The Man They Call Shan

[Edward]

"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. "

[Kwokinator]

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..."

[Edward]

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."

[Kwokinator]

"I've already told them in dreams," the ghost says between sobs. "But I can't rest in peace until my killers are found..."

[Edward]

"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."

[Kwokinator]

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..."

[Edward]

"Well, I doubt they'd have gone far.  Wouldn't you like your body tended to as well, though?"

[Kwokinator]

"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."

[Edward]

"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.'

[Kwokinator]

"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.

[Edward]

"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.

[Kwokinator]

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.

[Edward]

Zhu Lin turns and looks at the man carefully.  "Were you speaking to me?"

[Kwokinator]

"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 ^_^

[Edward]

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."