exit, stage e a s t

No doubt you woke up and before absolutely anything else at all, you thought, what's this Merchant on about anyway? What's this time loop business? Territories existing beyond everything? If we break the flow of time, will there be dire consequences? What's the meaning of life? Does this jumper match my eyes? Chocolate for breakfast?

Important questions!

So, let's share. The Merchant answered very few of my questions, but that's okay! Too much transparency and he'd break form with the enigmatic persona he's carefully constructed.

Time is already broken, though. It was broken long before Yancai, I suspect. If pockets of time, space, and energy here exist outside of everything, they were already there long ago. It's entirely possible those exist because of the flow of time being broken in Yancai, in which case we're living through a boot-strap paradox, where things play out in such a way that events ultimately cause themselves as a result of backwards causation and time travel. How did that happen? The source is still unknown, though it doesn't help those meddling with time here in Yancai seem unconcerned with the consequences. They were desperate and afraid, I understand it, but the moment time is tampered with, it creates tiny fissures like a hairline fracture in a piece of glass. If it's not set to rights by someone who knows what they're doing, the tiny fissures splinter off and what are we left with? Precisely what the Merchant's mentioned — pockets of time beyond everything.

If we break the flow of time, are we helping or hurting?

The answer is always a question.

Time was already broken. The more that it loops, the more unstable it all becomes. Time will always attempt to correct itself, once it's been manipulated and forced to bend to the will of others. Not to mention, it's not the most pleasant life to live out, the villagers here, trapped in the same cycle.

Outside of those questions — yes, the jumper does match your eyes, lovely as they are. Chocolate for breakfast is a given, obviously, or you're not doing it right.

[ Somewhere in there, he pauses. Briefly. ]

Back! Sorry. There was a thing —

Right. Spoke with the Man in Black. Called me nephew? He lost his family long ago to storms or sickness, he couldn't or wouldn't say. He mentioned mastering the secrets of the universe but he couldn't do anything to stop a cough. Sound at all familiar? I certainly thought so. Immortality was a theme of our conversation. He said it was a joke, but then also that one day he would absolutely be immortal. Make up your mind! Lovely fellow. Looking forward to being followed by him in the future.

I do wonder if the Man in Black isn't perhaps our White Wanderer, come to the end of his life. A manifestation that's traveled through time. Or an alternate universe. No harm in a theory.

Oh, and many thanks to all who helped with rehabilitating the beast that Lan Wangji and I found in the forest. Returning it back, it led to something of the Huntress' in the forest as well. A tablet with her sigil on it, along with a map and a destination she'd circled that said: Hawevasthan, in the east. She'd marked and inscribed it, THE PLEDGED LAND. The Merchant spoke of it being a sanctuary of sorts. He mentioned priests and cults, mirrors and shadows. An improvement over Yancai from the sound of it, perhaps they've taken my complaints to heart.

One last thing — there's a lot going on so, do call upon me anytime for a chat, I'm here to help.