"It's possible, but from my experience, most demons who get on the chessboard wouldn't be so disgracefully conspicuous," Daji said with a smile.
Then I definitely wouldn't get on the board. Fleeing from battle is indeed a bit shameful.
I've more or less understood the meaning of this chess competition. It tests not only chess skills but also the participants' ability to arrange their forces. It's like "Tian Ji's Horse Race": if you use your strongest pieces to take down the opponent's pieces, avoid their powerful ones, and strike directly at the enemy's heart, you can win the match.
After a chess match like this, ten or so must die, which is a bit cruel. But the world of demons is just that cruel.
"Are you going to eat, or not?" Daji asked me. We were still pressed together!
"You said you'd let me have three moves. Can you just defend?" I asked.
"Of course, otherwise, if you just stab me with a blade, I'd be finished! I can dodge, I can block, but I can't attack or retaliate first," Daji explained.
"Then I still can't beat you. Forget it, I'll take a step back." I moved back to the head of the bed.
Unexpectedly, Daji moved in a '日' (ri) pattern and followed me: "Then it's my turn to catch you!"
"I'm a chariot, I'm fast!" I immediately darted to the foot of the bed. For her to 'eat' me again, she'd have to make at least two moves.
On an empty chessboard, a horse cannot catch a chariot unless at least two other pieces assist it to create a situation where the chariot is 'eaten to death'.
Then, Daji rushed directly towards me and hugged me again.
"Hey, hey, you're cheating! You're a horse, not a chariot!" I said anxiously.
"So, do you prefer riding a horse or a chariot?"
"What do you mean?" I asked.
"Whatever chess piece you want me to be, I'll be that piece." After saying that, Daji devoured me. I had initially intended to give her three moves, but after thinking it over, there was no need. I immediately turned the tables and started a fierce battle with her on the chessboard, fighting until the sky turned dark and the lines on the board became tangled.
After a game, I was drenched in sweat, but I also felt a strange sensation in my belly, as if two little figures were spinning around inside. Could it be...
I looked down. It was too obvious. Two circles were swirling just below my navel, the skin rippling like whirlpools on the sea.
"You gave me your demon core too?" I asked in surprise.
When I went on business trips, Diana would naturally place her demon core inside me for protection. I didn't expect Daji to have this habit, but I knew that taking cold medicine and anti-inflammatory drugs simultaneously could cause adverse reactions, leading to organ damage. I wondered if two demon cores in my body at the same time would cause a conflict!
Daji saw my worry and touched the demon core. "Don't worry, they're getting along great. Once you adapt, everything will be fine."
"Why did you give it to me? Do you want to be human too?" I asked.
"Huh?" Daji blinked. "Isn't this... the rule?"
"What rule? Who told you it was a rule?" I asked, confused.
"The Whale God. She said if I wanted to be under your command, I had to keep my demon core inside you for safekeeping. I was wondering why you didn't ask for it sooner..." Daji said with a hint of grievance.
"...Oh, right, right, right." I pretended to just remember. No wonder she was so eager; it turned out Diana had paved the way for me.
Poor Daji, she was deceived by her. But looking at Daji's expression, she seemed very pleased even though she was tricked. So, I'll accept it for now. Because after we finished, I curiously activated my Qi-sensing technique to see if Daji's aura had changed.
There was a change. It went from a light red to a grape purple, but the color quickly faded, eventually returning to a light red.
That grape purple state should be the color grade of her pure human aura, similar to the Whale God and Luoyue.
After lying on the bed and chatting for a while, we still talked about the chess competition. Daji said she had participated in or watched five such competitions, all within the last thousand years, meaning after the Song Dynasty. Each time, they were held between two states, often to end a military stalemate. Because this type of competition was different from actual warfare, requiring each side to field sixteen masters to have a chance of winning, more than half of the sixty-odd pieces used in those five competitions (should have been eighty, but some participants re-entered after a century) were demons.
And after each match, several Great Demons would perish from either side, leaving them severely weakened, posing no threat to humans for a considerable time.
"Since the demon race knew it would weaken them, why did they still fight for humankind?" I asked, confused.
"Humankind are allies, and also enemies. But the true enemy of the demon race has never been humans, but another bloodline within the demon race," Daji explained.
I suddenly understood: "So, in those five competitions, it was always Bai Ze versus Shan Hai!"