act49side

As for the future you mentioned, you can take a look in my stead...

Your Majesty... you still insist...

That Hunt of my ancestors' days; the remnants of the bestial Sui plaguing Yan for a thousand years... should end with me.

If we must inevitably spill some blood...

Then the True Lung should be the first one to spill it.

After a short silence, the True Lung walks to the doors. It has been a long time since he has stepped out of the place.

Only an old man remains in the vast palace.

If I cannot dissuade Your Majesty, then I can only strive to serve my duty.

Send word to Yumen, it's time to make a move.

After the brief order, he disconnects the terminal and slowly walks forward.

He passes through the curtain, finally stopping before the throne, closing his eyes and staying in his spot, as if waiting for something...

Until a cough he can no longer suppress bursts from his throat.

The cough is so violent he bends over, and has to grab onto the throne for support.

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

You came, in the end.

So you were here.

You don't seem surprised at all to see me, though.

Ch'en Hui-chieh is somewhat caught off-guard by her target simply showing up before her.

Still the overbearing posture, still the unfathomable look, as if they are not standing in Baizao's Forbidden City, but in the backyard of his official residence in Lungmen.

The buildings behind him seamlessly blend into his dark coat, as if those palaces are merely an excessively ornate cloak over his shoulders.

So, at least you weren't kidnapped.

I still don't know just who on this land could manage that.

Everything I've done has been of my own volition.

I'll never stop hating that attitude of yours...

Why are you here? Is this that backup plan the Grand Tutor kept telling you to make?

His words should not be followed entirely... the situation should never have developed as he suggested, in the first place.

I have another plan in mind.

Either way, you're safe. So what comes next won't be much of a problem.

And what are <i>you</i> preparing to do?

Ensure you're safe, get you out of Baizao, then...

Ch'en casually waves the writing knife in her right hand, its simple form leaving a light yellow scroll-like afterimage in the air.

...Correct some mistakes made by you and your brother.

I see... so the artifact is with you.

I'm not too surprised.

Hah. And who were you supposing would deliver this writing knife to you?

That's no longer important...

Since you have it, then you ought to know how to use it... and everything else about it.

I was pretty surprised. Every secret I've learned about you since coming to the city has... opened my eyes.

You know, I almost admire your ability to hide so many secrets.

If you truly wish to rectify the mistake I made then, you should follow me.

Follow you...

Where?

Beneath the Forbidden City, to the first Originium.

The writing knife you hold will be of use, and will solve Great Yan's crisis. All will be made right.

Of course, I prefer you hand the knife to me instead. It'll be quicker, and you'll have less trouble to contend with.

But you won't trust me. I'm sure you want to see it all yourself before you'll give up. I don't really mind, though.

Haven't had enough of playing the tragic hero? You're just conveniently skipping over the part where you'd actually lose your life.

We stand before a great crisis... and this is a small cost Yan can afford.

There are no victims in this case. Your work ends here, Superintendent Ch'en.

Don't tell me you forgot. I resigned right in front of you, five years ago.

Though the man standing before me now isn't even fit to be called 'Chief Wei'.

You're telling me to watch you throw your life away, and that's not even the part of your words that's pissing me off the most.

Your sacrifice isn't going to move anyone's heart but your own.

And right now, you don't even have the right to end your life just like that.

Hui-chieh, this is no petty squabble. This matter concerns the fate of Yan and its people!

Of course I know that...

But get over your own ego. The country's fate doesn't fall on your shoulders alone. There are definitely other things you should be doing, besides glorifying your own suicide.

Very well.

You don't have to come with me.

Give me the writing knife and go back to Lungmen.

It's too bad I got two blades here, but I can't lend you either of them.

We don't have any more time to lose, and you still want it your way, Superintendent Ch'en?

I'm not the one insisting on having it my way.

Must you force my hand...?

Fine, show me. Let me see how much your swordplay has grown in the last five years!

That's more like it.

Ch'en Hui-chieh grips the hilt of her sword.

Since she first took up the Chi Xiao, she knew this moment would one day come.

She unsheathes her blade, pointing it at the Baizao autumn breeze blowing between her and Wei Yenwu.

As sword ere shadow's trace...

...Cast off as cast.

Hah, hah...

Do you... intend to use Heaven's Eye.

...Scared?

Skillful, but not yet the peak of perfection.' The Grandmaster once said of your swordplay.

Your skill has improved much in five years, and you've surpassed my expectations in comprehending Chi Xiao's techniques.

But you are still one step away from Heaven's Eye.

The eye of Heaven sees all and nothing.

Only when the clouds are parted is Heaven's wrathful eye revealed.

Let your heart guide the sword, never looking back. Turn around, and the sword loses its sharpness, harming the user.

I was only reminding you of its form... but I see you remembered it all.

But you should be well aware a fog remains in your heart, so the technique is beyond your ability.

Drop your sword. I especially don't want to go that far with you.

Will you use it though, if I don't give you the writing knife?

...Just like you did thirty five years ago?

Don't force my hand, Hui-chieh.

When you walked out of the Forbidden City forty years ago, when you decided whether Tal and her father would live or die, did you do it with the technique's ideals... 'never looking back'?

Hui-chieh!

If that's what Chi Xiao's final technique demands, then I shall never be able to unleash it.

Trial. Justice.

Good and evil, right and wrong—they aren't weights you can easily tell which is better when placed on two sides of a scale... 'Don't judge a life until its end' was never a positive term to use.

The same goes for people, and even more so. They shouldn't be used and then unceremoniously abandoned.

Workers in the Victorian siege, warriors of the Ursus tundra, and even the casino bosses in Dossoles. All of them understand that.

So you <i>are</i> right. I won't use Heaven's Eye. I can't learn it. It's not my bladework.

What are you getting at?

More than keeping a resolute will to abandon everything, I'd rather pick the path of knowing what I find impossible.

Hui-chieh... you still don't understand!

You're right. I don't.

I don't actually understand what happened that night, whether your father actually died by Chi Xiao or something more sinister.

I don't understand what you were thinking. I do know Edward and Tal both bore the curse of their bloodline, while I could only watch from the sidelines.