Chapter 46: Still Water
Hao was at the river when I arrived.
He had come early, before his morning form, and was sitting at the bank with his forearms on his knees. He looked like he had been waiting. I sat beside him and we watched the water for a while without speaking.
Then I showed him.
I opened the core draw the way he had taught me, let the ambient Qi come from the river's direction, held it in the channels instead of releasing it. Then I turned my attention to my hands and let the Qi seep outward from my fingertips, slowly, following the contours of the ground when it dispersed.
Hao watched.
"It moves like the water," he said in awe.
"It carries the water's quality and it’s shape," I released the hold and let the Qi drain back. "That is what elemental affinity is. The ambient Qi itself carries different qualities depending on what it has been moving through. Earth Qi, Wood Qi, Water Qi, Fire Qi, — ambient Qi can be shaped differently. A practitioner whose body responds to one of them draws from it more easily, holds it longer, and produces it naturally in their own circulations." I looked at the river. "I just discovered that mine was water."
Hao cupped his chin in thought.
"What do you think mine would be?"