7. The Grand Master’s Game
Chapter seven
The Grand Master’s Game
Moni
I put my view on Leo. “A game?”
“A very fun one yet educational.”
“Alright. What’s the game?”
“Tonight, you’re going to shoot each of those targets.” Leo pointed to them. “You get three chances per target and you must hit the gold point. When you do, you get ten points. The goal is to get to a hundred points.”
“What do I get if I make it to a hundred?”
“Not if, Monique, when.”
“What will I get when I make it to a hundred?”
“What do you want?”
“To go back to Lei tonight.”
He smiled. “That can’t happen.”
“Then, to call him.”
“You could not tell him that you’re on Mount Utopia.”
“I wouldn’t.”
He crossed his arms over his chest. “Why do you want to call him?”
“I want to make sure he is okay, along with my sisters. I need him to focus on going to sleep and not trying to find me.”
Leo widened his smile. “You could have asked for money or property.”
“You already gave me that.”
“And in the end. . .family is the most treasured thing to you?”
“Yes.”
“My soul just warmed. That doesn’t happen much.” He lowered his arms. “But. . .now I know even more that my wife chose right. I’m just thankful that I was wise enough to finally listen to God and her.”
Song came over. “Her making a phone call to Lei could be risky. They might track the call.”
“They won’t expect it and we’ll make sure she isn’t on long enough to call.”
“Still.” Song frowned. “I don’t like it.”
“Too bad.” Leo shrugged. “This is Moni’s phone call to win or lose.”
Come on, girl. You’ve got this.
I looked back at the targets. “I get three chances to hit each gold point?”
“You do and it will be timed.”
Shit.
I turned to him. “How many minutes for each target?”
“Minutes?” Leo laughed. “You get one minute for each.”
“So you want me to hit ten targets in at least ten minutes?”
“Exactly, we don’t have a lot of time tonight.” Leo checked his watch.
“And. . .you want me to do this game because?”
Leo smiled, that same twisted grin that always seemed to hold a secret. “Because you need to learn. And because I want to see how you handle this.”
“How to handle the game?”
“That too.”
I still don’t get it.
Pausing, I considered his lessons in the helicopter. Even though he’d clearly presented the game, there was much more to all of this.
What am I missing?
I scanned the area and didn’t see anyone but Song, Leo, and me.
There’s something more to this. I just know it.
I put my attention back on the guns.
He hadn’t said which ones to pick but I knew I had to choose wisely. The wrong choice could mean failure.
And I couldn’t afford that.
“How many guns can I have?”
“Good question. You may choose two.” He watched me closely. “These will be your guns forever.”
Forever?
The word echoed in my mind as I reached out and my fingers hovered over the cold metal.
My gaze flicked between the different weapons, each one calling to me in a different way.
Some were heavy, clearly meant for power but the weight would slow me down.
Others were lighter, quicker, yet lacked the same brute force to easily knock out those gold points.
Then, my eyes landed on a pair of blue pistols.
They were sleeker than the rest, smaller in size but still formidable. They had a higher bullet capacity, more options for reloading fast and they seemed to have a few extra features the others lacked.
There was something about them too—something that caught my attention. It was the blue Chinese characters engraved along the side.
Hmmm.
I picked one of the pistols up. “I think. . .these are the ones.”
“Interesting.” He didn’t even check them out. Instead, he kept his gaze on me. “Why those?”
“They are not too heavy.” I fingered the cold steel. “They fit well in my hands. These also will allow me to move swiftly so I make the time, but. . .I think they will get me to aim accurately too.”
I tested the grip—the balance of weight—and then I aimed at one target and felt confident I was right. Carefully, I opened it.
To my surprise, the inside was intriguing, like a mechanical mystery begging to be unveiled.
Oh wow.
I delicately observed the workings of the gun, familiarizing myself with its structure and gears. There was a special compartment for extra bullets—a small switch that seemed to modify the shooting mode. It was exquisite design and engineering all rolled into one.
Yeah. This is it.
I picked up the identical pistol, now with both weapons in my hands. The balance felt good—just right.
Leo watched me. “They match. Definitely, two identical guns.”
“Dad taught me how to shoot when I was six and he was still into hunting. He always talked about symmetry in movement and symmetry in aim.” I shifted my stance slightly, pointing both pistols at the selected target. “Yeah. I think these two would be easier to handle together.”
Leo remained silent for a moment. His gaze softened yet still intense.
“Alright.” My heart pounded heavier now than before but there was determination steering it on. “I pick these.”
Song began taking the other weapons away.
I placed one of the pistols down. “These also seem to offer more options. . .like quick reloading.”
Leo's eyes sparkled. “I knew you could shoot but I didn’t understand how much you knew guns.”
“They’re dangerous so. . .once I started hunting with Jo, I researched a lot, followed gun podcasts, and would listen to a few on the way to one of my jobs just to stay up with stuff. I didn’t want to mess up or accidentally shoot myself or my sisters.”
“Smart.”
“I like living and not killing people.”
The line of his jaw twitched. “One of those likes will have to change this evening.”
I blinked.
“But that is another lesson for later.”
I pursed my lips.
I will not kill anyone. Leo is scary but. . .that doesn’t mean I have to be bullied into changing the core of who I am.
Stress seeped into my pores.
Okay. Just focus on the game for now. And we’ll deal with anything else when it comes.
I looked down on the pistol in my hand and ran my fingers over the characters. They felt smooth under my touch as if they had been carved with purpose. “What does this say?”
His smile deepened. “That one says Mountain.”
“And the other?”
He chuckled. “It says Mistress.”
I widened my eyes. “Hold up.”
As Song took the rest away, I realized that there were no blue Chinese characters engraved on the other guns. It was only the pistols that I had picked.
I raised an eyebrow. “So you knew I would want these?”
“I hoped you would,” Leo said, stepping closer. “These guns were made for you. They are balanced, powerful, and will serve you well in any battle but in the end. . .you had to be smart enough to know that for yourself.”
“And if I had chosen other weapons?”
“It would have been fine as long as you still got the targets. The other weapons can get the job done too, but these. . .they will help you easily succeed.”
I wasn’t sure how to feel about that. The idea that he had somehow known which ones I’d choose made my skin crawl.
I didn’t have time to dwell on it.
He pointed to the targets. “Don’t shoot yet, just aim. Get familiar with the guns.”
I lifted both of the pistols, feeling the weight of them in my hands. They weren’t too heavy and solid enough to remind me of their lethality.
I raised them toward the first target, my arms steady as I aligned my sight with the gold point at the center.
You’ve got this. Easy peasy. Just breathe and focus like you’re hunting.
The wind whistled through the mountains, cold air bit at my skin as I focused.
As I held the aim, my mind wandered.
The game. The guns. Fine. I get it but what else is happening?
Leo always had three reasons for everything. He’d admitted that in the helicopter.
What other reasons am I here for?
Still holding the guns up and aiming at the target, I slowly went to the other one, testing the distance and leaning slightly to the right to see if my aim would be easier that way.
I went to the third target, and my mind wandered again.
Think.
The first reason seemed obvious. He wanted me to kill someone with these guns.
That much was clear.
Those lessons in the helicopter seemed to be pushing me toward violence.
Is this gun range supposed to break down my resistance to killing?
However, that didn’t make any sense. Leo was smarter than that. He knew I wasn’t like him, and I wouldn’t allow myself to be easily lost to his darkness.
I won’t kill anyone. Not unless I have no other choice, so. . .how is he going to do that?
I went to the fourth target, lowered the pistols, and noted the distance.
It was further away than the others, which would make accuracy a challenge, but I should be able to hit it.
It’s about 100 yards. I’ve hit that often enough in the Glory gun range.
Surely, if Leo watched me for so long, then he knew that I could hit it too.
What the fuck am I missing? This shit is killing me.
My nerves were frazzled.
I didn’t want to step off any ledge to suddenly find out that I was about to fall to my death.
Come on. Really think about this.
The second reason was probably more practical. He wanted me to practice. He wanted me to get comfortable with these guns, to become so familiar with them that I wouldn’t hesitate in a real situation.
That made sense.
If he was going to put me in a life-or-death scenario, I needed to be prepared.
Alright, but what’s the third reason? Why would he bring me here, to this isolated mountain range, just to shoot targets?
There had to be more to it. I could feel it in my gut that nagging sense that something wasn’t right.
I assessed all of the other targets and then went back to the first one.
As if he heard me, he spoke. “Everything I do has a purpose.”
I stared at him. “What’s the purpose of this game?”
“In Chinese philosophy, we believe that power comes not from the strength of your arm, but from the strength of your mind. A weak man can learn to shoot but a wise man knows when not to.”
“So. . .should I not shoot?”
“That’s not an option for you this evening.”
“Okay.”
“But there’s more to this game, much more to even the targets.”
I looked back at them, studying those wooden planks with blue and gold paint.
“You’re not just learning to shoot, Monique. You’re learning to see. To see through the chaos. To understand the battlefield.”
I shifted my gaze, scanning the ten targets stretched across the range. They were spaced out, each one farther than the last.
“Unfortunatly, this will be a tough lesson for you tonight, Monique. In fact. . .it will break my heart but I must do this.”
I looked back at him. “Why will it be tough?”
“What do you see at the end of this range?”
“I see targets.”
“Each of those targets represents a threat—a life that could end if you pull the trigger. But they also represent choice. The choice of who lives and who dies. The choice of when to act. Do you understand?”
“Yes.”
“You must learn to act without hesitation. You must also learn to think. Killing is not about brute force. It is about precision, strategy, and knowing when to strike.” He took a step back, giving me space. “Now, aim again. This time, think about what you’re doing. Each target is a person. Each shot is a decision.”
I raised the guns again, my heart pounding in my chest. I aligned the sights with the first target, my hands steady as I focused on the gold point. I could feel Leo watching me, waiting.
As I aimed, a dark realization settled over me.
The first reason he brought me here was to teach me to kill.
The second was to prepare me for a fight.
But the third? It must be even more evil.
He wanted to see if I could embrace the darkness—if I could step into his world and survive. He was testing me, pushing me to the edge, waiting to see if I would fall or rise.
But how will this game show it?
I tightened my grip on the guns, my mind racing.
I won’t fall. No matter how much Leo wants me to break, I won’t give in.
I wasn’t him.
I wasn’t a killer.
But as I held the aim, a small voice whispered in the back of my mind.
What if you have to be?
Leo glanced at his watch. “We should begin.”
Terror gripped my heart.
Can I do it?