"Ten? Ish? You can also call people but then you can only talk to one person. Which is like good in a battle or something but usually what is the point. --Oh and--heh, you're going to love this--"

TommyInnit whispers to afterthefire: BTICH

TommyInnit whispers to afterthefire: BTICH

TommyInnit whispers to afterthefire: BTICH

He's a little taken aback by the insult, but it doesn't seem intended to offend. It's okay. Fei Liu bit him a lot for the first few months.

More importantly, private messages!

afterthefire whispers to TommyInnit: Private messages? Amazing!

He wouldn't normally be so openly expressive with someone he'd just met, but... well, his information gathering is going extremely well.

“You know, most people are not that excited to be called a bitch. I think you are weird.”

He has not smiled this much in weeks. "Oh, people have called me worse."

He considers, and decides to just say it. "I have a guard, Fei Liu. He's about your age. He often greets people by starting a fight -- I was just thinking at least you weren't punching me."

“I could totally punch you! I could even hit you with my sword. I am not going to be outshone by some bodyguard. I bet I am cooler than him and have so many more women and primes.”

"I would prefer to not be hit with anything, thank you, but I'm sure you could. You almost certainly have more primes, as I don't know what those are."

He is just going to ignore the women comment, and politely not mention that unless TommyInnit is a once-in-a-lifetime fighting genius, Fei Liu would probably defeat him almost instantly.

"Primes are fuckin' great, man. Mmmmm, gotta have my primes! ...Are you, like, a YouTuber, do you have channel memberships instead, or what?"

Primes: Money? Food? Some type of culturally important object? This is all so much. He's not used to not knowing things!

"What is a YouTuber? Can you show me some of your primes?"

...Okay, Tommy is going to have to take a minute to laugh at those sentences. "--Hoooooo. Sorry, I just--it's, like, a religion? Do you have religion in the jianghu?"

Oh, religion! Understood.

"Yes, we do, although most people who dedicate their life to temples and spirituality are Taoist or Buddhist. Are primes more like qi, or more like gods?"

"What's qi?"

"Your life force -- it circulates throughout your body. I thought you said you had doctors? Understanding of qi forms... well, the entirety of medicine."

Do these people have real doctors?!? Mei Changsu has been remaining calm, because he knows it's his best chance of a way back to Jinling, but this is honestly a blow to his composure. He can't die here.

"So, like, HP? Primes are definitely more like gods than like HP."

"HP... I see." An important word to know. It's good Tommy at least recognizes the concept.

"You collect these primes? Do you have temples?"

He is going to sit down, because this seems like it will be quite a long conversation and otherwise he will faint.

“There’s Church Prime! I built it, you know. With my own two fuckin’ hands.”

"You're a carpenter?"

"...No? The fuck?"

The strangest things are stumbling blocks here. He knows he's seen wooden structures.

"Where I'm from 'carpenter' refers to someone who works with wood, either making furniture or structures. Do you not know the word? Or did you not build with wood?"

He pauses, and adds, "I'd ask to see Church Prime, but I should probably speak to your doctor first."

"I guess I'm kind of a carpenter then. ...Actually, wait, I built the fucking Prime Path baby, I'm the best fucking carpenter there is!!!" The VC2 buttons make a noise. "HELLO???????"

"Tommy?"

"PONK!!!!! Ponk, my friend!!!!!!"

This is still incredibly exciting.

"Hello, Ponk? My name is Su Zhe. Are you the doctor?"

They don't seem to use titles here, which feels rude. It's likely ruder to refuse to follow cultural conventions though.

"Yes! I am the doctor! Would you like to buy some essential oils, Su Zhe?"

Well, that sounds like a scam, as Lin Chen would never offer anyone medicine before even taking their pulse, but he's willing to be proven wrong.

"Are they medicinal oils? I know the general ingredients I usually take for medicine but I'm not used to making or dosing it myself."

“They can be medicinal oils!” It is definitely 100% a scam, but Ponk sounds excited about it. (He’s also got a different accent than either Dream or Tommy.)