act19mini

Behind the Tianshi, at a distance of ten steps, a handbroom leans on the wall. And for reasons unknown, wherever she goes, the broom stays behind her by that exact distance.

But never mind why a domestic handbroom is languishing outside; there's a single embroidered shoe on the roof too, pitter-pattering as it follows the broom, and then a calligraphed character on the wall, following that shoe.

And behind that, a jumping shoulder pole, a rolling medicine bottle, a clattering rattle drum... and at the very back of this bewildering procession, who should it be but Mr. Pu.

They all stop outside the door to an inn.

Mr. Pu, the Tianshi's gone...

And she went into this inn?

I can confirm that, but we couldn't find her when we looked inside.

Hmm...

Mister, Mister—

Did you see the Tianshi?

No, no!

I saw that wicked woman! She came after us!

What—

Found you.

Ai-yo... my back...

It's you...

Oh, I never wanted to believe it... but who else could it have been, other than you?

That's enough. The only thing I want to know is, why did you trick me?

Trick you? When did I ever trick you...?

You always said the secret tome was a fake. You kept telling us to ignore it. So why did that teapot get involved in the deal at the teahouse, and why would he get this tome?

You've got it wrong... you've got it all wrong...

I don't care who got what wrong. There's one thing from you, and that's it.

Tell me what the deal is with the 'personification' technique in this tome.

Are you serious...? Is that how badly you want to leave this town?

Surely you know I have an old friend to meet?

All these years, I've been begging you to tell me how to leave this town, but you kept on urging me, 'just be patient'.

Well, the tome's right here, right now. Any more excuses, 'Mister'?

You've taught so many so much. Would it hurt to just teach me one more thing?

Do the people you've laid low in the fight for this tome mean anything to you?

You want to become a human, but you forewent learning human kindness and love. You jumped straight to human resentment and ruthlessness.

It will only hurt you if I let you leave this town...

Love... Hmph. None of you would know a thing about the love in my heart...

Time's up! Enough hiding things!

I'm sorry... but I'm just as clueless as you about this 'personification' technique.

Hate me if you must. Kill me if you like.

Asking me to darken my conscience, and lie to my students, though... never.

Mr. Pu, I have always respected you.

So don't blame me. You left me no choice.

Before the swordswoman's sword can fall, a blade flies in from outside, sending her skidding back with the might of a thunderclap.

Astutely, she realizes her foe's power is beyond the pale, and without a second thought, she vaults through the window and flees.

She ran...

Tianshi Lin... Did you hear all that?

Most of it. And I'd guessed most of it.

*sigh*...

I can believe you have troubles, sir, but I think you'll agree your actions prior to now have not been proper.

No objections, Tianshi Lin... Oh, I've made a fool of myself with this, a fool of myself...

But how did you know I was being held captive by...?

A talking broom showed me the way, while asking that I save you.

I don't know if anything can surprise me today.

Sit down, Tianshi Lin, have some tea.

And as he says it, a plate drags a teapot and teacup over, and tea is served.

Lin Qingyan just furrows her eyebrows at the sight.

These items...

They're the students of this school. And all of them are geists.

That explains the strangeness of the townsfolk I met today...

So is everyone in this town...?

Some are humans, some are geists. As for how many of each, I'm not sure myself, not anymore after all these years.

The town became this way a long, long time ago. None of what I told you earlier was a lie per se, Tianshi.

I've heard tell of possessed beings born out of Feranmut influence. But I've never seen a 'geist' with intellect approaching that of humankind.

Have you forgotten, Tianshi Lin, what rests nearby?

...The Tomb of Sui.

Correct.

We all know about the power of Feranmut incarnations to possess objects, and Sui was all too powerful. Even suppressed by the town for a millennium, the mere might that leeched out of the cracks of the earth sufficed to turn some things geistly.

Ordinary people should <i>never</i> know about any of that. Sir, are you...?

A Feranmutologist at the Sui Regulator. Decades ago, at that.

Life ends somewhere, and so does knowledge... My Feranmut studies were achingly incomplete, and the research had wicked away my own humanity. I handed in my resignation and left to live a secluded life in the mountains. That's when I found this town.

Decades ago, this town saw frequent possession incidents, which the Tianshi Bureau would send a Tianshi to quell if it felt like it.

But I had to feel sorry for geistkind, born into our secular realm not knowing up from down. And how steeped in humanity some were, their consciousness not so far from a human's.

Why simply watch them run amok and be crushed? Nothing stopped me from trying to teach them human rites and values. Maybe they'd even be able to coexist?

So little by little, this school came to be.

How noble of you.

No, no... I can't be prizing those words from a Tianshi's lips.

It's ridiculous on the face of it. I spend one half of my life on studying the 'bestial', and the other half on teaching the 'geistly' to be human, only to look back and realize I've half-baked both. What do I really know...?

Still, since sequestering away, I've come to find the little things oh so endearing.

I <i>had</i> thought this was how it'd be until my time was up.

But see, a few days ago, I received a letter.

A letter...?

'CLASSIFIED SCOOP, NOT FOR PRYING EYES'?

Someone claims to have gotten hold of a one-of-a-kind secret tome, penned personally by that Grandmaster of Yumen.

Rumor has it that Grandmaster is a Feranmut incarnate, but has the capacity to form himself a human's body. So analogously, the tome's teachings can allow geists to 'become human'.

Even Yumen is involved in this? That explains the incident Zuo Le mentioned.

Wait. Can this tome really make the 'geistly' human?

To be honest, I have no idea if that's true or not. But importantly, quite a number of geists believe it. And it's caused a great deal of unrest.

Are you suggesting the letter's writer aimed to sow unease in this town?

*sigh*... Hard to say, you know, hard to say...

All that I know, I've told you now. What are your plans, Tianshi Lin?

Matters of the bestial Sui are out of my job's scope. But as a Tianshi of the Tianshi Bureaus, geists hurting people is something I cannot overlook.

If whoever's orchestrating this has malevolence in mind, all the more reason to put my foot down.

That's good... I could tell you were the upstanding sort. I'm at ease knowing this investigation is in your hands.

Tianshi Lin... just one more thing.

Hu Jun's 'remains'. Could you hand them to me...?

Certainly...

Are you giving him a burial, sir?

A burial, yes, but it's not just a burial.

This study we're in... is the Hall of Morn and Eve. Every broken item that rests in here, once was Geist.

A geist does not live and die as a human does.

They come alive from humans' attachments to things; they perish when their vessel breaks or the attachment is rid.

If the broken vessel can be mended, perhaps one day, the spirit can manifest again.

So this teapot—no, Hu Jun here...?

Hu Jun's owner was a tea farmer here. He loved tea, and knew it through and through.