abraxaslogs | [open] as the water grinds the stone

[ For lack of anything better to do, Zhou Zishu spends a good amount of time wandering his new city. The tendencies to map out every street and alley and to try to blend unnoticed into the moving crowds are more habit than any immediate necessity, but they're not exactly a problem. If this is going to be home, he wants to know it.

Which might be part of why he can more often than not be found sitting quietly in any of the myriad taverns and inns scattered around the city. You can learn a great deal from overhearing to people in their cups, especially if they can forget you're there. On the other hand, he just really likes drinking, and that's the easiest way to find the alcohol. Win/win, really.

If not drinking, he might be found wandering the markets, eyes lingering on displays of weapons before he makes himself keep moving. But what really catches his attention is the mechanical displays, things much more intricate than even the automatons he's seen. He finds himself pausing in front of one open demonstration, a young man pouring various unknown liquids into a large metal container and doing a remarkably poor job of explaining the process.

Finally, the young man pauses dramatically as a puff of smoke emerges from the container. He's met with a smattering of vague applause and Zhou Zishu's raised eyebrow as everyone else begins to wander off. ]

Why not simply use saltpeter? [ The young man gives him a pained look, but at Zhou Zishu's implacable expression he launches into an equally incomprehensible explanation while looking firmly out into the crowd. Hoping for someone to take his side or just someone less unenthused to talk to? Either way, Zhou Zishu doesn't seem particularly interested in budging. ]

[ The cluster of mountains that have grown into the Horizon are a riot of flowers, though oddly for such extensive growth, there's no real scent in the air. Visitors may find themselves among the clusters of plum and phoenix flower trees, and while there is a clear path that leads towards the closest mountain, there is plenty of orchard to explore. Just ignore the occasional flutter of what seems like an oddly metallic bird.

But following the path will lead to the base of the mountain, and Zhou Zishu himself can be found at the bottom of the waterfall, staring up towards the top of the mountain with a complicated expression. He turns as soon as someone else walks into the clearing, unsurprised to find someone else there. Almost as if he already knew there were other people in the space. You didn't feel as though you were being watched while making your way around, did you? ]

[ The beautiful open land around the mountains and thick orchards full of blossoms spread out with sweet air and warmth. But right when the trees seem like they might go on forever, they stop. The winds turn too hot and oppressive, and huge stone mounds rise up, bearing the likenesses of various Buddhas as if they are guarding the area. Only a small opening between them is left as a path for people to travel through. The shadows loom, creating a strange contrast with the rest of that part of the Horizon.

Wen Kexing is outside of the beginning of the valley, scrutinizing it as if he's appraising some artistic sculpture, his hand pressed against his back. ]

...Can it really be hell if they are all empty?

[ Zhou Zishu hadn't really given much thought to what else he might find in this strange little space, other than what grows out of his memories. But he'd like to think he'd have remembered the massive stone carvings that seems to have cropped up to the side of the mountain.

It's somehow a surprise and yet not surprising at all to find the figure in front of them. ]

Lao Wen?

[ Of course Lao Wen would be at Four Seasons Manor, that only makes sense. The rest of it, though. ]

A-Xu.

[ He turns at the sound of Zhou Zishu's voice, breathing in quickly and raising one hand to check that his face is in order before it can be fully seen. It's silly at this point to mourn something that he'd largely hated for most of his life. He'd spent years fantasizing about the destruction of Qingya Valley, and now that he's standing before the empty shell of it, without its thousands of bitter ghosts, it seems... small. Not unlike the farmhouse that used to just house three lost souls and a single dog.

He smiles as he faces Zhou Zishu, reaching out to touch the side of one arm. ]

Isn't this wandering awfully far from the grounds? Why is our Manor Lord so far from his home? Did you get lost?

[ His eyes flick briefly and searchingly across Wen Kexing's face, but as with most things the man never seems to want to talk about, he makes a note and lets it go. There are few enough things that Wen Kexing will attempt to hide from him, he can guess at the most of the possible reasons.

Instead he lifts an eyebrow and makes a show of glancing back over his shoulders towards the flowering rows of plum trees. ]

It seems to me that I'm still on my grounds. [ Or close enough to it, at any rate.

As much as he'd prefer to leave it alone, it's a bit hard to ignore the massive stone stature hovering over them both. Schooling himself into nonchalance, he nods towards the gate. ] This is new.

[ He can't quite keep the shine from his eyes, but there aren't any tears yet. Wen Kexing isn't sure himself what to feel about the place that destroyed and reformed him, turning him into a monster, but he was the monster that survived. The Ghost Valley was a terrible place, but at the end of the day, wasn't it his? Didn't he belong to it, perhaps more than anywhere else? Just as Zhou Zishu brought the Four Seasons along with him, this was proof that Qingya always followed Wen Kexing. ]

Well, they wouldn't be right without you.

[ He's happy to see his zhiji returned to his place, even if this turns out to be some illusion. Wen Kexing knows how important the manor is to him. He shifts to stand next to Zhou Zishu, looking up at the great statues and the stone gate giving its warning to anyone below of what awaits beyond. ]

Heh. It is a little unexpected. But I guess ghosts won't be dismissed too easily.

[ He hums a little in response, unsurprised but acknowledging the admittance. Almost absently, his hand finds Wen Kexing's to thread their fingers together. ]

Do you want to show me?

[ If he wants to avoid the place, that's his right. But that it's appeared in this space, well. Hard not to think of the place you've spent decades in as home, as ambivalent as he might be feeling about the rest of it.

To be honest, Zhou Zishu still hasn't been able to bring himself to go near the manor itself. Perhaps they'll both just stay down here in the trees. ]

[ His hand closes tightly around Zhou Zishu's, clinging instinctively to the grounding hold as Wen Kexing looks down the path between the stone guardians standing above them. When he was young, the valley statues had always seemed massive and terrifying, like something that would come to life and crush him if he made one wrong step. Now, after everything that's happened to them, Wen Kexing isn't sure what they'll find. He draws in a deep breath, hesitating as he holds onto Zishu.

He should say something. Wen Kexing always has at least nonsense to fill his emptiness with. But for some reason as he stares into the Valley, he can't find the words he wants. With another squeeze to Zhou Zishu's palm, he starts walking down the narrow path, steps falling stiffly as he leads the way.

It's empty. None of the ghosts are anywhere in sight. Somehow, he almost feels like an intruder again. ]

[ Zhou Zishu is quiet himself as he's lead inside, in deference to Wen Kexing's obviously unsettled mood. But as much as he'd like to keep his focus on his lover, instinct has him keeping a close eye on their surroundings. No fear of an attack, not here, but to take in the mysterious Ghost Valley.

Or at least a much of a recreation of it as Wen Kexing has brought with him. Zhou Zishu isn't entirely certain of how these spaces work, but he's learned to keep an open mind about things that should be incredibly strange.

The passageway they're walking through is certainly oppressive, if nothing else. If he thinks too long about a child walking past the looming stones, something a little like rage boils in his stomach. Useless emotion, for a number of reasons. All he can do is stay close and remind Wen Kexing that he has someone here with him. ]

[ Wen Kexing treads lightly. He used to march himself through the gate, head held high and eyes staring cold death at anyone that dared to meet them. He used to reign over the other ghosts with fear, a dangerous predator among other dangerous predators.

Even though he walks softly, his footfalls still make sounds, echoing in hushed whispers as his soles brush stone. Eventually he stops the two of them in the open hall below the high cliff where he used to preside. It's small, even though it could hold an army of followers before and always felt terrifyingly large even when he grew up. He can hear his own breathing, heavy air rising to his throat and trembling as it escapes. ]

I wanted them all to disappear. To burn.

[ The words come out mournful. ]

I used to dream of a time when all of this would be left barren and abandoned. I didn't think that this place could hold anything worth having. Only pain.

[ But as he looks around at the empty stone places that once held people, some very familiar, Wen Kexing notices now how much they are missing. ]

She took care of me. And she lived here too.

[ It's nothing he hasn't suspected, although Zhou Zishu might be slightly surprised at hearing it actually said out loud. If Wen Kexing had been trying to hide the fact that he'd been intending to burn everything down he hadn't done a great job of it, and it didn't take much to to intuit the rest.

But it's always going to be complicated. The Ghost Valley may have been a constant horror, but it had still been home for most of his lover's life. Zhou Zishu had spent so much less time in the capital comparatively, and his own feelings towards the place are mixed at best. For someone like Wen Kexing, who feels so deeply, he can only imagine how much more of mess it must be.

He's told Zhou Zishu a little of the end of the Ghost Valley. Probably not all, and he hasn't pressed. But it's clearly been weighing on him more than he's been willing to admit. ]

They would be happy that you managed to walk free. [ It's quiet, but firm. ]

[ Wen Kexing frowns, wondering at the truth of those words. Would anyone be happy that the Valley Master had left the Ghost Valley? He wanders into the center of the room, looking around the open space like he's never seen it before. For all the years he spent in the Valley, it suddenly looks completely unfamiliar and new.

Should he be happy about that? Angry? Wen Kexing clenches his hands at his sides, squeezing his fists together tightly... and finds none of the familiar rage that kept him alive for so long. Every new direction is just an empty spot, not even leaving a shadow of someone that used to stand there. The ones he hated and the ones he loved haven't even left a memento behind them. ]

They're all gone.

[ He can't help sounding a bit bitter at that. He sucks in a breath, but refuses to let any tears fall. He laughs quietly instead. ]

But I'm still here. I guess it didn't disappear like that old monster wanted after all. He'll be angry.

[ Zhou Zishu watches him go, falling into the sort of silent observation that's old habit now. The energy that seems to have nowhere to go, tied up in too many emotions. Wen Kexing has always been a physical sort of man, the open expression to Zhou Zishu's quiet reticence. He hides so much less than he thinks he does.

It hurts to watch. But Zhou Zishu has never been particularly good at being reassuring, especially not for hurts this deep and old. ]

Lao Wen. [ And then, softer. ] Xing'er. You're here with me.

[ Wen Kexing is lost in the cold gray walls and the open cavern of the lair where the ghosts used to hold their meetings. He's still looking up, around, to each side, trying to find something he already knows won't return. When he hears Zhou Zishu say his name, he startles, turning around sharply to face him like he was stung, but smiling, because the Valley Master is still standing in Ghost Valley. He doesn't notice the quickness of his own breathing. ]

A-Xu.

[ He goes back to him, stopping just short of too close. ]

I didn't mean to.

[ He frowns at the look in Wen Kexing's eyes as he turns back to face him, tilting his head back slightly too keep eye contact despite the slight height difference. After a moment he reaches up slowly to cup both hands against his jaw, holding him in place. Keeping him close. ]

Didn't mean to what?

[ He isn't entirely here, that much is obvious. But if Zhou Zishu wants to help him find his way back, he's going to need more information. ]

Around Cadens

Horizon

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Bad Moon Rising

roof top interruption

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