Threads 240-Fox 2

Beyond was the shrine center, filled with the fallen icons of little gods. Peeling paint that should have been too faded for detail nonetheless spoke the old tales of creation and the coming of Tsu in the currents of the liminal energy woven tight still through the walls. There, in the place of honor, stood the withered flowers of the Bountiful Earth, born of Tsu, patriarch spirit of the Emerald Seas. There, the silver disc of the Mother Moon lay untarnished still. And there, an icon of a river god was tarnished to black, and a dozen others were even less recognizable than that.

At the center where the god of the shrine was to sit was a broken figure of gold, its nine tails drooping, melted and broken. Its altar was painted in the bright colors of dawn.

“When festivals stop, when offerings end, blood and flesh remain,” Sixiang said quietly.

Su Ling whirled on them, lips drawn back in a snarl. “Don’t you dare try ta excuse this shit ‘cause of something a disgusting fuck did forever ago!”

Sixiang raised their hands defensively. “Not giving excuses here. Spirits are spirits though.”

“Not all deals are good ones,” Ling Qi said. “But there are consequences even for breaking bad contracts.”

Su Ling shot her a hurt look.

“Explanations aren’t excuses, Su Ling,” Ling Qi said steadily.

Her friend grimaced, dragging a hand through her hair. “I fuckin’ know that. Sorry. That doesn’t explain why that bitch isn’t dead. Plenty of places broke with the old ways and didn’t leave the spirits to do as they liked.”

“That’s true,” Ling Qi agreed. “An unwanted god is just an obstacle after all. Why leave it, or being realistic, a descendant of it, still wandering around in one of the strongest counties of the Emerald Seas?”

Su Ling moved into the room, glaring up at the broken statue in its center. It stared back with empty eye sockets, the gems that had once filled them long gone.

They both flinched, qi rising against a threat as they heard a crash from behind them. A wisp clinging to the back of Ling Qi’s gown spotted a bushy haired shadow darting into a side hall. She shared a look with Su Ling, whose sharp ears had surely caught the pattering of feet.

“Do you still want to ignore that?” Ling Qi asked.

“Not all of us get all worked up just because they see a cute kid,” Su Ling retorted.”Wouldn’t they just be a weird memory figment at best?”

“Could be a little cousin playing around,” Sixiang suggested. “What do you want to do?”

“I don’t know. Say I accept this, that something way back went wrong, and caused… her. What do I do with that?”

“It might not help your peace of mind, but figuring out your obstacles will still help you move toward your goal,” Ling Qi said.

Su ling grimaced. “You’re right. I shouldn’t ignore that. It’s just…”

“What did you want to find?” Ling Qi asked.

“Some conspiracy or cult keeping her around?” Su Ling ventured. “Not that she’s probably just the shitty result of something unrelated.”

Ling Qi thought back to her conversations with Meng Dan and sighed. “You’ve described most major events in history right there, or so I’ve been told.”

“Izzat so?” Su Ling let out a bark of laughter.

“Well, historical events are usually several unrelated fuck ups piling up in one place,” Ling Qi said, allowing herself to be just a bit vulgar. She was taking liberties with his words, but it was helping Su Ling, so she could apologize later.

There was a scrape, and something fell again.

“She’s not very good at that,” Su Ling grumbled. “Not sure if that makes it more or less believable.”

Ling Qi hummed. It was just her gut, but she didn’t think the child, or thing wearing one’s face, was a trap, at least not from Su Ling’s mother. “If she’s going to keep following us, maybe we should just meet her now.

“Time is probably better spent here,” Su Ling disagreed. “Maybe I get that sicko’s memory talking again and find out something more.”

They both looked to Sixiang, who held up their hands. “Whoa. whoa, what am I. some kind of tiebreaker?”

“Yes,” they both agreed.

Sixiang stuck out their tongue. “We should check up on the kid. If they are up to something, we don’t really want to just let her set up something.”

Su Ling grimaced, not able to refute the logic. “Fine. You know it’s not a real kid though, right?”

“It’s pretty unlikely,” Ling Qi agreed. The only reason she even considered the possibility was that a child with a fox’s bloodline might theoretically be born with a gift for dreamwalking.

“Let’s go check this out then. I did already get the basic picture here,” Su Ling grunted, moving back toward the door.

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“Yeah,” Sixiang said unhappily, buffing the tarnished icon of the Mother Moon with their sleeve. “The picture isn’t subtle. This place musta wanted to show it for a long time.”

Ling Qi shared a glance with Su Ling and ghosted out of the room as a ribbon of shadow. Shapeless, bodiless, she flowed along the splintered ceiling, seeking the source of warmth and life and light in this dark place. Her companions followed behind in silence.