568 Black and White Between the Chessboard (1/2)

Chapter 568: Black and White Between the Chessboard

Translator: TransnEditor: Transn

There wasn't any Nanke Dream in this world, but only a century in Lanke.

Sangsang recalled the legend, and understood that she had an encounter similar to that of the woodcutter. However, whilst the woodcutter had spent a century in reality, she seemed to have left reality and came here.

She did not know if this world was real, or a dream, or some sort of hallucination created by a powerful person. But since she knew the truth, it was enough for her to deduce more information.

Just like what Ning Que had said, she was an intelligent girl who was used to standing behind Ning Que and was too complacent to use her brains. She had Ning Que to consider everything on her behalf. She had been lazy here until she ascertained that Ning Que would not come for her, or perhaps, one could say that Ning Que could not find her. That was when she began to truly think for herself.

Her conclusion was that she was still in the Go game. However, her opponent was not Master Qishan, but rather the rules of the world. What she needed to do was defeat these rules.

Rules made up the basis of this world. The world only existed, and people could live, because of these rules. Defeating the rules whilst following them seemed impossible.

However, Sangsang believed that she did not belong to this world. Even if she could not defeat the rules, she could still find similarities between her world and this one. That was, rules that conflicted against one another in the two worlds. Then, she would use these contradictions to solve the rules of this world, or find a way to return to her own.

Many in the town have died, and firecrackers for mourning have been lit several times. She was still alive, and she had not even grown. It was evident that time passed more quickly here. It was the opposite of the legend of Lanke Temple. At the same time, it proved that her body was still moving in accordance with the rule of time in the world outside the chessboard.

The biological rules of the world in the chessboard and the rule of time in reality were enforced on her at the same time. She linked the two worlds together, and she was the contradiction.

If she died in this world, then she would be able to free herself from whatever was binding her to the rules here. She would be able to return to the world outside the chessboard, at least according to the rule of time in reality. Then, she would wake up.

As such, she walked to the edge of the cliff and jumped off.

She landed heavily at the foot of the cliff. Her bones were completely shattered and she was in immense pain. The world darkened...

..But she simply reappeared on the cliff, standing beneath the tree as if nothing had happened.

Sangsang was confused about this; she felt that something was not right.

If this game of chess was happening as she had deduced, then her choice should have been right. But why was she unable to die? Why couldn't she disappear from this world?

he stood in a daze underneath the tree for a while. Then, she took off her belt and tied it to the tree.

Her neck hurt.

A moment later, she stood beneath the tree and looked at her belt which had reappeared around her waist. She thought that she should choose another method.

There was a lake not far away from the tree.

The water could drown someone.

But it could not drown her.

...

...

In the next few days, Sangsang tried various methods of suicide to no avail. She continued standing on the mountain, and other than the terrifying memories and pain, there were no other signs that she had died.

Where was the problem? Death was always a singular path and always the greatest rule that surpassed time. Since she could not break the rule of time, how could she break the greatest rule?

She thought silently for a moment. She had forgotten something.

Should the highest rule of death be broken, it meant that all the rules of the world would loosen up, and then they would move toward the verge of collapse. Gradually, light would begin to turn cold and the dark night would warm up. Two nests of ants fighting for honey would reach it before their enemy if they crawled around a stone furtively.

Time began to slow down. The speed at which the people in town were aging slowed. She had not heard the firecrackers of mourning for several years, but no one had been happy about this. In fact, they grew frightened, and the firecrackers of festivities also decreased until there were none at all. The water wheel on the stream had long ago stopped turning, and the fields became barren.

The whole world was in chaos and moving toward the end of days.

This was why whether this was reality or the world in the chessboard, other than eternity itself, no other eternal concept or being was allowed to exist. Because this would cause the world to end.

The rules of the world had finally noticed Sangsang, who still stood on the mountain.

The world shook in unrest. Fields turned and rolled, the sea bubbled and great mountains toppled.

The cliffside below Sangsang shook violently and disintegrated, sending her careening into the air.

Several rules of the world seemed to physically disintegrate. They flew into the sky in bursts of light.

These balls of light were white and devoid of any warmth. They looked like cold white chess pieces.

Sangsang was suspended in mid-air, and she peered at the bright chess pieces in confusion.

She was like a lonely black chess piece facing an armada of whites.

She was about to be swallowed by the light.

...

...

Twilight approached the Tile Mountain.

The warm red light illuminated the face of the stone Buddha statue, making it seem especially solemn.

Buddha watched all suffering in the world, and seemed to also be in pain himself.

He wanted to frown.

However, his brows were lines carved into the stone by artisans. They were as hard as steel.

As such, a thin crack appeared between his brows.

...

...

In the shade of the Buddha statue inside the cave stood Ning Que.

Sangsang, who was sitting beside the chessboard suddenly frowned as if she were in pain.

Ning Que grew worried, and his right hand trembled slightly.

Moments later, pain on Sangsang's face disappeared and she became calm once more.

Ning Que heaved a sigh of relief.

Then, she frowned again.

Only to calm down, once again.