"It was easy enough to be fast. The affairs of the world were like flowing water: below it, go against it; within it, follow it... above it, hold it in your palm.
"Yet those who 'defied the current' were muddleheaded and beyond counting; those who 'followed the current' saw clearly, whether few or many. Only those who controlled the whole board—at most three or five, at least one or two—stood at the very pinnacle of this world. They influenced and collided with one another. Had Heavenly Lord prepared himself?
"If you have prepared, then you must find a thread. As they say, 'Pull a single hair and the whole body moves.' Without that thread, at most you can strike at the periphery. Do not speak of 'controlling the whole board,' lest you become a laughingstock!"
Yu Ci burst out laughing. "You deliberately went off on a tangent, didn't you? I only asked how to maintain a 'fast pace.'"
After a brief pause, other thoughts stirred within him after all, and he simply turned the question back on her.
"If it were you, what would you do?"
"Me?"
Madame Yellow Springs smiled. "I am an adviser, a strategist, and must rely upon others. If someone wished to do such a thing, I could assist them, help them communicate, forge alliances and divide opponents. The time would be just right."
"That really does sound a little like a spirit shaman. No wonder..."
At those words, Madame Yellow Springs lightly pressed her lips together and pointed a slender finger at him. Her smile was not quite a smile; she carried a touch of youthful innocence, as though her childlike heart had never faded. It was an expression Yu Ci had never seen on her before.
Yu Ci knew he had misspoken. Raising a