Ling Qi smiled slightly as she folded down the front page of the letter, revealing the first page of the rest of the sheaf. Musical notation in her mother’s neat hand filled the revealed page, and carefully formatted notes hugging the margins of the page explained her mother’s thoughts on the composition.

  “Can we get started again?”


  Ling Qi looked up from her letter to see Ma Lei looking at her expectantly, bouncing on her heels. She had decided to get a feel for their abilities, and to that end, she had come out to a training field to spar with them. They had just been getting started when the letter arrived.

  “Lei, be patient,” her sister chided, peering at Ling Qi worriedly. “Let Miss Ling finish reading her letter.”


  “No, no, it’s fine,” Ling Qi said. “I brought you here for a reason. I can practice my mother’s compositions later.” She dismissed the packet of papers into her ring and stood up from the bench. She was feeling pretty happy with her mother’s gift. Even if her mother was having trouble and being evasive about some matters, her mother had shared something personal with her.

  “Oh, is your mother an entertainer?” Ma Jun asked curiously, fingering the strings of the small zither cradled in her hands.

  “.…… Something like that.” Ling Qi gave a small cough. “Ah, how about you two? What does your family do?” The Ma sisters didn’t come across as nobles to her; she doubted they’d be so cheerful about having to trail around behind her all day if they were.

  “Dad is a potter,” Ma Lei replied with a shrug. “He makes fancy vases and stuff.”


  “Father is a popular artisan in our hometown,” Ma Jun replied more demurely, shooting her sister a chiding look. “And he worked very hard to send us here.”


  Ma Lei grimaced at her sister’s look. “C’mon, sis, you know I’m not being disrespectful.”


  “You still need to consider our position, Lei,” Ma Jun stressed before turning back to Ling Qi. “My apologies, Miss. We should not squabble in front of you.”


  They were better off than her, but who wasn’t? Still, if their father had ‘sent’ them here, that implied wealth over what a mortal could usually access. She supposed that the Ma family must be ‘common’ cultivators, like the people in town who were three times her age but still first realm.

  “It’s fine,” Ling Qi said after an awkward beat, dismissing the apology.

  It was bizarre to think of people whose status was so high above her a year ago as ‘common’. Even a first realm physician or artisan was highly sought after among mortals. Ling Qi briefly wondered how many people from who had troubled her when she was a thief would void their bowels if she gave them a glare now. Maybe she could give Meizhen a tour?……

  Well, that would be childish, and the Ma sisters were waiting on her. She dismissed the tangent her thoughts had gone on. “In any case, I thought it would be good to get to know your fighting style, so we can work together better if Sun Liling’s raiders decide to hit us.”


  The crimson princess wasn’t taking her loss lying down. They were hitting Cai Renxiang’s enforcer patrols, striking from stealth with overwhelming force and leaving Cai’s people stripped and humiliated.

  “We won’t let you down, Miss,” Ma Lei said cheerfully. “Bring it on!”


  The confidence was good at least. “Since you two are supposed to be bodyguards, I figured the two of you could defend yourselves from me and show me what you can do.”


  Ma Jun looked concerned. “If you think that is for the best,” she said nervously. “I hope that we can meet your expectations.”


  “Sounds great!” Her more boyish sister spoke right over her. “Fighting someone tough without having to lose my stuff will be nice.”


  “This is why I do not allow you to carry our money any more,” Ma Jun sighed. Her sister either didn’t hear her or ignored her words.

  Ling Qi glanced between the two, amused. “.…… Right. For our first bout, I’ll let you two have a ten count to set up before I attack.” She wouldn’t break out Forgotten Vale Melody yet since most people who would attack the three of them were likely to be physical types. She backed up until there was a good twenty meters between her and the Ma sisters and then gave them a nod. “Let’s start.”


  Ma Jun bit her lip but nodded, and Ling Qi watched and listened curiously as the girl began to pluck at the strings of her instrument, beginning a soft, slow melody. The air gained a feeling of solidity and weight as natural wind qi was displaced by heavy earth qi. The bells twined in Ma Jun’s hair chimed, and her music grew louder, the qi pouring from her zither gaining greater potency.

  Ma Lei grinned and fell into a combat crouch. A solid, heavy square shield made of fired clay appeared in her right hand, and an iron mace appeared in her left. The ring on her right hand glimmered as well, and clay burst forth, slithering up her arm to form a heavy looking vambrace, seemingly in counterweight to her shield. It then began to spread further, making the beginnings of a breastplate, but……

  The ten count was over. Ling Qi moved. She crossed the distance between them in a flash. There was resistance as she closed in – her limbs felt heavy, and her feet seemed to be slogging through thick mud – but she adjusted quickly. Ma Jun’s eyes widened as Ling Qi lashed out with a knife hand aimed at the girl’s throat.

  Ling Qi was surprised when she found herself having to abort the attack as Ma Lei’s shield appeared in front of her. Her fingers had only barely brushed the clay of the shield before the curved surface erupted in grasping, muddy tendrils and spikes of baked clay, forcing her back a step.

  Ma Lei was now standing where Ma Jun had been, her brow furrowed in concentration as the tempo of Ma Jun’s melody grew more energetic. Some kind of switching technique?

  Ling Qi flowed right into her next attack despite her musings. Steam rose from her skin as she fell into the movements of Argent Current. She drove Ma Lei back with a heavy flurry of attacks that had the girl desperately blocking and playing defense, unable to retaliate as her qi began to drain under the assault. Cracks started appearing in her clay armor.

  Ling Qi felt the moment that changed. Vitality suddenly flowed into the other girl, repairing her armor even as she took one of Ling Qi’s strikes head on and used the opening to swing the heavy head of her mace toward Ling Qi’s head. It wasn’t fast enough to hit her, but it did disrupt her pattern. The breeze that ruffled her hair spoke more of a boulder than a fist-sized lump of metal swinging past her.

  Ling Qi dissolved, shooting into the shadow of a training bench at the edge of the field. Time to see how they dealt with harassment.

  As she emerged from the shadows, her bow appeared in her hands, and she let loose three shots before the Ma sisters could even spot her. Ma Jun cried out as three blunted training arrows struck her in the back, causing her to stumble, her song faltering. Ma Lei moved with admirable quickness to prevent her follow-up shots, but once Ling Qi really started to move, the girl couldn’t keep up with her, even with her sister scrambling back to her feet to resume support.

  For the next several minutes she continued to snipe and harass, using the spar to practice with her bow, she drove the two sisters from one end of the training ground to the other. Until at last Ma Lei panicked and pulled up a fully enclosing dome of earth to give them time to breath.

  It ended with the two collapsed on the ground, sweaty and depleted of qi, while Ling Qi simply took a Wellspring Pill to top herself off as she strolled over from the edge of the field.

  “Your endurance is pretty good,” Ling Qi complimented. You were supposed to do that in this kind of situation, right?

  “That’s my job,” Ma Lei panted, pushing herself up onto her knees. Her clothes were covered in bits of clay, and Ling Qi suspected that the girl was bruised from her arrows. “I take a pounding and keep on going.”


  Her sister muttered something that sounded distinctly unkind to Ling Qi’s ear, despite being little more than a garbled mumble. “T-thank you for your instruction,” Ma Jun managed as she too pushed herself off the ground with shaky limbs. “Do you…… have any suggestions…… for improvement?”


  Ling Qi scratched her cheek, glancing away as the Ma sisters stood and comported themselves. “You two are kinda slow and immobile. It’s fine, I guess, given your current job. But one of you should probably have some kind of answer for ranged attacks,” she pointed out. “Um, oh, that big dome of earth you pulled up at the end was good!” Praise was important too. “It took three solid shots to break through that.”


  “.…… That took a third of my qi,” Ma Jun mumbled glumly.

  “I guess we just have to work harder,” Lei said cheerfully, clapping her slimmer sister on the back. “I’ll spend some points looking for a ranged counter.”


  Ling Qi thought the spar went fairly well. The Ma sisters were well suited for a guard and delay role. Sure, Sun Liling or Meizhen would tear through them in seconds, but that was true for most people. Maybe she should assist Gan with his plans for a counter ambush on the raiders.

  Threads 134-After Action 3

  Ling Qi closed her eyes as she caught her breath. The dirt of the training field was warm under her feet, and the crackle of the small fires and patches of ice throughout the field loud in her ears. She was no Gan Guangli, but there was a certain peace in physical exertion, a comforting simplicity to it.

  “Ho, there! That last attack wasn’t too much, right, Miss Ling?” Wang Chao’s voice boomed in her ears.

  Ling Qi smiled, idly brushing dust from her gown. She stood at the bottom of a crater with the fading ripples of black lake water fading around her in the air. Zhengui stood beside her, ash streaming from both of his mouths. “Not at all, Sir Wang!” she called to the top.

  “The growth of your resilience is nothing short of absurd!” Wang Chao called back down, tapping the butt of his spear against the dirt. “I don’t think any here will doubt tales of your exploits!”


  “Hmph. Who would dare call the sister of I, Zhen, a liar?” her little brother scoffed.

  Ling Qi chuckled as the smoke and ash rising from the dirt under their feet began to form back into the wispy figures of dancers. The world blurred into a smear of conflicting color, and she stood on level ground once more, Zhengui beside her.

  There were more people at the training field than there had been last month. Ling Qi recognized some of the new faces, people who had been in the caldera with them. Others had been brought along by those disciples. Ling Qi smiled politely to those looking their way.

  “Hah, few enough,” Wang Chao laughed, resting the haft of his spear on his shoulder.

  “Let’s not worry about rats in the corners during fun occasions, Sir Wang,” Ling Qi said dismissively. “I hope you received some insights during our spar.”


  Wang Chao nodded agreeably. He was honestly not a complicated guy. Ling Qi wouldn’t call him a friend, but she didn’t dislike him either. “Your growth is a bit daunting, Miss Ling. To think that you have already reached the threshold stage of green.” He shook his head, looking frustrated. “Perhaps I need to seek permission from the family to take on more dangerous sect duties as well!”


  “I am sure the Sect would appreciate it,” Ling Qi said, resting her hand on Gui’s blunt snout. She couldn’t bring herself to recommend it though. The image of the list in the medicine hall flashed through her thoughts. “I think you are making good progress toward bronze formation.”


  “Sparring you does offer some insights,” Wang Chao said thoughtfully. “How does one break through the surface of a lake when the waters only close behind your strike?”


  There were plenty of pithy replies, but Ling Qi could recognize the tinge of internal philosophical dilemma.

  “Gui thinks Mister Avalanche is doing good at trying,” Gui said helpfully.

  “Ha, perhaps,” Wang Chao said. “In any case, do you care for another round, Miss Ling?”


  Ling Qi glanced up at the sun, noting its position, and put on an apologetic smile. “Not today, I’m afraid. I have an appointment with Core Disciple Lin about a talisman commission.”


  When she had returned from the court to find that man’s seal stamped on her request, she hadn’t been surprised.

  Wang Chao’s eyebrows rose. “Well, don’t let me keep you then!”


  ***

  On the path leading up to Lin Hai’s home and workshop, Ling Qi stopped and blinked in surprise.

  “Looks like Mr. Tailor double-booked your appointment,” Sixiang said in amusement.

  There, on the porch which surrounded the main building, stood Li Suyin and Su Ling, the latter of whom stood with her arms crossed, looking suspiciously at everything around her.

  “Ling Qi?” asked Li Suyin. “What are you doing here?”


  “I have an appointment,” Ling Qi replied. “What about you? I’m surprised that you would be commissioning a talisman, Li Suyin.”


  Her friend liked making her own things.

  “She’s getting a reward,” Su Ling grunted, tapping her foot as Ling Qi mounted the stairs to join them on the porch.

  “Really, it’s too much taking time from such an esteemed craftsman when I am not even spending my contribution points,” Li Suyin mumbled, plucking nervously at her gown.

  “Oh come off it, Suyin,” Su Ling replied, rolling her eyes. “You’re the one that kept the activation ceremony going for the formations in that underground base after the elder and the core disciples got dragged into a fight.”


  Ling Qi’s eyebrows rose as she turned to look at Suyin, whose fidgeting only got worse. “Suyin?”


  “I was just the one who happened to be there,” Li Suyin protested. “I was only following Elder Jiao’s instructions. Anyone could have done the same.”


  She yelped as Ling Qi rapped her knuckles against the top of the girl’s head. “Quit that,” Ling Qi said. “I thought you’d moved past that kind of false modesty, Suyin.”


  “That’s what I told her,” Su Ling grumbled, eyeing the doorway.

  “It’s just too much,” Li Suyin murmured. “There were so many other stronger, more experienced disciples about. And…… so many didn’t make it when someone like me did.”


  Ling Qi’s expression softened. She knew that Suyin hadn’t really seen a fight like that before or its consequences. “Even so, saying you don’t deserve a reward at all is too much, Suyin.”


  “It’s not just the talisman,” Li Suyin said glumly.

  “She’s getting promoted into the upper five hundred,” Su Ling disclosed. “Can’t think of anyone who deserves it more.”


  Li Suyin made a face at her. It seemed that they had repeated this conversation several times already.

  Before Ling Qi could reply further however, the door of the workshop slid open.

  “Master Lin will see you now.” Ling Qi’s eyes fixed on the figure in the doorway as they spoke. She had glimpsed them before last time she had been here. The spirit, who wore the shape of a curvaceous woman, had an air of deliberate dishevelment, her golden hair mussed and one side of her pale pink gown hanging carelessly off of her shoulders, revealing a darker red underlayer. Five fluffy golden tails waved lazily in the air behind her.

  Su Ling was glaring again. The spirit didn’t even glance at her.

  Ling Qi bowed her head politely to the fox spirit. “Thank you, Miss. Is Sir Lin going to deal with both of us at once, or should I wait?”


  “Master Lin will see you both,” the fox spoke over her shoulder. She was already turning to lead them back inside.

  Ling Qi shot Su Ling a quelling look, and the girl huffed. Li Suyin gave Su Ling a concerned look but hurried to follow as Ling Qi followed the spirit inside.

  “I do not think I received your name at my last visit,” Ling Qi said politely. She glanced around at the darkened halls; it seemed the layout of the building had changed.

  “You may call this one Luli,” said the fox, not looking back. “It is as good a name as any for this one to wear.”


  “Tch, can’t even give a straight answer to that,” Su Ling grumbled under her breath.

  The woman’s gold furred ears flicked irritably. “Do not concern yourself, little nightkin. You are certainly no kin to the children of dawn. It would please this one if we could exist in mutual silence.”


  Su Ling almost missed a step, but she just grunted and looked away when Li Suyin rested a hand on her shoulder.

  The rest of the trip through the halls passed without words.

  Soon, they reached a room that Ling Qi found familiar, the wide chamber with the sliding doors at the rear. Luli vanished in a whirl of sunlight motes as they entered, leaving her friends looking around the room, searching for their host. Ling Qi remained quiet. She wasn’t going to ruin Lin Hai’s fun.

  She had her grin behind her hand when the doors at the rear of the room jumped open with a bang and her friends startled. Four beams of prismatic light shot forth from the dark interior, rays of light dancing across the room, and thick and colorful fog poured across the floor. The beams swept back, and they lit upon the figure in the center, casting him in stark relief.

  Lin Hai stood there, one hand thrown out, the other splayed open in front of his face. He wore an open-chested tunic of crimson silk split down to his navel to show off his slim chest, and a feathery black pibo wrapped around his shoulders, floating on unseen winds. He was also, fortunately, wearing much less tight pants, instead going for flowing silk that flared widely about his ankles and pointed slippers.

  “Greetings to you, O seekers of beauty!” said the flamboyant man, lowering his hand to show his grinning face. He had a bit of color to his lips this time. “Lin Hai, Weaver of the Dawn, welcomes you to his sanctum!”


  Sixiang mused.

  Ling Qi brought her hands together, applauding as her friends stared blankly at Lin Hai. “It is good to see you again, Senior Brother Lin.”


  Li Suyin managed to bow as her brain caught up. “S-Senior Brother Lin, it is an honor to be allowed to make use of your time.”


  Su Ling’s face was still blank. It was the same sort of face she wore when Ling Qi invited her to do things.

  Lin Hai chuckled, brushing the blue frosted tips of his hair out of his eyes as the light and fog faded away and more normal lighting filled the room. “No, no, it is always the honor of the craftsman to perform his work,” he reprimanded lightly. “Raise your head, young lady. I’ll have no bowing and scraping here.”


  “Ah, as you say, Senior Brother,” Li Suyin said, raising her head. She was trying so hard to retain her composure, but Ling Qi could tell that she was having a hard time categorizing Lin Hai. “Um, how precisely are we going to handle……”


  Lin Hai blurred, his silhouette stretching before snapping apart into two separate but identical figures. He raised a carefully manicured eyebrow.

  “Try to relax a little.” Ling Qi nudged her friend’s shoulder before starting after the simulacrum on the left.

  Su Ling shot her an unamused look as she followed after the still fidgety Li Suyin.

  “What a good girl that one is,” Lin Hai mused as she fell in step beside him and they moved into his workshop. Skeins of cloth and tools were arranged on the tables.

  “Too good, sometimes.” Ling Qi sighed.

  “Hm, hmm, no such thing, I think,” Lin Hai said. “It seems I must congratulate you, Young Miss. You held up quite well under your first experience at court.”


  “Did I?” Ling Qi asked. She remembered barely being able to keep her composure under the Duchess’ scrutiny.

  “You did, or so I have heard,” Lin Hai reassured her. “It is not easy to deal with Master’s interest, and you certainly gave her an opportunity.”


  Ling Qi still wasn’t sure how she felt about the Duchess having entered into a deal with the shishigui. Negotiating with barbarians was one thing, but monsters like that……

  “Our clothes and finery are most important, Young Miss. They show the world what we wish to be, but it is not good to forget that more lies beneath,” Lin Hai said.

  Ling Qi blinked at the non sequitur.

  Sixiang whispered, and Ling Qi found a memory of a disturbingly mundane town deep beneath the earth intruding into her thoughts.

  “Still, while your words pleased many, it has not pleased the Sect,” Lin Hai warned. “I understand your reasoning. First impressions are so terribly important, and if these foreigners of yours had been reported by the Sect’s messengers first, things may not have gone so smoothly.”


  “Do you think I’m being foolish or naive?” Ling Qi asked. She had been trying not to think about it much yet, but the Duchess had put a great deal on her shoulders with this assignment. If she was wrong……

  “I think it costs us little to try, save for pride,” Lin Hai answered. “And the Empire certainly has a surplus of that.”


  Ling Qi laughed at that.

  “Now, Young Miss, what sort of piece are you looking to commission today?” Lin Hai asked as they arrived at a part of the workshop filled with jeweler’s tools.

  “It looks like you already have an idea,” Ling Qi said wryly. “But I was thinking, some earrings, maybe?”


  Lin Hai eyed her critically. “Hm, hm, I see some designs. Silver, naturally, or mayhap, platinum. Sapphire for highlights……” The designer trailed off and shook his head, but she could still see his mind working behind his eyes. “And the desired effect?”


  “Sense enhancement,” Ling Qi replied immediately. She still remembered those dancers, still so easily able to slip out of her sight. She disliked being on the receiving end of that.

  “Simple enough then,” Lin Hai said. Clapping his hands, tools, jewels, and flasks filled with liquid metals began to float off the shelves, and tables started to whirl around the craftsman.

  “Take a seat here, if you would.” Lin Hai pointed to a softly padded stool.

  Ling Qi took her seat and held still as tools began to take measurements of her ears and around her head. “Senior Brother Lin, do you think there is anything I can do to prepare?” She honestly had no idea how she was going to handle this upcoming expedition.

  “You must sew your own success here,” Lin Hai advised, “for it is your project, but…… perhaps you should seek out those who have knowledge of dealings with foreigners? They do exist, here and there.”


  Ling Qi recalled her conversation with Cai Renxiang when they had been hashing out her speech to the court. Hadn’t she mentioned that the Xuan dealt with foreigners? Xuan Shi certainly seemed like the sort to be interested in that sort of thing.

  Well, that was an idea.