In Dandong City, Flat Rabbit suddenly sneezed, the kind of sneeze that came without warning and carried with it a strange sense of self-importance, as though somewhere in the vastness of the realm, someone had just spoken his name with great sincerity.
He rubbed his nose, grinning from ear to ear.
"Someone's thinking about me again."
Zheng Gouzi glanced sideways at him, his expression filled with the kind of skepticism reserved for people who had long since accepted that their companion lived in a world slightly detached from reality.
"Keep dreaming. Who would think about you?"
Flat Rabbit snorted, puffing up with exaggerated pride, as if sheer confidence alone could overwrite public opinion.
"This Rabbit Lord has plenty of admirers, alright?"
Zheng Gouzi tilted his head, his tone turning deliberately casual, which in itself was a sign that he was about to say something deeply offensive.
"I doubt you even have more fans than Chen Qianhu."
Flat Rabbit froze for half a breath, then suddenly lit up with delight.
"To even be compared with Chen Qianhu is already a victory," he declared, almost glowing with satisfaction. "After that song, 'I'm Ugly but Gentle,' he's practically a celebrity among the common folk, so I don't need to surpass him, I just need to be mentioned in the same breath, and that means I've already won."
Zheng Gouzi rolled his eyes.
"I meant before he sang that song."
Silence.
A heavy, suffocating, utterly merciless silence.
Flat Rabbit's grin collapsed.
"That… is a bit awkward."
He coughed once, straightened his posture, and tried to recover what little dignity he had left.
"Impossible. Absolutely impossible. I am loved by all, admired wherever I go, welcomed by carts and flowers alike, so how could I possibly lose to the earlier version of Chen Qianhu?"
Zheng Gouzi burst into laughter.
"Admit it, you're too ridiculous, and no one actually likes you."
Just as the words landed, footsteps approached from a distance, steady and purposeful, carrying with them the unmistakable air of someone who had actual responsibilities.
He Ticheng arrived, his expression faintly strange, as though he himself had not yet decided whether what he was about to say belonged to the realm of politics or absurd theater.
"Rabbit. Gouzi. I need you both."
The two straightened immediately.
"Instructor He!"
He Ticheng nodded, then spoke without unnecessary preamble.
"News has just arrived from Sichuan. Minister Wang Weizhang, along with a large number of native chieftains, has officially declared support for Flat Rabbit as the representative of the Sichuan people, to participate in Shared Governance."
Flat Rabbit blinked.
Then blinked again.
And finally pointed at his own nose, as though verifying that it still existed.
"Me?"
"Yes," He Ticheng replied calmly. "You."
Flat Rabbit's face shifted into something between shock and existential confusion.
"Why me?"
He Ticheng let out a small laugh, not mocking, but rather the kind that came from watching events unfold in ways that no manual could have predicted.
"To explain that, one must begin with the situation in Sichuan," he said, his tone turning slightly more analytical. "The most suitable figure, in terms of status and legitimacy, would have been the Prince of Shu, but he has already been taken for labor reform due to his misconduct, and beyond him, there is no single figure capable of commanding authority across all factions, as the region is fragmented among various native powers."
Flat Rabbit nodded instinctively, then immediately shook his head.
"But I can't do that either."
He Ticheng smiled.
"No, you can."
The certainty in his voice was so absolute that it left no room for argument.
"Wang Weizhang only just proposed your name, and not a single faction opposed it. On the contrary, all of them agreed."
Flat Rabbit's brain, which had never been particularly burdened by excessive processing, now seemed to struggle under the sudden weight of collective approval.
"Ah…?"
He Ticheng continued, his gaze drifting slightly as though recalling the past.
"When Gao Village first entered Sichuan, I led Gao Chuwu, Zheng Daniu, you, and Zheng Gouzi as part of the initial group, and later the administrative teams followed, assisting the various mountain communities according to Dao Xuan Tianzun's policies."
He paused, then added with a hint of amusement.
"Everyone did their job well, but none of them left a lasting impression, while you, through your… rather unconventional methods, somehow made the entire region remember you."
Flat Rabbit scratched his head, suddenly grinning again.
"That must be because of Rabbit Brand Trading Company, right?"
For once, he was not wrong.
Others had followed policy.
He had followed instinct.
And between those two approaches lay a difference that no document could fully describe, yet every human heart could immediately recognize.
Later, when Flat Rabbit established Rabbit Brand, selling Sichuan's local products and donating every single coin of profit without keeping even the smallest share for himself, the effect became undeniable.
It was not efficiency.
It was sincerity.
And sincerity, inconvenient as it often was, had a way of reaching places that systems could not.
He Ticheng shook his head, half amused, half exasperated.
"Wang Weizhang is acting recklessly, eager to claim merit, and he did not even consult you before making this declaration, while you are still here in Dandong. If you do not return, and the people of Sichuan feel deceived, the situation could turn from opportunity into disaster."
Flat Rabbit's expression snapped into panic.
"Then I need to go to Sichuan immediately."
He Ticheng nodded.
"I will arrange the fastest ship to take you to Shanghai, and from there you will transfer to river vessels and head inland as quickly as possible. Do not delay, or you may turn a good situation into a bad one."
Flat Rabbit did not waste another second, turning and sprinting toward the coast with surprising speed for someone whose life philosophy rarely included urgency.
"Gouzi," He Ticheng added.
Zheng Gouzi paused.
"Yes?"
"Go with him."
Zheng Gouzi blinked.
"And what exactly am I supposed to do?"
He Ticheng looked at him as though the answer should have been obvious.
"Flat Rabbit has popularity, but no capability. If he goes alone, Sichuan will descend into chaos within days, so you will go and keep him under control."
Zheng Gouzi laughed.
"Understood."
And with that, he too ran toward the shore.
He Ticheng watched them leave, shaking his head slightly, though there was a trace of satisfaction in his expression, as if he had just set a particularly unpredictable piece into motion on a very large board.
At that very moment, several ships began crossing the Yalu River from the south, their movement steady and unhurried as they approached Dandong.
He Ticheng turned his head, and the moment he saw the figure standing at the bow of the lead vessel, his expression brightened instantly.
White robes.
Hands clasped behind his back.
The wind catching the fabric just enough to give him the kind of presence that seemed carefully designed to look effortless.
"Mr. Bai!"
He Ticheng strode forward quickly, calling out with genuine enthusiasm.
"Long time no see."
Bai Yuan smiled, the kind of composed smile that suggested everything was proceeding exactly as expected.
"Instructor He. It has indeed been a while."
"You've been handling affairs in Joseon," He Ticheng said. "Returning now means things there are mostly settled?"
"More or less," Bai Yuan replied. "I introduced some of our outdated technologies, as per Dao Xuan Tianzun's instructions, allowing them to experience a measure of his benevolence, and I also delivered several hundred thousand copies of Dao Xuan Tianzun's Demon-Slaying Chronicles."
He Ticheng burst into laughter.
"That alone is enough to reshape a country."
Bai Yuan's smile deepened slightly.
"What is more interesting is that Dao Xuan Tianzun personally manifested to instruct me that anything we provide must be recorded in Joseon's official histories, including when it arrived and who introduced it, and that we should obtain a copy of those records ourselves."
He Ticheng blinked.
"Recorded in their histories? And clearly attributed to the Great Ming? That… seems unusually specific."
"I do not fully understand it either," Bai Yuan admitted.
At that moment, the golden-threaded image of Dao Xuan Tianzun on Bai Yuan's chest suddenly spoke, his voice carrying a faint trace of amusement that felt entirely out of place for something so divine.
"It is a precaution."
Both men immediately straightened and saluted.
"What are we preventing?"
Dao Xuan Tianzun chuckled.
"We are preventing a situation, several hundred years from now, where they claim these things as their own inventions."
Bai Yuan raised an eyebrow.
"They would dare?"
He Ticheng frowned.
"That seems… excessively shameless."
Dao Xuan Tianzun only laughed, a knowing, almost playful sound.
"Whether they would or not, I know quite well."
The two men exchanged glances, then nodded in silent agreement, because if there was one thing they had learned, it was that when Dao Xuan Tianzun spoke of the future, it was less speculation and more memory.
"In that case," Bai Yuan said thoughtfully, "recording it in their histories alone may not be sufficient as a deterrent."
He Ticheng scratched his head.
"Then we just remind them from time to time who their father is, so they don't forget."
Bai Yuan laughed.
"Let us not go that far. Joseon is still obedient, and King Yi Jong is firmly aligned with the Great Ming, so excessive force would only breed resentment. What truly matters is that we remain strong, remain ahead, because as long as that remains true, the child will not dare to defy the parent."