Arknights story · Fantasy in the Mirage
Mr. Pu
At Mr. Pu's school, Lin Qingyan encounters talking brooms, walking scrolls... and finding out the truth of this town from Mr. Pu, she pieces together that in the fight for the secret tome, an altogether greater mess is brewing for Mangshan Town.
1 scenes, 223 lines
1. Interlude
223 linesTo quote... Once written word and painted scene fall to the masses to critique, all time itself might well as end; once ware and lacquer bear appraisal by the street vendors, the injustice should damn us all...
But Hu, my potted brother, Hu, I'm no such common folk if I might say, and when, in all the days we drank together, did I fall victim to the wine? Tell me, how did I ever do you wrong?
Without you now, my drinking friend, where do I find someone to share a toast again...?
*sigh*...
Mister, Mister! Bad news!
Hu Jun... Hu Jun's—dead!
Wha—
When did this happen... How could this...?
It was in that teahouse he always stays in! He was sent flying from the second floor, and fell to his death!
It must... It must've been that wicked woman who did it!
She'll—probably come for us too!
*sigh*... What do I always teach in this school?
Don't speak lightly of what you never saw. You didn't see it with your own eyes. How can you jump to conclusions?
But Mister, you also told us to deduce everything we can.
That wicked woman's been killing so many people! How could Hu Jun's killer be anyone except her?
'Deduce everything you can' is for logic. Not for happenings, and especially not for people.
You wouldn't want others to turn their malice on you. You should imagine others wouldn't want your malice turned on them either. That is reasonable.
But if a person errs, and you say thus they can do nothing but err, that is not reasonable.
But never mind that, now. We'd be talking a lot longer to cover all the ethics there. We have more pressing matters at hand.
Hu Jun fell from the teahouse and perished. Did anyone collect his remains?
I DEFINITELY saw that part with my own eyes!
After Hu Jun fell, a woman dressed like a Tianshi picked up his pieces and took them away.
What is a Tianshi doing here...?
This is no laughing matter. You're sure that's what you saw?
Absolutely definitely! The Tianshi was right there when Hu Jun fell.
And then, after that, I even saw the Tianshi going around asking people things while carrying his corpse.
What a rotten, rotten turn... I fear we're in a bind now that he was seen.
But as long as Hu Jun's remains are with that Tianshi, then above anything else, we need to find some way... some way to get him back.
You mean, you want us to steal Hu Jun's corpse from that Tianshi?
How many times have I told you? You must refer to the remains of our deceased as 'remains', not as corpses...
Also, say 'purloin', not 'steal'. I've taught you this too. If it's for your own selfish sake, it's 'stealing', but if it's—
No, never mind, we're short on time. That Tianshi will be here any moment. Do as I taught you, each of you. Go take your places...
Pardon me... you must be 'Mr. Pu'?
......
......
Lin Qingyan is silent as she enters the tiny schoolhouse, and stays silent as she proceeds to carefully scrutinize each and every object.
After enough time passes for an incense wick to burn out, the elderly teacher sat watching her finally can't help but ask.
Excuse me...
Allow me to introduce myself. I am Lin Qingyan, Judici... a Tianshi from the Tianshi Bureaus.
I guessed as much from your dress.
Do you often chat with Tianshis, Mr. Pu?
There's a Tianshi Bureau neighboring this town. The townsfolk's lives wouldn't be much without the care of your Tianshis. Hence why I recognize.
And, er, Tianshi Lin... what exactly brings you here today?
This may sound funny, but something odd has happened on my very first day here in Mangshan Town.
There's a teahouse in the south with a server named Hu Jun. At three quarters past the Hour of Wei this afternoon, he poisoned four customers and held them hostage.
I just so happened to witness it, and right as I was going to apprehend him, I saw him plummet from the second floor with my own eyes.
I ran over to see where he'd landed, and all I found was a shattered teapot.
I thought I must've been seeing things. But the fact of the matter is, multiple other people saw what I saw.
So you mean, someone fell from upstairs, died... and turned into a broken teapot? Now that's one for the history annals...
Erm... Tianshi Lin, would you let me have a look at this teapot?
......
Lin Qingyan reaches into her bag, brings out a wrapped bundle, and sets it on the table.
Mr. Pu is moving to take it when Lin Qingyan suddenly places a hand on it.
One moment please, sir. I'd like you to answer a few questions first.
I... of course, Tianshi, ask away.
While making my inquires about the deceased, a lot of townsfolk said they knew of a Hu Jun, and that you and this Hu Jun were apparently well-acquainted.
What plagues me as odd is I reside in Baizao most of the time, just a stone's throw away from the foot of Mt. Mang, yet I've never heard anyone mention Mangshan Town.
And there's not a single official tending to the town. Everyone resolves their disputes here instead, at your 'School'.
It sounds to me like you hold quite the sway here?
Nonsense... nonsense...
Tianshi Lin, I can answer all your questions now...
This town used to be lively, in the old days. But time marched on, and Baizao kept on building itself bigger and bigger, until all our youth ran off to the city to find work, and left our town population to dwindle.
We still hang onto the 'town' title, but fact is, we're only five hundred or so households. Factor in the nearby Tianshi Bureau, and we never do get disturbances. Hence why the imperial court left us be.
As for myself, I read a book or two in younger times, that's all. I was a penniless scholar without enough knowledge to pass any entrance exam, so all I could do was stay here, teach the children to read, and scrape by.
So it's been for years. The folks call me Mister like I'm a wise man. They come to me when they run into trouble or want a penny for my thoughts. Makes me feel like a house of cards.
I think you're too humble, sir. Bringing up the youth is a virtuous thing. You have every right to be proud of yourself.
But something I've noticed, sir. Your collection in here, the books, calligraphy, paintings, antiques, curios, stationery... None of these things are just your average ware.
Well...
Ah, no, you're mistaken, Tianshi Lin. These are presents from my Tianshi acquaintances. Odds and ends from all over, mixed up in one place. Just a little old, nothing valuable per se.
I see...
And the Hu Jun you mentioned... *cough* *cough*—
—!
Watch out!
For some mysterious reason, the candlestick suddenly falls over on the table, almost splashing its scalding wax on Lin Qingyan's hand.
She bolts up straight, only for her chair to flip about too, narrowly avoiding tripping her.
Seizing this single moment, Mr. Pu swaps the bundle with uncanny swiftness.
What am I seeing...?
Tianshi... a-are you alright...?
Everything in here's far too old. Most of it's wonky in some way or other. Forgive me.
No matter.
Now where were we...?
Oh, the Hu Jun boy, yes. I can tell you he's a friend of mine.
He's the waiter at the old teahouse. Decent at brewing tea. You could call him a drinking companion of mine, be it tea or wine.
Do you know if he had any enemies?
No, I've no clue... The Hu Jun I know is a down-to-earth person...
But one person talks to another and the dish bumps the bowl and, well, maybe he said something that riled someone up without realizing, or owed someone money for a few days too long...
Who can go through life without making a few 'enemies', mm? No, I can't help you there at all...
Is that all you're willing to tell me, sir?
Well, it's not a question of willing... You see, this is all I kn—
Save it.
You're an example for us all. I don't want to coerce you into doing anything that'll ruin that. Think twice before you speak, that's all I ask.
When you're willing to converse with me, sir, we'll meet again.
Pardon me for tonight. I'll excuse myself now.
Mister, Mister, is the Tianshi gone? Is she leaving us alone?
Yes...
So did you get Hu Jun's remains?
......
After a moment, Mr. Pu warily withdraws the bundle from under the table, and opens it with care.
Inside is not a single shard of teapot. Only a pile of pebbles.
This Tianshi Lin... She's a smart one. And a sincere one...
So be it... I'll have to make another quick run.
You look after the place. I'll be back in a flash.
Mister, Mister—can we help with anything?
Very well. Come.
......
It's the dead of night, and Lin Qingyan walks through the empty streets. If anyone is out at this hour, they'll see something most curious.
Behind the Tianshi, at a distance of ten steps, a handbroom leans on the wall. And for reasons unknown, wherever she goes, the broom stays behind her by that exact distance.
But never mind why a domestic handbroom is languishing outside; there's a single embroidered shoe on the roof too, pitter-pattering as it follows the broom, and then a calligraphed character on the wall, following that shoe.
And behind that, a jumping shoulder pole, a rolling medicine bottle, a clattering rattle drum... and at the very back of this bewildering procession, who should it be but Mr. Pu.
They all stop outside the door to an inn.
Mr. Pu, the Tianshi's gone...
And she went into this inn?
I can confirm that, but we couldn't find her when we looked inside.
Hmm...
Mister, Mister—
Did you see the Tianshi?
No, no!
I saw that wicked woman! She came after us!
What—
Found you.
Ai-yo... my back...
It's you...
Oh, I never wanted to believe it... but who else could it have been, other than you?
That's enough. The only thing I want to know is, why did you trick me?
Trick you? When did I ever trick you...?
You always said the secret tome was a fake. You kept telling us to ignore it. So why did that teapot get involved in the deal at the teahouse, and why would he get this tome?
You've got it wrong... you've got it all wrong...
I don't care who got what wrong. There's one thing from you, and that's it.
Tell me what the deal is with the 'personification' technique in this tome.
Are you serious...? Is that how badly you want to leave this town?
Surely you know I have an old friend to meet?
All these years, I've been begging you to tell me how to leave this town, but you kept on urging me, 'just be patient'.
Well, the tome's right here, right now. Any more excuses, 'Mister'?
You've taught so many so much. Would it hurt to just teach me one more thing?
Do the people you've laid low in the fight for this tome mean anything to you?
You want to become a human, but you forewent learning human kindness and love. You jumped straight to human resentment and ruthlessness.
It will only hurt you if I let you leave this town...
Love... Hmph. None of you would know a thing about the love in my heart...
Time's up! Enough hiding things!
I'm sorry... but I'm just as clueless as you about this 'personification' technique.
Hate me if you must. Kill me if you like.
Asking me to darken my conscience, and lie to my students, though... never.
Mr. Pu, I have always respected you.
So don't blame me. You left me no choice.
—!
Before the swordswoman's sword can fall, a blade flies in from outside, sending her skidding back with the might of a thunderclap.
Astutely, she realizes her foe's power is beyond the pale, and without a second thought, she vaults through the window and flees.
She ran...
Tianshi Lin... Did you hear all that?
Most of it. And I'd guessed most of it.
*sigh*...
I can believe you have troubles, sir, but I think you'll agree your actions prior to now have not been proper.
No objections, Tianshi Lin... Oh, I've made a fool of myself with this, a fool of myself...
But how did you know I was being held captive by...?
A talking broom showed me the way, while asking that I save you.
I don't know if anything can surprise me today.
Sit down, Tianshi Lin, have some tea.
And as he says it, a plate drags a teapot and teacup over, and tea is served.
Lin Qingyan just furrows her eyebrows at the sight.
These items...
They're the students of this school. And all of them are geists.
That explains the strangeness of the townsfolk I met today...
So is everyone in this town...?
Some are humans, some are geists. As for how many of each, I'm not sure myself, not anymore after all these years.
The town became this way a long, long time ago. None of what I told you earlier was a lie per se, Tianshi.
I've heard tell of possessed beings born out of Feranmut influence. But I've never seen a 'geist' with intellect approaching that of humankind.
Have you forgotten, Tianshi Lin, what rests nearby?
...The Tomb of Sui.
Correct.
We all know about the power of Feranmut incarnations to possess objects, and Sui was all too powerful. Even suppressed by the town for a millennium, the mere might that leeched out of the cracks of the earth sufficed to turn some things geistly.
Ordinary people should never know about any of that. Sir, are you...?
A Feranmutologist at the Sui Regulator. Decades ago, at that.
Life ends somewhere, and so does knowledge... My Feranmut studies were achingly incomplete, and the research had wicked away my own humanity. I handed in my resignation and left to live a secluded life in the mountains. That's when I found this town.
Decades ago, this town saw frequent possession incidents, which the Tianshi Bureau would send a Tianshi to quell if it felt like it.
But I had to feel sorry for geistkind, born into our secular realm not knowing up from down. And how steeped in humanity some were, their consciousness not so far from a human's.
Why simply watch them run amok and be crushed? Nothing stopped me from trying to teach them human rites and values. Maybe they'd even be able to coexist?
So little by little, this school came to be.
How noble of you.
No, no... I can't be prizing those words from a Tianshi's lips.
It's ridiculous on the face of it. I spend one half of my life on studying the 'bestial', and the other half on teaching the 'geistly' to be human, only to look back and realize I've half-baked both. What do I really know...?
Still, since sequestering away, I've come to find the little things oh so endearing.
I had thought this was how it'd be until my time was up.
But see, a few days ago, I received a letter.
A letter...?
'CLASSIFIED SCOOP, NOT FOR PRYING EYES'?
Someone claims to have gotten hold of a one-of-a-kind secret tome, penned personally by that Grandmaster of Yumen.
Rumor has it that Grandmaster is a Feranmut incarnate, but has the capacity to form himself a human's body. So analogously, the tome's teachings can allow geists to 'become human'.
Even Yumen is involved in this? That explains the incident Zuo Le mentioned.
Wait. Can this tome really make the 'geistly' human?
To be honest, I have no idea if that's true or not. But importantly, quite a number of geists believe it. And it's caused a great deal of unrest.
Are you suggesting the letter's writer aimed to sow unease in this town?
*sigh*... Hard to say, you know, hard to say...
All that I know, I've told you now. What are your plans, Tianshi Lin?
......
Matters of the bestial Sui are out of my job's scope. But as a Tianshi of the Tianshi Bureaus, geists hurting people is something I cannot overlook.
If whoever's orchestrating this has malevolence in mind, all the more reason to put my foot down.
That's good... I could tell you were the upstanding sort. I'm at ease knowing this investigation is in your hands.
Tianshi Lin... just one more thing.
Hu Jun's 'remains'. Could you hand them to me...?
Certainly...
Are you giving him a burial, sir?
A burial, yes, but it's not just a burial.
This study we're in... is the Hall of Morn and Eve. Every broken item that rests in here, once was Geist.
A geist does not live and die as a human does.
They come alive from humans' attachments to things; they perish when their vessel breaks or the attachment is rid.
If the broken vessel can be mended, perhaps one day, the spirit can manifest again.
So this teapot—no, Hu Jun here...?
Hu Jun's owner was a tea farmer here. He loved tea, and knew it through and through.
He used to clear a few mu of land in the mountains to plant tea. Every April before Qingming, when he picked and fried his leaves, he'd go around town ladling out wellwater as he pleased, and all of it filled with the fragrance of tea.
But he wasn't content. He devoted himself to finding the best tea under heaven, and the clearest spring water.
One year, he heard of the mothertree of Mount T'ien tea, by the southernmost border of Yan. With nary a goodbye, he hired a ship fleet and went south.
But once he was gone, he never came back.
A speck of that tea farmer's infatuation dwelt within this teapot, as it accompanied him day in and day out. Who can blame our Hu Jun, for wanting to leave the village so...
Was that tea farmer... a friend of yours?
......
From her bag, Lin Qingyan brings out a small box. Safekept within, there rest a teapot's shards.
My thanks, Tianshi...
Mr. Yun, I've been looking forward to meeting you.
I'm so, so sorry for keeping you. There were some mishaps along the way.
You said you wanted to tour this town first, yes? Has it satisfied you?
Of course! The people, and the whole character of the place, have really opened my eyes.
I apologize you had to wait for so long. How about we get going?
Right. Come with me.