Threads 259-Storyteller 3

“The construct,” Ling Qi explained, “along with some other projects, was found in a clanless fourth realm crafter’s workshop after he passed. Since he had no living kin, it all went to auction.”

Li Suyin’s eyes lit up, one rather more literally. “Really! How in the world would one end up in such a situation?”

The basic story learned in the Outer Sect wasn’t wrong, but it did have wrinkles. “Technically, he was a baron, who originally came from Blue Mountain but never took land. I hear you crafter types can get away with that if you do enough contract work.”

Li Suyin nodded in understanding. “Yes, some of us are very… isolationist.”

Crafting cultivators could often be a little crazy, and if they were willing to just sit in their workshop and churn out talismans, the rules could be bent.

“This should be fascinating! I won’t be able to use his work directly of course, but getting a good look at another crafter’s methodology on constructs should be very insightful. Ah, I’m so lucky that Senior Sister is here as well.”

“She is?” Ling Qi asked, spooning a generous dollop of honey into her tea. “Well, leaving that aside, do you mind if I watch you take it apart?”

“You make it sound so crude.” Li Suyin took a deep drink from her tea, showing no sign of dislike for its bitterness. “But of course. May I ask why?”

Ling Qi hummed, thinking back to the shadowplay, the phantoms in the gaol, and her own mist. The gauntlet that Huisheng had put forth tickled the back of her mind. Ling Qi had used phantoms since nearly the beginning, first, the shadows in the mist of the Forgotten Vale Melody and then, the revelers of the Phantasmagoria of Lunar Revelry. Now, she worked through the more complex constructs of the Beast King’s Savage Dirge.

“I’m looking for insights on the cultivation of construct arts.”

“It’s not quite the same,” Li Suyin warned. “But I’d love to be able to help you!”

***

Li Suyin had been diligent in expanding her workshop. The complex of chambers and tunnels beneath her little manor were at least as expansive as the grounds above and went down some three floors. The chamber her friend had led her to was dense with tools and furniture. There were multiple workbenches of varying size with every imaginable carving and etching tool, arranged in neat rows. The ceiling was concealed by a dense layer of webbing, and scores of artificial limbs, body parts, and internal components dangled from thin threads.

At the center of the web crouched a spider. Bright pink and covered in a thick layer of fuzz, Li Suyin’s spirit beast had grown large, comparable now to a sizable dog, and that was ignoring the bulbous sack of webbing bound to the arachnid’s plump abdomen. It bobbed and shook with every twitching motion, but also pulsed with something internal.

The tall, gangly figure standing underneath the crouching spider spoke. “Good. The elixirs are having the proper effect, growth is on track, and the feeding frenzy should be curtailed. The survival rate of the offspring should be increased by some fifteen percent.” Bao Qingling’s head twitched in their direction as they entered the room. “Li Suyin. Ling Qi.”

“Senior Sister,” Li Suyin said, bowing her head. “Zhenli is well?”

“Lady Bao is most experienced. Her elixirs will do my first brood good,” Zhenli replied, rubbing her pedipalps together in a way that conveyed satisfaction. Ling Qi met eight glassy black eyes unperturbed. “My apologies for not being available to tend to you and your guest, Mistress.”

“It’s fine. I was able to entertain Ling Qi on my own, wasn’t I, Ling Qi?” Suyin said lightly, approaching an empty workbench.

“Yes,” Ling Qi agreed a little awkwardly. “Ah, congratulations?”

“Mistress’s guest honors Zhenli,” spoke the spirit beast, spreading her forwardmost limbs in a way that dragged at the trailing webbing and made it seem like a curtsey.

Don’t, please, Ling Qi thought to Sixiang.

Sixiang blithely ignored her. “Yeah, no, I’m good. I wonder who the lucky fella was.”

She saw a spark of pride in the spider’s black eyes, and Zhenli preened. “There were many clever and graceful males who tried. Thanks to the Mistress, I was well fed enough that I was able to keep my favorite!”

Ling Qi definitely didn’t feel her expression going a little stiff.

“Why bring her down here?” Bao Qingling asked gruffly. “I was going to come up when the examination was finished.”

Ling Qi was never so grateful to the blunt girl for something to distract herself from Sixiang and the spider’s gossip. Even Li Suyin had the grace to look a little embarrassed.

“It’s my fault,” Ling Qi said. “I brought her a present, a master’s puppet construct from Xiangmen. I wanted to watch her examination.”

Bao Qingling’s head tilted, her gaze going somewhere just past Ling Qi’s head. “It’s not the same.”

“It’s not,” Ling Qi agreed, “but some of the philosophy may be applicable. I have been looking for greater control and versatility in my arts. I will not be able to keep following templates forever.”

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“You are near the fifth step,” Bao Qingling assessed. “Understandable.”

“Besides, it’s a good conversation piece. I don’t think either of you have had the chance to speak like this,” Li Suyin chirped cheerfully. “Ling Qi is quite clever in her way, Senior Sister.”

Ling Qi raised an eyebrow. What kind of compliment was that?