Men of Taste

[good_taste]

The throbbing headache behind Astarion's left eye is terrifying, as is everything else. He can't move, trapped in a horribly warm, slimy pod. The whole place is shaking, roaring, chunks of the walls are falling away, there's black and red and smoke and brimstone--of course! They're going on a jaunt through the Hells. Why not! It wasn't as if tonight could get any worse.

Thralls battle shrieking imps while he tries to free himself, to reach for his dagger, something. He's not going to go from one devil's playing to some other's snack.

He's almost got an arm free, when everything lurches toward a direction he can't even name, and suddenly a scintillating, rainbow light blasts through the cracks in the walls. What in--?

Another lurch, a blast, and the outside is obscured by thick smoke that smells like burning fish of all things.

And there's the stomach-churning feeling of falling. Oh f--

--

Astarion comes to with a gasp, and a few coughs, possibly because his body can't quite believe he still has lungs at all. He's been thrown clear of the pod, thank the gods. But he can't lie here feeling sorry for himself, he can feel heat on his face, the fire he saw must be--

He opens his eyes to blue sky.

He's up in a flash, panicked, but... He's not burning. He's standing in sunlight, and it feels... good.

He looks down at his hands, at the shadows cast by them on the rubble. He hadn't even remembered what sunlight felt like. It feels warm. Powerful. Real.

Something has to ruin the moment, of course. Movement behind him, within the wreck. He climbs up and out of the deep scar left by the crash, finding a vantage point to watch from.

Oh. Those two. The mindflayer thralls. Why they're now killing the little scuttling, slimy brain-beasts is beyond him, but he can't overpower them both. And he still needs to know what happened to him. He needs a plan.

And by the time they've finished off the creatures, he's got one. "Hey! Over here!"

It's not the best plan, but he's made do with worse.

Comments

[xiaoxiuya]

This is certainly the worst day of Shen Luguang's life. Kidnapped by monsters, assaulted by some wiggling thing that's done gods only know what to his upper dantian, forced to pilot a strange ship across dimensions (admittently that part was pretty cool, it was just the context that sucked), and now he was killing a bunch of knee-high brain monsters, by hand. He should have been able to zap them all with some lightning or throw them against the ground with his mind until they burst, but no! Even those basic spells had been denied him!

Still, it was important to keep things in perspective. Just because his day had inconceivably terrible, didn't mean someone else may not have had it worse. So it was that he pushes his hair back out of his face, squinting up at the stranger in his strange clothes, and tentatively waves back. "Hello!" he calls back. "Were you in the ship? Are you hurt?"

[alloriginalheavenlypillar]

Luo Binghe has had worse days. Granted they were all in the Endless Abyss, but sometimes one needs to put these things into perspective. Getting kicked into a gaping hellmouth by your abusive teacher after finding out you're half-demon tends to rank about the highest on any 'Shittiest Days Ever' list. So he's had it worse. And this would have ranked at some middling score if this poor lord was not reduced to being barely stronger than he was as a disciple under the tender instruction of one Shen Qingqiu.

That managed to shoot it up to at least the Top Tens.

Once he punts the last of the horrible little brain creatures, Binghe searches around for his bearings. He's familiar with the area - so he's in his home world, or one relatively similar. There will be no crossing dimensions for him again, until he regains his powers and either the ship or Xin Mo are repaired. That bug which that strange tentacled demon (not so unlike some creatures he's saved many a wife from) inserted into his eye is still in his brain and it seems to have some measure of control over his blood parasites...

This is bad. Very bad. He's vulnerable to enemies of which he has many, and worst of all, there may be another Luo Binghe if this is not his little corner of the multiverse.

This lord will have to play his cards right until he can reach a trusted wife or servant.

...Well, maybe trusted is a strong word. Loyal, perhaps. But loyalty can only be bought with fear, and how can he strike fear into the hearts of his subjects in this state...?

"This one's qiankun bag is still intact," he states, trailing along behind the more enthusiastic young cultivator. "If either of you need medicine, I am fortunate enough to have some on me."

[good_taste]

Oh, they think they're being helpful. How sweet.

"Hurry," Astarion beckons to them, drawing his dagger. "I've got one of those brain things cornered."

Something, obligingly, rustles in the nearby bushes. He'd better not be accidentally telling the truth, that wasn't part of the plan!

"You can kill it, can't you? Like you killed the others?"

Two of them will be difficult to maneuver, but if he can just get the bigger one sufficiently distracted...

[xiaoxiuya]

"Of course!" Shen Luguang obligingly alters his direction, watchfully stalking towards the bushes. "Stay back and let me handle this," he tells the stranger kindly. "I'm a professional."

Professional enough that when the wind changes and carries an acrid scent in his direction, he recognizes it as boar piss, anyway. He pauses for a moment, confused. That surely can't be right...?

[alloriginalheavenlypillar]

Binghe doesn't take his sharp gaze off the silver-haired stranger. His own senses are, mercifully, intact, and he can smell a common boar, not the strange rotting fish stench of those squishy brain things.

"Cornered? Really?" he hums, something like a smile playing across his face as he regards the peculiar, silver-haired man. Binghe has been paranoid the majority of his life and he's not about to stop now.

"It smells more like dinner to me. Unless you would rather head to the town not even a few li west of here. There's an inn with far better fare for a - " he eyes Astarion's rather peculiar attire. It's foreign, certainly, and perhaps a little worse for wear from the crash, but it is, no doubt, finery of some sort. "- distinguished gentleman of your caliber."

He rounds his arms and bows in greeting. If either of these two have answers as to what happened, it's best to try to ply them with honeyed words and a sprinkling of flattery.

"But we shouldn't linger here. It won't be long until this place is swarming with guards."

[good_taste]

Why couldn't they both be gormlessly trusting? Shouldn't the mindflayers have turned their brains to mush?

Well. If they refused to be useless, Astarion would just have to act like it himself, and keep a wary eye on the pair until he got the chance to do something about them. "I... Oh. Gods, this is why I never leave the city," he puts a hand to his forehead with a sigh. When he pulls it away, it's smudged with soot. Perfect. Absolutely perfect.

Oh. Oh no. The city. He's not supposed to be--wherever this is. He'll have to go back. How long will that even take? He'd been flayed for being late before, but this? He'll be feeling this one for decades.

"You're right. No sense in staying here, and you know the way." When things get this bad, smiling is always perversely easy. "I suppose that makes you the fearless leader."

[xiaoxiuya]

"Oh? Well, so long as we've better options, I think it's best to leave Mister Pig alone," Shen Luguang says with a very, very quiet laugh, backing away from the bush until he's rejoined the tall cultivator who had helped him so much on the monstrous ship. He smiles at the stranger to show him no harm's been done, and as the three of them begin to walk westward he inquires (in simple language out of deference to the man's obvious foreign status), "Are you sure you aren't hurt? Going by your clothes I fear you must be very far from home indeed."

Is that technically his fault? He had been the one piloting the ship during that last desperate plunge across dimensions after all...His ears flush slightly with mortification, and he quickly turns to the other cultivator, saying, "And you, sir, I really must thank you for all your help just now. I doubt I'd have gotten very far on my own!"

Of the two of them, the taller cultivator had been the first to break out of his cell, and then he had watched Shen Luguang's back while he puzzled out the controls on the ship. Although Shen Luguang was far from helpless, fighting in such tight corners was hardly his speciality, and having an assistant had been truly invaluable.

[alloriginalheavenlypillar]

Luo Binghe flashes his most charming smile to Astarion. It's second nature at this point, and he even manages to make it look sincere.

"I suppose I am," he muses, looking for all the world like a man relaxed and at home. But truthfully? His mind is running a million miles a minute. There is a foreign object in him that's resistant to the blood parasites. That's not a good thing, not by any stretch of the imagination. For now, however, it seems to be dormant.

But what was the thing that put it there? And why?

"It was this humble cultivator's pleasure," he says to the other cultivator, eyes scouring the skies for any sign of anyone he might recognize. Given where they are, and which way the ship was going when it crashed down, they would have sailed right over Huan Hua Palace. Yingying, Hualing, and Mingyan will surely be at the head of an investigatory entourage, and though they are his most trusted wives and generals, even they cannot be allowed to meet him in this state. Yingying alone has enough reason to slit his throat, however much she pretends otherwise.

He leads them into the shrouded depths of Bailu Forest, following a stream that will lead to the road along the river that should take them to the town at the foot of Bailu Mountain.

"Perhaps we should introduce ourselves, given that fate has flung us together? This humble one is Liu Feiyu. It is a pleasure to make your acquaintances."

[good_taste]

"And I've had enough of this," Astarion's tone is all light and airy as he slips behind the friendly one, grabbing him roughly and pressing dagger to throat.

The smile drops, fear and frustration getting their chance to shine instead. "I saw you, strutting about whilst I was trapped in that pod." They seemed so normal, but all of them did, brainwashed thralls that they were.

He glares at Liu Feiyu, keeping a tight grip on his hostage. "What did you and those tentacled freaks do to me?"

[xiaoxiuya]

"Hey --" The fearsome indignity of having a knife to his throat overshadows the accusations the stranger is spitting, but then even that fades away as Shen Luguang remembers --

Walking through the market of a southern city, still four hours left until noon but the air already so hot it raises a few drops of sweat on the back of his neck, a laughing child runs through the crowd with a toy kite trailing behind them. They crash into his legs and fall back onto their rear, face screwed up as they start to cry. He coos sympathetically and picks them up, bouncing them a little to make them giggle before he asks them where their mother might be.

A shadow falls over the street, cast by a monster of a sea creature, floating in the middle of a cloud of qi that clouds the senses and claws at the mind. Its tentacles plunge towards the ground; he instinctively turns and tosses the child over the counter of the nearest shop, hoping they won't be harmed in their fall -- he feels himself struck in the back.

He wakes up in a cell.

[alloriginalheavenlypillar]

Binghe doesn't look to alarmed when Shen Luguang is taken prisoner by the strange, pointy eared man.

"Oh?" he almost coos, voice dangerously soft, hand reaching for the blade tucked up his sleeve. "You don't know either then? That's a--"

Whatever it is, Luo Binghe can't finish. He lurches - or the world does, struck first by Luguang's memory and then -

It's the same city but a different part, and Binghe is running. Not from the ship like the panicked crowd, but towards it, his sword howling in his mind with bloodlust. It's been so long since he's had a worthy opponent - and the living vessel looks to be a challenge indeed. Sunlight gleams along the obsidian edge of Xin Mo as he draws it from its sheath, tossing it forward and leaping onto the hovering blade, flying it right towards the danger.

A ball of qi forms in his palm, but he's abruptly halted when the massive tendrils strike Xin Mo first, shattering the dimension-bending blade, and as Binghe falls, he too is struck, waking in a cell, a hideous creature looming in front of him with some terrible leech-like creature held between its fingers.

Binghe lets out a terrible snarl and it all goes black.

[good_taste]

He's not in the mood for lies, or for whatever weapon that man's reaching for. He tightens his grip, opening his mouth to stop the blathering--

Everything splits open with a sudden haze of shimmering light and pain in his skull.

The streets are dark and busy tonight, full of every flavor of being on the Sword Coast. He's not prowling for new prospects, though. He's been sent out to find a particular morsel and bring them home with him tonight.

He's going to be blamed for what's done after that, of course. Familiarity breeds contempt and all that.

The young fool's just down the street. Time to hide the dead-eyed hunger, put on his prettiest smile and--

What in the Hells is that noise?

The sky tears open, tentacles pouring forth. He's forced to turn and run toward the young man, a stupid direction to go, but he can't stop, he's not allowed to--

A massive weight smashes into and through him, and he's gone.

He's dropped the knife, gasping and clutching his throbbing head. There's images in his mind now, places and feelings that are utterly alien to him. "What was that? What's going on?"

[xiaoxiuya]

Shen Luguang whimpers as well, pressing the acupoint at the base of his thumb and index finger in a futile effort to check the pain flaring in his head -- it's the worm's fault, it must be, but why would it make the three of them see all of that --

A question for later, he thinks. Right now there's a brewing fight to dissolve. "It's okay," he gasps, and turns to face the stranger, showing him his empty hands. "We're in the same boat as you. We all went through the same thing, but somehow -- through the grace of the gods or heavens know what, Liu-xianjun and I managed to escape. I'm sorry we didn't break you out too, ahead of the crash," he says sincerely. "But I promise, we don't mean you any harm."

Hopefully Liu Feiyu won't immediately contradict him on that point...

[alloriginalheavenlypillar]

Luo Binghe is clutching his head, biting back a savage snarl as he struggles to regain his composure. He takes a deep, steadying breath, and straightens. His head is still throbbing, but he's powered through worse.

Pain is a familiar companion in his life.

"Provided this... gentleman doesn't have any further outbursts."

Another deep breath, and he can finally hear himself think over the ringing in his head. He decides to ask plainly what he's sure they're all thinking.

"What were those things? And what did they do to us?"

Besides the obvious answer of sticking horrible little leeches in their brains.

[good_taste]

He warily keeps his distance, trying to will himself back to steadiness. They aren't thralls. These are other captives. Taken by--

"Mindflayers." Gods, it has to be mindflayers, didn't it? Their description fits the horror stories. "We were captured by mindflayers, for whatever reason they do anything."

Well. That's awkward. "And to think, I was ready to decorate the ground with your innards," he smiles as disarmingly as he can--being literally disarmed probably doesn't hurt. "Apologies."

He takes a step back, clasping his hands. "Let's start again, shall we? My name's Astarion. I was in Baldur's Gate when those beasts snatched me. Though I'm getting the sense that name won't ring any bells."

[xiaoxiuya]

"Shen Luguang," Shen Luguang introduces himself, quickly stepping away from Astarion and rubbing the front of his throat to banish the phantom sensation of that knife. "I hope in the future A-Si-xiansheng will try using his words before he reaches for his blade." He studies Astarion for a moment, frowning slightly -- he saw -- or maybe experienced would be the better word -- many concerning things in that vision, but something about them...despite what just happened, there's a part of him that just can't conceptualize Astarion as an enemy.

Something to consider later, perhaps. Right now he clears his throat and, with an aborted reach for the fan he no longer has up his sleeve, how rude, says, "As for the...mindflayers, you called them? I'm afraid I have a theory, though it's not a very nice one. While Liu-xiong and I were fighting our way through the ship, I saw several bas-reliefs on the walls which seemed to share a certain motif. A tall mindflayer was shown holding its hand over various humanoid individuals in armor or foreign clothing -- perhaps a depiction of the assault we were forced to endure? -- and then, in the next panel, a mindflayer dressed in the same armor or clothes as the humanoid, doing homage to some sort of circle or egg-shaped entity." He fretfully rubs at the space between his eyebrows, where his upper dantian should be. Hopefully still is?

"There are many species of parasite which incubate their young in the bodies of higher creatures. I fear...that may have been what was done to us. Is being done to us, as we speak."

[alloriginalheavenlypillar]

"That aligns with what I was able to discern with what scraps of power remain to me," he remarks, his idle pacing gradually leading him to subtly put his larger bulk between him and the scholarly cultivator. He seems a bit, well, if Binghe had a word for 'Dweeby' that would be the first thing that would come to mind. As it stands, 'scholarly' is the best he can do.

And it would be a terrible shame for him to be put in harm's way again. The young man was nothing short of helpful on that ship. He doesn't deserve a sticky end.

His lips twitch a bit at the 'Liu-xiong'. Cute, he thinks, a touch begrudgingly. He doesn't usually find men cute in any sense of the word.

Except for...

Well, that's a thought for another time. He's in quite the pickle here.

"From what little else I could gather, the thing is alive, but dormant. I could ascertain where exactly it's settled on my brain, and it's blocking any physical access to almost all my qi. As it stands, I'm little better off than my days as a disciple."

His lips quirk upwards into a wry, humourless smirk. "I don't think it needs to be said we need to get these out as soon as possible."

[good_taste]

Yes, well, sometimes a little death threat just happens. He's glad to see everyone's taking it so well.

Despite it all, he's having the best day he can remember. He's standing here doing the impossible. A vampire spawn in sunlight. Not even the most ancient and powerful lords could manage that. Cazador would instantly burst into flames, and what a lovely thought that always was. Whatever the mindflayers had done, they'd given him something special. Something he could use.

And so he listens to Shen Luguang with mounting incredulity and horror. "Incubate their--? Ha!" There really is nothing to do but laugh. Gods, hope is always such a mistake.

"Of course it'll turn me into a monster," he sighs, bitter as the moment deserved. "What else did I expect?"

He's barely listening to anything that follows that, clawing his way back up out of despair. Hope is a mistake, but he will not give up. He wants to live, damn it, and he wants to keep this power he's just been given.

"Although it hasn't happened yet. If we can find an expert--someone that can control these things--there might still be time." If he could learn how to use this, then he might have found a way to freedom.

[xiaoxiuya]

"You...don't want your worm removed?" Shen Luguang asks him, befuddled. It's beyond him why anyone would want to retain such a monstrosity -- if he thought he stood any chance of surviving the experience he might just ask Liu-xiong to stab him in the head right now, just to get it out out -- but then, there were many things about that strange vision of Astarion's life that he didn't understand. It was very strange indeed -- and oddly sympathetic, still. He frowns slightly and says, "Regardless, the best thing we can do is make our way to the capital as quickly as possible."

He gestures to the distant Bailu Mountain, explaining, "Regrettibly my grasp on geography is not what it should be, but while I was piloting the ship the foremost thought in my mind was trying to return home. If this indeed is my world or one like it, then the Saintly Emperor will certainly be able to relieve our plight." Smiling brightly as he warms to his topic, he explains to Astarion. "He's guarded our world against all manner of threats for generations, and in addition to being a master cultivator himself his wives include some of the best and brightest minds from near and far. Certainly someone in the palace will be able to help us -- and he may even be able to grant you relief from whatever else troubles you."

He realizes with a quiet laugh, "Perhaps we'll even get commendations for bringing this threat to the emperor's attention! Wouldn't that be something?" Maybe after this, his brothers will finally stop fussing about him getting into trouble!

[alloriginalheavenlypillar]

Binghe does a very good job at keeping an impassive expression. Saintly Emperor indeed. Well, at least the propaganda was doing its job. But they can't go to his palace to face his harem when he's in this state! This poor lord will be torn to shreds by those harpies he calls wives!

Moreover, what would they do to Shen Luguang and the silver haired gentleman...?

No, no, he can't afford to worry about others, not at his age. They're disposable, he reminds himself.

"That saintly emperor," he says with the slightest hint of a sneer, "would just as soon as kill us as help us for bringing this threat into his domain, depending on his mood. I've met the man, and he's as temperamental as the tides - and that's to say nothing of his wives. We'd be walking into a viper's den and putting ourselves in the jaws of the king snake himself. I'd not count on his benevolence."

He smiles, thin and sharp. A little self-reflection never hurt anyone. And perhaps Shen Luguang needs his little bubble burst about the true nature of his beloved emperor

"Let's head to Qishan instead. There's good surgeons there, and money talks well enough to buy their silence."

And he has money enough in his qiankun pouch to pay for their surgeries dozens of times over.

[xiaoxiuya]

For a moment Shen Luguang can do nothing but stare at Liu Feiyu in shocked silence. Who, who even says things that rudely?? About the emperor, no less! Good heavens, Shen Luguang nearly expects a lightning bolt to strike him down out of the clear blue sky!

Failing that he'd love to tell Liu Feiyu exactly what he thinks of hearing that kind of treasonous talk, but. Well. The fact is he doesn't have his qiankun pouch...or any money...or even a sword. And he doesn't know which direction the nearest town is, either. Liu Feiyu does, so. Hmph. Apparently Shen Luguang is stuck with him for the time being.

"Liu-xiong's generosity is truly without equal," he acquiesces with a tight, uncomfortable smile. "This humble scholar will certainly pray for the chance to repay his kindness, before our time together comes to an end."

[alloriginalheavenlypillar]

How sweet, he thinks. Once his mind and body are entirely his own, that sort of unquestioning loyalty should be rewarded. For now, it's a potential danger and he makes a quick note of that tight smile and the double meaning about repayment. He'll be keeping a close eye on Shen Luguang, lest his cover be blown.

"This one is sure Lord Luo would smile upon Shen-laoshi's devotion," he says with nary a hint of irony.

"But this one must wonder about our other friend. You are familiar with the things that put these parasites in our heads, no? Why in the world would you want it to stay there?"

[good_taste]

"I would have died in the crash if the little beast hadn't done... whatever it did. Something's different about these toothy tadpole-things." Did he actually know that? Of course not. He had no idea how mindflayers usually worked. But in all his time trapped next to Cazador, he'd never heard of something like this.

But he had to convince them. He didn't know this land, he hadn't left Baldur's Gate in centuries, and hunger made him weak. Sticking with the herd wasn't such a bad idea, he just needed to direct it. "And if you think that this is a threat worthy of troubling your saintly emperor," good gods, Shen Luguang was an experience already, "then why throw away an opportunity like this? Why not turn these creatures' tools against them?"

[xiaoxiuya]

Shen Luguang keeps his lips pressed tightly closed for a moment -- the scholar-cultivators living in the imperial palace would also be best suited to study this monstrosities and weaponize them, if such a thing is even possible, but he's not going to give Liu Feiyu another chance to shoot down his ideas -- but he's always been incapable of suppressing his own curiosity for long. Eventually he has no choice but to open his mouth and ask, "What do you mean, 'whatever' it did? What do you think would have killed you, if the worm hadn't intervened?"

Astarion's phrasing is just odd, okay?? As a scholar Shen Luguang is trained to notice that sort of inconsistency.

[alloriginalheavenlypillar]

Binghe internally sighs. Don't go poking inconsistencies so early little laoshi! That's how strangers put their guard right up! And then you have to work twice as hard for half the information, unless you want to get torture involved!

...Well, he has his little kit stowed away in his qiankun bag, but that's not the point. It's hardly the time or place!

Besides, Astarion has hardly done anything to invoke Binghe's wrath. Flies, honey, vinegar and all that.

"Perhaps our friend means those people on the backs of flying lizards who attacked the ship? Or the crash itself? Most would usually not survive such a thing. Perhaps the parasite provided some protection."

He flashes Astarion a brief smile as the trees begin to thin out. They're coming close to the ridge which overlooks the road and will have to make a decision where to go sooner or later. Well, his impromptu companions will - Binghe has his mind set on Qishan.

[good_taste]

Ugh, perhaps he couldn't rely on Shen Luguang to stay so trusting after all. But the unexpected support from Liu Feiyu was timely. "Exactly. I should be cinders somewhere back there in the wreckage," he gestures to the smoke plume receding into the distance. "I don't know what it did to hold me together, but it has undeniable power."

Oh, he's just hit upon an idea. One that's rather terrifying, but it should be convincing enough. "And they're aware of their surroundings. Reacting to what happens to us. Who's to say they won't have opinions about a surgeon poking around? I don't see that going well for us unless they're leashed."

[xiaoxiuya]

"All the more reason to get the imperial cultivators involved," Shen Luguang mutters between his teeth, but then he subsides with a cheerful smile when both men look at him again. "But don't worry, if our dear benefactor believes our best fate is found in Qishan then I shan't protest." For now, or out loud for that matter. Qishan was a wealthy province, and his parents were well-connected silk merchants. Surely there would be someone in that great city willing to carry a letter or two on credit, or even smuggle him out of the province altogether. Time alone would tell; he would simply have to keep his eyes open.

"Come on then, da-shixiong," he tells Liu Feiyu, taking a few further steps down the path and beckoning the other two to hurry. "Tell us how we should proceed."

[alloriginalheavenlypillar]

Snappy little one, their little laoshi is, isn't he? It's been a while since someone has had the gall to take that kind of tone with Binghe.

He's finding it... invigorating.

(Settle down, he thinks, this is hardly the time.)

Right, Shen Luguang, it's blood parasites in your next meal. Sorry, but this lord has no choice. You're too much of a liability, however entertaining your waspishness is.

He also doesn't trust Astarion as far as he can, at present, throw him. Far too cagey, but he raises a good point about the nasty little worms. They need to be leashed before they're removed.

"Further reason not to go to the Emperor," he agrees. "Could you imagine how threatened they'd be in the presence of a heavenly demon? And if they forced us to lash out and we harmed even a perfect hair on one of his wives' beautiful head..."

He tuts lightly for dramatic effect.

"There would not be enough of us to even bury. For now, we should get new clothes, and then some food and rest. I'm sure there's some manner of flower or mushroom out there, growing atop a peak or in the bowels of some cave," he sniffs airily, "or maybe a haunted forest this time -- that would be a novel change -- which can help with subduing out... little friends, shall we say."

[good_taste]

He listens to the little flare of drama with a small smirk. Oh, so Shen Luguang isn't all tooth-rotting sweetness. He has a bit of spice to him. Good to know.

Because apparently he knew nothing else about this place. "A 'heavenly demon'? What even is that?" It sounds like a complicated family tree, if nothing else.

But the rest of it all was easy enough to interpret. He didn't entirely trust Liu Feiyu's behavior, he obviously had some ulterior motive for keeping them away from the capital city. Yet as much as the place sounded tempting, he couldn't deny how unenthused he was to place his life in an unknown lord's hands. Particularly one who might tend toward the tyrannical. He'd had enough of that already.

He was free here, but still vulnerable. "Well, I'll stick with the herd, I suppose." He smiles at Liu Feiyu. "As he said, lead on."

[xiaoxiuya]

With talk like that Liu Feiyu is either an a seasoned adventurer or a practiced blowhard, and Shen Luguang is about to speculate out loud about which it might be when Astarion's comment sidetracks him completely. "Poor fellow," he says sympathetically. "You really are from somewhere far from here, aren't you? Let me explain."

As the three of them near the edge of the forest, he proceeds to do just that, relating how the lineage of Heavenly Demons had been founded in ancient times by a goddess who, having been cast from the heavens for crimes lost to history, mingled her blood with the denizens of Hell. The products of this union, themselves empowered by the divinity of their ancestry, quickly turned to conquest, and established themselves as rulers supreme over the demonic race. Thus was the line of saintly emperors established.

Unfortunately, even the brightest sunrise must give way to twilight, and in time the race of heavenly demons dwindled, their numbers reduced through war with humanity and the attrition of demonic politics. The penultimate saintly emperor, Tianlang-jun, was sealed beneath a mountain by human cultivators before he could sire more than a single son, and that carried by a human woman. But what might have been the death of the bloodline was instead its salvation!

The boy who would be emperor was raised among humans, and by the labors of his foster parents he experienced both the best and the worst parts of humanity. By the time he'd reached manhood he'd come to a realization that had eluded the wisest of both races for millennia: far from being opposites or natural adversaries, humanity and demonkind were more alike than they differed. Both races were capable of the loftiest graces or the cruelist selfishness, and Luo Binghe saw clearly how both worlds would benefit from acceptance and commingling with the other. He thus made this unification his life's goal, conquering first the demon realm and then the human and then taking wives from all levels of both societies. But still the two races stood apart, and so Luo Binghe at last put his greatest and most outrageous plan into action: he performed a ritual which tore down the barriers between the two worlds in their entirety, and fused the two lands into one. Now there was no longer any such thing as "the demon realm" or "the human race;" there was only one people, only glorious empire, and one immortal emperor to rule over them all.

"So you see," Shen Luguang said grandly, gesturing with his free hand; at some point while they were talking he'd drifted back over to Astarion's side of the trail and linked their arms together, and now they walked side-by-side like old friends. "The line of 'heavenly demons' is called such in recognition of their celestial origins, which gave them both the power and the right to conquer the world. His majesty the emperor is also called 'saintly' for the same reason, although some demon clans also use the term to honor their strongest warriors whether they have any heavenly demon blood or not. They get away with it because one of the emperor's first wives was a demonic saint," he explains, smiling slightly as he shares a factoid that even now hovers somewhere between historical fact and court gossip to this day.

[alloriginalheavenlypillar]

Subjected to his own propaganda... Binghe never thought he'd see the day. He physically has to turn his head away from the other two and clamp a hand over his mouth to keep from laughing out loud at the sheer irony of it all.

"That... is the long and short of it."

He keeps his smart mouth shut about how sanitized the official story is to the historical realities - no need to antagonize Shen Luguang any further. Instead, he flashes the young scholar his most charming smile.

"As for how to manage our new little friends, I do know a... ah... fine, upstanding woman who may be able to help."

It is certainly one way to describe Madame Meiyin. She's about the only one he can trust not to betray him - or at least not consider his fall from power a good thing -after all, she and her girls will never eat so good again if something goes wrong.

All the more reason to head to Qishan.

[good_taste]

He should have seen this coming, really. Shen Luguang probably had glowing words to share about this emperor's socks if you gave him half the chance.

Astarion listens, with the occasional "mmm?", and "mmm.", and "mmngh, gods" as the history lesson continues.

"Well! That's quite the tale," he finally says. "I imagine some of it's even true. Still, good to know the official word on all this."

He glances to Liu Feiyu. "But you are going to have to try harder to sound convincing," he smiles as well, because two can play the charming one here. "What sort of overflowing virtues is this unnamed lady blessed with, then?"

[alloriginalheavenlypillar]

Binghe's socks are impeccable thank you very much and he'll not hear a word against them.

"The good lady is a seer," he says outright, with a nonchalant roll of his shoulders. "Among the few who is actually reliable with her fortune telling."

And loyal to him. He is her favourite snack, after all.

And if there's one thing Binghe knows about Meiyin, she will go out of her way to preserve her favourites.

"If anyone can tell us how to deal with these things, it will be her. Though..."

His teeth flash white in the setting sun as they approach the town.

"...We should endeavor to be well rested before a visit with her. She's also a succubus who will want her pound of flesh in exchange for useful information."

He lightly pats Astarion's shoulder and he picks up his pace as they approach the town gates. From his qiankun bag he selects which identification papers he'll use -- an imperial diplomat seems his most useful bet, and he smirks as the guard's eyes visibly widen when he spots the imperial seal. Binghe mutters something in the poor guard's ear, gesturing to the other two and the guard gives a dumbfounded nod before waving them through without asking for so much as a travel pass.

Binghe carries on as if he didn't just get them into a heavily guarded city without an ounce of fuss.

"She'll be in Shuanghu City this time of year," he muses, tucking his papers back into the safety of his qiankun bag. "From here, that's three days on foot. A day and a half if we splurge on a cart."

[xiaoxiuya]

Excuse you, Astarion, that story was amazing, and you should be grateful to Shen Luguang for providing you with such a comprehensive peak into the recent history and values of this world! And honestly, who cares if the official story isn't entirely accurate? Historical accuracy is for dry annals and dusty debates; of scholarly interest to be sure, but little to do with the daily attitudes of the people or the running of the country!

Ah, but one could hardly expect a foreigner to understand such niceties right off the bat. In any case Shen Luguang quickly forgets to be sulky, because something far more important catches his eye: namely the smooth way Liu Feiyu got them into the city. What's that all about??

"Da-shixiong is so well-connected!" he exclaims, keeping a hand on Astarion's arm (and inadvertently towing him along) to make sure he doesn't get separated and lost as they enter a bustling city street. "How fortunate A-Si and I were to cross his path." Could he be one of those Lius? A distance cousin of the Second Wife, perhaps? But then why would he be so against going to court? Unless it's a false name...

[good_taste]

Alright. He'll admit, he hadn't been expecting that. More 'the woman's a criminal kingpin' sort of thing, not that. As if he hadn't had enough of devils for one day! He'd only just cleaned the ashes of Hell off his face.

He'd leave any contracts to Liu Feiyu, since he seemed so confident about that.

And he seems very confident as they approach the gates. He's got official papers of some kind. Whether they're actually his? Doubtful. That might be potentially useful.

But looking around, it's clear Astarion have a hard time impersonating a local. Everyone has long hair here. No chance of blending into the crowd, then. He'll have to be especially careful when he... gods, he hopes he doesn't have to settle for vermin again. There's got to at least be stables he can sneak into.

He doesn't pull away from Shen Luguang, placing a hand on his. Fortunate? Maybe. "I think my situation's as ideal as can be. No one here's probably ever heard of Baldur's Gate. That means no responsibilities, debts, jealous lovers..." No monstrous master, no burning to cinders in the sunlight, the list just goes on and on!

...With some exceptions. "Although comfort might be in short supply, unless you two are carrying more coin. I didn't budget for being kidnapped today."

[alloriginalheavenlypillar]

As Shen Luguang gushes, a wry chuckle escapes Binghe.

"Well connected indeed..."

As he tucks the papers away, he does so in a manner that lets Shen Luguang see that the name on them is, indeed, Liu Feiyu.

"I have enough to get us to Qishan with relative ease," he says with a shrug. "But moreover, I'm worried A-Si stands out a bit too much. Perhaps we should get him some less... conspicuous attire?"

Clothes maketh the man, after all.

[xiaoxiuya]

"Oh! What a good idea," Shen Luguang enthuses, a glint of genuine enthusiasm twinkling in his eyes before he hides it under effusiveness ditzery. Why yes Liu-xiong, please take him to the clothiers. Clothiers mean silk merchants, and silk merchants mean contacts, and contacts mean getting a letter to his brothers all the quicker!

"And I'm sure you'll feel much better, once we've gotten you properly dressed," he adds to Astarion, plucking curiously at his doublet. "This...jacket? Of yours is interesting, but it looks terribly warm. And a little beaten up." All those slashes in the top layer...what had the 'mindflayers' done, gone at him with knives?

[good_taste]

Oh good, they brought up the same idea.

And also tried to besmirch his good fashion sense. "Tsk, you people have no taste," Astarion plucks right back at Shen Luguang's robe.

"Sleeves like that haven't been fashionable for centuries, not even Elminster wears them anymore." Not that he'd ever seen Elminster, but he imagined it was so. Wizards made some occasional acknowledgement of how often they seemed to set themselves on fire.

"But yes, fine, I'm willing to compromise my standards for a while," he sighs. Oh, pity him, he is too beautiful for this land.

[xiaoxiuya]

"Oh really?" Shen Yuan said with a skeptical laugh. "Jīnfǎ Gēshǒu told you that himself, did he? These sleeves --" Are the very height of fashion for young cultivators, he means to say, but then he stops. And stares at Astarion in confusion.

"How did I know who you were talking about?" he wonders out loud -- and then he stumbles and trips over his own two feet.

[alloriginalheavenlypillar]

Binghe acts reflexively, reaching out to catch Shen Luguang in a strong arm, cushioning his fall against his broad, bared chest, before gently righting him.

"Easy there, we'll be able to eat and rest soon," comes a silky response, a sympathetic smile on his face. Poor thing must be exhausted from the ordeal.

Indeed it is odd that they both know exactly who Astarion is talking about, but Binghe is also very used to strange phenomena - especially the kind that messes with the head.

(He is, momentarily, reminded of Xin Mo, shattered and scattered heavens knows only where with only a singular shard still clinging to the hilt stuffed in his qiankun bag. It will likely be enough to track down the rest of the sword but will he be able to muster enough power to open the way between worlds to get them...? Does he even want to...? It's a rather nice feeling not having the sword screaming in his brain.

Ah, but how will he be able to find that kind shizun if he doesn't...?)

"Here," he remarks, stopping outside a rather mid-tier tailors. Much of it looks far more appropriate as travel attire, though there are a handful of luxury items and silks on display.

He picks the shop not only because it sells decent quality pragmatic attire, but also because it will be far easier to keep an eye on Shen Luguang in its small interior.

"Besides, if we're traveling, we're not looking to be the height of fashion, unless we all want to be swarmed by thieves and vagabonds...?"

[good_taste]

Oh they're going to be an item aren't they. They have the 'bickering but full of sexual tension' sort of thing developing. Well, while they're resting and arguing over the menu, he'll have more time to slip away and bite something unappetizing. Joy.

Still, the moment of recognition should probably be addressed. He's still not sure where he is in relation to the Sword Coast. "You know about him? Well--it's Elminster, I shouldn't be surprised. He gets everywhere, like an ogre's sneeze." Every few years people were talking about him, saving the realm again. So unspeakably heroic.

Clothes are a welcome distraction, inspecting the offerings with a critical eye. He is blissfully unburdened by any sense of the Dos and Don'ts of local fashion. Much as blending in would help, confidence is what makes an outfit work best.

"It might give us something to do," he considers a garment he likes the look of. And the feel--this place does know its silks. "Though I'll admit, I'm not the most seasoned traveler. I hadn't left the city in centuries."

[xiaoxiuya]

Although he quickly shakes off Liu Feiyu's faux-concerned hovering, he waits to pursue the actual reason for his clumsiness until after they've entered the shop, and Liu Feiyu has been drawn into negotiation with the shopkeeper. Only then did Shen Luguang slide up to Astarion and lean in close, his eyes twinkling with excitement as he murmurs, "Hey, why don't we try that again? Say the name of somebody famous from your homeland, anybody. It doesn't matter what they're famous for."

It was already clear from their reactions that they hadn't experienced the same thing he had, but that didn't necessarily mean much. His chief concern was to see if he could make it happen again.

[alloriginalheavenlypillar]

Luo Binghe gets the clothing situation sorted quickly and efficiently and it isn't long until the store clerk is wheeling out various robe and accessories for all occasions. The owner of the little shop, a weary looking silk-spider demon missing two of its legs plods out from the back, grumbling about last-minute customers needing adjustments, just come back in the morning will you, and -

The spider demon sees Luo Binghe standing in his shop and freezes.

There is a reason he is down to six legs. There is also a reason that's the extent of his misfortune, because while he was stupid enough to challenge a heavenly demon, he was also smart enough to quit while he was ahead, yielded, and gave Luo Binghe the magical treasure that would save whatever wife the demon emperor had fixated on for the week from some bizarre ailment.

If the emperor was standing in his shop, smiling at him like that, he knew better than to open his mouth and give away whatever game Luo Binghe was playing.

"A thousand pardons m'lords. This one will attend to you once you've made your selections."

He potters around the place, legs clicking nervously as they go through what were supposed to be displays only. They must be in a rush, and cannot wait a day or two for anything more bespoke.

Luo Binghe, in the meantime, is carefully picking his new attire. Selecting things in shades of dark gray and blue. His black, red, and silver robes are too distinctive, even if they're fashionable among loyalists. Anything to throw eyes off of him.

He stays annoyingly close to the other two, never quite out of earshot or their line of sight.

But this lord can be kind too. He spots a jeweled silver earcuffs that would look exquisite on Astarion. And a silk fan with a sage-green tassel and white jade crane ornament that would complement Shen Luguang's scholarly air.

He passes the gifts discretely to the clerk who goes to box them up. He may be staying late, but it's been a slow day, and it looks like these three have money to burn. He's not going to complain about the overtime if it comes with a fat, juicy commission.

[good_taste]

Astarion glances over at Shen Luguang, as he tests the feel of another prospective addition to the wardrobe. Gods, the silks here are almost scandalously fine. "What, like Drizzt Do'Urden, Mordenkainen--" oh that's a big spider "--Lolth, Strahd von Zarovich... Any bells ringing?"

Well, a spider would explain the silks.

He's allowed to eat bugs. Maybe he could--?

Ugh, no. That one can talk.

Fine, he'll just go back to assembling a look that will go well with his skin, and what he thinks the color of his eyes probably is.

[broodofone]

Your parasite stirs as he speaks. You recognize those names, somehow. Flashes of gossip and portraits from a faraway land that find resonance in half-remembered texts and idols in crowded shrines. Cuī Zhànshì, A heroic demon swordsman and disciple of Jiǔtiān Xuánnǚ, white-haired and black-skinned. One that clawed his way up from ancestral curse to a virtuous life. Huīyīng Fǎshī, a great scholar and associate of Jīnfǎ Gēshǒu. A stern immortal, robed like his gray eagle namesake.

The pale man's eyes widen at the sight of the spider, another name tumbling from him--Luō Sī, a great demon that dwells in the hungry dark below the world, spinning webs of treachery and malice. A creature worshiped as a dark goddess.

The list ends with another odd figure. Shǒuàn Zhǔ, blood-drenched demon lord of a land untouched by sunlight. There's the slightest tinge of desire that clings to the name.

The connection fades before his mind can tell you why.

[xiaoxiuya]

A less dignified man might squeal with glee, or even do a little dance, but Shen Luguang is above such things. He merely places a hand decorously over his mouth, his eyes sparkling with delight, and once he's mastered himself he says simply, "My friend, I think you were onto something before, when you suggested that these things might be put to good use. I think they could be very useful indeed, if made safe and properly controlled."

Then he smiles mysteriously and turns to see what mischief Liu Feiyu's gotten up to.