“Good of you to join us, Miss Ling!” Gan Guangli boomed cheerfully. He stood flanked by two other male disciples wearing the bands of enforcers and standing at a stiff attention. “With your skills, the raiding scum has no chance of escape!”


  Ling Qi eyed their surroundings carefully. They were perched on a narrow ledge halfway up a steep rock face. With the Ma Sisters and her, there was barely any room to move about up here.

  “Thank you for the invitation,” she replied politely, a little unsure of the proper response in this scenario. “I’m sure you could have managed without me,” she added. It seemed right. “Were you really only going to do this with three people if I didn’t come?”


  “I had intended a larger cohort, but with you and your escorts joining us, I deemed it wasteful to pull more from their duties,” Gan explained. “The bandit Ji Rong travels with but a handful on his raids, and too many would risk detection besides.”


  “That’s who we’re hitting, huh?” Ling Qi mused, peering down the cliffside. They would probably ambush them when they passed below then. “That makes sense. But how are we going to get the drop on them? Ji Rong has pretty sharp senses, and……” She gestured vaguely at the tall, muscular, and singularly unstealthy boy.

  She studiously ignored the stifled sound of amusement from Ma Lei. Gan Guangli simply grinned and plucked a small gourd that had been dangling from his belt, raising it for her inspection. “Sir Xuan has seen fit to solve that problem for us. The villains will never see the first blows coming!”


  Ling Qi blinked and accepted the gourd, peering inside. There were a series of carved wooden stakes. Removing one, her eyes widened. She could just make out its function. As Gan had implied, the four stakes would create a field between them which utterly concealed any living things within. Its inner workings were hidden from her though, the character arrangements seeming like indecipherable gibberish to her eyes. “That guy really doesn’t do half measures. Is that the whole plan then? We just wait for them to pass by and jump down?”


  “Yes,” Gan Guangli replied, still grinning. “There is no need for complex planning in this case. I would have you support us close range fighters from above and prevent any attempts at escape. With any luck, Ji Rong can be greatly weakened or even put down in our opening move. Of course, I welcome discussion of the particulars.”


  Hashing out the details of their exact plan of action took a bit of time, but soon enough, Gan Guangli received a message from Fu Xiang indicating that they needed to activate the formation. The array Xuan Shi had crafted traded a short duration for potency so their timing needed to be exact. The Ma Sisters and Gan’s helpers took care of the activation while she and Gan Guangli kept watch on the trees below, waiting for their prey to arrive

  Ji Rong was the first one that she spotted. He walked cockily out in front of the three other boys with him. Despite that, he looked alert and ready for trouble, his aura charged like the air before a thunderstorm. His companions were less disciplined, joking and bragging among themselves. None of the other three, two Mid Yellows and a Low without any special equipment or exotic quirks to their qi, caught Ling Qi’s eye. One of the two Mid Yellows was a wind element user though; she’d keep an eye on him to ensure that he didn’t do something to help the others escape.

  Ling Qi was well aware of just how fast the wind could carry after all.

  She stilled as Ji Rong’s eyes passed over the ledge they were crouched on, but there was no recognition, not even a twitch in his qi indicating that he had noticed them. Around her, she felt her allies start to activate combat arts. The faint chiming of bells filled the air, and clay armor flowed across Ma Lei’s arms and chest. Gan Guangli’s armor took on a brilliant shine even as he began to grow, crowding the already narrow ledge further, as his guards charged their weapons, a spear and a bow, with fire and wind respectively.

  Ling Qi simply breathed out as she expressed her bow, the edges of her gown gleaming a vibrant emerald, which spread, forming a shell of bark textured light over her. The glow spread to Gan Guangli and Ma Lei as well. It was a high cost to her qi, but it would bolster the two’s already impressive defenses for when they jumped down.

  She drew back her bow as the armor finished forming, and the wind kicked up around her feet, rising to circle around her arrow as she drew it back, aimed right at Ji Rong’s shoulder. She glanced at Gan Guangli as he loomed beside her, crouched at the edge of the cliff, his face concealed by his gleaming helm. Ji Rong’s group passed below, and he nodded.

  Ling Qi let loose, the wind howling around her companions, urging them to strike in unison. Ji Rong jerked in surprise the moment the arrow shattered their concealment, and although brilliant lightning immediately burst from his channels shrouding him in light, it wasn’t enough. The arrow struck home, causing him to grunt as his defenses failed to absorb the full power of the shot.

  Ma Lei and the spear wielding guard immediately leaped down to engage Ji Rong. Ji Rong juked away from their weapons, ducking Ma Lei’s mace and twisting away from the boy’s spear, its fire-wreathed head grazing along his side. In the wake of the alarm and noise from below, the first notes of a sleepy, relaxing tune began to play beside her, and Ling Qi felt Ma Jun’s soporific qi latch onto the enemies below, draining away qi and making limbs and eyelids heavy. Even Ji Rong’s corruscating aura briefly dimmed, opening him to another wind-wreathed arrow from the second of Gan’s subordinates.

  Of course, all those attacks were swiftly overshadowed as a great shadow fell over Ji Rong and his raiders. Ji Rong barely had a moment to straighten up and brace himself before Gan Guangli’s armored boots slammed down onto his shoulders, driving the glowing boy straight into the ground with a thunderous crack that rocked and split the earth. Unnatural shockwaves tore up the soil and flung Ji Rong’s allies away to impact against rocks and trees.

  That was Ling Qi’s signal to begin the next phase. She dropped her bow and expressed her flute, leaping nimbly down the cliffside as she began to play, mist blossoming rapidly outward to consume the battlefield. Ma Jun’s chiming bells amplified her power further, and she felt the sense-altering effect of her mist settle over Ji Rong’s three allies. The raiders wouldn’t be running away easily.

  She found her attention pulled back to the main fight as the ground exploded with light, muted by her mist. Gan Guangli was shoved backward by a shockwave of qi as Ji Rong thrust himself out of the impact crater with a furious roar. His hair stood on end, bleached and white in the light of crackling electricity pouring off of him in sheets.

  He launched himself at Guangli, fist outstretched, and the giant boy met him head on. The sound of his fist striking Gan Guangli’s breastplate was like a temple gong, the crack of thunder nearly deafening her, but Gan Guangli did not move an inch, the flickering green of the armor she had given him holding.

  “Not enough, Bandit!” Gan shouted, laughing as he brought his huge, spike-covered fists down in a two handed hammerstrike. Ji Rong juked backwards, his sparking sandals somehow finding purchase on the rippling earth.

  “How about-” the scarred boy began, batting aside the spear of Gan’s aid with a glowing fist. Thunder boomed as the boy’s legs curled, and he darted forward into a punch that struck the spear-wielding boy’s breastplate. Ling Qi winced as she felt the shell of her Deepwood Vitality crack and then shatter under the visible stream of voltage that erupted from Ji Rong’s fist, launching Gan’s fellow enforcer backwards through the air until he hit the ground and bounced, his chest smoldering. “- you shut up for once, lardo!”


  “Fiend!” Gan Guangli bellowed, literally swelling with rage as he thundered back into melee, his footfalls sending visible ripples through the earth. The other raiders converged, but Ma Lei interposed herself, catching a boy’s handaxe on her clay-covered shield and bringing the other up short with a rising wall of mud that forced him to backpedal or slam face first into it. The wind-natured boy was more troublesome, a bolstering wind sweeping across the battlefield to speed his allies’ movements; Ling Qicould feel his qi coiling around their legs, preparing to launch them at Gan’s back.

  Ling Qi had a solution to that. A sad, mournful elegy began to play, and the boy suddenly let out a shout of alarm as in his eyes, the mist thickened and converged upon him, blanketing him in a misty world where he was all alone without an ally in sight.

  Under the effect of her technique, the bolstering qi the wind-natured boy had spread fizzled out without his guidance.

  Thunder boomed, and the sound of impacts on metal resounded. Ji Rong drove Gan Guangli back a step, then two, his fists a sparking blur as he rained dozens of blows on the bigger boy’s armored stomach, shattering Gan’s Deepwood Vitality protection, then laying into Gan himself. But in his flurry, he overextended, and when Gan brought up a massive knee and slammed it into the scarred boy’s chest, Ji Rong was launched back, coughing violently as he landed in a crouch.

  Floating on the breeze, Ling Qi adjusted her melody, and emerald sparks danced in her eyes. Vital wood qi rippled out, and the fading bark textured energy clinging to Gan Guangli and Ma Lei’s armor rekindled, renewing their protection. Gan laughed, and Ji Rong cursed.

  It ended quickly after that. Gan Guangli kept up the offense while Ling Qi isolated and drained the other raiders of qi one at a time. Ji Rong thrashed and fought like a wild beast, but four on one was too much.

  The raiders were soon facedown in the dirt, unconscious and quickly bound, and their belongings seized. Ling Qi was pleased to be the proud owner of a higher quality storage ring with nearly twice the space of her old one.

  Sun Liling wouldn’t recover easily from this. Aside from her vassal Lu Feng, Ji Rong and Kang Zihao were really her only major supporters, and with Kang Zihao still in seclusion, Ji Rong had been the one carrying Sun Liling’s offensive efforts against Cai Renxiang. Going forward, Cai Renxiang’s faction would have an advantage against Sun Liling’s.

  Threads 140 Concert 3

  The area set for guests below the stage was an open floor with a high ceiling surrounded by balconies where more people could stand or sit as they liked. Staff carrying trays with refreshments moved quietly to and fro, providing for the guests. Given the size of the hall, the number of people attending did seem kind of small to Ling Qi. There were, at her count, less than fifty people, not including staff and bodyguards or personal servants.

  She saw Bai Meizhen, seated in one of the front rows with her hands held patiently in her lap. A handful of brave, if nervous-looking, young men and women seemed to be trying to engage her in conversation. Bao Qingling stood on one of the balconies above, leaning on the railing, putting off an unapproachable air.

  They might have arrived together, but it looked like they were avoiding being too obvious away from the Sect. Ling Qi felt a pang of annoyance on Meizhen’s behalf, but that was just how things were.

  Continuing to scan the crowd, Ling Qi heard Wang Chao’s braying laugh. At least he was having fun boasting about his military assignments to a gaggle of lesser nobles. Her lips quirked up when she heard him throwing in a comment praising her as well. Wang Chao was really unsubtle, but he was honest in his intentions at least.

  However, Ling Qi soon found what she was searching for. Seated in the rearmost of the seating against the back wall was an older woman whose bearing and aura stood out from the young baronial scions milling about. Meng Diu wore a many layered gown of pale green and blue silk, which left not an inch of skin below her chin uncovered. Wide, billowing sleeves embroidered with falling leaves that danced animatedly across the fabric concealed her hands, and whorls of stylized water currents shifted and flowed across the lower hems.

  Meng Diu’s face looked much the same as it had in her visit to the court of Xiangmen. She wore heavy, stylized makeup that left her face nearly ghost white with a spot of crimson color on her lips and darker colors around her eyes. Her honey-brown hair was done up in an elaborate bun and looping braids that framed her face.

  Every time one of the other guests looked her way, their attention seemed to slide off of her. She tilted her head, meeting Ling Qi’s eyes.

  Sixiang remarked.

  Ling Qi hummed in agreement, and murmuring a short farewell to Bao Qian as they split up, she began to work her way over toward the rear of the room. She smiled and greeted guests as she went, trying to remain welcoming while still advancing. Thankfully, she had gotten better at this because no one seemed offended when she left them behind.

  She had her suspicions about one particularly chatty boy whose eyes had seemed to go a little glassy before he excused himself. As she approached the rear of the room however, the interruptions lessened until at last no one seemed to notice her anymore.

  “Lady Meng.” Ling Qi stopped a respectful distance away and offered a formal bow, hands clasped in front of her chest. “I am honored that one such as you would choose to attend this small performance.”


  “It is an unusual event,” Meng Diu replied, studying her. It was hard for Ling Qi to make out her eyes or expression. To her consternation, there seemed to be an odd, blurry filter over her eyes. “Not many cultivators would see their honored companions perform for human amusement, even in these days.”


  Ah, there was the first thrust.

  “I am afraid that Hanyi was insistent,” Ling Qi said, not raising her head. “Due to her lineage, she is more human of mind than most. She wished to earn an allowance without straining this humble baroness’ limited funds.”


  “Oh?” asked Meng Diu. Up close, Ling Qi noticed there was a faint melody in the air which spoke of autumn evenings and the song of crickets in the woodlands. “Unusual indeed. Do you intend to allow your spirit their own income? Many would look down upon you for this.”


  “While I will check her expenses, which is my duty as her elder sister under my former teacher, Hanyi’s earnings will be her own,” Ling Qi said evenly. On matters of family, she had no intention of bending.

  Meng Diu hummed noncommittally. “Sit, young lady. I’ll not strain my neck looking up at you.”


  Ling Qi blinked. The older woman’s presence was large, a warm, buzzing hum that seemed to hang oppressively over them, but she only now realized that Meng Diu was not much taller than Li Suyin. “Of course. Thank you, Lady Meng.” Taking her seat beside Meng Diu, Ling Qi considered her next words. “If I may, Lady Meng, what are your thoughts on recent events?”


  “Concern,” Meng Diu replied brusquely. Ling Qi couldn’t tell if Lady Meng was turning her head to look at her or not. “Many matters are moving quickly. When matters move quickly, many lives are lost, one way or the other.”


  Ling Qi took a moment to digest that, drumming her fingers nervously on the arm rests. “Unfortunately, I believe the pacing may be out of our hands,” she said carefully.

  “The wheel turns ever on,” Lady Meng said, and Ling Qi thought that was an agreement. Sixiang agreed with her assessment, which gave her some comfort. “Yet, all the same, I find some agreement with my brother. Certain elements are accelerating that turning.”


  This time, Ling Qi was able to follow her gaze across the room to where Meizhen sat, chatting with a girl who seemed to have gotten over her aura.

  Ling Qi was quiet for some time, composing a reply in her head with the help of Sixiang. “Bai Meizhen has, in my short time, ever been an ally. While I cannot speak for the past, I believe that the Bai are in their own way seeking to move forward. While there will be troubles, I am sure the alliance is in the interest of Emerald Seas.”


  “I am certain you do.” Meng Diu’s gaze remained fixed upon Meizhen. “Yet, individuals aside, you know little of the Bai clan, I suspect.”


  “I lack experience,” Ling Qi replied humbly. If nothing else, perhaps she could understand more the source of conflict. “Would Lady Meng care to share an insight?”


  “A small anecdote, perhaps,” Meng Diu mused. “During the rampage of Ogodei, my grandfather reached out to the Bai in desperation, seeking to evacuate mortals and common cultivators from the flooding and raids. Our reply was silence.”


  Ling Qi waited for Meng Diu to continue.

  “Matters grew worse. The flooding from the storms drove the spirits of the fens mad,” Meng Diu said. “My uncle was sent north to beg for aid. There was none. The war worsened further. Our armies were confined to the cities, lest the barbarians slip behind our lines to sack them. People fled north. At the borders of the Thousand Lakes, they were greeted with spear points and bolts. The Bai slew any who dared pass the boundaries, no matter how desperate their plight. After the rampage, they demanded reparations for the trespass.”


  Ling Qi nodded faintly. “That is cruel.”


  “I am not unobjective,” Meng Diu said contemplatively. “It was at least partly a matter of politics. The Hui were vehement about their sovereignty and would have used their connections to the Imperial Court to cause troubles if the Bai had sent us aid. Yet the Bai are mighty, are they not? Certainly, they were in those days before the rise of Sun Shao, but they were also arrogant and apathetic to our plight. When the situation was reversed and the folk of the Lakes flooded south from undefended settlements after the exodus, the Bai threatened us for the return of their people, and the Hui ordered the border closed.” She sneered. “Ten thousand years of this, and I am to believe that they have changed now?”


  Sixiang winced.

  Ling Qi took another long moment to organize her thoughts. “I can’t speak for past events, but I think the damage wrought on the Bai clan recently is without precedent. Their eldest and most powerful were slain in one terrible blow, and their power gutted. If there were to be any catalyst for change, would it not be that?”


  Ling Qi wasn’t entirely ignorant. She wasn’t privy to the highest level of politics, but even she had picked up that the recent opening of the Thousand Lakes was, if not unprecedented, at least highly unusual.

  “A fair point,” Meng Diu allowed, surprising her. “And there is prosperity to be found in trade, even if the Lakes return to form at a later date. But I am not unsympathetic to my kin, who remain wary of any opening. It is not only the Bai whom we fear.”


  “Thank you for your explanation, Lady Meng.” Ling Qi wasn’t sure what to do with it yet, but more knowledge was better than none. “I hope you will not take offense if I say that I hope my lady and her mother prove your fears incorrect.”


  Meng Diu let out a dry laugh. “Indeed, young lady. There is a reason we are speaking. You are an interesting one. You are small yet, but some few are beginning to notice you.”


  “I am flattered,” Ling Qi said warily. Worried. The actual word was “worried.”


  Meng Diu let out a harrumph. It was clear what Meng Diu thought of her substitution. “I have an offer to make you.”


  “I would be honored to hear it.”


  “I wish to have further investment in the young heiress,” Meng Diu said bluntly. “I want to send one of my grandsons along on this expedition the Duchess has mandated. The Duchess has said that it is a matter of the heiress’ choice. So I ask you to convince her. Given the chance, I believe that he will prove himself capable in the circle of retainers she is building.”


  Ling Qi’s eyes widened.

  If she spoke for it, Ling Qi knew Cai Renxiang would accept the deal. Normally, she might be able to influence her liege’s thoughts one way or the other, but right now, she was in a unique position. She was the one with the invitation. Others might be able to better parley with these foreigners, but she was the only one who could even open a dialogue. If she declined this and spoke to Cai Renxiang about not wanting to endanger the main task, she thought the heiress would listen.

  But this was an opportunity. The Meng were notoriously closed off, much like the Bai had been. A chance to begin a good relationship with one of their main family was not to be scoffed at. Perhaps there was some additional motive as well, but Ling Qi did not believe that outright sabotage was on the table.

  “I will speak in favor of your offer, Lady Meng, although Lady Cai must have final say.”


  “Of course,” Meng Diu agreed, dipping her head in acknowledgement.

  “If I may,” Ling Qi began carefully, “may I know something of your grandson, so that I may speak more clearly in my recommendation?”


  “Meng Dan is a scholar,” Meng Diu answered, turning her gaze back to the rest of the guests. “He attends the Blue Mountain Sect, and he follows the Way of the Hidden with more singularity than yourself.”


  Sixiang chuckled in her head, and Ling Qi coughed uncomfortably. She didn’t think Meng Diu was speaking directly against her scattered focus, but still. “I see. You believe his knowledge will be useful then?”


  “That child has always been focused on the past to his detriment at times,” Meng Diu said. “However, his mind is sharp, and his ability to collate and analyze large amounts of information into useful form is exceptional.”


  Sixiang thought.

  “Thank you very much, Lady Meng.”


  Again, Meng Diu gave a shallow nod. “Indeed. You may take your leave now, Baroness. The performance will begin soon, and I am certain that you would rather be in the company of your peers.”


  “I would not reject Lady Meng’s company,” Ling Qi said, standing and giving a polite bow. “But I will thank you for releasing me to see to my other guests.”


  The older woman dismissed her with a wave of her sleeve. “Go. We may have more to speak of in the future.”


  One more bow, and then, Ling Qi turned to leave, not letting out the sigh of relief that wanted to escape out into the world. Leaving the range of Meng Diu’s domain, she was soon greeting guests again for a short time before she took a conspicuously empty seat next to Meizhen.

  “You are well?” her friend asked evenly. She didn’t turn her head from the stage as the lanterns arrayed around the room began to dim, signalling that the performance was nigh.

  “Yes, just some negotiations.” Ling Qi leaned back in her seat as she mentally prodded Zhengui to wakefulness. “I’ll tell you about it later.”


  Meizhen glanced her way, raising an eyebrow, but made no more of it.

  The curtain on the stage rose. If Ling Qi wasn’t intimately familiar with Hanyi’s aura, she might not have recognized the winter spirit. Hanyi’s hair was done up and threaded through with pale white flowers, and somehow, between the lighting and the cosmetics, her deathly pallor looked ethereal instead. As the curtains rose, Hanyi stepped forward, her hands clasped together, and began to sing.

  Ling Qi breathed out, and let the melody wash over her and carry her away.