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[xiaoge]

 

 

 

 

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during port - action spam

[ragsnbone]

After the rather hilarious (to him) run in with thugs that had no idea with what they were dealing with, Wu Xie felt that maybe, just maybe he should clue Zhang Qiling in on the tapping language. Granted, he was so use to using it around Pangzi that he just did not even think that he didn't know it. Was it just his memory failing? Or a hold over from the bits and pieces that the venom dreams gave him?

Well it didn't matter. He was sober - and wasn't that a stupid thought he did not want to dwell on - and had free time so it was up to him to teach Xiaoge the knocking language. It might even be interesting to see if he would talk more with it than without. Miracles could happen after all!

So Wu Xie showed up early one morning after their little adventure and stopped to stare at the bronze doors marking his rooms. His hands trembled a little and then he exhaled slowly and tried to not remember a different pair of doors then reached out to knock on them.

[xiaoge]

The bronze doors were exactly the same as the real ones, except scaled down to perhaps 50:1, which made them fine etched with many intricate patterns that could be seen as a full image now. In a way, despite the same design, without their size, the feeling of oppression simply didn't exist. These were simply doors made with a layer of bronze, and when Qiling came to open them, Wu Xie would be able to see that they weren't even fully bronze, but somehow became a layer of wood on the interior.

The double doors opened to reveal Zhang Qiling topless and his hair messy, his hoodie nowhere in sight. It would seem that Wu Xie had caught Qiling in a rare moment of sleep, although the alert look that he gave Wu Xie suggested he was thoroughly awake now.

Wordlessly he stared at his visitor to wait for him to speak, although Qiling did open the door wider so Wu Xie could see that behind his body, the cabin was decorated in a familiar Tibetan style similar to the Matuo monastery.

[ragsnbone]

"I brought food," Wu Xie says, holding up a bag full of various containers. The inside was much better than the outside and the slight tension from seeing the doors faded a little. At least he had a nice room, with some very cozy furniture, although he felt Xiaoge needed some cozier blankets. The temple styled blankets were nice, but nothing was better than soft and fluffy ones.

"And, I kinda need to talk a little and show you something?"

[xiaoge]

There was no question as Qiling stepped aside and let Wu Xie in, the action itself an explicit invitation from the quiet man for Wu Xie to enter his cabin. The interior was brightly colorful, quite the opposite of the forbidding bronze door on the outside.

A bronze brazier burned with a welcoming fire on one side of the large main room, and Qiling gestured they could sit there by the low floor table.

Looking still disheveled in the morning, Qiling let Wu Xie make himself comfortable as he padded barefoot to the back washing area and returned cleaned up and wearing his hoodie again, but hood left down.

[ragsnbone]

He smiles as he walks into his rooms, looking around and breathing deeply before he set the bag of food on the low table. As Xiaoge went to pull on a shirt, Wu Xie settled cross-legged on the floor and took out the food, opening and setting it up for easy access. He poured them both some tea out of the thermos, and leans back waiting until Xiaoge returns.

"I've been working on a system of knocking codes for us to use in some circumstances. Not sure if they will work as good here, but they might be useful in like other ports or something. So we can talk to each other."

[xiaoge]

For the longest moment Qiling looked back at Wu Xie like he didn't understand, until he eventually spoke up quietly. "I talk." Not much and not often, and although Qiling's expression didn't change, there was a look in his eyes like he was dismayed at Wu Xie's insinuation.

Wu Xie joked and complained at Qiling's quiet personality, but he never really tried to change it before. He looked down at the tea instead, looking saddened for the moment as he drank from the poured tea from the thermos.

[ragsnbone]

"I know that, Xiaoge," he replied with a fond little huff and waves a hand at the roast mutton and potatoes. Heavier food than rice, but still tasty enough. "It's more for when we are being watched. A secret code or when we can't hear each other because of loud noises or it would trigger a trap to talk too loudly. That sort of thing."

[xiaoge]

Qiling looked up quickly, understanding instantly what Wu Xie meant. It was a choice used for when they were in company they couldn't communicate freely in, and although Qiling didn't know when that would be useful on the ship, it could still be useful.

He reached for the food, not minding that being his morning repast. It was traditional for Tibetan to eat a heavy meal for breakfast, and mutton was a common staple food. This was intimately familiar and perhaps that was why Wu Xie brought it to him.

"Could be useful."

[ragsnbone]

"Exactly!"

Seeing Xiaoge was starting to nibble on the food, he helped himself to some as well, opening another container of the stinky tofu he liked, even though it wasn't as stinky as it use to be, at least to him. At least he was able to find some on the ship but mainly because he pestered the staff until someone knew what he was talking about.

"In fact, maybe we should work on a couple secret codes or ways to talk to each other. There's the knocking, and... maybe some of those tomb signs you like making? Or other stuff people don't like telling me? Like that cousin of yours wearing my face! He kept on saying things and not telling me the details!"

[xiaoge]

There was a very distinct moment when Wu Xie started opening a certain container of food and Qiling's nose wrinkled very mildly and he glanced out of the corner of his eyes at Wu Xie. He didn't say anything, didn't complain, but he did stare at Wu Xie for longer than usual before he moved back to his mutton breakfast.

"And ghost whistling," he said, referring to an ancient method of communication that was used in the older generations of tomb robbers. It wasn't an exclusive language per se, but a skill of whistling and imitating that was widely common where each group had their own agreed on patterns and sounds that made it exclusive. Qiling wasn't sure Wu Xie ever learned it, but he remembered that Wu Xie was isolated from the family business.

"The signs are a symbol the Zhang family uses." He thought for a bit then nodded to that too. "I can teach you."

[ragsnbone]

The nose wrinkle. Wu Xie paused for a second, eyes wide as he looked from his face to the container of tofu and back again before blinking and holding up a hand. "It's only a few pieces really!"

He knew it stunk and a lot of people really didn't care for it, but he liked it even though he couldn't really smell it as much. It wasn't his fault either; only the fault of what his plans had meant near the end of them and the last few memories he had to take from the Wangs. Still, he was going to not have any around Xiaoge any more since he did have a very delicate pallet considering.

"Ghost whistling? I've seen you use it a couple times, but never heard of anyone in my family using it." He chewed on a piece of tofu frowning. "Is it hard to learn?"

[xiaoge]

Qiling didn't say anything, didn't even acknowledge the smell of something that belonged to the sewers more than the kitchen, but only continued with the topic of discussion regarding languages and signs that would be useful for them.

He didn't even look at Wu Xie's container of fermented soy product.

"Do you know how to whistle?" It was, in essence, whistling at various frequencies, in high or low alternating tones to imitate noises or conduct messages. It was like how some people imitated bird calls to relay a message, except ghost whistles utilized more skill and had a wider range. "It is older." Likely, Wu Xie's grandfather would have known it.

[ragsnbone]

He doesn't have to look, Wu Xie can almost feel the annoyance at his food. So he guiltily finished off his small portion of stinky tofu and closed the lid to the container before helping himself to the more normal dishes around them.

"Huh? Yeah, I do know how to whistle. It's like that?"

[xiaoge]

Qiling wouldn't have commented, but Qiling didn't comment on a lot of things. So perhaps it was a good thing that Wu Xie knew how to read between the very subtle lines and still make out the message written in invisible ink.

Here he nodded. "With a whistle placed beneath your tongue, you can create a larger spectrum of sounds to resonate with your surroundings for other uses. But it is not necessary. I can teach you the language for basic communication."

[ragsnbone]

He's gotten very good at reading Xiaoge, well mostly. He still can't figure out some of the signals, but the quiet radiating loathing of his food choice was certainly easy enough to see. He did perk up at the explanation. So that's what it was, a added tool to give the whistle it's strange charm.

"Oh, so it's that? Sure, I can attempt to learn it. So maybe you can teach me that and I'll show you how to check the communicator too and the knocking code?"

[xiaoge]

The knocking code Qiling was sure he could learn easily. All he needed was a demonstration and he would be able to pick it up most likely. Codes were something that was used often in their line of work and knocking didn't require any particular skill that needed mastering.

But the communicator, that was what earned Wu Xie another blank look. Wordlessly he took the mentioned item out and just passed it over to Wu Xie.

[ragsnbone]

"Xiaoge... I'm not really suppose to look at a warden's communicator," he says in protest even as he takes it and opens it up. The posts look almost the same as on his but there was a warden lock that he read.

"Oh, so there's a guy who is not ever suppose to be allowed anywhere near a lab or hospital stuff. Says that the information is in his ledger?"

[xiaoge]

It was hard to tell if Qiling was even paying attention to what Wu Xie said about the information read on the communicator. He certainly didn't mind letting Wu Xie look at anything that was not supposed to be read, it wasn't as if rules ever stopped Wu Xie in anything.

He seemed quite intent on eating at the moment, concentrating on the food with his normally serious expression.

But at some point, he did add, without looking up from his food, "Ledgers are in the warden room. Each inmate has one." Maybe he was aware of things, slightly, but never really read the details there. Except Wu Xie's. He had read that one.

[ragsnbone]

"Does mine include just how smart and brilliant I am and how no one ever bullies me?" he says as he put the communicator down. He starts in on the normal food, traying to snag some of the meat before Xiaoge eats it all.

[xiaoge]

Whether Wu Xie was joking or not, Qiling was very serious when he answered, "No." He wasn't going to tell him what he saw though because he didn't think it was true. Luck was predetermined by fate, and fate wasn't something that could be weaponized.

When Wu Xie started to pick at the food as well, Qiling glanced at him and moved on to the vegetables to leave some for the young man. "Tell me about the knocking." They could spend the day figuring out and learning the basics of the two codes so it could be used in cases of emergency later.

After, he will make a whistle for Wu Xie and himself as well, so they could be used when Wu Xie learns the techniques.

[ragsnbone]

"It's based off of morse code, but I've worked out a version that we can use," he said, stuffing his face. He went on the explain how it worked and gave examples over how the knocks sounded, the pauses, the way the different surfaces would affect them.

[xiaoge]

"I know Morse code," Qiling answered, which probably wasn't all that surprising that he both knew that or enough English to use it. Yet he understood that an alternative would need to be used, and very quickly picked up what Wu Xie was showing him.

They spent hours at it, both of them going over the basics of the two codes. It wasn't something that could be completely learned in one day, but by the end of the day, they both had a good preliminary introduction to the ghost whistling and knocking code, enough for very basic communications at least. They can work on it some more in the following days and refresh anything they learned, they had time.