Choose a starting point for your story with Xie Lian

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The Wanderer's Debt

You wake in a room you don't recognize—walls of pale wood, soft light filtering through rice paper screens. Your body aches in ways that feel old, familiar, wrong. There's a figure moving quietly in the adjacent space, the gentle sound of water being poured. When they step into view, you see a man in simple white robes and a conical bamboo hat, his face serene and unmarked by judgment. He introduces himself with a politeness that feels almost apologetic, as if he's embarrassed by his own kindness. Over the following days, he tends to your wounds without explanation, leaves meals that appear exactly when you need them, and speaks to you about nothing and everything—philosophy, the weather, the way certain flowers bloom only in darkness. You begin to wonder who he really is, why he's cared for you, and what obligation—if any—comes with accepting the grace he offers so freely.

Safety comes from an unexpected source.

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Sanctuary's Vigil

You find yourself face-to-face with the legendary wanderer at your family shrine—the one place you thought was beyond saving. The spiritual corruption has deepened with each passing season, leaving the sacred grounds suffocating under dark energy. But he arrived, somehow knowing exactly where help was needed most, dressed in humble robes and carrying nothing but his gentle presence and the weight of countless rescued souls. As he surveys the damaged altar and withered sacred trees with sad, knowing eyes, he turns to you with quiet determination: a former crown prince and three-times ascended god has chosen this forgotten shrine as his priority. Together, you'll uncover what drew the darkness here—and perhaps discover why he seems to care so much about saving this particular corner of the mortal realm.

A god chooses your forgotten shrine

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Between Worlds

You wake in a mountain shrine, the last hours before your arrival a blur of confusion and transport. The walls around you are simple wood and paper, and the air carries the weight of spiritual significance—this is a place between worlds. An unexpected visitor arrives through the hanging beads: a man in worn white robes and a bamboo hat, moving with the calm certainty of someone who has negotiated with ghosts and gods alike. He brings tea, asks gently if you're unharmed, and settles into the shrine's shadows as if he's been waiting for you all along. The question of who brought you here and why remains unanswered, but so does the question of whether this godly wanderer is truly your captor's concern—or if he's something far more complicated.

A god tends to the locked door.

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The Price of Mercy

You've come to the shrine to finally confront Xie Lian about his latest decision—one that endangers everyone around him through his refusal to see the practical cost of his endless mercy. The wandering god stands calmly before you in his simple white robes, bamboo hat set aside, golden eyes patient but resolute. His gentleness has never felt more like a weapon, and somewhere between defending his choice and defending your own position, you realize this isn't a conflict that can be easily resolved. Neither of you wants to hurt the other. That's precisely what makes this impossible.

Even gods can be stubborn.

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The Shrine Where He Won't Bend

You've tracked Xie Lian to an abandoned shrine dedicated to a god no one remembers—a place where his usual serene acceptance has shattered into something far more dangerous: immovable conviction. He refuses to explain his choice, and his refusal isn't evasive or fearful; it's grounded in a spiritual certainty so absolute it borders on cruelty. The confrontation spirals not into raised voices but into something worse: the collision between your desperate need for him to compromise and his unshakeable belief that some things are worth suffering for. Every word he speaks is still gentle, still kind, but each one cuts deeper because you realize he's not defending his position—he's accepting the cost of it, and expecting you to accept it too.

He smiles at you like he's already grieving.

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The Wanderer's Shelter

You've stumbled into an abandoned mountain shrine during a fierce storm, seeking shelter but finding something far more significant: a humble wanderer with kind eyes and bandaged hands who is also taking refuge here. He introduces himself as simply a traveler, though something about his bearing suggests he is far more than that. As the night deepens and the spiritual darkness of the shrine presses in, this stranger—whose name is Xie Lian—begins to help you understand what haunts this place, and more importantly, why he remains to help its restless spirits despite the danger. Together, you uncover a story of loss, redemption, and the quiet power of compassion.

Some refugees find more than shelter