Sui-Xiang

If we still can't find a way out, maybe that means...

Quiet.

Hahah... perhaps someday a good mood will strike Dusk on the outside, and she'll let us all out.

That said, where might that pole-carrier sir be?

His son's buried in the mountains. He doesn't want to run in with us in a place like this.

I've heard tell of the grievances between you two... but, erm... must you settle matters by such means?

What else?

I just feel that...

Don't bother feeling about it.

Bystanders always think they understand it all, but people's empathy always turns out to have limits.

I know in my heart what the right thing to do is, what's 'necessary' and what's 'unnecessary.' It's common sense. Anyone would know.

But sometimes, our feelings won't listen to sense.

It's raining?

......

*Sigh* Well, it's not as if just waiting around like this poses much problem.

Gkh...

Why don't you all give raising an Ink Spirit a try? I've discovered that if you just grant these things a level mind and calm approach, they're actually quite affectionate...

Gkh...?

This goes to show the Sui Regulator had reason to beware her.

Alright, alright, there's not much to gain from quarrelling over them in here... how about we head inside, away from the rain?

Strange how it can rain in here, too.

Truly strange how what falls isn't even ink.

Mr. Taihe? Won't you come in?

......

What of Master Shen?

......

What's the Master up to? It's been a moment now, but he's still fixated on his palms...

Are you watching the rain?

...Yes.

According to Nothing, this whole world is just her scroll. Artwork all around, vivid and lifelike.

At sunrise, fowls fly from the steep forests, mist covers the land. You see sunlight without the sun itself, reflections of thousands of floors, and all is silent.

If this is a painting, then who knows just what this artist has seen within Yan's scenery...

How refined, Rainmaster.

I only know that Rainmaster of Duckweeds Shen Lou once served ten years in the army. Who knew he was so versed in literature?

...*Sigh*. I've just been around for a while.

The only shame is that rain in spring shouldn't be so warm.

Go. Part this open.

Erk...?!

Wh-Where are we?

Very wise, Rainmaster.

I did it without thinking.

Shang Zhong.

Was this the reason you all fought over the goblet?

The clouds roll above the mountains. What's happening over there?

(Wordless roar)

Ugh, I'm getting a little twitchy now.

......

Oh... more resilient than the Sui-Xiang I met alone, it seems.

Mere lofty posture. It possesses Its form, but ultimately, has not Its spirit.

We're still here. What 'spirit' is it going to have?

It probably used a similar method to that goblet, but for completely opposite effect, so it got a little of the shape. That's all.

Form but no spirit. In the end, it's just a—

(Wordless roar)

—!

Hey, look at that. You're pretty scared, aren't you.

Wh-What did you say?!

You know, I feel like you've been digging at me with that 'form but no spirit' stuff.

It's been contained with this pavilion for the time being, but if it's disturbed any further... things will be tough.

What a pain. This sure isn't the kind of thing you throw a firecracker at.

Phew... haah.

Hm? Aren't you going to keep at it?

You really don't like lifting a finger!

(Wordless roar)

Ah... so this is what scared you.

I—

O little Dusk.

Don't call me that!

I see you even shiver so. Are you fine?

My li'l sister here hid in a scroll for a century without closing her eyes, all because she was so scared of this shadow of us here. Makes sense she's got stage fright now.

Don't you make such light of it...

Even if it's just a reflection...

To be precise, it's us three's reflections, and a quarter of it's Sui's.

But It's us.

What are we going to...

(Ridiculing laughter)

Grrrr. Rummaging through my paintings. Are you mocking me?!

Uh, I'm gonna suggest to you right now to rein your imagination in. This thing already forged up my seventh weapon concept without me even thinking it...

Just take a deep breath, okay? Save us from getting slammed inside one of your paintings next—

—Paintings?

......!

You have noticed?

The way is natural, and the foundations simple.

Sui was never of such fanciful tricks. In the end, this great Correspondence before Us, Sui-Xiang, is no more than the most unrealistic colors in our deepest selves.

Yea... Sui is but the Years of months drawn out long, and change has been vast. It is on the brink of madness.

It's already mad.

Right now, at this moment, we're just one of Its dreams.

When It wakes, we'll all be done for. We won't just be done for, Yan will suffer for it too.

Ling!

O little Nian, is that why you wish to resist It?

Yes.

Then you surely have quite the sophisticated plan.

That part I can't guarantee. I can only say this beats sitting around waiting for it.

I see.

Why?

Because I don't accept this.

I really don't.

And you?

She just dragged me here, that's all... and maybe I have the slightest bit of expectation.

Really?

Shut it.

I asked after you just now, as to our collective exit, and your reply to me was that you 'don't know.'

This answer truly is not a fine one.

Look now. You are still you, with your own ideas, your own emotional ranges, your own adorations, your own fancied persons, your own fond sceneries...

To live in this land is quite fine, is it not?

Whatever It may do.

Don't we have any responsibility for It?

—I am me. Why should I have much ado about It?

Myriad years the human realm was drunk, and it won't permit me one farcical dream?

So your answer is?

Haha...

—'I mind not.'

A board game? What game? I'm not too educated in the whole Art of the Piece.

Weiqi, the Go of Yan.

Now that's too complicated.

What say you, then?

How about that five-in-a-row one?

A child's game.

Quite fine enough for me. You like playing this chess stuff, then?

I don't. The chesses are extremely boring.

Here I thought you were a board game maniac. You know, those types who only stop to eat and then keep on playing.

Both sides of a board follow the same rules, black and white doing death unto each other along crossing lines. What's the meaning in it?

Pieces, in the end, are just a method of playing games.

So why fetch me?

A fight of I against I is far too boring.

......

Wh-Where... Were we not just at the mountain's foot...

Only they would be capable of this sort of thing.

......

Miss Ning, follow me closely, please.

There seems to be... a bright light in the room ahead.

Really, now, starting the game without even explaining the rules.

What about you all?

You'd really put me on the spot, asking me to play this stuff...

I only know general strategy.

No rush, no rush.

I've waited... a great many years for this match.

Now, what exactly is beating a layman like me going to do for you?

You should wait for your helper.

Lee? Why are you...

Liang Xun?! Er, and Miss Ning...

......

Greetings, Assistant Minister Ning.

There is much I wish to ask of the Candleholders, but now seems not to be not the time.

(Assistant Minister?!)

Sit, sit.

With this, it's more or less set.

What do you intend on doing?

Having a game of weiqi with you all.

You don't like weiqi, but you'd yank all these people in just to play with you?

I suppose.

That goblet of yours has done me some serious damage.

If that lady hadn't finally exposed the truth... how on Terra would I have ended up?

Uncertain. Perhaps at some waking, you would find yourself to be the illusory dream instead. The bubble pops, and the one who opens his eyes, is me.

What?

Now that's just plain terrifying.

Terrifying, indeed.

You don't seem to feel any way about it.

Really, I said it was terrifying.

Heh... I'll leave it at that, then.

Both of you may think it was random chance, that Liang Xun should choose to involve you in this.

But unfortunately, though it's true there is countless coincidence in this world, for this, you are the sole exception.

......

There is a man by the name of Huai.

......!

Your expression changes. It seems you only let out that mote of superfluous seriousness when your friends are mentioned.

Come. It's your turn.

......

I must warn you.

One mindless move, and the whole game is lost.

Hmm.

Lee.

Be calm.

How did you escape, sir?

I thought for a long, long, long time, and realized one way. That's all.

A ko fight. How will you respond to this calamity?

This game...

In the game of weiqi, few can surpass you, sir, is that not so?

I've simply lived for a while. Any longer and it'd be boring.

Miss Ning, what say you to this one?

......

Don't overthink it.

I've been too recklessly about, these past few days.

It's not your fault.

What does this match signify?

It's only a game. Don't overthink it.

It's very hard not to.

Think about who wins and loses first. Your turn.

The state of things is evident to all at this point. You don't need to carry on mystifying them.

So you want to concede. What about the others?

......

......

......

I imagine—the meaning of this game isn't on the board at all.

Hmm...

It's only right that our win or loss shouldn't be determined in this corner.

The best tactic, with people who love to confuse things, is to play just as mad along with them.

I'm not good at any kind of chess, but I am good... at reading people.

I'll answer the question you just posed, young Candleholder.

There was an accident previously. I lost a... younger sister. You may be young, but as the responsibility lies with you, I'm sure you can understand what I'm saying.

This isn't a topic you can discuss here.

That is true. Please speak, sir, with caution.

After that, my tiny little residence's piece basket was less one black stone.

It was merely... broken, in that accident.

And after that, I thought and thought. About what I should do, and what I even could do.

The current Grand Tutor... The first time I saw him, he was but a deprived student, led by that teacher of prestige past the stagnant city, gazing towards that towering estate wall...

You have no freedom of movement. You shouldn't have seen the Grand Tutor before.

He's an intriguing one. He said something that lodged deep within my heart, at a time when I'd gotten sick of these stone-cold counters.

You seem very boresome.

To the point of stiffness.

......

One more move, and even if I somehow understood less about board games, I'd still be able to tell it was your win long ago.

If you and I agreed to identical rules, what victory or loss could lie on the board?

Well, that's some sophistry. You need to apologize to every grandmaster in all the realm.

So be it. All in all, I've enjoyed my days carried at your side very much.

This match is your win.

It seems we haven't quite finished playing.

I simply underestimated my... little sisters.

Our match has no real meaning. Call this my surrender.

I thought you'd be the type who never likes losing.

Hm? Ah... yes, I did indeed lose.

And you, Cautus, name of Kroos.

Nian has an ulterior motive in choosing Rhodes Island.

I wish you'd used a bit more positivity to describe Nian and our's relationship, ya know.

Mm... no matter. Understand it how you want to.

You've no way to uninvolve yourselves anymore.

*Sigh* Should little Dusk catch sight of your squalid garden, I predict she'll be of quite some temper.

You've arrived.

Your tone, to my ears, does not welcome me.

Having so many about you to keep you company with game and talk? What could it be? Have you been too lonely?

You saw through that mirage. If so, Nian and Dusk must not have been able to beat it.

So you had guessed... Kroos, now allow me past. Let me be closer to my brother.

Uh... alright.

(Come to mention it... when'd she ever learn my name?)

You played black. Who played white?

I cast myself as the piece, contested with the common folk, and was restless without victory.

Was Jie's disappearance the cause?

I've surrendered now. You all needn't stay longer. Only, Ling, there's a small present I've sent you that you haven't noticed yet. Once you witness it, come find me again.

Your regard for her...

Has nothing to do with this.

I only fault the human realm for being so exceedingly dull.

Let's continue.

What were you doing while we were stuck inside that strange place?

I wanted to choose a handy staff. I didn't find one.

Unfortunate.

Hey! Are you still about to go at it?! You had so long to rest, and you couldn't cool your tempers one bit?

Lummox! Master Shen! Come, now, give them a piece of your minds!

......

A change in the summits. This means what Mr. Liang briefed us about has come true.

Sui-Xiang has manifested. Higher priorities first.

I'd better go up the mountain too.

Then go ahead.

*Sigh*... Will you really not listen to what I have to say?

Urgh! What happened up there—

—Watch your heads!

Ugh––!

Dad! Watch out!

—Ye, my girl!

Innkeeper!!

Tch.

Hey, now, hey! What are you doing—

—Why did he jump down along with her—

Shen Lou!

Cheh. I'll look below, and you get up there! Don't act without thinking, no matter what you see at the summit!

I'll go with you!

Ugh... how... Ye! Ye!

......

Ye!

Thank heaven, she's only unconscious...

If I wasn't deflecting at the critical moment, you two would have long fallen to your deaths.

...Shang Zhong.

Once again, Zheng Qingyue, once again!

Back then, you couldn't protect my son, protect Du Yaoye's father, protect that damned goblet!

......

You should know the blame you carry. It's still not time for you to bemoan yourself, and you can forget having any right to.

Your arm is hurt, and so is my leg. You and I are even.

Let us continue, before they get in the way again.

One move will be enough.

It's so tall. You really never sense it, walking ordinarily on the roads, how steep this peak truly is.

People should not always walk on the given path.

Your move just now counts as having saved my life.

I saved the child.

Yes, you saved the child too. So how am I going to duel you for life or death now?

Why you!

Come on, then.

......

Who is it?

*cough* *cough*... Did we... make it out from that weird guy's grasp?

Looks like we're still not out of the woods yet.

Getting blackmailed by myself really isn't a happy experience...

Lord Zuo.

Uncle Taihe.

What happened?

I met the offender.

But if we truly take him at his word, then the three face their own self-shackles at this moment.

You have misgivings.

I just don't understand why the Grand Tutor would trust that offender.

If they fail, we'll be confronting their reflection here in Shangshu. Even if... it's only a small fraction.

The Sui Regulator was planning to pressure Tianshi Bai into action with this.

...Yes.

That's what my father hopes.

—!

The sky!

The shadows are taking form... Is this... Sui's reflection?

The Ministry of Rites has Bluethunder Count Bai Dingshan in Shangshu overseeing a team. This is only the Sui-Xiang shadow. It won't make waves.

......

What is it... looking at?

What! It disappeared?

From a farcical dream, it awoke, and so disappeared.

How did you...

Ling.

Hm?

You could do things... like this, all along?

We were there thinking of every way we could possibly save our own existential skins, and you could've just clapped your hands and broken that illusion up?

Our lives are but a fantasy, like a dewdrop or lightning, leaving not a trace in the end.

Scarcely known was it if you, I, or It, like the shadow's shadow and its shade, seem to be yet turn out not.

So, may the one who comes to nothing and is shattered not be It?

You say that real lightly.

It is but a lightest thing.

And that is why I am your big sister, after all.

The Sui Regulator demands Nian and Dusk give an explanation.

Additionally, the three of you cannot act in concert. You must leave Shangshu under the Sui Regulator's supervision.

What? Can't we just have a family reunion at Rhodes Island instead?

I still wanted to pull a couple more in.

(Wait... are you serious?)

If Rhodes Island intends to attract even more scrutiny...

If you believe what I say, then maybe you ought to come see for yourself.

*cough* *cough*—

That's, uh... Well, considering this whole...

I will provide assurance.

Lin Qingyan.

Leizi!

Long haven't we met, Kroos.

Is that a new operator by your side?

I-I am the humble Nothing. Well met, Miss Leizi.

Right.

I thought the Central Judicial Office was unwilling to interfere in the Sui Regulator's affairs.

As a disciple of the Tianshi Bureaus, I simply exhorted my Master's good friend Master Taihe to allow all some leeway on this matter.

No wonder Miss Ning always held her fire... You persuaded Tianshi Bai beforehand.

But at what moment can the Tianshis take charge of this matter?

Naturally, they can't.

But at this juncture, the Sui Regulator may not be allowed to throw down decisions either.

What?

The Grand Tutor has arrived in Shangshu.

Sui Regulator Candleholder Zuo Le, Assistant Minister of Rites Ning Ciqiu, Department of Discipline and Supervision Deputy Monitir Censor Taihe, Shangshu Magistrate Liang Xun, and I myself, must all return to the Liang estate before the Hour of Tzu.

We will await the Grand Tutor's orders.

......

As you command.

Nian, Dusk, Ling.

The three of you to the Liang estate too, please. The Grand Tutor wants to see you for himself.

Quite good.

Some thirty years and more passed since last I met him. How much he could have changed from then to now.

Alright, here we go again...

Tch.

Hmm.

You are awake.

A daydream.

You and I know well this was their strategy.

That game of weiqi...

All in all, it was by a fluke we didn't lose.

It was but the combined power of all present, facing a lone person over a game of weiqi. No great brilliance to it in the end.

Brilliance...

Doing battle with him, what do brilliance and disgrace matter?

—Ye, my girl!

...*cough*... You're still fighting in this sorry state?!

Ye! You're hurt worse than we are! Don't be brave!

Zheng Qingyue!

Why did you... stow your blade at the last moment? If you didn't, would a hurt little girl be able to hold you back?

I...

You want to run? I humiliate you and you have your peace of mind, is that it?!

......

......

What about you?

I'm the same.

Ye, you've grown up.

You've grown up...