The family had barely recovered from the PTA meeting when yet another flyer appeared on their doorstep. This one was bright yellow, with bold letters that read:
"JOIN THE NEIGHBORHOOD WATCH! HELP KEEP OUR COMMUNITY SAFE!"
Son-Wu San stared at the flyer like it was a cursed artifact. "Do we have to?"
Li-Yan Mei glanced at him while folding laundry. "If we want to blend in, yes. It's just a meeting. What's the worst that could happen?"
Son-Wu San muttered under his breath, "Every time we try to be normal, everything happens."
Meanwhile, Xian Xue and Xian Long were on the floor playing with their pet spirit dog, Fluffy—a massive, snow-white wolf with glowing blue eyes that somehow looked adorable rather than terrifying. Fluffy was currently chasing a floating ball of light conjured by Xian Long, leaving scorch marks on the carpet.
"Can we come to the meeting too?" Xian Xue asked, her eyes sparkling with excitement.
"No," Son-Wu San said firmly.
"Why not?" she pouted.
"Because," Li-Yan Mei said, "the last time you came to a meeting, you accidentally summoned glowing symbols and broke the principal's microphone."
Xian Xue puffed her cheeks indignantly. "That wasn't my fault! The microphone wasn't sturdy!"
Son-Wu San pinched the bridge of his nose. "You two are staying home. No arguments."
Xian Long grinned mischievously. "Fine, but if anything fun happens, you have to tell us everything!"
---
That evening, Son-Wu San and Li-Yan Mei reluctantly walked to the community center for the neighborhood watch meeting. The building was small and cozy, with plastic chairs arranged in a circle. About a dozen residents were already seated, including Mr. Zhao, the self-appointed leader of the neighborhood.
"Ah, the new family!" Mr. Zhao said with a wide smile that didn't quite reach his eyes. "Welcome, welcome! We're so glad you decided to join us."
Son-Wu San nodded politely. "Thank you."
Li-Yan Mei smiled, her presence effortlessly charming everyone in the room. "We're happy to contribute."
The other residents murmured greetings, though a few of them eyed the couple warily. Whispers about the family's "oddness" had clearly spread.
Mr. Zhao clapped his hands. "Let's get started, shall we? Tonight's agenda is simple: we'll discuss recent incidents and come up with patrol schedules."
---
The meeting began smoothly enough. Mr. Zhao outlined some petty thefts and strange noises reported in the area. But then, a nervous-looking man raised his hand.
"I... I think we need to talk about them," he said, glancing at Son-Wu San and Li-Yan Mei.
The room went silent.
Son-Wu San's eyes narrowed slightly. "Us?"
"Well," the man stammered, "there've been... unusual events since you moved in. Lights flickering, weird sounds at night, and, uh, didn't an earthquake happen at the school recently?"
"That was a structural issue," Li-Yan Mei said smoothly, her smile never faltering.
"And the glowing symbols?" another woman asked, her voice accusatory.
Son-Wu San leaned back in his chair, his expression calm but dangerously unreadable. "Are you suggesting we're responsible for random phenomena?"
"I'm not suggesting," the woman said, crossing her arms. "I'm saying it outright."
The tension in the room was palpable.
Li-Yan Mei's smile grew sharper. "Interesting theory. Do you also blame us for the rain? Or maybe the moon looking too bright?"
The woman opened her mouth to retort, but Mr. Zhao quickly intervened. "Now, now! Let's not point fingers. We're here to work together as a community!"
---
Just as things began to calm down, the door burst open.
"Mom! Dad! We're here!"
Everyone turned to see Xian Xue and Xian Long standing in the doorway, with Fluffy trotting behind them.
Son-Wu San's face darkened. "I thought I told you to stay home."
"We got bored," Xian Long said unapologetically.
"And Fluffy wanted to come too!" Xian Xue added, scratching the massive wolf behind the ears.
The room erupted into chaos.
"Is that a wolf?!" someone shrieked.
"Why is it glowing?!"
"It's just our dog," Li-Yan Mei said, as though that explained everything.
Fluffy, sensing the tension, let out a low growl that made the walls vibrate. The terrified neighbors scrambled to the far side of the room, some of them clutching their chairs like shields.
"Calm down, everyone," Son-Wu San said, pinching the bridge of his nose again. "Fluffy is harmless."
As if to prove his point, Fluffy wagged his tail and sat down, looking absurdly proud of himself.
---
Unfortunately, the chaos didn't end there.
Xian Xue, eager to "help," began drawing her glowing symbols in the air again. This time, one of them accidentally turned into a small portal that sucked up a stack of meeting notes.
"Oops," she said, giggling.
Xian Long, not wanting to be outdone, conjured a tiny fireball and started juggling it. "Look, I'm helping light the room!"
"Put that out!" Mr. Zhao yelled, his face pale.
Li-Yan Mei stood and clapped her hands. "All right, kids. Time to go home."
"But we just got here!" Xian Long protested.
"No arguments," Son-Wu San said firmly. He looked at Mr. Zhao, who seemed on the verge of a heart attack. "We'll... discuss this later."
The family left the meeting amidst a chorus of whispers, gasps, and a faint smell of singed carpet.
---
As they walked home, Xian Xue skipped happily beside her parents. "That was fun! Can we go to the next meeting?"
"No," Son-Wu San and Li-Yan Mei said in unison.
Xian Long grinned. "At least it wasn't too chaotic, right?"
Li-Yan Mei sighed, shaking her head. "We're never going to blend in, are we?"
Son-Wu San smirked. "Probably not. But at least we're keeping things interesting."
The stars above seemed to twinkle brighter, as if laughing at the absurdity of it all.