The sights she had seen in the realm of Dream still filled her mind even now, well after she had passed back through the ring gates and packed both them and the idol away. She still saw the crumbling city ruins balanced so precariously, lives and experience piled high built atop their predecessors until the oldest were but dust and sediment.
The bleeding mountain, and the behemoth with Gui's eyes stuck in her mind as well, mysteries she itched to discover. Then there was that itching whisper.
Power and Want.
She couldn't deny that those simple words compelled her. Divorced from the immediate fear of the moment, she was left to dwell on what she had felt down in that mouldering prison. It was familiar, she couldn't deny it all. She felt a draw to that whispering skeleton, and a kinship that felt deeply uncomfortable. Somehow she was certain that they
were similar. She just couldn't be certain if that was merely an imposition on her mind.
She couldn't shake the feeling that he would be sad if she never returned though. It was lonely, to be a prisoner.
"I can't feel anything influencing you, but he might just be better than me," Sixiang huffed.
Ling Qi acknowledged that. Then again they had known exploring the Liminal realm would be dangerous.
"Guess so, nothing ventured, nothing gained," Sixiang chuckled.
"Hey Big Sis are you alright? You've been staring off into space since the wagon got moving," Hanyi's voice brought her out of her thought and Ling Qi cracked her eyes open. Hanyi was sitting across from her in the cluttered and cramped workshop which took up the back of Bao Qian's wagon. The young ice spirit had already dressed up somewhat.She wore a dark blue gown that contrasted with her pale complexion, a graceful thing that Meizhen had helped her pick out. Her hair had been tied back in several braids, and threaded through with white flowers, which her friend had assured her symbolized the coming of winter.
All in all, she looked like quite the little noblewoman, despite the bare feet kicking away and sending the hems of her gown flapping.
"Just thinking about things," Ling Qi chuckled.
"Mm, it's cause you went on that weird trip, you shoulda taken me and the dummy with," Hanyi said, accusingly crossing her arms.
"Maybe another time," Ling Qi said. She didn't know how well tey would handle it.
"You'll want to work on your own skills first," Sixiang murmured.
"Besides, you were busy," Bao Qian has told me how much work has been going into this," Ling Qi said. "This isn't just one show it's a whole tour."
"Yeah," Hanyi said proudly, either mollified or forgetting her previous annoyance. "There was a whole bunch of work, and even though I didn't get most of it, there was a bunch of stuff about each stop that I had to memorize, local spirits and stuff, since I'm doing more than just singing."
"Well, i trust that you're well prepared," Ling Qi said absently glancing toward the front of the wagon. Whatever else she might say of Bao Qian he was a dependable sort. Although, coming from the Dream…
Ling Qi found herself eyeing the flows of energy through this wagon, lingering on the entrances and exits, Since her journey with Sixiang, she had found her senses sharpened in an unexpected way. The places between, doorways, boundary markers and others stood out more sharply. It made sense in a way, training her senses to interact with the realm of Dreams left her more sensitive to other liminal spaces.
She did wonder though, what it was that made Bao Qian regard this cluttered wagon as his home, over the manors and lands of the Bao.
"We will be arriving shortly Ladies and spirits, prepare yourselves!" His voice called back to them.
Well, it wasn't really her business, Ling Qi thought. She smiled and leaned over to pat hanyi on the head encouragingly. She was looking forward to her junior sisters performance.
***
The first stop on the week long tour was the largest venue. Bao Qian had begun by soliciting the barons of the south central valley region, and he had secured agreement from several before his efforts had attracted the attention of Vscount Chao. In this region, so close to the Wall, all but a handful, of families were relatively young. This Viscounty was no different, and its current owners had only held the title for some two hundred years.
It was for this reason, Ling Qi suspected that they were eager enough to try new things. They were not performing in the Viscounties capital though, but rather its largest agricultural settlement.
Ling Qi had thought that she understood what farmlands looked like, having seen the rolling tea fields of the sect and the walled fields and pastures of Tonghou. This was rather larger. Empty, harvested fields, set for winter stretched in every direction nearly as far as she could perceive. Neat roads cut between fields and scattered structures gave the feeling of a dozen tiny villages rather than a large town.
However, between her efforts at gardening and her recent journeys it was easy to tell that this region was as walled as any town or city. Thick lines of growth marked the border between wilderness and civilization, trees packed so close together that they were a living bulwark, reinforced with formation arrays old enough to have become part of the living qi network of the trees themselves.
The venue itself was near the center of the widely spread settlement, a grand pagoda with a green tile roof, and walls of living wood, like everything else here, the pagoda sprawled, taking up an entire hill with its structure and grounds.
"Quite a pretty structure is it not," Bao Qian said casually as the walked up the winding ramp which led into the temple. Hanyi had left them hurried away by attendants and junior priests to prepare her for the show.
"It is," Ling Qi said, looking over the scrollwork on the handrails of the ramp and the glimmering garden that lay beyond. The air was filled by the faint music of a small river which wound around the hill and watered the fields beyond. "What did you say it was called again?"
"The Springmist Temple," Bao Qian replied. "The second largest temple in the south central valley, it looks after the yearly flooding and the fertility of the valley."
"Hm, are you sure this is appropriate for Hanyi then?" Ling Qi asked, not wanting to fret but being unable to quiet her worry.
"I have been assured that it is. Winter's have been growing harsher, but the priests have not yet been able to pin down a spirit to propitiate for this," Bao Qian replied. "I have exchanged numerous letters with the head priestess of the temple and viscount Chao to confirm the details."
"I see," she was being ridiculous. As they passed through the entrance of the temple her nose filled with the smoky scent of burning incense and fragrant wood smoke. Inside the temple she saw people gathered. Not lay worshippers, not here. They would be outside, for the procession that would follow. Here there were only gathered nobles of the region, here to oversee and view the rituals and the performance that was part of it.
Bao Qian's voice tickled her ear, though he had not leaned closer, nor had his lips moved. Indeed he was smiling pleasantly at those who had looked up to see them. "There are two main groups here from my experience. There are the nobles whose lands line the main road which currently ends in the ruins of Black Lotus Pass and agricultural goods, and those whose lands are further into the hills and produce the valleys metals and finished goods
Ling Qi shot him a look even as she bowed in greeting to the gathered nobles, and he just looked impassively back. Well, it wasn't as if she didn't know the secondary purposes of these gatherings. Cai Renxiang and she had embarked on quite a difficult project and they wouldn't be able to do it alone. The Wang and the Sect would surely support them militarily, but protecting your land was only the first step. It had to be made prosperous for people to thrive. They couldn't expect to be directly supported by the Count clan of the area, the Diao, at least not at first.
No, she had to decide on an objective to pursue first.
[] Speak with the nobles whose lands lie on the trade road. (Begin Political Quest, old Road/New Road Part 1. Other route locked until Part 1 completion)
[] Speak with the craftsman and hill nobles (Begin Political Quest, Craftsmen's Eye. Other route locked until Part 1 completion.)
