At the final moment when his consciousness was blurring, Yuanchu seemed to hear Old Gu's voice: "How is he passing out again? Oh well, let him sleep for a bit."
Coming to his senses, the surroundings were once again pitch black, but Yuanchu discovered that his own body was glowing.
"I must have awakened, right?"
Yuanchu felt somewhat uncertain, and he didn't know why he had come to this place again.
"Ouch." Yuanchu suddenly felt a burning pain in his face, as if someone had slapped him dozens of times.
He reached out and found an indistinct blue line on his finger. The blue line gradually lengthened, disappearing into the darkness in the distance.
Yuanchu had a vague feeling that this line seemed to be guiding him toward the locations of Light and Shadow and the chessboard.
Mentally prepared, Yuanchu walked forward quickly following the guidance of the blue line. Since he had already awakened, at least he wouldn't be as terrified as an ordinary person back then.
Besides, this should be a scene similar to a dream that didn't truly exist.
...
Perhaps because he was walking fast, Yuanchu arrived in less than an hour this time. From afar, he saw the chessboard glowing with a blue light in the darkness; the blue line was guided by the chessboard, only this time Light and Shadow hadn't appeared.
Yuanchu was somewhat puzzled. Where did Light and Shadow go?
He came to the side of the chessboard and found that the Go stones from his previous match with Light and Shadow were gone from the board, but the black and white pieces were indeed placed in their respective stone boxes.
Yuanchu frowned, not knowing what he should do. He intended to knock himself out to go back the same way, but he found that no matter how he hit himself, he couldn't feel any pain.
After a while, Yuanchu sat down on the stone stool, resting his cheek on one hand against the chessboard, and closed his eyes.
The moment he closed his eyes, a flash of light stung his eyes. He slowly opened his eyes and saw his old friend once again.
"Yo, long time no see."
"Hmm." Light and Shadow nodded. He pointed at the chessboard and said to Yuanchu, "Play."
"Looks like we're playing all over again." Yuanchu watched as Light and Shadow took a black stone from the stone box, but it was also at this moment that he noticed there were actually a few more stones on the chessboard—those were the ones they had played before.
Yuanchu curled his lip, knowing this must be Light and Shadow's doing.
"Clack."
The black stone landed on the chessboard, producing a pleasant clacking sound.
Yuanchu felt an inexplicable pressure emanating from it. With a flutter in his heart, he looked at the Light and Shadow before him. A halo of light still surrounded his body, making his face indistinguishable.
Is it only by becoming an Awakened that one can feel the terror of this power?
Yuanchu couldn't see the expression of the person before him, let alone guess what his purpose actually was.
"Play." Light and Shadow answered the question in Yuanchu's heart.
Yuanchu picked up a white stone and placed it next to the previous white stone.
The moment the stone was placed, the same scene manifested once again:
The surrounding darkness shattered like a mirror once more, falling in scattered pieces into the depths of the void. And that Light and Shadow was still staring thoughtfully at the chessboard, as if whatever happened around him had nothing to do with him.
Yuanchu knew he was about to wake up, but there was still one thing he needed to verify.
He raised his arm and bit down hard.
A large amount of fresh blood gushed out from between his teeth, trickling down his arm and finally falling into the nothingness below.
...
Yuanchu woke up—to be precise, he was woken up by the noise.
He opened his eyes and saw Han Xinnian shouting toward the doorway, "Elder Gu, are you still there? Yuanchu is bleeding."
Only then did Yuanchu feel a sharp pain coming from his arm. Glancing sideways, he saw that the quilt had already been stained wet by a large patch of blood.
"Is my bite really that strong?" Yuanchu gave a bitter smile, but immediately felt a chill run down his back.
Was what happened just now real? Disregarding the pain, Yuanchu propped himself up with his uninjured hand, then pulled back the quilt to see his arm spraying blood continuously like a spring.
"Why did you get up?" Han Xinnian turned her head and hurriedly grabbed some cloth to perform a simple bandaging on Yuanchu's injured arm.
"Elder Gu seems to have gone to gather herbs; he won't be back for a while." Han Xinnian's eyes were already starting to turn red.
Yuanchu stroked her head and gently comforted her.
"Han Xinnian, how long have I been unconscious?"
"Three days. When you passed out, the scene was utter chaos. Elder Gu slapped you dozens of times and you still wouldn't wake up, so he just had everyone carry you back."
No wonder his face had hurt so much back then.
Yuanchu suddenly felt that the wound on his arm could be completely ignored.
"Don't tell me I've been lying in bed for three days straight."
"Otherwise? You were so weak, where else did you want to go?" Han Xinnian raised her voice, somewhat losing her composure.
"Elder Gu and I took turns watching over you for these past three days."
"Then... did you awaken?" Yuanchu hurriedly changed the subject to keep the young girl from getting angry.
"N... no." Han Xinnian looked as disappointed as a child whose toy had been snatched away, gazing pitifully at Yuanchu.
"..." For a moment, Yuanchu didn't know whether he should hurt from his wounds first or comfort this girl first.
Yuanchu reached out and pinched Han Xinnian's face with a bit of force. "What are you sad about? You should be grateful you didn't have to go through any pain; don't tell me you wanted to put on a performance of rolling around on the ground?"
Han Xinnian stopped feeling sad, holding back the tearful water welling up in her eyes.
"Don't worry, I'll protect you from now on. Come on, give me a smile."
"Mm." Han Xinnian nodded, but suddenly realizing something, her face flushed red and she quickly turned her head away.
Only then did Yuanchu realize he wasn't wearing a shirt on his upper body.
"Ahem, Xinnian, you go outside for a moment, I'll find some clothes in the room."
Han Xinnian nodded and fled the crime scene as if running for her life.
Yuanchu watched the young girl leave with a smile, but soon his smile stiffened, replaced by a serious expression.
"Viewed this way, that world must be real." Yuanchu continuously rubbed his furrowed brow with his hand.
"Yet... why am I still sleeping soundly in bed?"
Yuanchu found it impossible to understand this situation. Could Han Xinnian and Elder Gu be lying to him? But that was utterly impossible.
Never mind, he would leave matters he couldn't figure out to the future.
Yuanchu sighed, put on his final piece of clothing, and said to Han Xinnian, who kept trying to peer inside from the doorway, "I'm done changing, you can come in."
...
Next was nothing more than Yuanchu and Han Xinnian chatting while waiting for Elder Gu to return. During this time, Moran with her red eyes and Gu Feng with his green hair also came to visit Yuanchu.
Moran and Gu Feng introduced themselves to Yuanchu and stated the purpose of their visit.
"You focus on recovering; in a few days us Awakened are going to have training." Moran wanted to pat Yuanchu on the shoulder, but stopped when she saw his injury.
Yuanchu nodded. "Besides the three of us, is there anyone else who has awakened?"
"No one else." Gu Feng beside her shook his head.
As if remembering something, Moran slapped Gu Feng on the back. "I remembered, we don't have to go to school anymore starting from now."
"Huh?" Gu Feng asked in confusion.
"Aiyo, didn't Elder Gu say so after the event ended? Did you forget this?"
"I only heard about school and cultivation." Gu Feng lowered his head and sighed with considerable regret.
"Who is going to train us?" Yuanchu, who had been silent on the side, suddenly chimed in.
"Who else could it be, of course it's—"
"Of course it's me."
Just as Moran answered Yuanchu's question, a hearty voice rang out from behind. That person was wearing a dark robe, standing against the light, with mud on his shoes and a few green leaves of medicinal herbs clinging to him.
That's right, it was precisely Elder Gu, who had returned from gathering herbs.