Video | un: a jug of wine amidst the flowers

[wenderer]

[ A man with long dark hair, dressed in green silk robes, is lazily fanning himself and smiling, as he lounges by a campfire. He’s singing along with a group of children seated next to him:

Stitch by stitch,
The love of a witch
Will unravel

Dusk to dawn
Each morning to mourn
With blood and gravel

He lifts his hand, stopping them. ]

I think I’ve learned it now, I’ll teach you all a verse also, come listen.

[ He clears his throat, and in a formal style, speaks as if he were reciting before a large audience. As he does so, the man’s eyes drift away to something just out of view. ]

When mountain peaks wear away, when all the rivers run dry
When thunderstorms rumble in winter, and snow falls from the summer sky
When heaven and earth seal back together, only then will I dare to—

[ A hand abruptly darts out from off camera, obscuring the scene for a moment. When it draws away, the stone has been forcibly moved, revealing the face of another man. ]

That’s not why we’re here. We’ve found out a few things about Lord Arha. If the song these children have been singing is true, this ghost army isn’t trying to rescue anyone, it’s out for revenge.

[ The first man scoots back into the scene, sitting right next to and parking his chin on the second man’s shoulder. ]

Ah-Xu, the man was betrayed!

[ He clicks his tongue, shaking his head sadly.]

He went to rescue his lady, but she joined hands with her enemies instead. The whole army was slaughtered!

[ "Ah-Xu," with a slightly frozen smile, says through his teeth: ]

Keep it down.

[ The undead army is clearly changing its guard in the background. More softly, the first man says, leaning towards the stone: ]

I’ve met some people who say they know how to deal with ghosts. Kindly share your knowledge, I have a feeling we’re all going to need it.

[ Meanwhile, the children have started softly singing again:

Love, her love
Hatisse’s sweet dove
Arha fell last

Vowed to return
His lady to scorn
And spit on their past

With strike of sword
The love of a lord
Will unravel

Dawn to dusk
His memory a husk
Each year he will travel.


ooc: replies from Wen Kexing wenderer and/or Zhou Zishu fated_dance ]

Comments

[softheartedshizun]

No.

But we are simply visitors in this world, getting involved in the politics seems a bit... heavy with consequences we have no way to understand.

[wenderer]

Yes, that's why we decided to say something. Do you have any experience fighting... actual ghosts?

Where I'm from, killing people is usually enough.

[lancifolium]

I don't think breaking away is the right thing to do. If we break away now who will protect everyone left behind to contend with them? If revenge is inevitable it does not sound as though it will be discriminating.

[ Like those children, and all the other refugees traveling with the caravan as well. ]

At this point, I think letting those who have the ability to help these spirits, especially the lady and her lord, do what they must while those of us who can defend, prepare to protect ourselves and what we can should the atmosphere turn hostile while our associates work.

[wenderer]

In human affairs, cruelty is more the rule than the exception. So, any ideas how to quell this impending disaster?

I'm a good person who'd never harm a fly, but I confess I have no idea how to vanquish a foe that's already dead.

[lancifolium]

Nearly all the ghosts I've encountered in my world are nothing like these, so my experience is limited. I know some charms that will keep them back.

[wenderer]

I am simply correcting you to eliminate misunderstandings. Only an insect who has never tasted a flower yet longs desperately for one would ask such a question as "how many"?

[wenderer]

Ah-Xuuuu~!

[ He says this in a lilting, nasal, coaxing tone. ]

There's no need to look at me like that, I have been saying this about you since the moment I saw you. Such an elegant stem, naturally the flower must be exquisite.

[softheartedshizun]

[ He felt like he was stuck through the heart, not hard enough to spit up blood, but a critical hit nonetheless. Don't bring up such things! So what if he has never had a girlfriend, so what if the only people touching him all over and being too needy for his attention are men... HE ISN'T DESPERATE! ]

Only one who is trying to hide a depraved past would dwell on such throwaway comments. This Immortal Master does not need to concern himself with such mundane things of the material world.

[ Brat! Brat! Brat! ]

[wenderer]

Since you're so curious, I'll tell you.

[ He drops his voice to a loud whisper, lifting his fan to separate his face from Zhou Zishu's. ]

My past is more depraved than you could ever imagine!

[ He says this as if it were a joke. It is, of course, not a joke; but also not in the way he's implying. ]

[fated_dance]

I am not that naïve. That is not to say there is no truth in their song.

[fated_dance]

I have tried not getting involved in politics. It didn't work. So we tread carefully, listen observe, and pick where we step in as best we can.

[fated_dance]

Lao Wennnn. [ He parrots back, not able to completely resist that flash of fond mirth and playfulness Kexing manages to encourage from him. ]

I still have thorns that bite deep.

[softheartedshizun]

[ He could imagine a lot, he wasn't impressed. ]

Let me guess.

[ He paused trying to think of the most popular, most derived, and most common story tropes found. ]

You are a villain with a body count of thousands if not more, or was raised by the worst villain/villains of the realm, you destroy your enemies without a second thought, but deep down you are not so bad, and simply need the partnership of another who is righteous, to bring forth the realization that though you are a villain you are justified in some way.

Or, the two-faced travel companion that will sell out the leads halfway through and ends up being the true villain in the end as a twist.

[ He pauses clearly looking towards where Zhou Zishu is. ]

The first one seems more likely, no doubt indulgence in beauty... otherwise you two would definitely be siblings or martial brothers.

[softheartedshizun]

It's easy when one leaves the world and resides in the mountains.

[ As a proper cultivator should! ]

What immortal indulges in such things, and what community would want an immortal involved? None.

[wenderer]

Time to undelude him, then.

[ ... ]

Or tell him a different lie.

[weifinder]

Oh? What did you have in mind?

( he admits it. he's curious. )

[wenderer]

[ Flirting with Zhou Zizhu was easier when the man just rolled eyes at him. This kind of flirting back, while it makes his heart flutter, it also makes him feel like the fraud he is. Not only that, but the fact that this person he considers a soulmate, will be dead in the ground in a couple of years...

Flustered, he glances away. ]

Ah... haha! Ah-Xu, Ah-Xu, how can you be so cruel to this little one? Sheathe your thorns, don't pierce this tender skin of mine, ah!

[wenderer]

We could tell him she rescued herself, and waiting for him in some place far from here...

[ He pauses, thinking. That really only delays the problem, as he'll only return and be angry at being deceived.

... ]

Or we tell him he's too late, she passed away in prison thinking he'd forsaken her, and died cursing his name as a faithless lover. Won't his soul dissipate, then?

[fated_dance]

They came for me there, too.

[ He blinks. ]

Immortal? Through art or birth, if I may ask?

[fated_dance]

[ Getting to see Kexing flustered is its own reward, and he allows himself a smirk when his soulmate looks away. ]

Convince me then, with that silver tongue.

[fated_dance]

Then do you have suggestions on how to go about doing so?

[softheartedshizun]

Through art.

[ Was such a thing as birth a true possibility? ]

Both martial and scholarly.

[wenderer]

...

[ There's angst, there's bitterness, and there's pain. There's the aching sensation that he'll never be able to achieve what he wants, and that whatever precious thing he grasps in his hands will always be snatched away...

And then, despite everything, there's lust. He smiles. ]

Come closer and I will.

un: blushing beads of heft and beauty | audio

[paperbutterflies]

[ ... he keeps forgetting to switch to a crystal with a less Complicated network name, mostly because he doesn't actually understand it.

That said, Sizhui's voice is thoughtful but also obviously young. ]

Oh... so that is how the rest of that goes. We could only read the first two verses back then.

She must have had a very difficult choice, between watching innocent people be slaughtered and turning on him. Was simply leaving with him from outside the city not an option, I wonder.

un: chengmei

[thesuspense]

Huh.

[A small sound, early on in the recording, then he listens to the rest, with a scoff or two, perhaps of amusement.]

Someone should inspect those children. Who bothers remembering something that long? I fell asleep halfway through.

[The yawn, naturally, is an exaggeration.]

Thanks for the lovers' spat. Made it more entertaining. Ah... Whoever's not Ah-Xu? Don't take it so personally. I've listened to Lord Arha. That's one tedious ghost. The slaughter is the most interesting thing about him.