Forge of Destiny

Threads 548-Fantasia 11

”So, howʼre you planning to catch Hongpao anyway?” Jinli asked, hands behind her head. ”Youʼre not gonna be able to just talk her into it, Probably.”

”She already pissed Hongpao off,” Lanchi revealed. “Those two just totally showed her up at her concert and then jumped to me, leaving her looking like a jerk to all the villagers. Sheʼs probably gonna explode when she sees you again.”

Ling Qi smiled. ”Oh, is she so much of a sore loser? I was certain she would at least want to challenge me again, instead of throwing a tantrum.”

”Sheʼs totally that much of a sore loser,” Jinli confirmed flatly.

”Perhaps you should offer her a choice in a challenge then? A competition that she feels sure she will win in exchange for compliance after,” Bao Qian suggested, peering at the village in the distance.

It was, at least, not on any kind of fire, so Ling Qi didnʼt feel too bad. She could still sense Hongpao across the distance, but the bonfire had burned low, and there wasnʼt any kind of music that she could sense.

”Nah. You should just catch her by the ankles. Even if she agrees to a deal like that, sheʼll definitely try to wiggle out of it,” Jinli advised.

Bao Qian looked at Lanchi, who hunched her shoulders. She had gotten a rice cookie from somewhere and mumbled into it before responding.

”Sheʼs not that bad, if you can calm her down enough. You donʼt just go back on oaths like that, but words are slippery.”

Spirits were much more naturally bound to oaths than humans were. Binding contracts between humans often needed external enforcement, but a spiritʼs nature often bound them the same way a high-level cultivator’s would.

Ling Qi was fairly confident she could word a promise well enough that an impulsive young spirit wouldnʼt find any cracks in it. She still had her snare, but it would be silly to just break it out as the first act. Hongpao seemed to be the most volatile of the spirits, but she was also very competitive from what Ling Qi had seen. And in any case, Hongpao was not a threat in a physical sense either.

”We can manage one more challenge, can’t we, Bao Qian? If she really does refuse the challenge or to honor its result, then, I still have my snare.”

”True enough,” Bao Qian agreed. ”I admit, I wonder what her reason was for joining in on this escapade. While itʼs a superlative instrument, the Autumnʼs Zither, the Searing Dawnʼs Ray, does not seem to have useful powers for her purposes, and she certainly was not making use of them in our last encounter.

Contemplation, regret, and contentment. Abundance, harvests, and striving. The third of the trio of artifacts reflected autumn as a time of fading and passing, marking its transitional nature.

The artifact didnʼt fit Hongpao. Its power was closer to that of winter and endings. It was known for melodies that straightened paths and guided the way from one place to another, reducing the dominion of the dream on the material. When the madam was in a merciful mood, it was the song of her zither which led lost mortals and cultivators from the depths of forest and swamp back to safety, and which banished nightmares of winter to come and the idle fancies of summer before, to leave only clarity for the long work of harvest.

”She might just be able to kick us out of the liminal entirely, if sheʼs too upset,” Ling Qi warned. ”That could be a wrinkle.”

”Maybe, but she might feel like she was losing if she did that,” Lanchi said. ”Besides, Hongpao is…”

”Not all that good with strings. Sheʼs a drummer,” Jinli snorted.

Ling Qi blinked, tilting her head. Hongpao was a percussionist?

That could explain why Hongpao had seemed so unfamiliar with her instrument, and why her performance had seemed stilted and off. With cultivation, there was a certain level of baseline mastery over all musical instruments, but there was a difference between that baseline mastery and actual practice and familiarity with an instrument. For example, Ling Qi knew Ling Nuan could rightly teach her a thing or two about strings still, despite the difference in their cultivation.

”Why was she involved in this heist again?” Bao Qian asked.

”She said sheʼd tattle if we didnʼt cut her in. She just grabbed the zither ‘cause it was Grannyʼs favorite, and she wants to be Grannyʼs favorite,” Jinli replied.

Ling Qi rested her chin on her hand, considering the distant village of spiders and the low-burning bonfire there. ”I see. Thatʼs good to know. Bao Qian, do you think you could help me arrange a stage again? It doesnʼt need to be quite as grand as last time.”

He cocked an eyebrow. ”It doesnʼt need to be, but is there any reason it should not be?”

She laughed. ”No, I suppose not.”

***​

Jinli grumbled about waiting around for them to set up, but while she was not as easily pacified as Lanchi with a plate of sweets, she did begrudgingly allow herself to be appeased with such. The young spirit quieted down once they began to work, watching them prepare the stage with rapt interest.

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The stage rose, much the same as last time, but this time, the gemstones Bao Qian sowed throughout the platform had more muted colors. There were more reds and oranges, and soft, warm shades. Then, the scaffolding of ice rose, frost cracking along the patterns Bao Qian had shown her. By the time they got that far, there was a firecracker speeding in their direction.

Ling Qi turned to face out from the stage, hands folded behind her back, smiling. Silently, she intertwined her qi with Bao Qian, and both of them reinforced the stage they had begun to erect, just in case.

”You! Youʼre really gonna just show right back up?!”

”I am,” Ling Qi said. ”I hope you navigated my parting gift well. It looks like you did!”

Hongpao looked scuffed. Her red dress had dirt at the hems, and her hair was askew. She wasnʼt hurt, but she definitely looked like sheʼd been run ragged.

”They were so mad!” Hongpao stamped her foot, all eight eyes narrowing as sparks kicked up from under her dress. ”I was shining! And you made me look like the bad guy for taking back my stage! Itʼs only ‘cause Iʼm such a generous young miss that those darn villagers calmed down.”

”I only gave you the chance to flex your skills, didnʼt I?” Ling Qi asked pleasantly, noting the way Hongpao’s entire body twitched. The young spirit wasnʼt ready to start flinging fire and dragging her fingers along the zither clutched in her hands just yet, though. ”Being serious, though, Miss Hongpao, thank you very much. Without you, I would never have gotten my lead on your sisters.”

The tirade she could see spinning up in the girlʼs mind screeched off course as she followed Ling Qiʼs gaze to where the other two spirits were perched on a tree root, snacking. Lanchi gave a limp little wave. Jinli didnʼt even give that.

”I was just a distraction?” Hangpao asked blankly.

”No, you were a vital piece in the plan to disrupt your sister’s scrying and get her to turn it on us,” Ling Qi corrected.

It was amusing how that piece of information actually somewhat defused the rising temperature.

”Ugh! I should have just waited out the interference,” Lanchi sulked.

Embers popped and snapped in the heat haze surrounding Hongpao. Ling Qi smiled nostalgically. She missed Xiulan a lot.

”Thatʼs even worse! You tricked me! I get how youʼd catch a wet dishcloth like Lanchi, and sheʼd just give up, but Jinli, whyʼre you just sitting around?”

”Cause if Granny wants us back, then sheʼs getting us back, doofus, whether itʼs at these twoʼs hands or someone else’s,” Jinli replied in a bored tone.

”Well, duh!” Hongpao stamped her foot. Ling Qi raised an eyebrow in surprise. ”Youʼre not supposed to give up though. Youʼre supposed to challenge them, airhead!”

”Do it yourself, if itʼs that important, sparkbrain!”

”Get off your butt, and help me then!”

Slowly, Ling Qi turned to look at Bao Qian, who stood behind her on the now completed stage, dusting off his hands. That was not the response she had expected to the reveal of who they were working for, but the pieces were slotting together.

Jinli sought an escape from her ephemeral nature, and had worked hard to bring all the pieces together. She had instigated the heist.

Lanchi was a dreamer, but slothful. She had only wanted a quiet vacation, buying into her sister’s plan for the pleasure of watching othersʼ lives, even if the dream of a greater adventure had tempted her.

Hongpao was, unsurprisingly, raw youthful impulse, and mostly wanted to show she was her grandmotherʼs child, with instrument and worship. For her, the heist had never been about escaping at all, but merely standing out. Hongpao, the attention-demanding firecracker, was actually the most dedicated to the madam herself. Her passion for running was just as hot for fulfilling her duty to be an obstacle for their quest.

Striving, contentment, and celebration. The three young spirits represented autumn in its three aspects.

”I have a proposal, if youʼll hear it, Miss Hongpao,” she interrupted the squabbling girls.

The spirit rounded on her. “Yeah? And why should I, huh? Why, I should be the one setting the challenge! Or, wait, no, you donʼt even deserve that much attention from this Hongpao! Bow your head, and apologize first!”

”If you have one in mind, Iʼll meet it.” Ling Qi rested her cheek on her hand. Letting her eyes drift half-shut, she smiled without warmth, a flicker of frozen blue light shining from her eyes. ”That was my proposal, but if Miss Hongpao is too unreasonable, we can just go back to the palace right now.”

A little bit of Meizhenʼs imperiousness, a bit of Xinʼs motherly scolding, and a dash of Master Zeqingʼs effortless, elegant threat… She was proud of her delivery there!

The misty autumn air glimmered with falling snow, and fractal patterns of frost zigzagged through the detritus of leaves that lay between them.

”Guh!” Hongpao made an odd sound in the back of her throat and staggered back a step, eight crimson eyes going wide all at once.

The other two went silent. They stared at her, Jinli with a furrowed brow and Lanchi with her shoulders hunched.

Bao Qian was staring at her, too. That flushed expression was pleasing, she had to admit, even if she found her feelings confused on why. He swallowed and yanked his eyes skyward when he felt her attention on him.

She focused on Hongpao, whose face was barely less red than her eyes. ”Wh-wh-whatever! Fine! Iʼll let it go. If you want to pass Grandmotherʼs quest, youʼll have to meet this Hongpaoʼs challenge!”

”Iʼll accept your challenge, once you state it clearly, on your oath that when I win, you will return without struggle or deceit to the Palace of Many Colors.”

Hongpao vibrated in place at her phrasing. ”Of course! The challenge will be a performance. I see youʼve already built me a stage. But no cheating and surprising me this time! Or throwing me off on purpose. And also, no playing over each other and interfering. You can play your song for the village, and then, youʼll leave the stage to me to show the villagers who they should really be cheering for. Afterward, weʼll ask them who the best is. If itʼs you, Iʼll come along. If not, you can go back to Grandma and tell her you failed.”

Ling Qi flashed her teeth at Hongpao. ”Deal.”