It was slowly becoming a new normal for Ling Qi to no longer go around alone – at least any time she was in the open. The Ma sisters served as constants while she was down among the main parts of the Outer Sect. More and more often, she found herself trailing around in Cai Renxiang’s entourage, watching the girl work.

  One thing she was beginning to notice was that Cai Renxiang was almost always working. Her only breaks seemed to consist of taking tea in the early afternoon and the hour or so she spent with Meizhen every other day. Somehow, that still annoyed her, but Ling Qi had to grow past that. Meizhen was right; Ling Qi wasn’t being fair to her. She couldn’t – shouldn’t – try to keep her friend all to herself. That would be selfish, not to mention kind of weird and clingy.

  Although Ling Qi might spend more time cultivating, Cai Renxiang was even more of a ‘workaholic’, as Su Ling might say, than she was. She just spent a lot of time on stuff that seemed petty and pointless to Ling Qi. Managing people the way Cai did would probably drive Ling Qi to distraction.

  It was really difficult to get a read on Cai Renxiang. The face Cai presented to the world simply didn’t slip. There were no gaps, no hesitation, no hints of falsehood. Even Ling Qi was beginning to doubt that the girl was not exactly what she presented herself as: a diligent, straightforward, and mostly fair administrator.

  While Cai Renxiang was much better at etiquette and social manipulation than Ling Qi, Cai was ultimately about as blunt and subtle as a sledgehammer. Ling Qi struggled to continue telling herself that Cai was anything less than sincere in her stated intentions toward her. When Cai made definitive statements, it seemed like she meant them.

  As she shared tea with Cai one day, Ling Qi found herself considering taking the initiative in conversation with the girl. The times she found herself partaking in tea with the girl were usually quiet with conversation limited to polite inquiries into each other’s cultivation. Ling Qi had a feeling that this was deliberate on Cai’s part. Cai Renxiang probably thought Ling Qi would take badly to perceived pushiness and was choosing to be passive to let her grow comfortable at her own pace……

  It rankled a little that it was working.

  “Why do you do so much yourself?” Ling Qi asked, swirling the liquid in her cup. Today’s tea was white, almost like milk; it had a pleasingly sweet flavor. “I feel like you could delegate a lot of what I see you do.”


  Cai Renxiang considered the question as she drank from her cup. The eyes half-closed expression the girl had when tasting her tea was the closest Ling Qi had seen her to being relaxed. “I suppose I find it useful to experience such direct leadership while I can. As my responsibilities grow, delegation will, as you say, become an increasing necessity.”


  “So you enjoy listening to people complain all day?” Ling Qi winced at the sarcasm that had slipped out. “Er…… My apologies. That was rude.”


  “It was. Just a little,” Cai Renxiang stated, and if Ling Qi didn’t know better, she would have thought she was being teased. Cai inclined her head slightly, the light behind her glimmering and casting her shadow across the table. “One who has not the patience for the base will find themselves unable to reach the peak.”


  Ling Qi placed her cup on the table with a faint clink, drumming her fingers on the polished stone tabletop. “Well, I gue – suppose you take your lessons on the lower tiers of leadership seriously. Does it really matter though? At the top, you can just command whatever you want, and it’ll happen.”


  “Within limits, that is true,” Cai Renxiang acknowledged. “The natural hierarchy of strength is ultimately immutable, but many things slip through the cracks in such a view. Details, though small, can add up to greater turmoil and lessened prosperity. Even the mightiest ruler is ultimately fleeting. Harmony and order must be tended to carefully, or they will crumble the moment that one’s gaze turns from them.” Cai paused to allow the girl attending them to pour her another cup before continuing. “I must understand the tasks at each level in order to know the qualities I must seek in my subordinates and the adjustments to organizational structure that are needed.”


  They were retreading old ground. “What I’m trying to ask, I think, is what you get from it,” Ling Qi said slowly. “Let’s say you’re right – and I’m not saying you are not – and things are overall better if everyone acts in their place, fulfilling their duties.” She felt a little dubious about the feasibility of that idea. Surely, a great number of people would chafe badly at that. “Why does that matter to you? I’m pretty sure that all this little stuff doesn’t really touch the people at the top.” Everyone had personal reasons for their goals. People just weren’t completely selfless, and the fact that she couldn’t work out Cai’s reason was part of what bothered her about the other girl.

  Cai Renxiang placed her cup on the table, regarding Ling Qi coldly. Ling Qi worried that she might have overstepped her bounds as the silence stretched on. Slowly, Cai Renxiang’s expression changed, her intense stare dipping down to the tabletop as she laced her fingers together. The fabric of her gown rippled and shimmered under the light of her aura.

  “Although we might be called ‘Immortals’, we are anything but,” Cai stated with conviction, looking back up to lock her eyes with Ling Qi’s own. “One should seek to have works which endure beyond death or ascension. How many geniuses have had their work swept away in a mere few centuries or less, their great work forgotten the moment a new generation arrives to supplant them?”


  “And you think the order you want to build would endure better?” Ling Qi asked, cocking her head curiously. That seemed almost foolishly idealistic.

  “It is possible,” Cai Renxiang replied. “The Empire in which we live is testament to that. Even……” The heiress paused, her gaze briefly flickering to the attendant. “Even if the players change, the framework has endured.”


  “That’s a pretty lofty ambition,” Ling Qi said, hiding her frown. That was the first hint of uncertainty she had seen from Cai, but she couldn’t quite work out what it meant. “I suppose this practice must be pretty frustrating, if that is what you want.”


  “No artisan produces their masterwork on the first attempt,” Cai Renxiang said with a touch of a smile. “But yes, it is somewhat frustrating to know that the nature of the Sect means that my efforts here will inevitably collapse.”


  Ling Qi hummed thoughtfully. “Do you mind if I ask you what you know about the Ministry of Law?” she asked, changing the subject. Cai’s views on order still twinged at something in her, but she didn’t have the articulation to argue for it.

  The heiress’ brows furrowed. “They are arbitrators, judges, and scribes who handle legal functions below the notice of lords. It is typical for most rulers to retain a number of Ministry advisors to aid them in properly drafting new laws and decrees. It is an important function, and they serve as a check on the Ministry of Commerce due to their authority over contracts,” Cai Renxiang recited. “They also serve to ensure that provincial law does not conflict with Imperial law. They also comb the records to ensure that contradictions between older and newer laws are brought to the attention of relevant lords, so that the lords may decide which is to remain valid.”


  Ling Qi blinked. She had caught and understood most of that, but the answer was rather more thorough than she had been expecting. That explained her mother’s request. “If I needed to make a request of the Ministry, how would I go about doing that?”


  “I could, of course, contact the Ministry for you and ensure that your issue is represented,” Cai Renxiang said, peering at her over the lip of her cup. “But that is not what you ask, is it?”


  “I really should learn this stuff. It’s not good for me to just leave it to others,” she said sheepishly. It really wasn’t. After spending time around the heiress, it was beginning to dawn on her what responsibilities she was going to have as a lord in the future. “I wouldn’t complain if you put a word in to make sure my request is taken seriously though. I haven’t quite broken through to the third realm yet.”


  Cai Renxiang nodded approvingly, the halo of light behind her head gleaming. “I will make time to tutor you on legal matters. I believe you are active at night?” Ling Qi nodded in response. “May I ask what the issue is? I assume it is a family matter.”


  Ling Qi’s instinctive reaction was to clam up, but if Cai Renxiang wanted to find out, she would. And hiding the problem would only hinder her efforts to help her mother. “My Mother is being harassed by false creditors. I’m not sure why, but I’d like to help her if I can.”


  “I see,” Cai Renxiang said, looking unhappy. She always did when the subject of corruption came up. “The Sect’s protection would not extend that far. Please give me two days to make arrangements.”


  Ling Qi nodded happily, glad that this new matter could be taken care of so easily. Now it was time to speak of Yan Renshu, which was the original purpose of the meeting. Yan’s sabotage had stopped, but she was sure that was only because of the heat brought down on him by Cai’s faction.

  He had chosen to not take his defeat and leave her in peace, Ling Qi would just have to personally see that he understood the mistake he had made in pursuing his vendetta against her.

  Threads 135 After Action 4

  Ling Qi held her new earrings in her hands, watching how they glimmered in the workshop’s light. The Dusk Wind Studs were silver, relatively plain in make, but each was set with a dark blue gem which darkened to near purple at the center. Peering at them, Ling Qi could see the shimmer of the sky at dusk in their depths.

  “They’re as beautiful as I’d expect,” Ling Qi said, looking back to Lin Hai.

  “They are not too complex on their own, but such accessories are more a component than a statement unto themselves,” Lin Hai explained, pressing a fingertip to his lips thoughtfully. “I was somewhat disappointed that you did not allow me to give you something a touch more eye-catching.”


  Ling Qi chuckled awkwardly, glancing at Lin Hai’s extravagant garb. “It really isn’t my style to do so.”


  “Naturally, and that is why I did not push,” Lin Hai said, nodding affably. “If there is one lesson I know all too well, it is the difference between pushing one to seek their boundaries and forcing one beyond them.”


  Ling Qi rubbed her thumb over one of the gemstone studs. It was cool and smooth, the line of the cuts almost undetectable. She recalled Lin Hai’s words at their last meeting. They had confused her at the time, and they still did honestly. It was difficult to imagine Lin Hai as anything but what he was. “I did actually have another thing I wanted to ask you about.”


  “For dear Lady Ren’s retainer, I can spare a few moments more,” Lin Hai said. He gestured airily, and the numerous tools floating in the air began to spin and bob, flying their way back to the tables and shelves.

  “Is it normal for one of your gowns to, uh, eat other clothing if left alone for a while?” Ling Qi asked. She stumbled over the question despite herself. She was still baffled.

  Lin Hai blinked.

  “Not particularly,” he said slowly, sounding nonplussed. “Deprived of your energy, she should have simply gone dormant. Unless she received some damage?”


  “No, I left it—her—in my room. When I came back from my training, I found my gown in the closet with a bunch of frayed bedding.”


  Lin Hai’s darkly painted eyebrows drew together, and he reached out, tracing his finger through the air a hair’s breadth away from her shoulder. Faint glimmering threads rose to meet him, and Ling Qi felt her gown cling tighter for just a moment.

  “Ah, Master,” Lin Hai breathed out. “How your works still confound……”


  Ling Qi shifted uncomfortably. Having been on the receiving end of Cai Shenhua recently, those words were not a comfort.

  “It seems your choice to wear her at all times has had some effects on her development, which is proceeding faster than I thought possible,” Lin Hai said. “It seems that she is only waiting for your cultivation to reach a sufficient level before achieving her own evolution.”


  Ling Qi glanced down in surprise. “What level is that?”


  “Formation green and bronze, I would estimate,” Lin Hai answered, withdrawing his hand. “Until then, if you need to remove your gown for a lengthy period, it may be best to put her in your vent chamber. The qi-rich air there should prevent any mishaps.”


  Ling Qi brushed her fingers against the silk of her gown and felt the thrum of qi running through it, transforming silk into something far stronger than steel. If she focused, could she feel something foreign, an energy that was not just her own percolating through the talisman? Maybe it was just her imagination.

  “In any case, Miss Ling, you will need to hold your seat for a moment longer,” Lin Hai said. His fingers twitched, and between them, a large, steel needle appeared. Inscribed with countless formations so small that they appeared as no more than spidery lines, the needle crackled with heavenly power fit to pierce stone, metal, or immortal flesh. “You’ll need to try your talisman on, after all.”


  Ling Qi grimaced. She hadn’t been looking forward to this part.

  ***

  Over the course of the next few days, Ling Qi worked on putting her idea into practice while continuing to cultivate. She began the process of opening a new meridian, slowly and painstakingly working open the densely clogged channel. With each one she opened, it was getting harder.

  It wasn’t too hard to talk Li Suyin into setting up a meeting, and Xuan Shi wasn’t much harder to convince. However, as she arrived at Suyin’s workshop and opened the door, it occurred to her that she might have forgotten something. In the dim light of the workshop, more than two dozen eyes stared back at her from the opposite wall.

  Suyin did not have any visitors.

  They floated in jars, hung suspended between crackling metal prongs, and lay neatly stacked upon trays. Some were human, some were animal, some were even insect-like or glittering things of gemstone and precious metal.

  Below them was a line of eerily lifelike wax heads, each missing their left eye. One of the heads was melting slowly against the table, half of it carved away by some blast, and scraps of wax and ocular tissue were being cleaned up by the assistants. These assistants were not the tiny mouse skeletons that scurried to and fro across the floor, but the humanoid and human-sized figures with the skulls of beasts, wrapped in spider silk and garbed in the robes of servants.

  Behind her, through a silver wisp, Ling Qi saw Xuan Shi very slowly blink.

  “Ah, my apologies, Ling Qi. Is it really so late already?” Li Suyin looked up from the half-exploded wax head, looking startled and contrite. There was a bit of wax brain matter and too realistic blood clinging to her cheek. A nearby skeleton with the skull of a doe helpfully dabbed it away with a silk kerchief. “I got caught up in the testing…… This is so embarrassing.”


  Li Suyin had changed a lot since the last time they had met Xuan Shi, huh?

  Sixiang asserted.

  Ling Qi didn’t pause more than half, no, a quarter, of a beat as she stepped inside and smiled. “Don’t worry too much, Suyin. This isn’t anything too formal. I’m sure Xuan Shi has lost himself in a project too now and then.”


  Xuan Shi startled when she said his name, pulling his eyes away from the skeletal constructs moving through the room. They were already disassembling and carrying away the workbench, tools, and materials. “The fugue of the craftsmen is not unknown. Rather, this one would apologize for the short notice.”


  Li Suyin stood and brought her hands together to bow. She was wearing the mantle Lin Hai had made for her. Pale grey with a striking dark violet underlayer that peaked out as it billowed with her movements, it was surprisingly utilitarian for one of his works. It had a high collar from which protruded a touch of dark purple lace and was otherwise only accentuated by spiderweb patterns embroidered into the shimmering grey silk.

  Of course, the pale grey fabric seemed to swim and shimmer, presenting phantasmal faces, if Ling Qi looked at it too long.

  It was downright staid really.

  “Regardless, I apologize. It is an honor to have such a skilled craftsman in my home. I hope my simple works don’t bore you too much,” Li Suyin said demurely, clasping her hands together.

  She wore two gloves now, but only one was that clawed contraption she had put together.

  “Sect Sister Li’s words are too humble. The works performed by your hands are known throughout the Sect,” Xuan Shi said. He seemed to pause, listening to something. “You give this one too much esteem.”


  Ling Qi thought to Sixiang. She stepped back, and pulled the door shut.

  Sixiang replied, amused.

  “The fame of the Xuan clan is well earned,” Li Suyin said politely, straightening up. Skeletons emerged from other rooms, carrying tables, chairs, and even a tea set. “And your project last year truly earned its place in first. I could not have managed such a complex enhancement.”


  “This one wonders at that,” Xuan Shi said, tugging at the brim of his hat. “To break the earth in a new field is more impressive than to merely tread anew old ground.”


  “No,” Li Suyin insisted. “The complexity of your reaction matrices still baffle me. How in the world did you encode so many behavioral variations into each individual tile with so little material real estate? I was not able to discern any core command processing talisman, nor thought-based transmission, so each piece is obviously autonomous.”


  Ling Qi smiled faintly as she took her seat, and Xuan Shi replied with a string of words that she knew all the individual meanings of, but which, together, represented only highly technical gibberish. It seemed like despite a little stutter at the start, things were going well.

  Ling Qi kept her own contributions minor for a time, only slipping in to smooth over awkward silences or cover for Xuan Shi when he spaced out. His new spirit seemed to have a somewhat poor sense of timing compared to Sixiang. But if they were new to the material world, that made sense.

  Still, after the tea had been served, and the last subject, a discussion about vehicular formations, reached its natural conclusion, Ling Qi found the chance to ask her own question.

  “So, with everything you’ve said about the operating ranges of Xuan ships, does that mean that it’s true that Savage Seas has contact with foreigners?” Ling Qi asked. Li Suyin’s constructs had provided them each with a little slice of tea cake as well. Ling Qi found it a little too sweet for her tastes.

  Xuan Shi glanced her way, and thankfully, he didn’t seem offended by the question. “The ports of the Isle have hosted men of foreign shores, it is true. Not all barbarians are eager for battle.”


  He did sound reflexively defensive though.

  “How curious,” Li Suyin mused. “However did the Xuan manage to come to arrange such a situation?”


  “Our voyagers typically do not seek battle and plunder as some explorers do,” Xuan Shi replied. “Thus, on occasion, those who would rather trade come to find the Isle.”


  “Have you ever seen them? Foreigners, that is?” Ling Qi asked casually, taking a sip of her tea. The blend was a little bitter.

  “This one has witnessed the foreign quarter in use a time or two,” Xuan Shi said wistfully. “The folk of Khem are the most numerous, and their mein hard to miss, but at times, a dark-faced man of Banu comes bearing a hold full of blue adamant. Once, I saw one who claimed to be of far-off Nidalvar, whose inhabitants are said to dwell at the upper peak of the world.”


  “How startling that must be,” Li Suyin said. “And they truly keep imperial peace well enough for the Xuan to allow them into port?”


  Xuan Shi frowned. “Strange as they may be, it would be madness to assault the Living Isle.”


  “What are they like though?” Ling Qi asked. “I mean, it has to be hard for everyone to not offend each other, right? How do the Xuan manage?”


  “It is the voyagers who learn such things,” Xuan Shi admitted, looking down. He toyed with his plate. “This one’s father did not teach the craft afore he left on his last journey eight years ago.”


  Ling Qi thought as Li Suyin offered an apology. Hasn’t Xuan Shi previously said that his parents were alive? Was that just wishful thinking, or did he actually know?

  Well, this wasn’t exactly the time to challenge him on it.

  “I’m sorry,” Ling Qi offered as well. She considered her situation. Her mission wasn’t exactly secret, even if it hadn’t necessarily spread to everyone yet. “Recently, I’ve been commanded by the Duchess to take part in an expedition to speak with some foreigners. We’ve discovered a group not of the cloud tribes, hailing from south of the Wall.”


  Li Suyin looked shocked, and Xuan Shi tipped his hat back, looking at her in surprise.

  “I was hoping that you might be able to give me some advice on acquitting myself well,” Ling Qi continued.

  “Such a duty for one so young,” Li Suyin murmured. “No, given the heiress, it makes sense……”


  “This one has only limited experience,” Xuan Shi said slowly. “A few youthful explorations, driven by curiosity.”


  “Anything would be helpful,” Ling Qi said, bowing her head.

  Xuan Shi was silent, seemingly listening to his spirit. “Once, this one spoke with a woman of Khem while a cousin haggled with her husband. Tall, she was, a mountain in flesh, her face brightly painted, and hair black as ink. This one was in shock at the sight of her, garbed only in a transparent skirt and glittering jewelry that bore all to the sun.”


  Ling Qi stared in disbelief. Someone just…… walking around in a town, basically naked? And they were supposed to be civilized?

  “The Khemite found the sputtering child before her amusing and gave this one a candy from their goods.” Xuan Shi’s expression screwed up. “The taste was of raw meat and blood with a foreign spice. Another trip, this one encountered a boy of Banu. His father had business with mine. Even at such a young age, twelve bars of steel, gold, and other metals pierced his features, and bangles of the same hung heavy on his limbs. We spoke not the same tongue, and yet words were unneeded to play a child’s game with the strangely bouncing ball in his possession.”


  “So mundane,” Li Suyin commented. “You make it sound as if they are merely oddly dressed people.”


  “It is more complex. It is possible to give offense without intent, for innocuous gestures to lead to unexpected responses, but……” Xuan Shi shrugged helplessly.

  Ling Qi understood. It struck at the uncomfortable feeling that had been growing in the back of her mind. Rather than imagining a confrontation with a strange spirit, she really should be thinking of them as people.

  Dealing with people was so much harder.