[LP CYOA] 傳

[treave]

treave, was Xiaofang armed at a time he went missing during the brawl?

He would have been carrying his weapons, presumably. They've not been found with his personal belongings in the inn.

 

[Tribute]

1B;2C. Fighting is how we communicate with Yunzi, it's only appropriate we say hello properly. Just make it clear to the girls that this is a friendly sparring match.

And try not to wreck up the place, if possible. But then, this is wuxia, these places pretty much exist to be wrecked up.

Fixed my vote so it actually makes sense now.

 

[Rex Feral]

BC

I rather doubt the Jinkong sect had anything to do with it, it's more likely that someone is trying to frame them like they're trying to frame the constables. So first choice B.

Poisoned needles make me think of Gao Ying. Du Yao wasn't an easy target, as far as I remember from the alternate timeline he was quite an accomplished pugilist, who could hide his inner strength from our Reikan similar to how the Sword Saint does.

As for the second choice I'll go C, as long as it's a friendly fight and we don't draw too much attention. Also I want to use the legendary skill since treave mentioned that Yunzi had lower Neigong than us.

 

[Tribute]

Also I want to use the legendary skill since treave mentioned that Yunzi had lower Neigong than us.

In front of everybody, in a tavern, while people are killing each other over these manuals?

 

[Tigranes]

treave, there better be C&C where our actions here later change the kind of children's legends we hear when we return to the Fire Cult. The story of the Turbanned Maiden and the Poison Duck.

Anyway, won't speculate on the murder just yet. Jinkong sect probably has some interest in the affairs, but I don't think it's a direct involvement. Du Yao may have been running the city well, but that is a fragile equilibrium and any faction, including 'bro' bandits, could have had an interest. It sounds like the key is to find our eunuch.

 

[Kashmir Slippers]

BC

 

[Nevill]

In front of everybody, in a tavern, while people are killing each other over these manuals?

It does not have 'Legendary Skill' written all over it, and neither do we shout 'Wuxiang Qiankun Attack' while using it. We just use the same moves our opponent does. Since she will be traveling with us from now on (I hope!) and become associated with us, for better or for worse, it would be a plausible explanation that we could have learned that move from her some time before. As opposed to, say, the Four Lions Formation that we, presumably, could not have learned anywhere.

The question is whether our moves can be traced back to the Fire Temple, but it does not make much difference if she is the one using it, or if we both do.

 

[Rex Feral]

Also I want to use the legendary skill since treave mentioned that Yunzi had lower Neigong than us.

In front of everybody, in a tavern, while people are killing each other over these manuals?

Ah yeah, I forgot. Without it then

 

[Elfberserker]

BC

 

[a cut of domestic sheep prime]

So it looks like putting Yifang on the search wasn't a mistake after all and the search for rumors was exactly the waste of time I thought it was.

It also looks like Fu Xia isn't the competent investigator we assumed he was. He is either an idiot or a traitor here to undermine us. I'm going with idiot for now, but either way I'm voting B for the first choice as I don't trust his instincts.

1B 2C>2A - 2C because it sounds like the most fun. And no, we shouldn't use our secret power on her, if only because she will recognize it as Ahura learned the first level of it and that will spoil the oh, so sweet surprise of when we return to the fire temple and everyone bows to us and she is all, "WHAAAAAAAAAA-?". Well, that and if any place is a bad place to reveal we can copy moves, it's in a bar where everyone can see and spread rumors that we can do it. A is my conditional vote, as I feel it's safe to dump off a few of our excess Qilin points for a Yunzi point or two.

Also, given the story from the old man and the chief, it sounds like Xiaofang may have been attacked by the man in black, who then took his sword and used it on Du? But the real question is, what were they arguing about? Is it safe to assume that because they were arguing they knew each other?

 

[Absinthe]

Hm...

Vote impressions:

Fu Xia asks to investigate Jinkong:

• A - I can't help but suspect something bad is going to happen if we send him.
• B - Investigating Jinkong could have its benefits.

Duck duck... no duck?

• A is relatively inoffensive, but Qilin will be disappointed.
• B is the same as voting A, except you also choose to lose Yunzi points to gain Qilin points. I think we can rule this out as a bad idea, since we want Yunzi to like Jing.
• C is fun but it can bring down the house and hospitalize the both of them, which also removes Cao'er from the investigation. Plus we expose Yunzi as the Fire Cult's Holy Maiden.
• D might be bad timing with prying eyes.

Speculation:
I also have strong suspicions that these actions are not actually perpetrated by the Jinkong sect. The suspected assassin murdering Du Yao actually wore Jinkong's colors for no good reason and "looked like Xi Mukang." But we know that Xi Mukang was getting his ass kicked in the restaurant with the rest of those sect buddies, and those guys all went for the brawl, which also wouldn't add up if they really were supposed to keep an eye on us.

The Bandit Kingdom also makes the list as a suspect as they had rather good timing with their huge arrival and stand to benefit by claiming Youxia City. That doesn't necessarily mean that they were directly responsible though, just that they would have a convenient arrangement concerning the assassination. In that case, Du Yao could still have been killed to hide the manual thieves' activities while a deal is cut with the Bandit Kingdom to deliver the city into their hands.

We can't rule out the Grand Eunuchs having something to do with this either. Finding Xiaofang should be a high priority.

We still have to deal with the issue that there has been a leak exposing the manual in the first place. Xiaofang is the natural suspect, but Fu Xia with his well-meaning yet bumbling and not-too-clever brawler routine also seems like a possible agent (plus he's been trying to put us on the trail to Jinkong - while Fu Xia's eyes widened at Lingshu's statement as "apparently impressed"; it could also have been "oh shit been caught bullshitting"), and there's Lady Suien but I have to suspect that a woman who dropped out of politics to pursue a private life and is known to both Shun and Jing would not be involved in this kind of backroom scheming.

Back to Fu Xia, "something about the look in his eyes tells you that he is not too fond of Xiaofang despite the friendly way they were talking to each other before dinner." That would mean he is quite capable of two-faced behavior, since he acts so friendly around Xiaofang despite secretly disliking him.

Right now I strongly suspect Fu Xia as a double agent. Voting 1B.

 

[XenomorphII]

BD

 

[a cut of domestic sheep prime]

“Trust no one,” he says grimly.

Not sure there is enough evidence to conclude that Fu is a traitor at this point - so no, I am not calling Theseus here, Nevill - but another reason I don't think we should send him is this quote:

Fu Xia stands up and tries to talk with them, but instead becomes entangled in a fight with the monks.

Given his poor performance with this investigation so far, I think it's safe to assume that he's not as good at talking to pugilists as he claims.

Of course, while I was digging up that quote, I noticed some things that may interest those of you who do think he's a traitor:

The angry, drunken, and very persistent monks had chased him out of the restaurant during the brawl, but he seems to have managed to escape from their clutches relatively unscathed, save for some minor injuries

Something about the look in his eyes tells you that he is not too fond of Xiaofang despite the friendly way they were talking to each other before dinner. Fu Xia stretches his arms, letting out a wide yawn. “Well! It’s going to be a long day ahead once Chief Jiang gets back. I’ll see you tomorrow, Xu Jing.”

So, we lost track of him twice that night. He also managed to deal with those monks by himself as even though his wording makes it sound like they drove him off, his lack of serious injury in fighting with several skilled fighters would suggest that he prevailed in some manner - even if that was merely in escaping.

treave, when was Fu chased out time-wise and when did Fu head off to bed?

 

[Baltika9]

 

[Nevill]

Not sure there is enough evidence to conclude that Fu is a traitor at this point - so no, I am not calling Theseus here, Nevill - but another reason I don't think we should send him is this quote:

At this point even I suspect that he is. I will not trust him to do anything alone anymore, and I would like to hear Lady Suien's opinion on him ASAP.

The needle marks are what piqued my interest. What were they? Were the needles really the weapon with which the murder was committed? If so, and if Cao'er didn't find any on the scene, that means the assassin took the evidence with them. It makes the involvement of the Jinkong Sect highly unlikely - the culprit went to such lengths to conceal his involvement, yet he forgot to change the uniform?

But we must ready ourselves for the posibility that the marks are not exactly what we think they are. I guess we will have to wait until the results of the autopsy arrive.

 

[Tigranes]

Absinthe generally speaks sense and we have fobbed off Yunzi for far, far too long. BA.

 

[Absinthe]

I'll also vote 2A for BA total.

 

[GreyViper]

B yeah I dont trust him, can we just give him laxatives just to have him temporary out of game.
C really must get the duck, THE DUCK IS NOT a LIE.

 

[Absinthe]

More reason to suspect Fu Xia:

“…a single stab wound just below the left collarbone. Made by a flat blade of twelve inches in length and two inches in width... but not the killing blow.”

“It matches that of the standard short sword issued to the constables.”

“…three very small puncture marks in the side of the neck… similar to a needle wound…” continues Cao’er.

“I would definitely have missed that,” Lady Suien frowns.

“He could have been undergoing acupuncture,” offers Fu Xia excitedly. “Perhaps he was stressed out over something important!”

GreyViper, we can do better than laxatives. We have Qilin and we're in Youxia City. Name your poison and we can make it happen. We'd probably want a quality poison that could paralyze someone with a very advanced neigong, to be safe. At this point we do have enough suspicious behavior out of him that it might be best to take no chances and subdue him.

Also, you realize C has strong odds of fucking up our investigation, right? Having a rematch with Yunzi is good and all but this isn't the time and place.

 

[Nevill]

Also, you realize C has strong odds of fucking up our investigation, right?

It also gets Lingshu killed, as far as I remember.

No, this is the time and place. We have been searching for her long enough, and we need to celebrate the reunion.

 

[Baltika9]

Also, you realize C has strong odds of fucking up our investigation, right? Having a rematch with Yunzi is good and all but this isn't the time and place.

This is Youxia, fights are the most common thing here.

 

[Absinthe]

Yunzi is using a disguise to maintain a low profile. You are going to expose her disguise to get a fight. She would not appreciate that, even though she would still fight Jing. At the same time Jing and Yunzi will probably beat each other senseless, which leaves Cao'er to play medic. There is no way Cao'er would abandon injured Jing, so that leaves Cao'er also unable to investigate. And we draw attention to Youxia City that the Fire Cult's Holy Maiden is here.

C is begging for trouble.

EDIT:

It also gets Lingshu killed, as far as I remember.

Red herring and poisoning the well. Thank you Nevill. I don't bother digging up all the times you've been talking out of your ass so why you decide to do this to me is beyond me.

 

[Bloodshifter]

B
C

 

[Nevill]

Expose her disguise? She wouldn't appreciate that? Puh-lease. She will be the first one to press for a fight if we ever so mention the possibility. It is not like we are going to force her to do anything she does not like.

We intend to pick her up and I don't think she'll be wearing the mustache in our group, so the disguise is useless anyway. It's not like she makes us more infamous or more of a target for the orthodox sects than we already are.

As for putting us out of comission, our last fight with Master Zhang left us with a few cuts and bruises, and at that time he unleashed his killing intent, as he usually does. But a friendly sparring match with a girl is going to be so much more dangerous than that.

Yeah, right.

 

[Absinthe]

I can't say for certain to what degree they'll injure each other but I can say they're not going to hold back much. You also know that Zhang wasn't fighting Jing all-out. That was still described as "light sparring."

Also, even if Yunzi's disguise is crap, they still don't know who she is. If she starts blasting Fire Cult moves, it's not going to be a hard guess. If she joins our group quietly, then we (by which I mostly mean Qilin) can hide her identity better than this. She seems to be making an effort to disguise herself so I wouldn't ruin it just for lulz.