Sui Wenyan and Sui Jiang

"Su… Your grandpa… Is his name Sui Jiang?" I asked, trying to confirm it one last time, hoping that was not the case.

However, Su's face said it all. She had a look of surprise. "How did you know that?" She asked.

I sighed. "What's your real name, Su?" I asked back.

"Huh?"

"Su… Sui… You derived it from your family name, didn't you? What's your given name?" I asked again.

The girl stayed silent for quite some time before replying. "It's Wenyan."

"Wenyan, huh…" And with that, the final ember of hope of her being a cannon fodder disappeared. I mean, who chooses their nickname from their family name? You should have nicknamed yourself Wen or Yan or something like that. How was I supposed to know that Su's supposed to be for Sui? Oh, my darn luck.

[Hmm, Sui Wenyan. Why doesn't it ring a bell for me?]

{Ah, Goldy… I know the reason. I never played with her in the game.}

[Huh, but why?]

{Well, she's kinda like you.}

[Like me?]

{A DLC character. She was mentioned in the main game multiple times as one of the four survivors of the Taiyi sect.}

[Taiyi sect?]

{Ah, there were actually four people who survived the attack of Blood Moon Sect. Zhangsun Shan, Qiu Si, Sui Wenyan and some other guy I don't remember right now… maybe I'll remember if I meet him… Not that I actually want to meet him though.}

[Wait, how come I don't know about it?]

{Why are you asking me? Well, maybe because I didn't deem the other two characters important. While Zhangsun Shan and Qiu Si were the main characters of THE game, the other two were the leads of the DLC. It's just that I didn't play that one DLC.}

[But why? It would've helped you in such a situation.]

{Do you think I knew that I would be transmigrating to this world back then? If I did, I would've freaking played that as well! Anyway, I didn't play it because of two reasons. One, the DLC sucked. The entire storyline was called a pile of garbage by many people… Like, it was supposed to be the only two survivors, you know? They deliberately retconned it just to stuff these two in it. They said that the guy character was much of an arsehole, while the girl character… Sui Wenyan, didn't provide anything important for the story, which is sad considering how pure hearted this child is. So, fans were enraged about bringing such a big change to the story, so the devs deliberately killed off those two when the battle arc in the main story came by in the DLC. They made it so that these two were the first to get killed by Wang Lei's squad, which proved to be the driving force behind Zhangsun Shan's rampage.}

[So, isn't she a cannon fodder then?]

{Hmm, yes and no. A main character can't be considered as cannon fodder even when they die. Cannon fodders are the ones who get one-shot killed… Like yours truly. However, in the main game scenario, you could consider her as a cannon fodder. However, the problem is that she's the first person that Wang Lei, the antagonist, kills. Now, that's some high caliber cannon fodder with the ability to take my head with hers, if you're considering her as one.}

[I see, what was the second reason you spoke of?]

{Ah, it cost money. I mean, I spent on the DLC you were in because that one was a hot commodity. But this one isn't something that OG gamers like myself didn't wanna get involved with.}

[So, what's with the Sui Jiang stuff?]

{Well, that's her grandfather; the one we just saw.}

[I know that. But, how come you recognize it?]

{Ah, he's one of the outer disciples of Taiyi sect. Like...he was supposed to be. Anyway, he was taught by the current sect leader Rui Hongchang's master. They were practically classmates. However, due to some complications, he wasn't an official Taiyi sect disciple. However, he loves the sect more than anyone though… which is pretty evident when he sacrificed himself along with the sect leader when Blood Moon attacks. A noble sacrifice, if you ask me.}

[Taiyi sect, huh… That explains the malice detector theory. Anyway, you're pretty good with names, huh?]

{Honestly, I'm not. I honestly don't know how I remember these names.}

[Is that so? Argh! Here I thought I knew everything going on in your mind. I guess there's still a lot hidden in your mind. I should train it so that I won't even miss the trivial details.]

Goldy's proclamation got me all tensed up. I mean, the dude has searched through almost fifty percent of my memories. I'll literally be an open book if he gets to see the rest of it as well. But… I get what he meant. I mean, if he knew about the DLC part, he would've known about the real identity of Su… Opera hall's main lead… Su… Damn, I should've connected the dots back then!

[That's all well and good, but are you really gonna let that kid wait for you like that. I mean, she's been patient for a long time now.]

Shoot! I actually forgot about Wenyan's presence right now! I got so engrossed in talking about the Taiyi sect and stuff. But this kid��� Why didn't she just shake me off my trance? Sui Wenyan. You're not actually a garbage character now, are you? The creative writers of the game butchered that story up to no redemption. I actually feel pretty sad right now.

"Hmm?" Wenyan looked at me with confused eyes when I suddenly started patting her head, before smiling brightly all of a sudden. Ah, cute…

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Anyway, we bought that cane and made our way back to the opera hall. I guess she noticed my sudden discomfort and wanted to relieve me of that.

[So, what are you gonna do now?]

{What are you talking about?}

[About Sui Wenyan, of course. Are you still gonna hang out with her?]

{Hmm… Well, I've messed up with the story for a long time now. And if I was worried about her being in the Taiyi sect and all, I've got a friend who is much more dangerous to my existence than this kid. So, you know what? I'm not worried. I'm just gonna go with the flow. Let's see where it takes me. After all, weren't you the one you said that the future of this world is way different from the game? If that's the case, let's mess it up a bit more!}

[Ah, seems like gaining skills gave you a bit of confidence, huh?]

{Meh, it's nothing like that… I decided not to be a worrywart. At least not in her case… I feel bad, you know. Ending up as a sacrificial pawn when you were actually the main character. That has to suck!}

After this small exchange, the three of us didn't speak a single word. We didn't feel the need to. I creeped my hand into Wenyan's when I thought that the time was right.

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"Thank you for hanging out with my granddaughter." Sui Jiang bowed his head and thanked me.

"Nah, the pleasure's all mine, Mr Sui Jiang." I deliberately called him by his name and saw him flinch.

"Grandpa, here's a gift for you!" Before Sui Jiang could reply, Wenyan gave him the cane that she bought.

"Oh, a cane! That's cool! Did you buy it for me or did our precious guest buy it for you?" He asked.

"It was all her. Don't worry." I replied.

"Is that so?" He spoke as he coursed his hand through the cane with a smile on his face, before giving it back to Wenyan. "Why don't you show this to the other grandpas? I wanted to have a talk with our precious guest here." He spoke, to which Wenyan nodded and ran towards the old men.

"So…"

"Did she tell you?" He asked.

"Well, she did mention Grandpa Sui. So, it didn't take much for me to connect the dots that you are actually Sui Jiang, the unofficial Taiyi sect member closely related to the sect leader." Shite… Did I just speak too much?

"How did you know that?" He asked while glaring at me. Damn it! Not many people know about this info, huh? Ah, is he gonna be all hostile to me now?

"Well… I got a friend in the Taiyi sect. She spoke of you once in a conversation." I replied. I'm sorry Qiu Si for dragging you in this conversation!

However, it seemed like it worked. He stopped glaring at me! "I guess you're right. I don't sense any malice from you. I'm sorry. I was just a bit surprised. Anyway, thank you for spending time with my granddaughter." He spoke. Seems like the malice detection is no longer a theory but reality now.

"Ah, as I said before, the pleasure is all mine. You know, I got a little brother around her age in my house, the Blue Moon Sect. I would really appreciate it if Wenyan could come there someday and play with him… And me." Ah, the image of those two playing together is bliss!

"Blue Moon Sect, huh? I give you my word that we'll swing by someday to do that." Sui Jiang extended his hand and I shook on it. I guess I made a new friend now!

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