#Neidan

[yebreed]

Taoist Bigu Practice: Is It About Health Preservation?

A few thoughts on a millennia old austerity practice, bigu (辟穀) fasting, “abstention from cereals”. Nowadays, this concept is hyped and heavily misinterpreted: some argue that it implies extreme starvation, some claim that this is a special diet associated with the restriction of starchy foods and aimed at losing weight. It’s an old-school practice, also called Duangu (Stop Cereals, 斷谷), Juegu…

[weidaoduzun3]

Commenting on a Line and Commentary from the Yellow Emperors Hidden Agreement 黃帝陰符經 as Commented by Yu Yan 俞琰 (1258-1314)

In [human] nature there are skillfulness and clumsiness; they can be hidden and stored.

Commentary by Yu Yan:

Among people, there are those who have knowledge and those who are foolish. Therefore their nature differs in skillfulness or clumsiness. With regard to [the statements] "great knowledge seems to be foolish" and "great skill seems to be clumsy," (they mean that] one's nature is hidden and stored within and is not perceived by other people. There fore it says, "in [human] nature there are skillfulness and clumsiness; they can be hidden and stored."

Why would one hide their intelligence; their skill? This is not saying to be “fake” or to come across as ignorant or appearing to be “skillful” by hiding ones “clumsiness.” There is a few things that come to mind on why it’s best to “hide our skillfulness and clumsiness.”

[NOTE: this is not an explanation on *how* to hide these things. The *how* can only be transmitted from teacher —>student from my understanding. I am musing on this for my own understanding. I am in no way encouraging anyone, nor myself to starting “hiding.” This is just to explain and help myself understand why it is good to “hide”].

For when we display our intelligence or our clumsiness so blatantly, these create preferences. To have human based preferences is a big no no in the Zhuangzi (chapter 2) and Huainanzi (1.5). The Huainanzi has this to say about preferences and our perception of them:

"When perception comes into contact with things, preferences arise. When preferences take shape and perception is enticed by external things, our nature cannot return to the self, and the heavenly patterns are destroyed."

Zhunagzi chapter 2 齊物論 gives a long dialogue on why “this is” & “this isn’t” truly misses the mark of things:

[2.11.15] "In such a way the Sage brings about harmony by taking “it is” and “it is not” and let’s them rest on the potter’s wheel of Heaven."

[12.12.4] "The manifestation of “this is” and “this is not” is what diminished the Dao."

[2.14.14] "Everyone else distinguishes things in order to impose their views on each other. Therefore, I say that in such “distinction” there is a failure to recognize."

Thus when we overtly and blatantly display our intelligence and or clumsiness, we create artificial perceptions of “I am this” and “I am that” or “I am not this” and “I am not that”. Such an err. Heaven makes our distinctions for us; Heaven has divided the ten-thousand kind of entities, and the seasons into their proper and respective places. We should follow Heaven and accord ourselves with its spontaneity 自然; for our own ziran is the same of Heavens.

So to circle back to the Yinfu Jing — the “statements” Yu Yan refers to are from Laozi 45. What do they mean? I think this is a teaching that alludes to the last of the three treasures 三寶 as mentioned in Laozi 67: 不敢為天下先. Literally it means “dare not to be first.” When we “dare not to be first” or more Simply be modest, we comply with Heaven and it’s own natural and spontaneous distinctions. For by hiding our skill and clumsy natures, we encourage the One Hundred Families to not have preferences set towards us.

This is why indeed “great knowledge seems to be foolish” and “great skill seems to be clumsy”. For when great knowledge makes itself known, we fail at 不敢為天下先, Which destroys Heavenly patterns and bars our nature from returning to the self (Huainazi 1.5).

Furthermore, this is further confirmed by Heshang Gong and his commentary on the Laozi 45: "Great skill seems as though clumsy."

大巧若抽，大巧謂多寸術也。若拙者，亦不敢見其能。

Great skill means abundantly talented and skilled. Those who "seem as though clumsy" simply do not show their abilities.

This why those who “do not show their abilities” namely the things hidden and stored as mentioned in the Yinfu Jing, seem to be clumsy, but truly they are not. For people who hide have returned to the true essence of reality 無極 — Ultimate Nothingness.

So, in conclusion as I understand Laozi 45 and the things “hidden and stored” in the Yinfu Jing — this brings about a certain clarity and tranquility that brings all under Heaven into alignment. We should let go of our preferences, or rather we must know when to stop having so many of them. For biases and preferences are evolutionary built into us for survival purposes. This is something neither you nor I can get around. Ideally, when I and the reader gains a teacher in such profound mysteries — we can learn how to properly do this without harming ourselves.

[lovesinistra]

[uhhhhmanda]

hey wuxia fans

my favorite publisher has a new book coming out about the Taoist practice of inner alchemy (neidan), which lots of our favorite fighters and monks in the jianghu practice

[takero2]

Yin and Yang

It's always occured to me that Miraculous Ladybug is based on Yin and Yang philosophy but at the same time it's really not.

Both the symbol of the black cat and the ladybug acquired their meanings around the same time in medieval Europe. Superstitions about black cats originated during the period of witch hunts, which began in the early 13th century in Europe.The name "ladybug" comes from medieval European farmers who would pray to the Virgin Mary for good harvests. Ladybugs feed on pests that destroy crops, so their appearance was seen as a sign that their prayers had been answered.

However, Yin and Yang philosophy came from ancient China and this concept has its own symbols.

There're no records about this concept being used by ancient Chinese alchemists. However, the concepts of essences is a part of Neidan branch of alchemy, whereas experimenting with minerals and something material is a part of Waidan alchemy. So, miraculouses might be the result of combination of two of these branches.

First notice of Waidan alchemy was made during Han Dynasty (206 BCE–220 CE) and gradually declined until the Ming dynasty (1368–1644). Neidan was arguably first mentioned in in Jin dynasty (266-420). Also Ying and Yan philosophy was first mention in the 16 century. So, creation of the miraculouses should have taken place between the 16 century and the 17 century.

Dragon as the symbol of Yang, the Sun and it is connected with masculine energy, so this is considered to be a miraculous for males.

Tiger as the symbol of Yin, the Moon, on the contrary, is considered to be a miraculous for females.

Both of them are in the beginning of their way for Balance. Marinette will go through Red Dragon phase before becoming Golden Dragon. While Adrien will go through Black Tiger phase before becoming Golden Tiger.

But I.. couldn't come up with their names

[ifeelgeek]

NOVEDADES ROLERAS

FOROS NUEVOS (desde que actualizamos) ¡Nos alegra ver que ya esten aquí, les deseamos todo el éxito!

• Savage Garden : Sobrenatural : Año 1837 - Pb real • Next Life Online : Realidad virtual de fantasía - pb animado • Jujutsu Kaisen You are my special z : Anime - pb animado • Golden Blood : Canción de Hielo y Fuego - pb real • Fragments of the Masks : Sobrenatural - pb animado • Blinding Dreams : Realista - pb real • Synnara rpg : Sobrenatural - Pb animado • Pokemon Astria : Pokemon - Pb animado • Yugitest : Reapertura • Harry Potter Head

CAMBIOS Y ACTUALIZACIONES ¡No se pierdan las novedades!

• Yu gi test : Cambio de Skin • Sempiternus : Qué linda está la mañana En vengo a saludarte Venimos todos con gusto Y placer a felicitarte ♪ ¡Felices 2 añitos! • The cosmos Aftermath : ¡Que los cumplas feliz, Que los cumplas feliz , Que los cumplas The cosmos aftermath Que los cumplas feliz! ♪ • Arcanum Legio : ¡Feliz, feliz en tu día amiguito que dios y mr shadow te bendigan, que reine el rol en tu vida y que cumplas muchos más más ! • God Save the king : ¡Feliz feliz en tu día ójala que no te pise un tranvía que no te den torta podrida y que Sí cumplas muchos más! • Kasiopea Valerian : ¡FELICIDADES POR ESOS 7 AÑOS!

TRAMAS ¡Que viva el rol!

• Rails of Cosmos : Inscripción a la trama global hasta el 6 de octubre • Tokyo Revengers rol : Inscripción a la trama global hasta el día 22/09 ¡Corre!

FOROS PRÓXIMOS ¡Esperamos que lleguen pronto y les vaya de maravilla!

Marvel Eden : Superheroes - Seguir para conseguir los chimichangas y conocer más del proyecto @marveleden The greatest : Realista - 22/09 se abren sus reservas de fcs - @thegreatestrp The spiral Dance Rpg : 28/09 REAPERTURA @thespiraldancerpg Star Wars Dawn of the galaxy : Ciencia ficción - Reservas abiertas - @dawnofthegalaxy Neidan : Foro de tématica yuri / Girls Love : Reservas abiertas - @neidanrol

Harold Harrison : Community College - pb real - ¡Abre hoy! @haroldharrisoncollege-rpg

[coinandcandle]

Intro to Alchemy - Coin's Notes

This is a quick primer on Alchemy, what it is, where it came from, and how it’s used today taken straight from my notes. This will likely be a series of posts as the topic of Alchemy is vast despite it being somewhat difficult to find resources on!

What is Alchemy?

Alchemy is sort of like magical chemistry but with some spirituality added to it, to put it vaguely. It likely has its roots in ancient Egypt but spread almost everywhere and is still used today—more on that later. Sadly over time, we’ve lost a lot of alchemical knowledge what little knowledge we do have has been reimagined in a more romanticist way, causing a lot of what was known to be skewed.

The mysterious nature of alchemy is not just in this lack of knowledge, but the texts we do have are often riddled with codewords, called decknamen, that can make the text difficult to read unless decoded. Why? Think of these books as containing "trade secrets", you don't want to share those around all willy-nilly!

Famous alchemists that you may know are Isaac Newton, Paracelsus, and Agrippa, though there are many more exemplary alchemists that you can find here.

Etymology

The modern word alchemy is a bit of a mystery itself --as it comes from the Arabic word al-kīmiyā (the al- being the Arabic definite article “the”), but the origin of ladder half, -chemy, is unknown.

There is speculation that -chemy comes from the Late Greek khēmía means "land of black earth”, an old name for Egypt. Or possibly from the Greek khymatos meaning "that which is poured out”. (EtymologyOnline)

Another likely candidate is the greek cheo meaning "to melt or fuse" (L. M. Principe).

Transmutation; Lead to Gold

One goal of alchemy, the transmutation of base substances into gold—termed chrysopoeia—is possibly the most widely known to the average person. We know now that it’s impossible to transmute base substances into gold by chemical means, but not impossible by other means (scientists turn bismuth into gold using a particle accelerator). Different alchemists had their own ideas as to how to do this but of course, none of them succeeded.

That’s not to say alchemy as a whole is a failure, alchemists through the ages have made some of the most important inventions or discoveries to this day and we know of alchemy as a predecessor of modern chemistry.

The Great Work; Magnum Opus

More than just a creator’s largest or most famous piece of work, the Magnum Opus—a.k.a The Great Work—is an alchemical term for the process of working with the prima materia ("first matter”) to create the Philosopher's stone (wiki).

The Great Work of Alchemy is often described as a series of four stages represented by colors:

nigredo, a blackening or melanosis

albedo, a whitening or leucosis

citrinitas, a yellowing or xanthosis

rubedo, a reddening, purpling, or iosis

These were later expanded upon and eventually came to 12 steps/processes. The order of these steps would vary by alchemist.

Calcination

Solution, or Dissolution

Separation

conjunction

Putrefication

Congelation

Cibation

Sublimation

Fermentation

Exaltation

Multiplication

Projection

Philosopher’s Stone and Immortality

It is a common misconception that the purpose of the Philosopher’s Stone was to give infinite life, it was just meant to prolong one’s life. It was also thought to cure disease and transmute base substances into gold.

Seeking immortality is noted more in Chinese "alchemy", it's proper names being Waidan 外丹 (External Alchemy) and Neidan 內丹 (Internal Alchemy) [Pregadio].

Alchemy in a Modern Context

From my understanding, there are as many approaches to alchemy as there have been alchemists, but in attempts to make this easier let's give it some labels: there are two paths when studying modern alchemy, though these labels are loose as these paths are not mutually exclusive. The two paths are a spiritual path and a traditional path. These are not set-in-stone labels or definitions, and if either interests you then I suggest looking into them more on your own time, there are links and resources at the end of the post to get you started!

Traditional Alchemy

Some folks try to reconstruct alchemical formulas, or even make their own, either out of curiosity or as an attempt to revive the lost art. This approach takes a more reconstructionist perspective and leans closer to chemistry than psychology. That being said, alchemy was not solely empirical and there are almost always going to be spiritual aspects involved.

Spiritual Alchemy

Sometimes when alchemy is used in a modern context you’ll see it talked about in a more spiritual or psychological way. The approaches of alchemy from a spiritual perspective will vary by person, just as the scientific approaches will vary by person.

I won’t go too much into it here, but essentially spiritual alchemy is the idea that alchemical texts are spiritual or philosophical, and thus interpret them as such; practitioners of spiritual alchemy decode the texts from a psychology-based perspective and rarely, if ever, do they involve chemicals or substances in the way traditional alchemy does.

This path is usually focused on self-transformation (or self-transmutation) and doesn’t necessarily use a body of chemical knowledge to practice.

What Now?

Ok so you know the bare bones about what alchemy is and a few of its uses, so what now? Well, you could either wait until my next "coin's notes" post and see what I talk about then, or you can check out the "References and Further Reading" section and get started on your own research journey!

Enjoy my posts? Consider leaving me a tip on my ko-fi!~

References and Further Reading

Esoterica - Alchemy (playlist)

Livescience - What is Alchemy?

Sacred-texts - Alchemy (subject)

Alchemy Rediscovered and Restored by Archibald Cockren (via Sacred-texts)

Alchemy Restored by Lawrence M. Principe

The Secrets of Alchemy by Lawrence M. Principe

Victorian Alchemy: Science, Magic, and Ancient Egypt by Eleanor Dobson (via Jstor)

[huevokinder24]

I am, once again going against the current when it comes to public opinion regarding a drama.

I've seen tons of people complain about episode 16 of Back From the Brink because of the infamous stabbing scene. They say Tian Yao's actions were out of character, that his character is now ruined... And I honestly don't agree with that at all.

Those who've read the novel like me know Tian Yao refused to take back the "scale" (that was actually his neidan) when Yan Hui offered it, sure. But he also planned to kill her and retrieve it for more than half of the story.

I think when reading a story or watching a show people tend to forget that characters are supposed to be people, flaws and all. And if there's something that this particular show does well, it's exactly that.

To me the stabbing scene wasn't there just to create conflict, but to give TY's character depth. Up until that point he was all gentleness and kindness, but the thing is that he hadn't really faced his trauma until then.

He swore to never fall in love again not because Su Ying betrayed him, but because that love, in his eyes made him vulnerable when he was a king. The price of that love was the people who depended on him dying.

When Su Ying kidnapped the kids, (who were a constant reminder of his past failure, something he'd been hating and torturing himself over the past 20 years) he was relieving that all over again. He wasn't thinking straight, he was desperate. Time was running out, of course he wouldn't calmly sit with Yan Hui over a cup of tea to explain things. He simply acted.

And later upon realizing his mistake and how much he fucked up, he saw how much he actually loves Yan Hui, that love is not a weakness. He used to reject all things related to romance, now he's chasing it.

Healing trauma is not always sunshine and rainbows. Sometimes it's ugly and it hurts the people around you even though that's the last thing you want.

[faerie-court-of-rpg]

Tras varios años de investigación, se logró modificar la genética de las razas con el fin de mejorarlas. Pero toda modificación tiene consecuencias, y una de ellas ha sido tan catastrófica que ha cambiado el curso del territorio de Neidan, convirtiéndolo en un campo de guerra dividido entre tres facciones: Heroínas, Villanas y Neutrales.

Si eres joven y te interesa aprender a controlar tus poderes, contamos con una academia para ello. ¡No te preocupes si no tienes ninguno! En la Zona Neutral, nada puede ocurrirte bajo las leyes que rigen para todos por igual. Fuera de la Zona Gris, las peleas por poder, dinero y más existen de forma constante.

¿Tú qué bando elegirás?

¿Querrás terminar con la esperanza de la gente o apoyar una idea mal implementada?

Nuestro Tumblr

[yebreed]

Taoist Mountains: Place of Spiritual Deed

The Taoist mountains represent the cardinal points of the mysterial cosmology, structuring the sacred space. The mountain idyll provides the perfect setting for alchemical and ritual deed. It is a space of seclusion, where the external worldly activity ceases, giving way to the internal. And the sacred in the Chinese imagery is inextricably linked with the aesthetic.

[yamayuandadu]

Does Jiutian Xuannü have any connection/relations to Ishtar/Inanna?

I’ll be blunt: I’d really prefer to get better Inanna questions, if possible.

Questions which deal with actual published comparative scholarship and which show actual engagement with the material are fair game and as you can see going by the past few months worth of responses I don’t dismiss these (in fact, the series of questions about Iranian-Mesopotamian interactions were among the most enjoyable to answer out of recent ones, I had fun with the question about Durga’s early history too). However, in the case of this ask there’s not even any real argument to be made here, those are two completely unrelated figures which arose in completely different cultural contexts and have no spatial overlap. I’ll try to answer it nonetheless, more under the cut.

For the sake of a hypothetical, let’s ignore the temporal and spatial differences for a moment though these would be more than enough.

Jiutian Xuannü’s association with sexuality exists in a highly specific Daoist context where sex functions essentially like neidan, the “inner alchemy” from immortality manuals and other similar literature (see Suzanne E. Cahill, Sublimation in Medieval China: The Case of the Mysterious Woman of the Nine Heavens, p. 101). Correct conduct in this sphere is a pathway to longevity. Needless to say, that offers no real parallel to any Mesopotamian material from any period; for a brief overview of Mesopotamian attitudes to sex across time and space see here, it’s also worth looking into Gioele Zisa’s The Loss of Male Sexual Desire in Ancient Mesopotamia. 

Warfare is too universal of a sphere of activity for a deity to really warrant any comment here but, similarly, the cultural context is very different; for Jiutian Xuannü see Peng Liu’s “Conceal my Body so that I can Protect the State”: The Making of the Mysterious Woman in Daoism and Water Margin, for Inanna Ilona Zsolnay’s Goddess of War, Pacifier of Kings.

Iconography-wise I don’t exactly see grounds for any comparisons either. The earliest version of Jiutian Xuannü, known from Han dynasty funerary art and sometimes mentioned in later literary texts, was a bird with a woman’s head (Cahill, p. 102) which… also doesn’t exactly offer any real parallel to Mesopotamia (indeed, it’s basically a rule that deities of note lack animal parts, serpentine peripheral oddities like Tishpak and Ishtaran aside). No human-headed birds are really mentioned in Frans Wiggermann’s overview of hybrid creatures in Mesopotamian art. However, this fits in perfectly well with the host of other partially human, partially animal deities and other supernatural beings from Han dynasty sources like the Classic of Mountains and Seas. In other words, as far as I am concerned there is no real reason to suspect that Jiutian Xuannü is anything but a typical Han dynasty deity who then underwent typical shifts such a figure would as Daoism continued to develop. Incredibly hard to imagine that a deity from the other side of the continent whose cult would be already on the way out when the first references to Jiutian Xuannü start to pop up and who is not really attested in any period east of Susa would have anything to do with her. The closest thing to reception of a Mesopotamian figure in China would be the occasional references to the Sogdian version of Nanaya (I compiled relevant evidence in her wiki article), but there’s no real evidence anyone but the Central Asian immigrants would be particularly familiar with her. There is only one depiction of her from China and it’s an oddity commissioned by a Sogdian for personal use, the funerary couch from the collection of the Miho Museum:

The iconography tbh doesn’t even resemble her depictions from Sogdia save for the two orbs. Given that this is a figure worshiped right next door think how less likely it would be for a Mesopotamian figure to reach China and leave some meaningful impact at a time when there were less contacts with foreigners, let alone foreigners which would have any contact with Mesopotamia.

[lovesinistra]

[neidanrol]

Noticias

Buenas gente !

Espero que esten muy bien :3 Aquí les habla el GM del foro para contarles que estamos trabajando muy ardúamente por y para el foro. Lamentamos si la cosa va un poco lenta (somos 3 con la diseñadora y antes eramos la diseñadora y yo iwi) pero aún así, estamos muy contentos con sus preguntas, sus sugerencias y todo lo que pueda aportar al foro <3.

Queremos comentarles que siguen abiertas las reservas de personajes hasta el 10 de Septiembre !

Dejo el link aquí:

También hoy haremos 2 publicaciones:

La primera será sobre lo que son las facciones y territorio del foro, que es con lo que más estuvimos trabajando estos últimos días.

La segunda es sobre el evento de apertura del foro.

Seguimos trabajando y contando con sus opiniones para el mejoramiento de Neidan.

Personalmente quiero decir que este proyecto lo vengo trabajando hace mucho tiempo y estoy muy agradecido de haberme encontrado con las personas que me ayudan con esto, así como también toda sugerencia y opinión de parte de ustedes, los users o simplemente roleros de corazón (?.

Muchas gracias y que tengan un buen día <3

[iballordie]

Neidan & other taoist diagrams

[the-monkey-ruler]

Is internal alchemy the same as cultivation? I have seen internal alchemy repeated in some articles about beings taking human form.

Yeah! Specially it is called Neidan so think of it as like under the cultivation umbrella of the many different cultivation techniques.

[mathen57]

Yooo, check out my Mokou fic on AO3 that I've been working on for the better part of 3 years. It's a Touhou/Avatar crossover. Here's some snippets:

Mokou awoke coughing up water from her lungs. The Elixir stirred the dead neurons to life, comprehending the light spilling into the Immortal's eyes. Her spastic lungs calmed, its inflamed tissue healed by an impossible magic. Then she saw the kid crouching over her, his small hands on her chest. He was pushing on her sternum while his hands glowed with a blue sputtering light. A blink and Mokou saw not the glowing eyes of a vengeful god but wide grey eyes filled with terror. Whatever had happened to Mokou, the kid didn't mean to go so far. It was a feeling the Hourai Immortal could empathise with. But despite that, now was the time to strike.

With her strength fully recovered, she gripped the kid's red and yellow robes with a burst of impossible speed and pinned him down. The kid hit the ground with an "oof" as Mokou conjured two small jets of flame on her fingers and placed them near his neck. Now, there was nowhere this slimy kid could run. "H-how?" was all he could say.

She placed the jets of flame an inch closer, barely touching his skin, "don't move." She placed a finger on the kid's sternum, trying to surmise the make-up of his Neidan, his internal alchemy. Mokou used a technique she learned from fighting Taoists when she was feral by connecting herself to his dantian. The Immortal matched her breathing with the kid's panicked breath as they gradually became one. Or at least, as one as one could be without tearing his soul out and eating it. From there, she could get glimpses of whatever power this child possessed and how to hijack it.

From a glance, the kid's --as Keine and Eirin would call it-- genetic make-up was different from normal humans. That much was obvious. His was not a product of natural mutation but of intelligent design. There was a spiritual interference to his biological coding, showing a marriage between Jing and Shen, Mokou surmised. That meant a creator rather than an unknowable phenomenon. That simplifies things. Creators can be talked to or reasoned with. Or intimidated should the need arise.

What else is there....

The kid's body was a vessel for a single spirit rather than many. That was odd; Mokou was sure many other souls possessed him during their fight. How can a vessel so small fit so many? Unless something connected him to a larger pool of souls? Meaning there had to be a gate between the vessel and the pool. If only Eirin was here, she'd know straight away. But it came down to Mokou to flail around in the dark.

She needed to know how he could reincarnate and what ways were there to be part of that cycle. The Hourai Elixir, fundamentally, forbids any permanent changes to its soul, and since the body was so closely intertwined with the soul, that meant Mokou always came back after death. But if somehow she can "convince" the Elixir that nothing in her soul has changed while attaching it to this kid's own wheel of life, then maybe, just maybe, there's a chance she can be as close to mortal as possible. Or at least stop living this single uninterrupted eternity. Back in her world, the Bhavachakra, the wheel of reincarnation, was hidden away on the other side of the Sanzu under the auspices of the Yama. But in this world, it was here, right in front of her. That meant options.

Mokou can start by devouring the soul since plucking it, after further examination, seems much too tricky. That way, she can deconstruct and learn of its properties while it sits inside her stomach. It worked before with the Ho-ou. But...

Red eyes met grey. He's just a kid. What am I thinking?

"Mokou, stop!" The voice of Iroh shook Mokou out of her thoughts. Both the Immortal and the kid looked to the skies to see a flying bison with a boulder in its mouth coming straight for them.

================================================

The flames flickered on a boat's edge, reflected on the lake as a sun amongst a sea of stars. No lantern contained the flame, sitting still on the rowboat. Under Mokou's watch was it subdued, never to grow unless permitted. And beside her was Kaguya, who leaned furtively under the watchful gaze of the moon, her sharp chin stabbing into Mokou's shoulder. It didn't bother the Phoenix. This pain was nothing compared to all the things she'd been physically subjected to by the Lunarian, whose mind held a depraved inventiveness. Though it was nice of Kaguya to ask if it was annoying her, to which Mokou merely grunted.

The Immortals stared out into the still waters of Misty Lake, with Mokou's rough sand-paper hands gripping a bamboo fishing rod that was primitive even for her standards. There hadn't been a tug for the past half-hour, so the pair sat silently on the boat. Naturally, it was Kaguya who broke it first, "You made quite a racket yesterday," she said, her voice an effortless song. Mokou searched her memories for any deaths or battles that day but came up with nothing. Another fabrication from Kaguya, possibly, it was something of a habit. "And you scared dear Eirin too," that stretched Mokou's suspension of disbelief. Fear wasn't a concept one would attach to the good doctor. Kaguya, perceptive as she was, sensed Mokou's scepticism, "Why are you looking at me like I'm lying?" There was a hint of bewilderment, genuine bewilderment, in her voice.

"You're bored," Mokou stated gruffly, "You'll say anything to pass the time." She grunted; there was something in her chest.

"Oh, don't be such a boor," Kaguya whined, moving her lips into a pout, "I'm not trying to trick you right now. Honest!" Mokou wondered if the Lunarian really was over a thousand years old. It was hard to tell sometimes. Regardless, Kaguya seemed to have embraced eternal infantility, the woman-child that she was.

"You know why I don't give the benefit of the doubt?" Mokou began, "Here's a recent example: twenty years ago, you tried convincing me my hair had a pH of zero."

"But--" There she goes again, trying to weasel her way out.

"Ph is for water, Keine told me; Eirin confirmed it. Has nothing to do with hair." That this three-step process took Mokou five years wasn't a fact Kaguya needed to know.

"No, Mokou-" Kaguya's voice strained in near-laughter; instantly, she buried her face onto Mokou's shoulder, her fist lightly tapping the Immortal's back. When she recovered, her eyes had gained a wet gleam, "Mokou, it was a joke! It was a pH of zero 'cause I was about to pour acid on your head." The Lunarian's eyes widened like dinner plates, "don't tell me you had asked other people about pHs. That's boneheaded even for you!"

"It was a crappy joke," Mokou murmured.

"Come on. I'm trying to have a serious conversation here! Or am I just someone you kill from time to time? I thought we were much more than that." Kaguya moved away from Mokou, her arms crossed, eyes feigning hurt.

There was a long pause; Mokou knew precisely what she meant by that, sensing the hidden meaning beneath the lines. The question itself was a trap, shaped in a way to give the coward enough room to backtrack and obscure. The Fujiwara girl knew the kind of answer Kaguya wanted: the truth. But the truth can be nebulous, and to pin down what they are into words was to give it shape, rigid and limited. That won't do. Ambiguity brought with it comforting flexibility. There was no need to change that. So Mokou decided to ignore that conversational landmine and focused on whatever it was that got Eirin "spooked." The Immortal shifted so her eyes met Kaguya's, "Fine," the Fujiwara girl finally said, "How did I scare Eirin?"

Disappointment rippled across her brown pools before it was buried with practised precision.