Chapter 52

  Declaration of War (II)

  The wind turned oddly cold as I stepped out of the hall and into the open.

  The thin branches of the nearby trees bent and swayed, lulled by the invisible force. And I... I felt a bit choked.

  Naturally, I wasn't going to participate in the war--even if most of these guys here would want to see me humiliated, it wasn't to the point they'd threaten the sect's security for it.

  At the same time, I wasn't actually nearly as worried as most of them; if it was true that our Elder Generation could achieve a victory, then we will win.

  It'll probably be a wait of six months to a year before the 'war' kicks off, and, by then, there's a good chance that Dai Xiu would have broken through, too. And even if she doesn't, Long Tao can probably win by himself if need be.

  That is... if he feels like it.

  "Are you worried?" Elder Qin suddenly stopped by my side and asked, his expression somewhat sallow.

  "... are you?" I asked back.

  "Always."

  "Heavy burden to bear."

  "... let's go play some chess."

  I barely stopped myself from rolling my eyes, nodding instead. The two of us descended and ascended in silence, observing the nature in all its glory. Oddly, the seasons haven't actually changed all that much in the past six months that I've been here; the days have grown a bit cooler, but there were still occasional ones that would shoot up into triple digits, seemingly intent on burning the world.

  Elder Qin whipped out a full chess set as we sat down in the central room of the house, arranging the figures. They were made out of rather smooth wood and were clearly hand-carved.

  "It was a gift," he elaborated.

  "It's beautiful."

  "I learned to play chess when I was eleven," he said as I started positioning the figures, too. "My grandfather came to live with us and found it absolutely unacceptable that his only grandchild could not play chess. Thus, every morning at the crack of dawn, he'd wake me up, drag me out, and teach me how to play. He was awful; within a week, I was beating him consistently, yet he insisted on playing every day. It was like that all the way until my Master discovered me and brought me here."

  The figures were set, and he grew quiet.

  "Chances are," he said, making the first move, dragging the corner pawn two spaces up. "That we will not win."

  "..."

  "I fully believe that if our disciples had as much time as theirs, we'd emerge victorious. But, for cultivators, even just two or three extra years can be a difference of life and death."

  Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

  "Why didn't you try harder to convince them?" I asked, pushing the king's pawn two spaces up.

  "... it wouldn't have mattered," he said. "The Fire Sun sect would have continued attacking our disciples until we declared a war. It was the difference between declaring it now and declaring it after we've lost a few more kids."

  "How certain are you that the Elder Generation will win?" I asked. The two of us played completely different games; I played your extremely standard king's pawn opening into an Italian Game, while he... well, God knows what he was doing, randomly pushing pawns and doing nothing else.

  "We will win," he said with confidence, smiling. "Why? Do you want to join us?"

  "Only in the feast to celebrate the victory."

  "Ha ha ha."

  "... if the Middle Generation loses, do you plan on surrendering?" I asked, looking at the board. I was about four moves away from mating him and wondering whether I should just also start doing random crap.

  "Probably," he said. "While we can't exactly afford to lose resources, so long as we have the younger generation, we can always make a comeback... in due time."

  "..." I stayed silent for a moment before moving my queen diagonally and checkmating him. "Don't."

  "Hm?" He looked up from the board, meeting my eyes.

  "Don't surrender," I said.

  "..." It was his turn to stay silent, deeply scrutinizing my gaze. I don't think the look in my eyes was particularly interesting, but hey, what do I know? "You're serious."

  "I am."

  "... this isn't just a fun little bet between Elders," he said. "It concerns the very future of our home."

  "I know."

  "... give me a reason, at least." he said.

  "I've won, by the way." I pointed out, prompting him to look forward in shock and stop breathing for a few seconds as he realized.

  "Ha ha," he laughed, strangely, shaking his head. "This must be how my grandfather felt after I defeated him."

  "Xi Zhou," I called out, and the boy appeared immediately.

  "Yes, Master?"

  "Can you do your demonstration to Elder Qin as well?"

  "Uh, of course, Master!"

  The old man followed us outside, appearing a mix of confused and interested. We stopped by the entrance while Xi Zhou walked a few paces onwards, stopping and facing sideways.

  He grabbed the hilt of the sword gently, took a deep breath, closed his eyes, and then drew it.

  As before, time seemed to come unwound within the trace of the blade, like splitting streams of its laws trying to reconcile. I watched as the old man's expression turned haggard and shocked, his breathing quickening.

  "I've embarrassed myself, Master!" Xi Zhou bowed toward us after he finished, and I dismissed him before turning toward Elder Qin.

  "He's the weakest kid on the entire Peak," I said. "But I beg you, don't probe any further."

  "... can you raise him to the Peak Qi Condensation Realm within a year?" Elder Qin asked after a momentary silence.

  "Uh," could I? I mean, probably? But why is he asking that? Whatever, isn't this an opportunity? "I, I mean, resources are, you know..."

  "... haah. Fine, fine, I'll cover his expenses." Goddamn, I really did find myself a sugar daddy!... okay, that's the first and last time I will ever think that. "So that means that you can?"

  "Khm, yes, probably."

  "... do you--no, never mind," the look in his eyes... I get it. Even he couldn't deny anymore that something significant happened to 'Lu Qi'. However, he didn't seem to want to probe, whether that was because he trusted me or because he didn't want to know the truth... I don't know. "I'll trust you, perhaps against better judgment. This place is my home; it has been for over two hundred years. I've raised a dozen generations of kids, watched them all grow up and realize themselves, and I will stay here until my dying breath. If the sect falls, so will I. If we lose--"

  "--we won't lose."

  "If we lose," he interrupted sternly. "You should take the kids and go. With enough time, all of them can easily become Demigods, at least, and if you have it in your hearts, you can come back and avenge us then."

  Why?

  ... there was no answer I could come up with that I could rationalize. Why was he being so considerate? So nice?

  "We won't lose," I reiterated. "You'll just, uh, you'll have to cover my ass when that day comes. They'll probably think I sold my disciples to the devil or something."

  "You overestimate and underestimate them," Elder Qin chuckled for a moment, ready to leave. "They love this place as much as I do, Elder Lu. If you help save it? Well, I don't want to ruin a surprise. I'll come by once or twice a week for that chess game; it seems I have much to learn."