[Video; UN: Lianfang-Zun]

[malicing]

[Guangyao is a cautious man - and for good reason! He doesn't like revealing himself unless absolutely necessary and thus this network message is a bit...delayed. However he is smiling warmly as if all is well.]

I admit I had not thought to go on campaign again so soon! However the company has made the journey more than worthwhile. [He could be lying and he probably was; he has made a habit out of making just about anyone in his company feel special (even if he couldn't care less about them).] Please forgive my tardiness in introducing myself: I am Jin Guangyao, leader of the Lanling Jin.

[A role he covets and protects with his wits - and his insanity.]

Am I familiar to anyone? Even if I'm not, I am happy to assist where help is needed.

Comments

un: absterge | text

[downswing]

( Think. 'Jin Guangyao was slain.' And yet, so was mistress Wen, and she walks in health among them.

The name. This name. This rank. Think.

And his manner, sycophantic but commanding. Entitled. 'Liafang-Zun.' A corpse who yet thinks himself in office.

Think, and let Bichen be. Profit of anonymity in the way Wei Ying intended on his return to hard earth. )

The sect leader is fresh of campaigning?

( Where does he come from, then? When? )

text

[malicing]

[I'm sorry, the entire cultivation world knows of my sins? Oh that's no...

big...

Come again?! His usual paranoia will reach a feverish pitch, shattering what is left of his sanity.]

More or less. To whom do I speak?

[downswing]

Troubling, should war have struck your sect. ( For the boy Jin Ling, above all. ) Condolences.

[malicing]

You seem to know something that I don't. [War? He smirks to himself, exhaling.] And you avoided my question.

[downswing]

You spoke of campaign.

Apologies. Names best unshared as we are divided.

Video | un: a jug of wine amidst the flowers

[wenderer]

[ Another sect leader? Tch! He's journeyed so far from home, and yet the pompous, greedy denizens of the jianghu are—




Oh wait, he's cute. Not nearly as beautiful as his Ah Xu, of course, but Wen Kexing will gaze at those dimples for a while before saying: ]

Aren't you awfully young to be a sect leader? Where I'm from, most of them are so ugly.

[malicing]

[Be careful, these dimples hide a scheming, grasping, desperate man. You ask why he is a sect leader at his age? Well.]

I was the best choice after the death of my elder brother and our father.

[He smiles, accepting the compliment with shy pleasure.]

I don't think facial hair would suit me.

[wenderer]

...I see.

[ This kind of thing, it's too common. ]

You never thought of leaving the title behind and wandering the jianghu instead?

[ ...otherwise, aren't you next in line to get murdered? ]

[malicing]

[When you are the murderer...]

I was born to a prostitute, my lord. Rising to this level means a great deal to me.

un: chengmei | voice

[thesuspense]

You are familiar.

Though I think it goes the other way round, where assisting is concerned.

voice

[malicing]

Your voice...

Is that really you, Chengmei?

voice

[thesuspense]

Nice name, don't you think?

voice

[malicing]

I have always preferred it.

Are you living up to it?

un: daozhang; audio

[binghua]

[Jin Guangyao. Of course, he knows that name. Despite not wishing to be involved in the upper echelons of the cultivation world, Xingchen hadn't been able to stay out of them entirely. That in and of itself isn't a problem; it is those with power who often have the ability to make a difference. But when Xingchen last saw Jin Guangyao, he had dragged Xue Yang to Jinlintai, demanding he be punished severely for the massacre of the Chang Clan.

And though the Jin Sect was supposed to have executed Xue Yang, he still managed to get out of it somehow. And then Song Lan suffered for it.

In the end, Xingchen can't say he's particularly happy with the Jin Sect, but he also doesn't know how much blame can be draped across Jin Guangyao's shoudlers.]

Sect Leader Jin. I am Xiao Xingchen. We have crossed paths on a few occasions, the last being the most regrettable.

audio

[malicing]

[Ninety percent of the blame can be put on these small shoulders. Make no mistake, dear daozhang, Guangyao now represents the festering core of a sect that has been mishandled and misguided for years. But delusions are enticing, aren't they? Guangyao has plenty of them himself and he has built his happiness on them, convincing himself that the truth will never be brought out into the light.]

I remember. [Xue Yang had become such a bother at that time. He couldn't kill him after everything he had done for him, but he did ensure he was beaten to a point where he might have died. If he was unlucky.] I hope you don't hold any ill feelings towards me. Criminals like him are notoriously difficult to hold.

[binghua]

[If only he had been so unlucky.]

So it would seem.

[Still, one would think with all the wealth and power the Jin hold, they'd be able to keep a better eye on someone so dangerous. One would think that would be the top priority.]

I'm sure you can understand that I am deeply disappointed in the situation. However, I hope there is no reason for me to doubt your sincerity.

[malicing]

[For Xiao Xingchen's sake, Song Zichen's sake and A-Qing's sake, yes.]

Daozhang, I assure you if I was given a second chance, he would not have lived to cause any mischief. I delayed in executing him for the simple fact that I thought he had information on other crimes.

[...does that work? He thinks so. Xue Yang is hardly a one-time offender.]

un: maiden voyager of a hundred peaks; video

[soulsrob]

Sect Leader of Lanling Jin... [She pronounces it carefully and slowly, making sure she's heard right before she brightens with a grin]

That's so terribly important! This sort of place must seem dreadfully inadequate if you're so used to it otherwise. [She pouts a little sympathetically.]

video

[malicing]

[It feels...like sarcasm? He stiffens and brushes off his sleeve, his jaw tightening.]

I will find my way, my lady. I value my ability to adapt.

[soulsrob]

[Unfortunately(?) for Guangyao, Winnie is 100% sincere in everything she says. It does sound important and this place must suck if he's used to opulence]

It's a fortunate skill to have here. [She sighs a little and looks around, expression a bit sad and wistful] If you don't adapt, you won't survive. Thankfully we're all in quite the same predicament, so we're all inclined to help each other out!

[malicing]

[In that case, he can relax his natural defensiveness. He is accustomed to being mocked, unfortunately.]

I want very much to survive! [Dying hurts. He has seen enough of it to know.] How long have you been here?

un: blushing beads of heft and beauty | video

[paperbutterflies]

[ ... have a startled but very properly respectfully greeting Lan junior... he knows that even with what happened at he Guanyin temple, Zewu-jun would want him to be polite. Not accepting of lies, not forgiving, but polite. ]

Former Sect Leader Jin... you have also been brought here?

I think... if you have not yet spoken with the lady Karsa about what is happening here, you ought to do so.

video

[malicing]

[Former? That's interesting and he focuses on this new face. An unknown Lan?]

Former... [He sounds out the word slowly, tasting it.] Should I ask what becomes of me?

[His meeting with Karsa had been brief, but she had equipped him with this communicator.]

What am I missing?

[paperbutterflies]

[ Well, only unknown if he's not been paying attention to Lan Xichen's family, as Sizhui has not exactly been absent from Lan Wangji's or even Lan Xichen's life. ]

What you are missing would depend on what you remember, and as to what happens, it does not seem that knowing about it here would make a difference.

[ And also probably not for a place where people can overhear, and also should he be the one to tell him... and should the future be known? He isn't sure. He just couldn't in good conscience call him sect leader Jin, when that belongs to Jin Ling now. ]

[malicing]

[The young Lans don't get much of his notice, honestly. When he visits the Cloud Recesses or accompanies Lan Xichen anywhere, his eyes are on him.]

I remember preparing for bed when Qin Su called on me. [For a very important and pivotal discussion.] Time cannot be altered, that is true, but surely I deserve to know the truth?

What of Jin Ling? Is he well? [The burden of leadership will fall on him if... If he lives. Something nasty curls in his stomach and tightens his chest.]