Heaven's Golden Finger - Chapter 43: Chapter 43

Shun's mother turned an interested gaze on Shirong. "Your grammar is atrocious, and what does entering a rice field to weed it have anything to do with this thing?"
"I... er... I...." Shirong turned a hopeful look at Shun but saw no help there. Shun's lips were tight in an unfamiliar expression, his chest heaving slightly as if he were in the grip of some powerful emotion. When Shirong gazed at him pleadingly, he lost all control and started giggling helplessly.
Realizing Shun was no longer able to explain, Shirong sighed. "I went through a tribulation, Your Majesty. My spirit spent almost nineteen years in another world and time. I learned a different language there and...."
"And that still doesn't answer the question, little piglet."
At a loss to understand why Xing Baishe was calling him a piglet, Shirong continued, "There are things in that other world that don't exist here. So when I used our language's words for them, Shun Shixiong would be confused. I've been sounding out the words ever since."
She considered the explanation. "So what other world word would this mi-nou-ta-ru be called?"
Once again Shirong was at a loss. "I don't know," he admitted. "I'm not sure there is one. I suppose Bull-head Man?"
"Then why didn't you call it that in the first place?"
As Shun sat down and laughed harder, Shirong said helplessly, "I didn't think about it?"
Shirong's father interrupted quietly. "Isn't the point being missed here?" When they all looked at him, he explained, "That creature doesn't look like any spirit beast or demon that roams any of the five lands. Well, except for Ox-head and there's only one of him. Besides, Ox-head is a black bull and this fellow's white. Not to mention awfully scraggly."
Not bothering to ask how his father knew what the ox-headed guardian of the underworld looked like, Shirong offered, "This one's horns don't look big enough, either. And he's too skinny."
Enraged by the discussion of his appearance, the minotaur, Disciple Li Shang, bellowed furiously. "SHUT UP YOU LITTLE BRAT!"
"I don't think I shall," Shirong told him, returning his gaze to the demon. "You're not native to the Five Lands, are you?"
Another bellow of rage, this time accompanied by a sharp slam against the wall of the array. Shirong's father had done an excellent job, however; the array flung him back with almost the same amount of force as he'd struck it.
As the minotaur bounced back and forth, striking the array walls and bouncing back to the other for several rounds, Shirong asked, "Dad, is he going to be badly injured?"
"Don't worry, son. We need him alive to question. It'll stop in a few minutes." His father set a hand on his shoulder, adding, "The question is, what is this mi-nou-ta-ru creature anyway?"
Shirong tried to remember his Greek mythology. "The son of a Queen in an ancient land. His mother mated with a bull and they put him in a maze and it's all a strange story that probably has nothing to do with anything here."
"YOU LEAVE MY MAMA OUT OF THIS! OW OW OW OW"
Shirong blinked. "Wait. You're saying you're that minotaur?" By this time Li Shang, or whatever his name was, had stopped bouncing off the walls of the array. He looked ready to ram them again, however, and Shirong hurriedly added, "Don't keep doing that. You'll hurt yourself."
"DON'T TELL ME WHAT TO... OW OW OW OW.... owwwww." The last ow came as more of a moan as the minotaur crumpled to the ground, holding his head and crying piteously.
Shirong wasn't sure if the weirdness around them was because he and Shun were involved or if something like this would have happened even if they weren't around to add to the chaos. The Five Lands seemed prone to strange happenings, much of which had nothing whatsoever to do with them.
Rather than focus on how strange things were, Shirong asked, "Are you ready to talk?"
"Ow."
"I think we should take that as a 'yes' for the moment." Shun moved closer to the edge of the array. "If I understand correctly, you're a demon from some land outside ours?"
A grumbled, "I'm not supposed to talk about it."
"Whether or not I actually wanted to be, I'm King of Demons now." Shun glanced apologetically at his mother, who smiled. "Which means you're in my territory."
"I'm not your subject!"
"Would you care to test that?" Shun undid his outer robe, handing it off to Shirong. His body shifted as he moved, sliding out of his clothes as he reformed into a giant snake.
Shirong couldn't help gazing admiringly at the glittering silver and rainbow effect of his Shixiong's scales. "So pretty," he couldn't help murmuring.
"He is, piglet. But may I remind you to stay focused?"
Again with the piglet? Shirong made a note to ask Shun's mother just what she meant. Right that moment, however, he had to admit she was right. "Yes, ma'am."
Circling around the array, Shun gazed down at the much smaller minotaur. "You and your fellow disciples have spent my lifetime helping make me miserable," he noted. "I would be well within my rights, both as King of Demons and Adversary, to demand repayment for your mistreatment."
To Li Shang's credit he glared up at Shun, though sweat damped his hide and his hands shook. Oxen weren't often scared of anything but snakes were often another story. When that snake was big enough to swallow him whole without bothering to squeeze first, the story turned into a whole bookshelf of novels, beginning with, 'Keep Away From Me' and ending with, 'Please Don't Eat Me'.
So it didn't surprise Shirong when their captive finally collapsed into a frightened heap, gasping, "I'll talk! I'LL TALK!"
Li Shang's story didn't answer every question they had but it answered enough. "Master Qiong brought me in. He... was traveling in my lands and convinced me to serve him."
Now what Master Qiong was doing in what had to be this world's equivalent of ancient Crete wasn't clear. Nor was it clear why he was bringing outlander demons and spirit beasts into the Five Lands. What was clear was that he'd been up to something for years before he'd become Sect Master.
"I'd always wondered why he had such objections to Duan and I marrying," Xing Baishe said, once they'd finished questioning Li Shang. "There was never any justifiable reason. Not in lands where demons, Gods, spirits and humans all interact frequently. There's mixed blood folk all over the place."
Li Shang blinked at her. "You are joking, yes? Mixed blood folk are abominations."
Shirong couldn't help pointing out, "You're including yourself in that, you realize?"
"I. Know."
Now that was sad. Shirong looked at his companions and noted Liang Ren had a dour expression. "I don't care what you want to call yourself," he snapped at Li Shang. "But I'm no abomination."
Seeing that might set a new argument going, Shirong interrupted. "Save that for later," he suggested. "Li Shang, does Master Qiong believe the same as you?"
"Of course."
"Then why make you a disciple? And are the others also mixed blood?"
"They are. Master Qiong says it's his duty to make the useless useful."
There were whole books written on the sort of person who used people the way Master Qiong had been using his disciples. When it came to that, Shirong's adopted father had been using him that way too. Persuaded they had no use except for what Master Qiong gave them, it was no wonder they followed him so loyally.
"Master Qiong...." Shirong stopped himself. If everything he'd been told and understood so far was true, Master Qiong was nothing of the sort. He'd broken trust after trust, claimed a position not intended for him and used those under his mastery as tools. "Qiong Lou's using you."
Silence. Then, "You think we don't know that? We're outlanders, all of us. We've no place to go. No purpose and nowhere to be. This is all we have."
Shirong turned to look at his Shixiong. "What do we do?"
"If you're demons then - given you prove yourselves trustworthy - I can allow you to remain. My realm is a mess right now...."
"Really? How bad is it?" Xing Baishe asked.
"Mother, not now." At her grin, Shun sighed. "I'm surrounded by troublemakers. Li Shang, we'll discuss the matter of your future later. Right now we need to know why your fellow disciples took Meng Huang Shang."
Li Shang paled. "That... that was Meng Huang Shang? And he... let... us take him?"
Well that wasn't good. If Li Shang didn't know who they'd taken he probably didn't know much else. Still, "Do you know where you were supposed to go?"
"There's a cave system in the mountains south of us. That's how Master Qiong brought us here. He has a hidden mansion inside."
"I want details. Everything you know about the place. Every trap, every escape path. Everything."
After a moment of hesitation, Li Shang offered, "I could just come with you."
"Thank you, but no. I think it best if you remained away. Liang Ren will see to keeping you out of trouble. If what you tell me is truthful, if I find no deliberate attempt to lead me into trouble, I'll find you a place among our people. If not...." Shun's snake form couldn't smile, but something about the way he flicked his tongue and tilted his head was more than sufficient. "If not, you won't like the result."
Li Shang agreed without a moment of hesitation.
They spent the rest of the night on the island and left Liang Ren and Li Shang behind as soon as the boat arrived to pick them up.
"What about them other two? Ain't smart, stayin' too long."
"They'll be fine," Shirong's father reassured the man, who didn't look particularly reassured. "Someone will fetch them later."
"No hair off my head," the boatman muttered before taking them across.
When they reached the bank, Priest Housu waited for them. "I don't suppose my God has returned with you?" she asked, sounding less than confident. "No. I see not."
"He... ah... had business with some of my master... my former master's... disciples."
Priest Housu growled a curse under her breath. "I swear I'll swat his hind end when he comes back."
"Your pardon, Reverenced One, but should you speak of your God that way?" Shirong couldn't help asking.
That set both Shirong's father and Xing Baishe laughing. Kindly, his father told him, "Meng Huang Shang is the least Godly of the powerful Gods. He accepts curses as blessings and allows his priests to show their temper towards him."
Thinking about it, Shirong supposed that was likely true. "We're on our way to find him. I'm sure he's fine. Not so sure about the ones he went with, though."
"I'd best come with you then."
Fearing Shun would agree, Shirong touched his Shixiong's arm and was surprised by the gentle look Shun gave him. Knowing better than to comment on it, he said, "Is that a good idea?"
"I'm his priest, child. It's my duty."
It was all well and good to say so, but Shirong couldn't help remembering the trouble they'd had with another Priest Housu. Another Priest Housu who could easily be this one. "Your pardon, Reverenced One but someone disguised themself as you before. We have no way of telling if you're the real Priest Housu or yet another fake."
Shun smiled at him approvingly. "Good thinking, Shidi." He returned his gaze to Priest Housu while Shirong fought the urge to grin like a fool at the compliment. "Reverenced One, it's for the best if you remain with your temple and allow us to handle the problem. I've no doubt your God is safe."
Priest Housu smiled wryly, saying, "You are wise to be suspicious. There are unnumbered dangers here in this land. And someone does not want you to succeed in your purpose." Her smile broadened and Shirong felt the air shimmer around him. "He also wants you back, little boy. Time to go home to papa."
Shirong acted instinctively, drawing on a power he'd barely begun to touch. Shun did the same and to Shirong's pleased surprise, the two energies combined automatically. A translucent tree shot up between them, arching overhead, while water swirled around them as they dragged everyone into their shared world.
The woman pretending to be Priest Housu shrieked furiously, body transforming to a familiar shape. The monster they'd met in the Demon World, the one that resembled a stingray with tentacles. Behind Shirong, his father gasped, "The hell is that thing?"
"I'm not sure, dad. There was something like it in Hell though. One of your demons, your Majesty?"
Xing Baishe scoffed. "Not one of mine. It's pretty enough but we don't go for such ostentation in the Five Lands."
The creature hiss-laughed. "This from one whose true form could surround the Five Lands and rip it from reality."
Another scoff. "I've no need of such foolishness."
"Too afraid of the Gods, pretty snake? Too fond of humans to risk harming them? Too willing to create abominations for the sake of a little dance between the covers?"
Abominations again. "You're with Master.... With Qiong Lou."
"My mate, little quarter-blood. And as immortal and perfect as I."
The one thing Shirong didn't want to get into was the question of who was perfect. He would like to ask his father what the being meant when she called him quarter-blood but this wasn't the time. Instead he glanced at Shun, who watched their enemy circle round them thoughtfully. "Shixiong? What would you like to do?"
"Do you remember how you came to find me?"
He'd taken a path through Chaos, hunted by hundun and other monsters, with Auntie Green at his side. "I do. You don't think we should go that way, do you?"
"No. I think she should." Shun smiled as the walls of their shared world swirled and thinned. Realizing his intent, Shirong grabbed hold of their tree. "Dad. Your Majesty. Hold tight!"
Without hesitation both of their elders obeyed, just before the last bit of Shun's protective shell faded away. Chaos surrounded them, howling wildly above and below. A black wind rushed through, catching hold of whatever wasn't nailed down. Which, in this particular case, happened to be the false Priest Housu.
A moment later she was swept away, shrieking curses as she disappeared into the glowing darkness.
Shirong: Ma'am, could I ask why you keep calling me piglet?
Xing Baishe: You're eating my little cabbage. What else should I call you?
Shirong: But... I haven't done anything of the sort.
Shun: Besides, which of us do you think is going to be doing the... eating?
Xing Baishe: ...
Shirong: !!!
Shun: What?