The Great Ghost

I am defeated.

I did not expect this variation of the offset play.

You had a chance, if you did not continue to cede ground in the center around the hundredth move, hoping for a draw.

I did not have a clear view of the developments to come, so I picked the safe move. I see I was mistaken.

Haha. I thought my weiqi skills had improved, but it looks like I'm still far beneath you.

In this last battle, we were only able to avoid heavy casualties thanks to your strategy of conserving our strength and luring the enemy deep in.

This return to the capital is an opportunity for you to rest. But I expect it will be a long time until our next meeting.

You don't seem concerned with victory or defeat.

Why obsess over such things in a meeting between brothers?

Not just weiqi. It seems that nothing ever concerns you; you are always content to act the part of the kind benefactor.

I don't know why you'd say that...

The new Right Assistant Minister of the Ministry of War, together with officials from the Ministry of Rites, accused you in a petition to the throne two months ago.

Commanding troops to act without authorization. A serious crime.

...

How do you know the imperial court's business, when you've been with me on the front lines for the past six months?

I have my ways. You should worry about yourself.

If he meant our late return to camp, it was because we had to stop and wait for a Catastrophe to pass.

General Yang knew. The Ministry of War hardly has a case.

Oh, you don't need to worry about that.

The Assistant Minister was found to have accepted bribes and embezzled supplies... he is in prison now, awaiting trial.

He won't spread rumors any longer for now. As for whether he makes it out of prison alive... only Heaven knows.

...

You promised to stop meddling in the affairs of the court.

I would hardly call it meddling. Simply helping Yan rid itself of a corrupt official.

You know your own intentions...

You see the entire court as a game of weiqi, with human lives for stones?

Has your lust for honesty and righteousness blinded you to the evil and malice lurking in the hearts of people?

No sooner had that man taken office than he started to target you. Do you really think there is no one behind the curtain? Do you really believe we have only one enemy?

Go easy on this one, and we set ourselves up for more trouble to come.

...

Strange things have been happening since the birth of our youngest brother.

Fāng's patient committed suicide after getting better.

Someone has been producing 'satirical' works of falsehood in Dusk's name, imitating her touch.

Thieves have stolen treasures from Yi's garden. A long and thorough investigation by the Judicial Review Office turned up nothing more than a gang of fools.

And then, your matter.

...

We all know... It is not dead.

The people here have never forgotten Its terror. That is why they watch our every move, every meeting.

Do you still think your little achievements will force them to see us as anything more than alien entities, enemies to be feared?

Are Fāng and Dusk alright?

Fāng was depressed for a while. Dusk has always been how she is. But I don't suppose either would worry too much about it.

But what about the future?

You think someone is pulling the strings behind the scenes?

The Shanhaizhong, or someone else with ulterior motives?

That's what I truly fear.

If a single mastermind is behind all of this...

I cannot determine who it might be, nor do I have any inkling of their intentions.

I will confirm all that you've said with the Sui Regulator.

...I know you have good intentions.

But don't overstep the boundaries like this again.

Since when have we been worried for one another?

I simply didn't want to fall into a trap without knowing who dug it.

It's time to go.

The journey is far. Be careful on your way.

Bring the others my greetings.

...I may not see them.

*sigh*.

One wrong move...

And all is lost...

Liang. Liang...

...

...What idiom begins with 'Liang'?

Don't tell me you're giving up already.

O-Of course not. Just busy with the beastmeat. Give me some time.

Sure... I have many books to copy. Take your time.

Liang... I feel like I should ask Yi, but he's not here...

(Say, she has so many bamboo slips with words on them sitting next to her. Maybe if I took a peek...)

What is it?

—N-Nothing.

Why are you copying the words from the slips onto these... squares?

It's called 'paper'. A new invention.

It's lighter and easier to write on than bamboo. It also doesn't deteriorate easily, which makes it easy to preserve.

You can preserve something forever, if you write it on paper?

Yes and no.

Bamboo slips may last for decades, paper for centuries.

Be it bamboo or paper, however, there ultimately comes a day when it perishes.

No matter what we use to record something, it will only endure forever if people truly commit it to memory.

Just like how people remember your cooking when they taste it.

Hm...

'Liang Shang Jun Zi'—man on the roof beam!

Not bad. 'Zi', eh? Let me think... 'Zi Xu—'

Let's stop here. This word chain game is so hard. Why don't you play it with Ling and Dusk the next time they're here, and I'll watch from the sidelines.

Are you hungry? Do you want me to cook the meat?

Sure.

Can I have the bamboo slips, if you don't need them anymore?

For the fire? I suppose...

What are you making?

Meat skewers!

This stockbeast tenderloin is just the right mix of lean and fat, and the fat on its belly is nice and firm. It'll taste great roasted.

The fuel has to be charcoal. These bamboo slips don't burn for long.

I already have the charcoal. We can start roasting when I'm done cutting the slips and skewering the meat.

Hah... does grilling meat on bamboo slips make this a scholar's meal?

Let's call it 'scholar's barbecue'!

Well, I trust your cooking. I'm excited to try it.

Well, I'm done with the slips. You can take them.

You're both here.

Oh... back already?

Huh...?

Wang?

I got your letter. I thought you wouldn't be here for a few more days, at least.

Smooth trip?

Yes.

You two...

There's the idiom 'burning a guqin to cook a fowlbeast,' which means sacrilegious, wasteful behavior.

What are you doing with these bamboo slips?

I-I'm not...

Jie gave them to me...

Just giving some broken bamboo slips to Yu to make the most of them. Why so harsh?

You should be more grateful to Yu for making dinner.

It's not like I actually said anything...

Don't fight, don't fight!

I'll go make dinner! It's not every day my second-oldest brother comes back. We finally get to eat together!

You, just, er, sit down and chat!

*sigh*...

He's always been a little afraid of you. Can't you be more gentle?

...

Are things not going well?

No.

I see...

But we don't get together very often, and Yu misses you.

Anything you want to say can wait until after dinner.

So, unsettling things have been happening without my knowledge.

You don't look worried at all.

I'm worried... and I'm just surprised that you show so much concern for your siblings, brother.

Siblings in the sense that we were born from the same fragmented consciousness. Not true blood relations.

We each have our own interests and ambitions. Our fates are none of each other's concern... we walk different paths.

Do you truly think so?

...

My views are different.

See, it's been centuries since we came to the mortal world. Even if we are not truly part of it, most of the scenes and people that we see are lovely.

But the people we meet seem to become smoke in the wind in the blink of an eye.

In the end, it is only 'us' who remain, and it's only in each other that we can truly speak our hearts.

We may have differences and we may have conflicts, but we could never cut each other off completely... isn't that very much like human siblings?

I have no intention of arguing, if this is how you think.

*sigh*... I don't know why you always seem so aloof. We don't see each other very often. Are you not happy at all?

I wonder if you'd regret it, if one of us suddenly disappeared forever.

...

Speaking of which, I encountered something strange recently.

One night, I was about to go to bed when I heard a sound from the study.

From the garden, I saw through the window the silhouette of someone bending over the desk, writing something.

I hurried into the study to find no one, only the Jijiuzhang that I had been transcribing the past few days lying on the desk, with scribblings all over it...

—!

Who do you think could have done it?

There is only one possibility.

It is awakening, and It is attempting to interfere with us in some way.

We thought Its consciousness had completely faded after Yu's birth.

But It is alive... still sleeping, but the stuff of our nightmares.

If It does wake, we will become Its fleeting dream...

What do you have in mind?

I don't know yet. But I'll think of a way...

I have an idea, if you'd care to listen.

I only recently thought about it... when I compiled the histories with the people of Yan, there were inevitably some mistakes, no matter how careful we were.

Unlike ordinary writing, it takes great effort to correct mistakes written in the histories.

This knife...

I think my influence has changed it.

I have a faint feeling that the words it scrapes away—a history, or at least... a name—don't just disappear from the paper; they disappear from people's hearts and minds.

Perhaps there will come a day when we use it to scrape the word 'Sui' from all the texts of this world.

You can... do that?

Not yet. Right now, it's only a writing knife, albeit an unusual one.

But I can feel it. The more words written, the heavier my knife and pen become.

Perhaps we're all the same. We discovered the answer to who we are in that primordial void, then we understood the meaning of our existence in the mortal realm. This is what proves we are different from It.

Perhaps there will come a day when our strength exceeds Its. Then, we can truly break free of Its influence, and live as 'ourselves'.

As long as we don't forget who we are, of course.

...

What are you thinking on, brother?

Don't worry about it.

*sigh*... Sometimes I feel like you and I are the least compatible, amongst our siblings.

Plots and plans are things to be kept inside one's heart, but words and language are for expressing what lies in one's heart.

But sometimes I feel like you hide nothing from me, that I can see all that you think.

I...

Interesting, isn't it? We both found what we wanted to devote ourselves to, only to have it reshape our personalities in return.

Shu always says I'm obsessed with the past. And I remember the deathly white that she talked about, which lies at the end of the future.

She was right. One cannot pretend to be carefree, when there are things that one cannot let go of.

I know you're worried about the unknowable future... victory and defeat are what you're most obsessed about, but it would be such a miserable existence, if there was nothing but victory and defeat.

Besides that, what is it you care about the most?

I do not obsess about victory and defeat. I simply...

I simply do not like to accept that a game could not be won.

Hm...

By the way, are you reporting to the Sui Regulator tomorrow? Could you take these copied books with you? They'll need to review them before they can be archived in the Sky Mirror Pavilion.

Very well.

And take another look at the re-copied Jijiuzhang for me. Bring the writing knife too, so you can correct any mistakes.

Anything you've written hardly needs me to check it.

Consider it an activity to pass the time.

You spend so much time devising military strategies, thinking of victory and defeat. A distraction would do you good.

And perhaps, you might find what you're looking for in the text.