[ that's... fine. the quiet as ever suits him more than anything else, and yin yu folds his hands where he's settled, looking down into the flames, himself.
when anaido speaks, it seems to surprise him. it's not readable, because his mask is hiding his face, currently, but it takes him a moment to answer. partially because he's awkward, but partially because he needs to think over the answer, too. ]
Sect Leader Nie will tell us nothing. He is not the type of person to share an answer, no matter how much we try to get more details of the night out of him. Whether he committed one killing, or five is something we will never know unless we manage to catch someone else.
I don't know. [ he shakes his head, a little frustrated. not with anaido, but with nie huaisang. mister i don't know... ]
Sect Leaders are often like this. I don't think he cared much for anyone but his own. [ politicians, often cutthroat ones. it reminds him of the heavens. people who have little kind to say the moment you turn your back. ]
[ it's a distraction as much as any; the question throws him for a loop, restarts his thinking.
he's quiet for a moment, deciding how to answer, too. ] Chengzhu is... very powerful. To many, he is something of a terror, the scourge of the Heavens; he is what is known as a 'calamity'. He is the master of the Ghost City where I reside.
...Chengzhu is someone who saved my life. [ yin yu says, with a little more finality, this time. ] Not only that, but he gave me a purpose, when I had none.
[ that was hundreds of years ago, but it was exactly what yin yu needed, and it is something he will remember for the rest of his life, however short or long it may be. he's usually not one for many words, but... hua cheng is someone who is complicated to explain. good job anaido you unlocked conversation ] He is... capricious, and suiting of many of his reputations and terrors, but... the thing that I know the most about my lord and master is that perhaps he is more neutral than the world has painted him. He is the Ghost King Crimson Rain Sought Flower, but he is also the master of Ghost City, which takes in wayward demons, spirits, and ghosts and protects them so they can have somewhere to belong even when their families have forgotten them.
Chengzhu is a person who is devoted wholly to the ideals of someone else, and the kindness of that person's ways is probably the reason that I am able to sit here, today. He is the type of person who will go to fabulous lengths to protect the person most important to him, to make him feel comfortable, to give him kindnesses that others refused him, to take vengeance in the name of that person who was wronged.
[ yin yu looks at his hands, for a moment. fully covered, anaido wouldn't be able to see it, but yin yu knows that his cursed shackle is there, a burnt mark that weighs heavily on him every time he looks down. ]
...I am tied to Chengzhu because I am his right hand, yes, but it is not obligation that holds me at his side, anymore. It is gratitude, and... the things that I do for him are not against my own code.
[It's one of the rare times he's heard Yin Yu talk this much, and that just gives more weight to how much Yin Yu cares for the man. Anaido listens well, as he always does, and then nods.]
Sounds like a complicated man.
[A man who stands in the middle, determined to fight for his own ideals.]
What does he see you as, though? You may not see yourself as his right hand man, but...do you think you're still that to him?
something more important than a title, he thinks. being the 'xianxianyue officer' was an identity he could slip into, when he needed one. and now, as that xianxianyue officer... ]
I know that he sees me as someone worth his trust. [ and that means the world. if he didn't, yin yu would be long dead; hua cheng has no room for error in his life. he's seen brighter treasures tossed on his floor like they were nothing. ] I trust him, too.
And I have done everything in my power to be someone who will be worthy of that for as long as I walk in this realm.
[ that's fine. his expression or voice don't change; he doesn't even flinch. ]
He wouldn't. [ because he knows hua chengzhu. yin yu knows him better than any other human or ghost alive. ] If he wanted a person dead, he would do it himself.
You trust each other, yes, but...would there be a moment where he'd use you for his own needs above your own? I guess I'm just trying to understand what your master is like.
[ it is years and years of practice that keeps him from barking out a laugh, at first, but...
as he takes it with a little more weight, he watches anaido's hand move, observant as ever, and takes a long moment before he speaks again. when he does, he's quiet. ] ...I was trapped before, too. [ god. wasn't he. ]
Where are you, then? [ yin yu asks, finally looking back up again. his tone's cautiously searching. ]
Mmm. Not exactly. I mean, yes, we have murders and mysteries and everything. But a mystery novel with a brilliant detective works on certain principles. Someone must die. The detective comes in the story. They find the clues, talk to the suspects, seek out the truth. And then, at the end, they present their answer, and justice is served.
[He shakes his head.]
But "brilliant detectives" can't exist in reality, Yin Yu. It's a cursed existence. Someone must die to give their life meaning. And they exist only to solve mysteries. They work at the whim of their creator. When the book closes, their existence ends, until the next mystery must be solved.
yin yu stays quiet as long as anaido speaks. there's a lot he doesn't really understand, but..
well, it makes sense. look at the reality they live in, where today they caught one murderer, and left three bodies unsolved. look at the people they've lost. scapegoated away.
being at the whim of your creator feels familiar, too. ] When you say you're a tool, you say so quite literally.
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when anaido speaks, it seems to surprise him. it's not readable, because his mask is hiding his face, currently, but it takes him a moment to answer. partially because he's awkward, but partially because he needs to think over the answer, too. ]
...Are you? [ HE DIDNT ANSWER? ]
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...I would usually say "I'm alright", but. Not really, no.
[A shake of the head.]
We solved it, but...we still have no answers.
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Sect Leader Nie will tell us nothing. He is not the type of person to share an answer, no matter how much we try to get more details of the night out of him. Whether he committed one killing, or five is something we will never know unless we manage to catch someone else.
[ and it's too late for that. ]
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[Would he put more people in danger if he said something?]
It just makes things all the more harder for us.
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Sect Leaders are often like this. I don't think he cared much for anyone but his own. [ politicians, often cutthroat ones. it reminds him of the heavens. people who have little kind to say the moment you turn your back. ]
...It isn't much of a victory.
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[He shakes his head falling silent for a long moment. To guess at things would just lead them nowhere, without definite answers.]
...Yin Yu. I think you mentioned a master, before. What is he like?
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he's quiet for a moment, deciding how to answer, too. ] Chengzhu is... very powerful. To many, he is something of a terror, the scourge of the Heavens; he is what is known as a 'calamity'. He is the master of the Ghost City where I reside.
[ lots to unpack there! ]
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[Sure, a lot to unpack. But he wants to know something more.]
What is he like to you, though?
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[ that was hundreds of years ago, but it was exactly what yin yu needed, and it is something he will remember for the rest of his life, however short or long it may be. he's usually not one for many words, but... hua cheng is someone who is complicated to explain. good job anaido you unlocked conversation ] He is... capricious, and suiting of many of his reputations and terrors, but... the thing that I know the most about my lord and master is that perhaps he is more neutral than the world has painted him. He is the Ghost King Crimson Rain Sought Flower, but he is also the master of Ghost City, which takes in wayward demons, spirits, and ghosts and protects them so they can have somewhere to belong even when their families have forgotten them.
Chengzhu is a person who is devoted wholly to the ideals of someone else, and the kindness of that person's ways is probably the reason that I am able to sit here, today. He is the type of person who will go to fabulous lengths to protect the person most important to him, to make him feel comfortable, to give him kindnesses that others refused him, to take vengeance in the name of that person who was wronged.
[ yin yu looks at his hands, for a moment. fully covered, anaido wouldn't be able to see it, but yin yu knows that his cursed shackle is there, a burnt mark that weighs heavily on him every time he looks down. ]
...I am tied to Chengzhu because I am his right hand, yes, but it is not obligation that holds me at his side, anymore. It is gratitude, and... the things that I do for him are not against my own code.
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Sounds like a complicated man.
[A man who stands in the middle, determined to fight for his own ideals.]
What does he see you as, though? You may not see yourself as his right hand man, but...do you think you're still that to him?
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something more important than a title, he thinks. being the 'xianxianyue officer' was an identity he could slip into, when he needed one. and now, as that xianxianyue officer... ]
I know that he sees me as someone worth his trust. [ and that means the world. if he didn't, yin yu would be long dead; hua cheng has no room for error in his life. he's seen brighter treasures tossed on his floor like they were nothing. ] I trust him, too.
And I have done everything in my power to be someone who will be worthy of that for as long as I walk in this realm.
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[A beat. His eyes narrow, smiling as he considers his next question.]
If he asked you to kill someone...I would assume you couldn't say no.
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He wouldn't. [ because he knows hua chengzhu. yin yu knows him better than any other human or ghost alive. ] If he wanted a person dead, he would do it himself.
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[There's something in his eyes, swimming, like a fish in a dark stream. He considers the answer for a moment.]
I guess what I mean to ask is...he wouldn't use you like a tool, right?
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What do you mean?
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You trust each other, yes, but...would there be a moment where he'd use you for his own needs above your own? I guess I'm just trying to understand what your master is like.
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yeah. ] I don't really have any needs of my own.
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[He smiles a little to himself.]
Guess we have something a little in common.
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anyway that's next week. right now his tone just stays even. ]
...Is that so?
[ do they? from what he knows, anaido... had a need of his own. he knows, because yin yu more or less gave it to him, when he killed wen ning. ]
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[A hand moves up to his right side of his forehead, staying there for a second before brushing back through his hair.]
I kind of envy you, you know? Because you at least have a role you want to be in. I don't want to be where I am. You're powerful that way.
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as he takes it with a little more weight, he watches anaido's hand move, observant as ever, and takes a long moment before he speaks again. when he does, he's quiet. ] ...I was trapped before, too. [ god. wasn't he. ]
Where are you, then? [ yin yu asks, finally looking back up again. his tone's cautiously searching. ]
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[What a mysterious statement. His eyes flick upwards at the statement that Yin Yu was trapped, too, but "before"...huh.]
Do you read mystery novels, Yin Yu? Or at least know about them?
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yin yu pauses. ] ...somewhat like the situation we're in now, correct? [ you know with all the murder and the mystery solving. ]
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Mmm. Not exactly. I mean, yes, we have murders and mysteries and everything. But a mystery novel with a brilliant detective works on certain principles. Someone must die. The detective comes in the story. They find the clues, talk to the suspects, seek out the truth. And then, at the end, they present their answer, and justice is served.
[He shakes his head.]
But "brilliant detectives" can't exist in reality, Yin Yu. It's a cursed existence. Someone must die to give their life meaning. And they exist only to solve mysteries. They work at the whim of their creator. When the book closes, their existence ends, until the next mystery must be solved.
So really...what I am is...an abomination.
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yin yu stays quiet as long as anaido speaks. there's a lot he doesn't really understand, but..
well, it makes sense. look at the reality they live in, where today they caught one murderer, and left three bodies unsolved. look at the people they've lost. scapegoated away.
being at the whim of your creator feels familiar, too. ] When you say you're a tool, you say so quite literally.
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cw: mentions of suicidal ideation
I NEVER? TAGGED THIS BACK? CRYSTAL I'M ASHAMED OF ME
hugs sisi. i love u
i love U i am so sorry kfldjshk
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