The auditorium was silent.
Not completely.
There were thousands of people breathing, shifting in their seats, whispering under their breath.
But compared to the chaos of earlier matches...
It was almost silent.
Everyone was watching the checkers board.
Lin Xia's first piece remained near the center.
Bai Shuying had responded with a quiet development of her own.
Nothing spectacular.
Nothing aggressive.
Nothing that would make an inexperienced player nervous.
That was exactly what bothered Lin Xia.
Bai Shuying was too comfortable.
Lin Xia moved another piece.
Diagonal forward.
One square.
She didn't rush.
Her fingers released the piece.
Click.
The timer continued.
28:41
Bai Shuying didn't move immediately.
She studied the board.
Then she looked at Lin Xia.
"You know what most players do when they think they're being watched?"
Lin Xia didn't answer.
"They become careful."
Bai Shuying moved a piece.
Click.
"And careful players become predictable."
Lin Xia's eyes narrowed.
She looked at the board again.
Bai Shuying had intentionally created a gap.
A small one.
Almost invisible.
It appeared to allow Lin Xia to make an easy capture.
Mei Chen leaned forward.
"That's a trap."
Yue Ning shook her head.
"Maybe."
"Maybe?"
"It's too obvious."
Lin Xia saw it too.
The piece was vulnerable.
If she jumped it, she would capture one of Bai Shuying's pieces.
But the landing square would put her piece directly within another possible capture.
A standard exchange.
Nothing unusual.
Except...
Bai Shuying was waiting for it.
Lin Xia moved somewhere else.
Click.
She refused the capture.
A murmur moved through the auditorium.
Bai Shuying smiled.
"Good."
THE SECOND LAYER
Bai Shuying moved another piece.
Then another.
She wasn't attacking.
She was building a position.
Her pieces began forming a loose diagonal structure across the board.
Lin Xia recognized the pattern.
A blockade.
Not yet.
But almost.
Yue Ning whispered,
"She's trying to control the center."
Mei Chen shook her head.
"No."
Yue Ning looked at her.
Mei Chen pointed.
"She's controlling where Lin Xia can move next."
Yue Ning stared.
Then she understood.
"She's not building a blockade."
"She's building a funnel."
Lin Xia saw it too.
Every available route seemed to lead toward the same section of the board.
Bai Shuying wasn't forcing her to move.
She was making every other move increasingly uncomfortable.
Lin Xia leaned back.
She didn't touch a piece.
The timer continued.
24:18
Bai Shuying waited.
The audience waited.
Finally, Lin Xia smiled.
"You're trying to make me choose between two bad moves."
Bai Shuying's expression remained calm.
"Are there only two?"
Lin Xia looked down.
"No."
Her fingers moved.
She picked up a piece from the far left.
Moved it diagonally.
Then stopped.
She had deliberately moved a piece that appeared completely unrelated to the center.
A strange move.
The audience murmured.
Bai Shuying looked at it.
For the first time...
Her expression changed.
Only slightly.
Mei Chen grinned.
"She did something."
Yue Ning nodded.
"She broke the funnel."
THE UNEXPECTED ROUTE
Lin Xia's move had created a distant threat.
Not an immediate capture.
Not even an obvious attack.
Instead, she had opened a future diagonal.
If Bai Shuying ignored it for several turns, Lin Xia could potentially use that route to reach the opposite side of the board.
Bai Shuying understood.
She moved one of her pieces to close it.
Lin Xia immediately moved another.
Bai Shuying blocked again.
Lin Xia moved a third.
Another block.
The two women were no longer fighting over individual pieces.
They were fighting over future movement.
Yue Ning's eyes followed the board.
"She's creating threats that don't exist yet."
Mei Chen nodded.
"She's making Bai Shuying spend moves preventing something that hasn't happened."
That was the first real shift.
Bai Shuying had been controlling the tempo.
Now Lin Xia was forcing her to respond.
THE FIRST CAPTURE
Thirty moves into the match...
Bai Shuying finally attacked.
She moved a piece forward.
Lin Xia's piece was directly ahead.
The jump was available.
The audience reacted immediately.
Bai Shuying could capture.
Everyone knew it.
She jumped.
CLICK.
Lin Xia's piece was removed from the board.
The auditorium erupted.
CAPTURE.
Bai Shuying didn't celebrate.
She simply placed her piece down.
Lin Xia looked at the captured piece.
Then at Bai Shuying.
"That was the move you wanted."
Bai Shuying nodded.
"Yes."
"Why?"
"Because you let me have it."
Lin Xia smiled.
"Exactly."
Bai Shuying's eyes sharpened.
She had taken the piece.
But Lin Xia had deliberately allowed the capture.
Because now...
Bai Shuying's piece was sitting exactly where Lin Xia wanted it.
THE COUNTERATTACK
Lin Xia moved.
Her piece jumped.
CLICK.
One of Bai Shuying's pieces disappeared.
Then another.
A forced sequence.
The audience erupted.
Bai Shuying had walked directly into a chain.
Mei Chen jumped to her feet.
"YES!"
Yue Ning grabbed her sleeve.
"Sit down!"
"I'm sitting emotionally!"
Lin Xia continued.
Jump.
Capture.
Move.
Jump.
Capture.
The sequence ended after three captures.
Bai Shuying now had fewer pieces.
But she wasn't angry.
She was smiling.
Lin Xia immediately realized something.
Her smile wasn't frustration.
It was satisfaction.
"Wait."
Lin Xia stopped.
Her fingers hovered above the board.
Bai Shuying looked at her.
"You finally noticed."
Lin Xia's eyes moved across the pieces.
"You wanted me to take them."
The auditorium fell silent.
Bai Shuying nodded.
"Of course."
THE SACRIFICE
Bai Shuying had deliberately sacrificed three pieces.
Why?
Because removing those pieces had opened an entirely different lane.
One of her remaining pieces now had a clear path toward promotion.
Yue Ning's face changed.
"She's going for a king."
Mei Chen looked at the board.
"Already?"
"No."
Yue Ning shook her head.
"She's been doing it since the beginning."
Lin Xia finally understood.
The apparent loss wasn't a mistake.
It was preparation.
Bai Shuying had sacrificed material to create mobility.
Lin Xia had gained three pieces.
But Bai Shuying had gained something more valuable.
Space.
THE CHEATING QUESTION
The auditorium suddenly heard a strange sound.
Beep.
Everyone looked toward the board.
A tiny red symbol appeared beside Bai Shuying's side.
Then vanished.
Mei Chen's eyes widened.
"Did you see that?"
Yue Ning nodded.
"Yes."
Lin Xia looked directly at Bai Shuying.
"Was that the system?"
Bai Shuying didn't answer.
Another tiny red flash appeared.
This time...
Lin Xia noticed something.
It wasn't coming from the board.
It was coming from Bai Shuying's sleeve.
The audience hadn't noticed.
The cameras hadn't announced anything.
The system hadn't reacted.
Lin Xia stared at her.
Bai Shuying slowly lowered her hand.
For the first time since the match began...
there was fear in her eyes.
Just for a fraction of a second.
Lin Xia said nothing.
Neither did Yue Ning.
Neither did Mei Chen.
They had seen it.
Bai Shuying had done something.
Something that looked very much like cheating.
But Lin Xia didn't expose her.
Not yet.
Because the system had one rule everyone knew.
Cheating was allowed.
Being caught was not.
Lin Xia looked back at the board.
Then she smiled.
"Your move."
Bai Shuying stared at her.
She knew.
Lin Xia knew.
But nobody else did.
And that meant the real game had just begun.