Threads 94-Diplomacy 3

“Many thanks for your invitation,” Alingge said as she strolled with Ling Qi to the empty end of the training field they had decided on.

“It’s no trouble. I was surprised to see you here though. I didn’t think still targets would offer anything to an archer of your skill,” Ling Qi said.

“It is the waking meditation, I believe you call it,” the other girl replied. “Difficulty is not the purpose.”

Something like what she did with sneaking around in her spare time or composing music with her mother then. That made more sense.

<Mhmm. Obviously, no one would do anything if it didn’t have cultivation benefits,> Sixiang joked. Ling Qi gave them a mental swat.

“Miss Alingge, it is good of you to join us,” Wang Chao greeted as they arrived.

“I have said that such formality is unnecessary for me. Please leave off such things” the girl said coolly, not friendly but neither unfriendly. Ling Qi wondered how they knew each other.

“It is inappropriate to refer to a lady by name alone,” Wang Chao said, looking uncertain. Beside him, Liang He put a hand on his shoulder. These two were a bit odd. Idly, Ling Qi wondered if the two of them were like Meizhen.

“Do as you will then,” Alingge said before looking to Ling Qi. “You have the xuan wu here?”

Ling Qi shook off her distracting thoughts and ignored Sixiang’s fit of laughter. “His name is Zhengui,” she corrected and gave her little brother the signal to materialize. There was an awkward silence as nothing happened, and Ling Qi felt her eyebrow twitch. She gave Zhengui a sharp mental prod.

<Huh-What, Gui is awake!>

She held back a sigh at his exclamation as Zhengui began to materialize in front of them. At his full size, Zhengui loomed over them, eight meters long from one end of his shell and about a third of that at the shoulder, and Zhen arching his body over Gui’s shell only made him seem larger. Ash drifted from his mouths and lines of fiery red pulsed in his shell as Zhengui struck a pose in the afternoon sunlight.

“I, Zhen, greet Big Sister’s human friends,” Zhen said proudly, his tongue flicking and leaving heat ripples in the air.

“Hello!” Gui chirped in a basso rumble.

“Such majesty,” Alingge breathed. Her wide, almost sparkling eyes made the taciturn girl look ten years younger. “I did not imagine such a potent furnace of beast qi.”

Ling Qi glanced at her in askance, not entirely sure what she was referring to. Zhen was going to be insufferable in the next few days.

“Indeed, a most impressive beast,” Wang Chao praised, examining Zhengui with a workman’s eye. “Your fortune is truly enviable, Miss Ling.”

“I suppose it is a good thing he was not included in our duel, else it would have been more one-sided,” Liang He said with self-deprecation.

“Yes, Zhen is very great, but he needs to learn to fight alongside Big Sister,” Zhen agreed pompously; She could practically see the serpent’s ego swelling.

“Just so,” Wang Chao agreed. “Miss Ling was right to come to me, for I have much wisdom to share!” Ling Qi wondered if there was going to be space for the both of them and their respective egos. “How to test the beast’s abilities though?”

“Perhaps you could spar with him? Zhengui rarely gets to face enemies other than myself,” Ling Qi suggested.

Wang Chao eyed her little brother up and down. “Not a bad idea,” he said, glancing back at her and the others. “If I’m to give you proper instruction, I’ll need to see the two of you together though.”

Ling Qi did not want to risk embarrassing the older boy. He was a step above her in cultivation of course, and as a comital scion, his arts were surely high quality. But she was aware of just how frustrating it was to fight her. It might be better to spar with Wang Chao in a private training ground after they had obtained a proper sparring license. “I was hoping that you could assess his abilities individually first.”

“I, too, wish to see the great beast’s abilities in action,” Alingge agreed, her eyes not leaving Zhengui. “The mists and ice are not good for spectation.”

“I, Zhen, will face whoever Big Sister likes,” Zhen hissed haughtily.

“Gui, too,” his other half agreed. “Are we gonna fight Mister Avalanche?”

“It seems so.” Wang Chao seemed fairly chuffed, rolling his shoulders as he surveyed the xuan wu. “Let it not be said that Wang Chao would ignore a lady’s request. Liang, will you see to the field settings? Then you can join the ladies.”

The other boy chuckled, glancing over at the two of them nervously. “Of course, Lord Wang. I hope you enjoy your spar.”

“It should be good fun. I assume your spirit does not need to be coddled, Miss Ling?” Wang Chao asked.

“I will trust your discretion,” Ling Qi forced out. She felt a pang of pain at the thought of leaving Zhengui to fight a stronger opponent unsupported, but it was only a spar. She couldn’t baby him if he was going to keep up with her. “Zhengui, fight hard, okay?”

“Yes, Big Sister!” they both announced in unison.

Together with Alingge, Ling Qi withdrew to the edge of the training field as the air around it shimmered, preventing any stray qi or objects from flying out and disrupting the rest of the training grounds. Ling Qi glanced at the fur-clad girl at her side. “Do you actually have trouble seeing through my mist?”

“It is an effort,” Alingge replied shortly, watching as Wang Chao and Zhengui walked apart, giving each other some starting distance. “Effort better spent elsewhere. Though it was amusing to watch you hunt in the tournament.”

Ling Qi hummed, noting the faint circulation of qi through the girl’s eyes, ears, and nose. She was activating some kind of perception art. “And I have improved quite a lot since then,” she mused.

“Yes,” the other girl agreed.

You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.

Out in the field, Wang Chao leveled his pike at Zhengui. “Let us begin then! Sir Ling, I will give you a five count to prepare yourself!”

Ling Qi blinked. Referring to Zhengui that way… Wang Chao was taking her claim of him as her little brother seriously. She wondered whether that actually was a thing she could do, legally speaking.

“You better not look down on Gui!” her little brother warned, even as his shell flared with volcanic light and Ling Qi felt his root system spreading under the field. The air around Zhen distorted with heat.

“He’s surprisingly earnest,” Ling Qi commented.

“Lord Wang is very straightforward.” She glanced over to see Liang He approaching them. She took a moment to study his face. All playfulness aside, he really did seem slightly afraid of her.