Missing Thoughts Literature

After finishing her kneeling, Yu Sui returned to the courtyard where she lived. The Mute Woman and the others had already prepared everything to massage her knees. After a bit of fussing, she finally lay down on the bed.

She didn't have to go to the State Academy today. The sky had only just begun to lighten, but the heat from the strange fire still hadn't faded, making her sit up again. She wiped the sweat from her brow, then touched her cheek. The burning pain from earlier had disappeared, and by now there was no sign she'd been slapped.

She gently rubbed her cheek for a long while.

Yu Sui went back over everything from the beginning, and at last remembered Zhongli Que calling out to her.

"Don't go out!"

That meant Zhongli Que knew what would happen if she went outside.

Yu Sui fanned herself with one hand, then walked over and sat beside the Liudan Jade Stone, gazing at the strange fire in her palm as she pondered.

If she was merely average in talent, then every child around her was a genius, each gifted in some particular field.

Nangong Ming had tested her talent only once. Apparently, the result had disappointed him, because he'd never bothered with it again.

As for her three older brothers, they'd already decided which of the Nine Schools Techniques they would join after their first talent tests.

Nangong Ming had studied under the School of Names and was one of its Three Yama, possessing the Shura Eye.

The Shura Eye was an exclusive ability of the School of Names. With a single glance, it could see through your entire life. It was highly useful for assessing talent, but it also had a side that inspired fear:

It could see through every illusion and break every battle formation.

Though Nangong Ming hadn't tested Yu Sui's talent himself, he'd invited an Old Sorcerer from the Yin-Yang School. He'd watched the entire process with his Shura Eye, confirming that the Old Sorcerer's assessment was correct: his foolish daughter truly had mediocre aptitude and would never amount to much.

She would spend her life as nothing more than a vessel for the Breath Soil.

Children began cultivating the moment their talents were tested.

Yu Sui looked again at the Five Elements Light Core in her palm. She'd extracted six of them from the strange fire.

Although her limit had increased, she had no idea what to do with the Five Elements Light Cores she'd extracted. Apart from being able to obtain them repeatedly, were they useful for anything else?

Surely she wasn't supposed to just hold them and play with them. That would be a waste.

Yu Sui rested her chin in her hand and thought for a long time.

She knew too little about cultivation, and everything she knew came from books.

There were even fewer records of strange fires in this world. None of the books mentioned them.

The Five Elements Light Cores contained the power of cultivators' various Supernatural Abilities and Esoteric Skills, but she hadn't joined one of the Nine Schools to cultivate, and she didn't know any of their abilities or esoteric skills.

The Nine Schools Techniques.

If she couldn't learn what others had, she'd just create something of her own.

Yu Sui stood and placed the Five Elements Light Cores in different spots: by the head of her bed, on the dressing table, among the flowers in the courtyard, and at the gate.

The next day, Yu Sui went to the State Academy.

Princess Shangyang asked why she hadn't come the day before. Yu Sui said she hadn't been feeling well.

"When you went back, did your father scold you?" Princess Shangyang propped her head on one hand and smiled brightly. "I heard your father is presiding over the Lin Clan case. He couldn't get anywhere with your brother, so he must have come to you!"

Princess Shangyang was young, spoiled, and domineering, but she wasn't an idiot. Yu Sui had heard that she would join the Yin-Yang School in the future because her talent test showed the greatest compatibility with it.

Unfortunately, Princess Shangyang was infatuated with Gu Gan. Whenever she got the chance, she would say to Yu Sui, "Help me keep an eye on Gu Gan. Then, if you do something foolish again and the Prince scolds you, I can put in a good word for you and help you get scolded less, all right?"

Yu Sui, who was lying on her desk asleep, silently turned around and showed her the back of her head.

Princess Shangyang rolled her eyes in annoyance and stopped talking to her.

Yu Sui closed her eyes and ignored the racket around her. She detached her consciousness and tried to connect to the Five Elements Light Cores scattered throughout the Prince's Mansion through the strange fire.

They had been born from the strange fire, but her spiritual energy was mixed in with them, allowing them to regenerate again and again.

Perhaps they were connected to one another.

Yu Sui decided to try.

Her detached consciousness circled the strange fire. Through its dancing flames, she saw faint threads of fire flickering among the Five Elements Light Cores she'd left around the Prince's Mansion.

Through the strange fire, Yu Sui saw:

The Mute Woman and the maids entering through the gate. Some of the maids swept fallen leaves from the courtyard, changed the bedding, and lit incense in the room. Then they placed fresh branches of flowers in a vase and took away the wilting ones.

A bird landed among the flowers and stole their nectar. Hearing the Mute Woman open the door, it flapped its wings and flew away.

Yu Sui opened her eyes, then closed them again.

She'd successfully put the useless to work.

*

Even after separating the Five Elements Light Cores from the strange fire, Yu Sui could still activate their connection and send her consciousness to them.

Yu Sui practiced for seven or eight days, leaving the Five Elements Light Cores in different places to observe what happened to them.

A Five Elements Light Core separated from the strange fire and left outside would disappear on its own after twelve shichen.

Fortunately, they were tiny, only the size of a fingernail. Hidden away, they were hard to notice, and no one would suspect that a lunatic would pull out her own Five Elements Light Cores and leave them lying around for fun.

As Yu Sui grew older, she could no longer use her status as a "child" to get useful information from Nangong Ming and Lady Su. Even matters related to the Breath Soil had become a rare topic of conversation.

Now that she'd discovered what the Five Elements Light Cores could do, Yu Sui decided to leave one with Lady Su and see if she could overhear anything.

Lady Su had been keeping an eye on her lessons lately, so Yu Sui had to report to her every day. After reciting her textbook on her knees outside the door, Yu Sui went in and poured herself a cup of tea. Just then, Gu Gan arrived, and Lady Su rose and went behind the screen.

Yu Sui seized the opportunity and placed a Five Elements Light Core on a shelf behind the screen.

She made an excuse about being hungry and left. On the way, she took a detour back to her room and asked the Mute Woman to bring dinner there.

Yu Sui sat beneath the Liudan Jade Stone, rested her chin in both hands, and closed her eyes to focus.

The strange fire swayed gently. Through it, Yu Sui saw the scene around the Five Elements Light Core:

Lady Su entered the room, followed by Gu Gan. Frowning, Gu Gan said, "Lin Shouxian betrayed my father. I want to take his head with my own hands. Why did you act first?"

"You want revenge, but you can't rush it," Lady Su said. "You're too weak right now. You only need to focus on becoming stronger. As for the rest..."

She had only spoken halfway when her brows suddenly furrowed and her gaze turned toward the screen.

Yu Sui froze. In an instant, she felt an invisible pressure pass through the Five Elements Light Core to her. A dangerous, deadly pursuit was flying toward her.

Lady Su strolled toward the screen, her sharp gaze sweeping over the room.

Yu Sui instinctively wanted to crush the Five Elements Light Core. Miraculously, the one hidden on the bookshelf obeyed her command and vanished without a sound.

The scene within the strange fire disappeared.

Yu Sui touched her eyebrows, her dark eyes calm and thoughtful.

So that was how perceptive a Thirteenth Realm expert was. She'd been too naïve to think she could use this method to gather information from Lady Su and Nangong Ming.

After that close call, Yu Sui was far more cautious when using the Five Elements Light Cores.

But she hadn't come away empty-handed.

At least she knew that Gu Gan truly bore a blood feud, and that Nangong Ming and Lady Su were both supporting his revenge plans.

Yu Sui had also considered leaving a Five Elements Light Core at Gu Gan's home, but then she remembered that guards were always following him. Those guards were bound to be at least Tenth Realm masters. It was quite possible that Nangong Ming would visit, too. If he discovered it, all he'd have to do was investigate who had been to Gu Gan's home, and the suspect list would narrow immediately.

The risk was too great, so Yu Sui gave up on the idea.

*

Gu Gan needed to become stronger, so he naturally trained with all his might, while the Nangong Mansion acted as his backer and helped him find resources.

Yu Sui took advantage of visits to Gu Gan's home to learn from him.

Gu Gan didn't notice her ulterior motives at all. Whenever he sat down to practice the Breathing Technique, Yu Sui would carry a little stool over and sit beside him, resting her chin in her hands as she watched.

When Gu Gan opened his eyes, he would see her small, delicate face and bright, gemlike eyes. With her head tilted and her hands propping up her cheeks, she looked obedient and adorable, making his heart soften.

"Are you hungry?" Gu Gan asked after thinking for a moment. "Should we eat back at the Prince's Mansion, or here?"

"I'm not hungry yet." Yu Sui shook her head and glanced at the sky. "If we eat here, will Brother Gu go buy the food?"

Gu Gan stood up. "I'll make it myself."

Yu Sui feigned surprise. "Wow, Brother Gu, you can cook?"

"I used to do it all the time," Gu Gan said.

"But don't the maids usually do that?" Yu Sui asked.

Gu Gan sighed and headed toward his little kitchen. "What do you want to eat? Never mind, I can't make the delicacies from the Prince's Mansion. You'll have to settle for home cooking."

"Anything's fine." Yu Sui tilted her head to look at him. "As long as Brother Gu makes it, I'll eat it."

Gu Gan agreed.

Yu Sui followed him. As she watched him rinse the rice and wash the vegetables, she rolled up her sleeves and said, "I'll help, too."

"Don't touch anything!" Gu Gan stopped her at once. "Just wait over there. If you help, I'm afraid even the porridge will get burned."

"Oh." Yu Sui picked up her little stool again and sat at the doorway. She blinked at him and said, "Brother Gu, I'll split my parents with you. You can be one of the children in the Prince's Mansion, too. Then I can see you there every day, and we won't have to go back and forth."

Gu Gan glanced back at her, exasperated. "I have my own parents."

Yu Sui pretended not to know. "Where are they?"

Gu Gan paused while rinsing the rice and said quietly, "They're dead."

Yu Sui merely blinked in confusion.

Gu Gan had already changed the subject. "You're willing to share your parents with me, but your three brothers wouldn't be. Besides, your father is the most honored prince in Qingyang Nation. He can do whatever he wants there, and you'd still be willing to share him?"

Yu Sui said, "Father and Mother both like you. As long as they agree, that's fine. It doesn't matter if my brothers don't."

Her words made Gu Gan laugh. He laughed so hard he could barely catch his breath, then bent over and crouched down, laughing for a long time.

Yu Sui didn't understand how this man could find everything so funny.

*

By the time the sky had just darkened, Gu Gan had already filled the table with food. Yu Sui picked up her chopsticks and tried everything in small bites.

Gu Gan was about to ask if she liked it when the Listening Wind Ruler at the edge of the table began to glow faintly.

Yu Sui glanced at it from the corner of her eye. The Listening Wind Ruler was dark green, its light gleaming like jade, and it was about three inches long. Gu Gan picked it up and swiped a finger upward across its surface, revealing a message someone had sent him.

Gu Gan glanced at it twice, then put it down.

The Listening Wind Ruler was an advanced creation jointly developed by the School of Dao, the Yin-Yang School, and the School of Techniques. As long as it could connect to a nearby Communication Array, people could exchange messages even from a thousand li away.

It was as useful as the phones Yu Sui had liked to use in her previous life.

Across the Xuangu Continent, the six nations had set up countless Communication Arrays. Except for a few desolate places that no living person could enter, nearly every region was covered by a Communication Array.

The Listening Wind Ruler was a luxury item. It was so expensive that ordinary people couldn't afford it, and those who could afford it weren't ordinary people.

Yu Sui didn't have one because she was still young and had never left the Imperial Capital. The Mute Woman and the guards who served her all carried Listening Wind Rulers on them, ensuring they could pass along information at any time.

However, there were public and private versions. Listening Wind Rulers used for official business by people like the guards of the Royal City were public ones.

As the Supernatural Abilities and Esoteric Skills of the three schools were refined and improved, the Listening Wind Ruler became more useful and its range of applications grew wider.

The Listening Wind Ruler Gu Gan had put down lit up again. He ignored it, and Yu Sui asked, "Who is it?"

"Princess Shangyang." Gu Gan gestured that she didn't need to pay attention to it.

Yu Sui asked with an innocent air, "Brother Gu, can people break into messages sent through the Listening Wind Ruler?"

Gu Gan explained to her like a little adult. "Impossible. The Listening Wind Ruler was made with the abilities of the School of Dao, the Yin-Yang School, and the School of Techniques. It contains three vast and incredibly complex esoteric skills. Even their creators can't break into it."

Yu Sui asked in surprise, "Why not? Didn't those three schools create the Listening Wind Ruler?"

"The Listening Wind Ruler isn't important. What matters is the Central Hub of the Communication Array that sends the messages." Gu Gan shoveled a couple of bites into his mouth, continuing to explain to his foolish childhood friend. "Have you ever seen a Communication Array? There's a massive one at the State Academy, bigger than this whole house."

"It's covered in Heavenly Stems and Earthly Branches, Yin-Yang and the Five Elements, and Secret Text of the Twenty-Eight Mansions. The characters formed by combining and transforming all those things are beyond anything people can imagine."

Yu Sui had never been to see it.

She nodded repeatedly as she listened. When Gu Gan finished, he asked, "Why don't you have a Listening Wind Ruler?"

Yu Sui looked confused. "I don't know."

Gu Gan sighed. "Fine. Tell me when you get one."

Yu Sui said, "Mm-hm."

*

That night, Yu Sui lay on her bed at the Prince's Mansion, staring into space. What if she could break into the Communication Array? Every time she thought about it, her heart grew strangely calm, as if a force were soothing and guiding her.

Yu Sui asked Gu Gan where the Communication Array at the State Academy was. During the midday break, she went there alone.

A strong wind had risen that day, tossing the flowering trees on both sides of the path.

Blossoms and leaves drifted freely through the air, falling and rising again. Yu Sui climbed the steps and entered the Communication Institute. Beyond the gate stood mountain after mountain, glowing with light.

A shining star formation covered the ground, with countless stars fallen into its depths. Dense characters covered the triangular mountains, spinning rapidly, while the ribbons wrapped around them turned slowly, their numbers and symbols appearing and disappearing.

Numbers.

Runes.

They alternated endlessly, a wondrous design powered by an immense, mysterious force that ran through and connected everything. Standing among the mountains, Yu Sui was as small as an ant.

She looked up. The mountains were reflected in her pitch-black pupils, and she committed every flashing number and rune to memory.

Yu Sui gazed at the Communication Array. To other people, its communication codes were moving at incredible speed, but to her, they moved slowly enough for her to make out every piece of information.