ic inbox, ryslig.

[daozhangs]

WELCOME TO YOUR PRIVATE CHANNEL, XIAO.XINGCHEN. FOR SECURE COMMUNICATION, USE 018.07.154.55 *** XIAO.XINGCHEN has joined 018.07.154.55 <XIAO.XINGCHEN> You have reached Xiao Xingchen. <XIAO.XINGCHEN> I am often away from my laptop, but I will do my best to answer as soon as I'm able.

Comments

[daozhangs]

( in truth, the ease is likely quite short-lived - but right now he finds himself in a unique situation, in which he has an unprecedented number of dire things to fixate on but an even greater-than-normal need to regain his mental-emotional balance and stability. and since he spends the vast majority of his hours in this new world by himself, he has had time to systematically examine each of those things, to consider whether thinking about them is helpful (conducive to problem-solving, for example) or just serves to destabilize him further.

most often, it's the latter. his death and its impermanence is the latter. xue yang is the latter. what xingchen has done is also the latter, but he refuses to let himself hide from what he has done under the guise of practicality, so that one remains. but hiding from the inevitability of his shift into some unknown beast? it seems to him like attempting to cross a river by half-broken boat rather than simply learning to swim. it might be fine for now, but one day it would capsize and xingchen would drown - and as both a diligent man and one who has already drowned once in such a way, he refuses to put himself at risk of such a thing again.

the description of the land around them is, perhaps, one of the most positive things he has heard jiang wanyin say of this place, and it brings a quiet smile back to xingchen's lips. ) That sounds wonderfully refreshing, after spending time in a city such as this.

[legbreakings]

It is. [ His voice has softened, as has his face, and even Jiang Cheng’s taut body language has relaxed somewhat. He leans against the counter right next to the stove, arms crossed over his chest while he watches Xiao Xingchen prepare the tea. ]

We've been learning a lot about the land and the people. There is also a lot I have recently learned from my contacts, who stand against the Fog God. We will have to talk about that. [ Things like the fact the Day and Night God the locals worship seem to have been as tangible a presence once as the Fog God is now, and might still be around even if just a lingering presence clinging to the mortal world. That they will be human again if they leave this place, though that's something he doesn't believe or trust yet. But right now... ]

The hunger is easier to control when I'm not around so many people.

[daozhangs]

( the softening of jiang wanyin's voice is a hard-won feat, and it pleases xingchen more than his expression lets on. instead, he appears for all intents and purposes to turn back to the tea as if checking on it, a reflex held over from when he could see such a thing.

in turn, he hears jiang wanyin stand, hears him cross the distance into the kitchen area and (by the sounds of it) lean against the counter just next to the stove. xingchen's weight shifts subtly onto his other foot, but it's less a distancing movement than a thoughtless and inexplicably domestic sort of welcome - as if he's making room for the man's arrival. he only belatedly notices he's done it, silly and senseless as it was, and he's glad for an actual substantial topic of conversation at hand to turn his attention to. )

Have you thought about keeping a record of what you've learned? ( no, that doesn't answer any part of what was said directly, but he'll get back to that. ) Ink and paper - the gods can't read that, can they?

[legbreakings]

I did think about it, vaguely. [ In that way of thinking how useful it would be, but he had never really thought about going ahead with it or even the logistics of it. ] It would be useful to have written records. While messages on the network can be looked up again, that's hardly practical after a while. And I know I'm starting to mix up what I was told. [ He sighs, pinching the bridge of his nose. ] There is just so much which makes no sense at the time you are told of it and is hard to keep straight who told you what, and how trustworthy the source is.

[ As a sect leader, parsing information has always been part of his job but it's different here, where he lacks even the most basic context for what he is told, and all he gets are incomprehensible scraps of information dropped in passing. Often at times of high emotion, too. ]

By all I know it's correct that the gods only have access to our computers, though I would have to ask Majima Goro or Tsukikage to make sure. Ink and paper would certainly be safer, at least.

[daozhangs]

( oh, xingchen can certainly relate to receiving senseless information and only later receiving the context that would have parsed it properly. he himself has only understood about half of what he's learned, in part because much of it came at a particularly troubling moment in his life (or potentially afterlife, as he thought at the time), and he absolutely could have benefited from writing it down and coming back to it later. )

I'd thought I might take up such record-keeping myself, if only to keep the details clear in my mind. If you'd like, I could certainly record what you've learned as well. It would be an effective way to keep me apprised, if it's not too presumptuous to assume you'd prefer that I be.

<SanduShengshou> early hours of August 25th

[legbreakings]

After his feeding frenzy


It smells like burnt meat.

[daozhangs]

( xingchen, as it turns out, has figured out how to make it audibly ding when a new correspondence arrives, and at this hour he's awake and meditating quietly with a steaming cup of tea.

meditation which he probably shouldn't allow that ding to interrupt, but it wasn't going nearly as well as he'd liked and xingchen burns with something between intrigue and concern over who might be contacting him at this hour.

it's sect leader jiang, with.... a very ambiguous message. the intrigue fades, leaving him wholly concerned, because he knows this man very little in all truth but he does know that ambiguity is not characteristic of him. )

Jiang Wanyin?

( it's a puzzled request for elaboration. )

[legbreakings]

[ Elaboration may be needed but Jiang Cheng doesn't have much of that, or rather, he doesn't have the presence of mind to explain himself. He doesn't even understand.

He is sitting in the half-destroyed building he has found shelter in, sitting amidst the rubble, and all he can see are the three blackened corpses. ]

Electrocution. It smells of burnt meat. Burnt hair. Burnt cloth.

The smell lingers.

Zidian never lingered like that.

[daozhangs]

( once again, xingchen is lacking in critical context. he hasn't the foggiest clue what jiang wanyin's monster happens to be, nor how it kills. that much is still entirely in the dark. )

Are you alright?

( the important question, whatever else is still lost to him.

but he feels like there's something he knows but isn't recalling, something from that first day that provides a clue to contextualizing this, and so he listens to the man's message read aloud a second time.

after a moment, a dawning sort of apprehension clicks into place. jiang wanyin had been here for two months when they'd met. he cited one month until such changes begin and two more until one kills whether or not they wish to.

he opens his mouth to send something else, but no further words come. no response more appropriate than his first one, than 'are you alright?'. he considers adding 'physically' for clarification, but both forms of 'alright' are of importance to him so he'll leave it be. )

[legbreakings]

Of course I want to keep you informed. [ Curt, again, but firm. Xiao Xingchen is the first one from his world to join him here, the first cultivator, and even if he didn't genuinely like the man he would still consider him a natural ally. That he does like him promises the cooperation might even be pleasant. All the better. That it is a fellow cultivator keeping records will make it easier, too, they can communicate in a common language, no confusion about terms or backgrounds. ]

I would appreciate it if you could keep records for us. Available to others who are on our side, too, and maybe they too would contribute. Most of what I have learned I have only learned by chance, when I asked about an off-hand mention. The ones who have been here for long don't consider that we don't know as much as they do.

[legbreakings]

[Is he alright?

He stares at the message for the longest time, first mutely and then finally, laughter bubbles up in him. His hands ball into fists at his sides as he is tempted to swipe the laptop off the piece of concrete that serves him as a table.

He doesn't. He needs this lifeline. ]

No

[daozhangs]

( this time, the answer is much quicker. )

Are you in danger?

[legbreakings]

No

Not here

It's not me you should worry about

[daozhangs]

I can worry about more than one thing or person at once.

Is there anything left to be done about it?

( a survivor to administer medical care to, or something of that nature. that's the next priority, now that jiang wanyin is confirmed safe. you see? he can worry about more than one person at once. )

[legbreakings]

Can you turn back time?

[ Nothing else could fix this. And even then... ]

Before or After JC's Feeding Frenzy? Do you have preference?

[hadthehighground]

Greetings Xiao Xingchen,

This is Obi-Wan Kenobi and I recall promising you some tea. Will you have a free moment?

[daozhangs]

My friend, you know that I cannot.

Come to the hotel. I'll brew tea that won't help to drink with company that might.

[legbreakings]

Didn't you hear what I said! I killed them!

I can't be around people now

probably after - i forget when i've mentioned he's for sure in bavan beforehand

[daozhangs]

Of course, and greetings to you as well. :)

( god help us, someone's taught him emoji. )

Where shall I meet you, and when?

[daozhangs]

You wouldn't kill a daozhang.

( whether or not he sees himself as such, he knows that jiang wanyin still does. but, of course - )

But I do understand. ( xingchen's not sure he would've been able to be around people either, had he survived the revelation. ) I will keep you company here, if you'd prefer it, for as long as you'd like.

Just know that I'm leaving my door unlocked this evening in case you change your mind.

[legbreakings]

[ He does have to smile a little at that, even through the new tears that have been filling his eyes. ]

I would hope not.

Thank you. For the open door.

For everything.

That works for me!

[hadthehighground]

Is that a face?

[Obi-Wan has seen strange symbols on the network before on a couple of occasions but no one has actually taught the Jedi about emojis yet.]

Well there are a few options. There is my place, which is deep in the woods, or yours if you prefer. Or we can meet somewhere in between. Though I admit I have a bit of difficulty with heat sources. So boiling water I may have to leave up to you if you don’t mind.

[daozhangs]

No need. You're a treasured ally and friend to me. Such things are difficult to come by, in this world and our own.

( he means to express how he regards jiang wanyin, not how he expects to be regarded in return (as a friend, especially - he has no intention of demanding such a familiar thing), but adding a caveat thereof just weakens the point being made, so it'll have to go unspoken for now. )

What occurred tonight was a tragedy. A grave mistake, but one which we're able to learn from in pursuit of avoiding such a thing in the future.

You still refuse to embrace the Fog. This means you haven't become that which you hated or feared.

[daozhangs]

Had you not heard of the smiling face? The man named Marco taught me. There is also one which winks, as follows: ;)

If you are so generously supplying your own blend of tea for the occasion, I can't ask you to travel as well. Would you be able to direct me to your home? I'll boil the water as well, that's no trouble.

[daozhangs]

( as the earliest sounds of boiling begin to rumble within the kettle, jiang wanyin explains what he'd like such a record to accomplish, earning a considering brow-knit from xingchen. )

Is there a simple means by which to copy such records and make them available to the others, or would it be done by hand? ( he's not entirely sure quite how many allies they have, but the latter sounds like quite an undertaking.

meanwhile the kettle begins to whistle, and he once again grabs his sleeve to reach out over the stove and turn off the burner, swapping the kettle to a cool one before collecting a couple of the hand-bagged teas most similar to that which was served in their homeland and depositing them in the kettle. )