The Guide to Capturing a Black Lotus

79

Slender fingers set down a smooth and round chess piece on the chessboard. No movement was detected from the person in front of them. Mu Yao raised her head, the young man had his head lowered and was looking at the chessboard, appearing to be deep in thought about his next move.

But deep down, she knew that his mind had wandered off.

She crooked a finger and knocked on the chessboard, "A'Sheng?"

Mu Sheng silently came back to the present. He sounded a little lost as he responded.

"..." Mu Yao looked down and tossed the chess piece which had already been picked up back into its container.

"A'Sheng," She calmly looked at him, "If you're just going to let me win, is there any point in playing?"

In a split second, a sliver of panic appeared in Mu Sheng's eyes: He had always been surreptitious about letting her win and merely went into a daze for a second when he was suddenly called out. It was clear that he had gone off in a daze too obviously that sis had managed to catch some clues.

Through the window, it could already be seen that night had already fallen. The low table lamp dimly lit the chessboard. The booth of the Chang'an tavern was elegant and refined but in the end, it was not home. It was somewhat lacking in character and even the dust floating in the air smelled different.

The chess pieces provided by the tavern were of high quality yunzi! and cool to the touch.

When he pinched the smooth and round white chess piece between his fingers, what came to mind was the sight of Ling Miaomiao's curved smiling eyes, "This is yunzi, it's color is like light ivory. It's as fair as Young Master Mu."

There were over ten standing lamps of varying heights in her boudoir which were all shone on her, it exaggerated the lively romantic atmosphere.

She sat in the center of those lights, content to be in her little territory and having the time of her life.
He composed himself, placing his hands on the chessboard.

Black eyes looked up from the board with a bit of pleading in them, "Let's go for another round, I'll play properly this time."

Mu Yao hesitated and barely managed to bring up the corners of her lips.

In the past few days, her jaw slimmed greatly and her collar bones protruded so much that they were almost visible from her collar. He knew that because of Liu Fuyi's absence, Mo Yao was unbearably sad inside despite looking fine on the outside.

His sister had been pampered by both parents since she was young. He had been so careful in protecting her but she still suffered so much, all because of a certain man called Liu Fuyi... A hint of coldness filled his eyes.

"A'Sheng, how are we playing?" Mu Yao looked over at him distrustfully.

"Sister, let's change it up, okay?"

He pumped himself up, "Whoever first lines up five of their pieces in a row, wins."

"..." Mu Yao frowned as she looked at the chessboard for a while. It seemed she wasn't favorable to his childish suggestion, "What kind of playing method is this?"

He paused, then immediately began patiently setting up the chessboard, "It's Five-In-A-Row."

The chess piece remained between her fingers. She smiled helplessly then pinched the space between her brows, her waning interest evident, "A'Sheng, if you had this kind of mindset while practicing techniques, our Mu family wouldn't have fallen to this point."

"..." Mu Sheng's actions came to a freeze.

When he walked out of Mu Yao's room, there was still a trace of confusion left on his face as well as the exhaustion which came from his disappointed heart.