Millions of Suns Left: bonus lore
Oct. 16th, 2022 07:05 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
minnarrI implied in my author's note on Millions of Suns Left that I had ideas about Zhou Zishu and Long Xiao, and boy howdy do I. And about other things. There's actually a lot more than what's here, but it's stuff that I'd love to make it into fic eventually and be a fun surprise when it does. Anyway, as promised!
Zhou Zishu
Zhou Zishu, of course, didn’t die; like Wen Kexing said, they didn’t even leave an intact corpse. He fought more confidently and fiercely than the ghosts really expected from a child; took down an adult ghost before being subdued. It impressed the Ghost Valley Master enough that he took him on as a sort of pet/experiment the way he did Wen Kexing.
Luo Fumeng doesn’t feel any particular obligation to him and doesn’t intervene on his behalf, and he does scarily well at the Valley Master’s training. Good martial arts foundation, high pain tolerance, learns the value of having information, so he becomes dangerous very quickly. He also sees the one child who survives of the next batch and decides to protect her. She’s just old enough to know her name; I’ve decided for the purposes of this that she was always called Gu Xiang. Zhou Zishu does the thing he did with Zhen Yan of asking if he means like needle’s eye, because it turns out there’s a phrase that means homeland that’s a homonym for Gu Xiang’s name?, and that’s how it’s written in this ‘verse because she doesn't know. (Someday now very distant, Wen Kexing will ask, like the river? And Gu Xiang will be like, what, no, like homeland).
Liu Qianqiao arrives in the Valley sometime after Zhou Zishu, and somehow recognizes that he was Siji and also that as young as he is he’s shaping up to be a real player in Ghost Valley, so she offers to follow him. He had some hand in her not drinking the Meng Po Soup, and in the early days he uses that as leverage. By the time they depose the Ghost Valley Master who trained Zhou Zishu, they’re partners in this. Instead of becoming Valley Master himself, Zhou Zishu has played kingmaker with a ghost they can control as advisers. They are very much hot evil sibs vibes if you are even seeing both of them. She’s a little more visible, but he’s kind of a cryptid. Not even just fading to the background, but becomes more of a scary story even among ghosts than a person.
When he entered the Valley and drank the Meng Po Soup, the obsession Zhou Zishu forgot was Zhen Yan/Wen Kexing. He remembers everything else about himself and his life, including Qin Huaizhang’s ideals. He refuses to tell anybody his name; a defiant small Zhou Zishu is like, “Human names don’t mean anything in the Ghost Valley. Why don’t you give me a name if you’re so eager for me to have one?” He’s mostly known by a ghost name, but also goes by Zhou Xu.
Because he does remember his master’s teachings, and what the ghosts did last time they left the Valley, his goal in getting control of the Ghost Valley is to keep it subdued and let no one leave.
Long Xiao
We also didn’t see a body for Long Xiao, so guess what? When Wen Kexing said, “Long Xiao drew out stories from my father, though, and from elsewhere—no one knows where,” I knew where: Zhao Jing. They met when Long Xiao was young initially. Zhao Jing has always had an instinct for ambitious boys, unsatisfied boys, people to cultivate whose unmet wants coupled with their talents will be useful to him. They struck up a correspondence in Long Xiao’s adolescence. I’m not sure if Long Xiao started it, or if Scorpion found Longyuan Pavilion in canon, but it’s definitely Long Xiao who initiates contact in this AU and he manages to do so while keeping the location of Longyuan Pavilion secret.
When he disappeared from Longyuan Pavilion, he went to Zhao Jing for shelter and got set up in his own remote laboratory with automaton servants. He’s kept hold of the secret of just where Longyuan Pavilion is hidden as leverage. When Zhao Jing’s plans get seriously into motion, he’ll want it, but Long Xiao will try to use it to win himself a place in the light next to Zhao Jing. He’s an ally, thank you, not a tool to be discarded. At this point he parallels Xie’er: someone who is sure he can win respect and respectability to whom Zhao Jing has no intention of truly giving it.
As to what happens with him once he realizes this is the case? This is his chance to learn. I’m not sure where he’ll land.
Extra Lore
It’s not super clear in the story because Zhou Zishu doesn’t know, but the people Wen Kexing got the cart from are Qin Huaizhang’s contacts. Part of how the Longyuan Valley sects support themselves is by selling Siji’s herbs and medicines, and Yingying’s master is in charge of a network they’ve built doing that trading—people who carry the stuff, major buyers, etc. It’s a trade network, but also an intelligence network; it helps Qin Huaizhang stay up to date on what’s going on in the world from his isolated position.
Qin Huaizhang is the main liaison with the network’s master (he amuses himself by going to visit her dressed as a woman, because I can’t resist the TYK-based headcanon that he uses that disguise a lot), but he’s grooming Wen Kexing to take it over. (Wen Kexing is not his heir; Jiuxiao is. He was offered the position, but he didn’t really want it and isn’t especially suited to it. But Qin Huaizhang doesn’t mind splitting up responsibilities, and Wen Kexing is suited to this and restless enough Qin Huaizhang knew he would not be able to keep him in the Valley forever).
Ye Baiyi is part of the reason Siji survived the Ghost Valley’s siege. While they knew they could go to Long Que, they had no way of escaping the siege. They got a message out to Ye Baiyi, though, and he came, broke it, and escorted them safely to Long Que. He’s mostly stayed attached to Siji Manor since then, although not always in residence.
Zhou Zishu
Zhou Zishu, of course, didn’t die; like Wen Kexing said, they didn’t even leave an intact corpse. He fought more confidently and fiercely than the ghosts really expected from a child; took down an adult ghost before being subdued. It impressed the Ghost Valley Master enough that he took him on as a sort of pet/experiment the way he did Wen Kexing.
Luo Fumeng doesn’t feel any particular obligation to him and doesn’t intervene on his behalf, and he does scarily well at the Valley Master’s training. Good martial arts foundation, high pain tolerance, learns the value of having information, so he becomes dangerous very quickly. He also sees the one child who survives of the next batch and decides to protect her. She’s just old enough to know her name; I’ve decided for the purposes of this that she was always called Gu Xiang. Zhou Zishu does the thing he did with Zhen Yan of asking if he means like needle’s eye, because it turns out there’s a phrase that means homeland that’s a homonym for Gu Xiang’s name?, and that’s how it’s written in this ‘verse because she doesn't know. (Someday now very distant, Wen Kexing will ask, like the river? And Gu Xiang will be like, what, no, like homeland).
Liu Qianqiao arrives in the Valley sometime after Zhou Zishu, and somehow recognizes that he was Siji and also that as young as he is he’s shaping up to be a real player in Ghost Valley, so she offers to follow him. He had some hand in her not drinking the Meng Po Soup, and in the early days he uses that as leverage. By the time they depose the Ghost Valley Master who trained Zhou Zishu, they’re partners in this. Instead of becoming Valley Master himself, Zhou Zishu has played kingmaker with a ghost they can control as advisers. They are very much hot evil sibs vibes if you are even seeing both of them. She’s a little more visible, but he’s kind of a cryptid. Not even just fading to the background, but becomes more of a scary story even among ghosts than a person.
When he entered the Valley and drank the Meng Po Soup, the obsession Zhou Zishu forgot was Zhen Yan/Wen Kexing. He remembers everything else about himself and his life, including Qin Huaizhang’s ideals. He refuses to tell anybody his name; a defiant small Zhou Zishu is like, “Human names don’t mean anything in the Ghost Valley. Why don’t you give me a name if you’re so eager for me to have one?” He’s mostly known by a ghost name, but also goes by Zhou Xu.
Because he does remember his master’s teachings, and what the ghosts did last time they left the Valley, his goal in getting control of the Ghost Valley is to keep it subdued and let no one leave.
Long Xiao
We also didn’t see a body for Long Xiao, so guess what? When Wen Kexing said, “Long Xiao drew out stories from my father, though, and from elsewhere—no one knows where,” I knew where: Zhao Jing. They met when Long Xiao was young initially. Zhao Jing has always had an instinct for ambitious boys, unsatisfied boys, people to cultivate whose unmet wants coupled with their talents will be useful to him. They struck up a correspondence in Long Xiao’s adolescence. I’m not sure if Long Xiao started it, or if Scorpion found Longyuan Pavilion in canon, but it’s definitely Long Xiao who initiates contact in this AU and he manages to do so while keeping the location of Longyuan Pavilion secret.
When he disappeared from Longyuan Pavilion, he went to Zhao Jing for shelter and got set up in his own remote laboratory with automaton servants. He’s kept hold of the secret of just where Longyuan Pavilion is hidden as leverage. When Zhao Jing’s plans get seriously into motion, he’ll want it, but Long Xiao will try to use it to win himself a place in the light next to Zhao Jing. He’s an ally, thank you, not a tool to be discarded. At this point he parallels Xie’er: someone who is sure he can win respect and respectability to whom Zhao Jing has no intention of truly giving it.
As to what happens with him once he realizes this is the case? This is his chance to learn. I’m not sure where he’ll land.
Extra Lore
It’s not super clear in the story because Zhou Zishu doesn’t know, but the people Wen Kexing got the cart from are Qin Huaizhang’s contacts. Part of how the Longyuan Valley sects support themselves is by selling Siji’s herbs and medicines, and Yingying’s master is in charge of a network they’ve built doing that trading—people who carry the stuff, major buyers, etc. It’s a trade network, but also an intelligence network; it helps Qin Huaizhang stay up to date on what’s going on in the world from his isolated position.
Qin Huaizhang is the main liaison with the network’s master (he amuses himself by going to visit her dressed as a woman, because I can’t resist the TYK-based headcanon that he uses that disguise a lot), but he’s grooming Wen Kexing to take it over. (Wen Kexing is not his heir; Jiuxiao is. He was offered the position, but he didn’t really want it and isn’t especially suited to it. But Qin Huaizhang doesn’t mind splitting up responsibilities, and Wen Kexing is suited to this and restless enough Qin Huaizhang knew he would not be able to keep him in the Valley forever).
Ye Baiyi is part of the reason Siji survived the Ghost Valley’s siege. While they knew they could go to Long Que, they had no way of escaping the siege. They got a message out to Ye Baiyi, though, and he came, broke it, and escorted them safely to Long Que. He’s mostly stayed attached to Siji Manor since then, although not always in residence.
