They made it to the boat and now it was time to sail. "I've never been on a boat before." she said. "Nisa by any chance. Are you a slave? Your skin is brown."
"Huh? Well…" there wasn't a right or wrong answer to that. "Why do you ask?"
"Shihaab used to be one for a family… like a servant." said Mamoon. "This is the Thus Region. So except damage."
"Why?"
"I said it's the Thus region! Do you have ears!"
"The Thus region was invaded Euwux. Thus is home to oni, spirits, and whatever can't be explained. Some of the people are dark, some are white, some… are inbetween." explained Shihaab. "Shihaab! Help me with the chariot!"
Cenisa stepped on the boat with the great fear of falling signaling imminent death. But she got in alright.
Once everything was loaded, they were off. "What were you doing out here?" she questioned. "We were picking herbs, dad's sick." Mamoon seemed to never smile. "why were you all the way out here?"
"I escaped from the village…"
"Huh? Are you serious?"
"Yes, I was… traveling with an Oni."
"Ugh…"
"Boy shut up!"
"Why do you talk the way you do?" he sneered.
"I talk how I want to talk."
"Read a book.
"Fuck you! Bumpy face havin' ass!"
"Excuse me bitch?"
"Now he deaf…"
"You two seem to like each other…" said Shihaab.
.
.
.
Cenisa wasn't sure how long they were sailing but it felt like a couple of hours. "Where are we headed?"
"Guangko Temple." informed Shihaab. "Or the The Black Dragon House."
"It's on an island." Mamoon scoffed. "You have a problem with me?"
"You disrespected my father."
"Do you know how many dad get disrespected while dead? Don't nobody care."
"You are selfish. You are a whore. You are ugly." Mamoon grimaced. "No," Cenisa shrugged with her mouth crooked. "Calm down we're almost there."
What had she done to deserve it? Everything. Did she care? No. In fact, she didn't even care about her own damn parents. Her mother was in a retirement home, her daddy was dead. Her brother was too depressed with death and her aunt Briana was in jail for animal abuse. The woman's mental state of mind was fucked up. She wanted to talk about it with somebody.
But Jingyu was gone.
They passed a small piece of land with a lamp on it and three more sparse islands with lamps. When she arrived at the temple it was a high Chinese temple with nine floors.
"Y'all got elevators?"
.
.
.
They got off the boat and Shihaab helped Cenisa. Mamoon got off but gently pushed the boat back with his foot. "OOO SHIT!"
Shihaab grabbed her hands and pulled her back on the stones near the dock. "You're ok."
"Goddamn…"
Mamoon rolled his eyes. "You scared of boat?"
She looked at him. "What?"
"It's just a boat…" he left the two and went ahead inside the the great black and red temple with banners waving off the nine floors. She looked at Shihaab, "He tried to kill me…"
"Probably so… it's over now."
Cenisa went into the temple with Shihaab. "Y'all got air conditioning in this bitch. It's cozy." There was a worshipper sweeping. "Ah, Shibaab, you are home." the worshipper wore red robes with an orange slash. "Nisa, this is Dreqin." Shihaab introduced. Drequin bowed, "It's a pleasure."
"Oh, why, thank you." she curtsied. "She'll be staying with us. She carries the Huishou. And…" he faced the light behind her. "I think this is the soul of Huishou."
"Oh!" Dreqin covered his lips. "Maybe she should speak to Ranhuikunu. Perhaps he has wisdom to share."
"Perhaps…" Shibaab faced Cenisa, would you like to meet Ranhuikunu? He's at the top of the temple."
"Maybe not today." said Dreqin. "The lord went flying. He just got back."
Shibaab gasped, "He flew! That's fantastic!"
"It wasn't for very long time. We're happy he's getting off the ground. It must be such a pain being in this temple."
"Well, he does eat soup all day."
"Is he sick?" asked Cenisa. "Lord Ranhuikunu lost his back legs during the war. nHe lost some of his young, all he has is Mamoon." She also still had an arrow in her eye. "Hey can I bug you all a question?" It didn't make sense why everyone was so ignorant to her injuries. "Ah… the arrow. Well, I can sense you are a vampire."
"So?"
"Well, take it out…" said Dreqin. "Nigga this is not a fashion accessory. This actually hurts."
"We are aware of the existence of Jiangshi but also that they feed on qi. So… I don't really wanna touch you."
"Are you fucking with me?"
"I don't wanna die…"