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Polluted Jianghu: 新年少鹏

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Night Walkers Pt. 2
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    • "We," you declare, "are preparing a people's struggle against the Japanese imperialists."

    It was unexpected in the way a sudden brick wall in the middle of a freeway was unexpected. The conversation dashed itself upon it, a ten lane pile up in White Raincoat's neurons. You can sorta see how she's had her train of thought derailed and you should really focus on your metaphors. "Do you have an ounce of self-awareness?" Fei Dao lifts his empty bottle to his lips. You can read indescribable sadness at having to deal with your shit in a slightly more sober fashion.

    "I traded that for the immortal dialectic."

    "I'm just here to profit from the revolution," Flay interjects, not even bothering with hiding the grin. "Had some free time, saw the times were a'changing, and thought, 'hey, I could make money off of this.'"

    "I, uh. Ah," the newcomer sputters.

    You salute her with an empty bottle. "Money is an ephemeral concept but I commend you for showing good and virtuous action."

    "Cool beans. So, cutie, are ya still gonna make trouble for us?"

    "I'm not cute," White Raincoat insists. "I am striking."

    "You're like ten go home."

    "You're not my mother," the girl insists. You feel like if she wasn't balancing on a railing she would be stomping her feet. You idly look around. Nobody looks like they're listening. After the yakuza scarpered, conversation resumed. Er. Shit. Didn't you lay out your goals? Shiiit. Well, Flay seems at ease about the whole thing. Hopefully that means something. "If you're going against Kirisaki-rengo, I want mmmph!" Fei moves and drags her to the floor with a hand across her mouth.

    "Don't give up the game," Flay hisses. "Take a seat." White Raincoat does so in the face of cybernetic maternal sternness. Or was it sororal? Flay looked in her twenties, White Raincoat was in the upper edge of her teens. Sororal. "Anyway, do you really- no, this is the wrong question to ask." Her voice is a harsh whisper. "What's your credentials. Please don't say vigi-"

    "VIgilante."

    "Goddamnit."

    "What? They're all bad people anyway. I don't give a shit about them," she says as if that excused everything. You supposed it did to some people.

    "She did break that guy's leg and probably brain damaged him severely without a second thought," you offer in support.

    "What? I just hit him on the head where the brain… oh."

    Flay looks at her. "So? Still feel up to it?"

    She looks back, a fearsome uncompromising justice built on a foundation of police procedurals and genre fiction shining in her eyes. "Yes. As long as I get to beat everyone who remains."

    Flay looks at you. "How about you?"

    "Do you have anyone else in mind?"

    She waggles a hand. "Yes, but they'd probably want more money up front than I'm comfortable with. Hey, you. What's your price?"

    "Justice," the girl replies.

    "You're even worse than him. I hate all y'all."

    You stretch out a hand for a high five. White Raincoat hesitantly obliges. "Who… are you? I'm sorry, I've been talking to you so long I still don't know all of your names."

    Flay jabs a finger at herself. "Bobbie Flay. Tech consultant. That's Fei Dao, master of the flying knife, as his name advertised. And uh, this guy."

    "Sup," you say.

    "He doesn't remember his name. He's between names," Flay clarifies. "Now, how about you? Please don't give me some-"

    "Yuexia."

    "In poor light that almost sounds like a name so that passes." The cyborg takes out her phone. "Alright, so the two of you are all in, right?" Both of you nod. "Alright. Gimme your phone number, Moon Knight. I'll message you tomorrow for a meeting place."

    Holy shit, is that a full palm around the fist salute? You are in awe of this exemplar of chivalry and old martial arts films. She lightly jumps over the railing, vanishing out of the door and into the night. "That was fucking surreal," you summarize.

    "Yeah. I think I found someone weirder than you."

    "Is that a challenge?" You squint at her. Her horrormused expression tells you everything she thinks about that. "Anyway, I'm stuffed. Do you have an ask no questions motel?"

    She did. Red Corner Hotel, the neon lights overlooking a street where the sidewalks were torn out and never quite fully replaced. The rental bike stations were secured with iron chains, and there at the end was a neighborhood security armored van with a sleepy security guard loitering the corner. He doesn't give you a second glance as you wedge open the glass door on the edge building. The inside of the Red Corner isn't any better. A narrow room, one side hosting a help desk where a clerk was blowing bubblegum. The other side had an assortment of empty tables and an empty Pepsi-Cola freezer.

    "Room?" the clerk asked brusquely.

    "Yeah."

    "Hundred yuan a night. Money upfront, cash or electric. Breakfast separately. No smoking, drinking in the rooms."

    You grunt in assent, shoes squeaking over the tiles as you pull out the manila envelope and dig out a hundred yuan bill. The red slip of paper disappears as soon as you slap it down on the varnished tabletop. In its place a plastic chitty slides to you. There's not even an elevator and the wooden stairs creak under your weight. The clerk pulls out a bottle of beer and downs it when she thinks you're not looking.

    Whatever.

    Your hundred yuan garret apartment is calling. Outside the narrow window is a red light from the neon sign. A rickety folding metal chair sits, no, exists?, in front of a narrow writing desk. It fills you with an indescribable urge to pick up a pen (in this day and age) and scribble a self loathing novel about socialism or alienation or some other horse piss

    The Zhenyan jacket goes on a coathook. You should probably liquidate that. Your trackpants find a home on the desk, and so does your sleeveless undershirt. For a long while, you stand there, almost naked if not for the bandages wrapping over the entirety of your corpus. A shiver runs up you. You feel for some reason there should be a cancer stick between your lips right now.

    It is silent. You hate it. You feel like something's… something's empty with it. Then you shook your head. You know what to do tomorrow. If Flay dips then you'll just go it alone.

    The bed is about as uncomfortable as you can expect. The springs groan and creak and the pillow has lumps. But it's warm inside.

    Dream…
    []- There is a dreadful heat that chokes the ground. The sun, fat and red, hangs on the horizon. In the distance, the beat of horse hooves. {Increase Chase the Red Sun to Intensity 2}
    []- Something is eating people. You hear it in the cabinet, slurping the fat from their bones. There is a spear in your hands. Are you eating? {Increase Harmonious Society to Intensity 2}
    []- The moments are stretched out, in the wake of the thunder. Pengju is waiting in the sky, the radiance of the Buddha touching this web of dust. {Increase Wrathful Manifestation to Intensity 2}
    []- Xingtian is howling defiance. You know it is not Xingtian, flensed of skin and a brass skull, but it dances nevertheless. Also it's on fire. {Increase Pain is a Teacher to Intensity 2}
     
  • Threadmarks
    • [x]- There is a dreadful heat that chokes the ground. The sun, fat and red, hangs on the horizon. In the distance, the beat of horse hooves. {Increase Chase the Red Sun to Intensity 2}
     
    [x]- There is a dreadful heat that chokes the ground. The sun, fat and red, hangs on the horizon. In the distance, the beat of horse hooves. {Increase Chase the Red Sun to Intensity 2}
     
    Laplace said:
    She waggles a hand. "Yes, but they'd probably want more money up front than I'm comfortable with. Hey, you. What's your price?"

    "Justice," the girl replies.
    Click to expand...
    Click to shrink...
    .... Adorable. Holy shit. She's so cute. We should keep her, she'll just get herself killed otherwise.

    [X]- The moments are stretched out, in the wake of the thunder. Pengju is waiting in the sky, the radiance of the Buddha touching this web of dust. {Increase Wrathful Manifestation to Intensity 2}
     
    [x]- Xingtian is howling defiance. You know it is not Xingtian, flensed of skin and a brass skull, but it dances nevertheless. Also it's on fire. {Increase Pain is a Teacher to Intensity 2}

    Our sleep time would be crap, but I'd rather suffer through learning through pain in dreams, not in reality.
     
    [x]- The moments are stretched out, in the wake of the thunder. Pengju is waiting in the sky, the radiance of the Buddha touching this web of dust. {Increase Wrathful Manifestation to Intensity 2}
     
    [x]- The moments are stretched out, in the wake of the thunder. Pengju is waiting in the sky, the radiance of the Buddha touching this web of dust. {Increase Wrathful Manifestation to Intensity 2}

    INCREASE THE ORA ORA. Buddha watches.
     
    [x]- There is a dreadful heat that chokes the ground. The sun, fat and red, hangs on the horizon. In the distance, the beat of horse hooves. {Increase Chase the Red Sun to Intensity 2}
     
    Damn, White Coat is adorable

    [x]- The moments are stretched out, in the wake of the thunder. Pengju is waiting in the sky, the radiance of the Buddha touching this web of dust. {Increase Wrathful Manifestation to Intensity 2}

    Must unlock Buddha Palm style
     
    [X]- The moments are stretched out, in the wake of the thunder. Pengju is waiting in the sky, the radiance of the Buddha touching this web of dust. {Increase Wrathful Manifestation to Intensity 2}
     
    [X]- There is a dreadful heat that chokes the ground. The sun, fat and red, hangs on the horizon. In the distance, the beat of horse hooves. {Increase Chase the Red Sun to Intensity 2}
     
    Last edited:
    [X]- There is a dreadful heat that chokes the ground. The sun, fat and red, hangs on the horizon. In the distance, the beat of horse hooves. {Increase Chase the Red Sun to Intensity 2}
     
    [x]- There is a dreadful heat that chokes the ground. The sun, fat and red, hangs on the horizon. In the distance, the beat of horse hooves. {Increase Chase the Red Sun to Intensity 2}
     
    [X]- The moments are stretched out, in the wake of the thunder. Pengju is waiting in the sky, the radiance of the Buddha touching this web of dust. {Increase Wrathful Manifestation to Intensity 2}

    Reach heaven through violence.
     
    [x]- The moments are stretched out, in the wake of the thunder. Pengju is waiting in the sky, the radiance of the Buddha touching this web of dust. {Increase Wrathful Manifestation to Intensity 2}

    [:V] Adopt Yuexia
     
    [X]- There is a dreadful heat that chokes the ground. The sun, fat and red, hangs on the horizon. In the distance, the beat of horse hooves. {Increase Chase the Red Sun to Intensity 2}
     
    [X]- The moments are stretched out, in the wake of the thunder. Pengju is waiting in the sky, the radiance of the Buddha touching this web of dust. {Increase Wrathful Manifestation to Intensity 2}

    Wrathful manifestation has consistently had some of the sickest flavor text to go with its options so i think it's time to give it some love
     
    [X]- The moments are stretched out, in the wake of the thunder. Pengju is waiting in the sky, the radiance of the Buddha touching this web of dust. {Increase Wrathful Manifestation to Intensity 2}

    Ah, this is such a good story, the blank, pointless emptiness our protagonist goes into when he stops moving for a moment is a nicely pointed reminder of how much he's lost, and how everything is kinda shit. Thanks a bunch for writing this.
     
    [x]- There is a dreadful heat that chokes the ground. The sun, fat and red, hangs on the horizon. In the distance, the beat of horse hooves. {Increase Chase the Red Sun to Intensity 2}
     
    [x]- Xingtian is howling defiance. You know it is not Xingtian, flensed of skin and a brass skull, but it dances nevertheless. Also it's on fire. {Increase Pain is a Teacher to Intensity 2}

    I don't know what any of these are supposed to do, but this one sounds cool and weird.
     
    [x]- The moments are stretched out, in the wake of the thunder. Pengju is waiting in the sky, the radiance of the Buddha touching this web of dust. {Increase Wrathful Manifestation to Intensity 2}
    [x]- Xingtian is howling defiance. You know it is not Xingtian, flensed of skin and a brass skull, but it dances nevertheless. Also it's on fire. {Increase Pain is a Teacher to Intensity 2}

    Sure?
     
    Well, I'll be calling the votes now for Wrathful Manifestation. There's an extra Chase vote, just for the record, but that didn't change the final outcome. I'll have the next update Wednesday.
    Scheduled vote count started by Laplace on Mar 1, 2021 at 12:22 AM, finished with 20 posts and 19 votes.
    Click to expand...
     
    [X]- The moments are stretched out, in the wake of the thunder. Pengju is waiting in the sky, the radiance of the Buddha touching this web of dust. {Increase Wrathful Manifestation to Intensity 2}


    EDIT: Oops my bad - glad my option won though
     
    Last edited:
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