Threads Chapter 386

“It’s funny.” Sixiang looked thoughtful after Xuan Shi had left.

“What?”

“He still likes you, but I think he’s actually better for taking a step back.”

“You shouldn’t center your whole life around another person.” Ling Qi had seen where that led in Elder Jiao and Meizhen’s father. “It is not fair to them. Or you.”

Sixiang hummed noncommittally, resting their chin on their crossed arms, only to sit up straight a moment later.

Ling Qi’s eyes darted to the corner of the room where she felt the veil of reality distorting.

Laughter and mist.

“Hello to you too, Zheng Fu. I see they have not revamped the security much.”

Stepping out of the shimmering air, Zheng Fu grinned at her behind his scarf. “C’mon, it’s only been ten days. If you’re worried though, pretty sure I’d already be dead if I was a baddie given the eyes on this place.”

“That’s good to know.” Ling Qi lifted her head and then down. She just had to get the qi circulating some more. She had promised not to cultivate, not to be completely still.

He looked her up and down appraisingly, and she frowned up at him.

“You really are nutty.”

Sixiang chuckled. “She’s been reminded.”

She glared at the muse and then back at Zheng Fu. “I was not going to allow this summit to fail over an old man’s tantrums, no matter how powerful he was. Not if I could do anything about it.”

“Nutty,” Zheng Fu repeated, stepping up to the foot of her bed. “You wanna visit the ol’ dreaming court together when you’re fixed up?”

“No, thank you,” Ling Qi refused immediately.

“Hah, figured. Worth a shot though.” Zheng Fu shrugged. “Anyway, how much did the Xuan guy tell ya?”

“Not too much. We were speaking more personally.”

“Guess that’s why he blew me off. Ya’ll are so stuffy,” Zheng Fu complained. “I figured out there was a cultivation network going on and found the traces to where the bigger nodes were hiding in the dream. Spoke with Mister Inspector, and he directed me to Meng Dan.”

“So, you didn’t just run off into the Liminal alone to punch that woman out,” Ling Qi mused.

His eyebrows climbed. “How much did you see?”

“Not much more than that.”

He shook his head. “Not even gonna ask. This was a hell of a job, even with everybody working together. Real stuff, too; no one playacting here.”

He sounded distant, a little lost in thought.

“Anyway, I’ll be hanging around the Emerald Seas for a while, doing stuff for my master and myself.” Zheng Fu strolled around her bedside to the table beside it. He flicked his wrist, and then laid the small scroll that appeared in his hand on the table. “You or your boss need some muscle, or a pair of eyes, you can send to the address there, or use the formation to call me up. That bit will only work once, though.”

“Quite an offer from the Zheng clan,” Ling Qi said warily.

“Nah. My master thinks it’s an investment. We missed out on big Cai, but I think little Cai’s gonna shake things up, too, is all… Hrm. I best get out of here if I don’t wanna get launched out the window by an irate snake. See ya later there, nutty girl.”

And then he was gone, nothing more than a swirl of mist and a shimmer in the air.

“Is it that annoying when I do that?” Ling Qi wondered aloud.

“Probably. You gonna stop doing it?”

“Of course not.”

She felt her best friend well before her arrival.

A dark current crashed down the halls, scattering other presences before it. Implacable and cold, it was a river poorly restrained from overflowing its banks.

She braced herself as the door fell open, and slitted golden eyes fell upon her, imperious and full of fury. The wash of presence and pressure over her was like a cool, familiar blanket. “Lady Bai.”

“Baroness Ling,” Bai Meizhen said, stepping into the room.

Xiao Fen flowed in a step behind like a shadow. Xia Anxi quietly stepping in a few moments later, almost invisible under Meizhen’s crushing presence, was more surprising.

Bai Meizhen’s cold eyes swept her from head to toe. Meizhen met her eyes, and Ling Qi held her gaze, tilting her chin up just a little.

She was sorry, but she had no regrets. Not even under Meizhen’s scolding gaze.

Her best friend let out a breath, and she pinched her nose between her fingers. “It is good that you are well, Baroness Ling. I applaud you in denying foes and traitors even the smallest victory.”

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“You honor me, Lady Bai. I would not die to such plots, whoever is behind them. I am certain my liege has extended her own apologies, but allow me to do the same. It is shameful that we have allowed our great allies, the Bai clan, to be touched by our internal plots.”

Xiao Fen was glowering at the world. Ling Qi felt bad for anyone who so much as twitched toward Meizhen right now. Xia Anxi, on the other hand, stared at her like she was mad, until their eyes met and his gaze flicked away. He readjusted the pile of scrolls and books in his arms uncomfortably.

Meizhen had just diverted from whatever she was in the middle of, hadn’t she?

“It is well that you understand the gravity of what has transpired. Given past consideration, reparations are possible.”