I Really Didn’t Mean to Play Go!
Chapter 259: The Game That Sealed the Demon Blade

At the same time, on the other side—

Inside the U.S. team’s review room, all the players were staring at the screen. When they saw where Yu Shao placed his latest move, their faces were filled with shock.

“He actually... pushed straight down?”

Someone couldn’t believe what they were seeing and blurted out, “Even though it’s the Demon Blade, we’re still early in the sequence. It’s not complex enough yet for such a huge mistake, right?”

At those words, the others all fell silent, their expressions turning grim as they stared at the screen, not saying a word. Even Ma Dong was the same.

It was true—if the game had already entered deep into the Demon Blade variations, and chaos had broken out on the board, then Yu Shao—after so many consecutive games—making a mistake would’ve been understandable.

But it was still early. You could even say the Demon Blade had just been unsheathed. Yu Shao playing that crude push to grab the corner—it just seemed too unorthodox.

Unless… there was some deeper intent?

But if there really was something hidden in this move—then what was it?

At first glance, it looked like Black was at a major disadvantage. Sure, he got a big corner, but White was building massive outer influence. No matter how you looked at it, Black had nothing to counter with.

After Yu Shao’s push, White didn’t respond right away.

It was clear that in the Handtalk Room, Downes was caught off guard by this “crude push” and had fallen into deep thought.

After a long while, White finally responded.

And the moment White placed his stone, Black followed up immediately—another move landed on the board.

Clack!
Clack!
Clack!

Under the astonished and confused gaze of the world, Black and White continued to alternate moves.

But as the stones fell, everyone’s confusion only grew deeper.

Because after Black’s push into the corner—it really seemed like... there wasn’t any follow-up?

Black might’ve secured territory in the corner, but White’s outer wall was taking impressive shape!

Time ticked on.

In the review room, their expressions began to shift. At some point, beads of cold sweat had formed at their temples. Their faces were full of disbelief.

After another ten moves landed, the players began quietly testing variations, pulling stones from the Go bowl.

Soon, they finished playing out one line of follow-up. Their expressions changed slightly.

They calmed themselves and tried another variation. When they finished that one, their faces grew even darker.

Still unwilling to accept it, they laid out several more possibilities...

Until they exhausted every line they could think of.

The room turned chaotic. No one could believe what they were seeing. All eyes were locked on the now fully cluttered board, hearts pounding.

“How...”

“How can this be?!”

Duncan looked at the board in horror, unable to stay calm anymore. He finally broke the silence.

“Downes played every move well! But the more he played, the more White’s outer wall got suppressed. And now—even his formation is falling apart!”

No one responded. Even Ma Dong had gone completely quiet, his face heavy. For the first time, he had no answer.

This had happened once before—during the fourth match of the team battle.

Back then, after a 3-3 invasion, Yu Shao’s every move had seemed light and harmless—but each one landed somewhere more valuable. In the end, Ma Rui had unknowingly fallen into a losing position.

That game, at least you could look back and understand what went wrong. But this one? The way the position evolved was utterly incomprehensible. It was insane.

Why?

“Downes noticed it too. He completely lost his focus.”

After a while, Ma Jie stared at the screen and said gravely, “That tiger’s mouth move should’ve been a diagonal cut. That way, even if White was behind, he could still tangle with Black.”

“But Downes got scared of a potential life-and-death issue and panicked. He chose to play the tiger’s mouth to patch the weakness. Sure, that White group lived—but it’s now completely suppressed on the bottom side.”

Ma Jie’s face was dark as he concluded, “White is now in a losing position.”

At those words, no one blamed Downes.

After all, when a clearly favorable game somehow turns against you without warning—and you don’t even know why—how many people on Earth could keep a cool head in that moment?

...

In the broadcast studio—

“White’s collapse is inevitable?”

Hong Yuhao stared at the board, which was almost completely tilted in Black’s favor. He couldn’t even process it.

Though the game wasn’t over—there was still a lot of open space—the momentum had already fully shifted. Black had constructed a massive framework.

As long as Black didn’t make a huge mistake and successfully converted the framework into solid territory, even playing a few slow moves wouldn’t matter. Victory was his.

Even though he wanted Yu Shao to win, seeing how he turned a losing situation into a winning one with nothing but ordinary-looking moves… all Hong Yuhao felt was utter shock.

“Why?” he asked in a daze, staring at the board. “Why did it turn out this way?”

“Because of that push.”

It was Chang Yan’s voice beside him.

“The push?”

Hong Yuhao turned to look at her.

To be honest, even before Yu Shao started turning the tables, he’d considered whether that crude push was the reason. It was, after all, the weirdest move White had responded to.

But no matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t see how that push could reverse the situation. So he’d ruled it out.

And now Chang Yan was saying—it was that push?

Next to him, Chang Yan stared at the board and said, “Actually, it’s not that complicated. Just analyze it using the hand-cut method, and everything becomes clear.”

Hand-cut method?

At that, Hong Yuhao froze. In his mind, a mental board appeared. He began placing stones, using the hand-cut method to play out the Demon Blade sequence.

Suddenly, he realized something. His mouth fell open. His mind buzzed. Even his scalp began to tingle.

If you used the hand-cut method, the answer really was simple.

But...

Who would’ve thought to play that kind of crude push in the first place?

And even if someone did play it—who would think to analyze it using the hand-cut method of all things?

“This...”

Hong Yuhao stared at the lower-left corner of the board, stunned. He opened his mouth to speak—but no words came out.

Even after deducing the outcome, he still couldn’t believe it.

“The Demon Blade... actually doesn’t work.”

At last, Chang Yan voiced the truth that Hong Yuhao couldn’t bring himself to say.

“I didn’t mention it before, because the game hadn’t reached the push yet.”

She paused, then continued, “But now, the current board situation is the strongest proof that the Demon Blade doesn’t hold up.”

As soon as those words fell, every viewer in front of a TV or computer was frozen in place.

Then, Chang Yan walked up to the big board and removed the stones from the lower-left corner.

One by one, she replayed the sequence—except this time, she laid it out using the hand-cut method, not the standard Demon Blade order.

Each time she placed a stone, the room grew more silent.

More quiet...

And then quieter still.

Clack!
Clack!
Clack!

Finally, when she finished laying out the follow-up to Black’s push using the hand-cut method, the entire world fell into a deathly silence.

Viewers everywhere stared at the screen, motionless. It was like someone had smashed them over the head—their minds went blank.

Some leaned forward in their chairs, eyes wide in disbelief, trying to get a closer look, like they still couldn’t trust what they were seeing.

Even after seeing the truth with their own eyes, their first reaction was just like Hong Yuhao’s:

I still don’t believe it.

But the truth was right there, undeniable.

Analyzed through the hand-cut method, that crude push after the Demon Blade didn’t bring Black an advantage—it brought him a massive lead.

The Demon Blade.

That legendary joseki, feared for centuries, with a reputation as one of the Three Most Difficult Patterns.

And now, it was like everyone could hear it—

This blade, once soaked in the blood of countless prodigies, suddenly shattered with a metallic “clang,” its wail echoing across the sky.

That wail—piercing, sorrowful—shook every Go player in the world to their core.

When that push was played, and its value analyzed through the hand-cut method, the Demon Blade—passed down for hundreds of years, studied obsessively by generations of players—

“From this day forward, the Demon Blade is no more.”

The smile slowly faded from Chang Yan’s face. She looked into the camera, as if addressing the entire world.

“Yu Shao 2-dan had actually played this push variation before,” she said. “But that was in an unofficial match.”

“This is the first time this push has ever appeared in an official game against the Demon Blade. And it might be the last.”

“This match... is the one that seals the Demon Blade. Regardless of how exciting the rest of it is—it already carries historical weight.”

On the screen, Black and White were still alternating moves, gradually filling the board.

Clack.
Clack.
Clack.

Everyone stared in a daze. Each move that landed on the board seemed to echo with the Demon Blade’s mournful cry. The sound of the stones falling was heartbreaking.

A long time passed.

And then, under the world’s silent gaze, two white stones landed on the board—

Clack, clack!

Even through the screen, people felt like they could hear those two stones landing. The sound echoed in the Go world, stirring hearts everywhere.

Because this might be the final blood-stained cry—

From the Demon Blade, feared for centuries.

The Game That Sealed the Demon Blade—played during the team battle.