welcome to Silently Into The Night
Hello and welcome! We are a modern-day reincarnation AU of the novel/donghua/drama Mó Dào Zǔ Shī, also known as Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation, Chén Qíng Lìng, or The Untamed. The characters have been reincarnated into modern day, where some have regained their memories of their cultivation days, while others have not yet. Original characters are accepted, but please have a good story for them if they were a cultivator in their past life. The RP takes place in Palo Alto, California, and is set in the current year.
Modern Reincarnation AU
silently into the night redeim
Blueprint is a premade Proboards v5 theme designed and built by punki of Adoxography and Pixel Perfect. SILENTLY INTO THE NIGHT is the work of REDEIM. All characters and content are copyright their creators, and may not be replicated without their creators' permission. Mó Dào Zǔ Shī is copyright Mo Xiang Tong Xiu. All images belong to their original owners.
updates
JULY 07, 2020
And we're officially open! Feel free to leave questions or chat with us in the cbox. :)
JULY 06, 2020
Soft opening of the site!
Move-In Day (Zixuan) [COMPLETED]
Jin Zixuan
MDZS Character
no
bisexual (prefers women)
engaged (but confused)
Etienne
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Aug 5, 2020 21:04:47 GMT -8
Post by Jin Zixuan on Aug 5, 2020 21:04:47 GMT -8
Zixuan perked up at the mention of a second divider and said, "A second divider seems like a good idea. If that's what you want to do, then yes, we can put my clothes in the closet."
Most of what he was carrying was, in fact, clothes, since those boxes had been lighter than books or furniture or knick knacks or toiletries for the most part. He added hesitantly, "I'll go put those there then," making sure to go to the closet through the way that didn't go into her bedroom so that he could put down the boxes. There was a part of him that worried that he was still invading her space a little bit, but he didn't want to make her feel guilty either.
He took the stuffed husky from her and carefully went and put it down on the desk in the office, his soon to be bedroom, and added shyly, "There's a few more, I've had them all since I was a kid."
He added hesitantly, "I'll try to make myself comfortable, but this is all so new, and it's the first time I'm going to be living anywhere but home. I'm not upset to be moving out, but I've just never experienced it before."
He wasn't sure if new was something she would understand was deeply anxiety inducing for him. He'd panicked so many times in the past few days. He was glad that Yanli was very nice, and he was mostly feeling calmed by her presence, even if she was also part of what made him nervous about this whole thing.
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Jiang Yanli
MDZS Character
No
Straight
Engaged
Velexa
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Aug 5, 2020 21:18:50 GMT -8
Post by Jiang Yanli on Aug 5, 2020 21:18:50 GMT -8
Yanli couldn't help but giggle a little at how relieved Zixuan seemed by the idea of a second divider. She pet the husky stuffed animal on the desk while he spoke.
"Moving is big and scary. And so is getting a new roommate. This is kind of like my first time too. I mean, yes I moved into a dorm in Switzerland, but I've never roomed with a guy before and-" she paused as there was a knock on the door.
She looked at Zixuan and hung her head, "this'll be good," she said, moving towards the door and opening it.
"Yanli, right?" an older Chinese gentleman said from the threshold.
"Yes, that's me, who might you be sir?" she asked, trying to be polite.
"You can call me Old Man Luo," he said offering a toothy grin.
"It's nice to meet you Old Man Luo," she said with a small bow, unsure what else he might want.
"I wanted to give you this, as a welcome gift," he said, holding out a container of tea.
"Oh, thank you!" Yanli said, happily accepting it. "I'll make sure to invite you over once we've settled in to share it."
Old Man Luo shook his head, "it's for you and you alone." He offered another container of tea to Zixuan, "for you young man, to make you strong. This will enhance your strength and stamina."
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Jin Zixuan
MDZS Character
no
bisexual (prefers women)
engaged (but confused)
Etienne
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Aug 5, 2020 21:26:26 GMT -8
Post by Jin Zixuan on Aug 5, 2020 21:26:26 GMT -8
Zixuan followed Yanli out when she went to get the door, antsy at the idea of more neighbors descending on them. Couldn't they have the day to unpack and get settled in? He watched Yanli handle the interaction more gracefully than he could even begin to imagine how to do. He admired that about her, how she seemed to always do her best to keep everyone else at ease.
There was something about the way this man was looking at them that made him a little bit uncomfortable though, like perhaps he too had the wrong expectations, or any expectations at all. He didn't think that this was a Luo who was a relative, but he didn't know all of his mom's extended family, so there was that possibility too, which made it even more awkward, what if he should have recognized the man?
Zixuan reached out to take the offered tea, still hovering awkwardly a little bit behind Yanli, and just as he was taking it, he processed what the man was saying, and fumbled it, watching mortified as it began to fall, but not quite being able to manage to reach out to catch it, even knowing that he should because it was rude to drop a welcome gift. All he could do was watch it tumble from his hands towards the floor, completely frozen.
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Jiang Yanli
MDZS Character
No
Straight
Engaged
Velexa
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Aug 5, 2020 21:35:57 GMT -8
Post by Jiang Yanli on Aug 5, 2020 21:35:57 GMT -8
Despite the awkward situation, Yanli found herself enjoying Zixuan's warmth at her back. It was comforting and something she could get used to.
She watched him reach for the tea and both of them processed what Old Man Luo was implying at the same time. Without thinking she reached out and caught the falling tea, handing it back to Zixuan, "thank you. We appreciate the gifts. Did out mothers put you up to this?" She looked down the hallway in both directions, "could you please tell everyone to just give us a day to settle in and unpack a little before all the gifts and greetings?"
She bowed and he bowed in return, leaving to hopefully tell the others to give them a day of reprieve. She turned to Zixuan and gently took the tea from his hands. "I'll put these in the kitchen," she said.
She placed the containers on the counter and came back, "let's just finish getting the stuff from your car, okay?" It took them several more trips but eventually they emptied Zixuan's Subaru. She shut the door behind them after their final trip, "hopefully we'll have no more guests," she muttered to herself.
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Jin Zixuan
MDZS Character
no
bisexual (prefers women)
engaged (but confused)
Etienne
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Aug 5, 2020 21:45:50 GMT -8
Post by Jin Zixuan on Aug 5, 2020 21:45:50 GMT -8
Zixuan was immensely relieved when Yanli handled the situation gracefully, including catching the tea, which he clutched at a little too hard until she took it from his hands. He nodded and followed her through getting his stuff, glad that she seemed to at least kind of know what she was doing in this moment. There was a part of him that just wanted to hide in his new room that was still mostly an office and panic on the phone to Mianmian, or get her to come play social mediator, but that wasn't fair to Yanli, or to Mianmian who was busy with exams and had already talked him through one bout of panic that day.
When he put the last box down on the desk, he sank down to sit on the floor, taking the husky that was still sitting on the desk and clutching it to his chest. He muttered, "I don't want any more visitors implying anything about sex ever."
He looked up at her from the floor, realizing he was starting to be hungry which was easier to talk about than any of this, and said hesitantly, "I'll be ready to look at things in a minute so we can start putting things away. Do you have thoughts about dinner?"
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Jiang Yanli
MDZS Character
No
Straight
Engaged
Velexa
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Aug 5, 2020 21:56:24 GMT -8
Post by Jiang Yanli on Aug 5, 2020 21:56:24 GMT -8
Yanli made sure to stay outside of Zixuan's room, wanting to give him privacy as she watched him sink down to his bedding with his husky. It was cute, but oddly childish. She'd never seen this side of him before.
She flushed red and turned away when he mentioned sex. She'd had enough people mentioning that today. "I brought food for the fridge, are you okay with shrimp stir fry?" she said heading towards the kitchen.
"Wait, are you allergic to anything? What do you like to eat?" she asked as she opened the fridge. "I can make fried rice, I also have some fish so I could make sweet and sour fish. I could also make lotus root soup," she turned to look at Zixuan, hoping he'd have some preference.
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Jin Zixuan
MDZS Character
no
bisexual (prefers women)
engaged (but confused)
Etienne
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Aug 5, 2020 22:26:57 GMT -8
Post by Jin Zixuan on Aug 5, 2020 22:26:57 GMT -8
Zixuan was relieved to know that Yanli had a plan for food. He managed a reply of, "Shrimp stir fry sounds good."
She asked more questions, and he had to think about them, slowly standing and following her to the kitchen, still absentmindedly clutching the stuffed animal. He said, "I don't have any allergies that I know of. I'm OK with spicy, but not super super spicy. I like -"
He trailed off. What food did he like? He had specific things that he liked cooking for himself, but that wasn't the same as what types of food he liked. He wasn't sure entirely what the difference was and he hesitated before finally saying, "One of my favorite dishes is stuffed eggplant. I like vegetables, but also meat, good food."
He felt like his words were coming out jumbled, but he looked at her hoping that it made sense and added very shyly, "I know that you're a very very good chef, but I'd like to do some of the cooking too sometimes. You have a plan tonight, so not tonight, but I don't want it to have to be all your job, and I like cooking and there's some stuff I'm OK at."
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Jiang Yanli
MDZS Character
No
Straight
Engaged
Velexa
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Aug 5, 2020 22:35:55 GMT -8
Post by Jiang Yanli on Aug 5, 2020 22:35:55 GMT -8
Yanli heard Zixuan agree to shrimp stir fry and immediately started gathering the ingredients. She started chopping the vegetables, "not too spicy, that's good to know. A-xian loves really spicy food, but A-cheng doesn't so I'm pretty used to the whole spectrum," she said, making quick work of it.
She had turned on the rice cooker when she first started unpacking so rice should be ready by the time the food was finished. "I can do eggplant and I'm happy to share cooking duties."
It only took her fifteen minutes to make their dinner. She hummed to herself as she grabbed plates and bowls and chopsticks. She plated the food and set it down at the table. "Dinner is served," she said. She didn't know if she'd ever felt so domestic and she found herself enjoying it. She was excited to see what Zixuan thought of her food. "Try it."
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Jin Zixuan
MDZS Character
no
bisexual (prefers women)
engaged (but confused)
Etienne
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Aug 5, 2020 23:07:29 GMT -8
Post by Jin Zixuan on Aug 5, 2020 23:07:29 GMT -8
After Yanli agreed to letting him cook sometimes, and it was clear that food was nearly ready, Zixuan went and put the stuffed animal back in his room so that it wouldn't run the risk of getting food on it. He had just reentered the main room when Yanli said that food was ready, and he gave her a little smile and said, "Thank you for making food. It smells amazing."
He tried it at her request, and he ate carefully and politely, enjoying the food immensely. He smiled at her a little bit more fully once he was done with the first bite and said, "Thank you. It's very delicious."
There was something that he definitely liked about this moment, just being there with Yanli, doing something that seemed so normal. He said, "Since you cooked, I'll clean up once we've both finished eating. But if you have anything that needs special care, I'll have to ask you how to clean it."
He blinked a few times, realized that he hadn't been paying attention to this particular thing, and asked, "Do we have a dishwasher? And are there dishes that shouldn't go in it?"
He would have to memorize all the things that Yanli had that didn't go in the dishwasher. Some of it would be obvious like if she had any cast iron or crystal, but some things were less clear. The food was helping him think more clearly though, and he took his time to savor it.
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Jiang Yanli
MDZS Character
No
Straight
Engaged
Velexa
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Aug 5, 2020 23:19:09 GMT -8
Post by Jiang Yanli on Aug 5, 2020 23:19:09 GMT -8
"You're welcome," Yanli said, resting her chin in her hands and waiting for Zixuan to try the food. She smiled in delight as he complimented her cooking.
"I'm glad you like it," she said. She realized she hadn't bothered looking for a dishwasher so she looked now. "You don't have to memorize what does and doesn't go in the dishwasher because we don't have one." She filled a kettle with water, "did you want tea? Regular tea," she said, pointedly ignoring the tea Old Man Luo had given them.
She filled the kettle for two and sat down, starting to eat. "This is nice," she said quietly. She was getting shy now that it was just the two of them face to face. "Listen, I know you're just here because your mom forced you, but I hope we can get along and at least become friends." She attempted to draw a line toward the friend zone, not for Zixuan but for herself.
He seemed so concerned about her comfort that she felt like his mother must have lectured him fiercely before he moved in. "I'm sorry that you were forced to move in here with me," she kept her eyes downcast and took another bite.
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Jin Zixuan
MDZS Character
no
bisexual (prefers women)
engaged (but confused)
Etienne
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Aug 5, 2020 23:30:38 GMT -8
Post by Jin Zixuan on Aug 5, 2020 23:30:38 GMT -8
Zixuan blushed again, looking at the tins, and said, "Regular tea would be good. I like tea."
He felt silly from the phrasing and the reaction, but not as much as he could because she'd felt the need to specify at least.
He listened to what she was saying, his eyes going wider and his eyebrows getting more concerned at she went, and he said, stumbling over his words, "She didn't force me, it was her idea, but she didn't force me, and I did want to move out of home."
He added softly, hesitantly, "I'd like getting to be friends. We've not really talked as much as we should. I, uh, that's probably my fault. Mianmian says I'm bad at that. But the timing is weird, it would have been nicer to move in with someone if we were the ones who had arranged it, not our moms."
He looked her with eyes still wide, pleading her to understand that he wasn't against the idea of living with her, or even actually being engaged to her, just that he really wanted to respect her boundaries, and also actually get to know her. He wasn't sure if that had come through though because talking to people, even, maybe especially, people he liked was hard.
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Jiang Yanli
MDZS Character
No
Straight
Engaged
Velexa
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Aug 6, 2020 10:24:27 GMT -8
Post by Jiang Yanli on Aug 6, 2020 10:24:27 GMT -8
Yanli retrieved the tea when it was ready and poured them each a cup. "Here you are," she said, serving him the tea and taking her seat again.
"Well I'm glad you at least wanted to move out, I'm sorry you were tossed in here with me. You'd have probably arranged moving in with Mianmian," she said, blowing on her tea. "I don't know if I'd say you're bad at talking... just unsure. Like you're constantly worried about others."
She didn't understand why Zixuan looked so shocked but figured it had to be something she said. "I would prefer we get along though, rather than just being two people who happen to live in the same place," she said softly.
There was a knock on the door again and she closed her eyes, taking a calming breath. "At least they gave us a little time," she said getting up to answer it.
She opened the door to find a little old Chinese woman who looked to be in her eighties or nineties. "Hello ma'am," she said.
"Zixuan! Is he here?" she said crabbily as she began walking inside. Yanli couldn't do anything but step aside as the old woman said, "I need to get into that box your mother packed for you. She forgot to bless some things, you know, make them holy."
Yanli was confused, she hadn't seen a box Zixuan's mother had packed. He must have made sure he carried it so she wouldn't see it.
The old woman walked into the office and tsked. "You're meant to be sleeping in the same bed, how will you get pregnant if you kick him out of your bed?" she scolded Yanli. The old woman crouched down next to the box and opened it, pulling out a needle.
Yanli didn't bother to address the idea of Zixuan being kicked out of her bed and immediately focused in on the needle. "How is a needle going to make things holy?" she asked, but she quickly shut her mouth when the woman pulled out several boxes of condoms. She covered her face with her hands, embarrassed.
"Zixuan, I think we need to call our mothers, this is ridiculous," Yanli said, unable to even look at him. She knew he hadn't been the one to pack the condoms, but there was now an old woman poking holes in every single one of them.
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Jin Zixuan
MDZS Character
no
bisexual (prefers women)
engaged (but confused)
Etienne
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Aug 6, 2020 14:57:36 GMT -8
Post by Jin Zixuan on Aug 6, 2020 14:57:36 GMT -8
Zixuan shook his head and said, "Mianmian has her own living situation that works for her. I'd specifically be pretty OK moving in with you if it was on our terms."
He felt relieved that he had actually managed to say that too. He wanted to find a way to convey that the issue he was having wasn't her, it was how the situation had come to be. He probably wouldn't have even minded if their moms had set up arranged dates for them, it would have given him a chance to spend time with Yanli, and he would have liked that. This was just riddled with potential potholes and the heavily weighted expectations of his mother.
He looked down and added sheepishly, "Constantly worried sounds about right though."
He didn't get a chance to figure out anything else to say before the knock came on the door, and a little old lady who he did recognize vaguely as someone his mother knew, but couldn't place, came bustling in talking about the box his mother had packed. The one he'd wanted to deal with by himself so he could probably hide or get rid of everything in it.
He hovered behind Yanli again, watching in growing horror as the woman proceeded to do what she did. It took him a while to find his voice, but he sounded on the verge of actually being angry, but possibly also of bursting into tears, when he managed to speak, "She didn't kick me out, I kicked me out because this is preposterous. Sabotaging birth control is a crime, get out!"
He was shaking, but the old woman left, not looking at all remorseful, but at least she was gone. He leaned against the wall, trying to steady himself, and looked at Yanli, sure that she was just as embarrassed as he was. He nodded and said softly, voice sounding closer to tears than anger now, "I don't understand what they're thinking. Why she would even pack something like that. I'm really sorry. I - I think that you're right about calling our moms, but I don't even know what to say."
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Jiang Yanli
MDZS Character
No
Straight
Engaged
Velexa
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Aug 6, 2020 17:21:32 GMT -8
Post by Jiang Yanli on Aug 6, 2020 17:21:32 GMT -8
Yanli didn't know what else to say. She closed the door behind the woman and walked into their living room, deflating onto the couch. She rested her head in her hands, sighing heavily. "Can you bring those over as well as a trash can," she said.
"We should open them all and take them out. I don't want someone to find them in the trash and think that they're still usable," she said, embarrassed but wanting to ensure other's safety. She fished her cell phone out of her pocket and dialed her mother.
"You can't be done already, why are you calling?" her mom said, not even bothering with a hello.
"Done? Honestly, with all these neighbors how would you expect anything to get done? What are you trying to do?" Yanli demanded.
"Trying to break the ice, dear."
"Do I not know you as well as I think? Since when do you break the ice with sex?" Yanli whispered angrily.
"You two will be married soon enough, so you may as well try before you buy," her mom guffawed.
Yanli stood up and went to the bedroom, easing the door mostly shut behind her. "Do not make me defy you about this like I did with college. You know how stubborn I can be when I want to be. Leave it alone," she said through gritted teeth, not nearly as quiet as she'd have liked.
"Getting married and having children is something you always wanted, why are you fighting this? Zixuan is a good boy. He's tall and handsome, young too so he'll have stamina." She tried.
"Mom!" Yanli practically shrieked. "What I want hasn't changed, only the when. I am not interested in getting married and having kids right now, so tell your mafia neighbors to back off," she growled.
Her mom began to sniffle but Yanli wasn't having it, "don't you dare turn on the water works. Someone came in and used a needle to poke holes in condoms, right in front of us. You have to know that you've gone too far," she scolded.
Her mom huffed, "fine, they'll back off for a while, but make things happen. You and Zixuan need to get closer, so get closer, maybe wear something a little special. I packed the bottom drawer of your dresser full of-" Yanli hung up the phone.
She face planted into a pillow on the bed and screamed out her frustration. After she felt calmer, she stood up, fixed her hair and went back out to the living room. "Sorry, I didn't mean to give you a project then leave," she said, grabbing a condom wrapper and opening it before tossing both separately into the trash.
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Jin Zixuan
MDZS Character
no
bisexual (prefers women)
engaged (but confused)
Etienne
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Aug 6, 2020 17:38:38 GMT -8
Post by Jin Zixuan on Aug 6, 2020 17:38:38 GMT -8
Zixuan did as Yanli said, going to grab a trash can and starting to carefully throw away the unwanted gifts from his mother as instructed. He was almost painfully red in the face, mortified by this entire situation, and it felt like he was moving in slow motion as he unwrapped each one and dropped it in the trash can followed by its wrapper.
It was kind of a relief to have Yanli leave the room for a minute. He was glad that she'd given him a task, something simple, even if it was embarrassing. He didn't mean to listen, but he was able to overhear much of Yanli's conversation. He was almost surprised at how put together she seemed when she came back out. He stared up at her, admiring, from where he'd ended up sitting on the floor carefully following her instructions.
He took a little bit to find words, but he latched onto her final comment, and shook his head, "It's fine, it was something to do with my hands, which was easier than actually thinking about all this. I feel like they're making it harder for us not easier. Do you -"
He was really tentative to ask this, but he felt like he needed to know, "Do you think that this is the sort of thing that your mother would plan out? It seems unusual for my mom, though she's surprised me a lot in the past year, so maybe I've just never seen this side of her, but I can imagine her going along with it more than coming up with it to begin with. Well, I can totally imagine her coming up with the moving us in together thing, just not some of the rest of this."
He added, a tiny bit desperate sounding, "Do you think that your mom will tell my mom to stop too, or do you think that I need to contact her tonight?"
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