act14mini

How'd it go?

I got it...

The Elder didn't see you, did he?

He wasn't home. I think he went to the Yishan Temple to make an offering to the ancestors.

That's good. I don't wanna get chewed out again... Anyway, hurry up, let's take a look!

What are all these buttons for? This round thing here... looks like a flashlight stuck inside... Is this really the camder-thingamajig lady Messenger was talking about?

'Camcorder.'

This is definitely it. Lady Messenger's magazine had an ad for a machine just like this.

I saw it when the Elder took it from that guy yesterday.

Can this 'camcorder' thing really suck people inside?

What the heck? You're talking about recording!

Okay, okay. Turn it on already and let's see what it can do.

I'm trying, but it's not doing anything.

The mudslide yesterday might've messed up some of the mechanisms.

You're just pretending like you know what to do! Lemme try!

Hey, hands off.

Urgh...

My head!

For what reason have you children cast a stone at me?

It is no matter, I feel no pain from the stone. I carry no blame for you children.

Can we have that back?

Should I return it to you, it would be unbecoming if you then attacked another soul with it.

It's a camcorder, not a rock!

I see, so this is a camcorder! In Higashi, I heard the brothers speak of such a device. Though lightweight and small in shape, it faithfully retains the likeness of any image in perpetuity.

After parting ways with my head priest, I spent long while wandering the lands of Great Yan, including a fair bit of time inside the paint-scroll of a certain master. Therein, I witnessed countless wonders, though we will never meet again. I am left with deep regret.

With a device like this in hand, never again must I suffer the sorrows of people and places bygone, never to be seen again.

May I look at the camera?

Sure, go for it. It's already busted anyway.

Such a small screen, yet able to flip like this. Remarkable...

Hmm... There is a cover behind the device that opens.

Oh my, the screen is illuminated...

You turned it on? But how...?

Hey, tell me what's inside!

For someone like you who doesn't really know the people here, who are you to judge our lives and look down on us? What gives you the right to talk about 'change?'

You've got a lot of grand talk about 'compassion,' but in the end, you're just looking down on us, pitying us.

Leave me alone!

The woman inside blinks blankly, and Saga suddenly realizes that she is looking at her own face.

The image has vanished, the screen turning back into a reflective surface.

That's it?

You didn't break it by forcing it on, did you?

Uhh...

Let go! Let go of me!

Gah, rotten kid, settle down!

Argh––!

Gaaah!

No biting either–!

What are you dragging me up the mountain for? What are you gonna do to me?

You must've been feeling real stuffy locked in that old shed, right? We're just taking you out for some fresh air before heading back...

You think I'm an idiot?

The mandarins are here, aren't they?

I hit the nail on the head.

I'm going back down.

I'm going to tell the mandarins what you're up to.

Is that your plan? Not satisfied until you've ruined life for everyone, huh?

You people are the ones who sold your souls, and you're trying to make this my fault?

Sold our souls? We agreed to keep you fed out of the goodness of our hearts, you call that selling our souls? If only I could trade the name Zhou Liu for some money to buy food...

Hey, don't bother trying to reason with him. Won't do you a bit of good.

Think we haven't tried to talk sense into him? We've tried everything under the sun, and the kid still won't budge.

Fang Xiaoshi, you're not going anywhere. You're staying right here on this mountain.

Grab him!

There's no way you'll get past all of us.

Just simmer down. You're up against a cliff. If you don't watch your step, you might just...

Cut the crap already!

Why you little–

Don't test us, Fang Xiaoshi.

Hey, Zhou Si, don't tell me you...

The Elder didn't say we could...

If he keeps this up, we're gonna attract unwanted attention.

And we can't have that...

I'm telling you, I'm going down this mountain today.

Even if you somehow manage to keep my mouth shut and get your cash, I will expose you sooner or later.

Even if I 'die,' I'm going to 'live' on! Or, if you think you've got what it takes, kill me right here!

I see, I get it now, Fang Xiaoshi. You're just a wild beast cub that we haven't domesticated.

Three years ago, you blew up the Yishan Temple and cut off the lifeblood of our village; three years later, you're going to drive every last one of us to our deaths!

What are you doing...?

Stop!

Huh?

Master? You're still here?!

Shifu Saga, I don't understand...

That Elder didn't seem like a bad man, so why...?

I am reminded of a story I heard on my travels. Wouldst thou have me recount it, good Mulberry?

Yes.

There once was a bukuai, a lawman, who worked hard all his life and devoted himself to his duties. Though he was poor, he eked out a stable, comfortable life.

Once, he was ordered to capture a group of bandits in the mountains. When he did see their cave full of hoarded treasure, he could not restrain the evil thoughts that arose within him.

The bukuai took two pieces of pure gold, a mere two pieces, and hid them in his pocket.

His actions were discovered by a fellow lawman. The latter dangled this over his head, seeking to blackmail him into splitting the loot equally.

The bukuai was indignant, and slew his fellow lawman in a fit of rage. He made as if the deed was done by the bandits, and returned to report back alone.

H-How could anyone do something so awful...?

Aha... my response was similar upon first hearing the tale. Alas, know that the story is far from over.

When the bukuai arrived at the foot of the mountain, he met the fallen lawman's wife. He knew not why she would appear here, and panic set into his paranoia-gripped heart. Resolving to see things through to the end, he murdered her as well.

The bukuai beheld the bloodstained knife in his hand, confused and frightened at the same time, before hurriedly fleeing back home.

However, these murders were quickly discovered. The bukuai knew he could not escape his crimes and condemned his entire family, turning to a life of banditry.

As for how the bukuai became an infamous bandit, carrying calamity in his wake, or how he ultimately lost his life and left not a trace behind, I shall not elucidate the specifics.

Who would guess that two pieces of gold could lead to all that?

Indeed.

My head priest said evil thoughts are beasts residing within the hearts of man, which must be beaten into submission every now and then. As such, my mission is to ensure the temple bells never cease.

After all, it is difficult to contain a wild beast, once it is freed from its cage.

The drifting monk bends down and rubs a pinch of gunpowder-stained clay between her fingers.

They say the weather is as unpredictable as the human heart.

The winds and rains are unpredictable indeed, and managing them to avert calamity is best left to experts such as thyself. All I can offer is to join thee on one leg of thy journey.