PCA Chapter 157

As soon as they descended, a cool breeze hit their faces. The two stayed close to their faint candle, taking a moment to adjust before seeing their surroundings clearly.

 

A stone passage extended in both directions, pitch-black beyond their light, with darkness seeming to reach out with claws and teeth where light couldn’t penetrate.

 

“There really are secret passages below,” Qu Ling’er’s voice bounced off the stone walls, echoing back and forth in the hollow passage.

 

“Be careful,” Su Cen cautioned, holding the candle as he slowly moved forward.

 

Ten steps later, the path forward was blocked by a stone wall. Su Cen frowned: “No way forward?”

 

Qu Ling’er explored in the other direction and nodded: “This side is also blocked.”

 

Walking back, he said to Su Cen: “Is this all there is? Is this a secret passage or just a cellar?”

 

Su Cen raised the lamp to illuminate the stone wall, revealing a relief carving of two people dancing animatedly around a square game board. The shape of the board matched exactly the liubo board Su Cen had drawn on his paper.

 

“Are they dancing?” Qu Ling’er frowned. “Will the door open if two people dance?”

 

“It’s not dancing,” Su Cen said. “They’re playing a finger-guessing game to decide who goes first and how many steps to move.”

 

“Should I play this game with you then?”

 

Su Cen shook his head, “Since we’re at the same position, we must be on the same side. We should be playing against someone from the other side.”

 

Qu Ling’er looked around, “But there’s no one else here.”

 

Su Cen stared at the wall carving thoughtfully and said: “Let’s wait a bit longer.”

 

Soon they heard a faint “click,” and one side of the stone wall slowly rose, revealing a stone passage.

 

The two exchanged glances, and Su Cen took the lead, slowly moving forward with the candle.

 

“Weren’t we supposed to play the finger-guessing game?” Qu Ling’er followed closely behind Su Cen. “But we didn’t play with anyone.”

 

Su Cen shook his head, “Since we’re separated by the stone passage, it’s impossible for both sides to face each other and play. So there might be some special triggering mechanism—perhaps first come, first move, or something else. Let’s play it by ear and be careful.”

 

Qu Ling’er nodded and followed Su Cen cautiously, matching his pace.

 

After walking for an unknown time, the path ahead was blocked again. Having learned from experience, Qu Ling’er immediately looked for wall carvings and indeed found another relief carving on one side.

 

“Are these chopsticks?” Qu Ling’er tilted his head, looking at it for a while. Unable to understand, he turned to Su Cen for guidance. Su Cen was standing in front of the stone door where there was a depression containing exactly six sticks.

 

Though they looked like chopsticks, they were more like sections of bamboo split into pieces, with gold powder applied to the curved grooves.

 

“These are called ‘zhu’ (rods). ‘Pu bi xiang qi, you liu bo xie’ means that liubo consists of three parts: the chess pieces, the board, and the zhu, which determine how many steps to move,” Su Cen took out the six rods. “If we who enter are the ‘chess pieces,’ and the entire Lu Family Village is a giant ‘board,’ then these are the ‘zhu’ that determine the number of steps.”

 

Su Cen continued, “Liubo has nine positions: Zhang, Dao, Jie, Pan, Fang, Jiu, Qu, Xuan, and Gao. We entered the game from the front of Lu Xiaojiu’s house, which is in the southeast of the village, not the ‘Zhang’ position where the game typically starts. From our previous position to here, we should now be at the ‘Zhang’ position, and the game should start from here.”

 

Su Cen gently tossed the six rods, getting three yin and three yang. The stone door slowly opened, revealing a winding stone passage that disappeared into darkness beyond the reach of their light.

 

The two continued walking through twists and turns for an unknown time before being blocked by another stone door.

 

At first, Qu Ling’er was somewhat nervous, but eventually he relaxed. Along the way, there were neither traps nor ambushes; besides the darkness, there truly weren’t any other threats.

 

“Are we just going to keep walking like this?” Qu Ling’er wondered. “What’s the point of this?”

 

Su Cen’s expression, however, wasn’t so relaxed. “If this is truly a game of chess, we’re still only on the periphery. The opponent should be moving from directly opposite us, so we won’t encounter each other for some time. But after several more moves, we’ll inevitably meet.”

 

Qu Ling’er was startled: “You mean we might encounter other people?”

 

“Not just encountering other people,” Su Cen looked at Qu Ling’er. “Do you know why it’s called liubo chess?”

 

Qu Ling’er shook his head.

 

Su Cen pointed to the wall carving and explained: “The term ‘liubo’ refers to each side having six chess pieces – five scattered pieces and one eagle piece. The two of us together at most count as one scattered piece, but the other side may not have just one person.”

 

Qu Ling’er turned pale. “You mean we could be attacked from multiple directions?!”

 

Su Cen nodded gravely.

 

Qu Ling’er felt a chill. “What do we do then? Just wait to die?”

 

Su Cen smiled slightly, offering some reassurance: “The game is entered from the ‘Zhang’ position, and naturally, one exits from the ‘Zhang’ position as well. There are four ‘Zhang’ positions on the board, all on the periphery. As long as we don’t enter the inner circle, we can leave by reaching the next ‘Zhang’ position before encountering them.”

 

Qu Ling’er asked tensely: “Where are we now?”

 

Su Cen thought briefly, “We’ve taken three steps from the ‘Zhang’ position, so we should be at the ‘Xuan’ position. We only need to take five more steps to return to ‘Zhang.’ Since pieces can only move in one direction, we should be safe for at least the next two steps without encountering the other side.”

 

Qu Ling’er felt somewhat relieved and took the six rods from the stone door’s depression. “Brother Su, here.”

 

Su Cen smiled, “When we were at Caotang Temple, Master Huikong said my luck was low. You do it.”

 

“Me?” Qu Ling’er held the rods and pursed his lips. “Alright then.”

 

Qu Ling’er cast the rods in the depression, with four showing gold dust facing up. The stone door slowly opened, revealing an even longer passage.

 

“I told you my luck was pretty good,” Qu Ling’er smiled proudly. This throw had yielded a four; even if the next throw only gave them a one, they would reach the ‘Zhang’ position and escape safely.

 

At the next stone door, Qu Ling’er didn’t stand on ceremony, casually throwing the rods. Two showed gold facing up. Qu Ling’er turned to smile at Su Cen, “I wonder if it’s daylight up there yet.”

 

Su Cen returned the smile, quietly waiting for the stone door to open.

 

However, after a moment, Qu Ling’er frowned, “Why isn’t it moving?”

 

The stone door before them didn’t open like the previous two times; it stood motionless, without any sign of movement.

 

“Is it broken?” Qu Ling’er wondered, looking back at Su Cen. “Brother Su, what’s happening?”

 

Su Cen’s previously relaxed brow was gradually furrowing. After a while, he said with pursed lips: “Someone else has entered the game.”

 

Inside the big mansion within the high walls, the man in white was sitting before a game board. On it was one black piece, but now there were two white pieces, closely following the white piece that had just moved.

 

The man in white smiled, “Trying to leave? Not so easy.”

 

Qu Ling’er watched as Su Cen’s expression became increasingly grim, and he grew anxious too. “Brother Su, what do you mean by ‘someone else has entered the game’?”

 

Su Cen’s brows were tightly knit, “As I mentioned earlier, in liubo chess, each side has six pieces. If another piece from one side enters the game, the previously entered pieces will remain stationary.”

 

Qu Ling’er exclaimed in surprise: “But there are only two of us! Where would another piece come from?!”

 

Su Cen slowly narrowed his eyes: “That’s a question for whoever is controlling the pieces.”

 

Qu Ling’er tried casting the rods several more times, but the stone door remained completely motionless. He paced back and forth anxiously, “If he puts all six pieces in one by one, aren’t we doomed to die here? What about going back? Can we go back to the previous ‘Zhang’ position?”

 

Su Cen shook his head, “We can’t be sure where the opponent’s pieces are now. If we turn back and encounter them, it’s still a dead end.”

 

“Then what do we do?” Qu Ling’er was almost crying from anxiety. “Are we just waiting to die here?”

 

Although Su Cen wasn’t pacing anxiously like Qu Ling’er, his brows were just as tightly furrowed. Without the right to move, the stone door wouldn’t open, and there was nothing he could do.

 

Just as they were growing more anxious, a rustling sound came from behind. Both turned to look and saw a human figure slowly emerging from the depths of darkness. As it approached, they could see it was a person dressed in black, holding two meteor hammers, who smiled sinisterly at them.

 

A stone wall suddenly crashed down, separating the two groups.

 

Su Cen frowned and said: “They’ve caught up with us.”

 

If they cast the rods once more and the final door opened, the two sides would inevitably clash.

 

“You still have me, Brother Su,” Qu Ling’er placed his hand at his waistband, ready to attack at any moment.

 

“Theoretically, we should have one more chance to cast the rods,” Su Cen took up the six rods, gripping them tightly. Everything depended on this one throw. If it was their turn and the stone door opened, they could escape. If not…

 

They would have to fight for their lives.

 

Su Cen paused, just about to cast the rods, when the stone door rumbled and slowly began to open.

 

The two stared at the door in confusion. Su Cen still had the rods in his hand—how was the door opening?

 

As the door fully opened, they saw an old man standing with his hands behind his back, glaring at them impatiently: “What are you standing there for? Hurry up and come out!”

 

Qu Ling’er was startled, nearly throwing his butterfly dart.

 

Su Cen, however, was delighted: “Senior!”

 

The old man couldn’t be bothered to deal with these two anymore and turned to leave on his own.

 

Su Cen hurriedly pulled Qu Ling’er along to follow the old man.

 

After following him out of the stone passage, they looked eastward where dawn was breaking, with just a few scattered stars remaining in the sky. Only then did the two let out a sigh of relief, as if waking from a dream.

 

They had entered the stone passage from the southeast of the village but had now emerged at the western end.

 

The old man walked ahead, heading in the direction of Lu Xiaojiu’s home.

 

Su Cen thought to himself that Lu Xiaojiu must have been found and felt somewhat relieved. Following the old man to Lu Xiaojiu’s doorway, they suddenly heard sobbing from inside.

 

Su Cen pushed open the door forcefully, only to see Lu Xiaojiu lying beneath the phoenix tree where he had been collecting fruits earlier that day. The boy was already lifeless.

 

 

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