In Tang Shan's opinion, it was an accident that he met the old man that day.

And he was able to accept the old man's endgame challenge at that time, out of a momentary greed, and his conceited wit won the old man a hundred yuan. Later, when he lost the chess game but couldn't pay the gambling money, the old man gave him two ways: one was to pull his legs and leave, as if nothing had happened; The second is to be willing to gamble and obey the old man's arrangement.

Tang Shan finally chose the second path, which seemed to be stupid or evil, but it was actually because of his curiosity and the fact that he had nowhere to go.

Later, Tangshan cooperated with the old man to sell fake medicines for two reasons: the first was that the old man invited him to eat two bowls of rice noodles and had a short mouth; The second is that greed is at work, and I also hope to get some money to survive this period of time.

The next day, Tang Shan went to Qiaotou again, and it was the two thousand yuan that the old man gave him that was working, first of all, Tang Shan had an illusion: it was too easy to make money by selling fake drugs on the street in this way. Secondly, Tang Shan felt that the old man was very righteous, and he did not hesitate to give him all the income of the day. Then the old man was attacked, and Tang Shan had the opportunity to slip away, but he still turned back to help the old man, and was beaten in vain, how much because of the impact of the old man's righteousness the day before on him.

On the third day, Tangshan went to the bridge again to no avail, and the matter should have ended here; But he couldn't help but go to the bridge on the fourth day, and finally found the note in the bridge hole, and followed the guidance above to the western suburbs shipyard. In the past two days, he is still full of curiosity, and he has nothing serious to do.

Now, sitting in front of the dying old man, Tang Shan suddenly felt that the other party looked like an ordinary old man, but in fact, he was a person in the vast rivers and lakes, and he could see through any of his thoughts.

In fact, the old man has been wandering the streets for decades, reading countless people, and students like Tang Shan, who have just escaped from school, are simply a piece of transparent glass in front of the old man, and a little dust can be seen clearly.

However, for some reason, Tang Shan figured this out, but he didn't feel very afraid, let alone fear. Despite being in the middle of nowhere, with a dying old man lying in front of him, he had plenty of reason to be afraid. But he didn't have it at all, but his heart was clear and indifferent.

Tang Shan smiled and said to the old man:

"I understand now. Ever since you took out a hundred dollars as a gamble and lured me to play chess at odds of 10 to 10, every move I took after that was in your calculations, right? Give me two ways, in fact, I want to get away with it, you knew I would turn back, right? Giving me 2,000 dollars is to create the illusion of righteousness, so that I am grateful and will come back the next day, isn't that so? As for the bridge and cave message, it is also a careful layout. ”

The old man also smiled: "I'm not so godly, you must know that every step you take in the future is your own choice." Even now, you are free to choose, and if you are not interested in the story and secrets of the game, you can immediately turn around and leave. ”

Tang Shan smiled again: "Pull it down, you already knew that I was curious, and since I came here, I wouldn't leave easily." Nominally to give me the freedom to choose, in fact, you secretly pushed me in the direction you wanted at every step. ”

Old man: "Young man, don't always look at everything in the world with a conspiracy theory. It is true that I fancy you because I have read countless eyes. But you happened to be at the bridge at that moment, and it was obviously an accident. Each subsequent step, even in my estimation, is full of infinite variables. ”

The old man took a breath and continued, "In particular, I left a message in the bridge yesterday, and you didn't see it yesterday, so you escaped a catastrophe, but today when I was about to die, you lost no time in appearing. This cannot help but convince me that everything is providential. You know, if you came yesterday, then my message will become the biggest mistake I have ever made in my life, and it will get you innocently involved in a conflict. And it may never be possible to get rid of it again in this life. ”

Tang Shan sighed: "Let's not talk so godly. ”

Old man: "Now you're interested in hearing the stories and secrets of the game?" ”

Tang Shan smiled: "Your curiosity has been hooked by you, and you can't walk if you want to." A game of chess, refined by people like you for 30 years, is already amazing. Now it's the biggest brawl in the town in a decade. To say that I am still indifferent to it is not a son of man. ”

The old man took another breath and said with a smile: "Then let's stop talking nonsense and start the story of the chess game." Do you know Wen Tianxiang in the late Southern Song Dynasty? ”

Tang Shan was dissatisfied: "The beginning of this story is not good at all. Who in the world doesn't know Wen Tianxiang? It's just that he doesn't know me. In addition, I have seen a portrait of him in a history textbook, and he has a bitter face, obviously not as handsome as me. ”

The old man was amused: "Since you know, then you can use a few words to briefly summarize this person." The physiognomy is negligible. ”

Tang Shan was stunned for a moment, and then stammered and replied: "Poet, the representative work is "Song of Righteousness", the prime minister of the Southern Song Dynasty, the pillar of the anti-Yuan Dynasty, an outstanding patriot, and heroically righteous after being captured. ”

The old man smiled: "So you only know one aspect of him. ”

Tang Shan sneered: "He has another side? Don't tell me that he is still a spy or spy sent by the Yuan Dynasty. That's going to be a blast. However, if you want to learn from the Internet and make sensational reversals or reversals of some historical figures, it will be too boring. And there is not a bit of freshness. ”

The old man smiled: "Look, you're starting conspiracy theories again." Why do you think of spies or spies when you talk about the other side of him? ”

Tang Shan was still dissatisfied: "Don't sell Guanzi, just say what is on the other side of him." ”

Old man: "Actually, everyone has many faces. I will only tell you one thing about Wen Tianxiang: he loved to play chess when he was young, and his chess skills were quite superb, and he had almost no opponents at that time. In the history of Chinese chess, there was a Jiangxi Yi School in the late Southern Song Dynasty, and Wen Tianxiang was the soul of it. Of course, this was before he became prime minister. ”

Tang Shan smiled: "This is unusual. In our history textbooks, there has never been such a thing as Wen Tianxiang. ”

Old man: "Wen Tianxiang is not only a skilled chess player, but also the inventor of blind chess. ”

Tang Shan immediately interjected: "Isn't it? I seem to have seen it somewhere, saying that there was a person in the Tang Dynasty who went to Shuzhong, stayed overnight in a farmhouse, and heard the landlord and aunt playing blind chess on the wall in the middle of the night, and thus learned the 'fairy chess method', and then dominated the world invincible. ”

The old man smiled happily: "I didn't expect you kid to be a little cultured." What you are talking about is a story written in the Tang legend "Ji Wei Ji", and the protagonist is called Wang Jixin. But after all, it's a novel legend, and it also talks about immortals, so you can't take it seriously. The first person to play blind chess is really recorded in history, and it is Wen Tianxiang. And there are chess games left behind. ”

Tang Shan interjected again: "The chess game that has been handed down is the "Jade Silk Golden Ding" you mentioned? ”

Old man: "So to speak. But the process is far from simple. ”

Tang Shan was dissatisfied: "What you said is a bit like nonsense. ”

The old man ignored Tang Shan's emotions: "In Wen Tianxiang's life, the most detailed record of playing blind chess was on May 2, 1272. It happened to be Wen Tianxiang's birthday, and he gathered a lot of poetry and wine friends to celebrate by a stream on Yubo Mountain in his home, and the main program was to play chess. At the beginning, it was all on the shore, with chessboard pieces, catching and fighting. Later, because of the scorching heat, everyone stripped down and went down to the stream. Because the chessboard could not be set on the water, Wen Tianxiang was in the ascendant, so he proposed to play blind chess on the water. Record it once you get ashore. ”

Tang Shan: "The word 'jade silk' in "Jade Silk Golden Ding" originally referred to the mountain behind his home? ”

The old man nodded: "That's right." ”

Tang Shan: "So, what does the word 'Jinding' mean?" ”

Old man: "More on that later." On the night of his birthday, after all the players dispersed, Wen Tianxiang was still interested, and inspired by the game of his friends during the day, he spent the whole night creating an endgame of 'Gun Horse Wins the Car'. Because it is inspired by the Jade Silk Mountain, the bureau is named "Jade Silk Golden Ding". ”

Tang Shan: "It sounds like there's nothing special about this game. In the history of chess, there are more people who create endgames, and an ordinary chess player can do it, but he Wen Tianxiang is just a little earlier. ”

The old man shook his head: "You are wrong. In the later impression of most people, "Jade Silk Golden Ding" is just an endgame, in fact, it is the title of an endgame book, and "Jade Silk Golden Ding" is just the first game in this book. "Jade Silk Golden Tripod" is the first game created by an individual in the history of chess, and it has a pivotal position. ”

Tang Shan: "He made up all the games of his friends on his birthday?" ”

The old man shook his head again: "No. The only thing that has to do with the birthday of the day is the first game. Everything else was added over the years. The book score of "Jade Silk Golden Ding" was really completed shortly before his heroic death. It took nearly ten years before and after, a total of 40 rounds, the first game is 'Jade Silk Jinding', and the last game is called 'Riding Alone'. ”

Tang Shan: "Riding alone? Isn't it his own record in the "Afterword to the Guidebook" about the envoy to the Yuan army? ”

Old man: "That's right. With political and military integration into the chess game, Wen Tianxiang is also the first person in history. ”

Tang Shan pondered for a while before slowly exhaling and saying, "Okay." This is the story of the chess game. I only heard two things different from it: first, "Jade Silk Golden Ding" is not just a chess game, but a whole endgame book; Second, the other side of Wen Tianxiang's character image is that he loves to play chess, and he has compiled this chess score, which has made a great contribution to Chinese chess. What is the significance of the addition? Is it worth your pains to summon me here, endure the pain of my wounds, and tell me with great difficulty? ”

The old man smiled: "If the story is all there is to it, it is indeed not worth my effort to tell you. You can find the relevant records in the library, and you can also search for relevant materials on Baidu. Not at all. It's no secret. ”

Tang Shan was dissatisfied: "Then you have been talking for a long time, aren't you wasting saliva?" ”

The old man smiled: "The stinky boy is too impatient. If the story is not clear, what will be told next will not only feel abrupt, but also unbelievable. ”

Tang Shan spread his hands: "So, the abrupt and untrustworthy part is the core of the story?" ”

Old man: "Of course, I don't need to tell you about well-known things, and I'm embarrassed to claim to be a secret." ”

Tang Shan was impatient: "What's the secret, what do you say?" Selling so many guanzi, you are not tired, I am tired. ”

The old man was not in a hurry at all, and said slowly: "Most people think that "Jade Silk Golden Ding" is just a game of chess; A few researchers know that "Jade Silk Golden Ding" is a book score, and the title of the book is only the first game of it. And what I want to tell you is that "Jade Silk Golden Ding" is a chess game on the surface, but in fact, it is a key. ”

Tang Shan was stunned for a long time and muttered, "The key? What is it for? ”

The old man looked disdainful: "Nonsense, of course the key is for opening the door." It can open a strange door. ”

Tang Shan squinted at the old man, his face full of suspicion: "Are you sure you are not blind?" It is immoral to deceive minors. ”

The old man sighed sadly: "I knew you didn't believe it. Our family has kept a secret for more than 700 years, but you flippantly think I'm messing around? Do you think that I went to such great lengths to bring you here just to satisfy my psychological needs to deceive minors? What's in it for me? ”

Tang Shan opened his mouth and was stunned for a while, swallowing his saliva and reluctantly asking: "What is the strange door?" ”

Old man: "Didn't you just want to know what the word 'golden tripod' in "Jade Silk Golden Ding" means? Now to tell you, it refers to a huge underground palace, which is called 'Jinding Palace'. The strange gate I am talking about is the gate of the Jinding Palace. It must be played through a chess game to be opened. ”

Tang Shan was still stunned, and he didn't know how to interject at all.

The old man slowly added to himself:

"If you want to enter this door, you must go through the first game of 'Jade Silk Golden Ding', and if you want to get out of it, you must go through the last game of 'riding alone'. And if you want to be safe in the palace and come out alive, you must go through all the other thirty-eight endgames in "Jade Silk Golden Ding". ”