Once again. It seemed inevitable; she was in the goddamn woods again. But thank the gods she had light. The Huishou trailed behind her as she reached a small river.
The river was barely flowing and had a few flopping fish in it. "Well that's sad…" She thought the fish looked stupid trying to live with the bare minimum of water.
There was a fish that didn't flop and suck in the wetness. She picked the fish up by the tail and threw him where she thought there was more water.
It didn't matter, the fish were lucky it wasn't burning hot out. "GET AWAY!" her head tossed up towards some more trees and an arrow launched into her eye. Then in her shoulder. "What the fuck!" Cenisa held her shoulder.
"GET AWAY FROM THE MEIYOU DONG!"
What the fuck was that? "You shot me!"
"I don't care!" he flinged another arrow at her ear. It missed and the black markings started to show. "I HOPE YOU BURN!" she swung the tree and the one light became many. A dozen fireballs threw themselves at the creature that finally revealed behind the trees.
His clothes set on fire and face burnt. "DEMON!"
Cenisa shook the tree and set the grass on fire. "HELP!"
She called the lights back to make a large ball again. "Speak to me!"
"This is a Pixiu…" said the Huishou. "He is confused."
"Are you confused?"
"YOU TRIED TO KILL ME! SHIHAAD, I'M DYING!" the creature stood up but continued to burn. Another man from behind the thicket. "Who are you?" he was older with a long bread and ponytail. "Somebody with anxiety!"
"I bet you do. You have an arrow in your eye."
"HE DID IT!" she gestured with the tree. "I saw the fish and I thought, oh my lord they dying."
"Mamoon likes fish, and your right. They are going to die and I keep telling him that."
"Who are you?"
"My name is Shihaad Chao. I'm a member of the Black Dragon worshipers." he said. "You haven't told me about you."
"My favorite color is green, I like wine, my boyfriend used to call me names because I love tacos."
He just blinked. "What?"
She sighed. "My name is Nisa." she was concerned her name made her stand out too much. This was china, like folks were names Ming-Ming. "Nisa? Ok, alright." he crossed the grass and waved the flames away. "How you do that?"
"It is from the scales of Ranhuikunu."
Ran who coop… wait. "What does… he do?" she looked at the dead river. "Ranhuikunu is a black dragon that lives with us. He has no legs--"
"And he's smarter than people!" yelled Mamoon. "He's a gifted dragon!"
"Mamoon is his son, he's the last of the litter."
"Damn… I'm sorry." she almost killed a child. But he looked human. "Like, is he a half dragon?"
"Partially, yes." Shihaab grinned. "His mother was my mother before her soul ascended. How about I take you to the ravine. Teach you."
"Y'all sound like a cult."
"Fuck you! My father just wants peace!" Mamoon ran up to her. "Your hair looks like dogshit!"
"Boy if you don't get away from me looking like some sick ass rabies infected puppy!"
"I am a dragon of Ranhuikunu!" he snarled. "And I'm a jiangshi! What's up!"
"You ain't a jiangshi!" he stuck his neck out. "My mother was a jiangshi and she didn't want to be one."
"Huh?"
.
.
.
Cenisa tagged along with Mamoon and Shihaab. They had a smaller chariot but they also had a horse. She felt bad that she left Jingyu with the cart. He wasn't a substitute for a horse.
She rode in the chariot with Shihaab and Mamoon rode the horse. "I can't believe we're bringing a dusty ass vampire with us."
"Drive the damn pony!" she chastised. "Ride mine, you stupid bitch!"
"Mamoon, let get to the boat."
The tiny chariot was cramp and she didn't make any means to have a conversation. Shihaab did eye her a few times and the light.
"So…" apparently she spoke too much. "Do you have questions?"
"No…" she grinned sheepishly. Shihaab faced forward. Cenisa looked at the light. "You are a jiangshi?"
"I-I am."
"Mamoon is not. His mother had him before she became one, she was kidnapped when he grew his tail. "What's wrong with him?" she whispered.
"His half dragon and the last of his kin. He had a brother, he was shot with arrows." Like the one still in her left eye. "I'm sorry for his actions. He had one of tantrums--"
"NO I DIDN'T!"
Shihaab eyes were on him then changed to Cenisa. "He's been trying to keep his anger down."
"Well, that's good. It's like therapy."
"The branch you have is very strange. The fruit are… peculiar."
"They named me, Huishou."
"That's a very simple name…" said Shihaab. "Why the large soul? Who is it?"
"Uh…" the tree, she assumed. "I'm new… to all this. Like, I'm not from here."
"Where are you from?"
"Georgia?" she cocked her head to the side. It was just open land from either side. A few flowers, but all this air mad her feel anxious. "How long have you been a jiangshi? More and more are showing up."
"What you mean?"
"It may have something to do with this new factory. A lot of people are moving to Liaowon. I'm not sure what's over there…"
"Is it like downtown to y'all?"
"Liaowon is home to Xiyi and it just doesn't feel right in the world. Something is strange and the mandarin has died."
"What did he do?"
"The mandarin is an official in government, they… more or less organize everything."
"Alright…"
Jiu Yan was once a soldier. He lived with his curse for a long time."
"Since birth I heard…" she looked at the field of flowers that passed. It was vivid like a rainbow ob land. The moment the wind picked up enough, yellow, purple, red, and blue waved at her. "That's so pretty."
"It is." Shihaab looked forward, "Mamoon, look at the flowers and know peace."
"I'm looking…"
"Do you know about a village with Jiangshi?" she asked. She wondered if anybody knew. Hualing showed up but Cenisa didn't see on the side of the road. "No--"
"I have!" shouted Mamoon. "Yugayama village died a long time ago. The last person that went there was a traveler. It might actually have one person still around."
Cenisa lost her breath. "How long has it been?"
"About 131 years. Liaowon doesn't even try to rebuild it, they just left it alone. They say they were using the people from the village to power the new factory. I think it's true…"
"I don't" chimed in Shihaab. "The village is close to Liaowon for trade. They just abandoned it. The village may be empty but those still around probably live peaceful in the city."
"they just left it. Like, the city was protecting the village?"
"Yes."
"Poor Jing…" she uttered and Hualing appeared again but this time she saw.