He hadn’t advanced more than two dozen steps before the sound of pounding feet reached him. A moment later, a tidal wave of fur slammed into him from around a corner.
It would have taken an adamantium will to keep his feet through the onslaught, which the prince did not have. The overwhelming body mass of Tiger struck him, bearing the boy to the ground. The spirit beast kept him pinned there, rubbing his chin against Huang Jin’s face and purring like a giant kitten.
As soon as the prince managed to pry himself loose, another lump of fur leapt in and buried itself into his chest. This one whimpered in a mental voice as it nuzzled in with frantic energy. Even as he lifted a hand to comfort Rabbit, another form squeezed past Tiger’s bulk and started licking the boy’s face as he lay on the ground.
Tiger, Rabbit, and Dog were only the first wave. More spirit beasts crowded the hall just beyond, spilling around the corner. “I missed you, too!” Huang Jin laughed, when he’d managed to prop himself up with one arm. The other cradled Rabbit, who had apparently been hit the hardest by his absence.
A chorus of greetings rang out in his mind.
Near-unison. Rabbit’s ‘voice’ oozed with raw relief, while Horse delivered his greeting with his customary volume. That particular animal was so large, he could only poke his head around the corner.
It took a moment before the various animals gave their Master space to stand up and move… but when they did, he noticed something very odd. Ox’s voice had been among the rest. In fact, he could sense Ox’s qi very close by, as though he were in this very hall. The Ironhorn Ox stood eleven feet tall at the shoulder, the size of an elephant. How could he possibly squeeze himself into the main thoroughfares of the cabin?
Pig came prancing into view, proud as a peacock. Behind him came Ox, tilting his head nearly vertical to avoid scraping Horse with his horns as he passed by.
Domestic pigs were large animals, Pig himself weighing in at around three hundred pounds, but they weren’t very tall. Ox had somehow shrunk down to Pig’s size, even shorter than Huang Jin himself!
Even as other animals rounded the corner into view, the prince couldn’t take his eyes off of the new, relatively-tiny Ox. Monkey came last, holding Baoshi’s claw like a child holding a balloon. The dragon pointed and squeaked, nearly as bewildered as his ‘father.’
Still holding onto Rabbit, the prince stepped forward and squinted. “What… wait, how? Why?”
“That’s true, but how did that turn into this?” asked the prince, gesturing down at Ox.
Pig’s voice and manner still gleamed with pride, though it began to fade a little.
“Oh, that’s not it at all!” the prince was quick to reassure him. He maneuvered carefully, trying not to jostle Rabbit in his arm as he navigated through the press. Then, he gave both the shrunken Ox and Pig a pat on their heads. “I’m just taken aback, I didn’t expect… this.”
Huang Jin turned and aimed a look at his Master, a silent question in his eyes.
“I know the method,” she answered. “There was a Sect once that called this technique [Blessing of the Twin Mirrors]. Apparently Pig figured it out from basic principles, on vibes alone, in three days.”
The animals shifted their gaze from their own Master to Dahe as she spoke, then all turned to Pig at once. The hall remained quiet for a moment as everyone digested this information.
Dahe broke the silence first. “Hey, Huang Jin? You didn’t teach him [Cognitive Enhancement], did you?”
“It was hard enough mastering it! I couldn’t possibly teach it.”
“And just to clarify, he mastered qi-speech almost immediately, right? And he was the one who taught the others how to use it?”
Ox answered.
Huang Jin nodded in confirmation. “Pig is a genius, for sure.”
Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.
The Master shook her head. “No, sweetie, you are a genius. Pig is an anomaly, like two levels of hyperbole higher. You’re likely going to spend the rest of your life working your butt off to remain one step ahead of your pet pig.”
At that, Huang Jin and Pig could only stare at each other. Then, the boy leaned down and scratched the spirit beast under his chin. Pig oinked happily and wiggled his rump in delight.
“Pig is Pig, before anything else!” declared the prince. “Now, who wants to show me to the displaced library?”
Everyone did, as it turned out. The brief walk down the hall to the prairie chamber gave him time to inspect his Zodiac more thoroughly as he walked behind them.
He monitored the four he worried about the most, in particular. Snake, Rooster, Sheep, and Rat still hadn’t taken to speech, but they didn’t act exactly like normal animals. Rat rested on Sheep’s back, while the milky-white Snake slithered alongside Rooster. They moved with purpose, and stayed with the group. He also caught Snake turning her head to keep him in clearer view, several times.
These concerns returned to the back of his mind as Rabbit began to revive somewhat in the crook of his arm. She stirred, looking up into his eyes. Very quietly, in a mental whisper so low that the others surely couldn’t hear, she asked,
Huang Jin aimed his warmest, gentlest smile down at her and touched a finger to his cheek. He whispered back, “Come on now, who could bear to harm a face like this? They didn’t give me anything I couldn’t handle.” It wasn’t a lie… what happened may have hurt, but he could handle it.
That seemed to satisfy Rabbit, but she made no attempt to leave his arm.
Before long, they all arrived at their destination and began squeezing through the door. He did have to stifle a laugh, watching the barnyard parade try to squeeze through a human-sized door.
The animals were so energetic he’d nearly forgotten, but it was the middle of the night. The sun-mimic formation lighting the prairie chamber had switched to ‘moonlight’ mode, casting the scene before the prince in a silver gloom.
The alchemy shed stood out, lit from the inside by a valiant little electric lantern. A small hill rose up next to the building. Huang Jin’s eyes adjusted to the darkness as he drew close to the new topological feature. Yes, that big, ungainly lump was indeed his new library… what had he been expecting? Monkey was the only member of the Zodiac that had hands! How else could they arrange it?
The prince shook his head and leaned down to give the macaque a pat on the shoulder. “You all did great. It doesn’t look like it’s going to rain tonight-”
“It isn’t,” Dahe broke in. As the creator and ruler of the place, she would know.
“It isn’t! Then, it’s safe to rest up and see to everything else tomorrow.” This was met with general agreement, and also a sudden, jarring POP of displaced air as Ox returned to his usual size. Apparently, the size-sharing technique required some level of constant effort. They would have to be careful with it indoors.
Huang Jin retired to his room. Two minutes later, he rejoined the animals again; his bed had been destroyed at some point in the past three days. Right now, he just did not have the energy to fix it.
Instead, he found an open spot in the grass between Sheep and Ox. The entire Zodiac surrounded him once again, and soon after, they were all united in rest.
-
Frustratingly, the next day was devoted almost entirely to carpentry. The work suited Huang Jin, and his enhanced mind and body made quick work of the project. Since he was technically upgrading the cabin’s facilities, the Master even allowed him to use her vast stores of high-quality wood.
But it was tedious. He’d rather be reading, forging, practicing the esoteric arts, or even sorting. Even so, the work got done. By the time the sun-mimic’s light turned orange to signal late evening, a respectable little box of a building had sprung up next to the cabin.
The prince put the finishing touches on the door while listening in on his companions’ conversation. Baoshi had spent much of the day regaling the others with tales from the Hallowed Rift. He didn’t often speak, but today he had a great deal of news to share and it came out piecemeal.
“Yes, and the demon looked just like Father!” he insisted.
Clearly, the dragon remembered events slightly differently than the prince. Though come to think of it… maybe not by much.
Dog tried to make sense of it all.
“Before!” Dragon squeaked, and launched into the account again.
Huang Jin didn’t note the end of the second telling, because the Master sauntered over just then to inspect his work. She looked it up and down for a long moment before speaking.
“Solid work, very functional. Doesn’t really vibe with the ‘cozy’ aesthetic. Don’t get offended if I tear it down and throw the books into storage after you head back to the palace."
“That implies that it won’t collapse under its own weight. A compliment if I’ve ever heard one!” After a moment of thought, he added, “Does this count against the week you’re giving me for research?”
The Master shrugged. “No, I want you to absorb as much as you can. I’ve really been looking forward to this.”
Huang Jin didn’t really get it, since the whole ‘library’ thing had been his idea. He put it aside, for now. “Anything you want me to focus the report on, in particular?”
She gave him a mischievous look, disconcerting given the context. “Why, yes! As I said before, I’d like a nice, detailed analysis on the East-West war, as well as a denouement on its results in the modern day. As in-depth as you can get based on the materials available.”
He returned a martial salute. “It shall be done, Master!” With that, he got to work. The whole library now had to be moved into its new housing, and he had to brief Monkey and Pig on the new orders. They wouldn’t be much help, likely, but Monkey would adore the process… and Huang Jin couldn’t resist the urge to test Pig’s intellect.
After all that had happened, it would be nice to get back into the swing of things with a learning frenzy. It was sure to prove a fun and stimulating week.
No drama. Surely.
Sci-fi ? Telepathy ? Psychics
The technocracy will fall. And my powers started it all. Oops.
- Straight & queer romances. (No harem.)
- Seven-book interconnected series.
- Comedy Space Operas: .
- WLW Psychological Thrillers: .