The Library of Zhongxin Zhishi

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Brother Dun
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Re: The Library of Zhongxin Zhishi

Post by Brother Dun »

osiris wrote:XInrichus shook his head. "Ah certainly not. The cruelty hardened him, but it made him into a cruel man himself. He learned ruthlessness from the most ruthless of all." XInrichu accepted the book happily, "Thank you. I am acquainted with the general story of Qin Shi-Huangdi's life, but I did not know the full story."

Xinrichu paused and frowned pensively. He disliked the idea of the tutor, but he understood the man's point. Initially XInrichu chose light words to avoid the natural heaviness and sadness of the discussion but this time he made no such effort. "Perhaps humble is a better word...Well anyhow, I am not concerned with my own education. In fact I am grateful that I am blessed with knowledge and a semblance of family, but currently, humble or not, my name holds little more than shame, and I must do something to change that. Unlike Qin Shi Huang I am rather set on ensuring I avoid the sordid practices that brought my own father to his early demise." He paused and gave a tentative smile, as if after leaving the bad subject, the smile might fade at any moment, "Though I am looking for the right fellow to serve, but right now no one has distinguished themselves greatly to me. Many are claiming cities, but I see little reason to trek thousands of li to answer a flier or a rumor. Who knows how much of it is hearsay anyways."
The scholar nodded, "It is indeed a rather... Interesting time. There are new men popping up all over the place, claiming cities and deposing their governors in the wake of the chaos wrought by Xiang Yu and the fall of the Qin. Some of these men interest me, but I do not have time to trek so far to meet them. It is a shame to see some of the men who have seized power since then. Some of these governors needed to fall, but I am unsure of the character of the men replacing them."

The headmaster paused a moment, "If it is a lord that you wish to serve, I have heard rumors that there is a man now in Hann, with an army from Xiang Yu. A man by the name of 'Zhang' Ranzhen, but he is truly Ying Ranzhen. A Qin family scion. He sought me out a few months ago, in an attempt to verify his birth. If he should prove successful in his acquisition of Hann, he is near by. Also, a man by the name of Huang Fu has taken a city in Di. I am unsure of this man, all I know is that he is a former soldier, one marked many times over by war. If you are in no rush to join a lord, there may be more soon, in the coming months..."

The scholar allowed his last words to trail for a moment, before continuing, "In your position, I would wait. See who it is that stands when the dust settles. You wish to liven up your story, to find a worthy cause, test these men, their mettle. Perhaps write those who have written you back. Ask about their goals, their desires... Take heart of these letters, as they will no doubt claim nothing but honorable intentions, but read between the lines of these men. See what it is that they feed you, if they are nothing but good will towards all, they are lying. Every man in power has ambitions, and those ambitions will breed conflict. You will have to realize this."
Zhou Kahn wrote:Zu nodded at his words, feeling better about the situation she had put herself in. He wasn't angry, which was good. Certainly a little research into the man or the library itself would have been a better option than simply being suspicious. However, it was past, and hearing him speak, she looked around then. She had been so focused on finding the man and apologizing, she hadn't even taken a second to look around. Taking the invitation to do so now, she was more than impressed, and quite overwhelmed. The library in Qi was nothing like this place, the old texts about battles and craft, the newer stories to entertain the populace.... There was just so many of them! Her hands suddenly itched, and she rubbed her fingertips into her palms to try to get rid of the feeling of wanting to search through and find all that the library had to offer. She turned to the scholar after a moment, a genuine smile on her lips as she spoke.

Mai Zu: "This is really an amazing place! I have to admit, most of my life has been spent in small country villages, and I don't know a whole lot about this place in general."

She eyed some of the closer books then, speaking again.

Mai Zu: "An almost endless supply of knowledge..."

She turned back to him again, a smile on her lips and a shine in her eyes.
The scholar smiled at the girl's appreciation of knowledge, "Indeed... I hope that this monument to the written word manages to stand forever... I have spent much of my life amassing the collection housed within. I only hope to add to it," he paused a moment, noticing the smile on her face, and the shine in her eyes, "You seem to have an special appreciation of this place... Would you happen to have a vast knowledge of creating books? Perhaps some day, you may be able to return here and work on the creation of new works, and the preservation, translation and redistribution of old..."

Pausing once more, the scholar's smile disappeared. Something was troubling him, and he hoped he could trust this woman, "Lady Mai... I must admit, my initial letter to you was not of the most pure intentions and ignorance of you... I have... A special request of you. Would you be willing to follow me to an area where we may speak privately? While I trust the men of this building, this is something that must remain the most secret of all..."
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Re: The Library of Zhongxin Zhishi

Post by Zhou Kahn »

Zu nodded, agreeing with the man that the building, the books, the knowledge, should stand forever. The itch in her hand was persistent now as he praised his work. She couldn't help but smile when he spoke of his time spent gathering the many books and tombs placed there. In questioning her own abilities, she bit her lip for a moment, before speaking.

Mai Zu: "A vast knowledge of creating books? No sir, not vast; probably better than most, and I hope to have a better grasp of the skill in the next half a year or so. But i think it would be an exaggeration to say I have a vast knowledge of it."

She simply smiled at the idea of working there, at the great library. Her books, stashed amongst some of the greatest ever written? It was exciting, surely. As she listened to the man more, her smile disappeared with his. This was why she was here; this was the part that confused her. As she listened further, she couldn't fathom what he was going to request of her. She tucked a bit of hair behind her ear, biting her lip again. Her hands stopped itching to read the books around her, replaced now by a sudden feeling of insecurity. However, she kept her cool, and spoke calmly.

Mai Zu: "I cannot begin to guess what it is you want to ask me. But I have come here to hear what you have to say and at this point, nothing has come up to stop me from doing so. so yes, I will speak privately with you."
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Brother Dun
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Re: The Library of Zhongxin Zhishi

Post by Brother Dun »

Zhou Kahn wrote:Zu nodded, agreeing with the man that the building, the books, the knowledge, should stand forever. The itch in her hand was persistent now as he praised his work. She couldn't help but smile when he spoke of his time spent gathering the many books and tombs placed there. In questioning her own abilities, she bit her lip for a moment, before speaking.

Mai Zu: "A vast knowledge of creating books? No sir, not vast; probably better than most, and I hope to have a better grasp of the skill in the next half a year or so. But i think it would be an exaggeration to say I have a vast knowledge of it."

She simply smiled at the idea of working there, at the great library. Her books, stashed amongst some of the greatest ever written? It was exciting, surely. As she listened to the man more, her smile disappeared with his. This was why she was here; this was the part that confused her. As she listened further, she couldn't fathom what he was going to request of her. She tucked a bit of hair behind her ear, biting her lip again. Her hands stopped itching to read the books around her, replaced now by a sudden feeling of insecurity. However, she kept her cool, and spoke calmly.

Mai Zu: "I cannot begin to guess what it is you want to ask me. But I have come here to hear what you have to say and at this point, nothing has come up to stop me from doing so. so yes, I will speak privately with you."
The scholar nodded, now quite serious.

"Very well lady Mai, please... Follow me. I have a private office in this place, that is free of any prying eyes or curious ears, and it has a locking door."

The scholar motioned for the woman to follow him, and led her through a curtain into a hallway in the back of the library. After wandering deeper into the complex, he stopped outside a door and held it open for her to enter. Once she had, the man entered behind her and locked the door. Within the room were a few shelves, some lined with the aforementioned "forbidden books," as well as several stacks of paper and scrolls, as well as a desk near the back end of the room. The scholar took a seat behind the desk, and motioned for the woman to sit on a chair across from him, "Please... Take a seat lady Mai."

Once Mai Zu was seated... The scholar began...

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osiris
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Re: The Library of Zhongxin Zhishi

Post by osiris »

Brother Dun wrote: The scholar nodded, "It is indeed a rather... Interesting time. There are new men popping up all over the place, claiming cities and deposing their governors in the wake of the chaos wrought by Xiang Yu and the fall of the Qin. Some of these men interest me, but I do not have time to trek so far to meet them. It is a shame to see some of the men who have seized power since then. Some of these governors needed to fall, but I am unsure of the character of the men replacing them."

The headmaster paused a moment, "If it is a lord that you wish to serve, I have heard rumors that there is a man now in Hann, with an army from Xiang Yu. A man by the name of 'Zhang' Ranzhen, but he is truly Ying Ranzhen. A Qin family scion. He sought me out a few months ago, in an attempt to verify his birth. If he should prove successful in his acquisition of Hann, he is near by. Also, a man by the name of Huang Fu has taken a city in Di. I am unsure of this man, all I know is that he is a former soldier, one marked many times over by war. If you are in no rush to join a lord, there may be more soon, in the coming months..."

The scholar allowed his last words to trail for a moment, before continuing, "In your position, I would wait. See who it is that stands when the dust settles. You wish to liven up your story, to find a worthy cause, test these men, their mettle. Perhaps write those who have written you back. Ask about their goals, their desires... Take heart of these letters, as they will no doubt claim nothing but honorable intentions, but read between the lines of these men. See what it is that they feed you, if they are nothing but good will towards all, they are lying. Every man in power has ambitions, and those ambitions will breed conflict. You will have to realize this."
Xinrichu took a mental note of each word. He was fascinate with the machinations of the land, and knew that he would have to be if he were to find the right lord to serve. "Thank you for the advice. I believe it is very sound. My adopted father has told me much the same. In such cases, lunging into a quick decision is not a bright idea. I will take time and care in choosing who to serve, this is for sure. I hope to find a virtuous person who values the people over themselves, but with this sort of ambition running amok, who knows if or where I would find that. Certainly every lord would claim to have it, the reality is very different."

Xinrichu paused, "What of you master Zu? Do you intend to join one of these lords? And what do you think of Liu Bang and Xiang Yu? I have heard mixed views of each man. It seems that they both hold some power and fame, but many deep flaws as well."
"A man will not give his life for a half pence, you have to speak to his soul, electrify him." Napoleon Bonaparte

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Re: The Library of Zhongxin Zhishi

Post by Brother Dun »

osiris wrote:Xinrichu took a mental note of each word. He was fascinate with the machinations of the land, and knew that he would have to be if he were to find the right lord to serve. "Thank you for the advice. I believe it is very sound. My adopted father has told me much the same. In such cases, lunging into a quick decision is not a bright idea. I will take time and care in choosing who to serve, this is for sure. I hope to find a virtuous person who values the people over themselves, but with this sort of ambition running amok, who knows if or where I would find that. Certainly every lord would claim to have it, the reality is very different."

Xinrichu paused, "What of you master Zu? Do you intend to join one of these lords? And what do you think of Liu Bang and Xiang Yu? I have heard mixed views of each man. It seems that they both hold some power and fame, but many deep flaws as well."
The scholar thought for a moment before answering, "I cannot say that I intend to join any of them. In fact, outside of a generic letter from Shi Tong, I have received no interest from any of these rulers. As for Liu Bang and Xiang Yu? Xiang Yu is scum, a man of great and vile evil. He destroyed the homes and lives of many innocent people, he executed over two-hundred thousand men of Qin, slaves of all people, who were fighting only for their own survival under the rules of the Qin military, in cold blood. They had surrendered their weapons, and were defenseless, and he massacred them outside of Julu. Then, he came to the heartland of Qin, and butchered even more. He is the reason for the destruction and lawlessness you see in this province of Sai. He is a great and vile evil, a monster. Liu Bang... I am not so sure of. He seemed to be cut from a more refined cloth, one of dignity. But I do know that the man is ambitious, and his only driving motivation for coming to Qin was to be named its King. He had bested Xiang Yu, but was in turn betrayed by the tyrant of Chu. Of all the lords I have seen so far, if I were forced to join one, I would join Liu Bang... If only for the fact that he is the lesser of two evils, and he did not see it necessary to massacre the Qin people."
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Q

Post by Cloud Strife »

Brother Dun wrote:The scholar began walking, at a leisurely pace, to allow his visitor to ask about Li Si and Meng Tian, "I wouldn't necessarily call my village the boondocks, but yes, it is quite far from Chu. As for the Minister Li Si and the General Meng Tian, I have made the acquaintance of the Minister Li on a few occasions, however, it was normally brief. He was quite the busy man, I must say. However, I did have the pleasure of being recruited into the bureaucracy by one of his personal assistants, which did allow me some modicum of respect from the Great Minister. As for the General Meng, I am afraid I never met with him. He was always off too busy fighting for the First Emperor, or building the Great Wall. I do, however, have several manuscripts written by Li Si, that he had donated to the library. Unfortunately, they are not originals, copies that I managed to make, a few pages a time."
"Anything legible, written in a steady hand will more than be sufficient; I trust that your honor wouldn't dare leave out any details written by the Prime Minister, hmmmm? I'll likely post assistants to this place to ease the burden of compiling notes. Many former bureaucrats are without work and they're rather affordable fact-checkers for the right price. There's not enough work for gentlemen with my skill set these days; seems everywhere you look the only members of society prospering in these times are meat sacks armed with forged iron. Truly depressing to see the state unto which our land has fallen."

"But yes, what do you make of the current situation; will the Hegemon-King bring peace and good government to China or will we be flooded by foul smelling outlanders from places beyond our Heaven-blessed lands? If that one devil worshiping cult in Qi is any indication, the latter is more likely. Rumor has it that news of their trickery and devil worship as reached the ears of the Prime Minister of Chu himself and that Chu is supporing warlords in the surrounding area to keep an eye on their leader 'Zhefu'; refugees from Qi say he wears a mask to cover up the fact he is a leper and a pink skinned foreigner. Though I don't know what is a worse fate; being born to unenlightened barbarians or walking the Earth as a festing corpse."

"If I had my way... Qi would be purified of such bad influences in the most prejudicial method possible. Just my humble opinion..."
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Re: Q

Post by Brother Dun »

Cloud Strife wrote:"Anything legible, written in a steady hand will more than be sufficient; I trust that your honor wouldn't dare leave out any details written by the Prime Minister, hmmmm? I'll likely post assistants to this place to ease the burden of compiling notes. Many former bureaucrats are without work and they're rather affordable fact-checkers for the right price. There's not enough work for gentlemen with my skill set these days; seems everywhere you look the only members of society prospering in these times are meat sacks armed with forged iron. Truly depressing to see the state unto which our land has fallen."

"But yes, what do you make of the current situation; will the Hegemon-King bring peace and good government to China or will we be flooded by foul smelling outlanders from places beyond our Heaven-blessed lands? If that one devil worshiping cult in Qi is any indication, the latter is more likely. Rumor has it that news of their trickery and devil worship as reached the ears of the Prime Minister of Chu himself and that Chu is supporing warlords in the surrounding area to keep an eye on their leader 'Zhefu'; refugees from Qi say he wears a mask to cover up the fact he is a leper and a pink skinned foreigner. Though I don't know what is a worse fate; being born to unenlightened barbarians or walking the Earth as a festing corpse."

"If I had my way... Qi would be purified of such bad influences in the most prejudicial method possible. Just my humble opinion..."
The scholar seemed a little taken aback at the idea of leaving out details, "I wouldn't dare misconstrue the words of Master Li. This is exactly as he wrote, word for word. For me to change what he wrote would be as if I murdered the man myself, rather than Zhao Gao, that bastard. As for the land, indeed, it is truly depressing that men of learning find themselves in such hard times... Had it not been for the warfare that has torn our land asunder, we would no doubt be living well and doing the work that we love... Unfortunately, this is an era of sword and shield, of the... 'meat sacks' as you called them."

Pausing a moment, the man considered the visitors other words, "As for what the Hegemon-King will do... I am not so sure. He has left many people in a state of distrust of him, for the brutality he displayed in Sai, and he left a powerful opponent, in Liu Bang, alive and quite well in Han, even if it is a poor province. As for the men of Qi, I have indeed seen this fabled Zhefu, but only briefly. He is in fact a man of the Middle Kingdom, but yes, he does consort with dirty barbarians. He does, however, have a few learned, and proper men of Zhongguo amongst his ranks... But what good are they when they are tainted by these strangers. Zhefu was afraid of a scholarly competition, and bowed out as soon as it began, but his right hand man, Guan Yin She, presented himself well, and was my greatest competition in the contest. As for purging Qi... Perhaps it may be too harsh an action, but I would be in favor of removing these barbarians from our beloved Zhongguo. They are strange men, obsessed with war and killing, perhaps even more so than men like the First Emperor and the Hegemon-King."
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Re: The Library of Zhongxin Zhishi

Post by osiris »

Brother Dun wrote:
The scholar thought for a moment before answering, "I cannot say that I intend to join any of them. In fact, outside of a generic letter from Shi Tong, I have received no interest from any of these rulers. As for Liu Bang and Xiang Yu? Xiang Yu is scum, a man of great and vile evil. He destroyed the homes and lives of many innocent people, he executed over two-hundred thousand men of Qin, slaves of all people, who were fighting only for their own survival under the rules of the Qin military, in cold blood. They had surrendered their weapons, and were defenseless, and he massacred them outside of Julu. Then, he came to the heartland of Qin, and butchered even more. He is the reason for the destruction and lawlessness you see in this province of Sai. He is a great and vile evil, a monster. Liu Bang... I am not so sure of. He seemed to be cut from a more refined cloth, one of dignity. But I do know that the man is ambitious, and his only driving motivation for coming to Qin was to be named its King. He had bested Xiang Yu, but was in turn betrayed by the tyrant of Chu. Of all the lords I have seen so far, if I were forced to join one, I would join Liu Bang... If only for the fact that he is the lesser of two evils, and he did not see it necessary to massacre the Qin people."
"Hmm, I also got this Shi Ton fellow's flier. It was too impersonal to pursue." Xinrichu shrugged and went on.

Xinrichu found the fellow's anti-Chu zeal quite interesting. "Yes, many of the acts perpetrated by the Chu were not necessary. The destruction of such a glorious and beautiful city." Xinrichu shook his head, "Simply unforgivable to decimate such a piece of living history. Though, it makes me wonder if the leader of this land simply must be brutal to attain power. Qin Shi Huangdi committed acts quite heinous as well. I would not doubt that Liu Bang has the capability of surrendering his virtue to brutality that seems practical at the moment. I wonder if a virtuous leader can triumph in these times of chaos. I certainly hope so."
"A man will not give his life for a half pence, you have to speak to his soul, electrify him." Napoleon Bonaparte

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The Shadows [暗兵堂] -- Diary of the Dead, page 1

Post by GreenFabre »


II

in this town, something called Guide
run, run, run! from this evil bride~!
my, my, my! well isn't this strange?
everybody's dead? that's a change~!!
little kids, yes, hear them cry
as Shadows squeeze, this town dry~!

hear my laugh: ha ha ha!
yes! they're dead, nya nya nya~!

in this town, called Shangqui
the only one smiling? me me me~!
yes, you died! oh didn't i tell?
now you know, we'll i dont care~!!
burning house? yes, they are in there
scream, scream, scream! as i pull your hair~!

two more villages? let me think..
no no no! no more ink~!

we'll i guess.. that's all of it
you're my dinner! and i have to eat
i like your smell, tenderloin beef~!
oh what a night! a nightmare!
guess what i like?! medium rare~!!

-Kijo Akki May 206 BC
(inspired by tune of: [ link ] )
(original post: [ link ] )

_____________________________________________________________

I


boys and girls, this one's for free
we'll be raiding, come with me~!
we're the shadows of this night
out in the woods, moon so bright~!
we're not zombies, we're not dead
we'll just paint this town with red~!

in this town, named Dailiang
kill those men! yes, hang, hang, hang~!
spill their blood.. blood! more scream
break their necks! chop them clean~!
take their gold, yes, take it all~!
throw the bodies, watch them fall~!

its our time, for one good scare!
let them scatter everywhere~!

in this town, the name is Dang
shoot with arrows! bang, bang, bang~!
your time is up, just say goodbye
hear me shout: "die die die~!"
no more money, no more home
burn that house! burn it all~!

cry and die, as you hear this song
yes my dear, everything's wrong~!



_____________________________________________________________
Kijo Akki
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