"Let's sit down and discuss the chess game," Jiang Fan suggested, as there was no way to proceed without solving the puzzle. Perhaps collective wisdom could yield a solution. After all, three cobblers with their wits combined are equal to a Zhuge Liang.
Dai Xiaomei stared at the chessboard for a long time before grudgingly declaring, "I think Black has the advantage."
Jiang Fan sighed. "Are you looking at the number of black pieces?"
Dai Xiaomei let out a few awkward chuckles. Jiang Fan lightly tapped her forehead, reminding her this wasn't checkers.
"White has... the advantage..." Yao finally spoke. The wolf child, not understanding Go, relied on his animal intuition to scan the board and felt a stronger killing intent from the white stones.
Jiang Fan shook his head, knowing such hunches were unreliable. Besides, even if they knew white had the advantage, they wouldn't know what to do. He sighed and looked at Zhou Niannian. "I heard you're an amateur first dan. Any suggestions?"
At this point, they could only try anything, so he turned to Zhou Niannian, the only one who seemed to know something about Go.
"Behold, my divine move! Burn, my Go soul!" Zhou Niannian, surprisingly familiar with the meme, grabbed a white stone and moved to place it in the lower right corner among the white pieces.
Jiang Fan, startled, quickly grabbed Zhou Niannian's hand. That move would have sealed off an eye, dooming all the white stones in the lower right. Unlike the miraculous counter-attacks in Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils, this was a straightforward suicide. He could see that even he understood this situation!
The moment Jiang Fan touched Zhou Niannian, her face flushed. He, however, was past such niceties. "Didn't you say you were an amateur first dan?" he questioned, looking at Zhou Niannian with doubt. This mistake seemed unlikely for an amateur first dan.
"I am... amateur beginner, which should be similar to first dan, right?" Zhou Niannian glanced at Jiang Fan cautiously.
Hearing this, his face showed utter speechlessness. What did "similar" mean? Amateur beginner was the entry level of Go. One had to reach ninth kyu to be promoted to first dan. Generally, children who started learning Go at three years old were already amateur third kyu.
Indeed, trusting this woman was a mistake. Forget it, he would have to figure it out himself.
After a long time, Jiang Fan still couldn't make heads or tails of it. Instead, he started hallucinating. The black and white stones in his mind transformed into armies of Emperor Chiyou and the Yellow Emperor, horses whinnying, chariots rumbling, locked in a frenzied struggle, rivers of blood flowing, a palpable killing intent in the air.
With a jolt, Jiang Fan snapped out of his reverie and shook his head. This was just a waste of brainpower. They had already walked a long way, so he decided to rest here for a while before making further plans.
"I'm hungry," Dai Xiaomei pouted. Zhou Niannian, more reserved, didn't speak, but her stomach let out a gurgling sound.
Yao took out his lighter, intending to start a fire to cook some gruel. Jiang Fan shook his head. In such a confined cave, lighting a fire rashly might lead to unforeseen consequences. Even if nothing unusual happened, the flames would consume oxygen. At this moment, the best course of action was to drink water.
Jiang Fan took out his water bottle and handed it to Dai Xiaomei and Zhou Niannian. As Zhou Niannian drank, she suddenly glanced at a panda. The panda immediately stood up, bared its teeth at Zhou Niannian, and let out a series of growls. Even when they couldn't make a fire, she was still thinking of eating the panda raw. Truly a fiend!
"Here's some water for you!" Zhou Niannian smiled gently and handed the water bottle to the panda. The panda licked its lips, took the bottle, and began to drink heartily, its fear of Zhou Niannian subsiding.
"The panda is backup food, so we must protect it well," Zhou Niannian told Dai Xiaomei.
The panda: "..."
After drinking water, they seemed less hungry. The group had developed a fear of Go and no longer wished to look at the chessboard. Zhou Niannian and Dai Xiaomei curiously looked around, then simultaneously approached the cave wall, examining the small grass within the crystal stones.
The grass resembled seaweed, but its leaves were thread-like, adorned with rose-red, fleshy beads. It had no roots; instead, a shimmering white bead replaced where the roots would have been. The silken leaves would change color, shifting from cyan to yellow to emerald green. The small grass swam within the crystal stone, stretching its form like a seductive hand beckoning onlookers to enter.
"Is this stone hollow? Is there liquid inside?" Dai Xiaomei asked curiously. Naturally, the stone couldn't be solid, or how could this peculiar grass float within it?
Jiang Fan also approached, carefully observing the strange crystalline stone wall. With his talent for air humidity, he immediately detected that the crystal stone was indeed hollow and filled with a mysterious gas. Upon closer inspection, the gas was rainbow-colored, draping over the strange grass like a thin, iridescent cloak. Even more marvelously, the gas's density seemed to fluctuate, causing it to be visible one moment and invisible the next. This beautiful sight was truly refreshing.
Dai Xiaomei and Zhou Niannian pressed their faces against the crystal wall, utterly mesmerized. Their hands involuntarily began to tap on the stone. Jiang Fan suddenly grabbed them by the back of their necks and pulled them away from the wall.
"What are you doing?" Dai Xiaomei and Zhou Niannian cried out in unison.
"This is Phantom Star Grass! The most dangerous thing in the world!" Jiang Fan said sternly. Fortunately, he was well-traveled and had heard legends of this plant. "That's not the stone wall; it's the crystal shield that the Phantom Star Grass generates! The real stone wall should be behind the grass; this section is completely covered by it."
Dai Xiaomei and Zhou Niannian listened intently. Grass with its own crystal shield!
"Then, can we dig one up to take with us?" Zhou Niannian licked her lips.
"Do you know what's inside the crystal shield? It's the gas released by the Phantom Star Grass. When the Phantom Star Grass matures completely, the crystal shield will peel away. Even a whiff of this gas will put you to sleep permanently. Furthermore, this gas can change its density and create mirages, causing you to hallucinate. You were already under the influence of hallucinations just now. If I hadn't pulled you away, you would have broken the crystal shield yourselves and released the gas."
After Jiang Fan's explanation, Dai Xiaomei and Zhou Niannian's faces turned ashen. No wonder they had uncontrollably started tapping the stone. "Hiss—" They both gasped. If not for Jiang Fan, they would likely have been hypnotized into pounding on the stone wall until their flesh was bloody. It turned out this place was fraught with peril, not only from poisonous arrows and traps but also from seemingly cute things.