I Really Didn’t Mean to Play Go!
Chapter 157: Half a Battle for Victory, Half a Journey of Enlightenment

Passing through the corridor, Jiang Xiahua led Yu Shao to a spacious hall. He pushed open the door and stepped inside.

The hall was empty and eerily quiet. About twenty Go tables were neatly arranged, each set with a board and a box of stones. A large calligraphy plaque hung on the red walls of the hall, the words "Evenly Matched Rivals" written in bold, flowing strokes. The calligraphy exuded strength and grandeur, clearly the work of a renowned master.

A faint scent of sandalwood lingered in the air, unconsciously drawing one into a state of deep focus. The solemn atmosphere was almost intimidating—one wouldn't dare speak too loudly, as if afraid of disturbing the celestial beings above.

“This is one of the regular playing rooms where Go players usually compete," Jiang Xiahua introduced. "It’s also where we’ll be playing in the future. Of course, it might not always be this exact room. The academy has quite a few of these, each capable of accommodating forty players.”

Seeing Yu Shao staring at the words "Evenly Matched Rivals" on the wall, lost in thought, Jiang Xiahua couldn't help but smile. “Do you know what’s written in the two-player game room?”

“There’s a separate room just for two-player matches?” Yu Shao was surprised. It seemed almost unbelievable.

In his previous life, no matter the tournament, matches were usually played in the same venue until the final winner was decided. But in this world, there were dedicated rooms just for two-player matches?

Setting everything else aside, this world’s Go industry had developed far beyond his imagination.

“Of course! There are quite a few of them,” Jiang Xiahua nodded, giving Yu Shao a strange look before explaining, “This place is mainly used for major tournament preliminaries and promotion matches.”

“If you advance to the main tournament, round-robin stage, finals, or even special matches like ten-game series and challenge matches, those will all be played in the two-player rooms, which we call the Handtalk Room.”

Jiang Xiahua raised an eyebrow and continued, “Otherwise, with too many people around, it would affect performance—and more importantly, it wouldn’t have that prestige, you know?”

“That makes sense,” Yu Shao replied. He had already accepted the vast differences between this world and his past life. Curious, he asked, “So, what’s written on the calligraphy plaque inside the Handtalk Room?”

“I’ll keep that a mystery for now.”

Jiang Xiahua smiled mysteriously and said, “Follow me. You’ll see for yourself.”

Yu Shao chuckled and nodded. “Alright.”

Soon, he followed Jiang Xiahua through another corridor and arrived outside an exquisitely carved pavilion.

“We’re here.”

Jiang Xiahua gestured, then gently pushed open the door and stepped inside. Yu Shao followed him in.

The small pavilion was elegantly decorated, with a single Go table placed in the center. A few long tables were set up to the side, likely reserved for referees, recorders, journalists, and cameramen.

Yu Shao looked toward the wall and soon noticed another calligraphy plaque. The characters were written in the same bold, powerful strokes as the ones in the main hall, exuding the same majestic aura.

The words read: "Discussing the Way While Seated."

“Well? What do you think?”

Jiang Xiahua grinned smugly. “The regular game rooms have ‘Evenly Matched Rivals,’ but in the Handtalk Room, the words are ‘Discussing the Way While Seated.’”

“Doesn’t it make you feel like, even if you lose here, it’s not a big deal? It’s an honor just to be in this room.”

He sighed with emotion. “Because this room is for discussing the Way, even if you lose, it means you’ve already gained enlightenment. Go is half about winning and losing, and half about understanding the Way.”

Half a battle for victory, half a journey of enlightenment?

That’s quite profound.

Yu Shao was slightly surprised and glanced at Jiang Xiahua. “Did you come up with that phrase?”

“You think too highly of me.” Jiang Xiahua shook his head with an amused look. “That’s one of the Ten Ancient Sayings of Go, spoken by Fang Xin in his later years when he revisited Shen Yi’s former residence. You don’t know that?”

Yu Shao felt a little embarrassed. He was barely familiar with this world’s modern Go scene, let alone its historical Go figures.

What he did know was that in this world, the Eastern nations had risen to prominence early on, spreading Go worldwide seven or eight centuries ago. Today, it was the most influential board game in the world.

Even in the West, Go players had to adopt Eastern-style names when competing. In a way, this was a form of cultural dominance—no wonder the government placed such importance on Go.

“You said there are many Handtalk Rooms like this?” Yu Shao asked curiously.

Jiang Xiahua nodded. “Yeah, quite a few. After all, in major tournaments, plenty of players make it to the main event and round-robin stage. And if it’s an international tournament with foreign players, a few rooms wouldn’t be enough.”

“So that means there are quite a lot of enlightened people,” Yu Shao joked, chuckling. “I thought there was only one room.”

“Just getting the chance to play in a Handtalk Room is a big deal. What more do you want?”

Jiang Xiahua smiled as he looked around. “This afternoon, my Flame Inheritance Match will be held here.”

“This time, I’m playing here because of the Flame Inheritance Match, but…”

Jiang Xiahua took a deep breath, his gaze firm. “After this match, when I start competing in major tournaments, I want to earn my way into this room.”

Hearing that, Yu Shao suddenly thought of something. “By the way, who are you up against today? And who’s the ninth-dan pro partnered with your opponent?”

“I’m playing against Bai Jingchuan today. His partner, naturally, is his mentor, Lin Han, a ninth-dan player.”

Jiang Xiahua’s expression turned serious. “Lin Han and Bai Jingchuan have similar playing styles—both are skilled in intricate fighting. They’ll try to gain an advantage through midgame skirmishes. If I can’t gain the upper hand in the fight, winning will be tough.”

As they talked, the two left the Handtalk Room and wandered around the Southern Go Academy.

The academy’s grounds were vast, with not only various playing rooms but also beautifully landscaped gardens. The scenery was breathtaking.

Yu Shao and Jiang Xiahua strolled around for quite a while before finally covering most of the academy.

As lunchtime approached, they headed to the academy’s cafeteria.

For professional Go players with scheduled matches, meals at the academy’s cafeteria were free. However, since Yu Shao didn’t have a match today, he had to pay for his own meal.

After buying their food, the two found an empty table and sat down.

Although it wasn’t noon yet, the cafeteria was already bustling with people. Yu Shao and Jiang Xiahua’s unfamiliar faces quickly drew attention.

“Hey, isn’t that Yu Shao?”

An 18-year-old player shot Yu Shao a curious glance and turned to his friends.

“Looks like him. There was a huge buzz about him online recently—I saw his photo.”

“An amateur who went undefeated in the promotion tournament and even beat Zhuang Fei… Damn, is he the next Zheng Qin? What’s going on in our region? Why are these amateur players getting stronger and stronger? The pressure is killing me.”

“No kidding… Last year, I could still beat Zheng Qin. Two months ago, we played again, and once I fell behind in the midgame, I just couldn’t catch up. Ended up losing by four and a half points in the end. His improvement is unreal, like he’s riding a rocket.”

“If Zheng Qin had trained as a dojo player, he would’ve been a lock for the Fangyuan Cup. Such a shame…”

As they chatted, the conversation drifted toward this year’s Fangyuan Cup, their expressions turning somber.

Nearby, a stunning woman in her thirties had been quietly eating. Upon hearing their discussion, she paused, her chopsticks frozen midair.

She lifted her gaze and looked at Yu Shao.

Despite being in her thirties, she was still breathtakingly beautiful, with sharp, defined brows that gave her a striking presence.

She stared at Yu Shao for a moment, then set her chopsticks down and walked toward him.

Jiang Xiahua had been chatting away when he noticed her approaching. He abruptly stopped talking, a surprised look flashing across his face before he hurriedly greeted,

“Teacher Chang Yan.”

Chang Yan?

Yu Shao blinked and looked at the woman beside him.

So this was Xu Zijin’s mentor—Chang Yan, a ninth-dan professional?

According to what Yu Shao knew, the number of male and female Go players in this world was roughly the same, which was why the promotion tournament allocated six professional slots for both the men’s and women’s divisions.

Even though the overall number of female Go players was quite large, high-dan female players were still a rarity.

In this world, there were very few tournaments exclusively for female players—there weren’t even any female-exclusive title matches. Almost all competitions were open to both men and women.

As a result, while it might be somewhat easier for female players to earn a professional rank compared to their male counterparts, advancing to higher dans still required competing and fighting against male players.

People always talked about gender equality, and Go wasn’t a sport that relied on physical strength, yet the reality remained—on the whole, female players were still a step behind male players.

It had been that way in his past life. It was still the same in this one. Even Yu Shao couldn’t quite understand why.

However, despite the overall gap, there were always exceptions.

Some female players could go toe-to-toe with male players and hold their ground. Chang Yan, a 9-dan professional, was one of them.

Yu Shao remembered Xu Zijin mentioning that Chang Yan had even won the Kisei title one year. Although she lost it the following year, her victory had still caused a huge sensation at the time.

Chang Yan looked at Yu Shao, furrowing her delicate brows before asking, “You’re Yu Shao?”

“Yes.”

Yu Shao wasn’t sure why Chang Yan was looking for him, but he still nodded.

“So, you played that push move, and then used the Hand-Cut Method to break the Demon Blade Joseki...”

Chang Yan stared at Yu Shao intently and asked, “That was you?”

Hearing this, Jiang Xiahua, who was sitting across from Yu Shao, was completely dumbfounded.

What the hell?

The Demon Blade Joseki got cracked?!