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Then we'll go together to eat at Yu's, and listen to you sing...

And if I never return...

There's a long road ahead of you...

It is not so easy to not look back.

She looks at the innumerable lives and deaths recorded upon the shelves, many of which she had written with her own pen.

Would she become one of them?

How would those who come after depict this life, one that seems too long for others to comprehend, yet far too hurried for herself?

How would the other siblings react when they read those pages?

No. There will be no record of her. She knows it.

Of all the siblings, she is the one who has spent the most time with Wang.

She has given Wang ideas for his plans, helped him calculate the conditions and timing for Sui's elimination.

She can guess what is happening in the Tomb of Sui. The clear and distinct heartbeat has already told the full story.

There is no other way.

She must use her powers to erase the name—

She has spent much more time in the mortal realm than ordinary people.

Everyone dies. It is precisely the cycle of life and death that made possible the innumerable ways of life that have fascinated her, as well as her siblings.

But if death is such an unremarkable thing, like a wisp of smoke in the wind... what is living, truly?

Light from the setting sun pours into the room, upon the countless history tomes, as though relentlessly poring through traces of the past.

Every word in these scrolls was written with tears of blood, but the only thing written on the last page is the word 'regret'.

The sun's rays by the window...

...How warm.

But she does not walk towards the sunlight.

She leaves the room.

Into the darkness of the tomb.

No words need to be said. Wang knows it is a fragment It has retrieved from his own memory, an image that he has never forgotten for even a moment in the last hundred and twenty years.

He lies exhausted on the ground. A hundred white pieces on the board have turned into blades that impale his chest, and he is slowly inundated by the pure white.

Until the golden light surrounds him.

...I'm sorry.

Wait for me... wait for me to come back.

For you to come back.

It was the other side of the dream, a place that he should not have been able to touch.

But she seems to notice him and turns around to look at him.

There is a faint smile on Jie's face, and she nods lightly.

The light gushes from behind her, surrounding the figure, swallowing it, dissolving it...

Sweeping away the dream realm, and revealing the true face of this place.

Your uniform suits you.

S-Supervisor! Zuo Le reporting.

At ease. No need to be too uptight your first day on the job. Better that you maintain your youthful energy.

Understood, Supervisor!

Do you know where we are, Zuo Le?

'Upon the peaks was the beast cornered and killed.' This was the battlefield where we killed a Feranmut during the Great Hunt.

But...

Zuo Le pauses, unsure if he can continue, until he sees the patient gaze of the Supervisor.

This was also where countless soldiers and civilians lost their lives... where living, breathing people faded into a graveyard of lines of cold numbers between the pages.

You have realized something that many Candleholders older than you do not.

'Carry the fire that drives out the shadows of the Feranmut, and travel amongst the people to learn their troubles.'

It was the first Candleholder, holding the torch that discovered the existence of the Feranmuts, that made possible the war with the gods which secured Yan's future.

Even today, the existence of Feranmuts is only known to a select few.

Which makes it all the more important that the Candleholder's fire remains brightly lit where shadows fall.

I will do my utmost to protect the people.

I am glad to see your resolve. But let me ask you again—what are the Feranmuts, in your eyes?

What are the proxies who live amongst us within the season, on whom we keep a constant watch?

The hearts of people are fickle; the hearts of beasts even more so. Perhaps some amongst Them have once aided Yan, be it out of a whim, or true sincerity.

But weighing the pros and cons, ultimately... They are different from us. They are... enemies.

Enemies, you say...

...Enemies.

<p=2>One day before the day of the full moon, Hour of Yu</>

Supervisor...

What are you doing here?

That question should be mine to ask.

Where have you taken the token from the Garden of Grotesqueries after the Placation was completed?

Something was not right at the Sui Regulator, and scriptgeists were running amok in the Sky Mirror Pavilion. I wanted to wait for the situation to settle down before seeking your counsel...

Then you can give it to me here.

I have heard that it was not the usual jade rule that was retrieved from the Garden of Grotesqueries this year. I will bring it back to the Sui Regulator for further investigation.

I...

Acting on a subconscious instinct, Zuo Le finds himself taking a step back from his familiar superior.

My, my. I did not think there would come a day when Candleholder Zuo defied his orders.

Cut the crap—you're Chun, head of the Sui Regulator?

A Shanhaizhong member, in the Sky Mirror Pavilion. A highly ranked one, too, judging from your attire. Under normal circumstances, the Patrol Battalion would have faced severe penalties.

And this is... Lady Ch'en?

You're Zuo Le's boss?

Though I am unworthy of this position, it is my duty.

What are you doing here? Waiting for us to walk into a trap?

Unfortunately, it is not you that I am waiting for.

Hand over the token, Zuo Le, and you may leave with your friends. We can discuss your association with undesirable elements later.

I thought you would tell him to take me in on the spot to make up for his transgressions.

We are in the courts of Yan, not some bandit camp.

Fine enough for you to say.

Who was it who encouraged Jie to enter the Tomb of Sui, so that the more dangerous proxy for Yan would die in Wang's place, catapulting her own career in the process?

Yaan would be ashamed to have a descendant like you!

Mo Yi! The Supervisor is not like that!

Really? Then why did she become the Supervisor so soon after Jie's death?

Only a thief sees thieves everywhere.

Keep your mouth shut, for you are not worthy to speak her name.

The imperial court of Yan does not pause or waver for any person or thing. All that it does is measured against the interests of Great Yan.

The interests of Great Yan?

It seems Lady Ch'en has something to say.

Very well. I will give you three minutes, in consideration of the risks that Zuo Le ran to retrieve this object from the Garden of Grotesqueries.

There is someone I am waiting for anyway. Ask your questions, then leave the token and leave this place.

Waiting for someone?

Yes, waiting for someone.

Is it the proxy who holds the key?

Why do you say that?

Geists run rampant through Baizao, but Zuo Le is the only one who is trying to tackle the scriptgeists at the source, and on no orders at that.

The L.G.D. was never so negligent, even when Wei Yenwu's oversight was at its laxest.

The first thing you asked about when you saw Zuo Le was not the scriptgeists, but the token from the Garden of Grotesqueries... you seem to care nothing for your responsibilities.

The Sui Regulator is not the police.

Who in Baizao is more qualified than the Sui Regulator to deal with the scriptgeists?

Your goals are aligned with the Grand Commandant's... you want the writing knife.

And if Mo Yi is telling the truth, no one in Baizao is closer to the writing knife than Jun.