The Red, [he confirms, nodding,] yes, that does make sense.
[insofar as it makes sense to Jin Guangyao that any shopkeeper in any universe would take one look at Nie Huaisang and immediately direct him to the most expensive entertainment venue in the city. And this does give Jin Guangyao an idea of where in Trench this staircase hellscape might have manifested itself, as of course Huaisang would have found his way to Cellar Door as soon as possible.
The cogs and gears are ticking and whirring away in his mind now, and he leans past Huaisang to see if he can make sense of their surroundings at all. There is truthfully very little that is familiar, but through the mirrors he thinks he can glimpse the familiar silhouettes of buildings, distorted though they may be. It is fortunate for them both that he has a good memory.]
In that case, if Huaisang had been following the thoroughfare in this direction, then maybe...
[a few careful steps taken away from Huaisang now, mindful of two staircases that seem to spring forth from the same space in opposite directions, and then looks up, up--and points.]
There.
['there' turns out to be a mirror at the top of a spiral staircase at least eight hundred meters away from them. But it is a very large mirror, and the unsettling shape of the Red's signature octopus can clearly be seen in its distorted reflection. Now they just have to, you know. Get to it. Past all the hostile architecture.]
no subject
[insofar as it makes sense to Jin Guangyao that any shopkeeper in any universe would take one look at Nie Huaisang and immediately direct him to the most expensive entertainment venue in the city. And this does give Jin Guangyao an idea of where in Trench this staircase hellscape might have manifested itself, as of course Huaisang would have found his way to Cellar Door as soon as possible.
The cogs and gears are ticking and whirring away in his mind now, and he leans past Huaisang to see if he can make sense of their surroundings at all. There is truthfully very little that is familiar, but through the mirrors he thinks he can glimpse the familiar silhouettes of buildings, distorted though they may be. It is fortunate for them both that he has a good memory.]
In that case, if Huaisang had been following the thoroughfare in this direction, then maybe...
[a few careful steps taken away from Huaisang now, mindful of two staircases that seem to spring forth from the same space in opposite directions, and then looks up, up--and points.]
There.
['there' turns out to be a mirror at the top of a spiral staircase at least eight hundred meters away from them. But it is a very large mirror, and the unsettling shape of the Red's signature octopus can clearly be seen in its distorted reflection. Now they just have to, you know. Get to it. Past all the hostile architecture.]