Ink Spirits

...?

(I've never heard of it, absolutely never heard of it!)

O—okay, then, what's the current year...?

The year is Ching-tso 7, currently the Beginning of Spring, with the Dusk Ridding just passed.

Huh?

(Quietly) Ching-tso?

(Quietly) Benefactor, I won't mince words: my history is quite poor, but Ching-tso... has to be centuries ago at least. I've never heard of an era by that name...

......

(Quietly) Wh... what's going on, benefactor? Could we have tumbled a thousand years back when we opened that door?

(Quietly) Did they have gardens and buildings like this a thousand years ago?

(Quietly) Of course they couldn't! Perhaps this Umbrella-Boiling Hermit blurted out pure nonsense? But I can't imagine he'd do that, noting how refined his manner is.

Heroes three, you've come to our aid. You are my honored guests. If you have any questions, ask them forthright; you needn't refrain.

Could we trouble you to tell us about the culture and customs here? To be honest, this place isn't where we thought we were going. It seems we went astray, and we're sort of at a loss.

For... for example, tell us about this village?

Ah... there is much to tell of the origins of P'o-shan Village. Story has it that seventy years ago, a great fire started on a rich merchant's property, bringing untold calamity.

The rich merchant was frightened, and planned to leave, to find a place where nature blessed treasured lands, so he could live out the rest of his days.

Subsequently, in the midst of all the ashes, the people of his village found a peculiar painting on the ground...

Painting?

Correct. The house had burned to the ground, yet that painting scroll remained unharmed, and after brushing off the ash, it was as good as new.

The merchant heard of the painting, dove deep into his pockets to buy it back once again, seeking good luck to ward against fires.

In his new residence, the more the merchant gazed into the scenery in the painting, the more he took an interest. He sent out hundreds of servants in search of the marvelous feng shui this scroll had portrayed—

—and so came here, and so this village, and this garden came to be.

Was that your ancestor?

Not so, not so. The world's affairs are never constant. Decades in the past, after the merchant's death, his few sons in their incompetence frittered away the household's wealth.

By chance, my father had some spare money from a string of opportune coincidences, and so bought the gardens and settled down here.

Afterwards, as nearby Catastrophes were infrequent and the mountains and rivers gorgeous, many talented scholars were drawn here, and over time, P'o-shan Village became as it is today.

(I mean, it sounds wonderful.)

(No issues with it yet, I think...)

So, the color of the sky...?

The what?

Uh, I mean, daytime and nighttime seem to be mixed together...

We've always worked as the sun rose, and rested as it set. What doubts might you have?

It's been two hours since the bell sounded... with the twelve-branch double-hour system, it'd be one of those. The sun's hasn't moved at all. What's causing that?

The sun? Move?

The sun and moon sit in the sky, sun in the east, moon in the west, eternally unchanging. What other position would they assume?

Hm? You all have a peculiar look on your faces. Have I said something improper?

Er, benefactors, if I could interrupt, just very quickly.

May I dare ask, will you again be telling stories here the next day?

Naturally.

As that is the case tomorrow, I presume yesterday you also took up your hand fan and gavel block?

I lay at home, with the collection of strange tales as my one and only hobby, naught but the art of storytelling to pass the time. Thus, every day, at the Hour of Shen, changing for nothing.

Err. Then with the sun and moon constant above, and 'today, the next day, and yesterday,' how should you define what one 'day' is?

You're quite the jokester, Brother No. Twelve earthly branches make up one day. Need you ask?

Erm... do the twelve branches and the twenty-four hours not track the time over one day and night?

Hmm? How mystifying. I wonder just where you all came from? The twelve branches indicate the necessary periods between the sun rising above the earth in the far east, and the moon above the mountains in the far west, don't they?

Of course, they also indicate how this road is partitioned. East to west, P'o-shan Village lies from the late-morn sixth to the late-eve twelfth.

I've heard tell of mountains beyond mountains. Could it be that beyond Mount Hung-tung and downstream of the Tung-shêng River, other places are not so?

Then... suppose P'o-shan Village alone occupies such a vast domain; if there are villages elsewhere, mightn't they be forever without daylight?

Or they'd be stuck in the day, and they'd never even sleep properly. Sucks to be them.

This... this, I am truly unclear on.

Have you never left this village before? Aren't there any other travelers here?

I never have. Very few people have ever come here, and of the youth that leave, very few ever return.

I must confess, the 'Yan' we presently know is from the library the rich merchant left behind, and nothing more.

Has a Catastrophe never struck this place before?

They're just as rare. At least apart from the ancient records, our three generations have never seen one before.

And so, we hardly leave the bounds of P'o-shan Village. And just as you see, scarcely any travelers come here, let alone any officials or Messengers or other such persons.

To say P'o-shan Village is presently cut off from the outside world would be no exaggeration at all. That said, only when you disregard the affairs of the world can you be content.

......

And the monsters?

Ah... I know not when it began. Come every Dusk Ridding, Mount Hung-tung often bears monsters that come to disturb the village, over perhaps three to five days. For so many unbroken years, it has been this way.

In these years, I've turned every record over, asked the very few strangers whenever I could, and I've never found any way to address it...

But as long as you hide somewhere the sun is, those monsters won't come near.

Versus braving the dangers and battling them 'til one side is dead, much better is finding peace and safety, hiding under the sun, passing not a night and staying vigil throughout...

Over time, it's become a usual practice of ours here.

Dear me! And I thought this place was a true peach-blossom utopia! I hadn't imagined such troubles here... Those monsters are much too frightening. To give them a wide berth is the sensible thing!

(Quietly) Benefactors, their ways are plainly much too strange...

Sir, one last question.

You know that we came here to look for someone. I have a, uh, token. Could you take a look?

This is...?

Hoh...

Craft to surpass Nature.

However... most regretfully, if I'd ever seen such an unusual item as this before, I'd certainly—

Sir, the feast is prepared.

Good, good. May I ask you all if you've found anywhere to stay in the village?

Not for the time being...

You've arrived as guests. It'd be best if you rested here for some days, and once the Dusk Ridding has passed, you hurry on your way again!

(Quietly) Benefactor, your verdict?

(Quietly) It's not like we've got anywhere to go... We may as well stay in the village for now and gather intel.

(Quietly) This place obviously doesn't match up with the 'Yan' we know. Not to mention, we still have no indication of how we got here...

Right!

In that case, we'd be best to accept.

So in the end, we still don't have a literal clue... Eh, but the tea here smells great. Is this how the green tea is in Yan?

Kroos!

Don't worry, I've got my manners.

—

I could drink this.

They've put out fruits here...

Ah, are you testing for poison, benefactors? You should've said sooner; let me come to your aid!

Hey...!

Mmph!

Mm, dear benefactor, this fruit is quite fresh! And peculiarly sweet.

I didn't mean...

Mind it not! As the proverb goes, one cannot lack the heart to protect, no?

I wasn't worried if they poisoned anything... I was just checking through... everything in our perimeter.

You're pretty fidgety right now, aren't you? No problem, we're all the same. Lost in the fog.

It's like we're checking if we're even still alive.

Checking again, huh?

You chill here. I still need to take another look outside.

How could I leave my benefactor to toil alone! I must accompany you!

Then let's split up and move. The way things are, none of us is gonna sit still.

Alright. Then shall we meet in... two hours?

Good.

......

Do you think we can trust him?

Even if it's not rare to see poor bastards in a tight spot on the wastes, coincidences like his are the last thing you can trust.

I think so too. And it's a fact that he's been deceiving us.

Gloompincers that leave their nests are highly aggressive. And when we found him, he was up in a tree looking all sad... but he was about 800 whole meters away from the car crash.

And just seeing his actions...

Even if he's got no ill will, we've still gotta be wary of each other.

I'll keep an eye on him.

*Sigh*.

(I may have been drawn into something indescribably bizarre... But I suppose that has had a silver lining...)

(Speaking of which, this truly isn't—any joking matter... If I can't find a way to return, then what do I even do...)

(Oh... but Lava and Kroos have been quite the saviors to me. I can't fault them for this... *sigh*! I'll just have to see as I go—)

Ohh, my apologies there, I'm truly sorry. I was lost in thought and clearly wasn't watching my way—

...Ah!

By your appearance, surely you are from outside, are you not? It has been so long since I saw a visitor!

I am Saga, humble servant of the Buddha, a wandering monk from Higashi! May I ask from whence thou comest?