[Closed to Four Seasons Manor residents + Ye Baiyi]

[yeoldmonster]

⌛ Who: Ye Baiyi and residents of the Four Seasons Manor
⌛ What: Missing arachnida (scorpion)
⌛ When: August 30
⌛ Where: Four Seasons Manor
⌛ Warnings:

He'd woken up to a strange but minor pain he couldn't identify. It lingers and he's not used to feeling something like this, but there are more important things to deal with. Namely, he can't find Xie Wang. It was odd given how the young man had been as glued to his side as a loyal hound the last week or so. It was also annoying, since that meant no breakfast. Fortunately, he knew where he could go that also had good food.

Like he has since he arrived, he shows up at the Four Seasons Manor and walks through the door like he owns the place. "Zhou Zishu? Brat?" He calls, making his way to the kitchen.

Comments

[theatrics]

He didn't hesitate. Ouyang drew his sword and went through the fluid motions of his warm-up routine, before genuinely showing off. While his skill may be little compared to those of Immortals and cultivators, among mere mortals he was one of the most skilled warriors of his day. He certainly hadn't become a General of Mongolian armies by being weak or commonplace.

[yeoldmonster]

The young man has great form and there's impressive power behind his sword thrusts. It's remarkable for someone outside of the Martial Arts community who hasn't harnessed their qi.

"Jiangjun, there are Martial Artists who would be put to shame by your form," he says, giving a rare compliment. He's glad no one else is around to hear him say that. If it ever got back to Zhou Zishu and Wen Kexing, they luckily wouldn't believe it for a second anyway.

"How long have you been training?"

cw: mention of mutilation

[theatrics]

It's probably also a good thing for Ye Baiyi that Ouyang wasn't the sort to brag when compliments were paid to him. The secret lives and dies between them.

"As long as I can remember," he replied. "After..." there's a slight, unnatural pause. "After I turned ten, there was nothing else for me to do but hone my skills." After the slaughter of his family and his own castration, he had to do anything he could to survive. Even with all his accomplishments, the shame of his status always followed... but not here. He doesn't go around bragging that he's a eunuch.

[yeoldmonster]

Baiyi can sense a bit of what is going unsaid. He's been through enough tragedy to recognize the signs. However, as he looks more carefully at the small man, his senses start picking up on something else. With a slight frown, he doesn't look directly at Ouyang, but around him. What exactly is he sensing?

"You have a strange presence around you," he remarks. If he was feeling better and could concentrate more clearly, he might've been able to figure it out on his own.

[theatrics]

Ouyang had no idea about the ghosts that followed him. But the way Ye Baiyi looked beyond him reminded him of others doing the same. But this was different. This man made no indication that he thought himself better than Ouyang, that he wasn't worth even looking at as so many had thought before.

"How do you mean?"

[yeoldmonster]

Well, Ouyang is partially right. Ye Baiyi does, in fact, think he's better than Ouyang and everyone else in the world, but that doesn't mean Ouyang isn't worth giving respect to. This general was clearly a good soldier and he was now a servant of a god. That's quite an impressive feat for a mortal to accomplish.

Baiyi doesn't answer immediately, taking his time to get an understanding of what kind of energy he feels. "There are souls that cling to you. Many of them." His gaze moves from where the spirits are to Ouyang directly. "Are they your people?"

[theatrics]

His people? It took a moment for Ouyang to compile the facts that were being presented to him. Many souls clinging... Something dark filled his eyes and his expression went sour.

"... My family." He lets that hang between them before continuing to explain. "Zuzhu."

[yeoldmonster]

Baiyi's eyebrows rose sharply hearing that word. That's a very severe punishment and thankfully rare. It, of course, reminds him of someone else from this household who was being punished when they met.

"Did you cause it?" He asks. Would there have been a stronger sense of hatred from those spirits if Ouyang had been the criminal?

[theatrics]

"My father." The words were dull on his tongue. He'd been so young then that he didn't understand. Even now, he only has the reports of others who'd deemed his father a traitor to the Great Khan.

[yeoldmonster]

The Sword Immortal has lived too long among the Martial Arts community to be revolted by zuzhu like someone more modern would. However, that doesn't mean he likes the practice either. It's excessive and brutal.

"How are you alive?" He asks, his gaze shifting once again to the spirits around the general. "Or have you been reborn here?"

[theatrics]

Shame washed over him and he looked away. "I begged for my life and the Prince of Henan showed me mercy."

Mercy... by having the child castrated and made a slave to live on in shame.

[yeoldmonster]

"That is a vicious death. It's no wonder you would beg for your life," he concedes. While he does think it's shameful to display such weakness, he also understand that when faced with death people get desperate.

"I don't sense any hate or anger from the spirits. They aren't mad at you, even though they accompany you."

[theatrics]

Ouyang's lips press into a thing line. "They should go. I have avenged them."

[yeoldmonster]

"Be patient and do that carefully. If they're connected to you, you might be the only way they get home to their ancestors again. No matter how you feel about them, they're your responsibility."

Even with that warning, Baiyi is already thinking of how he could help this man. He reaches out and catches Ouyang's wrist. He ignores whatever reaction the general has as he reads what he can from his energies.

[theatrics]

Oh, oh no! Ouyang tugs violently at his captured wrist, though being a normal human likely isn't able to free himself from the grasp of an Immortal.

"Unhand me!"

[yeoldmonster]

His eyes briefly shut, easily blocking out the small man's protests to concentrate. He doesn't sense any harm to Ouyang from being haunted by these spirits.

With a nod, he releases Ouyang's hand. "Your family hasn't harmed you. You have time to find the right way to release them."

[theatrics]

He finally managed to snatch his arm away, looking fully like he'd just been slapped across the face.

"They should go. The Prince of Henan is dead; his line ended, just like ours."

[yeoldmonster]

"Calm down, general. I needed to know if they were harming you or not." This man is looking at him like Baiyi had just stabbed him. Why were the young and mortal so dramatic?

"If you want them to leave, I'll help you."

[theatrics]

Gold cat eyes were wild and he held his wrist to his body as if wounded. He really despised being touched in ways he deemed unnecessary. But the words were enough to calm him and he exhaled slowly.

"I do not know what more they could want from me."

[yeoldmonster]

Baiyi feels a prickle of guilt as he watches the small man hold his arm. "Did I hurt you?" He finally asks. He hadn't thought his grip had been so hard, but harming this one had never been his intention. "Are you okay?"

That reminds him then of another aspect of the other's health he'd noticed. He looks and acts like he's older, but he hasn't matured as a man normally would. He wonders what that means.

"We can find out." Though he's less willing to act when the general is acting wounded by him.

[theatrics]

"I do not enjoy the touch of others," he explained. There's a mix of reasons for that, most revolving around a fraught past as a slave and reputation as the Great Yuan's eunuch general. Normally, he wouldn't bother to explain, but Baiyi meant no harm or insult. He deserved an explanation.

[yeoldmonster]

It's not a direct apology, but Baiyi does have a brief look of contriteness before it fades. He regrets that his years in the mountain have resulted in forgetting some degree of social etiquette. On the other hand, those tend to be tedious, trivial, and obnoxious so he doesn't completely regret leaving some of those practices behind.

"Is it due to your condition?" He asks, his gaze lowering down the smaller man's torso before returning to his face. "You don't have the same energy as a grown man's."

cw: body dysmorphia

[theatrics]

His condition, all too obvious to those who've spent any time at all among the courts of nobles and their eunuch servants. The condition on which he was able to live after watching his entire family suffer the slow, lingering death of lingchi. That was the trade-off: he got to live but in shame. The line of his father ended. And all the while he endured the ridicule as he rose through the ranks of the Prince of Henan's army.

Ouyang bristled slightly. "It is due to being beaten as a slave."

[yeoldmonster]

Ah, that gives him enough clues to fill in the rest. This poor soul. It's no wonder why he dislikes to be touched then. He gives a small bow of his head. "I will not cross that line with you again without permission or in life or death. You have my word."

Now that he knows this, he wonders now if these people with him aren't because they need him but in solidarity for him.

"I'm assuming anyone involved in your suffering is no longer here. Otherwise, I may need their address." So he can introduce them to Dragon's Back.

[theatrics]

Baiyi's oath disarms him and he finds his discomfort quickly abating. This stranger could very well become a friend with an attitude like that. Ouyang greatly approves.

"There are none from my world here any longer."