Threads 357-Disruption 3

She followed in the thought-shade’s pale shadow, unremarked and unseen, into a blank hallway that shivered and jittered as if melting continuously, barely coherent even in her perception. She must be following this thought-shade into the man’s subconscious beneath the layer of active self.

For a moment, pain shot through her head like a knife in the eye, sharp and pulsating, and her whole perception of this place almost collapsed, the semi-coherent imagery threatening to warp into a completely alien collection of color and noise and sensory overload. Ling Qi swiftly retook control of her technique, not allowing the qi flow to collapse and eject her from the man’s mind.

But this effort had cost her a second. The shade disposing of the short-term memories turned ahead of her down another hallway, and she shot off after it through the twisting space, flying along the ceiling. She caught up to it as it entered a room. This one was even less cohesive than the hall outside, appearing as half a storage room, lined with dripping, melting shelves. A yawning gray void continuously swallowed the shelves even as new ones formed near the door.

A lower realm or mortal mind had a much more limited capacity for information than a higher realm cultivator’s. Ultimately, one could not find something that was not there. If there was something here in his mind still and it was forgotten, not even Cao Chun’s techniques would be able to find it. That was frightfully devious.

She tracked the shade as it set the box down and left, and she could already hear another coming down the hall. So the moment it was gone, she dropped down, reforming a body balanced precariously on the shifting floor. Qi gathered at her fingertips. Warily preparing her Opening the Vault technique, even if she detected no defenses, Ling Qi reached for the box, clearing away junk. She discarded the smell of grass at the worksite, the grunted greetings to his workmates, and the taste of a dull, uninteresting porridge. And there, beneath it, movement.

She snatched it from the air as it leapt for the void, a squirming, skittering thing. She caught it by the hindmost legs, and they nearly snapped off between her fingers before her other hand caught up, cupping the thing in her grip. She felt fangs nip at her, but they failed to break her skin. It looked like a spider, but its body was a little too long, and there were just too many legs. She narrowed her eyes, focusing on it between the gaps in her fingers.

It went still in her grasp, and then, its oily carapace cracked, and on its abdomen, an eye opened. Deep, empty, and black, featureless and yet looking back at her with malice. She felt power spike from it, something infinitely greater looking back at her through the parasite.

She heard a child laugh. She heard a child sob. The sounds mingled like the most awful sort of music, discordant and miserable. A long spindly hand reached past her shoulder. It touched the not-spider gently, and it froze, eye and all. The unnerving feel of Shu Yue’s qi was comforting all the same as she felt the greater presence fleeing. But there was a moment where she was really able to see it.

Still Waters Deeping. Archivist of the Reviled.

“So many layers to the catching.” Shu Yue’s dry raspy voice whispered in her ear. “Good work. Retreat now. Your control is destabilizing.”

Ling Qi gave a jerky nod, shaking off the feeling of a greater power once again looking down on her, of the feeling that she was about to be crushed. Another layer of trap to kill her if she got this far? Well, it had failed, and now, she had a Name.

She was not the greatest fan of this game. The thought parasite in her hand was still and stable. She drew it into her storage ring. If Cao Chun could not do something with this, then she would be disappointed indeed. She took hold of the shuddering qi in the meridian she had bound to her Thief of Names art and pushed it out, dispersing the technique in the proper way.

She felt like she was rising, and the world went white. And she was back in the liminal proper, wrapped in Sixiang’s presence. She staggered, having to take hold of herself and still her qi.

“Everything alright there?” Sixiang asked worriedly, their voice echoing and dissolute, seeming to come from all around her.

“Just not used to the technique yet. How long was I in there?”

Ling Qi scanned her surroundings, peeking back through the veil. Men surrounded Chen Gang, who was sitting down, holding his head. Damage? It seemed to just be pain and queasiness. The White Sky workers were a bit further away, glancing at the imperials and whispering in their own tongue. A few of their own were peering back suspiciously.

No immediate conflict likely.

“About a minute? Saw some fluttery spirits. Think they might be your guests noticing something happening and looking in from afar. Nothing else to report, boss.”

She nodded and cast her thoughts out for the metallic sensation of Jin Tae’s qi. He felt far away and sharp-edged, frustrated.

She had acquired trace evidence of the culprit in the victim. Any luck on the chase?

“Minimal. Decoys and looping trails. Was able to record some traces of composition despite the dissolution of the objects.”

Zheng Fu followed up. “Not… the greatest over here. I killed the root-y, worm-y thing that came crawling out of the one guy’s thoughts. Pretty sure it was made to dig in and stir up the mountain, but the fella it hatched out of went crazy on the foreign folks, accusing them of cursing him. He’s passed out now. Not broken, just hurt. I tried to be precise, but there was some kind of feedback. Not a trace of the gribbly now.”

Ling Qi sucked in a breath. Was there further conflict brewing?

“Some shouting. I stepped out and kept folks calm.”

“Unfortunate. Will reroute medical personnel. Am told several among the Emerald Seas military guards began to show signs of curse outbreak. Inspector Cao excised the curses before they could become visible or notable to most attendees. Inspector believes the Lord Meng and the Emissary Rostam took notice of his action. Meeting proceeding for the moment.”

Something infecting the soldiers? Ling Qi had to take a deep breath. If the inspector’s eyes had been elsewhere, that could have thrown the summit into chaos. It might not have been completely crippling, but it would have made negotiations infinitely more difficult.

“Recess approaching. You are needed back at the hall. Your presence is being missed. Inspector Cao requests you move to reassure the barbarians after delivering your evidence. He will speak with Lord Meng.”

No more specifics than that? She supposed Jin Tae must be feeling harried. Ling Qi looked toward the beacon of the hall, a tall and twisted caricature of the building composed of clashing ice and lightning, confused on what it was meant to be but slowly settling.

The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.

The benefits of secrecy simply weren’t enough to outweigh the negatives, Ling Qi thought. For a while now, she had banked and benefited from the fact that few expected one of her cultivation to have such advanced liminal arts, but that had run its course at this point. Her dreamwalking abilities had already been an increasingly open secret, and trying to hide it further now would be of little benefit. No doubt the White Sky would investigate themselves if she gave them little information, and that merely opened up opportunities for the imperial and White Sky investigators to end up at cross purposes, tripping over each other’s efforts.

Organizing her thoughts, she pressed to the front an answer to Jin Tae. She understood. She would be returning to the hall to reassure the emissaries now unless he required further assistance with the aftermath.

“Ministry has matters in hand. Inspector Cao requests a meeting post-judicial debate to discuss event.”

Of course. She would be there.

“Man, that guy’s got a spear up his…”

“Sixiang,” Ling Qi interrupted mildly, looking at the colors radiating from her. “Thank you for today. I don’t see anything wrong with these people. Do you see anything?”

The colors shimmered and pulsed, the impression of Sixiang humming thoughtfully.

“Guy’s head is aching something fierce, but it’s not more than a bad hangover or a whack to the head, I think? You got in and out quick and stopped the spooky stuff from happening. You did good.”

“Then I need to get back and try to find a way to explain this all to Jaromila without setting off an incident with everyone.”

“Haaaaaaaah. Good luck with that, partner. That’s a fight I won’t be able to help much with. I think I make the icy folks jittery.”