Threads 282-Winters End 1

“Big Sister! I bet you’ve been in all sorts of trouble without me!” Hanyi yelled gleefully, all but jumping into her arms for a hug.

“Maybe a little. “I’d like to hear what you’ve been up to though.” Ling Qi laughed, hugging her back. “Ah, and what’s this?”

She pinched a few strands of Hanyi’s hair between her fingers. On top of getting longer, the tips had darkened to a pale icy blue rather than white.

“It just started to change. I like it though!” Hanyi claimed, stepping back. She was still grinning.

Ling Qi took a moment to look her over. Hanyi’s features were getting sharper, a little more like her mother’s, losing the last shreds of childish softness, and she was taller than Suyin or Meizhen was now.

“Oh! Check it out, big sis. I got a bunch of presents!”

“That she did,” Bao Qian huffed, finally stepping down from inside his wagon. The vehicle was parked here some distance from the Outer Sect town in the clearing he had rented from the Sect. It had been repainted in blues and whites and silvers. “A most successful venture indeed.” He set the heavy trunk in his arms down on the ground with a thump.

“Thank you for taking care of my junior sister, Bao Qian,” Ling Qi said politely as her sister ran over.

Crouching down before the trunk, Hanyi pulled an iron key from her pocket, unlocking and hauling it open.

“It was a bit of a trip,” he said. Lowering his voice, he added. “She is precocious, isn’t she?”

“That’s the word,” Ling Qi agreed. “Was there any real trouble?”

“Some ruffled feathers and offended priests. We weren’t welcomed warmly everywhere, but the impression was better than not. I have some correspondence from Viscount Tian, who mentioned Meng Diu’s name. Come next winter, he may wish to schedule a proper festival,” Bao Qian replied.

Ling Qi nodded, filing away the name for later. There were three, no, was it four—?

<It’s four. Four viscounts on the scheduled route. Small one, farthest south,> Sixiang helpfully provided.

Yes, that. She would worry about that later though.

The trunk lid popped open, revealing a massive pile of trinkets and objects without any organization. Hanyi beamed up at her. “See, see! So many presents, and these are the ones I couldn’t eat!”

Ling Qi glanced at Bao Qian, who shrugged. “Food and libations are common sacrifices.”

“Mhmm, even the really plain stuff tasted so good with the incense burning.” Hanyi dug around in the trunk. Ling Qi saw everything from rough wooden figurines to folded furs and clinking bottles, polished river stones, and pouches of herbs and more.

<Sixiang, what do spirits normally do with offerings to them?> LIng Qi wondered silently.

<Depends. Most just absorb them, but some keep some around in their spaces. I suspect the little gremlin’s gonna be a hoarder.>

“This one’s my favorite!” Hanyi exclaimed, turning to her with a bundle of soft cloth. It fell open, revealing a fine figurine of blue frosted glass shaped like a girl dancing in mid-whirl. She felt like it was probably supposed to be Hanyi. “I was so happy! And the glass guy was so happy when I said so and gave him a blessing cause he had a little baby, and he asked me to help make sure they didn’t get sick this winter and…”

Ling Qi listened as Hanyi went on, a nonstop stream of words describing interactions with people from low commoners up to minor nobles. She’d never seen Hanyi so animated about talking to people, but it seemed the mass of praise was downright intoxicating to the young spirit. It seemed as well that she had taken instinctually to giving blessings and fortune as a worshiped spirit. However unusual her origin, Hanyi seemed to have slid into the role without a thought.

“Anyway, it was great! Lots of people loved me! It’s super weird hearing people even when I’m not around, and like, feeling the wind and the clouds and other weather stuff. Nudging it around is kinda tiring, especially when other spirits are being grumpy losers about it and pushing back.”

“Did you actually pick any fights?” Ling Qi asked, concerned.

Bao Qian coughed into his hand, and Hanyi paused, looking abashed. Ling Qi gave her a flat look.

“… It was only one time! There was a hail spirit, and I had to make her go away. I had just promised that those fields would be okay. She can do her thing before the early planting from now on,” Hanyi justified, turning up her nose. “Even that priest guy who followed us around agreed that I’d, uh…”

“Established dominance.” Bao Qian sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. “While I am not a priest myself, I understand that this isn’t too unusual for spirits to compete and push against one another’s interests. Managing and tracking these relationships is a part of the Ministry of Spiritual Affairs’ duties.”

“But there was no offense given to any greater spiritual courts?” Ling Qi asked.

“Inspiring spirits to coalesce into recognizable organizations are partially brought about by human interaction,” Bao Qian said. “The south of the Meng lands is—”

The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.

“Kind of a mess. It felt like a place where everybody only stopped fighting because they were too tired to keep going,” Hanyi said. “And none of the really big spirits there care about people.”

Given that it was among the most heavily raided regions in the south and had suffered back and forth conquest during and before Ogodei, that made sense.

“I’m glad then,” Ling Qi said, stepping up to give Hanyi another hug. “Sounds like you’ve really found something for yourself.”

“Mhm!” Hanyi agreed, hugging her back. “I wanna check out things at home, too. I bet I can see stuff better now.”

“I’ll take you later,” Ling Qi promised, resting a hand on her head.

“Later… Oh.” Hanyi paused. Her features screwed up into a troubled expression. “O-oh, I almost forgot.”