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I was just leaving the Sky Mirror Pavilion when I saw her sprawled out on the ground, deep asleep. I even shouted at her to no avail, so I had no choice but to bring her here—

Hmm?

As she spoke, the slumbering Dusk splayed out across Jun's back suddenly dissolves into a scroll.

Didn't think my little sister knew how to work some magic too—

Mmmmph?!

With the unfurling of the scroll, the real Dusk appears atop a boulder, seemingly sound asleep.

The others also see that the thing sealing Nian's mouth shut... is a talisman.

None dare make a move, fearing the next mouth to be sealed would be their own. In the end, it is Ji who cautiously peels the talisman off Nian.

It reads: 'You guys eat while I sleep. Don't wake me unless Wang comes back.'

'Also...'

'To Nian: No firecrackers, or I'll use my talismans to seal your entire body.'

Why does my family always have to cause such headaches...?

But there will be a day that this table is fully seated. For sure.

Late, once again.

Indeed...

Far too late.

A flimsy curtain separates the two. The library is quiet, the sound of pages being turned piercing the silence.

Do you recall... how many books are collected here in the Sky Mirror Pavilion?

No...

Forty-three million volumes.

Forty-three million texts... Compared to the last thousand years of history, these words are but a single grain of millet within a great granary...

At the time, my greatest dream was to dedicate my life to complete a hydrological chart of Yan that our forebears could not.

I had thought... I could grow old here within this pavilion.

This is where I truly belong.

But it would not have been what was best for Great Yan.

The past is heavy, so heavy that no one can shoulder its weight, but also so heavy no one can put it down...

So much so that it should not be borne alone.

Yet there will always be someone to bear it.

You ought to hate me.

I do.

Are you going to say you have never hated <i>me?</i>

I really did think that there would come a day that I should die by your hand. I even thought it was the only way things would end were we to meet.

All I wanted was to ask you was... after you left Baizao...

Did you ever suspect... that everything that happened was orchestrated by me to frame you?

If I said I never did, would you still hate me for leaving on my own for no reason?

No, never...

It has been too long. So long that this question is meaningless.

That year... our little sister barred my way on the road to Lungmen, not far from Baizao. I could escape the city, but I could not escape her understanding of us.

She begged me to return to the capital, believing everything could be explained. 'There should be no misunderstandings between brothers.'

In the end... she said she would stay with me. Until the day I wished to return to Baizao, and clear things with you.

I should not have indulged her unruliness... I should not have.

I still have not yet met her daughters.

They were able to grow up in safety, one of the few bright points in my life... No, I should not use the word 'safe'. The pity is I was not able to give them even that.

Your regrets are many.

In truth, I cannot think of a moment in my life where I am certain I made the right decision.

So I sat here, waiting...

Waiting for someone to come judge me for my wrongdoings.

Pacifying the bestial Sui of Great Yan... This single achievement grants enough merit to rival the emperor who began the hunt.

But compared to him... you have the kinder heart.

You are the only one... who has never brought shame to Yan.

Yan Li... You can set them aside now.

You <i>should</i> set them aside now.

<i>Annals of Yan, Volume 124, Supplement 17</i>...

Someone's tidied up these scrolls.

After receiving Chao-ch'ien's request and her application being approved, Hui-chieh arrives at a section of the Sky Mirror Pavilion not open to the public to thumb through a few tomes.

She thought it would be a lot harder, honestly.

But when she went to check on the case from forty years ago, she found all the relevant texts neatly arranged on the shelf. They weren't even hidden in the back.

As if someone knew she would be here.

Maybe it's time.

Who are you? Why are you in my family's library?

Huh...?

Ch'en looks back and sees a girl of about ten years of age. The girl looks back at her, timid yet curious.

A Lung's horns, bright red hair, and a strikingly-familiar face. Ch'en does not need to ask who she is.

I'm Ch'en Hui-chieh. I came to borrow some books.

If you're here to read, are you also studying to become the True Lung?

What? No—

Dad said if you want to be a good True Lung, you need to read a lot of books here. When I go home today, the Grand Tutor will check my homework.

'Those with virtue cultivate it in their bodies, perform it in their actions, and state it in their words...'

'By mastering the classics, achieve refinement. By remedying the ills and practicing the right way, achieve virtue. By giving honest criticism without caring for offense, achieve...'

Err, the last part is...

...Do you want to be the True Lung?

Can I... <i>not</i> be the True Lung?

Dad says it is the duty I was born with.

If someone says, from the bottom of their heart, that they don't want to do something, then you shouldn't force them to do it.

When people are forced to do things, they won't be happy, right?

You're wrong! Dad said you need to do your duty. If nobody did, then the whole country will become a mess!

I'm going to go find him and have him explain it to you.

If there's a chance, I'd like to meet him too.

But it's getting late today. How about I send you home?

Okay!

But... do you know where I live?

Hmm... I think I do.

You look like you know a lot. Do you know more than the Grand Tutor?

Oh, I don't dare compare myself to him... But when it comes to certain questions, we have slightly different points of view.

The books say the True Lung should love the people, right?

That's right, but what you should know is, it's not only the True Lung who should do that.

Love your mother, father and teachers, your siblings, and your friends and companions.

You have the right to love everyone, no matter who you are.

Dad also said, because the True Lung is the most powerful person in the country, I need to be cautious about every word and every action.

It's the same with making friends, so... I don't have any.

No, you should be allowed to make friends with people you like.

Remember, taking such great authority and leaving in the hands of a single person, and making them shoulder it alone... This in itself is wrong.

It's not fair to most people, and it's not fair to that person either.

I don't understand what you're saying.

Can you stay and explain it to me more?

Once you grow up, you'll understand.

Once you grow up, maybe you can make a change.

So... Grow up quick.

Elder...

<i>Fan tong!</i> A bunch of <i>fan tong!</i>