Chapter 146: Wang Chong’s Wish! (1/2)

However, different from grandfather, Wang Chong could sense a deeply hidden dark aura from Su Zhengchen.

The person before him seemed to have sealed himself within his own world, secluding himself from the world outside. Unwilling to speak with others, he avoided social interactions of all sorts.

Even for Wang Chong, the only link between them was this golden chessboard.

There was no other interaction, and Su Zhengchen didn’t seem to be interested in it either!

Looking at the war god of the Great Tang, Wang Chong suddenly felt empathy. He wasn’t foreign to this situation.

In his previous life, when he lost everything, he had once descended into this state. There was nothing that could interest him, nothing that he desired. The only reason for him to continue living was to accomplish the mission life had given to him.

“… Su Zhengchen is probably the same as well.”

Wang Chong thought as he recalled the plight of this elder. Su Zhengchen had lost his son in his prime, and his grandson in his later years. Everything that he held dear was torn away from him, leaving him alone in this world.

Wasn’t this similar to how Wang Chong’s plight back then?

The only difference was that Wang Chong was reincarnated. He gained the opportunity to change destiny and reunite with his family members.

But Su Zhengchen was different. His only drive at the moment was probably to find a suitable successor and pass down his 《Art of God and Demon Obliteration》.

Or perhaps, as the war god of Great Tang, he simply hoped to fulfill his mission of silently protecting his country until his death!

——He still loved this country, even though Emperor Taizong, whom he served loyally, had left behind an edict preventing any succeeding emperor from using this war god once more, as well as prohibiting him from leading an army, or have any connections with the military ever again.

At this, Wang Chong’s determination grew stronger. No matter what, he was determined to change the fate of this elder. He wanted to bring him out of his inner seclusion and allow him to live his remaining life happily. He didn’t want the tragedy from before to replay, and for this respectable elder to die once again in sorrow and loneliness.

“Elder, winning and losing is commonplace in war. Why don’t we play another match?”

Chuckling, Wang Chong suddenly asked.

Su Zhengchen lifted his head, and a slight doubt flashed across his eyes. Wang Chong’s attitude seemed to have been a little weird since awhile ago. Even so, he didn’t reject the offer, and nodded in agreement.

Soon, the stones on the golden chessboard were cleared, and seated opposite to one another, the duo began on another match. Different from before, they weren’t making a single move each day this time around.

Rather, they were playing a complete match face-to-face.

Su Zhengchen intended to make use of the chess formation he set up to pick a successor, but Wang Chong’s level seemed to have far surpassed that level.

Even he himself wasn’t a match.

Da! Da! Da!

The entire field slowly grew quiet. The wind blew, and the giant crown of the Chinese scholar tree trembled. Leaf after leaf floated in the air; some of them fell on the chessboard while some drifted by the sides of the duo.

Su Zhengchen was a reticent person. After agreeing to Wang Chong’s rematch, he sat upright, as though a taut spear stabbed into the ground, reminiscent of a disciplined military man.

Wang Chong didn’t lose out to Su Zhengchen in terms of disposition either. In his previous life, he was the great Grand Marshal of the Central Plains.

However, Wang Chong would more or less try to conceal it most of the time. Also, given his physical body of a fifteen-year-old and his weak cultivation, it was difficult for Wang Chong to fully bring out the disposition belonging to a Grand Marshal as well.

Wang Chong even went to the extent of relaxing his body so that the atmosphere wasn’t so tense, making it seem like a perfectly ordinary match.

Su Zhengchen possessed extraordinary talents in warfare, but it was a pity that his opponent was the most talented ‘War Saint’ in the future of the Central Plains.

The duo moved their own troops to clash with the opponent on the complicated chessboard. Su Zhengchen’s army was powerful, but before Wang Chong’s troops, they could only fall helplessly.

Slowly, Su Zhengchen’s white stones on the board decreased while Wang Chong’s black stones increased. Su Zhengchen devoted all of his wisdom into the chessboard, but it seemed as though Wang Chong always had a net weaved straight in front of him regardless of where he was heading, waiting for him to charge into it.

Unknowingly, Su Zhengchen found himself descending into a desperate situation once more.

There were very little moves he could make on the chessboard, and Su Zhengchen found himself completely surrounded by enemies once more.

The wind whistled in the surroundings.

Holding a white stone firmly in his hands, Su Zhengchen’s thick snowy eyebrows knitted tightly together. Staring at the chessboard before him, he fell silent yet again.

The entire surroundings became quiet. Wang Chong looked at the chessboard with a slight smile, waiting patiently for Su Zhengchen to make his move.

“Once more!”

After a long period of time, Su Zhengchen put down the stone in his hand and uttered two words. This time, he was the one who took the initiative to ask for a rematch. After which, he shut his mouth tightly, not speaking another word.

“Alright!”

Wang Chong smiled in delight. He quietly kept the pieces and started another match. Then, the horses and infantries of both sides began colliding in that bloody battlefield once more.

Unknowingly, the sky set in the west, and the entire Ghost Tree District fell dark.

“Old master, it’s already late. Why don’t we return for now and play another day?”

Suddenly, behind the Chinese scholar tree, an ordinary black-haired old man appeared. With a slightly hunched body, the old man looked at Su Zhengchen worriedly.

Seeing this skinny old man, Wang Chong felt as though his heart had been pricked by a needle. His eyes narrowed, his body trembled, and his heart beat furiously. He nearly couldn’t hold back his shocked exclaim.

A past acquaintance!

Wang Chong recognized this man. He was Fang Hong, an old servant of the Su Residence. He was a child of an old servant of the Su Residence, and he grew up there.

After Su Zhengchen lost his son and grandson, he fired all of the maids and servants, keeping only this loyal old servant by his side to serve him until his death.

The reason why Wang Chong recognized him was because this old servant was the one who told him about Su Zhengchen’s affairs back then.

However, Wang Chong soon recovered. Even though he recognized Fang Hong, that old servant couldn’t possibly recognize him.

“Old man!”