Chapter 826 - 77: Recorder

"No need."

Chen Lusi withdrew his gaze, noticed the change at the tip of Si Yujie’s ears, but didn’t pay much attention to it.

He just felt a bit sentimental.

So even someone as full of big-sister charm as Si Yujie can feel shy, huh.

And just as that thought rose.

Si Yujie suddenly turned her head, looked at Chen Lusi, and asked with a perfectly normal expression, "Then compared to Lin Ying... how is it?"

"..."

Chen Lusi’s expression suddenly froze.

"Answer."

Si Yujie showed a mischievous look on her face: "Since you already said the polite words, then say it all the way."

"It wasn’t polite words."

Chen Lusi was a little helpless: "I really do think it’s pretty."

"Then whose is prettier."

Si Yujie seemed determined to ask to the end, smiling lightly as she looked at Chen Lusi: "And don’t tell me you haven’t seen Lin Ying’s, I won’t believe it."

"Why does everyone like comparing this."

Chen Lusi chose to respond with a question.

Although he wasn’t exactly sensitive in many respects.

But probably because Lin Ying has a younger sister... when it comes to comparisons, he wasn’t actually that dull.

After all, he knew the consequences of saying the wrong thing.

"Most of the time we don’t like being compared; if someone else compares us, we even feel disgusted."

Hearing this, Si Yujie didn’t choose to expose Chen Lusi’s little trick of using a question to counter a question. Instead, she raised both hands and stretched lazily, then clasped her hands behind her back, her ten slender, pale fingers twisting together. Looking ahead, she straightened her waist and walked forward with light steps: "But at certain moments we do care a lot, like just now those two idiots almost got into a fight."

Having said that.

She looked toward Tang Language, who was playing with sand, and Xia Panqiu, who was watching her play with sand.

Chen Lusi was stunned: "...Got into a fight?"

"Mm, I don’t really understand that idiot Tang Language’s mood, her personality is too off-the-wall. But Xia Panqiu’s mood should be more or less the same as mine right now. After all, we do have some basic confidence... it’s just that I asked it out loud."

Si Yujie casually added, but didn’t continue explaining. Instead, she turned back again and smiled: "Alright, stop trying that trick of answering a question with a question; I won’t make things hard for you... So what exactly is the thing in your hand? If you don’t want to answer, then forget it."

"Descriptive Book."

Hearing this, Chen Lusi was still a bit puzzled, but he didn’t dwell on it. He lowered his head to glance at the heavy book in his hand: "Kunlun’s Book of Descriptions."

"Book of Descriptions..."

At that, Si Yujie slightly knitted her delicate brows.

"Mm."

Chen Lusi knew she had also heard the name of this book, and said softly: "It’s that legendary Book of Descriptions that records Authority Abilities."

"Then why... is it in your hands?"

Si Yujie’s steps came to a complete halt; she turned around to face Chen Lusi, and said in some surprise: "I remember this doesn’t belong to anyone, it can’t..."

"It really doesn’t belong to anyone, and can’t be controlled by anyone."

Chen Lusi knew what she wanted to say, and nodded.

In fact.

The moment the Book of Descriptions fell into his hands, he had learned the most basic rules of this book.

"But."

Chen Lusi’s tone shifted; looking at the cool Si Yujie in front of him, he raised the Book of Descriptions in his hand and said softly: "This book is man-made, not some inborn thing. It has an author, and that author didn’t write this Book of Descriptions just to put it on display, nor purely to make it some sort of lookup tool... It also bears a certain duty."

Si Yujie: "...Duty?"

"Mm."

Chen Lusi looked at the Book of Descriptions in his hand: "For example... updating."

Si Yujie: "..."

"All Authority Abilities come from human thought currents."

Chen Lusi explained softly: "That’s something you taught me back then. And are human thought currents unchanging? Of course not. The Queen Mother of the West currently residing in the soul of Mount Tai, precisely because of changes in thought currents, has had Her image and the Authority She wields undergo earth-shaking transformations.

There are four different names for Her in the Book of Descriptions.

And the Authority each name represents is different—starting from a beast that rules over punishment and slaughter, to now the foremost among goddesses.

The changes in thought currents in between clearly weren’t something that happened overnight, but the result of a long passage of time.

And if the names of Gods are all recorded inside, who is responsible for updating them?

Or more precisely, over several thousand years of shifting thought currents, who could accurately update each change in the Queen Mother’s Authority Ability and image that comes with each shift in thought?"

"..."

Si Yujie looked up in astonishment at Chen Lusi’s sharply outlined face: "You can’t be trying to say..."

"Mm."

Chen Lusi nodded and let out a breath: "Mm. The Book of Descriptions indeed doesn’t belong to anyone, and can’t be controlled by anyone... except the current Recorder."

Si Yujie: "..."

"If my guess is right."

Chen Lusi went on: "Stripping Authority is probably a function derived from the Book of Descriptions... During the Feudal Dynasty era, aside from the ruling dynasty itself, no one had the qualification, and no one had the ability, to manipulate the Book of Descriptions. How exactly it was manipulated, whether it was some vague, elusive fate, or some concrete individual, doesn’t matter.

What matters is that only the heroes who overthrew the old dynasty and founded a new one had the ability to do such a thing.

In the Pre-Qin Period, including the early Qin and Han, they probably were just perfecting this Book of Descriptions. But later, when that Qin Stream became the Yellow Springs Mainstream.

It was no longer as simple as perfection; it also became, to some extent, a mechanism for constraining Empowerers.

After all, once Emperor Shi succeeded in completing the unification, the Yellow Springs Branch and the Celestial Gods, Earth Deities, and Human Ghosts derived from it either merged into the Mainstream or disappeared outright. The Authority Ability system, originally like countless tangled lines, gradually became a net.

A net that, while complex, basically had discernible patterns."

Speaking of which.

Chen Lusi once again slightly raised the Book of Descriptions in her hand: "And the very first strand that weaves into that ’net’ is this book... I used to wonder how a Feudal Dynasty actually handled and managed all those numerous, messy Empowerers. The Jade Seal, fate, Imperial Authority—after hearing all that, it feels like they could all be used to manage things, but the workload would be absurdly huge.

And it would be absurdly overbearing. If they could really reach that level, if Imperial Authority was truly that powerful, then the way so many eras saw their nations destroyed would’ve been far too easy, and a lot of issues just wouldn’t add up.

So... maybe this Book of Descriptions is also one link in managing and handling all those complex Empowerers—and a crucial link at that. And for a dynasty to completely be dismantled, maybe aside from the common folk being unable to survive and thus weakening Imperial Authority, ambitious schemers rising, foreign and domestic crises and so on, there’s another factor..."

Si Yujie widened her beautiful eyes and said softly: "...The Book of Descriptions loses its Recorder."

"Right."

Chen Lusi nodded: "Of course, that’s just my guess."

"Then now you..."

"I don’t know either."

Chen Lusi shook his head: "I can sense that the Book of Descriptions appearing in my hand is for the sake of recording my Authority Ability—a completely new Authority Ability that’s never existed before—and the one who records... is me. At the same time, I was suddenly granted a certain permission, to read the Authority Abilities recorded in the Book of Descriptions, to record and drive away... certain Authority Abilities.

Just now, the Buddha behind Huai Yuan is no longer in the Book of Descriptions. He... or more precisely, the Authority He represents, will never appear in the Divine Land again."

"..."

Si Yujie’s stunning face was full of shock as she stared at Chen Lusi.

And at this moment.

Because the two had stopped walking.

The little girl behind them had already come up to their backs.

"Mom..." Si Jiayan was holding Lan’s hand, and softly called out to her own mother, snapping Si Yujie out of it.

Si Yujie turned her head, looking at her daughter.

"...Let’s go visit Sister Panqiu."

The little girl sized up her mom, then glanced at Chen Lusi, quietly voicing a request, and covertly shooting her mom a "go for it" look.

Si Yujie nodded on reflex, completely missing her daughter’s expression.

The two little girls walked off hand in hand.

Only after they had gone some distance.

Did Si Yujie come back to herself, turning again to look at Chen Lusi, who was watching the two girls leave: "So just now you didn’t let Zhou Jian and the others see the Book of Descriptions because..."

"Because for now I don’t even know how to handle it."

Chen Lusi drew back his gaze: "I don’t even know what will happen after my Authority Ability gets recorded into the Book of Descriptions. The Ten Halls... dealing with them is such a pain."

That really was how he felt.

He went to the Yellow Springs to solve Lan’s problem.

But after Lan’s problem was solved, it seemed to drag out new problems in turn.

Now he wasn’t even sure what exactly they’d acknowledged—Lan... or something else entirely.

"..."

Si Yujie stood in front of Chen Lusi, looking at him holding the Book of Descriptions, and suddenly asked: "If... after you record your Authority Ability, you become the new Recorder, what happens?"

"No idea."

Chen Lusi shook his head: "Are there any similar legends in history? Like some weirdo who carries a book that can strip others of their Authority Abilities or something..."

"No."

Hearing his question.

Si Yujie immediately shook her head: "Never. What’s openly appeared has only ever been Imperial Authority and the Yellow Springs."

"Then there are only two possibilities. Either I’m wrong."

Chen Lusi thought for a bit and replied: "Or the Recorder doesn’t exist as a physical entity..."

Pa—

He hadn’t even finished the sentence.

His hand was grabbed.

Chen Lusi’s words broke off. He lowered his head to glance down.

Si Yujie was gripping his hand tight; she was squeezing so hard that the joints of her fingers were turning slightly white.

Chen Lusi lifted his head, looking at the voluptuous, gorgeous face before him.

Si Yujie pressed her glossy red lips together, her beautiful eyes filled with fear...

And this was the first time Chen Lusi had ever seen such obvious fear in her eyes.

He was slightly taken aback: "What’s wrong?"

"..."

Si Yujie jolted back to herself, also glancing down, then slowly releasing his hand: "N-nothing."

"?"

Chen Lusi found it odd, but after thinking for a moment, didn’t press her. Instead, he carried on the earlier topic: "Anyway, at the end of the day, all of this is just speculation. Later I’ll go meet with Ji Xin and Luo Mountain..."

Si Yujie didn’t take in a word.

She stared at his profile, her mind flickering with tangled thoughts.

Very soon.

She, who had been walking shoulder to shoulder with Chen Lusi, fell half a step behind.

And as she looked at his back, Si Yujie... once again recalled the scene from not long ago, remembered her own hesitation and turmoil.

"Sister Siyu, what on earth is going on with you?"

At this moment, Chen Lusi also noticed her odd behavior and turned around.

Si Yujie’s gaze slowly lifted, returning to his sharply defined face. She took a deep breath, and suddenly said: "...Come swimming with me!"

...To hell with hesitation!

Chen Lusi froze: "...Huh?"