Days were always like fine sand slipping through one's fingers, silently falling away before one noticed. In the blink of an eye, time vanished without a trace, like dewdrops on lotus leaves—the instant they fell into the water, swift and decisive.
More than three months had passed. Three months was neither short nor long for most people, but it was enough for many things to happen.
Yet to Fu Hua, it had passed in an instant. It was as though... she had done nothing, and time had simply gone by.
But for Fu Hua, time... truly seemed to be the cheapest thing of all.
The leisurely years had long since made Fu Hua indifferent to the passage of time.
Whether for the true Fu Hua, or for the "her" who had once been a captain... and then experienced more than a dozen worlds, it was all beneath mention.
"Creation shifts without pause. Yesterday's songs of joy become today's sorrows."
Fu Hua sat half-reclined on a cushion. Before her was a small Go board covered in black and white stones. Ordinary people could not see it... but in Fu Hua's eyes, two dragons were entwined upon the board: one white dragon and one black dragon.
Of course... no one sat across from Fu Hua to play Go with her. She was playing against herself... or rather... against another version of herself.
Fu Hua could easily accomplish things others could not, such as splitting her attention between two tasks.
At that moment, Fu Hua was playing against another "self." But since both sides were her, the match was currently evenly balanced.
Looking at the board before her, Fu Hua pondered for several minutes. She extended a slender, jade-like hand from her sleeve, picked up a black stone from the side, and placed