Two metal clad fists crashed together. "Greetings, honorable allies!"
Gan Guangli was much the same as he had been when Ling Qi had seen him last. He had gained a few centimeters in height, and his shoulders were a touch more broad and his short blonde hair had been grown out just a bit. Yet he was still Guan Guangli. Tall and boisterous, a hulk in gilded white and red armor.
"My, aren't you a bright one," Meng Dan mused, tilting his head as he examined Gan Guangli.
Xia Lin eyed him in silent appraisal, her arms crossed over her breastplate.
Cai Renxiang stood beside him, any hint of uncertainty she had shown last evening gone from her austere expression. "This Gan Guangli, oldest of my retainers. He will be accompanying us on this journey as well."
Xia Lin clasped her hands and bowed, very precisely. "Greetings Baron Gan, I am Sergeant Xia Lin of the White Plumes. I have been assigned the duty of guarding your Mistress."
She seemed slightly nonplussed when Gan Guangli beamed at her.
Meng Dan toyed with the frames of his glasses, casting an unreadable look at Xia Lin. "And I am Meng Dan, your lady has invited me for my expertise on ancient cultures."
"And I would hope that you remember me, Gan Guangli," Ling Qi said dryly.
They stood under the eaves of a stone pavilion on the Inner Sect Peak where Cai Renxiang currently lived. The sun was still low in the sky having only recently risen over the horizon.
"Naturally Miss Ling. It pleases me to make your acquaintance as well, Sir Meng! As for you, Sergeant Xia," Gan Guangli said cheerfully, straightening to his full height. "It is reassuring that my Lady will have a soldier so elite at her side! My own circumstances have caused me some trouble in keeping pace."
He was only Foundation Green and Bronze, a full stage behind everyone here. There was no shame in his voice though. Gan Guangli really was irrepressible.
"...Lady Cai's safety will be secure," Xia Lin said, her gaze flicked away from Gan Guangli's face down to Cai Renxiang. "On that matter, my Lady, what are the plans for our expedition?"
"We have two days of preparatory time. During the first half of our journey, we will be traveling with a combined war party of the Sect and the White Plumes, which will be cooperating with Wang and," Cai Renxiang paused her to nod to Meng Dan. "Meng forces in a limited offensive against the barbarians. This will provide us with cover during the second half, when we split from the main forces."
"Oh my, how delightfully bold," Meng Dan mused. "As expected from Yuan He and the Heron General."
Cai Renxiang simply inclined her head. "We will leave the main force and travel to the edge of the territory known to be held by tribes which are participating in the current hostilities with a scouting element. Then we will split again for the final leg of the journey."
Ling Qi hummed to herself, she had heard this already discussing matters with Renxiang the night before. They would probably have an observer as well, but since interference would mean failure, it was best to plan as if they did not.
"What are our plans for extraction?" Xia Lin asked. "I have reviewed the documentation and the target location is very deep in the Wall, near the edge of reliable mapping."
"My Mother has crafted us a single use transport talisman," Renxiang replied. "We are to attempt to negotiate the placement of a transportation tag at a designated meeting location if possible."
It shouldn't be an impossible ask. Allowing a potential enemy to mark your location was dangerous… but in controlling the placement they would be able to prepare defensive measures as they liked.
"Mutual untrustworthiness. Diplomacy is fun isn't it," Sixiang chuckled.
"I mean no offense, but what is to be done if the talisman fails, or is interdicted? I had heard that our foes have some proficiency in that." Meng Dan said.
There was a moment of bewildered silence in the field. Xia Lin and Gan Guangli alike stared at him blankly. Even Ling Qi shifted a little uncomfortably. The mere thought was a little alarming but… even Elder Jiao's talisman had been interfered with. "It is relevant," Ling Qi said carefully. "Underestimating foes is foolish."
"Ling Qi is correct," Renxiang said crisply. "We will also have emergency communications with one of the Duchess' apprentices. They will begin a rescue operation if need be."
"That is relieving," Meng Dan said, bowing his head. "The Duchess is wise indeed."
"It is good that we are prepared for even the most unlikely contingency," Gan Guangli said with a firm nod.
"Yes," Xia Lin said slowly. Ling Qi couldn't be sure what she was thinking though. Her aura was as unreadable as her expression. "What then, are we to do until departure? Will we be participating in the cooperative drilling with the Sect?"
"I believe I have a more fruitful exercise," Renxiang said. "The core of our mission will be its final leg, and most of us are familiar with military protocol already."
"And even I know to stay out of the way and obey orders," Meng Dan said lightly.
"Just so," Renxiang said, gesturing for Ling Qi to come forward to the table in the center of the pavilion. "Ling Qi has a lead on a more useful exercise."
Eyes fell on her, and Ling Qi dipped her head humbly as she stepped forward. "I have in the course of my cultivation gained a number of treasures. Among them is a map of the Sect grounds which marks numerous sites of interest."
"Intriguing," Meng Dan said, leaning forward eagerly as Ling Qi gestured and the map materialized on the table. "You are fortunate indeed Miss Ling."
"I am," Ling Qi agreed, she looked upon the silvery surface with some trepidation. She had used the map very sparingly. She still remembered her last major use after all.
She would not be so weakly resolved again.
"A shorter expedition in safer ground as a test then," Xia Lin said, stepping forward herself to peer at the map. "Practical enough."
"I have not been able to quest into the Sect grounds often," Gan Guangli boomed. "What a good opportunity!"
"Indeed, it is possible that we may achieve some additional benefit," Renxiang said.
"Sect cultivated spirits are often beneficial," Xia Lin acknowledged. She looked to Ling Qi. "Have you selected a destination?"
"I have some ideas, but I had hoped to ask Sir Meng's assistance," Ling Qi replied easily. Really when inspecting the map she simply got hunches about where was best to go. "There is some element of divination in the maps use, and a fellow expert's opinion would be welcome."
Calling herself an expert of divination was a stretch, but she managed to say it with a straight face. Meng Dan's amused gaze told her he saw through it however. "Naturally Miss Ling. What portents have you deciphered thus far?"
"Well," Ling Qi said, sweeping her hand over the map. "The signs seemed to point to these…"
***
Meng Dan spent the better part of an hour examining the map, questioning Ling Qi on her feelings regarding specific sites, and flipping through a regional atlas drawn from his storage ring, and scattering odd platinum coins carved with different characters across the map before he delivered his verdict. The signs for best fortune pointed to a site on the southeastern edge of the map, marked by three concentric circles of carved silver trees.
With the destination selected, Ling Qi fell back from the forefront as Cai Renxiang organized the expedition, taking a slow pace to simulate moving carefully through hostile territory, it would be a one day trip. She and Meng Dan were set the task of gathering information on the site from other disciples while Gan Guangli and Xia Lin were set to determining the best route.
Ling Qi rather wished that she had done such research the last time she had done this, but then again, it probably wouldn't have been so easy before. There were far fewer people willing to give her the time of day then. She found her best source was one of the young men who was part of the caldera assault group. He had been there at the end, and he was more than willing to share what he knew.
It was a defunct trial site, where the spirit companion of a deceased Elder from the pre Ogodei Sect slept away their remaining days. It was no longer a proper challenge site, but the dreams of the fading spirit that lived there made it dangerous, twisting the forest into a maze and filling it with hostile figments. He had made it to the second circle of trees before leaving and had gotten valuable materials for medicine crafting, but he had heard from his older brother that the spirit at the center could sometimes awaken and give disciples boons.
Returning to Meng Dan, she delivered her information, and he was able to cross reference that with his own knowledge and determine that it was likely the place where the Elder named Lang had fallen, buying time for the Sect's evacuation.
That had drawn Ling Qi up short. She had heard that name before. It was the name of the Elder who had written Xuan Shi's books. She filed that away for later. It was strange though, according to Meng Dan's records, the man was a peerless swordsman from the Alabaster Sands, who had come south to retire after a century of exploring outside the empire.
You would not think that one of the last men to hold the title of Sword Saint before it passed from common use would be the author of a bunch of silly books. Meng Dan certainly seemed enthusiastic about going now though.
The trip itself was uneventful, but they used it as practice for coordinating themselves. Together with Xia Lin, Ling Qi played outrider, scouting ahead and weaving their way through the interlocking grid of spirit territories to avoid conflict. Xia Lin was surprisingly adept at hiding her presence, and so was the silent warhorse she rode.
The other's stayed together, Meng Dan using the information they delivered back to further extrapolate their path and avoid snarls that the two of them had missed. When they reached a twisted copse that couldn't easily be bypassed, Gan and Xia Lin took point in carving a path while Ling Qi picked off and drank the energy of the lesser spirits that tried to swarm them.
Only Renxiang herself did little, but that too was part of the plan. The arts of the Cai were unsubtle and distinctive, and although she could tell that it frustrated her liege, she stuck to enhancing everyone else's efforts.
They soon reached the site itself, a towering circle of old growth that reached a hundred meters into the sky, and whose bark glimmered with veins of steel, dark fog seeped from between the ancient trunks, and the canopy blotted out the already dim fall sun. All the same…
"This place is dying," Meng Dan said with a rare frown, peering upward at the gentle rain of withered brown leaves.
"According to your information, that should not be a surprise," Xia Lin commented, sliding down from her horse. "The spirit here is supposed to be fading."
"It is not just one spirit dying here," Meng Dan replied.
"This is a place of despair," Gan Guangli rumbled, crossing his thick arms across his chest. He peered up at the withering trees and the veins of rusting steel that ran through their bark with an expression of dislike. "Miss Ling, Sir Meng, are you certain of your divinations."
Ling Qi understood his disquiet. The fog was far too familiar here. It felt like Tonghou in the depths of winter. Cheer curled up and died here, among the gnarled roots. Yet all the same the map had never directed her to an unhelpful place.
...Even if she didn't like all of the results.
"I don't think this place is dangerous, not in the same way," Sixiang murmured.
"I am confident, don't let the aura of the place pick at your resolve," Ling Qi said, idly rubbing her arms. There was a chill here that had nothing to do with temperature.
"Just so, this is but one of the many scents of history," Meng Dan agreed.
"Indeed," Renxiang said, stepping up past them all. Her light seared the twisting fingers of mist, and scattered the gloom. Ling Qi felt the chill fade, and in that moment she fully recognized the pall that hung over this place. It was dearth of purpose, the cessation of ambition and drive.
No wonder Cai Renxiang so easily parted it.
***
Sixiang was certainly right. This place wasn't dangerous in a conventional way. They were as a group, too strong for mere figments to impede. Phantoms of glinting steel melted before them, and twisting passages of dream stuff and bent space parted before her fledgling experience and Meng Dan's navigational techniques.
No, the trouble was the growing whispers of doubt and ennui in her thoughts whenever she ventured from the group to scout. She could see it in everyone, although aside from Renxiang, Gan Guangli seemed to bear it the best. She could tell that he didn't like this place from the set of his jaw, but there seemed to be an inner light in his eyes, not quite like the harsh and colorless radiance her liege gave off.
As they worked their ways through the first and second rings of trees, Ling Qi didn't miss the way all of them seemed to unconsciously shift toward tightening their formation, moving closer to Renxiang, who was the only one untouched by the fog.
Soon, they found their way to the final circle, and an archway formed of trees grown together, filled by cloying fog impenetrable to all senses. It was, Ling Qi thought a touch sourly, probably a lot like what she inflicted on people.
"Not quite so fun on this side huh?" Sixiang teased half heartedly. "Ugh, let's get this over with, I feel like I've been drenched in a bucket of sewage."
She supposed, to Sixiang, this near palpable aura of listlessness was probably equivalent. "What is our plan from here, Lady Cai?"
Her liege frowned at the nearly solid wall of fog, even her ambient glow failing to penetrate it. "Given the intelligence we have, brute force is a poor choice, the entity here is not an enemy. However, peaceful contact cannot be guaranteed. Gan Guangli, Xia Lin, you will take the point and press through. I will fortify your spirits."
Xia Lin Lin grimaced, withdrawing her hand from the fog, it clung like liquid mud to her fingers. "By your command."
Gan Guangli squared his shoulders and gave a simple nod.
"Ling Qi, Meng Dan, prepare your divinatory arts, I will require your assistance to coordinate should our senses be scrambled," Renxiang said crisply.
Ling Qi nodded, silver flickering in her eyes as she renewed her sense enhancing arts. Meng Dan simply bowed, showing no visible change.
They pressed through the fog, and emerged in a grave.
They stood on the edge of a great, rounded depression in the ground, surrounded by the innermost ring of trees. Below them lay a field of bones. Ling Qi found her grip on her flute tightening as her mind flashed back to another field, seen in a dream.
But it wasn't the same, these bones were half returned to earth, overgrown with moss and buried in loam. She saw the bones of men, and horses, and more exotic things, they had all been cut. Skulls lay where they had fallen, bisected at the eye sockets, rib cages lay on their sides, cut vertically through the center, and at the bottom, what she took as white moss was a fine powder of bone shards, cut too small to hold any shape.
"A grave indeed," Meng Dan mused, his voice sounding muffled to her ears. "Do you see the pattern?"
Ling Qi squinted following where his finger pointed.
She saw the pattern in the bones, tracing out the gigantic figure of an old man lying on his side, curled in on himself.
The air thrummed, and she tore her eyes away to zero in on the source. There, lying among the bones, lay a broken sword. It was rust pitted, it's handle bare of padding, but it still hurt her eyes to look at the edge.
"Hoh, is it my time to burn at last, Daughter of Wildfire?" The voice was a corroded whisper, the sound of a smooth draw corrupted by rust.
Ling Qi frowned, glancing around at the others. No one here was a fire cultivator of any note. "Honored ancestor," she said, stepping forward and allowing the smooth flow of her spirit arts to take affect, dulling the cutting edge in the air. "Although we are not all disciples of the Sect, we mean no harm."
"...too bad," the voice whispered. "I had thought the fire cleansing the land had come for me. Why then?"
Ling Qi glanced at Renxiang then, and she thought she understood. One could liken the Duchess to a fire in some aspects. "We are on the eve of an important mission, which may save the Sect from great harm. Divination indicated that this was an auspicious place to explore."
She eyed the others, Gan Guangli and Xia Lin stood on either side of Renxiang, watching their surroundings intently. Xia Lin frowned though, her eyes tracking back to the broken blade again and again, the halberd in her hand seemed to vibrate with dissatisfaction.
Meng Dan was beside her, studying everything with faint interest in his eyes.
"There was no need to come so far then, harvest materials, sharpen yourselves on my nightmares. I care not," the voice whispered.
"Why would the Sect leave such a superlative blade to moulder?" Xia Lin hissed to her. "It is a disgrace. If this is meant as a memorial, it is a poor one."
Ling Qi glanced to her, but before she could reply, the blade itself did.
"I will not cut again, Blade of Glass. I will die here. It is not the scabbard I had hoped for, but it serves well enough," the voice ground out. "Take that as your lesson, if you like, there is no other end than this for a weapon, no matter how you strive."
She glanced at the other girl, silently beseeching her to hold her tongue. She glared down at the sword, but she didn't speak.
"There is something of value to be gained here," Meng Dan murmured. She glanced his way and his lips were not moving, his voice whispered directly in her ears. "I am certain of that. It is the specifics of the matter I am unsure of."
Ling Qi was silent for a moment, pondering what to say. It occurred to her that the master of this old blade was an explorer. The spirit had an impatient air however and she was not certain how long they would get to question it.
[] Question if the blade has any insights regarding the lands of ice in the far south. [certainty of actionable information, knowledge of a peoples homes grants insights]
[] Question if the blade had ever met any of the peoples descended of the mountain tribes. [uncertain actionable information, may reveal previous imperial contact?]
AN: Well I said it would be one, but I suppose it's more one and half since we will be going right into the actual expedition after this.
