Chapter 2234 - Inside and Outside the Game, Variables Billow Like Fog
Two people sat on the ground atop an unassuming little hillock.
One was a young man. He was dressed in black, and his eyes were covered with a black cloth.
The other was a thoroughly wrinkled, bony old man whose nose was red from drinking. He wore oily cloth robes.
“Victory in this chess game doesn't lie within the game itself. The ancient Xi Family are pawns in this game, but aren’t Xun Hong and the other Three Purities Daoist Court experts pawns too?”
The old man brewed tea over a fire, and its fragrance wafted into the air.
“You’re wrong.” The young man with his eyes covered said, “The way I see it, winning this chess match requires going inside it. If you don’t enter these turbid waters yourself, you cannot see who are the players and who are the pawns.”
The young man raised a cup of tea and drained it. “Take now, for instance. Who knows how many other old-timers have hidden themselves in the shadows around Skybright Mountain?
“Some are allied with the Three Purities Daoist Court. Some are out to seize the power of reincarnation for themselves.
“Others are from spacetime forbidden zones. Each of these experts of other eras has their own motives.
“Others still are lying in wait for an opportunity to loot a burning house and reap the rewards of others’ conflicts.
“All of them are hidden in the darkness. There’s no way to know if they’re human or ghost, or gods or demons, much less what they’re after.
“From their perspective, this chess game will be far too dull without a few variables. After all, for the Three Purities Daoist Court, simply slaughtering the Xi Family would take no more effort than turning their hand. That alone is in no way worth watching.”