Threads Chapter 460-Roadtrip 2

Ling Qi placed her hand over Biyu’s and let her eyes drift shut, focusing on the spiritual element she could feel thrumming through the space.

When she wanted to be, Hanyi could be very disciplined. The spirit’s song drifted out, soft but strident, echoing through the porches and balconies that lined the courtyard space. It tugged at the heartstrings, stirring a universal feeling, the desire to rest well at the end of a long labor.

Ling Qi opened her eyes to observe the clouds of frosted air, shot through with sparkling lights. She could feel the little knots of power whirling through it, small faeries captivated in her junior sister’s orbit, but they were muted supporters compared to her sister’s presence.

Hanyi’s voice filled the garden, like the cry of the south wind and the ringing of festive bells. Her silhouette was a shadow in the frost, taller and more willowy and elegant than she was in truth. A veil fluttered on her face, and she wore a long gown with billowing sleeves. The resemblance to Hanyi’s mother, Zeqing, was obvious.

The winter spirit proceeded down the stone path, trailed and proceeded by frost, singing her song of oncoming winter and the calm days which rewarded the well prepared, sealed inside with their fires.

The world was listening. Hanyi was still so small a spirit, but in the yawning, uncomfortable silence that lingered over these lands, her voice carried, and greater spirits in the clouds and the wind and the water and the earth listened, if only to move along well worn paths of rite and offering.

She could see why Hanyi’s tour was accepted by the priests, unorthodox as it was.

And of course, the performance was captivating, even to eyes that could only see the physical. Biyu was on the edge of her seat, watching Hanyi’s silhouette spin and sway, while her song poured out, high and clear.

Really, she didn’t have anything to worry about. Hanyi had these performances well in hand.

***​

Hanyi was still Hanyi.

“Hohoho! Of course it’s only right for the little sister to recognize the elder’s greatness!”

“Uh huh.” Biyu stifled a yawn. The girl was held in her arms, and with it being so late, she was struggling to stay awake.

The show having finished, they had migrated to the rooms set aside for Hanyi to prepare herself.

Biyu’s eyelids drooped, even as she obviously struggled to stay awake, held in her Mother’s arms.

Hanyi stood proudly, hands on her hips. The silvery hair ornaments woven through her hair jingled loudly as she tossed her hair and tilted her chin up, clearly preening.

“Naturally,” Ling Qi said dryly.

Hanyi nodded vigorously, which only made them jangle more. “Yeah!”

No irony at all. Hanyi was honest that way.

“So…um, Sis, what did you think? What should I work on?”

Very honest.

“You performed excellently. There were no areas you were lacking,” Ling Qi praised. “But you shouldn’t be complacent. You should continue refining your voice and song composition. There were moments where your tone wavered and where the arrangement became rough. Your presence is good, but in that, you mostly need to just coordinate your supporters better.”

Hanyi rubbed her chin. “Oh, I’ll have to work the girls harder.”

Ling Qi flicked her across the forehead.

Hanyi yelped, covering her head with her hands and looking up in betrayal.

“Practicing coordination is important, but only bad leaders put all the blame on their subordinates for group shortcomings,” Ling Qi scolded gently.

“Ooookay,” Hanyi accepted huffily.

“I will keep an eye on the matter and offer management advice as needed,” Bao Qian offered from his position leaning against the wall. “If Lady Ling allows.”

“I do. Please keep the young miss on task, Sir Bao,” she accepted primly.

She hid her grin at Hanyi’s comically crestfallen expression.

From within her arms, Biyu reached out and patted the spirit on the shoulder. “It’s okay! You’re good!”

“Of course I am.”

“Your performance was excellent. That you still choose to ask advice even with your skill is worthy,” Mother complimented. She lurked near the back of the room by the door. Ling Qi knew her mother still found Hanyi somewhat unsettling.

Hanyi pouted. “I don’t need to be babied. I asked for advice, didn’t I? I get it, Big Sis. A boss will get lazy if they can just push everything off on the ones below them. I won’t be like that! I’ll whip us all into shape!”

“I have great faith in the young miss,” Bao Qian said gravely.

The young singer squinted up at him and jabbed a finger out. “You’d better!”

“Thank you, Bao Qian.” Ling Qi maneuvered Biyu to rest in the crook of her arm as the little girl’s eyelids drooped.

“You are welcome. Also, if it pleases you, I believe I have found a good location for the expedition we discussed.”

“The spirit recruiting?” Ling Qi asked to clarify.

“I don’t need a group,” Hanyi protested. “But I guess you need some girls to handle the rites in the boring seasons.”

Ling Qi chuckled at that.

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“Yes,” Bao Qing answered. “It’s on the edge of the western wilderness zone. Fantasia, as the locals call it. There is a potent court of seasonal spirits there. It’s a bit wild, but I don’t think you would mind that.”

She’d heard of Fantasia, the zone within the Meng lands fully under the sway of the Dreaming Moon. So visiting a location near to that might be quite beneficial to her, too.

“Certainly. If you have secured the permissions for our travel, I’ll accompany you.”

“Good, good. I’ve arranged a visit for the end of the tour… First spring, around the seventeenth day?”