Threads 100 Descent 2

Ling Qi considered the room for a moment. There were definitely fault lines in this group. She could have seen that even without her more advanced arts. However, the problems that existed… weren’t really things that could be easily dealt with. Certainly not by her. Rather, by trying to fix them, it was possible that she would just make them worse.

<You should be more confident, but you might be right in this situation. There are still things you can do though,> Sixiang whispered.

They weren’t wrong. Ling Qi’s eyes slid over to Su Ling, whose body language was still closed off and wary. She could be there for her friend, but that alone wasn’t going to help Su Ling get more comfortable with the group.

Ling Qi looked up and caught Liao Zhu’s eye. That could work. She tilted her head toward Su Ling, and Liao Zhu’s eyes crinkled in what she knew to be a smile.

“Congratulations on your breakthrough to bronze,” Ling Qi said, turning to Su Ling.

Around them, people in the room were beginning to move or talk. Bian Ya had turned back to Xuan Shi and looked to be trying a different tack with drawing the boy into conversation. Ji Rong stood up to pace, turning his back to them all.

“Feh, that hardly feels good coming from you,” Su Ling grumbled.

Ling Qi rolled her eyes, recognizing the words for what they were. “Oh, just take the compliment. You don’t have to always be difficult about it.” She peered at Su Ling. Curiously, the girl still only had two tails. She had half-expected her to have grown another one as she did when reaching the second realm.

<Pretty sure the third one only comes later on in the third. That’s how it works for the fox spirits anyway,> Sixiang commented.

Su Ling grumbled. “How can you be so calm about this?”

Ling Qi hummed to herself. “How will being worked up and nervous help?”

Su Ling shot Ling Qi a sour look, and Ling Qi held her hands up defensively.

“I’m just saying, all of this tension isn’t going to help you. It’s definitely dangerous, but we’re cultivators. This is our duty.”

The word felt odd to Ling Qi’s lips. Odder still was that she didn’t feel like she was being facetious. Her mother and sister couldn’t deal with problems like this. She didn’t want to have to look at Mother and tell her that one of her friends was dead or have to look at Biyu and explain that her nanny was gone because the Sect wasn’t doing its job.

To protect what was hers, the people and things around them had to be protected too.

Su Ling gave her a hard look but seemed nonplussed at what she saw. Silence fell between them.

Naturally, this was when Liao Zhu chose to approach. He stood over them, leaning casually on the back of one of the camp chairs. “Junior Sister Ling, it has been too long! You’ve recovered nicely, I hope.”

“I have. Hardly a mark at all,” Ling Qi replied blithely. She was well used to Liao Zhu by now, and his partially open vest was only a little distracting. “It looks as if you are doing better than expected too, Senior Brother Liao.”

“Only an appearance, I am afraid,” he said, his normally bombastic tone a touch more somber. “While my friend is filling in for my arm, they cannot fight. I shall be looking forward to your support, Junior Sister. But I am being rude. I have not met your friend, our esteemed diviner!”

Su Ling regarded the boy warily and glanced at Ling Qi.

“This is Su Ling,” Ling Qi introduced, giving the girl a subtle nudge with her elbow. “Su Ling, this is Senior Brother Liao Zhu. He was my tutor once and my trainer in the Sect’s scout force.”

“I would like to say that I have heard much about you, but my Junior Sister is surprisingly focused on her tasks,” Liao Zhu teased. “She tends to forget about things that are out of her sight.”

Ling Qi scoffed. She was getting better about that.

She felt Sixiang’s hand on her shoulder. <You are.> The spirit left unsaid that she had needed the improvement in the first place.

“That does sound like Ling Qi,” Su Ling replied grudgingly.

“I admit, I am curious as to your methods,” Liao Zhu continued. “I smell a touch of the Bloody Moon about you. My own talents with the lady lie more toward investigation and elimination than precognition. What do you practice? I had thought lunar divination was somewhat hobbled by our current enemies.”

“You’re just noticing my partner,” Su Ling replied reluctantly. “I’m not the type to get fancy spirit attention. It’s just a blood thing. I get hunches about things now and then.”

“Oh, I think you undersell yourself, Junior Sister. A disciple with a mere underdeveloped spirit quirk would not have been selected for a mission such as this,” Liao Zhu said. “Your talent must be at least somewhat impressive.”

“Pyromancy,” Su Ling finally answered. “I have a knack for pyromancy, reading fires, alright?”

Ling Qi gave her friend a surprised look. Su Ling had never bothered to explain the method of her divination to her. “So that’s what you do. How’d you even discover a talent like that?”

Su Ling grimaced. “I started noticing stuff outta the corner of my eye after I…” She glanced over her shoulder at the tails curled tightly around her chair. “… broke through to the second. Images in torches and fires ‘n shit.”

“Hoh, not a common talent these days,” Liao Zhu said. “If I recall my history, is it not more effective when used to read queries carved into bones or shells than the fires itself?”

“Yeah, been getting a crash course on that,” Su Ling grumbled, her ears lying flat against the back of her head. “The Sect dug out a bunch of old tomes that were more dust than paper and sent a Core Sect guy to tutor me on bone carving and calligraphy.”.

“So that is what you’ve been up to,” Ling Qi mused.

“Feh, it wasn’t pleasant. I thought Li Suyin was a hardass about handwriting. Barely got an ‘acceptable’ out of him in the end,” Su Ling huffed.

“I suspect I might know the man in question. ‘Acceptable’ is indeed high praise,” Liao Zhu said. “I shall look forward to relying upon your abilities, Junior Sister.”

“I’m barely in the third realm. Cut that out,” Su Ling said bluntly.

“Perhaps so, yet you are the only one here with such capabilities,” Liao Zhu said lightly, pushing himself up to stand straight. “And so rely upon you, we will.”

This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it.

“I trust you to have my back, Su Ling,” Ling Qi added. She gave her friend a grin and another nudge. “Just like old times, right?”

Su Ling’s lips twisted downward, and she looked down at the table. “Yeah, yeah, I’ll try to keep you both from getting eaten by bugs. What about you two, huh? What can I expect out of you?”

<Obvious deflection is obvious.> Sixiang chuckled. <Looks like that Bian girl has pried open turtle boy’s shells a tad too. Ji Rong and the Boss Lady traded a couple words too. I’ll fill you in when you’re done here.>

Ling Qi glanced briefly at the others. Ji Rong was standing a few steps to the side of Guan Zhi, staring down at the maps with a furrowed brow, and Bian Ya and Xuan Shi were quietly chatting while he traced glittering characters in the air demonstratively. She gave a silent thanks to Sixiang, then grinned at Su Ling. “Well, for starters, I’ve gotten a lot faster…”