Behind Ji Liuzi, there was a small thatched hut.
Immediately, Ji Liuzi circulated the true qi within his body, and with a gentle wave of his hand towards the small thatched hut.
In an instant, his true qi left his body, transforming into a massive blade of qi that instantly blew the small thatched hut to pieces!
At this moment, what had been hidden inside the thatched hut was revealed without any obstruction.
It turned out that beneath this small thatched hut, in addition to the usual tables, chairs, and benches, there was a square stone chessboard deeply embedded in the muddy earth and stone pile!
At this time, a partial game was still laid out on the chessboard.
"Look here." Ji Liuzi's finger pointed at the square stone chessboard and he spoke.
"Playing chess?" Chen Fan's brows furrowed slightly.
He had not expected Ji Liuzi to propose settling the score in such a manner.
At this moment, seeing the triumphant look on Ji Liuzi's face, Chen Fan removed his hand from the hilt of the Tian Cong Yun sword.
Then, he withdrew his surrounding killing intent and chuckled, "Heh, old man, you underestimate me. My chess skills are not bad."
Upon hearing Chen Fan's words, Ji Liuzi immediately realized that his intention had been misunderstood.
Therefore, he quickly chuckled, waved his hand at Chen Fan, and said,
"No, no, no, it's not about playing chess."
"It's about solving a puzzle."
Hearing Ji Liuzi's words, Chen Fan's expression was no longer as calm as before.
He frowned slightly and walked forward.
After only a few steps, Chen Fan arrived in front of the stone chessboard.
Then, he lowered his head and carefully examined the black and white pieces placed on the chessboard.
After looking for a long time, Chen Fan still couldn't figure out the trick.
With Chen Fan's chess skills and understanding of Go, this should not have been the case.
The reason for this situation was entirely because the game on the board was chaotic and irregular, as if someone had just randomly placed the pieces.
To put it bluntly, Chen Fan suspected that it was just placed randomly and was not a partial game at all!
At this moment, Chen Fan was very puzzled by this strange chess game.
So, Chen Fan raised his head, glanced at Ji Liuzi, and asked him tentatively,
"May I ask, what kind of partial game is this?"
Facing Chen Fan's question, Ji Liuzi shook his head helplessly and said with a wry smile,
"My young friend, to be honest, this is not a partial game at all. It is merely a code that Mitsui Kenji personally designed using the power of the compass fragments."
"It was created by combining his thinking, my forbidden techniques, and the power of the Dragon Mark Compass fragments."
"As long as you follow the fixed pattern designed by Mitsui Kenji to play the moves and unlock the code, you can enter the mountain wall behind the chessboard and obtain what you desire."
Facing Chen Fan's question, Ji Liuzi was very honest and told him everything.
Upon hearing Ji Liuzi's words, Chen Fan began to feel some regret.
"Apart from himself, no one can possibly remember his specially designed moves, right?" Chen Fan's tone was full of helplessness as he asked Ji Liuzi earnestly,
"Yes, that's why I say, fighting with me would be a meaningless endeavor, because to obtain the Dragon Mark Compass fragments, you still need Mitsui Kenji." Ji Liuzi nodded upon hearing Chen Fan's question and said with a smile, "Remember when I said I couldn't help you? This is the main reason."
Upon hearing Ji Liuzi's words, Chen Fan let out a bitter smile and began to say,
"But I've already killed him."
Upon hearing Chen Fan's words, Ji Liuzi's expression froze slightly.
Today, he had divined for Mitsui Kenji, and the卦象 (guà xiàng - omen/divination result) indicated that Mitsui Kenji would be very safe today.
However, upon hearing Chen Fan's words, Ji Liuzi knew that his always accurate divination technique had failed.
Of course, what this meant, Ji Liuzi did not yet know.
"Young friend, then this old man is powerless." Thus, after a slight pause, Ji Liuzi cupped his hands and bowed to Chen Fan, indicating that he could do nothing about this matter.
Hearing Ji Liuzi's words and seeing his demeanor, Chen Fan knew that Ji Liuzi was not lying, and he was indeed powerless at the moment.
Because Mitsui Kenji was already dead, Ji Liuzi would not have failed to retrieve the Dragon Mark Compass fragments if he had a way.
Since Ji Liuzi's words were true, the situation had become somewhat tricky.
Thus, Chen Fan took a few steps back and observed the mountain wall in front of him a few times.
Then, Chen Fan frowned and said with a determined tone,
"I can blast it open."
"Of course, you can."
Upon hearing Chen Fan's voice, Ji Liuzi nodded and added, "But you must know that this chessboard and the mountain wall are one, all sharing the combined power of myself, the compass fragments, and Mitsui Kenji."
"Perhaps to you, the power of myself and Mitsui Kenji is negligible, but you should be very aware of the power of the Dragon Mark Compass fragments. With the enhancement of that power, the mountain wall here cannot be broken by brute force."
"Of course, if you can get your hands on some kind of large-scale destructive weapon, you might be able to blast open the mountain wall."
"But I think you understand better than I do that doing so would most likely destroy what you desire along with it. That's probably not the outcome you want, is it?"
What Ji Liuzi said was actually very realistic.
And these were precisely the difficulties Chen Fan was currently facing.
"Haha! Perhaps it won't be that troublesome." However, at this moment, Chen Fan seemed to have suddenly thought of something. He burst into laughter and said these words.
Seeing Chen Fan's appearance, Ji Liuzi became deeply perplexed.
Because he was a recluse, not very understanding of the world's joys and sorrows, but at the very least, he was best at putting himself in others' shoes and considering things from their perspective!
At this moment, if he were to put himself in Chen Fan's shoes, he would feel that Chen Fan should be at a loss, not knowing how to obtain the Dragon Mark Compass fragments.
Why was he suddenly laughing?
"Then what are you going to do?" Thus, Ji Liuzi asked Chen Fan with a look of confusion.
At this moment, Chen Fan, who had just finished laughing, directly ignored Ji Liuzi's question.