Threads 170-Emissary 5

At least Gan Guangli seemed to be getting along with them.

“While I stand by my word. I will not deny your dedication to excellence,” the foreign man rumbled as he stood up, flexing his hand.

“I apologize for my earlier words, Sir Ostrik. They were spoken in ignorance,” Gan Guangli said. Standing as well, he bowed his head.

“Youthful impetuousness, I am well acquainted with it,” the older man said, waving off his apology. “But we have guests! My apologies for not noticing your entry, Emissary!”

Ling Qi felt a faint stirring of her old nervousness as all the eyes in the room turned to her. She put aside her discomfort and offered a small bow. “Please do not mind me. I was just hoping to check on my companion and view your shrine.”

The man, Ostrik, gave her a toothy grin and spread his arms wide. “Be welcome then, though it is but a humble place we have built, so far into the wilderness we are.”

“Your carvers and painters have certainly done amazing work,” Ling Qi complimented. The faces carved upon the pillars seemed almost alive looking down on her.

<They might be just a little,> Sixiang murmured.

“But please, let me introduce myself. I am Ling Qi, and this is my junior sister, Hanyi,” Ling Qi said politely. “And Zhengui, my brother, is on my right.”

“I am Ostrik the Sunsoul, keeper of this little place. Be welcome, Lingchee of Tsai,” the man boomed. He waved his hand, scattering the lesser priests back to their duties. Gan Guangli followed him as he came around the well. His gaze turned down to her companions, and for once, his expression didn’t fall or change as he stopped in front of them. Ling Qi blinked as he knelt down, reaching under his mantle to rummage for something.

His hand emerged holding a faintly glowing object. At first, Ling Qi thought it was a spirit stone, but the qi was not right for that. In fact, it looked almost like a sugar candy. He extended his hand to Hanyi and smiled kindly. “Hello there, young miss. I’ve heard good things about you. Do you think you would care for a treat?”

“I’m not some kind of baby,” Hanyi huffed, but she glanced up at Ling Qi. “I guess I’m a little hungry though.”

Ling Qi met Ostrik’s gaze and gave a little nod.

“I, Zhen, hope that Sir Sunsoul is not going to be stingy,” Zhen hissed.

Ostrik blinked. “What an odd little god to speak like a man, but let none say that I am ungenerous.” Two more candies were flicked out and caught in two mouths. Both of Zhengui’s heads hummed in happiness.

Ostrik dusted off his trousers as he rose back to his full height, towering near a full head over even Ling Qi. “I apologize if I might have overstepped myself, Emissary, but I know it can be difficult to care for children.”

“I do not mind,” Ling Qi said slowly, watching Hanyi. She was rolling the candy around in her mouth. Her eyebrows were scrunched together, and she seemed intensely focused on the flavor. “What was the contest between you and my companion about?”

“I spoke too quickly,” Gan Guangli explained, dipping his head. “I still find it strange that you would disdain martial valor so, Sir Ostrik, when you are clearly a man of great might.”

“It is not a matter of disdaining valour,” Ostrick grunted. “A man should not raise his hands against his fellow man, save in friendly sport.”

“If you do not mind my asking, why is that?” Ling Qi asked. It seemed that what she and Meng Dan had learned from the letters was accurate at least.

The foreign man rubbed his chin thoughtfully, considering her for a long moment before gesturing to the columns. He spoke in a clear, rolling voice that commanded attention. “It is as you see around you. The three aspects of the sun are the three aspects of men: joyous, inspirational Koliada, Lord of the Dawn; raging, mercurial Perkunas, the Stormbringer; and the wise, mysterious Crowfather, who walks beyond the Gates. A man who raises his hands to other men has allowed Perkunas to master him, giving in to his natural tempestuousness and rage. Such a man cannot stand among the suntouched for he is open to the whispers of the Outer Night.”

Gan Guangli frowned during the speech, but she got the impression that he had already heard it. “I am not inclined to agree. Discipline and martial practice go hand in hand.”

“It is good then that you speak to a man as radical as I and my comrades,” Osrik said in amusement. “Some of my crustier colleagues regard even sport as too much. But you held up against me in Koliada’s light, so let us argue no more. Perhaps in your strange, northern lands where the Night is weak and the Sun is ascendant, things are different.”

“I will say no more on the matter, Sir Ostrick,” Gan Guangli said. “I must say, I was expecting you to defeat me more easily given your power.”

Ostrik’s thick eyebrows rose. “Under the light, such contests are not a matter of strength, but spirit and discipline.”

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Ling Qi had been wondering about that. Ostrik seemed like he was at the peak of the third realm, although she was unsure how accurate her senses were among these people. Still, it was a good thing to know that these people differed from their more southerly peers. Something to note for her report.

“Is that how you come to accept the men of the cloud tribes?” Ling Qi asked, drawing his attention back.

Ostrik’s lips briefly twitched into a grimace. “Yes, it is a hard thing, but they are not quite men as we are, yes? Their beast souls protect them from the whispers of Night. They cannot be suntouched, but their ways do no harm, so far from the Gates.”

He must be referring to the cloud tribes’ cultivation method where they bonded with their mounts to the point of combining cultivation.