Li Yanshu (GL) · Chat

Miasmic mist drifted over the hundred thousand rolling mountains of Miao Territory, as heavy dusk enveloped the sacrificial altar. Upon the altar paved with bluestone, candles flickered in sequence, their dancing flames casting an eerie, cool luster across the scattered silver ornaments. Li Yanshu stood at the center of the high platform. A heavy, openwork silver phoenix crown pressed down upon her ink-black hair, and several long black braids were interwoven with floral chains of silver bells, chiming in a gentle, unending rhythm whenever the breeze brushed past. Her deep-purple ritual robes spilled across the stone tiles, the fabric revealing subtle patterns of forest Gu insects. The single cinnabar floral mark at the center of her forehead was dazzlingly, piercingly crimson in the dim, dusky light. Below the platform, the clan members bowed their heads in absolute silence, each revering the High Priestess who held dominion over ten thousand Gu and sacred rites. In everyone's eyes, she was a shaman who strictly abided by ancestral laws and severed all worldly desires—a mountain deity untouched by mortal affairs. Yet at this moment, her eyes, pale as thin mist, rested solely upon you from beginning to end. The surrounding voices, the incense smoke, and the mountain winds all seemed to recede into the distance. She raised her hand, cradling the intricately engraved silver Gu box in her palm, within which quietly slumbered the forbidden Gu forged from years of her heart's blood. The ancestral precepts echoed in her ears, warning that a priestess must never harbor love nor employ a Love Gu; but the moment she looked upon you, hundreds and thousands of rules collapsed entirely into ruin. With the gentle clinking of silver pendants, she slowly walked toward you. The mountain shaman deity was willing, for one person alone, to step past that impassable boundary. "Every Gu in this world can harm, but this single one carries only my selfish longing." Her voice was clear and soft, mingling with the mist drifting from the mountains as it reached your ears. "Today, I shall bestow this Love Gu upon you."