Threads 184-Return 3

“I’d thought of trying to convince you to come, but I never thought you’d seek it out.” Ling Qi’s voice rang out sourcelessly from the churning mist in the ruined cavern

“And why not? I have every right to attend the gatherings of my peers,” Meizhen said imperiously. She stood upon a raised platform of stone, surrounded by clear air. Where tendrils of mist crept into her sphere, it grew dark and heavy, drizzling to the ground in fat droplets of rain to join the rippling pond of black water that had formed around her.

“I didn’t think you thought them peers,” Ling Qi’s echoing voice admitted. The mist shifted and rang with a cold aria. Ice spread across the black pond as freezing wind whipped the air.

Ribbons of metal flashed and skirled, and the flexible blades captured the wind, guiding it to the ground where the pond erupted into an expanding line of spiky ice. A twitch of Meizhen’s wrist sent the ribbons out, hissing like serpents as they punched holes in the mist, tearing apart shadowy phantoms. “There is no harm in being polite.”

“You’ve changed,” Ling Qi observed. She laughed, and her laughter became a hoarfrost wind, closing from all sides.

“I would hope so,” her friend retorted before she disappeared behind the snow and hail conjured by Ling Qi’s song.

The mist rippled and withdrew as Ling Qi landed on the uneven ground in a crouch, eyeing the blossom of crystal ice which had formed in the center. She barely had time to blink before the first cracks formed.

“I would be a failure of a cultivator if I had not,” Meizhen said as the ice shattered, scattering from her. Frost and slush clung briefly to the hems of her gown as she stepped down onto the gleaming black ice. “The power behind your techniques has improved. If the potency of your art was higher, it would have broken my passive defences.”

Ling Qi nodded as she rose to her full height. The Frozen Soul Serenade, the art taught to her by Zeqing, was beginning to fall behind as she rose through the stages of the green realm. But she was not yet ready to truly make it her own and develop her own version. She still felt some trepidation at the idea. There was a difference between tweaking a basic art from the archive and trying to make something equal to Zeqing’s song.

“You have me at a disadvantage like usual.” Ling Qi sighed. She could feel Sixiang all but rolling their eyes. “Why did you ask that way instead of talking to me?”

Meizhen cocked an eyebrow, resting her hand on her hip where the sash gifted to her by Bao Qingling rippled with toxic qi. “You were unavailable.”

Ling Qi gave her a dead-eyed look, unimpressed by the excuse.

Meizhen smiled thinly. “You have described him well enough. A request from one of my stature put him in a good, malleable mood once he got over the initial alarm, did it not?”

“Don’t put it like that.” Ling Qi grimaced. “But yes, it did make him happy.”

“Whatever your preferred terminology is,” Meizhen said flippantly.

“You have changed,” Ling Qi repeated. Meizhen had always had an unshakeable confidence in her public persona, but it had deepened over the past months. In a way, Ling Qi was jealous. She still felt as if she were faking her own poise at times.

“For the better, naturally,” Meizhen agreed, stepping up onto solid stone once more.

“Yeah, who knew a few kisses could accomplish so much, or have you gone further than that?” Ling Qi asked idly, her lips twitching up into a smirk.

Meizhen spluttered, color rising in her pale cheeks. “Do not just say things like that, you vulgar girl!”

Sixiang snickered along with her, but Ling Qi raised her head in surrender as Meizhen began to glare. “Sorry, Meizhen. Someone has to tease you though, and unfortunately, I can’t rely on Lady Cai for that.”

Meizhen made a wordless grumble, giving her a look that promised vengeance. Ling Qi resigned herself to being embarrassed in the future. The vengeance of a Bai was unstoppable after all.

“I can sense when I am being made light of,” Meizhen warned.

“I would never,” Ling Qi said, giving a mocking bow. “Really though, Meizhen, how have you been?”

The other girl pursed her lips. “In all honesty, I have been frustrated. I understand why I am not deployed, but I am beginning to find it stifling. Particularly when I am the only one.”

Ling Qi dipped her head in acknowledgement. It went without saying that the comparison was the only one out of the people Bai Meizhen concerned herself with.

“But my growth has been good,” Bai Meizhen said. “I will not be far behind Qingling in achieving the sixth stage. However, beyond that, Ling Qi, can you tell me what has happened to Cai Renxiang?”

“We have accepted a heavy responsibility,” Ling Qi replied.

“That would explain a certain level of stress, but I am certain you know that is not what I am talking about,” Bai Meizhen said.

Ling Qi considered the encounter on the mountainside, Liming, and the conversation they had earlier this month. “It is something only Lady Renxiang has the right to share. Please continue as you always do around her. She won’t appreciate anything else, I think.”

Meizhen crossed her arms, and although frustration passed over her features, she gave a single nod. “Very well. It was somewhat rude of me to ask.”

“It’s not rude to be concerned about a friend,” Ling Qi disagreed. “But I guess I should ask, what do you think of what we’re doing?”

Meizhen paused, glancing back at the frozen pond and scattered ice. “I worry for both of you. I worry that you are pushing too fast and trusting too quickly. I can’t imagine my family looking upon this matter with approval.”

Ling Qi lowered her head. She had expected that.

“This is why I expect you to be invited to speak with us, come the tournament,” Meizhen finished, and Ling Qi looked up in surprise.

“Well, Lady Cai will be invited. You will no doubt attend as her retainer,” Meizhen acknowledged. “While my aunt will be busy, representatives from among her supporters will come, both for Xiao Fen’s sake and to maintain the connection with the Duchess.”

This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.

“Oh,” Ling Qi said nervously. “Will they be ill disposed towards us, do you think?”

Meizhen was quiet for an uncomfortably long time. “… They will be the friendliest audience you can expect among my family.”

“That doesn’t give me any confidence at all,” Ling Qi groused.

“I hope to give you and Cai Renxiang both a degree of coaching.” Bai Meizhen ignored her words. “Do you think your schedules will allow it?”

“I already asked Xuan Shi to clear his schedule over the next few days. And I have a meeting with Bao Qian this month.” Ling Qi chewed her lip. She needed to clear time for Zhengui too, although that could be done in the evening and early morning. “But yes, please, and thank you. I am sure Lady Cai will say the same.”

“Then it seems, we will be seeing one another more often, Qi,” Meizhen said, smiling slightly.

“That is a silver lining,” Ling Qi said, smiling back.