Chapter 394: What a Coincidence

Chapter 394: What a Coincidence

Lin Nuo was sitting on a stone bench under the big banyan tree at the entrance of the village, playing chess with an old man named Li.

Lin Nuo had excellent chess skills, but Grandpa Li was no slouch either. They always played evenly matched games. Now that Lin Nuo hadn’t played against top players in a while, he was a bit rusty, leading to a fifty-fifty match against the old man from Ru Yu Village.

At his peak, Lin Nuo would have had a seventy-thirty advantage at least.

“You’ve declined a bit, young man. I’ll take your pawn,” Grandpa Li said as he captured Lin Nuo’s piece.

“But you just lost your knight.”

Lin Nuo responded by taking Grandpa Li’s knight in return.

“Your cannon is gone too,” Grandpa Li laughed.

“Your other knight is gone.”

“Young man, I can’t shake the feeling that you have a knack for taking knights. This exchange of knights for my cannon and pawn is worth it. You have no chance of winning now,” Grandpa Li chuckled.

“You’ve won, but your knight is still gone.”

“Chess requires a broad perspective; you can’t just focus on individual pieces. You seem overly fixated on capturing knights, which has led you right into my trap, causing your whole strategy to collapse.”

Grandpa Li lectured Lin Nuo in a tone befitting an elder. Lin Nuo resented the horse hunters of Zu’an on the road, but in the chessboard, he was precisely the horse-hunting villain, zeroing in on knights.

After five games, he lost four of them.

But hey, he captured nine knights. That was satisfying.

Now Lin Nuo set up the chessboard with Grandpa Li again, eager for another game. As the self-proclaimed horse-hunting villain, he was definitely going for more knight captures.

He enjoyed staying in Ru Yu Village, as it allowed him to reconnect with the simple life he once longed for.

Thinking back, after he turned into a demon, he returned to this village. Nobody resisted him then because the locals didn’t know he was a demon and wouldn’t inquire too deeply into how he had changed. If he were famous outside, people would ask questions; if not, they wouldn’t probe further.

Initially, he stayed a while since he was being hunted everywhere. Eventually, he had to leave.

Whenever he went somewhere and someone attacked him, he retaliated against that place, becoming a synonym for evil and leaving destruction in his wake.

“Looks like there’s some commotion in the village, it hasn’t been this lively in a long time.”

Grandpa Li arranged the chess pieces with a kind smile.

“What kind of commotion?”

“A woman and a young girl have come; they used to live in Ru Yu Village but haven’t returned in ages. It’s quite surprising to see them back.”

“Were there many people in the village before?” Lin Nuo asked.

“Quite a few! I remember when I was your age, the village was bustling. But more and more people have moved away. Decades have passed, and very few remember Ru Yu Village, let alone come back. I’m quite pleased that you young folks are now in prominent positions yet still come back, even if it’s just to pay respects. You could have migrated elsewhere, but you didn’t forget Ru Yu Village.”

“There’s no need for thanks; nobody owes anyone anything,” Lin Nuo replied calmly.

“Ah, well, that’s true. But don’t mind this old man’s rambling. The elderly love to reminisce.”

Grandpa Li sighed, suddenly noticing a girl walking by and exclaimed,

“Speak of the devil, and the devil appears! Look, that’s the young girl!”

Lin Nuo was about to make his first move when he heard Grandpa Li mention the girl’s arrival, and he looked in the direction indicated.

Upon seeing her, he froze, chess piece slipping from his fingers.

What the heck?

Is she the dark omen that the ominous clouds were signaling about?

Yes, it has arrived.

The girl walking by also noticed the sudden gaze upon her.

She was greatly surprised and exclaimed,

“Senior Brother? Is that you! What are you doing here?”

Filled with excitement, Su Kexin rushed towards Lin Nuo.

Lin Nuo was left dumbfounded.

What do you mean, what am I doing here? Shouldn’t I be the one asking you that?

Is this some kind of main character trait, magically knowing where the villain is and chasing after him?

How terrifying.

Thinking back, as a villain, he hadn’t done anything particularly evil, just playing chess and capturing a few knights. Why did she come all the way here to preach justice?

“Do you know her?” Grandpa Li asked, puzzled.

“Know her? More than you can imagine.”

Lin Nuo shook his head and hurriedly bent down to pick up the fallen chess piece.

This villain and the main character have a destined rivalry.

“Hello, Grandpa Li~”

Su Kexin greeted Grandpa Li politely.

“Grandpa Li, this is my Senior Brother from the Xuanyun Sect. He’s taken good care of me. Thanks to his guidance, I’ve achieved my current level of cultivation.”

“Oh ho, what a coincidence! You are both from the same sect, and you both are exceptional talents, pillars of the nation!”

Grandpa Li smiled, pleased to see such accomplishments in the young visitors.

Caring? Yeah right! Who wanted to care for you?

Lin Nuo silently mocked, finally retrieving his chess piece.

He looked at Su Kexin and asked,

“What brings you back to Ru Yu Village? Training? This isn’t a place for righteous adventures; you can go off to another place.”

“I’m not here for training, just came back to see Ru Yu Village. My family lived here for some time before we moved away, so I thought I’d come back for a visit,” Su Kexin explained, realizing how lucky she was to run into her Senior Brother at the seaside village.

“What about you, Senior Brother?” Su Kexin inquired.

“Paying respects.”

“Paying respects? To whom?”

“To my late grandmother, buried here.”

“Oh… Senior Brother, your mother must be from a distinguished family, right? Why would she be buried here?”

“Do you look down on Ru Yu Village?”

“No, no, no, I didn’t mean it that way!”

Su Kexin quickly waved her hands in explanation, she considered this place one of her hometowns; there was no way she could look down on it.

“It’s just that, my understanding is, from a prestigious family, when they pass away, they’d be buried in the family cemetery, right?”

“Can’t we make exceptions?”

“Ah, no! That’s not it! Ah, I’m slow, Senior Brother, just tell me directly to save me from saying something wrong and upsetting you…”

Su Kexin pouted slightly, looking a bit wronged.

Lin Nuo responded,

“From here to there, nobility isn’t something one is born into. She was born here, grew up here, and eventually her parents took her away; after much struggle, they became a noble family. The little nobles and the big families are not comparable at all.”

Xia Hanmo’s family was more like a nouveau riche, which only became a small noble family after hard work over the recent generations. The name was small, and Xia Hanmo marrying into the Lin family was already a blessing; where was there any status to speak of?

The Xia family didn’t always live in Ru Yu Village. Back then, the Luo family wasn’t that powerful either, and many small nations existed in the fringe areas. The Xia family had lived in a small nation. After that nation fell, they fled to Ru Yu Village for several years, and later, after contacting former companions, they left the village to pursue their ambitions and became a small noble family.

Su Kexin understood, nodding:

“I see. When will you pay your respects, Senior Brother?”

“Tomorrow.”

“Oh, oh, this place has a sea! Senior Brother, let’s go see the sea together~”

“Not going, not interested.”

Lin Nuo refused flatly.

—

I’m feeling a bit tired from work today, so it’s just one update. Tomorrow, three updates. Good night, everyone!