Arknights story · Where Vernal Winds Will Never Blow
WB-9 'Hibernate'
While the Catastrophe rages on, Jieyun returns the sword to Chongyue, bringing closure to old grievances. Chongyue senses that something is not right, and sees an old 'friend' in the inner city of Yumen.
2 scenes, 461 lines
1. Before Operation
278 linesCrack.
A thick layer of gravel has formed on the streets.
Most of the south side has been spared the effects of the Catastrophe, but at the peak of the storm, there was nowhere in Yumen where the sun could be seen.
Crack.
The lock is broken.
The furnace has been toppled, racks scattered everywhere, the yard littered with broken bricks and tiles.
The master of the house will never return to clean this up.
Yet the tree still stands.
Grandmaster.
Thank you for coming here to the Sword Forge.
The sword has been found, but she insists on returning it to you personally.
I need to talk to you.
Go ahead.
It's been more than a decade since I was last here.
It's like coming home, even though we're in the same city.
About Mr. Meng...
There's no need to say anything.
He knew it was wrong to put the whole city in danger. I reckon he had planned to atone for it from the beginning.
......
Still, my ill-considered actions have alienated the jianghu heroes of Yumen.
I will speak to my father and accept any discipline, once this crisis has passed.
And I will indemnify any losses suffered by the Sword Forge, as well as the costs of any repairs.
Lord Exorcist is fair and just. He will give them a proper answer.
However...
The events that transpired were sudden, and some misunderstanding is understandable. As for whether you lost your calm and stepped out of bounds... I will let you be your own judge.
—Mm.
I'm sure you understand that the Shanhaizhong are even more dangerous to Yan than the Feranmuts.
The Feranmuts may be powerful, but we won the hunt a thousand years ago. Yan is even stronger now. There is nothing to fear.
True. Times have changed.
What is truly frightening is the shadow that had been cast on people's hearts since time primordial.
Heaven and earth, the moon and stars, wind and rain, the changing of the seasons... it is unfathomable, beyond our reckoning.
The Feranmuts were the same to the people of the time.
Ignorance breeds fear, which becomes twisted into religion. To those madmen, we are the ones we are the outsiders. We are the traitors.
Religion is simply another kind of obsession.
The Shanhaizhong's activities never waned, even after the Feranmuts faded from the public eye.
In the past centuries, they have absorbed bandits, pirates, robbers, and other sorts of villains. They use the Feranmuts as a shadow to conceal their activities.
Sui Regulator records indicate that the Shanhaizhong have done unmeasurable harm in the name of the Feranmuts.
The scale of their deeds is so widespread that complete elimination is impossible, and the vileness of their acts horrifying.
They have started to reach out to the proxies of your kin. They were thankfully foiled by the timely intervention of the Sui Regulator.
I doubt my siblings want anything to do with such 'disciples.'
However, the Sui's true form stirs from slumber, Yumen returns to its motherland, and the Shanhaizhong have infiltrated the city. It is a complex web, too complex to be a coincidence.
Do you mean...?
All under Heaven is the offender's Go board. The Shanhaizhong may simply be a piece in his game.
That's a serious accusation. Is it the Sui Regulator's official stance?
......
Therefore, the Sui Regulator sees this as the greatest Feranmut threat that Yan has faced in its history.
Yes.
Tracking the sword, dealing with the criminals, hunting the Shanhaizhong... you are the youngest Candleholder of the Sui Regulator, and son of the Lord Exorcist of Yumen. In this matter, your burden has no equal.
Yes.
In a world of chaos, decisions of life and death must be swift and forceful as thunder.
Err on the side of going too far.
Better to be too harsh, than too lenient.
That is what you think.
...Yes.
There is a young Zuo Xuanliao in you.
However, you seem to have forgotten Zuo Xuanliao's last instructions when he ordered you to do three things in three days.
......
Keep this secret, and do not disturb the people.
What was the ultimate goal of the imperial court when the Sui Regulator was established to deal with Feranmut matters?
Why has Yumen returned to the motherland, its survival at stake?
......
It's for the people in this city right now. The people whom you brought back to the camp.
...For all the people.
Never forget what all you do is for.
Maybe you were right in this instance, but a position of authority and holding the power to make decisions also means holding the power to kill or harm. Some mistakes can never be undone.
Though it shouldn't have been me to tell you all this.
The Catastrophe rages on. Go and help.
Boss, everybody, get in here.
This out-of-the-way alley is a blind spot in the Patrol Battalion's search routes. We're safe here for now.
Finally, a breather... is this all the men we have left?
We lost the rest on the street.
The Yumen soldiers moved much faster than expected, setting up watch around Catastrophe defenses and key roads in a very short time.
And those guards and brawlers who appeared out of nowhere. Cao, they were tough...
What about the Di beast we sent out?
None returned.
The other groups are probably no better off. If they were captured alive...
A rabble of greedy crooks who were recruited to not leave a trail to begin with. They won't give away anything important.
We've done what we came for. Let's go while we still have the Catastrophe, before Yumen can cut off our escape.
By the way... where's the Master?
Where is she at this crucial time?
She's...
You...
I took your sword. Now I'm giving it back.
Since you've returned it, I'll say you borrowed it.
I want to ask you a few questions. I'll only give it back after you've answered.
I know you're much stronger than I am, but don't try to take it by force.
Why don't you look anxious at all? Don't you care about the sword?
......
Either you care about it or not.
Shifu was right. The way that you beat around the bush can be annoying.
The one who said that...
Is the sword called 'Chongyue?'
......
Shifu often talked about this sword.
But maybe it's not just the sword that she wanted to see.
......
For the last couple of days, I've been thinking, is this Shifu's home?
Shifu taught us how to fight, taught us knowledge from the nomadic cities.
How to build sturdier houses to stand against the sandstorms, and how to listen to the pulse of the land in order to plant crops and dig for water, even in the barrens.
The nomadic city that Shifu talked about was tall and strong. I saw how the people turned back even an all-consuming Catastrophe, when they stood together with each other.
Everyone should have a place to call home.
If home lets us rest without fear of disaster or having to chase the seasons...
Then why did Shifu leave twenty years ago?
......
The man does not answer.
She was very ill, but she taught you kung fu?
We Anasa are gifted with strong bodies. Shifu said that when one has a home, one must learn to protect it.
We learned quickly, so that Shifu would not have to demonstrate over and over again with her sickly body.
My people thought about taking her away from the barrens to get treatment.
Shifu always answered, 'But how draining would the journey be? I would rather see how the Liedaozi I taught you to brew is coming along.'
Did you ever find a doctor?
......
The man shakes his head.
Not in the places I looked. I was going to look elsewhere, when I received an urgent message from Yumen.
The Shanhaizhong were wreaking havoc in Yumen. They asked me to return as soon as possible.
So Shifu's illness could not have been treated, even if she never left.
...Yes.
Shifu said that the cycle of life and death is something everyone goes through.
A little longer or shorter doesn't change anything.
What really separates us is the 'age' between life and death, and even more cruel 'illness.'
What can be seen but cannot be helped merely makes one troubled.
The first batch of Liedaozi was finished just before Shifu passed away. She drank it with us and heard us sing a song with no name.
It was an old song that the Anasa sang for our dead kin to put their souls to rest. Shifu asked what point there is in singing a song for her, if she can't hear it?
'Let me hear it while I still can.'
I was eating at the inn yesterday and saw that people were preparing to see you off.
Did you...?
Are you leaving?
It's been more than a hundred years. It's time to go.
You've been here so long. Isn't this your home?
Many people's homes are somewhere else in Yan, but they stay here to protect this city.
But where it's going, I can't go with it.
Would you have gone to look for Shifu, if she was still alive?
......
The spring comes and goes, leaving the autumn heart despondent.
Such is mortality.
Anasa. Those without roots.
(In ancient Sarkaz) ...Maybe.
The words and intonation are indistinguishable from a native.
The Anasa girl knows, however, that he is not one of her kind.
He has simply gone to many places and met many people.
Forget it. Here's your sword. I have nothing more to ask.
The man never answered any of the questions.
He neither answered, nor dodged them.
The Anasa suddenly understands how her shifu must have felt when she left.
The Anasa girl falls to the ground.
She has passed out from sheer exhaustion.
The ancient sword leaves its sheath.
It looks no different, save for the vestige of an old friend, almost gone now.
The medium is the jade on her forehead...
She used to wear it, saying that it calmed her mind and warded off evil...
......
I see.
A move decades in the making.
But a poor one, if the sword was the only goal.
...The one in the city?
He had his eye on one corner of the board, ignoring the other.
Hah.
So this is what it is...
This is how you have fallen...
How amusing.
I want to see how you swallow it...
The shame.
'Sui?'
First the Lord Exorcist's tent, now the central room of Yumen's inner city. Have you never been taught that it is rude to come uninvited?
......
You?
You got your sword back.
Just now.
Looks like he has discovered your secret.
So you have met my brother...
You separate that part that belonged to It and sealed it away, while he wants to take its place.
The attitude with which the two of you treat It, what you are doing, is bold, and interesting.
But ultimately foolish and pointless.
Perhaps no more than what you are doing right now.
You're not here for the Catastrophe, for the city, or for what I hold in my hands right now.
You made all this mess just to ask for directions.
You wanted to know where the Sui is.
How dare you compare those things to It?
You are slow on the uptake.
It slipped my mind as to who would be so interested in It, other than the imperial court and my siblings.
You have forgotten what you used to be.
......
Only a Feranmut would seek out another.
Long time.
No see.
An utterance with a million connotations behind it.
Poignant lament, cold sarcasm, or seething anger, a thousand emotions exploded at once, then dissipated.
They dig wounds in the depths of memories immemorial.
In time beyond reckoning, It and It, They, engaged in dialogue form afar as such.
......
I came back to this land to settle our debts.
But what right does a fragment sealed in a trinket have to engage in dialogue with me?
I want to see you as who you truly are.
......
......
There's something I'm curious about.
You fled after the hunt, not to be heard from all these years. Why have you chosen to return to Yan at this time?
......
It was my brother who awakened you...
......
As for the Shanhaizhong that appeared with you...
They? Hah.
Just made some company on the way.
I encountered them in the desert. I shared the forming Catastrophe that I saw, and made a little show of power.
They were surprised that someone could know the Feranmuts so well. They were convinced that I was a herald of the Feranmut.
Some are pretentious, some sincere, but all strive to prove their faith to me, worshipping bits and pieces that they claim to have come from the Feranmuts.
They curse their own kind and imagine overthrowing all order. They look down on mankind, utter meaningless words, and implore me to communicate their faith.
Little do they know that the object of their faith itself stands before them.
If your encounter with the Shanhaizhong was by chance, and you had intended to sneak into the central room all along, in order to lock on to the Sui's location through Yumen's navigational coordinates...
Why are the Shanhaizhong here?
To destroy Yumen? Not very likely.
Until they met you, they didn't know there would be a timely Catastrophe in Yumen's path.
I'm not interested in mankind's petty machinations.
I just needed some hands to cause chaos.
In human terms, you manipulated your followers.
And?
......
To become infected with hysteria and start thinking about one's own existence, even denying it.
Only slightly more amusing than those who remain foolish, from their first moments to their last.
That is to say, not very amusing.
What would they think, if they knew their god thought so little of them?
Since when have we needed the faith of such puny beings?
Except for fools like the Sui.
......
I spared some time for you only because you are Its fragment.
I've already wasted too much time.
I should have realized the other day when we fought. The scent of flowers and the sight of spring were too real to be achieved by Originium Arts.
Sui Regulator records speak of a beast by the name of Ya, who cuts away the seasons and holds them at its bosom.
You have Its memory, yet you dare call me in the human way!
'Ya?!'
What a disciple name, just like 'Sui!'
Cuts away the seasons?
Humans measure time in such silly ways.
It is no illusion. An illusion cannot be so real.
It ceases to exist in some other fleeting time.
It exists in this never-ending present.
Time has stopped.
Eight thousand years of spring, eight thousand years of autumn.
A maze that has no ending.
Time has not stopped.
A lone boat on a river, each one standing on one end.
A ripple spreads from the end of the boat.
You're trying to make me stay?
Yes.
You demonstrate incredible mastery of space, but I must make you stay.
Even if I can't.
I would have left Yumen by now, if things had gone according to plan.
For you, neither Catastrophe nor Yumen can compare in importance to the Sui.
For me, however, there is nothing that I care less about than the Sui.
For you, all that is happening outside is a fleeting cloud.
For me, it is the damaged walls, broken houses, suffering soldiers and civilians.
And... one old friend who died with regret.
The Catastrophe has not passed. They do not even know that you exist.
Someone must make a stand for Yumen.
I guess there's no one but me to do it.
2. After Operation
183 lines......
......
The second long journey through the vast void.
Awakening at the end of the journey—
Regret. Shame. Anger. Disorientation.
......
But even more so, confusion.
You want me to stay? Then answer my question for It!
......
I came so far to find you.
Did you know that those ants have dug through mountains and filled in rivers, calling the scars they leave upon the land 'cities?'
Is this frail and sick land still the cosmos that we had once lived and frolicked in?
Did you know that the marks They left before They died remain on this despicable city they call Yumen?
The ants have not repaired it for a thousand years, calling it part of the glorious journey towards civilization.
This is the city that your fragment has sworn to protect?
It is It. I am I.
(Heaven's repressed anger)
The boat continues to sail.
The plants on the banks grow shorter, pressed down by the snow.
Do you remember how our consciousnesses journeyed the sleepless void and became the first living beings here?
Do you remember how we watched the sun rise and set, giving order to time and objects, and Heaven and earth took shape?
Do you remember that eye which broke the heavens? We watched and clashed in the cosmos, the rivers turned red, the mountains leveled, the bodies piled up until they reached the clouds, becoming new mountains when they rotted away...
Such a magnificent thing a true war is!
(Heaven's repressed anger)
The boat continues to sail upon a river without end.
The snow grows thick. Each question echoes like an avalanche.
It is white up above and down below. The skies are so low that one only has to reach out to touch them.
Why would one who has seen such an era care about the ants between its claws, and the dust that they stir up?
To deceive humanity, you meddled with cloud and rain, sent preposterous 'blessings' from the heavens, helped the so-called True Lung triumph. How utterly meaningless...
Why do you answer them again after a thousand years? Harass, provoke, hunt and kill your own kind?!
Compared to their ancestors, puny but brave, these ants are feeble, despicable, filthy. Why do you want to rule over them?!
Why do you want to become their god?!
(Heaven's repressed anger)
Since time immemorial, has our kind ever seen the shame that you have put yourself to?!
Answer me, my... my kin!
You're angry.
In all these millennia of slumber, It has ever been like you are now...
Swallowing the shame, chewing upon betrayal, seeking answers.
That is why fragments like us were born.
......
But we are not It.
I cannot answer your question.
I cannot understand your fury, just as you cannot understand mine.
Fury?
You will stand for humanity? Here?
Draw the sword, and maybe you can.
I'm thinking how much you treasure this dimension.
Born in spring, prosper in summer, wilt in autumn, fade away in winter. Cut away the seasons, and hold it at one's bosom.
I could imagine how you hurriedly cut away this little pocket and took it with you when you fled Yan a thousand years ago.
How you hid in a remote corner of the world, flipping through the pages again and again, licking your wounds before a snippet that will never fade.
Since when have the Feranmuts become so sentimental?
How is it different from those feeble, despicable and filthy humans you speak of?
Eight thousand years of spring, eight thousand years of autumn. The snow never stops falling. This little corner will ever be itself.
This is how you measure time...
How silly.
Days, months, years.
Winter turns to spring, then to winter again.
Time can be divided, no matter how long.
One mind, one will, one move. From equinox to solstice, to the next equinox.
Humanity has always been so, breaking down life into tiny constituents, and perceiving everything within those constituents.
The boat stops.
A firm fist connects with Ya's chest.
There is no extraneous motion, only the utmost simplicity.
The ice and snow melt into a single point on the river. Ya falls from the boat...
And hits the cold, hard ground.
This is what you learned after you forsook Its power...
You are not It...
......
The man does not speak. He watches the 'human' before him, in its last throes.
All the living things of the world do not look so different on the brink of death.
Why... haven't you killed me?
......
We'll meet again.
*cough*...
Sir, the initial damage report is in.
Casualties?
All civilians on the east side were safely evacuated to the west side.
Half of the Imperial Astronomical Bureau Casters deployed at the inner city to deal with the secondary storm were injured. Also on scene were Mr. Lin of Lungmen and his daughter, Envoy Lin... Mr. Lin suffered serious injuries.
......
H-He is being treated at the army hospital.
All of Yumen owes Mr. Lin a great debt. Spare neither money nor manpower.
Yes, sir.
Damage to buildings?
The west side was unaffected. A number of buildings were damaged by the storm in the east and north sides.
The east side took the brunt of the storm.
Two of the Four Guardians were damaged beyond economical repair and have been detached by the Tianshi.
Part of the foundation wall has been severely warped. Emergency repairs are in progress.
About 60% of all city defenses have been damaged.
......
The Tianshis' assessment?
Initial estimates are that it will take at least two months before Yumen can move again, even with full effort devoted to the repairs.
Two months...
Slightly better than pre-Catastrophe estimates.
Here are my orders.
The entire army will remain alert for potential after-storms.
Continue to assess damage and treat the injured. Erect emergency shelters to house the evacuated population.
Yes, sir.
And the Shanhaizhong?
They attempted to cause chaos by attacking city defenses and harassing the people. Most have been brought to justice by the Patrol Battalion's prompt intervention, assisted by civilian volunteers.
Only a few managed to escape through gaps in the damaged walls.
...I see.
However, we have not found the Shanhaizhong leader responsible for the assassination attempt at the barracks. Search efforts are underway.
She did not show herself?
Strange, given her ability...
What of the Grandmaster?
The Grandmaster visited the Sword Forge. He has not been seen since.
......
Why did you give me this sword?
I want you to keep it safe... consider it a request.
So this was the sword that all the fuss was about.
What is it, anyway?
It is too many things.
An artifact holding one of the twelve fragments of the Sui, witness to a relationship of love and hate, an old antique sword.
Right...
Sounds important.
Well, if it's too much trouble...
I'm just thinking... we don't really know each other that well.
I know your name is Huai Tianpei. You have two wise friends, and a talented daughter.
And you are the only one who has ever gotten the upper hand on me, even once.
Right.
I know you're the only one I couldn't beat, in my forty years of training.
I'll take the sword.
I'll find you after I've trained for another forty years.
Nah, he worked that off ages ago.
It was just a convenient excuse to take him in.
Better for him to be in here mending people's bones, than out there breaking them.
Thank you... for everything.
Are you his daughter?
Yes...
Just found it hard to believe he had a daughter so polite and well-mannered. No offense, of course.
......
Still, it takes some getting used to, not having him around.
How am I going to clean up all this sand by myself?
I-I'll help!
Left without a word? Again?
Yeah.
Some men never change.
I'm not so anxious to find him this time around, though.
Looks like you've made your own plans.
I have my job at the agency, and school. And kung fu, of course.
He'll get more than just a kick in the chin the next time I see him.
......
Orders from above. We have our next mission. We'll go once we've rested and recovered.
Too bad Yumen survived the Catastrophe, while we took heavy casualties.
(Sneers)
The letter burns in the masked man's hand, quickly turning to ash, making a tiny corner of gold even more conspicuous.
Paint from a special seal that only top imperial mandarins may use. Only five people have access to it.
The man rubs the seal in his hand, crushing it into tiny pieces that fade into the sand.
Our mission was to cause a commotion that would catch the imperial court's attention. We still have a use for Yumen. It will not do to lose it.
......
We move now.
We're not waiting for Master? We could hardly have done this without her.
It's the Di beast... Master is back!
......
Careful...
Who in Yumen could have injured you like this?!
A 'Man.'
What else did you hear?
(Eerie roar)
How long?
(Eerie roar)
Two months?
...That's enough.
I know where It is.
What do you... what are you...?
Master, I'm afraid we must part here.
Suit yourself.
Just don't get in my way.
......
There is always an end to the path, no matter how long.
I have felt it since my awakening, growing ever clearer. What they call 'Mortality.'
The wounds from that hunt will never fully heal.
I hope you have awakened.
I have little time left. I have few kin left.
Let us settle this.