Master Hu’s expression was dark. He frowned at Shi Ran and said, “I thought you have some talent in chess, but why are you so bad at this?”
Shi Ran carelessly replied, “I’m not interested in this thing at all. All I’m doing so far is just randomly placing stones on the chessboard.”
Upon hearing that, Master Hu looked at Shi Ran with disappointment. He did not want to play another game with him. “Forget it. Since you are so uninterested, I will not force you to put up with it.”
Shi Ran’s eyes lit up. Just as he was about to reply, Shi Beiyu’s voice came from behind, “I think you are indeed putting him in a tough spot by forcing him to play chess with you, sir.”
Master Hu smiled when he saw Shi Beiyu. He looked at him and said, “I thought that since he’s your brother, he wouldn’t be too bad at this. Yet from what I’ve experienced a while ago, he is terrible!”
When Shi Ran heard that, he sighed. “Sir, I’m glad you know that. Just don’t verbally attack me.”
Master Hu laughed before turning to Shi Beiyu, “Since you are here, do you want to play a round of chess with me? I haven’t played enough with you today.”
Shi Ran’s head throbbed.
“Sir, you are here for an important task! How can you be addicted to playing chess all day?”
Master Hu snorted. “What time is it now? We can only work on the task during midnight anyway!”
With that, he then looked at Shi Beiyu and asked, “Did she drink the holy water I gave you?”
Shi Beiyu nodded. “Yes, she did.”
“Good. All that’s left to do now is to wait. Come on now, only chess can help us get through this long, lonely night.”
The corners of Shi Ran’s mouth twitched as he said, “Elder, you would not be saying that if you had a beautiful lady in your arms.”
Master Hu wanted to smack Shi Ran with his shoe after hearing the cheeky remark.
“You little rascal! Everyone in town knows that I’m a monk! Don’t associate me with women and tarnish my name!”
Shi Ran tried his best to hold in his laughter. “You’re right, sir. I apologize for my careless words.”
Master Hu snorted and turned to Shi Beiyu. “Your brother has angered me. You must play a round of chess with me as an apology.”
Shi Beiyu said resignedly, “Please make your first move, sir.”
Shi Ran was speechless. Who knew how long this game was going to take? He thought to himself, ‘What’s with my luck? Why do I have to stay here and personally escort this old man?’
As time passed, Shi Beiyu and Master Hu remained quiet. There was no exchange of idle talk as their focus was on the chessboard.
Shi Ran looked at the time. It was 5 minutes till midnight.
He turned his head to look at the two individuals who were completely immersed in the game. Just as he was about to remind them of the time, Master Hu put down his chess piece and said, “It is time…”
Shi Ran gasped in surprise, impressed by Master Hu’s intuition.
Shi Beiyu put down his chess piece. He felt his chest tightening out of anxiety. He stood up and looked at Master Hu. “Sir, please follow me.”
Master Hu followed Shi Beiyu to the main building. When they arrived at the master bedroom on the second floor, Shi Beiyu added worriedly, “Sir, please keep tonight’s incident a secret.”
Master Hu smiled. “I will only do what I intend to do. I will naturally make sure to forget everything when I complete my task.”
Shi Beiyu nodded gratefully. “Thank you, sir.”
Master Hu raised his hand. “Open the door. She’s already here.”
Shi Beiyu frowned upon hearing that and he pushed the door open. From afar, he could see that Mu Siyin was still on the bed, but her hair had turned all red. She was stroking her forehead as she sat up on the bed with a bewildered expression.