Inside the Rising Dragon Inn, the restaurant is bustling with activity and the room is saturated with noisy chatter. There are people of all kinds eating at the various tables. Nuns, monks, lecherous men, young girls being stared at by lecherous men, biao shi escorting goods, hoodlums keeping an eagle's eyes on the biao shi for an opening to steal goods, amongst others.
A sole young man enters the restaurant, looking around.
"Can I help you?" the waiter asks.
Zhu-Lin takes in his surroundings, though his eyes do linger slightly longer on any attractive young women. He turns when the waiter addresses him.
"A most auspicious name for an inn," Zhu-Lin replies. "As you expect, I am a simple traveller in need of a meal, and perhaps lodgings as well, should your inn provide those. Something simple would be good."
As he speaks, Zhu-Lin keeps a general eye on the crowd in case one of those lecherous men attempts anything unpleaant or one of those hoodlums attempts to enrich himself at someone else's expense.
OOC: Biao shi?
The waiter looks at Zhu-Lin, sizing him up and how he is dressed.
OOC: Biao shi escort goods. Think today's armoured trucks, they provide secure transport of whatever you want, pay is dependent on value of what's being transported and the risks.
Zhu-Lin smiles at the waiter. "Well, what have you got to eat?"
"That depends on how much you have, we've got everything from the lowly steam buns for lowly commoners," the waiter looked at Zhu-Lin, "Or we have the extravagant, like bears' paws and shark fin soup."
Zhu-Lin leans on his staff and smiles. "My apologies, your lordship, I hadn't realized such an exalted person such as yourself had been reduced to waiting tables for a living."
"I, on the other hand, am most uncommon." Zhu-Lin smiles even more deeply. He does not explain himself, but watches closely in case the waiter starts something.
"Bring me a plate of steam buns, oh most exalted of waiters, and should they prove worth the price, I might chose to try your more of your menu."
The waiter's facial features ticked noticeably at Zhu-Lin's jab.
Turning away, he makes his way towards the kitchen, muttering to himself.
Moments later, he returns to Zhu-Lin's table and not-so-lightly sets the plate of steamed buns on the table. "Here are the steamed buns, enjoy."
"Thank you," Zhu-Lin replies. When the waiter's back is turned, he examines the steam buns, eating them if it appears the waiter has not tampered with them.
Zhu-Lin watches and listens to the other patrons as he eats. I do hope something interesting happens. There's no point seeking out adventure when adventure is bound to find me anyway.
The waiter has indeed not tampered with the steamed buns, and it tastes... bland and tasteless with a taste of fresh, good dough.
The patrons all talk of different things. Some talk amongst themselves about the newest killing spree by the members of the Ming Sect, some talk about the cruelty of the officials under the reign of the Yuan government and the barbaric rule of the Mongolians, one table talked about the good the Shaolin Temple has done for the martial arts world, another talked about the current rise of robbery by the shadier characters.
Zhu-Lin takes a closer look at the people discussing these different topics. To see if he could join one of them without intruding.
The table that talks about the Ming Sect killings were obviously monks from the Shaolin Temple, with their telltale baldness and kasaya; the ones who are verbally rebelling against the government were mostly the gruff type, and loud and unshaven.
The table that is praising the Shaolin Temple sat on the other side of the room from the monks. Nothing really stood out for them, they were just normal-looking individuals, most of them were carrying jian.
If one were to look at the people talking of the recent robberies, one would think they were shady themselves. It is not how they acted or how they are dressed, but rather their appearance and facial features just gave off a feeling that they are not too noble
Zhu-Lin approaches the table with the Shaolin monks.
"Apologies for my rudeness, honored monks, but I could not help hearing what you said about the Ming Sect. My late master taught me to aid those less skilled than myself and hearing of these tales makes me wish to do my small part to avenge these wrongs."
"I was hoping you honorable gentlemen, whose knowledge of these vile miscreants is clearly greater than my own, could enlighten me about their whereabouts, numbers, and skills."
"Amitapha, I would not suggest that, sir," one of the monks replied. "The Ming Sect members are legion, and many very skilled."
1. Amitapha is a Buddhist chant/greeting.
"I thank you for your concen," Zhu-Lin replies. "I was not intending to face the entire Sect alone. I merely seek to do my small part, for if nothing is done, these micreants will go on to cause further harm."
"Amitapha, that would not be a wise course of action, sir," the monk replied. "Revenge is an endless road, killing is unnecessary and should not be done. We shall handle the Ming Sect and enlighten them on the Buddhist ways."
Zhu-Lin frowns, obviously puzzled. "I did not speak of revenge, and it is not a road I intend to travel. But if what I have heard of the Ming Sect is true, it will take more than mere words for them to stop their outrages."
"You may not have spoken of revenge," the monk replied. "But revenge will find you. Even the most evil of people have families, many have wives or children. You kill them, their families will relentless sought revenge against you, and if you have a family of your own, they will sought revenge, and the cycle goes on."
A man with a medium-sized chest walked over to the table and placed the chest on the it.
"I managed to get many people to donate for your cause," he said to the Shaolin monks. "This is the least we can do, we try to help you to help the world instead of nagging and taking on something we can't take on ourselves."
He gave Zhu-Lin the eye, then turned to walk back to the table.
"So you advise doing nothing and letting the evil men continue to do evil things?" Zhi-Lin asks, obviously bewildered. "But I had been told the Shaolin monks helped people."
He glance briefly at the chest when it is placed on the table, then speaks in a softer voice. "If this contains what I believe it does, it may not be safe to show it about so prominantly. Some of the people about might be impelled by greed."
"Amitapha," the monk replied curteously. "As you say, we should not stand by and do nothing. But violence is not the answer, it will only lead to more violence and bloodshed. We try to enlighten them on the Buddhist ways and steer them away from violence."
"And do not worry about the chest," the monk waved off Zhu-Lin's concern. "It's safe with us."
"Very well then, I thank you for taking the time to speak with me." Zhu-Lin sit back down at his table and watches and listens to the other people some more.
Suddenly, someone bursts up from his seat and flew towards the Shaolin monk, his right hand outstretched, intent on grabbing the chest full of money. The monk held out an open palm, palm faced upwards, then tucks his middle finger under his thumb, and flicks the man at the wrist with the middle finger. That small attack is enough to deflect the grab and cause the man to spin in the air. Although the man is apparently no slouch himself, and immediately spins more to execute a backfist to the side of the monk's face.
The monk reaches up and grabs down on the man's wrist, and swings his arm and releases the wrist, making the man fly to the far wall. The man doesn't give up, however, and rebounces off the wall with both feet, two open-palmed attacks ready against the Shaolin monk. The monk meet the attack head on with two open palms of his own, and the attacker is sent flipping through the air, barely landing on his feet and stumbling backwards several steps.
Knowing the monk is beyond his league, he gives up and leaves in a huff as the monk politely bowed.
Every occupant in the room cheers and applauses for the skill displayed by the Shaolin monk.
OOC: Hey, Kwok's still alive.
Zhu-Lin addresses the monk. "As you said, it is quite safe. That was most impressive."
OOC: How does either man's skill compare with Zhu-Lin's?
OOC: Of course I'm alive. Plenty of people have unsuccessfully tried to get rid of me. Just ask around ^^
IC: The monk simply smiles and bows to Zhu-Lin.
"Although money is but unnecessary trivialties, this is going to a greater cause, else I would have simply handed it to him."
OOC: Let's just say that they can kick your ass ^_^;
The monk is definitely way out of your league, he can channel enough ki to deflect a lunging punch with a flick of the finger. The would-be robber, well, the first part of the fight you can keep up with, but you probably can't keep up with the second part, after he's flung at the wall and rebounces ^_^
"You would have handed it to him in spite of the rude manner in which he requested it?" Zhu-Lin smiles. "How will he ever learn proper manners?"
Zhu-Lin sits back down, continuing to watch and listen to the other customers. While he does so, he ponders on the way the would-be thief's leaping abilitiy exceeded his own and resolves to practice when an opprtunity permits.
"Amitapha, money is but unnecessary trivialties, it is not worth anyone risking bodily harm over," the monk replies, nodding. "Although I try to refrain from harming, one never knows how a confrontation would play out, therefore it is better to stop a confrontation before it occurs."
"I suspect our mighty and exalted waiter will disagree with the triviality of money when it comes time to pay for a meal," Zhu-Lin replies with a smile. "And it seems to me that, like you, no sensible person would risk injury to obtian something as unimportant as money."
"Amitapha," the monk smiled and bowed, paying no attention to the apparent sarcasm. "Money is only desired by those who have not cleansed their minds of earthly dealings, and that is the reason I seek to help them achieve enlightenment; no enlightened person desire any money or such materials."
"So it is impossible for a waiter to become enlightened?" Zhu-Lin asks.
"Anyone can be enlightened," the monk replies. "That is the way of the Buddha, all can be enlightened."
Zhu-Lin smiles faintly, uncertain if his attempt at a joke failed to to his lack of skill or the poor choice of audience.
"Truly anyone can be enlightened?" he asks the monk,"Even those who have done the worst of deeds?"
"Indeed," the monk replied. "That is the way of Buddhism. If you are honest and sincere towards the Buddha, you can be enlightened. That's why we have the phrase 'release the butcher knife and be one with the Buddha.'"
"I see. Thank you for your time, honored monk." Zhu-Lin returns to his steam buns, watching and listening to the other patrons. He also tries to recall where the would-be thief was before his attack and if anyone else was with him.
There were, indeed, people sitting at the would-be thief's table, and they are still there at this time. However, since the restaurant part of the inn is so crowded, it is possible that none of the people at the table knew each other and were simply coincidentally assigned the same table by the waiter to reduce waiting time.
The rest of the restaurant spoke mostly of the same subject as before, although one or two tables in particular have dropped their discussion into a low whisper.
Zhu-Lin will listen to the table praising the Shaolin monks as they probably have a bit more to talk about now.
The conversation is mostly drowned out by the ambient noise in the restaurant, but Zhu-Lin can make out the words "infamous", "72 Arts", "next" sprinkled into the conversation here and there, although he cannot make out if it is referencing the monk or the would-be robber.
Zhu-Lin will keep listening as he doesn't plan on starting fighst and there doesn't seem to be anything else to do.
Suddenly, the room became completely silent as a figure stepped into the room.
Everyone, even the normal civilians, could feel the raw power radiating from the man, as he entered the restaurant, his long black cape flowing windlessly behind him, propelled by the ki that surrounded his person.
"Hello, Jing Gen-daishi," the man bowed slightly to the monk. "Long time no see."
Zhu-Lin glances quickly at the monk to see how he is reacting. If a serious fight goes down, he will concentrate on getting hapless bystanders out of the way of the fight, at least at first.
To Zhu-Lin's surprise, the monk bows respectfully to the man.
"It has been long, indeed," the monk greets. "It has been what, five, ten years? Jiang hu hasn't had a big enough trouble to warrant your coming out."
"Now there is," the man replies without a hint of humour. "Corrupt officials, the rise of the Ming Sect, it's time we stand up to them en masse."
The occupants of the restaurant begins to whisper amongst themselves, while the younger occupants have an awe-struck expression on their faces.
Zhu-Lin is surprised as well. Not knowing what to do, he listens carefully to see how the conversation continues.
"Indeed," the monk nodded. "Although I must again advise against unnecessary killing. After all, everyone has a family and we do not want to deprive the family members from one of their own."
"Like the last time, Jing Gen-daishi," the man replied grimly. "This is a war, and I make no promises. I'll do what I can. And now I'm leaving, I only came to tell you about it."
"WHO WANTS TO COME WITH ME!" the man yelled. "I make no promises for your life or livelihood, but I promise we will give our enemies hell!"
Zhu-Lin looks back and forth between the two men, the monk and the rabble-rouser, and shakes his head slightly. One seems willing to do nothing while the other appears ready to charge blindly into battle.
He watches to see if either has more to say, and to see how the other people in the inn react.
A great percentage of the room cheered and held their hands up, most of the responding people are the ones who have been whispering before and after the man came.
"Let's go!" the man began to walk out of the room, taking with him most of the customers of the restaurant.
Zhu-Lin sighs. It appears there is no place for him here and that he lacks the power to affect events in any way.
The monk wants to live a life of quiet contemplation, and appears unwilling to raise a hand in most circumstances. If Zhu-Lin planned on living that isolated a life, he would never have come down from the mountains.
The rabble-rouser at least wants to do something, but Zhu-Lin is worried he's being too confrontational. And Zhu-Lin has no desire to be part of the man's faceless mob of followers, even if he didn't feel that they probably lack the power to survive the coming confrontation.
Zhu-Lin sighs again. There is no chance for him to be a hero, no chance for him to help or even make a diffirence. He's obviously completely outclassed by the monk and the rabble-rouser as well. Even the lowly thief was clearly out of Zhu-Lin's league.
He pays the waiter for his meal, walks outside the inn, and stands his staff on end. He lets it go, seeing which way it points, praying he can find a place in this world that does need him.
The staff points north, and that is the direction Zhu-Lin takes.
After about two shichen, two men carrying dao blocks the road in front of him.
OOC: Look to the translations thread for definition of shichen if you don't know it, I wanna keep them all at the same place in case I reuse the term ^_^
Zhu-Lin looks closely at the way the men are dressed, trying to determine if the two are soldiers or bandits.
OOC: What is the surrounding terrain like - woods, fields, plains, etc? Zhu-Lin strongly expects the men to be anti-social. And how far away are they? Have they noticed Zhu-Lin yet? What time of day is it?
The men dressed in simple shirts with bandanas on their heads. It is obviously not soldier clothing.
The men continue to stand there, as if standing a post. It seems that they have not noticed Zhu-Lin yet.
OOC: The area is plains, so there's nothing to hide behind. It's about 3-4pm, and they're currently far enough that even if they looked directly at you, they would only be able to see a vague shape in the distance ^_^
Zhu-Lin stops walking and keeps an eye in the men, but he is still brooding. Shan Lao had taught him to be swift as the wind, yet it seems he is anything but.
"Swift as the wind," he mutters. "Bah! Slow as the turtle is more like it. When even a lowly thief, so unimportant that he has neither followers nor reputation can exceed me, who has been training my entire life. No, he did more than merely exceed me, the battle was over and the thief fled before I even had time to stand."
"Perhaps I should go back and train for several years." Zhu-Lin is beginning to wonder if he is totally inept at martial arts or if he studied under an inferior teacher or both.
"Not that there was anyone to study from. The monk was goodhearted and pious, but was a goodhearted and pious fool. It will take more than mere words to get groups like the Ming Sect to stop oppressing others. And he and his companions clearly had no need of my meager skills."
"The other man wants to do something and I wanted to go with someone willing to do something, but he is clearly a brave fool. He sought courage, not skill in his followers. And mere numbers are not enough to compensate for the prowess of the Ming Sect, nor the armor and weapons of our rulers. For that matter, by boldly announcing his intentions at the inn, he has almost certainly guaranteed the authorities will learn of his actions and seek him out."
"And perhaps he has endangered the whole village." Zhu-Lin glances back over his shoulder, hoping to not see the signs of smoke.
If there is no smoke, Zhu-Lin strides forward until the men with the headbands say or do something. He keeps a close eye in case thy resort to violence.
OOC: Are the headbands the same color, that could be the sign of a gang or cult?
There is no smoke coming from the village, or at least nothing that Zhu-Lin can see.
The two men seems to notice Zhu-Lin now, and they walk to intentionally block Zhu-Lin's way, their swords outstretched to prevent Zhu-Lin from walking further.
"Money. Now."
"You have swords, but I have a staff. You have fine clothing, while mine is plain. You have sandals, while I have none. And you ask me for money?"
OOC: If they attack, Zhu-Lin will try to circle so only one can come at him at a time and strike low with the staff, trying to hit the legs.
OOC: This is a log of the fight, RP'ed on IRC, with slight editing to edit out the name tags and make it semi-coherent prose ^_^
-----------------
"You only look poor because you save all your money," the one on the right said. "We've seen your kind before."
"Now we can do it the easy way: give us money and you can walk," the man on the left said, brandishing his dao. "Or we can do it the hard way."
Zhu-Lin smiles. "I see you are even more foolish than you look."
"So the hard way it is," the man on the left replied simply. With a look at his partner, they simultaneously swiped their dao horizontally at you, attacking at the chest-level.
Wary of the attack, Zhu-Lin rolls backwards and to the left. Coming to his feet, he swings his staff at the man on the left's legs.
The man being attacked simply sidestepped to the right. As the staff passed safely over, the man that was previously on the right lunged forward with a soccer-style kick aimed at Zhu-Lin's head.
Zhu-Lin ducks, trying to avoid getting kicked in the head, while swinging upward to strike the man's kicking leg and flip him.
His kicking leg tripped, the man went off balance and fell unceremoniously on his back. Not missing a beat, the other man swung his dao downwards with an overhead swing, looking to cut Zhu-Lin in half.
Zhu-Lin spins frantically to the side, trying to avoid the overhand swing. He then continues the spinning motion and catches the man in the side with his staff.
The attacking man was hit in the side with the staff before he could recover from the missed swing, and he cried out in pain as the staff met his elbow. Seeing his partner in distress, the other man, having already recovered, lunged towards Zhu Lin and swung his dao in an arc motion from low to high as hard as he could, hoping to disarm him.
Zhu-Lin dodges backwards, trying to avoid being disarmed, and circles some more.
The circling proves to be a bad idea, as he soon find himself surrounded on both sides as both men lunged forward at the same time to trap him in the middle during mid-circling.
Zhu-Lin jumps straight at the man on the right, deflecting his blade with the staff, while catching him in the body with his knee.
His attack is met with success, as the man reels back and doubles over in pain. However, he also found himself flying through the air as the man behind him landed an elbow to his back before he could land the jump.
He spins in the air and lands on his feet, facing his opponents.
The man originally behind him lunged forward slightly and stopped to be just next to the other man, and then both men lunged at him simultaneously with overhead swings.
Zhu-Lin dodges back again to avoid the blows, and swings his staff across above the blades. He lands the strike on the flat side of the blades as the blades were swung past chest-height, causing the blades to be swung further down than originally intended. With pained squeals, the two men's eyes become white as they collapsed onto the ground, their chosen, rather sharp, weapons embedded into their groin.
Zhu-Lin winces as that last move was a much more than he intended. And he doubts the bandits would be cheered by the idea that the court is usually in need of more eunuchs.
OOC: Based on his medical knowledge, does Zhu-Lin think they have any chance of survival?
The men were obviously unresponsive. They wouldn't be able to wake up even if they wanted to, which they obviously wouldn't want to, with blades embedded into the crotch.
OOC: If they stop bleeding, they'll be fine. Having kids though, forget about it ^_^
Zhu-Lin grabs their headbands and attempts to uses them to stop the men's bleeding.
The men still do not stir or respond, but the bleeding seemed to have slowed.
If it's needed to stop the bleeding, Zhu-Lin will cheerfully tear up the bandits' shirts. He does glance up from time to time to see if anyone else approaches, particularly men with similar headbands.
No men with similar headbands come by, however, a housewife-looking woman did come by, looked weirdly at Zhu-Lin holding the two men's crotch, and walked away, a hand over her mouth.
The bleeding starts to subside though.
OOC: Heh.
Zhu-Lin looks for somewhere to wash up.
The area seems to be little more than badly maintained plains, so there is no source of water to be found.
However, a well could barely be visible off to the horizon, barely within range of Zhu-Lin's range of vision.
Zhu_Lin grabs the bandit's water bottles and rinses his hands off.
OOC: If they have any.
However, the bandits had no water bottle.
Zhu-Lin looks around for the nearest source of water, then,
The nearest source of water seems to be the well that is barely visible, off in the horizon.
Zhu-Lin wipes the blood of his hands on the men's lower pants legs as best he can. He then goes towards the well to see if he can get some water.
The men's lower pants legs are now somewhat bloodied, although Zhu-Lin still finds blood to be plainly visible on his hands.
There's a bucket next to the well, waiting to be lowered into the water.
ZhuiLin lowers the bucket, gets some water and rinses himself off. He is very careful not to get any blood on the bucket, since he does not want to foul the local water supply. After he's washed off, Zhu-Lin will drink some water.
During the entire time he keeps his eyes open for more bandits.
As Zhu-Lin prepares to drink the water from the bucket, he notices it's visibly contaminated.
OOC: Visible contaminated with what?
Upon closer inspection, there seems to be light strands of crimson, seemingly strands of hair, and some unidentified pieces of... something, floating around the bucket of water that is retrieved from the well.
Zhu-Lin looks into the well.
The well is really too deep to see clearly, but even from this distance Zhu-Lin can see that it seems to be more than just clear water at the bottom.
Zhu_Lin is suddenly happy the two bandits have become eunuchs. "Hello," he calls into the well, not expecting an answer.
As Zhu-Lin predicts, no answer is forthcoming from inside the well. However, he is beginning to see something black and seemingly fair-sized floating in the water.
Zhu-Lin looks around for any one who might be able to help. (And to watch for more bandits as well.) He takes a quick look at the sides of the well and the sturdiness of the rope, trying to determine if he could climb down and retrieve the body using the rope.
OOC: From my understdanding, dead or unconscious male bodies typically float face down, while dead or unconscious female bodies typically float face up. The latter, if not already dead, would have some tiny chance of survival.
If there's the smallest chance the body in the well could be alive, Zhu-Lin will act quickly. Otherwise, his actions will be much more delberate and careful.
Zhu-Lin doesn't see any passerbys in the vicinity to help him. However, the rope seems sturdy enough for him to climb down the dark well.
OOC: No, floating bodies don't face a different direction because of gender. Just because most of a woman's breasts is fat doesn't mean her whole body floats on water ^_^
Zhu-Lin climbs down the well to retrieve the body. His plan is to secure the rope around the body, then climb back up and haul it out of the well with the rope.
It is almost completely dark by the time Zhu Lin gets halfway down the well. Since the sun isn't right in the middle anymore, most of the sunlight is blocked by the walls of the well, and doesn't penetrate to the bottom.
As Zhu Lin gets near the bottom of the well, he begins to hear scratching sounds, eminating from seemingly everywhere, and nowhere. He is also feeling the moisture on his skin from the water in the well, and it feels almost like someone is running a gentle finger down his skin...
"Hello", he calls softly. "Can you hear me?" He continues to proceed carefully downwards.
Zhu Lin can hear no response. Which makes sense, after all, if someone is in the condition to respond, they would be crying for help already.
Zhu-Lin continues to the body.
In the darkness at the bottom of the well, all Zhu Lin can see is a slim figure in the shape of a body, floating face down with long hair floating on the water.
Zhu-Lin braces himself as best he can and pulls the body out of the water enough so that the face is not submerged and ties the rope around it as best he can so he can haul the body upright out of the well.
"At least I can give them little dignity in death."
Zhu Lin successfully hauls the waterlogged body out of the well, and he can already see that the body is so blated it is barely recognizable as a female, and definition beyond salvation.
OOC: If it's bloating, it's presumably been down the well for several days. Does it look like it's intact enough to even haul out of the well? And are there any signs of wat could have caused the scratching noises?
OOC: Err... bloated corpses don't snap in two like limp spaghetti or anything ^_^;
And no, no clues about the scratching. Too dark to see much of anything in there ^_^
Lacking anything to bury the poor woman with, Zhu-Lin looks to see if there's any branches or something he can lay over her to cover her.
Since this is mostly a plain area, there's no trees around to drop branches. All there is is short bushes, and really short at that.
With nothing further he can do about the woman, Zhu-Lin goes back to the bandits. As always, he is keeping his eye open for other people.
The bandits are still lying there, bleeding and unconscious.
If no one is around, Zhu-Lin takes the bandits money and their swords. He'll pitch the swords into the bushes and plans on giving the money to the next person(s) in need that he meets.
Zhu Lin finds out the bandits don't actually have that much money, they only have a combined 30 bronze coins. They must've either had really bad "clients" or haven't had one the whole day.
Zhu-Lin drops the coins into his pouch.
OOC: How many did he already have?
He then continues down the road.
It doesn't take long for Zhu Lin to reach the next town. Apparently, the bandits must've picked their chosen location to hunt down anyone going in or out of the town.
This town looks much like any other town, with various restaurants, inns and shops lining the streets, amongst other various stores.
OOC: You originally had two tael of silver and ten bronze coins... now you have 40 of them in total ^_^
OOC: How many bronzes equal a silver tael? And I believe it's about evening.
Zhu-Lin looks around for an inn as he's no doubt in need of dinner and a place to sleep.
On the main road that Zhu Lin is on at the moment, a few inns can be seen.
There is Hu Bao Lou, Long Cheng Ke Zhan, Ren Wei Lou and Hong Yun Lou.
OOC: Probably around 30 ^_^
Zhu-Lin goes to look at the Long Cheng Ke Zhan Inn.
The inn seems to be bustling with activity and chatter. The waiter is too busy going from table to table to greet Zhu Lin, but he can spot a lone empty table at a corner of the restaurant.
Zhu-Lin will approach the waiter. "Is the corner table reserved for anyone?"
"Nope, go ahead," he replies. "I'll bring you tea later after I finish taking these orders."
"Thank you," Zhu-Lin will take a seat and look and listen to the crowd as he waits.
There's entirely too much ambient noise for Zhu Lin to clearly decipher any conversations, and Zhu Lin only hears random words like "fight" and "babe" and "want", and he is unable to tell where the words came from because of all the background noise.
Moments later, the waiter comes to the table with a cup, a bowl, and a pair of chopsticks, and fills up the cup with the teapot.
"Alright, what do you want to order?" he asks.
Zhu-Lin picks something filling, but slightly fancier than the steam buns. He'll continue to listen in hopes he sorts something out among the babble of noise, but he'll ofcus more on watching the crowd to see who looks interesting.
Moments later, the waiter brings forth two trays, one a tray of soft, thin bread and the other a tray of assorted slices of meat and vegetables.
As much as Zhu Lin tries to, he can't seem to piece together more than a few words from here and there, but that may also be due to the fact that a few tables have degenerated into heated discussions or arguments, which makes them louder and consequently drowns out some of the other people.
As he nears finishing the dish, people begin to exit out of the restaurant as it has already gone dark.
OOC: For the dish, think a variation of Peking Duck if you've ever had it. If not, think pita ^_^
OOC: So no one stood out appearance-wise in any way?
Zhu-Lin asks the waiter how much lodging at the inn is.
He also watches the popel who haven't left yet.
The waiter informs Zhu Lin that one night's stay at the economy rooms costs 20 bronze coins, and one night's stay at the luxury rooms costs 1 tael of silver.
Now that the restaurant has less table and less people, Zhu Lin can hear more of the conversations taking place. However, they seem to have degenerated into mundane topics like life and wife.
OOC: Are those prices expensive or typical?
Zhu-Lin arranges for a night in the economy room. If none of the other guests do or say anything interesting, he'll go to be early.
Sometime during the night, after Zhu Lin has gone to bed, he finds himself waking up.
Something seems to be strangely out of place, but he can't pinpoint exactly what it is. After a few moments, he realizes it is because of the dead silence surrounding him. No footsteps, no voices, not even crickets that chirp in the night.
Zhu-Lin grabs his staff and rises to his feet as quietly as he can. He will then move to the wall, put his back to it at listen carefully.
Zhu Lin still can't hear anything. The dead silence is most abnormal, he absolutely can't hear anything besides his own heartbeat or any sounds he makes himself, it's like there is no outside or something, because nothing is heard from outside the room.
If there's a window, Zhu_Lin will cautiously open it, otherwise he'll cautiously open the door. He'll then look out without extending any part of his body out of the room.
A warm breeze greets Zhu Lin as he opens the window. The first thing Zhu Lin notices after opening the window is the continued lack of any ambient noises.
After carefully looking out, he finds that there are no lights on the streets. No lamps or lanterns are lit up even for places that should have light, like restaurants. It's pitch black as far as his eyes can see, the only illumination is the moon in the sky.
"Perhaps it's a dream." he wonders. Zhu-Lin goes to the middle of his room and sits, looking out the window, waiting to see if anything changes.
Everything seems to be oddly quiet, until Zhu Lin begins to hear sounds like doors banging, from somewhere far away.
Zhu Lin looks out the window, trying to dtermine where the sound is coming from.
The doors seem to be slamming by themselves, first from the end of the street as far as Zhu Lin's eyes can see, and slowly proceeding closer to the inn.
"What a very strange dream," Zhu Lin thinks. He continues to watch.
The door banging seems to get closer and closer, and finally stops dead silent at the ground floor of the inn.
Silence ensues for the following minutes, until the door to Zhu Lin's room bursts open, and a figure floated into the room, clad in a white dress, long hair covering her face so her features can't be seen.
Zhu Lin stares for a moment. "My apologies, I do not know what one should say to a ghost. You could have just knocked, you know."
"Why did you just leave me there?" the ghost simply said, hovering closer to Zhu Lin. "I died so unjustly..."
"Leaving you laid out on the ground seemed better than leaving you pitched headfirst down a well. I had nothing to bury you with and carting your body elsewhere seemed very disrespectful. Since I left you right by a well I thought that some of the locals would have discovered you by now and made the proper arrangements as well as informing your family."
"Really, I confused as to why you aren't haunting them, or the people who actually killed you. "
The ghost seems to deflate at Zhu Lin's words and collapses down to the ground on her knees, and starts to weep.
"I don't know who they are," she futilely wipes at her eyes with her long sleeves as the tears start to stream, although they seem to vaporize before hitting the ground. "I never had the chance to see their faces, you're the only one I've seen..."
Zhu Lin is stunned and reaches forward involuntarily to try to wipe away the ghost's tears, even though he can't.
"Um, uh, well, they really weren't much to look at, so you didn't miss anything be not seeing them." He winces, not at all sure that was the right thing to say. "Um, I don't know if it makes you feel any better, but no, no point in mentioning that..."
"Tell you what, first thing in the morning, I'll go buy a shovel and at least give your body a proper burial. Where is you family, so i can at least tell them the sad news."
"I've already told them in dreams," the ghost says between sobs. "But I can't rest in peace until my killers are found..."
"Um, I don't really understand what good finding them will do," Zhu Lin says apologetically. "Still, I'd like to help if I can."
The ghost turns to look at Zhu Lin with her large, and clear but clearly watery eyes.
"Really?" she looks at him hopefully. "If you can find my killers, I can rest in peace..."
"Well, I doubt they'd have gone far. Wouldn't you like your body tended to as well, though?"
"Well, I guess it doesn't really matter what happens to my body anymore..." she says with a hint of sadness, then turned her large watery eyes to Zhu Lin. "But if you would do that, that would be very nice of you."
"Um," Zhu Lin replies, being not at all certain what to say, though he's reasonably certain that this isn't a dream. "I'll half to wait until morning to buy a shovel, than I can take care of the... burial and then see what happened to the bandits.'
"Thank you," she smiles at Zhu Lin. A warm, friendly smile, not something one would expect from a ghost.
She starts to float away back out the door, seemingly never having actually standing up from her previous collapsed spot, and fades into the air, leaving no evidence of anyone or anything having been in his room.
Seconds after her departure, Zhu Lin finds himself looking at the ceiling of his room, apparently still lying on his bed, in the same position he went to sleep at, although the light eminating from the window tells him that it is now day.
"Well, that was a very odd dream," Zhu-Lin thinks. "If it was a dream."
He gets breakfast, then goes in search of a man selling shovels.
After a bowl of flavoured pork noodles pork noodles later, Zhu Lin goes on his quest to find a man who sells shovels. The street the inn is on doesn't seem to have any such store, so he turns into another main street. Not halfway down the street, he hears a man calling out to him. Not addressing him by name, but obvious enough that the call is meant for him.
Zhu Lin turns and looks at the man carefully. "Were you speaking to me?"
"Indeed," the man nods as he strokes his beard, in his hand a tall cloth sign with the words "Tie Ban Shen Suan". "I see that you're not from around here... an adventurer, maybe? Would you care to have your future told? Guaranteed to be accurate, or it's free."
OOC: Sorry about the gratuitous Chinese (kinda like gratuitous Japanese in fics... heheheh), but it's really hard to properly translate the phrase and would be next to impossible to not make it sound lame. Basically it's just like, kinda his calling card/business name, and about how godly accurate he is ^_^
Zhu Lin raises an eyebrow. "If the fortune is false, I might not know for years, by which time I could be quite far from here."
"Ah, very true," the man nods in agreement, but counters with, "But I can tell you something more immediate. Something in the coming months."
"Well, that would depend on how much you're asking. I'm not exactly wealthy."
"It doesn't cost much..." the man smiles benignly. "Merely 15 bronze coins, chump change compared to some of my colleagues. Just a... test of desire to be prepared for the future, if you will."
"Ah, but I am a man of humble means. I could perhaps afford ten bronze coins."
The middle age man laughs a good-natured laugh, stroking his beard. "Nice try, young one, but no. Like everything in life, the secrets of life do not come easily, or cheaply."
Zhu Lin shrugs. "Fifteen bronze it is."
He will have the man break one of his silver taels, which will leave him with 1 silver tael and 35 bronze coins.
"Very well," he says with a smile as he reached into a hidden pocket inside his long-sleeved robes and retrives the appropriate change, handing it to Zhu Lin.
Studying him intently, the fortune teller asks, "I see your forehead is clouded with some darkness... have you noticed any... otherworldly encounters lately?"
"Perhaps," Zhu Lin says with a smile.
"That's what I thought," the fortune teller says with a smile. "But not to worry. Unlike many others who seem to be unwillingly in touch with someone from the other side, I can see that she doesn't mean you harm. Maybe she just wanted something from you...?"
"Hmm..." he says as his smile broadens into a grin. "I see that you have something of a peach blossom luck this year... although luck and disaster is only a short distance away. Be careful, young one."
"And I can see that the coming months will be the most important months in your life... you will embark on a journey that will either leave you with more than you've ever had, or leave you dead. Step carefully."
Zhu Lin raises an eyebrow at the mention of 'she'. And another at the mention of 'peach blossom luck'.
"Um, thank you. I shall try to step carefully, then. How can I improve my luck?"
OOC: Oh yeah, I forgot to tell you. Having peach blossom luck basically means that you'll be having great luck with women, intnentional or not. They may just be more receptive/responsive to your actions, or they may be more forward than they would otherwise be ^_^
IC: "Don't worry," the fortune teller laughs warmly. "As long as you don't anger girls, you'll be fine with them. You have bigger things to worry about."
"Well, I try not to anger girls," Zhu Lin replies hesitantly. "But how do I deal with the bigger things? What can I do to improve my fortune in that?"
"There's nothing you can do," The fortune teller shakes his head. "The tides of fate have started moving, and all you can do is go along with it. The only thing I can tell you is a warning. Yes, there will be a chance where you may die, sometime during your journey. All you can do is be careful."
"Thank you," Zhu Lin replies. "I shall try."
Inless that man has something further to say, he will excuse himself and find someone who sell shovels.
Zhu Lin soon arrives at a store that seems to sell farming equipment.
"Can I help you?" he asked.
Zhul Lin smiles. "I need to purchase a shovel. Unless, of course, you're willing to loan me one."
"You don't look like you're from around here," the man looks at Zhu Lin suspiciously. "Why would you buy farming equipment if you're not from here? Did you kill one of our villagers and have to bury them or something?"
Zhu Lin leans on his staff and just stares openmouthed at the shopkeeper.
'The fortuneteller didn't mention anything about insane shopkeepers,' he thinks. 'A murderer would just flee, not stop to bury the body. And he'd steal the shovel not offer to pay for it, it he didn't just kill the shopkeeper outright.'
After a moment, Zhu Lin finds his voice. "Tell me, do you always accuse your customers of being vicious criminals? If this is intended as a joke, it's rude and not the least bit funny."
OOC: The ghost can't be from this village. She told her family of her death before she spoke to Zhu Lin. If her family was close enough to tend to it themselves, the ghost would have told Zhu Lin he didn't need to bury the body as her family was going to do it.
OOC: No she's not ^_^
IC: The shopkeeper laughs warmly, nodding his head.
"Good enough answer," he grins. "Even though you didn't really answer my question."
Turning to go into the back of the store, he soon comes back out, twirling a shovel in hand much like one would do with a bo staff, and lobs it towards Zhu Lin.
"Here you go."
"Um, thank you," Zhu Lin says, blinking with surprise and barely catching the shovel. "How much do I owe you?"
"15 bronze coins is fine," the shop owner replies. "I don't charge that much."
OOC: I thought you previously said a typical price for a shovel was about 10 bronze.
"Um, I am a man of limited means. Would 5 bronze be enough?"
"Pfft," the owner waves his hand dismissively. "A shovel that costs 5 bronze is nothing, it'll probably break before the season's over. Everyone around here knows that the equipment I sell are the best there is for miles around."
However, he takes a moment to consider Zhu Lin's offer, and replies, "12 bronze coins, no less."
"Very well, 12 bronze."
OOC: That leaves Zhu Lin with 1 silver, 23 bronze."
"That was an interesting move you made with the shovel, rather like some short staff techniques."
"It's nothing," the owner replies with a nonchalant shrug. "When you're around tools for as long as I do, you learn things."
"It seemed a little more than the average person who sells tools knows," Zhu Lin replies with a smile. "Well, I suppose I should be going, I have work to do."
Unless the man has anything further, Zhu Lin excuses himself and goes to bury the body.
Zhu Lin spends the next few hours trekking back to the location of the body. The mid-day sun results in a strong... aroma coming from the corpse, which makes it really easy to find.
He doesn't come across the bandits that he beat earlier when he was on his way into town, so the trip was fairly peaceful.
Zhu Lin picks the nicest spot he can and begins diigging a grave.
The grave digging is uneventful, and soon Zhu Lin finds himself staring at the newly-made unmarked grave.
Zhu Lin grasps the body by the shoulders of the clothing and drags it slowly and carefully into the grave.
OOC: Is there anything special typically with a body when burying it?
Zhu Lin then begins filling in the hole.
OOC: Not really ^_^
The grave is filled in, and now Zhu Lin finds himself staring at a large bump rising from the ground, the telling sign of an unmarked grave.
Zhu Lin sighs. "I don't suppose there's any point in leaving a marker, since she never gave her name."
After a moment, he turns and looks for where he left the bandits.
OOC: Not that he's expecting to find them there.
When Zhu Lin arrives the bandits have clearly left and no longer where he left them.
Although, a trail of blood can be see leading away from the site.
Zhu Lin cautiously follows the trail of blood. While the two bandits would be in no shape to fight him, they may be heading towards allies and he has no wish to be ambushed.
The trail of blood begins to thin, the bloodstains becoming less frequent and soon disappears as Zhu Lin follows the trail.
Zhu Lin studies the ground closely, looking for signs of footprints along the blood trail. He also looks ahead, along the direction of the trail, trying to determine if they were heading for a specific landmark.
Apparently it hasn't rained recently, because although there is not a lot of people passing by all the time, there are many trails of footprints along the ground, althugh they all seem to head in the same direction, at least initially.
Zhu Lin tries to follow the footprints then. If prints separate from the main group, he'll try to examine them more closely.
OOC: What sort of terrain are they passing across and heading towards?
OOC: Basically bush, bush and more bush. There're "roads" on the ground that're made from people walking all the time so grass doesn't grow, but on either side are bushes.
The footprints start diverging at an angle, and soon clearly seperates when Zhu Lin arrives at a fork of three roads. At this point, it is not clear where the paths lead to yet, since there is no landmark in sight. There is a mountain in the distance that seems reachable from the rightmost path, but nothing other than that.
Zhu Lin examines the prints closely, looking for a pair of people who are walking funny. If he can't determine which way they went, he'll stand his staff up, see which way it falls, and go that way.
Zhu Lin is unable to find any tracks that "look funny", so lets the staff fall.
The staff falls to the leftmost path, which seems to lead to a path along endless bushes as far as the eye could see over the horizon, much like what he has been travelling on.
He follows that path, still staying alert for ambush.
Zhu Lin's path soon begins to curve, and he is soon once again faced with a fork on the path.
Judging from the well-worn path on the left, it seems that it would lead into a town, while the path on the right seem to curve into the side of the mountain that he saw before.
Zhu Lin considers for a moment. If the bandits-turned eunuchs had gone into town, they news probably would have been all over the place. He takes the route towards the mountain, continuing to stay alert.
As Zhu Lin proceeds along the path, he notices a number of caves further along the path. Experience tells him that bandit organizations often have their bases in caves, but there are often different gangs in adjacent or nearby caves.
Zhu Lin trties to find a good hiding spot where he can observe the caves.
There are a total of four caves alongside but not near each other. The only hiding spot that is within range and wouldn't be too easy for anyone to spot someone hiding behind is behind some large rocks opposite of the caves, but would be far enough that Zhu Lin would not be able to listen to what the occupants of the cave are saying, but can look inside, providing the cave occupants are not too far in the cave and the cave is not too deep.
There is also a closer spot that is within earshot, but anyone hiding behind would be easily spotted by anyone coming in and out of the caves, even though there are no guards standing at the entrances.
"The fortune teller told me to step carefully," Zhu Lin thinks. That means the space behind the large rocks.
Zhu Lin looks around for edible nuts, roots, or berries as well as a source of water. He'll also closely examine the route to and from the large rocks, trying to find the best way to reach there unseen and the best path of retreat if he is discovered.
Since the cave occupants seem to be rather lax in security, Zhu Lin making his way to the rocks unseen does not seem to pose much of a problem. That is, unless someone comes out of the cave at the exact same time that he's making his way over.
Since there's no other way down the mountain, if discovered, the only way of retreat is to go back down the same path he came up on and hope no back ups surround him from both sides, or keep going up the mountain, with no visibly obvious way of getting back down.
There's no nearby source of water because the caves are located in the middle of the mountain, the only possible source is inside the caves, and it is not known if all of them are occupied or not. Source of food poses a similar predicament, with only bushes around and bushes can't be very appetizing.
Zhu Lin examines the path upward, trying to determine if there would be food or water sources father up the mountain. Spying on the caves may take a lot of time and he's either going to have to live off the land, which he's good at, or return to town for some sort of rations.
It is unlikely for there to be a well on top of a mountain, so an obvious water source is not possible. It is possible to have bushes or small plants, but large trees with growing fruit is unlikely.
However, there are usually animals that live on a mountain, so there could be food to be hunted, if one was so inclined.
Zhu Lin isn't and hasn't been looking for a well, which are rare on mountains and difficult to find. He's looking for a stream, which are fairly common on mountains and easy to hear. He finds the fact there is no stream near the caves very odd. The bandits have to get water from somewhere, and if there is no stream nearby, then they either have to travel large distances for it, or they spent a lot of time and effort digging a well into the solid rock of the cave floor.
Zhu Lin will set some snares suitable for small game away from the caves where any bandits are unlikely to notice them and then look for a stream.
Again, he's expecting to have to spend some time scouting the caves, which isn't going to work if he has to hike all the way back to the village every time he needs to get water.
OOC: Finally decided to just bite it and ask Dracos for help 'cause I couldn't figure out how to get myself out of the hole I dig myself into here. Hope this is okay now ^_^;
IC: A soft sound of running water alerts Zhu Lin to the possibility of a water source. Upon further examination, there is a stream with running water slightly further up the path, obscured from sight by some rock formations.
Zhu-Lin moves to the stream as carefully as he can, as there might be bandits near it. If there aren't he'll quench his thirst and try to make it to the hiding place in the rocks where he can observe. If there are bandits by the stream, he'll try to listen.
"I wonder how many bandits there are?" he thinks. "The ones who attacked me had enough courage to face me, but whoever killed the girl was such a coward they struck her from behind."
"I wonder what her name is?
Shortly after Zhu Lin gets back to his hiding place, a pair of bandits make their way up the path.
"Man, I can't wait till we split the loot today," one of the bandits commented.
"Yeah, it's been a good week. Usually we don't make this much, but there was that girl several days ago..."
Zhu-Lin reminds himself that the fortuneteller said to be cautious, even though he wants to leap out and start busting heads.
He quickly checks to see if attacking these two would be visible from the cave and how close he can get before attacking them, hopefully by surprise.
As the bandits are still sufficiently far enough from the cave entrance, sounds of fighting shouldn't be able to reach inside the cave.
If they decide to scream loudly, either from pain or calling for backup, however...
Zhu-Lin pulls out a couple of the bamboo needles he uses for Anqi attacks. He quickly tries to assess things to see if he can hit both bandits in pressure points that will cause sleep, paralysis, or at least paralyze their vocal chords.
OOC: How are these bandits armed?
As the bandits are walking side by side but one slightly before the other, the second, dao-wielding bandit has his body mostly shielded by the first one, who carries a staff, and most of the important vital points are not visible at Zhu Lin's vantage point.
Zhu-Lin is torn, if the bandits are splitting the loot today, it sounds as if they're splitting up and leaving the area. Yet he can't forget the fortuneteller's warning, either.
OOC: If he drops the first bandit with the pressure points attack, would he have a clear shot at the second?
OOC: Sure, but don't expect stupid AI that just stands around when you snipe his comrade ^_^
OOC: Awww. ^_^
Zhu-Lin holds his staff in his left hand, a pair of bamboo 'needles' in his right. He takes a breath and lets it go, focusing all his ability into launching one of the 'needles' at the closer bandit, seeking to strike a pressure point and paralyze, or still better, knock the man unconscious.
While the weapon is in midflight, Zhu-Lin springs forward, flipping through the air in a desperate leap, counting on the first man to fall. He aims both feet at where the second man's head should be and prays to whatever gods are listening that he connects with both and knocks the second man out.
OOC: If the first man doesn't fall, hopefully he'll still take a couple feet to the skull.
The bandits react quickly to the movement and sound at the corner of their eyes and turn to face it, the makeshift projectiles just barely missing their intended target as the bandits spun towards the oncoming attacker, the projectiles doing little more than sting the bandit.
Caught by surprised at the sudden leap, Zhu Lin sails mostly pass the first bandit, but said bandit managed to recover and bring a staff onto Zhu Lin's shoulder and knock him off target, if not out of the air.
OOC: Well, that went well. :/
Zhu-Lin tries to be flexible as the bamboo, using his chi to take the hit and roll away from it. If he has a chance, he'll strike the second man with the staff or his feet, but he's more concerned about spinning and landing safely.
OOC: It's the jump. If you had stayed there and just struck silently, you would've had 'em ^_^
The bandit is struck at the ankle and briefly clutched it in pain, glaring at Zhu Lin as his partner jumped towards Zhu Lin with his own staff, intending to hit Zhu Lin on the head.
OOC: But characters like this are always bounding about. Isn't that why students are called 'Grasshopper'? ;)
Zhu-Lin dodges back to avoid the staff and then takes off running.
OOC: Since there's no chance of knocking them both out before they raise the alarm, Zhu-Lin needs to leave before reinforcements arrive. He's actually hoping the staff man will pursue, while the guy he smacked in the ankle either doesn't or lags behind.
"You're not getting away that easy!" the staffed bandit cries as he gives chase to Zhu Lin, with the second bandit following close behind, but trailing slightly due to the ankle hit.
Zhu Lin saves his breath and keeps running. He'll head away from the cave, looking for uneven ground that could give the swordsman the chance to twist the injured ankle or woods that will give him visual cover.
OOC: What he does next depends on if he can get the men out of earshot of the camp without them warning the other bandits.
There are no woods in the immediate vicinity, but Zhu Lin can spot a patch of rocky roads that might further aggravate the bandit's injury.
Zhu Lin heads towards the rocky area then.
The bandits ruthlessly chase after Zhu Lin. Much to his fortune, the already-injured bandit trips on a stray rock along the path and fell, knocking himself unconscious when he smacked his head on a larger rock.
Determined to catch Zhu Lin, the other bandit ignores his clumsy comrade and continues chasing.
Zhu-Lin is thankful for fortune favoring him.
He stops suddenly, thrusting directly behind him with the staff held in both arms. Whether his opponent runs into it, or avoids the staff, Zhu-Lin spins to face the man and charges, swinging his staff, hoping to surprise and overwhelm the bandit before he realizes Zhu-Llin has started to fight back.
Zhu Lin hears a loud "oof" as the staff thrust collides with the bandit's midsection, forcing the breath out of him. As he is still trying to recover from the strike, he is caught unprepared by Zhu Lin's staff swing, sending him spinning and tumbling down onto the ground.
Considering how the bandits treated the girl, Zhu-Lin is in no mod to be gentle with him. Zhu'Lin stikes rapidly with his staff until the bandit is unconsious.
OOC: At least that's his plan.
Even though the bandit is still trying to recover from having the breath knocked out of him, he still has enough self-preservation instinct to shift around to lie on his back to block Zhu Lin's strikes.[/img]
Zhu-Lin thrusts with his staff, trying to find an opening and hit the prone bandit.
After several thrusts, a strike penetrates the bandit's defense, sending him staggering back from the strike to the chest.
Zhu-Lin crouches and swings his staff low, trying to get in under his oppenet's guard.
The bandit falls on his back with a loud thud, the breath driven out of him once again.
Zhu-Lin tries to take advantage of his opponent with a flurry of staff blows.
The furry of strikes all meet their marks, the bandit now prone and unable to retaliate.
Zhu-Lin tries to finish the bandit off, preferably by knocking the bandit unconsious with a blow to the head.
Still reeling from the repeated strikes to his body, the bandit realizes too late that his opponent intends to finish him off, and is hit clean in the head, sending him into unconsciousness.
Zhu-Lin takes a careful look around to see if any other bandits have been roused by the noise of combat.
Zhu Lin doesn't see any reinforcements in sight for the bandits, which means that the other bandit either gave up or never bothered signalling for help.
OOC: Considering the last Zhu-Lin saw of the other bandit he was unconscious after tripping and bashing his head on a rock I certainly hope he was unable to signal for help.
Zhu-Lin grabs the most recntly defeated bandit and move to the nearest visual cover where he uses the bandi'ts clothing to tie and gag him.
If no one has discovered the other unconcious bandit by then, Zhu-Lin will repeat the process.
OOC: Ick. Lapse in memory. Serves me right for not checking the previous page and only checking the current page <_<
The bandits are gagged and dragged behind some rock formations. The rocks aren't very large, but large enough for cover if Zhu-Lin stays crouched down.
Zhu-Lin looks for better cover he can drag the bandits behind, so he can question them without interruption.
OOC: Obviously, he wants to be out of earshot from the camp.
There are some groups of trees back down the path that would provide nice cover for an interrogation, a safe distance away from the caves.
Zhu-Lin hauls the two unconscious bandits to the trees. He then uses his shovel to dig short trenches, place the bandits inside with only thier heads exposed, and cover them with dirt.
Then, feeling reasonably secure that they'll be unable to escape, Zhu-Lin waits for the bandits to wake up.
One of the bandits began to stir, and starts struggling as he finds himself immobile under a healthy amount of dirt.
"Hey! Who are you?" he demands. "What have you done to me?"
Zhu-Lin uses the shovel to toss a small amount of dirt in the bandit's face.
"You seem to misunderstand. I'm asking the questions. And if I don't like the answers, I'll just have to use the shovel some more."
"We'll start with how many of you there are."
The bandit spits the dirt back at Zhu Lin's face, or towards it anyway.
"Screw you, I'm not telling you anything! Now let me out before the rest of the guys come, and I'll let you live!"
OOC: Back from vacation.
Zhu-Lin shrugs. "You are well beyond them being able to hear you and I am not so foolish as to trust the word of a bandit." He glances towards the other, still unconscious bandit, then looks back at the uncooperative one. "It's not like I need you and it really would be simpler to just kill you."
OOC: Vacation? Cool. Where'd you go? ^_^
The bandit looks at his fallen comrade, and a large sweatdrop begins to fall down his forehead as he fails to see the rise and fall of his partner-in-crime's chest.
"Alright, alright! I'll talk!" he says in a panic, frantically looking around in search of backup, but failing to find any. "Just don't kill me like you killed him!"
Quote from: "Kwokinator"OOC: Vacation? Cool. Where'd you go? ^_^
OOC: England, primarily London, but also visited Haddon House (exteriors used in Princess Bride), Belvoir Castle (an ancestor trained horses there) and Avebury (very impressive stone circle).
OOC2: Looks like the bandit hit his head on the rock a bit harder than I thought.
"If you tell me what I need to know, I promise what happened to him won't happen to you. How many of you are there?"
OOC: Boo. I wanna go to England too >_<
"Alright, I'll talk!" the bandit cries. "What do you want to know?"
"Let's start with how many of you there are," Zhu Lin says.
OOC: Oops, sorry for the lateness. I'm online so rarely when I'm home for vacation @_@
The bandit looks around shiftily, as if looking for backup, before replying with a "Umm... let's see... usually four, maybe six to eight if some of the people who never show up show up."
"My, what a helpful answer," Zhu-Lin says dryly.
"So do these four include you, your 'sleeping' companion, and the two eunuchs?"
"So you're the one who did it to them!" the man spits at Zhu Lin. "You bastard!"
OOC: How did I miss this post?
Zhu Lin plants the blade of the shovel inches away from the man's nose.
"Is that what they said?" Zhu Lin rolls his eyes. "Well, I suppose it was less embarassing than the truth. You might note that I do not carry a sword."
Zhu Lin pulls the shovel back out.
"I was travelling, minding my own business, when they offered me an impromptu demonstration of swordplay. Their enthusiam was impressive, if not their skill. I was agile enough to evade their blades, but to their misfortune, they were unable to avoid their own follow-through, thus qualifying themselves as court officials."
"Not wanting them to miss out on the new career they fitted themselves for, I stopped the bleeding and went to a nearby well."
Zhu Lin's eyes grow hard. "Where I encountered a dead girl. She didn't like being killed, of course, and planned on haunting you all until you longed for death. I suggested that only the actual murder deserved that, and offered to find the killer."
"So who was the wretched coward who attacked an unarmed girl from behind?"
OOC: Sorry, either forgot or couldn't decide how to proceed @_@
The bandit's face pales slightly at the mention of being haunted, and stays silent.
I've never seen the girl... I've only heard them bragging about how rich she was... I shouldn't have to take the fall for them, should I?
But I'm part of the crew, she might come get me too...
His features visibly clouds over, evidently fighting an internal battle.
But if I rat them out? Where's my honour?
Screw honour. I never shared the loot, never liked it when they bragged about it. Honour among thieves, I never kill unarmed helpless girls.
That decides it.
"It's not the guys you got," he answered, looking at his fallen compatriot to make sure he's still unconscious. "All I'm going to say is that one of them uses dao, the other one uses a chain staff with nine links. They're buddies, so if you find one you find the other."
OOC: Yay, I can finally post reply here.
"A dao and a chain staff with nine links. Thank you." Zhu-Lin considers a moment.
"We do have a problem, though. I can't just let you and your partner go, as you might warn them. But killing you would be rude and ungrateful and so far as I know you and your partner are thieves, not murders and thus do not deserve death."
"On the other hand, were I to leave you tied and gagged and then I failed against the murderers, you'd die of thrist, which also isn't fair to you."
"When I overheard you and your partner, it sounded as if you bandits were going to split the loot and part company in the next few days. If that is the case, I can arrange things so you can dig your way out while I pursue the murders and bring them to justice."
Zhu-Lin uses his medical skills to tend to the unconscious bandit. He will also make sure they get water and food.
"Come on, just let us go!" the bandit protests as he struggles against the heavy mound of dirt. "There's only one way up the caves, and you just beat us so obviously we can't beat you to warn them, so why not let us go?"
Zhu-Lin tamps down the dirt to help keep the bandit in place. "How can I be certain you will not warn the others. Besides, I need to wait for nightfall to see what the ghost thinks. If you aren't here, I can't tell her you do not deserve to be haunted."
"I'll go far away!" the bandit pleaded. "They'll kill me if they find out I'm the one who told you anything, I can't be here!"
"I need to wait for nightfall," Zhu-Lin repeats. "That way I can tell the ghost that you and your partner do not deserve to be haunted."
OOC: Does Zhu-Lin have the slightest idea whether this bandit would just flee or if he's lying his head off. Zhu-Lin would be a lot more likley to let him go except the fortune teller warned him to be cautious.
OOC: Decide for yourself, all the necessary clues should be there ^^
The bandit mutters some choice words under his breath, but relents after it occurs to him that Zhu Lin isn't willing to reconsider.
"Fine. Now what?"