deernet | text. username: @blackwater

[oh He Xuan. if you could only see the expression on Jin Guangyao's face at the mere suggestion of such an impossible thing.]

No, He-xiansheng. Such a thing would not be possible for this lowly one. My cultivation is much too weak. But please, permit me to ask: is that how you refer to immortal cultivators in your world? As martial gods?

[if that is the case, how very at home his dear Da-ge would have been in such a world.]

Not all of them. Doesn't even have to be cultivation, if you want to ascend. Martial prowess begets martial gods, but some xian are just beloved by the people or do enough good works to make it to the heavenly court. Become a rain god and everyone will build temples to you in the desert; become a sea god and you'll have endless sailor incense. If you file all your paperwork correctly for your whole life they might make you a civil god so you can keep working forever.

[It's hard to tell tone through text but he does not sound very respectful of these concepts. ]

[...well when he puts it like that, it certainly sounds neat and tidy and therefore too good to be true, like most bureaucracies.]

Is that who He-xiansheng was in his world? Please forgive this humble one if he has addressed you discourteously. No offence was intended.

[no, not much can clearly be discerned through text, but Jin Guangyao has not forgotten the simmering cauldron of resentment that he'd sensed in He Xuan while lending him spiritual energy the previous month. he is proceeding with caution here.]

You're that cultivator?

[ Nobody else has been so polite to him. He finds humble language amusing — there's very little vanity in him and even in the midst of the court he had barely kept face, though it was easier when most of your acquaintances had official rank. He does become a shade more elegant, to acknowledge this little human's efforts. ]

You're the soul of courtesy, I would never begrudge you a misplaced appellation. Though I'd prefer you didn't start calling me Heavenly Venerable — this unclean one was robbed of that ascension. He Xuan is fine.

Yes, xiansheng, this is Jin Guangyao. This one must apologize for not introducing himself properly. I must admit I've grown accustomed to a more informal mode of communication on the network since arriving in Trench.

[regrettably informal by Jin Guangyao's standards, that is, which isn't saying much. and as usual, a generous application of honeyed words when engaging in conversation with anyone he is reasonably sure could reduce him to a fine red mist, if he felt so compelled, appears to be the correct course of action. (he relaxes his grip on his omni, unaware prior to his moment that he'd been white-knuckling the thing.)

and he is unclear on what that means, precisely, that He Xuan was 'robbed' of an ascension--to godhood? so he is not a god? 'unclean' carries with it so many connotations that pick at old scabs in the darker chambers of his heart, but besides that, there's a complex if-then logic puzzle unfolding itself in some background process of his mind as he attempts to unpack all of the implications buried in such a statement, and reconcile them with the yawning chasm of resentful power he'd sensed when they first met in person. is solving such a mystery worth the risk of a second in-person encounter? good sense would scream 'no!!' if it had a voice, but a pragmatic voice in favour of remaining in He Xuan's good graces presents an equally compelling counter-argument. he opts for listening to that voice instead, and hopes that his Er-ge will be understanding, once he explains himself.]

He-xiansheng, if you are amenable, my husband and I would be delighted if you visited us for tea at our home in the Willful Machine. At your convenience, of course. Now that the weather is improved from last month we are hoping to make use of our small courtyard, and we would welcome your company.

[he reviews the message with some satisfaction; not one lie! not really, anyway. he is sure that Lan Xichen will wish to make use of the courtyard now that the weather is improved, and that he will appreciate the company, for one reason or another. once Jin Guangyao decides to tell him about it, anyway.]

[ This could be a trap. This seems like a trap. Which is risky, given he's slowly discovering how much less power he has here, and how what he does have requires as much blood as it does energy. But he's hardly going to crawl away from some cultivator in shame. ]

It would be my pleasure to attend, Jin-Xiansheng. I will give you a week to make preparations.

[ Even he isn't about to just show up at someone else's home with barely a few days notice. ]

text. username: @blackwater

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