Threads 355 Disruption 1

It was not the scribbler’s chamber where they found Cao Chun. That was sealed off. Instead, they met him out where the giant spider corpse had been, the grand chamber turned into something of an office partitioned off with cheap wood and paper dividers painted with security formations. The agent led them through the bustling center to the room where the inspector waited.

Cao Chun waited for them behind a desk of dark wood, a neat stack of documents off to one side, which, at a glance, Ling Qi found she could not see the contents of.

“Baroness Ling, welcome. I will not censure you for the surprise guest. The Zheng clan is notoriously spontaneous.” The inspector folded his hands in front of his face. His mask was up, tied to the side of his head.

“We sure are! Thanks. I figured you’d be fine with it. You know what I’m about.”

“Your master is known to us, Zheng Fu,” Cao Chun said dully. It did not sound like a compliment.

Ling Qi glanced at Zheng Fu; he grinned. “My master, Zheng Gen the Formless, is pretty sneaky. He taught me good. It’s why I figured I could help.”

“It is doubtful that you or this event are a direct target of Zheng intelligence. When not involving himself, that one prefers to simply instill a mindset, send out his pieces, and let events unfold,” Cao Chun said.

“Man, you make everything sound like a plot, don’t you?” Zheng Fu wondered. “But I’m just here to assist that brave lady here. She’s worked pretty hard on this, I can tell. It’d be a shame for some idjits to ruin it.”

“It is not acceptable for plots to go about under the ministry’s nose uncovered,” Cao Chun agreed. “Baroness Ling, you wished to talk about the accidents.”

“I do. I doubt it is a surprise to you when I say that our own assets are quite sure that they are not accidents at all.”

“No. We are not surprised. The signs are hidden well, but in the final week of preparations, the frequency was too much for coincidence. The number was enough so that I suspect that the culprits wanted to see attention brought to this.”

“May I ask if the ministry has found any leads on the matter?”

“Frankly, the signs point to the barbarians, or if I am being generous, some rogue faction within them.”

Ling Qi frowned deeply. “How so, inspector?”

“They have significant mastery of geomancy and spiritualism. All of the incidents involve some disruption or manipulation thereof. And there have been signs of their distorted form of qi at the sites of investigation. It is most subtle and required my direct investigation to find,” Cao Chun answered crisply. “However, I am not ready to make accusations.”

Zheng Fu crossed his arms. “And why’s that?”

“Because I am disinclined to accept a result where I am being so easily shown what I wish to see. Nor does it fit my observation of these barbarians’ methods. No, frankly, this reminds more of the mental treachery of the Hui.”

“Honestly, my suspicions run more toward our other foes given their methods and penchant for intrigue.” Ling Qi nodded toward the ground. “I think the ith-ia and their own allies would stand to benefit the most from this summit dissolving into violence, or simply failing. I have no direct evidence yet, but the motive seems right.”

“That is a foe I have considered as well,” Cao Chun agreed. “As it stands, there are multiple barbarian culprits possible, and…”

“And our own folks,” Zheng Fu finished with a shrug. “It’d be dumb, but since when has that stopped us?”

Cao Chun looked irritated. “Yes. It is possible. There are elements in the empire much more upset by this attempt than I.”

“Regardless,” Ling Qi said, “finding the truth of the matter is key. I admit, our own investigations have been limited thus far. We suspect that there will be another accident during the first week, but we haven’t narrowed it further.”

Meng Dan had been working hard to divine that from the current information and patterns of behavior, but he also had other duties, meaning that he couldn’t devote his full time to it.

Cao Chun tapped his gnarled fingers together. “I have reason to believe there will be an incident tomorrow. I suspect either a crumbling of the road up to the severed peak, spilling men and materials down to injury or death, or an incident at the road junction where our crews are finishing the connection of our warding networks. It will likely take place around the middle of the day when I am occupied with watching over negotiations. It is very possibly meant to distract me and allow something untoward elsewhere.”

“There are many potent cultivators there,” Ling Qi pointed out. “You could…”

“Not with eyes like mine,” Cao Cun interrupted, “and I do not trust those crow creatures among our delegates without my sight. Furthermore, while nothing is confirmed yet, I suspect the culprit or culprits are making use of infomorphic arts of some kind.”

Zheng Fu glanced at her. “Our kinda stuff. Dream stuff.”

“If you must be crude,” Cao Chun replied. “Yes, liminal manipulation. Of what kind, I am not yet certain, but the taste is in the air. It is not just the Hui remnants clinging to this valley like pollution, though that is not helping. I would prefer to handle this matter, but I will not turn away field expertise. That is why I accepted this meeting.”

Ling Qi understood now. Inspector Cao must have been considering it already, but in approaching him with at least a tentative peace offering, he had become more willing. “I see. Of course, I will assist however I can. We can’t afford saboteurs with how delicate negotiations are. How may I help with this?”

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“The simplest method, the one certain to prevent any real world harm, would be for you to lurk in wait on the ‘other side’ at the appropriate locations. However, this will likely spook the suspects. Your absence will be too obvious. But it may inform us of our foe’s priorities based upon how they react.”

“Huh? Maybe I could relay?” Zheng Fu proposed. “I’m just a feckless observer. Don’t got anything to do. I can lurk around and send you a message when I notice something going down. You’re good enough to step that far once you can make excuses to get out of the meeting hall for a minute, right?”

“I can,” Ling Qi said slowly. It was at most a couple kilometers if the strike site was the mountain path and even less for the road nexus. That was no distance at all if she was skimming the liminal border.

“Possible. This will still be an alteration to the meeting which may tip off the suspects. It is, however, less risky. My apprentice has some skill in these arts as well, and I had thought to assign him as a spotter for the agents involved before Sir Zheng’s proposal. I will make use of him for communications with you during any operation regardless, but I propose that you make use of him here.”

Ling Qi did not care for Jin Tae very much, but if Cao Chun believed in his skill, then it had to be real.

“How much danger do you believe the targets of these accidents are in?” Ling Qi asked the inspector.