act19mini

It's busy here.

Indeed.

Where is Yi?

He went out.

He found the surroundings of one of the pavilions a little too sparse, and went looking for something to decorate there.

It seems like you're the only one around, whenever I visit.

That's why he built me.

He can be quite communicative... to people and things that he's interested in.

He would talk three days and nights to a child just to obtain a stone, even if scolded and abused, but he can't stand to be around your kind for even a few minutes.

That's for the best, I suppose. I couldn't stand his fake hospitality either.

Back on topic. Are things not proceeding a little slow? Seven days have passed, and only a small part of the ruins has been cleared.

Slow?

Clearing the rubble is the easy part. But properly handling hundreds if not thousands of objects touched by geisthood... I'm sure the Sui Regulator knows full well how arduous a task it is.

There's an easier way, no?

If my ears didn't deceive me, some Waregeists are following you back to the Garden of Grotesqueries...

Do you mean that I should take all the geist-touched objects, bricks and tiles, weeds and branches, chairs and tables, cups and plates... back to the Garden of Grotesqueries?

Yes.

We don't have the space.

Didn't you say that Yi thought the garden was a little sparse?

Did I?

The awakening of Sui caused great upheaval in Baizao and the surrounding lands. Your siblings have paid a dear price, even...

Stop.

Yi says that is all in the past. The siblings do not wish to speak of it, especially not with you.

In any event, the affairs of the Garden of Grotesqueries have always been the affairs of the people.

It sits atop the tomb, pinning the slumbering one in a dream, pacifying the evil that would threaten Baizao...

I think you're mistaken about something.

Oh?

The Garden of Grotesqueries is first and foremost Yi's garden.

Home to the rare and delightful, the eccentric and the grotesque from all four corners, from ancient times to present, Yi would love to have the sights of the whole world in its boundaries, and would gladly move the entire garden's layout for the sake of one little rock...

It is not a tool for the Sui Regulator, and certainly not a trash heap for the Tomb of Sui.

I will deal with the geists near the tomb. The Sui Regulator should not presume to interfere with anything else.

Hasn't the east side been cleaned up? Why is this Waregeist going that way?

Someone's coming. Stay out of sight.

This is it, this is the place...

At long last...

Oh, sorry, I didn't realize there was somebody here... er, y-you're human, right?

Nothing you need to worry about.

Well, er... sir? Are you one of the mandarins assigned to watch these hills, judging by your attire?

You could say that.

This place has long been abandoned, the roads broken and overgrown. No civilian has approached it in many years. Who are you?

You might know there was once a town here. I used to live here.

It was a long time ago.

Yes.

A disaster happened many years ago, a terrible event that no one could truly describe. The town was destroyed overnight...

I was a young boy at the time. My whole family was... it was by sheer luck that I survived.

I went to Jiangqi and lived there for many years. This is the first time I've been back.

Jiangqi is a long way from here.

A very long way.

I spent most of the money that I saved over the years on this journey.

Just to see these... ruins?

No, I plan to rest for a couple of days, then get about fixing this house and clearing some farmland around here.

I think my journey has come to an end.

I don't understand. You've found a new life in Jiangqi. Why are you obsessed with these broken ruins?

They may look like ruins to you, broken beams and cracked bricks overgrown with weeds...

But after all these years, I still remember how I hid my pocket money in a corner of the house, to buy sweets from a passing peddler...

I remember fighting with the neighbor's kid, bringing lunch to our parents in the fields together, going to class at the school on the west side together...

This is my home, sir, even if it was destroyed.

As you say, it was destroyed.

You remember the disaster. Aren't you afraid it may strike again?

Catastrophe is everywhere on this land. There is no haven that has never been touched by disaster.

Disaster might interrupt our lives, but we'll come back after it's gone. We'll fix the houses, clean up the fields, again and again... as it always has been, for centuries and more.

I met others who fled this place before I set out on the journey. They want to come back, just like me. Before long...

Given enough time, even objects form an attachment to a place, never mind humans.

But you can't stay here... at least, not for a few days yet.

Huh?

There are official restrictions in place for this area right now. Go and stay at a nearby inn and wait for the announcement.

Alright.

Ouch—did I trip over something?

It's nothing. I'll see you off.

Come out.

Silence.

I suggest you come out while I'm still asking politely.

There is rustling in a corner, and a Waregeist in the shape of a bottle emerges from its hiding place after a while.

...It was you.

You were the one who was running around when the Sui Regulator came, weren't you?

This place has been cleaned up. Why are you hiding here?

Mm...

You don't want to be destroyed?

(Shakes up and down)

Do you want to come with me to the Garden of Grotesqueries?

(Shakes left and right)

You want to stay here?

(Shakes up and down)

Why?

I'm waiting for someone, sir.

Waiting for someone?

The ones who made me.

A scholar by the name of Lan Ke and a woman by the name of Bai Jin made me, when this place was still a town. They said I was the first thing they made for their new home.

When they got married, they put me in the most prominent place in the living room and put a new flower in me every day. Never forget.

They shaped me and put me in the furnace, then went off to do other things while I was being heated...

Then the disaster happened, and they never came back.

I... I've been waiting for them...

You're not going anywhere?

I'm not going anywhere.

Sir...

Please don't be angry at it, sir.

The scroll-shaped entity stands before Liang and angles its upper half forward, its bamboo strips turning white at the effort.

Are you... bowing?

Indeed.

I learned that one should bow politely when making a request.