I Really Didn’t Mean to Play Go!
Chapter 243: A Life-or-Death Capturing Race

What’s going on?

Yu Shao glanced at the boy in front of him, then at the crowd gathered in the chess hall, looking utterly confused.

The spectators clearly realized that Yu Shao had no idea what had happened, so they eagerly explained the situation all at once.

After piecing together the scattered bits of information from their chatter, Yu Shao finally understood the full story—and was left speechless.

The boy in front of him was Inoue An, a professional Go player from Japan. He was visiting Jiangling as a tourist and had somehow heard about a strong professional player named Zheng Qin, who often played at Mountain-Sea Chess Hall. Naturally, he came looking for a match.

In reality, Zheng Qin rarely visited the chess hall after becoming a professional player. But by coincidence, he had stopped by yesterday, and today, he happened to be here again.

The two ended up playing a game—and Inoue An won.

Seeing Zheng Qin lose to a foreign player, the local Go enthusiasts in the hall were naturally upset. They challenged Inoue An, saying that if he was truly skilled, he should try defeating Yu Shao instead.

Inoue An got so worked up that his face turned red, insisting that even if Yu Shao were here, he wouldn’t be able to beat him.

And as fate would have it—Yu Shao actually showed up today.

Wait… he beat Zheng Qin?

Yu Shao looked at the boy standing before him, who was half a head shorter than him, and felt a bit surprised.

"You!"

Inoue An fixed his gaze on Yu Shao, his eyes burning with determination.

"Play a game with me!"

Hearing this, Yu Shao turned to look at Liu Peiran.

Noticing his gaze, Liu Peiran immediately nodded and smiled. "It’s fine, go ahead. I’ll watch your game. Good luck!"

Only then did Yu Shao turn back to Inoue An, nodding slightly. "Alright, let’s play a game."

With that, Yu Shao walked over to an empty table, pulled out a chair, and sat down.

Inoue An clenched his fists tightly, his expression unwavering as he quickly took a seat across from Yu Shao.

The moment they sat down facing each other, the entire chess hall erupted into a frenzy.

All the spectators, even those who were in the middle of their own games, abandoned their boards and rushed over to surround them. In no time, their table was completely encircled.

Even Zheng Qin took a deep breath, stood up, and squeezed his way into the crowd.

Determining Turn Order

"Let’s determine turn order."

Yu Shao looked at Inoue An and spoke calmly.

Without hesitation, Inoue An reached into the Go bowl and grabbed a handful of stones, clenching them in his palm. Yu Shao followed, picking up a single black stone and placing it on the board.

Inoue An opened his palm, letting six white stones fall onto the board.

"I’ll play black."

Inoue An lifted his gaze and declared firmly.

Yu Shao nodded, gathered the stones, and exchanged Go bowls with him. He bowed slightly and said, "Please guide me."

"Please guide me."

Inoue An returned the bow, his Chinese not very fluent, but still showing proper etiquette.

The Game Begins

Inoue An’s eyes sharpened as he reached into the Go bowl, picked up a black stone, and placed it decisively on the board.

Tak!

Column 17, Row 4—Small Point!

Yu Shao studied the board for a moment before reaching into his bowl, picking up a white stone, and placing it down.

Tak!

Column 4, Row 16—Star Point!

Seeing Yu Shao’s move, Inoue An clenched his teeth.

"No matter how strong he is, I absolutely cannot lose to him!"

He immediately reached into the bowl and placed another stone.

Tak!

Column 16, Row 17—Small Point!

After playing his move, he glanced at the spectators around him, gritting his teeth even harder, his eyes filled with determination.

"No matter what, I’ll prove myself and win!"

Yu Shao remained calm as he studied the board, then silently reached into his Go bowl, picked up a stone, and placed it down.

Tak!

Column 4, Row 4—Star Point!

The game had begun with a Diagonal Small Point vs. Double Star Point opening. Soon after, black secured an Unassailable Corner in the upper right, while white responded with a Small Knight’s Approach in the lower right, leading to an immediate fierce battle.

Tak! Tak! Tak!

The crisp sounds of stones landing on the board echoed throughout the room.

As the game progressed, the board became increasingly complicated and intense. The spectators, once chatty and energetic, now fell silent, their eyes glued to the board.

The atmosphere turned heavy, filled with tension.

The Pressure Builds

"This tenuki is too aggressive… is he really going to play like this?"

"The board is getting way too complicated. One mistake, and there’s no room for recovery…"

Among the crowd, Liu Peiran stared at the board nervously. Even though she knew Yu Shao was strong, she couldn’t help feeling uneasy. She glanced at him, worried.

And then—she froze.

Yu Shao was completely focused on the board, his sharp profile illuminated by the overhead light. Despite the chaotic and treacherous board position, his expression remained perfectly calm.

It was as if he had already calculated every possible variation, foreseeing the life and death of every group on the board.

At this moment, Yu Shao was locked in battle, commanding black and white stones as if leading an army—yet his unnatural composure made him seem almost inhuman.

It created an overwhelming pressure, as though he stood beyond the mortal realm, unreachable.

Then, without hesitation, Yu Shao reached into his Go bowl once more, fingers gently brushing against the smooth stones as he picked one up.

Tak!

The battle continued.

A Star is Born

The white stone was held delicately between index and middle finger, suspended mid-air, with the wrist slightly raised and fingertips gently curved downward.

Tak!

The stone landed softly on the grid, producing a crisp sound—like a single drop of water falling onto a jade plate.

Each move felt like the birth of a brilliant star in the boundless cosmos of the board.

"Such skill..."

Liu Peiran stared at the game, momentarily mesmerized.

The battle on the board grew fiercer by the second. Black and white stones intertwined, forming an intricate, life-and-death struggle, each move dripping with lethal intent.

Time passed.

The chess hall fell into a deep, stunned silence.

Everyone’s eyes were fixed on the board.

The killing game had reached its final moments.

"I..."

Inoue An’s gaze remained locked on the board. His eyelids twitched as he clenched his teeth, his face full of unwillingness. Yet, no matter how much he resisted, the next words simply wouldn't come out.

"I..."

Finally, he lowered his head, took a deep breath, and forced himself to say the words in one go—

"I lost!"

"Thank you for the game."

Hearing this, Yu Shao slowly withdrew his gaze from the board and bowed his head slightly as he responded.

Inoue An clenched his jaw tightly, not replying. His right hand remained in the Go bowl, until suddenly—

"Clack!"

His fingers gripped a handful of black stones so tightly that they wouldn't let go.

"…Thank you for the game."

At last, his voice came out—weak, but audible.

Yu Shao reached out to begin packing up the stones, but at that moment, Inoue An abruptly lifted his head and locked eyes with him.

His gaze was full of stubborn defiance.

Then, in broken but forceful Chinese, he shouted—

"No matter how strong you are—even if you can beat me—you will NEVER defeat Higashiyama Kaoru!"

Before anyone could react, he stood up abruptly, gritted his teeth, shoved his way through the crowd, and stumbled out of the chess hall at full speed.

The hall remained frozen in shock.

It wasn’t until Inoue An’s figure disappeared beyond the doorway that the crowd finally came back to their senses.

And then—

A flood of whispers and discussions erupted.

"He didn’t even clean up the board… how unsportsmanlike."

"Let it go. He just lost a hundred-stone dragon—anyone would be devastated."

"Losing and then talking big? Please. Even if it’s Higashiyama Kaoru, I’m not convinced he could beat Yu Shao!"

Yu Shao, still puzzled, turned to ask, "Who is Higashiyama Kaoru?"

"Japan’s strongest young Go player."

Zheng Qin, who had unknowingly taken a seat across from Yu Shao, calmly gathered the black stones that Inoue An had left behind.

"He once played a game that caused a massive sensation. Want to take a look?"

A Sensational Game

"It caused a huge sensation?"

Yu Shao was surprised. As he continued packing up the stones, he chuckled, "Since you put it that way, let’s go over it."

In his opinion, Inoue An was strong, but not overwhelming—probably around the same level as Cao Xinghuai, whom he had faced in the first round of the Hero’s Pride Cup qualifiers.

Just as he was about to start, a voice suddenly spoke beside him.

"Yu Shao..."

Hearing Liu Peiran's voice, Yu Shao finally remembered that he hadn’t come to Mountain-Sea Chess Hall alone. He turned to her with an apologetic smile. "Should we play our game first?"

"No, you guys go ahead."

Liu Peiran shook her head and smiled, looking a little apologetic. "I just remembered I have something to take care of. How about we meet up next time? I ordered you a milk tea as an apology—it should be here soon."

Yu Shao was slightly stunned before nodding. "Alright, take care."

"Don’t worry."

Liu Peiran nodded, then waved goodbye with a smile. "That was an incredible game today. I hope to see your outstanding performance in the upcoming competitions. See you!"

After saying goodbye, she took one last deep look at Yu Shao before finally turning around and leaving.

A Legendary Move

"Who was that?"

After Liu Peiran left, Zheng Qin asked curiously, "A classmate?"

"No."

Yu Shao shook his head, not wanting to explain further. Instead, he changed the subject. "Aren’t you going to show me that game?"

Zheng Qin didn’t press for details. Instead, he quickly picked up a black stone and placed it on the board.

"This game was played by Higashiyama Kaoru, who was still 6-dan at the time, against Yokota Akira, a 9-dan professional."

With that, Zheng Qin continued placing black and white stones alternately, reconstructing the legendary match.

As Yu Shao watched, his expression subtly changed.

"A capturing race?"

Zheng Qin didn’t reply. He reached into the Go bowl to continue, but before he could place the next move, Yu Shao suddenly spoke up.

"A wedge? Wait—he played a living capturing race?"

Zheng Qin’s hand froze mid-air, then he silently withdrew it and nodded. "Yes."

Yu Shao studied the board, feeling awe-struck.

No matter how the game had played out before, at this current stage of the match, this one move—a living capturing race—was an absolutely genius idea.

A Brilliant but Risky Strategy

Under normal circumstances, when a capturing race is unfavorable, it’s usually dismissed outright. Pursuing it would not only fail to capture the opponent, but also leave oneself riddled with weaknesses, making the position fragile and prone to collapse.

But this game was extraordinarily delicate.

In the lower-right corner, black’s stones were already dead beyond saving, and white had fully secured the area, gaining a huge advantage.

However—the dead stones weren’t truly dead.

In an extreme scenario, if the four white stones surrounding the lower-right black group were captured, then black’s supposedly dead stones would resurrect and even seize control of the entire lower-right corner!

Recognizing this possibility, black played a living capturing race—a move that defied conventional logic.

At first glance, it seemed like madness.

Black had an unfavorable capturing race, and at first, this move appeared to be a complete disaster, making the position look utterly hopeless.

But that was not the case.

The genius behind this move was that it set up a future wedge, allowing black to use the capturing race as a weapon and directly eliminate white’s key stones in the lower-right corner!

Yu Shao had immediately noticed white’s previous wedge tactics the moment he saw the board. But even he hadn't considered that black had such a mind-bending resurrection move hidden within the dead stones.

This move required no complex calculations—even an amateur player could quickly compute the result.

The challenge wasn’t in calculating.

The challenge was in even thinking to consider such a move in the first place.

Normally, in an unfavorable capturing race, players only focus on how to escape. The idea of a living capturing race was something entirely unconventional—a move fueled purely by inspiration, completely breaking standard Go theory and revealing an unparalleled awareness of life and death on the board.

"What happened next?"

Yu Shao asked, still absorbed in the game.

Zheng Qin gave him a look before continuing to play out the sequence, placing a few more stones on the board.

After analyzing the next few moves, Yu Shao was slightly taken aback.

"Before black revealed the final wedge, white failed to recognize the capturing race’s true purpose?"

Yu Shao had no arrogance when it came to the world’s top players. At this level, recognizing the true meaning behind a move like this wasn’t about pure calculation, but about a player’s ability to perceive hidden threats.

"That… doesn’t seem right."

Zheng Qin was silent for a moment before finally saying, "It was never meant to be easily detected."

Yu Shao hesitated, then his expression shifted as if he had suddenly realized something.

Yes—this kind of move wasn't something one could easily detect.

In his previous life, he probably wouldn’t have recognized it either—because it was too unbelievable to even consider.

But in this life, things were different.

He had already played many games like this before.

By now, he had developed an instinct for recognizing these kinds of hidden revivals.

The Turning Point

Had white noticed black’s intent earlier, they could have cut their losses, keeping the game tense but manageable.

But—white had failed to recognize it in time.

That single moment of hesitation sealed the game’s fate.

There would be no chance of recovery.

Zheng Qin clearly understood this as well. That’s why he didn’t bother playing out the rest of the match. Instead, he simply said—

"I heard that in two months, there will be a China-Japan-Korea Youth Team Tournament."

"As the Hero’s Pride Cup champion, you don’t have to go through the qualifiers or the main selection—you automatically qualify for the tournament."

"If you decide to compete, there’s a high chance you’ll face Higashiyama Kaoru, 7-dan."

Zheng Qin paused before adding, "But that’s still far away. Right now, your priority is the upcoming Professional Go Competition."

Yu Shao nodded. "I know."

Meanwhile...

At home, Liu Zhenan was surprised to see Liu Peiran return so early.

"Back already? How was it?"

"It was nice."

Liu Peiran smiled, but it was a little forced.

Then, after a pause, she murmured,

"But..."

"His world… feels so far away from mine."