In this case, Zeqing didn't want to hive birth to Hanyi for a long time, which is not a normal thing for humans. This biased Hanyi towards the Spirit side of her heritage.
There is also the question of, well, Hanyi being born long after a normal human would have died of old age. The father's clan was destroyed by Ogodei, so this whole thing happened at least 600+ years ago, probably more... and Hanyi was born 30 years ago.
I don't think that a halfhuman child is possible in such a way given lifespans.
We'd have to get permission from the Sect(Jiao might be our best bet), but letting his father meet him he grows into his new Green status would probably be good for him.
It'd be a weird dynamic, as Zhen and Gui are both equally "his" son because of the element/form swap from the parents.
Besides, with our comparative focus on Wood over Fire, his Fire half could use attention.
And, we get to see magma tears.
If he's mature enough after the breakthrough, we might also pay respects to his bio mom.
Lingmom had Taylor as a teen iirc, prob around Ling Qi's current age, then add maybe a year pregnancy plus LQs 15 years of life, she would be early thirties. Even if Lingmom was 20 when she Ling Qi, which would be odd for the medieval culture, she still couldn't be more than mid thirties.
Hanyi on the other hand is forty, according to the wiki.
Edit: apparently I have really been reading too much worm fics... You all know what I meant
That whole event with Zeqing happened pre-Argent Sect. Then we hear from SITB that Hanyi is apparently younger than we all thought when the process of creation first took place few centuries ago
"It looks like I'll need your help then," Ling Qi said with false cheer, glancing at the empty dark around them, she looked down at Hanyi, unsure how how best to handle this. After a moment's hesitation, she crouched, bringing herself down to the young spirits level. "Hey since I'll get lost, why don't you let Big Sister give you a ride. That way we won't lose each other by accident."
She didn't know what to expect, but driving winds and white-ed out vistas seemed likely. A connection as tenuous as held hands was unreliable.
Hanyi gave her a confused and suspicious look. "Your acting really weird Big Sister. So is everyone else. What's going on?"
Ling Qi shivered as she felt, deep in her bones the faint beat of a melody building in the darkness around them. For a moment her thoughts spun in circles as she tried to come up with another excuse, but...would that really help? "Hanyi…" she began, trying to find the words. "Your Mama needs to be alone for awhile. You've seen how she's been acting right?"
Hanyi frowned, scuffing her bare foot against the ground. "Yeah, but… being lonely hurts. How will hurting Mama more help?"
"Because she's afraid that she'll hurt us by accident," Ling Qi replied, finally dispensing with excuses. "Hanyi, being lonely hurts, but don't you think it would hurt her more if one us got hurt?"
Hanyi's lips trembled and for a moment Ling Qi thought she was going to cry. "I don't understand. Why would Mama be afraid of that? She loves me. She loves you, she wouldn't hurt us."
"Sometimes you can hurt people you love without meaning to," Ling Qi said quietly. "Hanyi, please, your mama wants me to take care of you while she's away. I don't want you to get hurt either."
For a moment she thought Hanyi was going to argue further, but the young girl hung her head, silver bangs shadowing her eyes. "...Kay," she sniffled. "I know Mama wants me to go. I felt it, but…"
"I understand," Ling Qi said, patting Hanyi's shoulder. "We need to go though."
Hanyi gave a shallow nod, and finally did as she asked. Soon, Hanyi was perched on her back, legs tucked under her arms and arms around Ling Qi's neck. Taking a deep breath, Ling Qi stood, and the moment she did, she nearly staggered. Hanyi's weight, which had been like a feather a moment ago seemed to redouble again and again, until it felt as if Ling Qi had a boulder tied to her back.
"It's gonna get worse," Sixiang warned. "The weight… it's connected to this place."
"Big Sister?" Hanyi asked.
"I'm fine Hanyi," Ling Qi replied. "Which way do we go?"
With another sniffle of held back tears, Hanyi began to direct her. With Hanyi on her back, she couldn't flicker from place to place, not that she thought such techniques would avail her in the not-space that Zeqing's temple had become. Even so, she moved as quickly as her legs and the weight she bore would allow. Only Hanyi's direction allowed her to avoid crashing headlong into barriers she could not see nor sense. No matter how hard she concentrated there was no direction in this place, save for up and down, and even that twisted oddly at times, leaving Ling Qi to quickly find her balance as her floor became a wall, or worse a ceiling from time to time.
Then the wind began to blow.
She felt Sixiang shiver in her mind, tendrils of awareness withdrawing back into her meridians with a snap. She felt the same cold in her extremities as the blackness began to grow gray, and then white, and she felt the first pelting daggers of ice. With a single breath, she activated the Hundred Ring Armament, cloaking herself and Hanyi alike in it's viridian glow. It proved prescient as, a moment later the whiteness howled and a gust of wind struck her like a blow from a giant.
Though her technique cushioned the blow, still she spun dizzily as the force of the wind flung her through the air. Hanyi cried out something in her ear, clinging tightly to her neck, and Ling Qi kept her grip even as she managed to land on her feet in the knee deep snow. That itself was a surprise, she had grown used to being able to walk lightly across snow and ice, but now she sunk into the cold, wet morass like a stone. The cloak of her gown flared and she began to rise, only for the wind to howl, slamming her back to the 'ground' with a painful crack. She bent her knees to absorb the impact, but it still sent a tingle of pain through her joints.
"...Everything alright Hanyi?" She asked through gritted teeth as she straightened up.
"I'm okay," Hanyi said, her voice trembling. "But Big Sister, the door is moving."
Ling Qi restrained the urge to curse. "It'll be fine Hanyi, just keep me going in the right direction."
The going proved difficult though, the blizzard blew endlessly in her face, until her cloak hung heavy encrusted with ice, and the rest of her was not much better. The cold stung her eyes and froze her fingers, and slashing fragments of frozen rain pattered against her armored form like a rain of daggers. It was only in the constant renewal of her Armament and Defense techniques that she was not cut to ribbons.
...Yet all along, the quiet beat that she felt remained subdued, a faint vibration felt in the depths of her soul. She kept herself alert, having no doubt that there would be worse trials than this.
"Well, your probably not wrong" Sixiang muttered. "Something bigger is…"
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Ling Qi sniffled as she dropped to the ground, casting one last glance up at the dark window she had climbed out of. She rubbed the back of her hand against her eyes, wiping away her tears. Mama had been right to yell at her. It was her fault that Mama had gotten hurt last night. She was a bad girl. Lots of the other ladies said so when they thought nobody was listening. They were right.
...And she didn't want to be like Mama, or the other ladies. Most of the men that came to them were gross and mean, even when they weren't they were never nice. Even ladies from other places didn't like them or her. Grannies who would give out sweets to other little girls would turn their noses up at her and say mean things about Mama when her back was turned.
She didn't want that, she didn't want to hurt Mama, and she didn't want to get hurt by the mean men who paid for time with Mama. Ling Qi hunched her shoulders, pulling the bag she had stuffed with her clothes and some food she had snuck higher. Ling Qi took her first step away from home, where she could be free at last.
She shivered then as a cold gust blew, and the world seemed to swim. Ling Qi stopped in confusion, and fell to her knees gasping for breath. It felt like the sky had fallen on her shoulders. Grief welled her mind, overwriting her thoughts. She felt the mounting panic of a woman who woke to find her daughter gone, and the increasing desperation as her search turned up nothing, as pleas for aid in that search fell on indifferent ears. The collapse that followed as hours turned into days and hope guttered out and died.
Ling Qi sobbed, curling up on the ground as the storm of emotions assailed her. Could anything be worth that? She was going to hurt her Mama so much, and she was going to hurt so much. Memories of cold, empty bellies and broken bones assailed her. Memories of fear and brushes with death crushed her. Why was she doing this? Why was she leaving? Mama wasn't perfect, but she loved Ling Qi, even if she got mad, she would get hurt if it kept Ling Qi safe.
"No," Ling Qi muttered into the dirty street, pushing herself back up to her knees. The world flickered dizzyingly, and she felt her limbs stretch and grow. Was she a child or an Immortal? In that moment she couldn't say. "I can't go back."
Why not? Her own voice seemed to echo back.
Ling Qi struggled for a moment to answer, clenching her hands in the dirt/snow. "Because I don't want that," she hissed. "And Mom didn't want that. Even if it hurt, even if I hated it, didn't it come to a good end?"
The world shuddered violently and Ling Qi's vision went black.
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"Exhausting yourself again I see. Will you never consider your own health?"
Ling Qi's eyes fluttered open at the sound of Meizhen's voice and she sat up in her chair, sending the blanket that had been laid over her fell into her lap.A fire burned merrily in the hearth in front of her, and she sighed in comfort at the slow creeping warmth that she could feel sapping the stress from her tired limbs. Still as she blinked, looking around at the snug wood paneled room, she couldn't help but think that something was off.
"Where are we?" Ling Qi asked, looking to her friend, who kneeled gracefully before the fire, warming her hands.
Meizhen arched an eyebrow at her. "Did you strike your head? We are at home. You spent so long out hunting that Xiulan had to bring you back."
Ling Qi furrowed her brow, rubbing her temples to ease the persistent ache there, it was like someone was shouting inside of her skull. Right, she remembered now. She and her friends had left. The sect, the empire, and all of its baggage was behind them. There was no pursuit, none of them were important enough for that. The house rocked under her feet, and she knew it to be Zhengui's stride, taking them on a slow route through the far flung boreal valleys deep in the Wall.
"Where is everyone?" Ling Qi asked absently, rubbing her head still. Maybe she had hit her head on something, this ache wouldn't go away.
"Your hangers on are tinkering with the formations arrays outside, and your mother and sister are resting," Meizhen replied smoothly. "Xiulan is warming herself in the bath after retrieving you, and Han Jian is in the mapping chamber."
"Sorry," Ling Qi apologized sheepishly. "What about Renxiang though?"
"In the office, you know how she is," Meizhen replied, turning back to the fire.
"Right," Ling Qi replied, grimacing. She didn't feel a bruise. Still something was bothering her. Had they really just left? Sure Renxiang's little sister had ended up becoming heir, and Jian and Xiulan had broken from their families for each other, but… would they really get to leave so easily? And why had they all come to her? She closed her eyes as the headache redoubled.
"Are you alright, Qi?" Meizhen asked, concern clear in her voice. Ling Qi heard the rustling of cloth, and then a cool hand pressing against her forehead. "I did not detect any odd fluctuations in your qi, but…"
Ling Qi opened her eyes, looking up to see Meizhen leaning in uncomfortably close, her lips pursed. Her eyes traced the curve of the girls throat, and Ling Qi felt strange. "Meizhen...why...why are you here. Don't you have...responsibilities…" her words came out with difficulty, and her thoughts felt fuzzy and muddled.
She simply gave Ling Qi a patient look, as she straightened up. Meizhen let her hand drift down to rest atop Ling Qi's." Qi, my clan can do without me. That aside, I love you, of course I would follow."
Ling Qi felt her vision blur. Of course, Meizhen was her first and best friend, the hand that had given her the first and most important boost into the world of Immortals. What sort of terrible world would it be where Ling Qi couldn't return her feelings? Yet…. it felt wrong. Meizhen, who idolized her aunt and who was working hard to be useful to her clan, would just drop everything for her? Meizhen who had herself firmly rejected the idea of being closer than friends, that last night in the inner sect?
Would Cai Renxiang really so easily abandon the things she talked about? Would Suyin abandon her place in the Sect, her mentor, her projects, or Su Ling her revenge? Xiulan and Han Jian were both dutiful children to their clans, why would they...
No this was wrong. This fantastical scenario, this...
"I need to go," Ling Qi breathed. She stood up, and Meizhen stepped back, her eyebrows raised in alarm.
"Qi? What is the meaning of this, you just returned," Meizhen replied, laying hands on her shoulders. The shorter girl looked up at her with confusion and alarm on her stoic features. "Is something wrong? Please tell me."
The things at the edges of her vision began to warp. "This isn't right," she replied, pushing Meizhen's hands away. "This… this whole thing."
Her friend looked hurt, as if Ling Qi had struck her, and in that moment, Ling Qi's resolve wavered. "Why? We are together. Everyone is together, and there is no reason for us to ever part. What could be wrong with that?"
"Life doesn't work like that," Ling Qi hissed, the pain in her head redoubling.
When next she looked up, Ling Qi froze as she found herself staring into Meizhen's eyes. Her empty white eyes.
Ling Qi reeled as the world shattered.
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"...Ister, Big Sister!"
"C'mon Qi don't do this to me, wake up, wake up, this isn't your dreams," Sixiang begged her.
Ling Qi shook her head violently, and the blizzard resolved itself again before her eyes. She felt so tired and cold. "...Hanyi, Sixiang…?"
"I thought I saw mama and she looked scary, and then you stopped moving," Hanyi babbled, clutching her neck tightly.
"I dunno about Zeqing, but you just froze up, it was like there was a cage of ice keeping me out of your thoughts," Sixiang muttered fearfully. "Please get moving."
Ling Qi shivered, recalling the visions she had apparently experienced. Even as she did though she bounded forward, forcing herself through the wind and snow despite the fatigue dragging at her limbs. She had forgotten exactly what Zeqing was, not just a creature of brute force and snow storms, but a winter siren, who could bring those fell under her spell to death of their own will. She just had to hope that whatever Zeqing was doing to restrain herself to did not slip again.
...And yet, as she ran through the snow, banking and turning on the command of her charge, her thoughts kept returning to those visions and why she had rejected them. Her heart ached at the memory of it...and yet, she could not help but feel that there was a truth there.
Advanced Insights, unlike regular ones do not arise from arts. Instead when undergoing a tribulation or trial, a chance may come to gain an advanced insight. These insight's result from mixing the ideas of previous insights and the domain baseline, and creating from them a more cohesive whole. Advanced insights do not take domain slots. Insights mixed this way are not used up, or otherwise lost.
[] Face the world as it is. While idle dreams can inspire, only toil and sweat can create beauty.
[] One person's desires cannot, alone make a home nor a family.
[] A harsh ending is sometimes necessary, for a beautiful lie is poor foundation for a new beginning.
The things at the edges of her vision began to warp. "This isn't right," she replied, pushing Meizhen's hands away. "This… this whole thing."
Her friend looked hurt, as if Ling Qi had struck her, and in that moment, Ling Qi's resolve wavered. "Why? We are together. Everyone is together, and there is no reason for us to ever part. What could be wrong with that?"
