"Yo, yo, yo, you still don't believe?"
"Then what will it take for you to believe?"
"Only if I see it with my own eyes!" Han Xue hastily said. Xu Ran is so formidable, what if he plagiarizes something great and claims it as his own?
And now she had caught Xu Ran off guard, which would completely prevent Xu Ran from using any other means to escape her strike.
Hmph.
If Xu Ran didn't acknowledge his talents in other areas, she wouldn't look down on him at all. After all, human capabilities are limited, and she herself can't be the best at everything!
But since Xu Ran dared to brag, she wouldn't let go of this opportunity to knock him down a peg.
To be honest, Xu Ran's performance was too monstrous and terrifying. Even the slightest chance to take him down a notch made her very happy.
Who wouldn't want to see a super genius take a tumble?
"Of course, if you find it too difficult, just admit you've been talking big just now. I won't make it hard for you." Han Xue felt it wouldn't be good if she made it so Xu Ran couldn't save face.
She just wanted to see Xu Ran embarrassed, not really to sour their relationship.
The state of her relationship with Xu Ran was related to the future of her family. Offending Xu Ran, and then if the Hong Family and Feng Lei Pavilion's people came and Xu Ran didn't help, that would be terrible, and she would become the Han Family's sinner.
"What if I manage to do it?" Xu Ran chuckled.
"Then, then I'll let you do whatever you want with me." Han Xue said with a flushed face. She didn't believe Xu Ran could be that monstrous. Surely Xu Ran couldn't lead in every aspect. Even if Xu Ran was impressive, it wouldn't prevent her from flatly denying it.
Do such people really exist?
"That's your word, now you can set the question. What do you want to test me on?" Xu Ran became interested. The stake was quite appealing, and he found it very thrilling.
Especially since Han Xue seemed a bit resistant to him now, which only excited him more.
How should I put it?
It's like "Go ahead and scream; nobody will pay attention even if your voice breaks."
Too much compliance quickly loses its appeal. If with a pat on the bottom, she obediently climbs on the bed and presents herself, how boring that would be.
"Hmph. Of course, we should try a bit of everything." Han Xue said with a gleaming smile.
Being a refined young lady, she also dabbled in many areas. Although not deeply knowledgeable, she knew a little about a lot of things.
"Let's start by seeing your skills in Go. Do you need me to explain the rules to you?"
Han Xue gave Xu Ran a sly look, thinking he probably didn't even know what Go was.
After all, people in the Cultivation World didn't know much about such useless stuff. If one is focused on cultivation, one can't afford to be distracted by this kind of entertainment, lest one loses one's ambition to mere playthings.
"Go? I know how to play, and my skill level is probably a bit better than 9-dan," Xu Ran said without any modesty.
"9-dan? What's that?" Han Xue was taken aback. She thought Xu Ran may not even know about this obscure thing; she could have used it as an opportunity to tease him and thus avenge her sister and restore justice for her.
But unexpectedly, she was the one who was ignorant.
"It's a rating system for skill levels in Go. It ranges from 1-dan to 9-dan."
After listening, Han Xue was even more dumbfounded. Go has such a thing?
"Hmph. I want to see if you're really that good," Han Xue said, puffing up her cheeks. She felt like she had been insulted, like she was about to shoot herself in the foot. Her Go skills weren't very high, only enough to say she knew how to play.
"I could let you have two or three stones, and you still wouldn't win against me," Xu Ran laughed.
"Let me have three stones? Great, great, that's what you said, you can't go back on your word," Han Xue's eyes lit up, and she quickly spoke, afraid Xu Ran might backtrack later.
Although my Go skills are not high, giving away three stones, even a master would not easily defeat me.
"Come here, I'll go first," Han Xue said, pulling Xu Ran to a small pavilion and quickly placing three stones on the board.
With the advantage of going first and taking good positions with three stones straight away, Xu Ran would have no excuses if he won.
Xu Ran was taken aback by Han Xue's enthusiasm.
He wondered if Han Xue was always this eager or if she was specifically here to compete with him.
However, those who competed with him generally didn't end up in good shape.
"Come on, let's see how good the 'number one genius' of our world really is," Han Xue said with a triumphant smile, looking at Xu Ran. Her originally cold and stunning face instantly became lively, like a child who enjoys competing, full of vitality.
This was not the Han Xue he remembered.
"Let's get one thing straight; don't cry if you lose."
Xu Ran said teasingly, recalling how Han Xue had cried earlier. If he rushed her into losing, she might just cry again.
"Who cried? That was a fluke!"
Han Xue flushed with embarrassment and then glared at Xu Ran, annoyed. It was his fault she cried, and she was already being lenient by not settling the score with him, yet Xu Ran dared to mock her.
Xu Ran simply shrugged and placed his stone on the board.
Seeing this, Han Xue gave a smug smile and placed hers as well.
Fly.
Follow.
Join.
Dot.
Fly again.
...
Han Xue was chuckling at Xu Ran while playing because his moves seemed entirely random, as if he was just playing without any pattern. She thought back to her earlier assumptions about Xu Ran and was convinced he didn't know how to play Go at all, that his composure had simply intimidated her.
With that thought, Han Xue felt very pleased with herself.
For some reason, the thought of Xu Ran looking foolish later made her feel incredibly happy.
But gradually...
She stopped talking, and the smile on her face abruptly vanished, turning very serious.
She began to notice that Xu Ran's seemingly haphazard moves were slowly connecting, forming a pattern that started to envelop her stones.
After a moment,
With a bitter face, Han Xue said, "I've lost."
Uttering these three words made her face go green; she wished she could just crawl under the table.
It was truly embarrassing. She had the first move, and Xu Ran had even given her three stones, yet she had lost? Losing was one thing, but what stung was that she had confidently proclaimed her victory and even mocked Xu Ran earlier. Now, those mocking words seemed to rebound directly onto her.
How infuriating!
Was Xu Ran really that amazing?
Aren't these cultivation geniuses supposed to be practicing all the time? How come he's dabbling in other things too? It's downright maddening.