chessboard, which had been weathered by the elements and entwined with plants.
Looking at the unchanged Shi Jin, the child in the blue robe smiled and asked,
“Would you like to watch another game?”
