I Really Didn’t Mean to Play Go!
Chapter 298: Before the Self, All Legendary Matches Are Mere Illusions

After saying that, Zhuang Weisheng happened to finish packing up the stones. He slowly stood up, glanced over at Le Haoqiang, Qin Lang, and Gu Chuan, and smiled as he said, “Of course, I also hope that one day, I can face off against you all on the tournament stage.”

Hearing Zhuang Weisheng mention them, the three of them couldn’t help but look his way.

Teacher Zhuang Weisheng... actually hopes to one day face us in a match?

A hint of a smile appeared on Zhuang Weisheng’s face as he said, “These past few years, the people I’ve faced on the tournament circuit have mostly been old rivals I’ve played countless times.”

“Even though there are wins and losses, and the games can be exciting, there’s always a bit of monotony to it.”

“I really want to see outstanding young players like you go further and further down this never-ending road of Go, and carve out a style that’s truly your own.”

“This path of Go—it’s not one that can be walked alone, and not even just by two people.”

“It takes a whole group, a group of brilliant talents, to have even a sliver of a chance at reaching the answer to Go.”

“Of course, while I’d love to see the day you all become top-tier professionals... I won’t make that road too easy for you.”

Zhuang Weisheng smiled and said, “I won’t disturb your training any longer. I’ll take my leave. I wish you the best in the team tournament.”

With that, Zhuang Weisheng gave a slight nod to the three of them and then turned to leave.

The three watched him walk away, and only after the door to the game review room closed and his figure disappeared did they snap out of it.

“Yu Shao, you won!”

Gu Chuan’s face lit up with excitement. “D*mn, I figured you could go toe-to-toe with Teacher Zhuang Weisheng, but I didn’t expect you’d actually win!”

Next to him, Le Haoqiang and Qin Lang stayed silent, but there was a complicated look in their eyes as they stared at Yu Shao.

“It was just a casual match, and a blitz game at that.”

Yu Shao seemed quite calm. He shook his head and said, “It wasn’t even a tournament.”

“Is that really any different?”

Gu Chuan was confused. “Anyway, you won a game against Teacher Zhuang Weisheng. That’s an undisputable fact, isn’t it?”

Yu Shao glanced at Gu Chuan and said, “A Go player’s true strength—if all you do is face them across the board in a match, you’ll never fully grasp it.”

Hearing that, Gu Chuan was left speechless.

He was a player from the Western Region, trained at the Dafo Dojo alongside Li You, an 8-dan. They were fellow trainees, so they often played in private.

Though he lost most of those games, he had won a few, which gave him the confidence that if they met on the tournament stage, he wouldn’t back down.

Even Li You had admitted that he couldn’t say for sure he’d win.

But the first time he met Li You in a tournament, in that clash between fellow trainees, he suddenly felt like Li You had turned into a completely different person—unfamiliar and unreadable.

Every move Li You played was merciless, leaving no room to breathe. Once he found a weakness, his onslaught came down like a torrential storm, crushing him until he had no choice but to concede.

“But that game... what exactly happened?”

Back then, Yu Shao had furrowed his brow and couldn’t help asking, “Why didn’t the white stones develop as badly as expected during the midgame brawl? Teacher Li You did the review and left right after.”

At those words, Su Yiming and Qin Lang immediately turned their eyes to Gu Chuan.

Yu’s question was ours too—that was the strangest part of the game. Before that outrageous seven-line continuous press move, White’s progression hadn’t been ideal, but definitely not as bad as expected.

Even Su Yiming now turned to look at Yu Shao.

Under everyone’s gaze, Yu Shao fell silent for a moment, then slowly said, “Everyone thinks thickness can convert into central potential—but I don’t see it that way.”

At that, Qin Lang, Le Haoqiang, and Gu Chuan froze in place.

“W-what?!”

Gu Chuan stared at Yu Shao, mind buzzing, almost in disbelief. “You don’t see it that way... what do you mean?”

“I don’t believe thickness necessarily leads to central potential. Compared to influence, I value the immediate gain of solid territory more.”

Yu Shao shifted his gaze to the board and said slowly, “In my view, using thickness to build the center is kind of slow. It might even... become a burden.”

The room went completely silent.

The minds of Gu Chuan, Le Haoqiang, and Qin Lang went blank.

For a moment, they couldn’t believe what they had just heard—that such a shocking, outrageous statement had come from the mouth of a fellow Go player.

Thickness doesn’t necessarily turn into central potential?

That building the center with influence might be slow—or even a liability?

If that were true, it would completely upend centuries of Go theory on territory and influence!

Doesn’t that mean everyone for the past few thousand years... has been playing the game wrong?

Su Yiming, standing to the side, also had a more serious expression now.

“No way!”

After a moment, Le Haoqiang finally broke the silence, unable to believe it. “How could thickness not lead to central potential?”

Yu Shao shook his head and said, “That can only be tested through tons of real games. Anyway, my sense for the game genuinely tells me that.”

The matter of territory and influence doesn’t have a precise standard. Whether outer influence is valuable varies from player to player. Even Yu Shao couldn’t give a definite answer.

The only way to find out is through real play. That’s the only way.

“But—”

Gu Chuan couldn’t help but try to argue. After all, Yu Shao’s words were just too shocking—too absurd. It made no sense!

Right then, Su Yiming cut him off and said, “Didn’t people used to think the 3-3 Point was a bad move too? Without lots of practical games to verify things, it’s better not to jump to conclusions.”

At those words, the room once again fell silent.

It was true.

Thickness and thinness had already been overturned.

And it was precisely because of Yu Shao’s 3-3 Point play that the world’s understanding of thickness and thinness had been completely upended—and that’s why his name was etched into every Go player’s memory.

The world changes. Time moves on.

So many things fade. So many are forgotten.

But that one game in the Hero’s Pride Cup finals—that battle which shattered the old views of thickness and thinness—no matter how many centuries pass, that game record, which pushed forward the human understanding of Go, will never fade!

If the understanding of thickness and thinness was wrong... then could it be that our understanding of territory and influence was wrong too?

“No.”

After a while, Le Haoqiang shook his head in a daze. “Even though the 3-3 Point has been proven correct, I still can’t accept this territory and influence thing.”

“If not just thickness and thinness, but even territory and influence are wrong...”

His voice grew faint, and he asked with a lost look, “Then... what in Go is even right?”

Yu Shao quietly looked at Le Haoqiang and didn’t respond.

Rather than saying Le Haoqiang couldn’t believe territory and influence were wrong, it was more that he refused to believe it.

He didn’t want to accept that the Go he had studied for more than ten years... was all a lie.

For a professional player, Go is their world.

They give up school, throw themselves into the game, pour their soul into understanding the mysteries of Go, and walk this long and winding path.

For thousands of years, countless players have sat before the board, burning midnight oil, meditating in solitude, searching for Go’s hidden truths—some even coughing blood onto the board to prove their undying devotion.

But if both thickness and thinness, and territory and influence are all overturned—then all those years of study and play are for nothing. It's like their entire worldview just collapsed.

Thickness and thinness, territory and influence—these are the foundations of Go.

And now that both are shattered, overturned—what remains?

For a Go player, it’s as if Go itself... no longer exists.

It’s like a mathematician suddenly discovering one plus one no longer equals two.

“It’s not just thickness and thinness or territory and influence.”

Yu Shao still said nothing, just quietly watched Le Haoqiang. In his eyes was a subtle, somber sorrow. “When all the falsehoods are stripped away, you’ll realize—”

“The Go temple... is empty.”

Once, Yu Shao had felt the same confusion as Le Haoqiang.

But eventually, Yu Shao figured it out.

“The answer to Go... is that destruction precedes creation.”

“Only through destruction can you rebuild—and only then can you truly grasp the secrets hidden on the board and glimpse Go’s true wonder.”

“Only by breaking it all down can you earn the right to find the road that leads to the true Go temple.”

Yu Shao turned and looked at the board. It was now empty. The game he’d just played with Zhuang Weisheng was gone—like it had never happened.

With flesh and blood, the path of Go is forged. With courage and soul, it’s tested. But all battles on the board... in the end, are just a dream.

“Just like this game.”

“One game ends. You pack up the stones, then play another. It’s the same board, the same stones—but it’s an entirely different game.”

“Just like... this life of mine.”

Yu Shao gazed at the board, then reached into the Go bowl. The stones clacked as they knocked against each other.

In the next moment, he picked up a stone and slowly placed it down.

“Before the self, all legendary matches are mere illusions—empty and false.”

“In this world, the only games worthy of being called legendary are that one in the Hero’s Pride Cup finals... and the one from the day before yesterday.”

“As of now, there are only those two. Nothing else!”

Clack!

Column 10, Row 10—Tengen!