I Really Didn’t Mean to Play Go!
Chapter 198: Why Don’t You Just Fly to the Heavens?

Inside the playing room, the gathered professional players watched as Yu Shao and Zheng Qin exchanged words, exchanging glances among themselves.

“Do they know each other?”

If two players were about to compete and had never met before, they usually wouldn’t engage in conversation. Instead, they would simply sit in silence, waiting for the match to begin.

As soon as both players took their seats, Meng Ziyan and the others exchanged looks, took deep breaths, and immediately surrounded Table 10, sealing it off completely.

Seeing this, Le Wuqiang frowned slightly. After a moment of thought, he also made his way toward Table 10, joining the crowd.

The reason he had come to watch this match was simple.

Su Yiming had defeated Dou Yiming, and Yu Shao had previously beaten Su Yiming in the promotion tournament.

Even though Dou Yiming held a higher dan rank than him, rank didn’t always correlate with true strength. In his opinion, Dou Yiming wasn’t particularly strong. But since Su Yiming had beaten him, he was worth watching—and so was Yu Shao.

However, why had Sheng Ziyan and his group come? That, he couldn’t figure out.

Confused, Le Wuqiang glanced at Sheng Ziyan and the others.

But when he saw their expressions, he was momentarily stunned.

The match hadn’t even started, yet Sheng Ziyan and the others all looked incredibly serious—as if this game mattered far more than he had imagined.

“They’re… really this invested?”

Le Wuqiang was puzzled.

Soon after, two referees entered the playing room. When they saw Table 10 surrounded by spectators, they weren’t surprised—they, too, were particularly interested in this match.

Time ticked by.

A moment later, one of the referees lifted his wrist to check his watch, preparing to announce the match rules. But just as he was about to speak, he noticed something at the door—and froze on the spot.

A lean, twenty-seven or twenty-eight-year-old man had walked into the playing room.

It wasn’t just the referee—when the other players saw the man at the entrance, their minds went completely blank.

“Z-Zhang Dongchen… the Go Sage?!”

Zhang Dongchen’s expression remained calm. He ignored the stunned gazes around him, swept his eyes over the crowd surrounding Table 10, and walked straight over.

The entire room was stunned!

It was one thing for Sheng Ziyan’s group to be here, and Le Wuqiang’s presence made sense since he was competing in the Young Prodigies Cup and had a reason to follow Yu Shao’s progress.

But Zhang Dongchen was a Go Sage!

Not long ago, he had defeated the formidable Jiang Changdong to achieve a three-peat title defense of his Go Sage title. He was one of the best players in the world!

In the global Go community, there was a saying:

“If you can defeat Ahn Hongseok, you are among the world’s best.”

Very few had ever managed to beat Ahn Hongseok.

Zhang Dongchen was one of them.

And yet, he had come here?!

Why?!

Was this a title match or the finals of a world championship?!

“Match time has arrived!”

After a long silence, the referee finally snapped out of his shock and tore his gaze away from Zhang Dongchen.

“The time limit is two hours per player, with a one-minute overtime countdown.”

Suppressing his emotions, he licked his dry lips and continued, “Now, please proceed with determining the turn order.”

After speaking, he stepped into the crowd himself, focusing intently on the match.

Zheng Qin took a deep breath and reached into his container, slowly taking out a handful of white stones.

Yu Shao followed suit, drawing two black stones and placing them on the board.

Click.

Zheng Qin released his stones onto the board.

There were six white stones in total—an even number.

“I play as Black.”

Yu Shao retrieved his stones and said, “Please guide me.”

Zheng Qin nodded, collecting his white stones as he responded, “Please guide me as well.”

With that, both players bowed—

The match had begun.

Yu Shao lowered his gaze to the board. As he reached into his stone container, he could feel Zheng Qin’s aggressive presence, almost as if he could see the fangs he was baring toward him.

Click!

A stone was placed down lightly.

Column 16, Row 4—Star Point!

Zheng Qin exhaled slowly, reaching into his container. He felt the cool touch of the stones against his fingers.

His mind involuntarily flashed back to a game from over a year ago—Yu Shao versus Su Yiming.

That match had driven him forward, pushing him to never slack off, to keep honing his skills, to learn from every defeat, and to keep advancing.

Even though he had risen through the ranks at an astonishing pace, he never let himself grow arrogant. He had walked a path of constant vigilance, treating each step as if he were walking on thin ice.

He had been waiting for their third match.

And now, that day had finally arrived.

“Come on!”

Zheng Qin took a deep breath, grabbed a stone, and placed it down swiftly.

Snap!

Column 4, Row 16—Star Point!

“A diagonal star-point opening…”

Yu Shao observed the board, quickly selecting another stone.

Snap!

Column 3, Row 4—Small Point.

Seeing Yu Shao’s move, Zheng Qin’s gaze sharpened. Without hesitation, he followed up with his own move.

Snap!

Column 17, Row 16—Small Point!

“A Star-Small Point against a Star-Small Point opening?”

Among the crowd, Zhang Dongchen observed the opening sequence with growing interest.

After the first four moves were played, he lifted his head, glancing at both players.

He looked at Zheng Qin.

Then at Yu Shao.

This… was going to be interesting.

From the atmosphere between them, Zhang Dongchen could clearly sense Zheng Qin’s absolute determination to win.

Yet strangely enough, it wasn’t Yu Shao who seemed to be going all out—it was Zheng Qin.

The only reason Zhang Dongchen had come to watch this game was because he was intrigued by Yu Shao’s 3-3 invasion style.

Unlike most people, who dismissed 3-3 as an unusual or risky move, Zhang Dongchen had found it eye-opening. He had always believed 3-3 was playable, but out of caution, he had held back from trying it himself, choosing to observe instead.

Since he happened to be staying in Jiangling for a while, he figured he might as well come and watch this match.

“This game… might be even more interesting than I expected.”

A flicker of anticipation rose in Zhang Dongchen’s heart.

Yu Shao silently studied the board, then reached into his stone container and quickly placed another move.

Snap!

Column 15, Row 16—One-Space High Approach!

“A Small Point One-Space High Approach?”

The crowd’s eyes sharpened at this move.

If Black responded with a Two-Space High Pincer, it could lead to the Demon Blade joseki, where both sides would be locked in an intensely complex and unpredictable battle!

“If he plays the Two-Space High Pincer, both sides will be in extreme danger. Once the Demon Blade pattern appears, even the slightest mistake could result in total collapse.”

Zheng Qin remained unbelievably calm, his gaze locked onto the board as he carefully weighed the risks.

“If it comes down to a pure calculation battle, I don’t have absolute confidence…”

“My strength lies in my positional judgment. I need to avoid a head-on fighting sequence and steer the game toward an unstructured, chaotic midgame!”

Zheng Qin lifted his head and glanced at Yu Shao.

Then, he lowered his gaze once more, reached into his stone container, and made his move.

“I have to drag him into a tough fight and challenge him using my strengths!”

Snap!

Column 15, Row 17—Attachment!

Seeing that Zheng Qin had avoided the Two-Space High Pincer, Yu Shao’s expression remained calm. Without hesitation, he picked up another stone and placed it down.

Column 14, Row 17—Hane!

Zheng Qin immediately responded.

Column 16, Row 17—Retreat!

Click.

The moment the white stone landed, Yu Shao reached into his container once again and gently placed down another stone.

Then, the unexpected happened—

Snap!

Column 3, Row 14—Small Knight’s Approach!

“He played tenuki?!”

Zheng Qin froze on the spot.

It wasn’t just him—the entire crowd was caught off guard, momentarily stunned that Yu Shao had completely ignored the sequence in the lower-right corner.

“He’s not going to finish the joseki?”

From within the crowd, Zhang Dongchen was also slightly surprised.

“He’s not reinforcing his black stones?”

But almost immediately, Zhang Dongchen realized what Yu Shao was thinking.

“Wait… is he planning to see if White responds with a Large Knight’s Move first? If White plays a Small Knight’s Move, will he… Tiger’s Mouth?”

Zheng Qin stared at the board, took a moment to collect himself, then reached into his container and made his move.

Snap!

Column 6, Row 17—Small Knight’s Move!

On the other side, Yu Shao immediately followed up.

Snap!

Column 13, Row 16—Tiger’s Mouth!

“He really played Tiger’s Mouth… interesting.”

Zhang Dongchen’s eyes lit up slightly.

Though this was just a subtle sequencing shift, it revealed Yu Shao’s unique, intricate thinking. This kind of tenuki play was exceptionally elegant.

“Playing tenuki here is a counterintuitive yet brilliant move. Instead of directly reinforcing his black stones, Yu Shao chose to keep the local position flexible.”

“Now that Black has formed the Tiger’s Mouth, White will likely jump out aggressively, trying to counterattack. But this also means that Black now has an excellent extension point available!”

As expected—

Zheng Qin quickly grabbed a stone and slammed it down.

Snap!

Column 17, Row 14—Jump!

Yu Shao remained silent, calmly picking up another stone.

Snap!

The crisp sound of the stone echoed through the room.

Column 9, Row 3—Chinese Opening!

The moment this move landed—

The entire crowd froze.

Then—

Their eyes widened in shock.

It felt like someone had smashed the back of their heads with a hammer.

Even Zhang Dongchen wasn’t an exception!

“W-what…?”

“What does this mean?!”

“He… still won’t respond?!”

“He’s completely ignoring White’s jump?!”

Zheng Qin had already reached for another stone, preparing to continue the fight—

But when he saw this move, his hand stopped mid-air.

For a brief moment, time itself seemed to freeze.

Black had already played one tenuki.

That was understandable—sometimes, delaying a response could be a way to maintain flexibility.

But now, Black had played a second tenuki.

Even when faced with White’s direct, aggressive jump, Yu Shao completely disregarded it…

This was beyond imagination!

He didn’t even respond to a single move?!

Why don’t you just fly to the heavens already?!