My name is Shuo.
I am the consciousness that emerged from Sui after its death.
Before I could fully establish my independent existence, I was constantly driven by an overwhelming impulse.
An impulse to reclaim and absorb the other divine authorities, ultimately becoming the next Sui.
But I had no desire to become another Sui.
That was why I chose to divide my divine authorities, allowing each portion to develop its own consciousness before scattering them across the world.
Perhaps we would never meet again.
Or perhaps, through some chance encounter in the future, they would come to regard themselves as my younger brothers and sisters.
But those were matters I intended to consider only after I had successfully stabilized my own existence.
At least, that was what I originally thought.
Until that man suddenly appeared.
While my consciousness was still clouded, he seemed to do something that caused me to lose consciousness entirely.
By the time I finally awakened, he informed me that an entire year had passed.
And somehow, I had successfully stabilized my existence.
I had become a fully independent individual, completely separate from Sui.
The man was wearing an incomprehensible smile.
And then…
I noticed the long pole resting across his shoulder.
A rope was tied to one end of the pole.
And dangling from that rope were several colorful objects of various shapes and sizes.
‘Wait…’
‘Are those…’
‘DRAGON BUBBLES?!’
Shuo’s eyes widened instantly.
For some reason, the sight of this man reminded him of a fisherman carrying home his catch, several fish strung together on a rope.
Except instead of fish…
Those were dragon bubbles!
And as Shuo sensed the painfully familiar auras emanating from the collection of dragon bubbles hanging behind Hongyu, he was forced to acknowledge an unbelievable fact.
The fragments of Sui he had only recently separated from himself—fragments that might not have even existed independently for a full year—had already been tracked down and collected by the man standing before him.
“Who the hell are you?!”
Shuo shouted furiously at Hongyu.
His brows furrowed as he struggled to understand the situation.
After all, imagine waking up after an inexplicable period of unconsciousness, only to discover that a strange man had captured all your younger siblings and was carrying them around like fish on a string.
And for some completely inexplicable reason, every time that man so much as clenched his fist, you instinctively shuddered.
At this point, Shuo had yet to become the calm and composed Chongyue who would exist a thousand years later.
He had not traveled across Great Yan, nor had he experienced the hardships and changes of the world.
As a result, he still possessed the hotheaded impulsiveness of a passionate young man.
He remained on guard against Hongyu, maintaining what he believed was an appropriate level of caution.
And then…
Hongyu smacked him on the head.
Shuo charged!
Hongyu threw a punch!Shuo went down!
And that was pretty much how it happened.
‘My divine authority…
I can’t use it?!’
‘Has it been sealed?!’
Clutching the swelling bump on his head, Shuo discovered to his astonishment that he could no longer access any of his divine powers.
Meanwhile, Hongyu casually shook out his fist and smiled at the young man sitting helplessly on the ground with both hands covering his head.
This was, of course, the younger version of Chongyue—Shuo.
“You do understand what you are, don’t you, Shuo?”
Shuo ignored him, choosing instead to glare silently.
“As one of the fragments left behind by Sui, all it would take is one wrong move for the entirety of Great Yan to start hunting you down again.”
“Even if you’re so powerful that you believe Great Yan could never defeat or kill you, you can forget about ever living a peaceful life.”
“And besides…”
Hongyu walked over to Shuo, patted him on the shoulder, and continued smiling.
“You wouldn’t want your younger brothers and sisters to suffer the fate I just described, would you, eldest brother of the Sui fragments?”
“You might have confidence in your own strength…
but what about your siblings?”
Shuo slapped Hongyu’s hand off his shoulder and replied coldly.
“I have no interest in avenging Sui or seeking revenge against Great Yan.
You have my word.”
“That’s not something you can settle with a simple promise.
What matters is what the people think, what the Emperor thinks, and what Great Yan itself thinks.”
Hongyu remained entirely unbothered by Shuo’s youthful temper, continuing to speak with his usual cheerful smile.
“The moment Great Yan believes it can no longer control your destinies, suspicion and mistrust will begin taking root in people’s hearts.”
“And when that happens, what becomes of you and your siblings…
will no longer be something you can decide for yourselves.”
Shuo froze.
Having only recently come into existence, he had yet to fully understand the complexities of human nature.
Nevertheless, he found Hongyu’s argument surprisingly convincing.
“Tch…
So what exactly do you want?”
“Let me make one thing clear.
If your demands are unreasonable, I won’t agree to them.”
“And put them down.”
Shuo pointed at the other eleven Sui fragments, all of whom had been beaten into dragon bubbles by Hongyu’s personality-correcting fists and were still dangling from his makeshift fishing pole.
“Sure.”
Hongyu took the official token hanging from his waist and showed it to Shuo.
“I’m the Grand Warden of Great Yan’s Sui Regulator.
I’m responsible for managing all matters related to Sui.”
“If I want to protect you and your siblings, all I have to do is say the word.”
“I’d like to see who would dare accuse you of plotting a rebellion after I’ve personally vouched for you.”
Hongyu smiled and patted Shuo’s shoulder again.
“Of course, I trust you completely, Shuo.”
Shuo once again brushed his hand away.
He then stared at the silk bandages covering Hongyu’s eyes.
“So you were planning this from the very beginning, weren’t you?
All that talk was just to convince me to obediently follow you.”
“Fine.
What do you need me to do?”
“Am I supposed to become some kind of weapon for war, or perhaps…”
“No idea!”
“…?”
Shuo froze.
“What did you just say?”
“I said I have no idea.”
“All I have to do is keep an eye on you lot.
In other words, as long as I’m around and none of you cause some earth-shattering disaster, you’re free to do whatever you want.”
Hongyu looked at Shuo with his customary smile.
“After all, I’m the one calling the shots at the Sui Regulator.
The old Emperor doesn’t have a damn thing to do with it.”
“So basically, as long as you don’t start a rebellion, destroy the world, or do anything along those lines, I couldn’t care less what you do.”
Watching Shuo’s expression gradually turn blank, Hongyu decided he couldn’t be bothered to explain any further.
Instead, he left him with one final remark.
“Why don’t you just come along and see for yourself?”
With that, Hongyu hoisted his “fishing pole” over his shoulder, complete with its dangling collection of dragon bubbles, and walked away without looking back.
After standing there in a daze for a moment, Shuo hurriedly caught up with him.
“Then where exactly are we going?”
“No idea!”
“You seem to have complaints about practically every institution in Great Yan.
Over the years, I think I’ve heard you criticize just about every government organization in the country.”
“Except the Sui Regulator.”
Lin watched Wei Yenwu sitting across from him, hesitating over his next move on the board.
“Hurry up and make your move.
And stop coming to see me just to complain about whatever’s been troubling you lately.”
“If I can come visit you without any serious business to discuss, isn’t that a good thing?”
Wei Yenwu stroked his dragon whiskers and chuckled.
“If something serious enough happened that I needed to consult you, Lungmen would probably be facing a major crisis.”
“Heh.
I hardly think Lady Fumizuki discovering the secret money you’ve been hiding qualifies as a major crisis for Lungmen…”
Lin gave him a disdainful look.
‘Tch…’
‘The governor of Lungmen secretly stashing money away, getting caught, and ultimately breaking seventeen washboards from kneeling on them…’
‘How could that possibly not count as a major incident?!’
Wei Yenwu’s expression stiffened.
He coughed awkwardly before hurriedly changing the subject.
“The Sui Regulator, you say?”
His expression shifted.
“Come to think of it, I really don’t have anything bad to say about that organization.”
“When my younger brother and I were children, we often used to sneak away from our Grand Tutor and visit the Sui Regulator.”
“As far as official conduct goes, the Sui Regulator has always been the most relaxed institution in Great Yan’s government.”
“Some of its members don’t even bother wearing their official robes when attending court…”
Wei Yenwu spoke with a nostalgic expression.
“Oh?
Doesn’t that anger the Emperor?” Lin asked curiously.
“Didn’t I just tell you that my younger brother used to sneak off to the Sui Regulator when we were children?”
Wei Yenwu chuckled.
“I imagine most emperors, during their childhood, would eventually grow tired of the suffocating atmosphere of the imperial palace and escape to the Sui Regulator whenever they had the opportunity.”
“I’ve heard that when the organization was first established, its inaugural Grand Warden never wore official robes and rarely attended imperial court.”
“In fact, there isn’t even a portrait of that legendary figure anywhere in the imperial palace.”
“Oh?
But I’ve heard that the current Grand Warden is Sui’s second fragment.
Doesn’t he possess a portrait of the first Grand Warden?”
“He obtained it from his younger sister, one of the oldest and most accomplished painters in Great Yan.”
“Even my younger brother rarely gets to see her…”
“I imagine only a handful of fortunate individuals, along with the other Sui siblings, have managed to obtain one of her paintings.”
For a moment, silence settled between them.
Then Lin spoke.
“Old Wei…
did you steal one of my game pieces?”
“Ahem…”