The young man nods, looking much as the bird expected.
Yet his barrage of questions catches Gětiān off-guard.
Leonid: So how might I make this wish? Is there a ritual one needs to perform? And how is it that you grant these wishes?
Leonid: And is it true that you are capable of bringing abundance, like the legendary Firebird?
Leonid: Or are you Koshchei himself, merely hiding in a bird's body?
Leonid sounds very familiar with these names, his face containing a joyful smile as he mentions them.
Leonid: Anyway, whatever creature you are, I would like to ask you for a story.
Yanping: A story?
Leonid: Yes, a story you didn't finish.
Leonid: You told me the backstory of your wand. And it already revealed much about your people. I appreciate you letting me peek into your people's lives like that.
Leonid: So I wish that you would finish it. And if you need something in return, I will tell you anything you like, or everything even, so long as it's not classified.
Leonid: I enjoy collecting all kinds of stories and finding out the truth behind them, and especially a legend from the Eastern land we know so little about.
Leonid: If you're wondering at my motive, your information will undoubtably be important to the Foundation. It may even prove useful for my career.
Yanping: So in the end, you are seeking a higher status.
Leonid: Not truly, no. But, if you'd like to think of it that way, I don't mind.
The man shrugs his shoulders, before leaning back in towards Gětiān.
Leonid: You were reluctant to leave that mountain in your story, but now here we are talking in this room. Why did you leave? Did your curiosity finally get the better of you?
Leonid: Your story will answer my questions, and perhaps my intel could be useful for you in turn.
Yanping: I asked myself that question many times. And never arrived on a simple answer ...
Yanping: But I don't mind giving it a try.
Yanping: But as you said, we are exchanging information that may be useful to the other, and I have provided some of mine. It's your turn now.
Leonid: I guess you'll ask me about the Foundation, right?
Yanping: I believe I understand that your "Foundation" is like the "Zhící" in my homeland, an authority at the least.
Yanping: And that your arcane skill is of a rare kind and talent.
Yanping: The image was so real that I hadn't doubted it until the very end. Such a skill could only be the result of generations of cultivation, I'm sure.
Yanping: But I've only seen it once among the bones I've seen. So where did you learn it from?
Leonid: I'm afraid I have to disappoint you. What you saw wasn't an arcane skill at all. I don't know that any arcanist in our foundation could do this with arcane skills alone, not even our best.
Leonid: No, what you saw here was produced by a machine, given a little ingenuity on our part. Though I admit, it probably looks like magic to most people.
Leonid: Officially, it's called "Artificial Somnambulism."
Yanping: Yes, I remember, you mentioned it before.
Leonid: The city, the old man, and the ladies I asked you about were all produced from your memories. Your subconscious tricked you into rationalizing what you saw as real.
Leonid: Essentially, you built the dream around yourself, so it's only natural that you believed it was real.
The bird tries to match Leonid's words with his experiences.
This machine must be some kind of mechanical device.
And his subconsciousness must refer to the impressions of one's own mind.
And if that is the case, the function of this "Artificial Somnambulism" becomes obvious.
Yanping: So this device reads one's mind and creates an illusion using replicas built from one's own memories. In a way, it functions quite similar to the arcane skill I had seen before.
Leonid: From the sounds of it, yes, but please don't be alarmed.
Leonid: The Artificial Somnambulism Guidance has specified the scope of content that operators are allowed to access. We can't see the parts of your mind that you refuse to show, not that we would ever try. It would be a severe violation of one's personal rights, after all.
Leonid: You're a rare case, I had access to that entire city and all those people in your mind. Not to imply you are careless, but it seems you trust others easily.
Leonid: I guess your hometown has a friendly and tolerant atmosphere.
Yanping: No ... Not exactly.
Yanping: That's one of the reasons why I left the mountain.
Yanping: Much of what I know comes from my people's bones, but there is a limit to what I can learn. I cannot know what they've forgotten or what they refuse to tell.
Yanping: But I find myself more than a little confused as we continue our conversation.
Yanping: You desire something, yet refuse to admit it. You invented a method to read people's mind, yet impose so many restrictions on it.
Yanping: When my people left the mountain, humans begged them to grant their wishes, yet at the same time, they suspected my people of evil intentions.
Yanping: When my kind were still alive, some humans thought we were sent by their deities, while others grew bitter, thinking our help was demeaning.
Yanping: And as we died out, one by one, some cheered and some cried ...
Yanping: Now, I sense you have no intention to push me, yet you are not going to let me go either. You try to be nice and show sincerity, yet I sense a nervousness at my every movement.
Yanping: It seems you humans really are ... inconsistent.
Yanping: But what I do not understand is what this has to do with my homeland ...
Leonid: Inconsistent? Aha, yes, I suppose we can be ... but most people never question their own inconsistencies.
Leonid: But, I know this is no small question for you, and that's why I think we're in a position to help each other.
Leonid: If you tell me more about your home, then I'll have more of the information I need, and then maybe we can work out just why it is we humans can be so inconsistent.
Leonid: It's likely not every detail will be useful, but why not give it a try?
The young man leans forward again, like pressing a weight against the bird, hoping for a response.
Gětiān takes notice at that moment, that the young man's neck bones shine brighter whenever he mentions the legend from the east.
And now they are practically glowing.
Leonid: Please.
Yanping: ...
Leonid: I hope to hear everything that happened somewhere far away from here, and in the name of Leonid, I swear I will never use the story for any evil purposes.
Leonid: I know that word-of-mouth doesn't always ring true and that a story told from just one perspective can never give a full impression ...
Leonid: But I can't stop myself from chasing this story to its end.
The man's driving curiosity might have come off too strong, if Gětiān hadn't felt it himself before.
His race's arcane skill allowed them to read other creatures' minds, yet the animals of the mountain had little occupying their minds except their daily survival.
The birds didn't truly understand what being curious was like until they found a race with minds more like their own. Creatures that could communicate using words, that could invent and imagine new things.
From this race, the birds learned how to use fire and how to write down their thoughts, and finally they learned to be curious.
Now the bird suddenly realizes what he and the young man share in common.
Yanping: What attracts you is not necessarily good for you.
He held in a sigh.
Leonid: I see, but never knowing would be even worse for me.
Yanping: Very well. I already interpreted a Hexagram for my friends before I came here. It said, "One should go with the flow."
Yanping: So, I have decided that I will just "go with the flow."
Yanping: You haven't returned my pendant yet. Shall we start from there?
Leonid: I'm listening, and with great anticipation, let me say.
Yanping: In fact, its former owner was a bit like you.
Leonid: Really? I'm honored you'd say so ...
The young man cuts his reply short, prodding the bird to continue.
Yanping: But I suppose, when I think back on it ... it seems a trait that all humans share.
Gětiān glances at the young man, tilting his head.
Leonid can sense there is a compliment behind the bird's expression. As if he were an old man rustling a boy's hair with a smile.
Leonid: ...
Leonid: Could I ask how old you are? I don't know how to tell how old a bird looks, but you don't seem ... old.
Leonid: So ... would you be, say ... my father's age?
Yanping: No. Likely, not.
Leonid: Don't tell me you're as old as my grandfather!
Yanping: I'm much older than your great-great-grandfather, I'm afraid.
Leonid: ...!
The young man's confusion seems more natural to his face than his smile.
Taking a deep breath, the bird begins to tell the story.
Yanping: This jade pendant belonged to two others before it came to me.
