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( 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.

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.

( 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?

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.

Edited 2020-08-23 13:43 (UTC)

( 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.

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.

( 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. )

[ Well, thing is that he hadn't thought that far, so he hesitates and remains silent while he mulls over that, just watching Xiao Xingchen work on preparing their tea. ]

I don't think copies would be much help, since they would have to be kept updated along with the original. And it would be far too much work. I also don't think there is a list or any kind of formalized alliance of those who stand against the Fog... at least not anymore. No, I think it might be easier if you keep the records, and permitted others to read them, in exchange for contributing their own information.

( xingchen listens, nodding thoughtfully. he's not entirely positive of the practicality of having to hunt him down just to consult the records, but he can understand the reasoning. )

In exchange? ( that part did catch particular attention, because - ) And what if they have no information to share? ( this is, perhaps, the same subtle debate he has had with many a cultivator in the past - does a person not deserve protection just because they can't pay for a cultivator's services? does a person not deserve to know of their situation even if they have no insight to contribute? )

They must have something to share [ he counters briskly, not particularly interested in lingering on this point. He can see where Xiao Xingchen is going and that's alright for a daozhang but it's not how a sect leader can afford to think. Sects provide a service and they expect to get paid for it. ] I suppose it's different if they actively contribute to our cause but if it's just idle curiosity they should give something in return. It's only fair.

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