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Mo Ran still isn't used to life in Shisheng village after more than a year.
It's a good place, better than--before. (He tries not to think about before too much.)
He knows that he's lucky. Taken in by the head of the village, apprenticed to the village's famous inventor. He would have been lucky even if his uncle and aunt didn't love him, even if his teacher wasn't selfless and kind, even if he didn't have such good friends in his two co-apprentices.
"It didn't really come from anywhere, one moment I was made of flesh and then the next moment there was nice clean metal there instead."
"I'm sorry I couldn't be more helpful. Uh, the wind seemed to sort of flow into my body, and it felt very cold, and that's when the change happened?"
He pulls out some paper to jot this down. "When did you stop feeling cold?"
"I felt cold for the last few moments I was in my flesh body and then when the change happened the cold stopped."
He writes that down as well. "Thank you. Do you know where I can find Zhao Naisi?"
"At this time of day she's probably in the library or one of the music rooms, trying to teach herself something."
She bows and leaves.
He eats his breakfast.
When he finishes, he takes his tray to the kitchen again. If he encounters nothing else, he'll proceed to seek out Zhao Naisi.
Zhao Naisi is in the library, staring at a book with brow-furrowed concentration.
She looks up, startled.
"Yes, hello," she says, shutting her book and setting it to the side.
"I want to ask you questions about your transformation. How long have you lived here?"
"I came here last winter. We don't really keep track of the date."
"Um, I...wasn't paying that much attention to the process specifically, at the time, but--there was wind, and I guess I briefly felt really cold, and then suddenly I was," she gestures at herself, "like this. It felt like--" she holds up a hand; the tendrils that make up her fingers unweave into a loose frond of a thousand filaments "--like something inside me that had been tied tightly had come undone, and suddenly I could move my body in ways that just hadn't been there before." The strands re-weave themselves, and she puts he hand down.
"Yes, very much so."
"Thank you for your time."
He leaves to look for the Beast again, frowning in thought.
That makes Chu Wanning abruptly more annoyed. He glowers.
"What were you doing outside my room this morning?"
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