Lu Zigang saw his absent-minded appearance and didn’t think much more about it. He held the Mo blade in his hand, and truly felt like stabbing this stone-hearted youth. But the Mo blade must not see blood—this was specifically emphasized by the owner of the Mute House when he gave him the blade. Moreover, he wasn’t a police officer or judge; he had no right to pass judgment on another’s life.

So Lu Zigang could only grit his teeth, turn around, and support himself against the artificial mountain as he walked toward the main residence’s hall. He didn’t know why Hu Hai hadn’t followed, but Lu Zigang had no mind to think about it. He knew that since this chess game had already begun, the most crucial element was the xiao pieces. As long as the xiao pieces were properly controlled, the entire chess game would be controlled.

The main residence’s hall was cold and empty, without a single serving attendant. Lu Zigang immediately saw that in the spacious hall, surrounded by screens, palace lanterns slowly burned with candlelight. Lu Zigang held his breath and walked over, only to discover with horror that there wasn’t a single person within the screens—on the enormous round table, there was only a Six Principles Chess set.

The chess pieces moved across the board by themselves without anyone controlling them. Four pieces lay outside the board with their names completely erased, presumably meaning they had already been killed. The xiao piece with Elder Yu’s name written on it was so red it seemed ready to drip blood, making one’s hair stand on end just looking at it.

Lu Zigang didn’t know what to do. He had already planned that Elder Yu was a seventy or eighty-year-old man—he would just need to restrain him and make him stop this chess game. But he absolutely hadn’t expected there to be no one here at all, with the chess pieces playing by themselves! Could it be that this Six Principles Chess had become a spirit monster with its own consciousness?

Though Lu Zigang was a firm defender of materialism, after experiencing the strange time-travel incident with the wordless stele, he somewhat believed that there were inexplicable things in this world. But what should he do now?

While Lu Zigang hesitated, he watched helplessly as the chess pieces on the board were captured one by one, their names disappearing one after another. In the end, only the names of Elder Yu, his uncle, Hu Hai, An Nuo, and himself remained. An Nuo was Elder Yu’s capable assassin—most people had died at her hands, including people from their own side.

Lu Zigang had already guessed that this Six Principles Chess game had completely abandoned any chess rules and was simply devouring human lives. Seeing An Nuo’s piece approaching his uncle’s position, he could no longer hesitate. Gripping the Mo blade, he slashed toward that eerily red xiao piece.

The Mo blade was originally a jade-carving knife that could cut jade like mud—this strike was like cutting tofu, slicing the xiao piece in half at the waist.

Lu Zigang looked back toward the other side of the board and found he was still a step too late. His uncle’s xiao piece had already been captured by An Nuo, and the name written in vermillion was slowly fading…

“Little Gang… Little Gang? This foolish child, how did he get so drunk?”

His uncle’s gong-like voice reached his ears. Lu Zigang frowned and opened his eyes, discovering he had fallen asleep with his head on the table. Around him were the same people who had been drinking earlier, now all looking at each other with uncertain expressions. Yan Ao with his gold-rimmed glasses kept touching his head repeatedly, as if confirming something. The others had similar reactions, all unconsciously touching their chests or necks. Lin Yan suddenly jumped up and punched his brother, then threw himself forward to hug him tightly. Xia Qian stared at Wei Zhuoran beside her, who wore a gentle smile, and her eyes immediately reddened.

Lu Zigang looked around and found that the white-haired youth Hu Hai and the beautiful An Nuo were gone. Elder Yu was slumped over the table without any movement, so he stood up to rouse him.

The others also sensed something was wrong and only then discovered that Elder Yu had already passed away, apparently from an acute condition like a heart attack.

The steady Chen Miao stood up and left the hall to find servants and contact the outside world. Wu Yu clamored about finding that An Nuo. His uncle was bewildered and at a loss, probably due to the special treatment of being one of the xiao pieces—he had no memory of what had just happened. For a moment, the hall was in chaos, while Lu Zigang looked silently at the Six Principles Chess set on the table.

They were all in their previous seats, so it was likely that everyone’s souls had been absorbed into the chess board the moment their names were written on the Six Principles Chess pieces. Now on the board, one xiao piece was broken in half, while the other three pieces still bore the names of Hu Hai, An Nuo, and himself. Perhaps because he had destroyed the xiao piece with external force, this Six Principles Chess game hadn’t truly claimed everyone’s lives. Otherwise, when the game ended, probably only Elder Yu would have awakened—the rest would have died from “acute illness.”

Since no one was willing to touch this Six Principles Chess set, Lu Zigang had to reach out and carefully pack it back into the wooden box. Possibly because only he hadn’t been controlled by the Six Principles Chess and hadn’t experienced the feeling of being killed, he didn’t feel much fear in his heart.

The spacious hall seemed dark and oppressive. The others could no longer stay and left one by one. His uncle also left, muttering about bad luck. After Elder Yu’s body was carried away and properly arranged, Yan Ao, the last to leave, came over and suggested in a low voice: “Burn this thing.” His words still carried a slight tremor—he was clearly badly frightened.

But Lu Zigang shook his head. If not for the urgent situation earlier, he never could have severed the xiao piece. It was too late to protect antiques—how could he possibly destroy them? Remembering the scenes he had witnessed in the chess game, Lu Zigang spoke with feeling: “Though blades and swords are extremely sharp, they are not inherently vicious weapons. You can use them to kill, but you can also use them to protect those you love… Though this Six Principles Chess is dangerous, it’s still an ancient artifact. If separated from this residence, it probably won’t cause trouble. I know an antique shop owner who specializes in collecting strange and unusual things. I’ll leave this chess set with him for now.”

Yan Ao wanted to persuade him further but feared touching it would bring worse luck, so he sighed and hurriedly left.

Lu Zigang felt that more than just Yan Ao had left, but when he looked around, he didn’t discover anything. Shaking his head and laughing at himself for being overly startled, he continued carefully packing the Six Principles Chess.

When collecting the pieces, Lu Zigang looked at the vermillion names on the last three pieces and found them extremely jarring, so he used his sleeve to pick up a piece and wipe it. An Nuo’s name was easily erased, but no matter how he tried, he couldn’t remove the names of Hu Hai and himself.

Not being able to erase them wasn’t a big deal, right? Lu Zigang frowned, only now feeling the chill in the hall filled with ancient blades. He hurriedly finished packing the wooden box containing the Six Principles Chess and left.

In the darkness of the residence, Hu Hai looked at An Nuo lying motionless on the ground, sheathed the Minghong blade in his hand, and shook off the blood on it. “You have the Mo blade, and I have the Minghong blade. Who said this chess game is finished?” Hu Hai’s silver-white eyelashes trembled slightly, revealing those soul-stealing crimson pupils, which contained undisguised cruelty.

The Minghong blade quickly transformed into a cute crimson bird, hopping onto Hu Hai’s left shoulder and lowering its head to preen its feathers. Hu Hai reached out to stroke the bird’s neck and back, the sharpness in his eyes gradually softening. Remembering the words he had overheard in the hall earlier, his suspicions multiplied.

“Imperial Brother… could it be you?”