It was impossible to know someone perfectly without being them. Shu Yue had asserted that. And on further thought, Ling Qi felt she understood that more clearly now. People hid or held thoughts back. They remained silent when they shouldn’t have. And that was the people she was closest to, let ...
2023-04-03 21:39:31 +0000 UTC View PostIn the beginning, there was joy.
There was a whole world to explore, infinite in possibility
But it was the nature of that world to define, to limit, to order. Solidity, stability, selfhood.
Even for those mighty defiers of Law, their purpose was to write and rewrite those laws,...
2023-03-31 00:40:23 +0000 UTC View PostThe words struck her with physical force, sending her to her knees as her bubble of control collapsed. The wind swept in. Rotten leaves and snow plastered themselves across her, filling her nose with their disgusting moldy scent.
Linq Qi pressed her hands to the ground, refusing still to fu...
2023-03-28 00:31:35 +0000 UTC View PostThe air around them darkened, and she saw Sixiang stiffen, something cold and cruel and alien seeping into their eyes. The threads dug into her wrist, and the binding grew tighter.
She’d known the problem coming here. Despite her deflection, despite her evasion, and despite her avoidance ...
2023-03-23 21:29:28 +0000 UTC View PostLing Qi landed lightly on extended toes, surrounded by shards of glass. She stood on immaculate jade tiles, surrounded by cool mist and music. Applause greeted her, and she was met with a grand ballroom full of spirits in every shape and in every size. Beasts were strolling around on their hind l...
2023-03-13 22:56:04 +0000 UTC View Post“What you said, those were the Duchess’ words?” Ling Qi asked.
“Only the first. The rest are my thoughts.”
Ling Qi wanted to share them with Renxiang.
“You desire to question. How long until your intended descent?” Shu Yue asked plainly.
“Evening under the ...
2023-03-10 00:04:23 +0000 UTC View PostIt's that time again. Another set of arcs will be finishing next week and that means I'll be taking one week to destress and plan the next set. I hope everyone has been enjoying things, and I hope I'll see most of you when content resumes!
2023-03-08 19:26:36 +0000 UTC View Post“I’ve been ignorant,” Ling Qi said. “My world was small, barely larger than what lay before my eyes.”
She thought of scrabbling for food and shelter, never able to look up, barely able to look around. No time for anything not immediately relevant. It was an awful way to live and o...
2023-03-07 01:32:08 +0000 UTC View PostAnd here's the second chapter, with the extra commissioned, enjoy!
“Do you accept this mission, officer?”
“Naturally, I would not refuse such a vital duty,” Gu Xiulan said, unable to keep the slightly irritable twist out of her tone. “It pleases m...
2023-03-06 22:28:56 +0000 UTC View PostLing Qi crouched by the overgrown pond that sat among the ruins of the old temple, looking down into the murky waters.
The old stones were swept and cleaned. The broken structure had been grown anew from Zhengui’s roots. A new mirror of polished silver was placed inside in a case of polis...
2023-03-03 01:23:20 +0000 UTC View PostAN: Just a little late but there will be a second chapter this week thanks to a kind commissioner.
They were harried at every step.
The ashwalkers were dogged and unrelenting. Even with a full third of their numbers cut down in the opening raid did nothing to slow the...
2023-03-01 20:13:49 +0000 UTC View Post“And that is what I was able to get from our countrymen today,” Ling Qi said, bowing at the waist as she finished her recitation and returned to her seat. Together with Cai Renxiang and Gan Guangli, she was in a large warm tent set out near to the partially built embassy.
“A Zheng,”...
2023-02-28 00:15:57 +0000 UTC View PostThere was so much Ling Qi wished she could cover, so much information she was yet lacking. She had only two short months to prepare for the admittedly month-long summit, and so very many things to do.
This was her first meeting with these representatives of the White Sky however, and so, wi...
2023-02-24 01:03:42 +0000 UTC View Post“May I ask for your understanding of this summit in your own words?”
Ling Qi didn’t know enough about him. If most of her information toward Cao Chun was going to be filtered, that couldn’t stand. The Jin were the ducal clan of the Alabaster Seas. They had minimal relations with the...
2023-02-21 02:33:12 +0000 UTC View PostThere were some unexpected circumstances this week in my life and it resulted in me losing a bit of organization. My apologies for the delay on yesterday's update everyone.
2023-02-17 14:57:19 +0000 UTC View Post<Heh, you already getting practice in, huh?> Sixiang laughed.
No reason not to, Ling Qi thought. Qi circulated in the threads of her dress and through the wind, and before her feet could touch the treetops, she was flying.
Her flight took her down into the valley proper again, d...
2023-02-17 14:54:38 +0000 UTC View PostIt always annoyed Bao Qian just a little, that mortal coins were so much better designed as currency than the money of cultivators. Coins were good, round and flat, stackable. A hole punched through the center, so that they could be strung on thread or rawhide. Convenient and reasonable. Stones o...
2023-02-14 01:06:58 +0000 UTC View PostTraveling across the severed mountain peak and following the half-constructed road laid out by posts and string, she made her way toward the southern edge of the plateau. She had begun to feel a hole where one should be. It was the sort of deliberately amateurish masking she would do if trying to...
2023-02-10 00:52:28 +0000 UTC View PostAN: For my patrons I decided a little late that I'll be adding the coming interlude to the main story so you guys will get it here, but Royal Road may see it placed otherwise.
The road wound ever on. Through hills and trees, around mountains, across rivers. The cool air rus...
2023-02-07 01:52:56 +0000 UTC View PostIt was a few hours later, the sun having passed its zenith, when Ling Qi made her way out, traveling up and over the switchback path that led toward the top of the severed mountain. It was unpleasant. The qi in the air was still disturbed and humming, the mountain all but emanating indignation an...
2023-02-03 01:17:09 +0000 UTC View PostLing Qi followed Wang Lian away from the work site, chatting about Hanyi and her tour and the work going on at the site. Wang Lian seemed tentatively approving. The woman seemed to approve of innovation as a general principle, so long as precautions were taken for safety.
Wang Lian led her ...
2023-01-30 22:44:35 +0000 UTC View Post“The Bountiful Earth must smile upon us!” Gan Guangli laughed. He leaned against the side of the carriage, his bulky arm resting upon the window frame.
“That is definitely the implication that I wove into the cover letter of my report on the find,” Ling Qi said. “It is very lucky....
2023-01-27 01:11:55 +0000 UTC View PostThe shouts of men, the clattering of bone against rusted metal, and the whistle of the wind past her ears combined into a cacophony of sound. The sound of thundering hooves combined with the hiss and snap of sparks and flames. Her heart thundered in her ears, and lightning sang in her veins.
<... 2023-01-26 19:50:29 +0000 UTC View Post“You can leave if you like, Lao Keung. Thank you for your assistance.”
“What assistance is that? A few words on waterborne toxins? Hmph, I feel as if this expedition was only an excuse to interrogate me.”
“You were helpful. I am not the best at tracking.”
He narrowed...
2023-01-23 16:55:08 +0000 UTC View PostThere will a break to let me take care of some offline business until the above date. Thank you for your patience! I'll return with a new update and hopefully some fun announcements. See everyone then.
2023-01-12 22:21:37 +0000 UTC View PostHe nodded once and reached up, unwrapping his head scarf and vanishing it into a storage ring. His coat followed, leaving him in a sleeveless tunic. Ling Qi did not stare, obviously. Not everyone could wear a talisman as potent and mutable as hers.
As he began to wade out into the water, sh...
2023-01-12 22:19:36 +0000 UTC View PostFinal Frost’s Serenade.
The alliteration appealed, Ling Qi thought, lowering her flute. Around her was a copse of trees, dripping faintly with melted frost. There were a few shattered trunks and stumps where the impurity had run too deep, but it was largely now a clean copse, quiet and se...
2023-01-10 02:00:02 +0000 UTC View PostHanyi began to sing, and Ling Qi listened closely. The song was light and graceful, resembling the piece Ling Qi had helped her compose some time ago for that last concert before the journey south, but this version was more strident and mature.
And as Hanyi sang, flurries of snow crystalliz...
2023-01-06 00:36:24 +0000 UTC View PostLing Qi blew out a breath. “Too much to put in good order, little sister.”
Her eyes scanned the books, the neat scrolls, and journals and collated anthologies before straying to the far messier corner of the table. That corner was filled with stacked worn and tattered pieces, single pag...
2023-01-02 23:44:13 +0000 UTC View Post“Big Sister! I bet you’ve been in all sorts of trouble without me!” Hanyi yelled gleefully, all but jumping into her arms for a hug.
“Maybe a little. “I’d like to hear what you’ve been up to though.” Ling Qi laughed, hugging her back. “Ah, and what’s this?”
She p...
2022-12-30 00:25:10 +0000 UTC View Post