The Streets are a Stage; Below is the Problem
Crowds of the drably dressed pressed through the narrow streets of Chengshi beneath equally dreary clouds. Color seemed to have been leached from the soil, the water, and the air, which was why Mosheng Ren had decided to have some fun. Taking an empty rain barrel from beneath an eve, she turned it over and stood on it, placing her already tall frame well above the heads of the crowds.
"Come one, come all!" she shouted over the din. "And hear the tale of Yun's Fall!"
Unease rippled through the crowd as heads turned towards her.
"Has something happened to Lord Yun?" Came a voice from the crowd.
"Not that I'm aware of!" She replied cheerfully, "My tale is of a totally different Yun, I assure you!"
Many of the murmuring crowd simply rolled their eyes and continued on their way. A few though cautiously stepped up to listen to her story. How they must have looked, she mused, a small grey pebble diverting the ashen colored river of people flowing around them. Taking a deep breath and smiling a broad smile Mosheng Ren did a little hop to land in her opening story pose number three. Balancing on one leg while leaning forward with arms clasped above her head to create a halo. While it may look weird, and was certainly awkward for longer stories, it drew attention like nothing else. Everyone paid attention to a woman who seemed about to fall over at any moment.
"The woods are dark," she began, "and deep. Every child knows this, but not every child fears this. Yun was such a child, who knew but did not fear. Bravery coursed in his blood, yet his elders spoke to him of caution. Of tempered bravery. Yun would not hear of this, of course. He said that bravery tempered by cowardice was not bravery at all, but merely a weakness of another kind. Still…"
"OY!" Came a cry from down the street. Pausing the story, Mosheng Ren looked up from her fleeing audience to see a pair of guardsmen, dressed in the city's colors, approaching. Sitting down on top of the barrel, she pointed at herself and quirked her head to mime confusion.
"Yeah, you." One of the guardsmen growled as they came near. "I don't recognize you, and I memorized every permitted performer. Where's your permit?"
"Permit dear sirs! I am a wandering performer, new to this city. I did not know I would need a permit to engage in my livelihood on these streets!"
Grabbing her arms, one of the guardsmen just shook his head. "Makes no difference to me. You'll have plenty of time to sharpen your act in the cells. Now come along."
Sighing, Mosheng Ren flexed her will and dissolved into mist and shadow, dispersing through the streets and collecting the guardsmen's memories of their confrontation. Leaving them staring confused at a random barrel in the middle of the streets while she raced off towards Lord Yun's manor at the center of town. In contrast to the town itself, the manor blazed with power and color. Formations to reveal and detain, to lock and raise the alarm, to fortify the manor and weaken an intruder. Crafted with the skill of those in the fourth realm, even she would have found it impossible to breach silently. Well, if a backdoor hadn't already been brought into the manor. Using a talisman nestled deep within her spirit caused her to step, metaphorically, into the same room as her liege, who held the talisman's twin.
Looking up from the reports, Cai Xuezhe simply quirked an eyebrow at Mosheng Ren's entrance. "Lady Ling, has something occurred?"
"I know not this Lady Ling you speak of!" Mosheng Ren whispered excitedly. "I am Mosheng Ren, street performer extraordinaire who has been most unfairly accosted by Lord Yun's men for attempting to make a living out in this fair city. Knowing you were…"
"Please," Cai Xuezhe said tiredly, "I have had a long day. Later, I will take time to enjoy your performance, but not now, Lady Ling Yanyuan."
Sighing, Mosheng Ren gripped her face and pulled off an intricate mask of ebony and silver. Cracking her neck, Ling Yanyuan slid the domain weapon into her dantian. "Fine fine, work before play and all that. Well, I have some good news and some bad news. Which would you like first?"
"The good news if you please."
"I was able to secure a drop of Yun Weixan's blood. With it, there should be no lock in this city that I can not bypass, at least once."
"Well, at least that particularly dangerous phase of the plan went through without a hitch. Now the bad news."
Shrugging, Ling Yanyuan stepped over to a particularly ostentatious couch and laid herself over it. "It's even worse than we feared."
Rubbing the bridge of her nose, Cai Xuezhe let out a deeply wearied sigh. "How much worse?"
"Something under the city is draining emotions and qi from the liminal, all over the city. I tried close to fifty different performances around the city and all I was able to elicit was some vague curiosity, or in one case unease. This manor seems protected, but everywhere else is as drab as unsweetened, unsalted, unleavened bread. It seems purposeful, as many of the recent laws of the city seem to be engineered to provide an excuse for why things seem drab. Like permits for street performances."
"Well… were you able to find a route to reach whatever lies below the city?"
"Yep!" Ling Yanyuan said with a pop of her lips. "With your permission, I'll begin the story; 'What Lies Beneath our Streets.'"
"Not every escapade of yours needs to be framed as a story you know?"
"But, it's more fun that way!"
"As you keep saying. Just make sure this story isn't a tragedy. It would be… difficult to acquire someone approaching your skills again."
Grinning, Ling Yanyuan slid up from the couch. "You could just admit that you wouldn't want to lose a friend! It's alright, I won't judge."
Sighing, Cai Xuezhe just waved her hand. Smiling, Ling Yanyuan dipped into a bow and then shifted into mist and shadow, sliding deeper into, and then out of, the manor. Those bristling defenses trying to keep others out were… less than helpful in noting someone leaving. Still tricky, but not unduly so. Soon enough, she was outside, sliding through cracks in the streets, soil, and stone of the city. Descending ever deeper as a quiet mist and sleek shadow. It took a few moments to reach the strange tunnel dug underneath the city. One way she knew led back to the Yun Manor, but the other way delved even deeper than her senses had reached.
Deeper and deeper she slunk, as a cool mist hugging the sloping ground. Until she could proceed no further, finding a massive bronze door obstructing her path. Formations blazed across its circular frame. Tight and intricate, they sealed the room behind it from any possible approach. Ling Yanyuan's senses brushed up against something that she could not quite perceive, but which still fundamentally changed how the world worked. Shen, most likely. Coalescing from the mist, she sat down in front of the door and spun out the full spread of her seeking eyes. Small little globs of moonlight surveyed the formations, noting every which way the qi coursed through.
Taking a deep breath, she expressed the next stage of the art and sought the future that would be. It took the form of a play in her mind, the different ways that the door could be breached. Which cut would trigger which alarms, which bypasses would entrap her spirit, which workarounds would open the door. The natural flow of the story, and its inevitable conclusion. It took longer than Ling Yanyuan would have liked, sitting there and pondering the future consequences of different actions before the truth was revealed. Only a blood relative to Lord Yun could open this door safely, and she was not skilled enough to change that reality. She was, however, skilled enough to change who was a relative to Lord Yun.
With a thought, her domain weapon laid itself upon her lap along with a small vial of Yun Weixan's blood, brother to Lord Yun. Grabbing the vial in her hand, she shattered it above the ebony and silver mask, letting drops of blood settle upon her most prized tool. Taking a breath, Ling Yanyuan took the mask and settled it upon her face, and expressed her domain in full. A Performer's Truth warped her flesh and spirit, diffusing her true nature into the pigments that gave color and depth to the man who now stood before this seal. Yun Weixan.
Stepping forward, Yun Weixan placed his hands in the proper locations on the door. The formations tasted his qi and his blood, recognizing him as a brother to Lord Yun. Something hesitated within the door, a thrum of uncertainty. Pushing the door open, he scowled. His brother was much too paranoid if the door doubted a scion of Yun's authority to check up on their project. Once past the door, Yun Weixan relaxed, marginally. Inside the cavernous room behind the doorway were arrayed various Li devices, meant to keep the air pure from the underworld vent at the center. He would need to check later to ensure that his brother had secured the necessary permits for such devices. No need for problems on the bureaucracy front if that nosy Cai Xuezhe found out about the purchase of these tools.
Moving on, Yun Weixan checked the detailed work that was inscribed on the walls and ceiling. The work of a lifetime was intricately placed upon the surfaces, using rare materials to obscure the effect from casual observation while draining the plebians in the city of useless qi and emotion. They couldn't even use it properly anyway. But it would all feed into the underworld vent here, where, Yun Weixan peeked over the lip of the to confirm that it was still there, a Shishigui Dreameater resided. Chained into immobility and bloated from the constant feeding it was undergoing. Just a few more months, he figured, and the project would be ready to extract the product such a creature would produce from this excessive consumption.
Taking a step back, Yun Weixan pondered his next course of action. Checking on Cai Xuezhe should be next, to make sure she was still absorbed in the meaningless reports he had flooded her with. And to check that her retainer's still hadn't made it into the city. After moving out of the room and closing the door properly, for safety reasons, Yun Weixan gripped his face and peeled off Ling Yanyuan's domain weapon.
Kneading her forehead, she muttered to the air, "What an unpleasant man to act as." Once more activating her talisman, Ling Yanyuan disappeared from before the sealed door, ready to report on the insanity that the Yun household was engaging in.
A/N:
@yrsillar another omake for the omake throne! I hope everyone who reads enjoys the tale of a potential future Ling's escapades!
