"A sword duel?"
"My Sword draws blood whenever it's unsheathed."
After a brief moment of hesitation, Yuyan couldn't help but chuckle.
As she laughed coldly, the arms holding the jade sword against her chest also lifted slightly, squeezing the sword out of its sheath. Although it wasn't the sword that attracted Yino's gaze, he was ultimately intimidated by the silvery-white sharp edge of the Sword as it was unsheathed.
Such a white sword...
Yino averted his gaze, not daring to look too much, expressing sincere admiration in his heart.
That snow-white silver frost sword resting against her bosom not only highlighted its hefty weight but also served as a kind of [Mountain-Sealing Seal]. It would use its sharp edge and sword intent to warn every daring and improper person who dared to look too much.
"I wonder how many lives Young Master has to gamble with?"
Yuyan teased again, but fortunately, it was just a joke. She quickly returned the Yinfeng Sword in her arms back to its sheath between her breasts.
She had always disdained mocking the weak, unless she encountered someone as shameless as Yino.
However, thinking from a different angle, Yuyan also vaguely sensed an abnormality from Yino's reaction just now—was there a possibility that he wasn't here to gamble, but deliberately seeking to lose with another motive in mind?
"Let's forget about drawing blood."
The corners of Yino's mouth twitched as he broke out in a cold sweat.
He thought for a moment and looked at the willow tree behind Yuyan.
"How about we bet on how many tender buds are on this willow branch?"
"..."
This time, Yino was a bit more serious.
According to his knowledge, cultivators with high realms could sense how many tender leaves were on a willow branch with their eyes closed.
He was almost certain to lose this bet!
But even so, Yuyan still raised her eyebrows slightly, staring at Yino's beautiful eyes with a lack of interest on the surface, but with a meaningful look in the depths of her cold eyes.
What made her lose interest was this bet with no suspense.
And what made Yuyan's cold eyes meaningful was Yino's true purpose for coming to bet with her tonight.
She was becoming more and more suspicious that Yino's perverted appearance was just an act, and his true purpose was something else!
After all... No normal person would seek out Yuyan for a sword duel bet.
Even the elders in charge of the sword dao might not have the confidence to come and bring humiliation upon themselves.
Unless he was determined to lose from the start!
'Tsk...'
Yino secretly clicked his tongue. Being stared at so suspiciously by the immortal, he truly felt the pressure.
He had been careless and underestimated Yuyan's intelligence.
He thought that an immortal like Yuyan, who was aloof and above the world, wouldn't waste time with him. She should have just randomly picked a bet she was sure to win and gone through the motions.
It would be good for both of them.
But Yino didn't expect Yuyan to be so serious!
Since she had agreed to Yino's betting terms, it meant that she had truly made up her mind to accept the outcome.
Yino now urgently needed an answer that could pique Yuyan's interest.
It couldn't be something Yuyan was guaranteed to win, nor could it be something she was completely unfamiliar with...
"It seems that miss immortal has refined taste and disdains boring bets."
"In that case, how about playing a game of chess with this prodigal son?"
In his thoughts, Yino's gaze was attracted by a stone table in the corner of the courtyard.
If Yino remembered correctly, the guest courtyard of the Grand Tutor's Mansion had a stone table engraved with a chessboard, which had been accumulating dust year after year without being used.
But tonight, not only had that stone table been cleaned, but it was also covered with black and white chess pieces.
"Does miss immortal know how to play Go?"
In the midst of their conversation, Yino keenly noticed a flash of delight in Yuyan's eyes.
He knew that she was finally interested!
"I know a bit of the basics."
"Care for a game?"
This time, Yuyan readily agreed, and the suspicion in her expression also eased.
She walked towards the stone table and chessboard that had already been prepared, glancing back with a hint, giving Yino an inviting gesture to take a seat.
-Wait, is this plot going off track...-
Yino sat cross-legged, staring at the stone table already filled with chess pieces, inexplicably feeling that this serious atmosphere seemed a bit off.
Because as soon as they sat at the chess table, Yuyan's attitude clearly had less disdain and more seriousness and respect towards a chess player.
She even invited Yino to take a seat...
She even personally got up to tidy up the chessboard!
"It's a bit messy. Please wait a moment."
Yuyan said faintly. In front of Yino, she carefully put the black and white pieces on the chessboard into the chess boxes of both sides in a very traditional manner.
She spent five minutes just tidying up the chessboard!
Halfway through, Yino couldn't bear to watch and took the initiative to sort half of the chess pieces.
"Did miss immortal just play a game with someone else tonight?"
Having put away the chessboard, Yino couldn't help but ask out of curiosity.
Yuyan glanced at him and said indifferently, "When I'm bored, I play against myself."
"...?"
Yino raised his eyebrows.
He didn't remember Yuyan having a hobby of playing chess.
When he played The Fallen Immortal, Yuyan never played chess with him at all.
In the original story, Yuyan was a riddle-loving senior sister. In the early stages, she was cold and aloof, not paying attention to anyone. In the later stages, she turned dark and became a demonic sword immortal, full of enthusiasm, slashing anyone she saw...
As for what Yuyan had experienced, Yino didn't know either. The original plot about Yuyan was already scarce. Let alone one-on-one interactions like playing chess, the crappy game The Fallen Immortal didn't even have a favorability system. It mainly featured the female leads having their own lives, with the player being kept in the dark.
"Don't stare at my face and get distracted."
"Do you want black or white pieces?"
While he was lost in thought, Yuyan had already tidied up the chessboard.
She frowned slightly, a bit impatiently reminding Yino.
Yino stared at the white-robed immortal lady across the chessboard, blinking his eyes in a daze, confirming that Yuyan in this reborn timeline hadn't turned dark yet.
He breathed a sigh of relief and looked at the chessboard with peace of mind:
"I'll take white."
"Mm."
Yuyan nodded, took the black box, and began to make a move.
She was very focused when playing chess, carefully considering each move.
Yino didn't really want to win anyway, so he wasn't too serious. While recalling the plot from his previous life, he looked at the immortal's fully concentrated profile and smiled mysteriously, "Does miss immortal want to know why I chose white?"
"...?"
Yuyan looked up, feeling confused again.
She actually didn't want to know and didn't care about such trivial matters.
But Yino was a rather strange person.
Not only did he not follow the usual pattern when talking, but even every move he made in chess was beyond her expectations, making Yuyan's rhythm also disrupted by him. She couldn't understand his style at all.
Yuyan stared into his eyes, pondering for a while, and finally sighed helplessly with a light bite of her red lips:
"Why?"
"Although miss immortal's white dress is very pure, in my eyes, the black pieces are more in line with your true destiny."
"Destiny?"
Yuyan frowned, waiting for the young man's explanation.
But Yino maintained his mysterious smile, stopping halfway through his words and refusing to reveal the second half of the sentence.
With him doing this, Yuyan's face gradually became more solemn.
He clearly saw Yuyan's jade hand holding the chess piece, anxious and uneasy.
It felt great to be the one asking riddles!
In his previous life in the game, he had always been tortured by Yuyan's riddles.
Now that Yino had been reborn into the world of The Fallen Immortal, he could finally let Yuyan experience the torment of listening to riddles!