[Subtitle(text="'We wish to free the masses from suffering, not to aid a single ruler... Fate shall play its hand in time; no one person controls it...'", x=50, y=520, alignment="center", size=24, delay=0.04, width=1000)]
'I only pray for an early end to the strife, that the people would no longer suffer its torments...'
Last Mid-Autumn Festival, Downtown was flooded with people watching the festival lanterns. Patrol didn't have enough hands to keep everyone off the roads; it almost got hairy out there.
L.G.D. Officer On Duty
The Commissioner was fuming over it...
Hoshiguma
Oho. Probably shouldn't have done that.
L.G.D. Officer On Duty
The whole squad got punished for it. Double patrol hours for the month.
L.G.D. Officer On Duty
The Commissioner even told us to be extra careful now, since Chief Wei has been out of town.
Hoshiguma
Sure. Better safe than sorry.
Hoshiguma
Well, good work, boys. I did just happen to bring in some chow, so share it amongst yourselves.
L.G.D. Officer On Duty
We can't possibly take all this...
Hoshiguma
C'mon, listen to your stomach growling. Have a bite.
L.G.D. Officer On Duty
Wait, what was that—
L.G.D. Officer On Duty
It came out of nowhere. What kind of thunderclap was that?
<p=2>Three days before the day of the full moon</>Three days before the day of the full moon
Yun Qingping
Are we... outside?
Lin Qingyan
Those Feranmut proxies... have quite the mystical prowess.
Lin Qingyan
Is the Placation finally complete?
Zuo Le
Perhaps...
Zuo Le
No... just how many times have we tried? Is that complete?
Zuo Le
How long have we spent in the Garden of Grotesqueries?
Lin Qingyan
Based on the dates on the Tianshi Bureau's terminal... it's been more than two weeks since we entered the Garden.
Zuo Le
More than half a month? Why do I feel as if we've spent even longer than that...?
Zuo Le
We don't know if anything's happened in the Tomb of Sui since we've been here...
Yun Qingping
Zuo, you asked 'how many times'...?
Zuo Le
I'm getting the sense this isn't our first time standing on this spot.
Zuo Le
Concluding the Placation, taking the jade rule, leaving the Garden, and going back to town... I feel like we've done it all multiple times, and also...
Zuo Le
Sometimes it's Mr. Yi who greets us, while other times the weiqi player blocks our path.
Zuo Le
Sometimes the bestial Hou turns into a butterfly and gravely injures the bestial Sui... but other times we fall into a geist trap and get chased out of the Garden for no apparent reason.
Lin Qingyan
And this hunch isn't a recent realization?
Zuo Le
It was a faint feeling at first, but it was only just now that I suddenly realized we seem to have been repeating our Garden visits.
Yun Qingping
If that is the case, maybe the Placation is finally complete?
Zuo Le
...I certainly hope that's the case.
Zuo Le
Right, who has the token? It seems Mr. Yi hands the rule to a different person each time we complete the rite...
Lin Qingyan
I don't have it.
Yun Qingping
Neither do I.
Zuo Le
Then—
A small object falls from Zuo Le's pocket.
To everyone's surprise, it is no jade rule, but a tiny 'doll'.
Zuo Le
What...?
Zuo Le
Auntie Lin, Yun... Have we seen this before?
???
Yo, so you made it out alive. Pretty tough, huh?
Lin Qingyan
Zushi!
Zuo Le
Zu... Zushi.
'Old Tianshi'
Why are you calling me that when you're not even a Tianshi disciple, kiddo?
Zuo Le
Um, how should I address you then...?
'Old Tianshi'
Who cares about titles? Your qinggong's good and you move quick, so just get to wherever you need to be.
Zuo Le
Where do I need to be...?
'Old Tianshi'
What should a Candleholder do after getting the token from the Garden?
Zuo Le
Return to the Sui Regulator and submit the jade rule along with a report.
'Old Tianshi'
Then begone! No more dawdling!
Zuo Le
But the jade rule—
'Old Tianshi'
A token's a token. Maybe there's a reason you didn't get the jade rule this time, but just hurry back to the Sui Regulator already. Or are you scared that proxy's gonna report you for theft?
Zuo Le
Qianbei, there's something I'd like to ask about Baizao—
'Old Tianshi'
Just be quick. Who's the Candleholder here, you or me?
'Old Tianshi'
Won't you know the answer once you see the city yourself anyway?
'Old Tianshi'
Act your age. I'm sure you know how to adapt to a situation, don't you?
Zuo Le
...Yes.
Lin Qingyan
I'll go with Zuo Le.
'Old Tianshi'
You stay.
Lin Qingyan
Zushi...?
'Old Tianshi'
Baizao doesn't have much use for a judiciary at the moment, so it'd be a pointless trip for you. You'll be more useful here.
'Old Tianshi'
Same goes for the Yun kid. Neither of you is a member of Sui Regulator, so stay. You'll make less trouble for all of us.
The three exchange glances, and silently agree to the Tianshi's directive.
Zuo Le puts the token back into his pocket, and after bidding farewell to the party, leaps off northward.
Yun Qingping
Old... Qianbei, there's something I want to ask...
Yun Qingping
Where is the young lady who claimed to be of the Shanhaizhong, the one you took away before we entered the Tomb?
'Old Tianshi'
Oh? I didn't think a dimwit like you would concern yourself with that lass.
Yun Qingping
I just remembered, she mentioned there was something from the Garden that could keep Yan and the bestial Sui from coming to blows.
Yun Qingping
You granted us permission to enter the Garden, but you didn't examine the token Zuo Le had at all.
Yun Qingping
Does that mean... you believe she spoke the truth?
'Old Tianshi'
How intriguing... Smarty pants like you are so different from the martial types.
Yun Qingping
Of course, I believe you have your reasons for sending him alone, but I'm worried Zuo Le might come to harm if the token is truly important.
'Old Tianshi'
Hmph, to speak of safety... no one's truly safe right now.
'Old Tianshi'
If that kid really has what it takes to be a Candleholder, now's the time to show it.
Liang
...
Yi
What's wrong? I rarely ever see you so down.
Liang
I just worry they might not manage to deliver that token.
Liang
Those who know what the token truly is can only stand and watch, while those helping us don't even know where it should go.
Yi
That Old Tianshi has already done us a grand favor. The rest is up to the family's fate.
Liang
I didn't think those youths would get involved in this, and I'm not sure whether to be relieved or worried.
Yi
Many have come to this garden over the past century.
Yi
But this group of youngsters was the first to retrieve that glimmer of hope from our memories left behind and bring it back to this realm.
Yi
No matter what, we must believe that their fates are somewhat linked to ours.
Liang
You speak sense, sir.
Yi
Well, myriad sights abound in the land, but encounters are still up to fate.
Yi
You could buy a ticket early, do your research, memorize the map, stand outside the garden until it opens... but then a storm comes, and you see nothing at all.
Yi
Or you could enter through a random side gate and roam around aimlessly, but as long as you have a goal in mind, you might be pleasantly surprised by what you find.
Yi
Visitors come with interest, but it always wanes with time... It's not proper to force this enthusiasm to endure.
Yi
So let's just relax and wait here, and protect this garden...
Yi
This beautiful place is honestly quite difficult to abandon.
You say we must have rules, but then who should set them in the first place?
Peculiar-looking Artisan
The virtuous, of course—only they can convince the masses, and rules can only stand when accepted by all.
Plain-Dressed Elder
Don't you see the problem with that?
Plain-Dressed Elder
We have to first find virtuous people to set rules, but what deems one virtuous? Doesn't it mean we have to lay down some rules to find these people?
Plain-Dressed Elder
Ju, the ten thousand years of your life have been a waste, if you can't even decide if the fowlbeast or egg came first.
Peculiar-looking Artisan
Hah! You're just unreasonably putting the cart before the burdenbeast to suit your fallacy.
Peculiar-looking Artisan
We already have rules called 'righteousness'. You think they just appeared from thin air?
Ch'en
What...?
Ch'en
What are you talking about...?
Plain-Dressed Elder
Oh, look. This one's about to wake up too.
Plain-Dressed Elder
Awake? Or dreaming?
Peculiar-looking Artisan
Do you even have to ask? Just look at her, all lost. Obviously, she's dreaming.
Plain-Dressed Elder
Awake in a dream, yet not truly woken. The girl is suffering from a headache over the dilemma she faces.
Peculiar-looking Artisan
If you're stubborn and refuse to see sense, you'll surely run up against barriers, both physical and mental.
Plain-Dressed Elder
You're right about that... her knowing and doing don't match. She's contradicting herself—wants non-action, yet also wants to act.
Peculiar-looking Artisan
Now, she seeks a tangible form of 'justice', and even wants to pocket it and take it away. I think she's far more obsessed than that good-for-nothing disciple of mine.
Peculiar-looking Artisan
Yes, how could she enjoy such a delusional dream if she weren't the most obsessed person walking this realm?
Plain-Dressed Elder
No need to be so harsh, Ju. Plenty of people out there climb trees to catch fins or strike ice to make fire. What can we even do?
