Xiaobai Long
At the break of dawn, everyone gathered to send off their beloved queen. Everyone had said their collective goodbyes to her, all but one particular simian she had fought with the night before. Maybe he was still angry with her. Or perhaps he had understood the duty he was left to fulfill.
With one of their strongest fighters gone, the responsibility to protect their home solely rested on the one who remained. Neither of them liked being separated like this. From the moment they met, they have been inseparable. Even so, they had to think of what the other wanted.
Shihou wanted him safe. She wanted a home that they could return to. He, who wanted to protect what she loved, understood her intentions clearly. They needed to be strong for each other. They needed to have this resolve. That is why they couldn’t bear to see the other leave, or they might just waver. Taking a deep breath in, she pushed the boat into the sea.
After getting momentum, she got into the boat to frantically wave her hands to say her last goodbyes. “Take care, everyone! Just watch! When I come back, I’ll be so strong that no one will ever mess with us again! I’ll have so, SO, so, SO many cool stories to tell you all when I come back!”
It wasn’t too difficult for the queen to hide her true emotions from her people as she was departing. It was true that she did feel excited to explore the world and to go on this adventure, but she still couldn’t shake the feeling of loneliness. This feeling was only intensified just a few days out at sea.
As a hyperactive simian with nothing to do, she was bored out of her mind. If it weren’t for the seagulls keeping her company, she might have really lost it. Or maybe she already has, as she was talking to literal birds and not bird demons. Thankfully, this didn’t last too long as the waters quickly turned supernaturally turbulent.
Shihou clung onto the boat and her supplies for dear life. While she was doing this, something suddenly rammed against her boat, propelling it through the air. While Shihou was stabilizing herself after landing, the white dragon transformed into a more humanoid form as he jumped onto her ship.
“Hey! Watch where you are going! This prince has places to be!” The dragon scolded before he froze at the sight of the golden queen.
Even though the other was dressed practically as a servant, she still managed to look extremely pleasing to the eye. Even with her arms crossed and sporting an unimpressed face, it still did very little to dull her beauty. The dragon prince has seen many beauties as a royal but he could say with certainty that she easily rivaled the top beauties.
The dragon prince became so engrossed in his own analysis that he was completely ignorant of the scolding he was taking. “Watch where I’m going? The sea is so big, it is obviously you who bumped into me!”
Shihou pressed her pointer finger into the other’s chest as she glared at the white dragon to intimidate him. Instead of its intended effect, this action actually made the dragon prince more dazed. ‘Even her angry and provocative actions are cute!’
Seeing the unresponsive dragon, she no longer played nice. At first, she intended to force some information out of this dragon demon, but with his nonchalant attitude, she had to switch tactics. Dropping to the floor, she swept the other off his feet with one “gentle” kick. After the prince was on his back, she promptly went to press her foot on his chest, applying appropriate pressure to serve as a warning.
Seeing his surprised face, she couldn’t help but let out a proud smirk. “That’s what you get for ignoring me! I suggest you cooperate unless you want to die.”
The dragon was momentarily stunned at the sudden attack, but when he saw her smile, he couldn’t help but smile as well. This reaction actually displeased the golden simian, instantly wiping off her once proud smile. This prompted her to apply more pressure on the dragon demon, causing him to grimace in great pain.
With his hands raised above his head as a gesture of surrender, he quickly apologized, “Sorry, sorry, it’s my bad. It’s my fault… I’m sorry!”
Finally getting the response she wanted, she removed her foot, allowing the dragon prince to stand back up. Briefly catching sight of the sea, the dragon prince suddenly remembered his current predicament. “Oh shit! I need to get going or I’ll drag you into my mess!”
Just before either of them could react, the waters around them turned turbulent once more, but with even more force. Shihou grabbed onto the edge of her small boat as it rocked and swayed violently. The sea dragon just allowed himself to be thrown back into the water, keeping close to the boat in the water. In the next moment, water pillars were shot up, and out emerged a sea army of various sea demons.
“Second prince, please return to the Dragon Sea Palace with us, or we will have no choice but to use force.” The general of the army requested, looking tired and annoyed by the prince’s new attempt to escape.
Thinking fast and impulsively, the dragon prince transformed back into his dragon form. “Hold on tight!”
Without even consulting with the person he had unintentionally involved, the prince started to propel the ship away from the sea army. The white dragon tried to outmaneuver the sea army, but the army was well-prepared and well-organized. At every turn, they were blocked by the tidal wave that carried the sea army. With the army narrowing in, they were rapidly running out of time.
Involuntarily dragged into this situation and being nauseously swung around in the boat, Shihou was more than done with this. Not even hiding her irritation, she shouted to her new dragon companion. “You! How fast can you get us to land?”
“I can get us there by nightfall if they JUST LEAVE US ALONE!” The white dragon replied, getting more and more frustrated as he escaped the army's grasp once more.
Using her quick thinking, a mischievous smirk grew on her lips as she thought of an idea. She opened her bag of fruits and reached in for the more solid fruits. She then proceeded to chuck them at the soldiers at full force.
Of course, regular fruits couldn’t have immobilized the soldiers, but it is a different story when the person launching them was the stone simian. With her immense strength and speed, even the most normal of fruits become lethal weapons rivaling cannonballs. Dodging the fruits proved to be difficult with the accuracy and tricks the simian had.
One by one, the soldiers fell off their tides and into the deep waters. Just as she was emptying her bag, there was finally the perfect opening. The prince was quick to take the opportunity and blasted his way past the army and into the open sea.
Although they managed to escape their grasp, it was no time to celebrate. The army was not one to give up so easily. They skillfully pushed the two adolescents towards their trump card, their large octopus demon. Not only was dodging the large tentacles difficult, but with its 8 large tentacles, it easily created large waves of water, making it harder to swim.
In no time, the boat was getting torn into pieces by the forces of the waves. The two also lacked the strength to confront the strong, turbulent tides created by the enormous and powerful demon. Thankfully, as a simian who always got stuck in the most sticky of situations, Shihou was able to formulate a solution on the spot.
Letting the waves propel her towards the dragon prince, she whispered the plan to him with haste. Not in a position to think in the current situation, he instantly agreed to her plan and began to discreetly swim circles around the octopus. The demon, on the other hand, obviously continued to attack them, not noticing the swirling waters around him.
It did not take long for the swirls to turn into an enormous whirlpool that dragged everyone towards and into the sea, including the sea army. Of course, this was Shihou’s plan all along, and since it was, she had enough foresight to try to get out of there before it was too late. Jumping into the waters along with the dragon, they pushed the boat out of the whirlpool just in time.
With their combined strength, they managed to escape the pull of the whirlpool. After gaining a good distance away, she leaped back onto the ship, quickly feeling disgusted with how her clothes felt on her skin. Being oblivious to her surroundings, she naively began to strip off her clothing to wring out the excess water.
The dragon, trying to catch his breath, just happened to catch sight of this, alarming him to the point of shuddering embarrassment. “Wha-wha-wha-what are you doing?!” The dragon prince quickly submerged his head in the water with his originally pearlescent white face dyed completely red.
“What does it look like? I’m drying out my clothes. It’s making the boat heavy, and it is making me cold and uncomfortable.” Shihou said in a matter-of-fact manner as if there was nothing wrong with stripping in front of another person.
“But you are a woman and I am a man, don’t you have decency?!” The prince tried to reason rationally with the other but even he couldn’t stop the flashes of recollection from just a moment ago.
Although he only caught a glimpse of her inner robe, the way the fabric was wrapped tightly around the golden simian was more than alluring, no, it was downright bewitching. There was nothing wrong with his reaction! Her body was ethereally perfect!
Just the right adorable amount of fat along with the perfect curves and dips in all the right places. Maybe there are still a “few” who would call him ignorant and naive, but as young as she is now, she is adorably perfect!
‘No! Get those disgusting thoughts out of your mind, Xiaobai Long! She is your companion! A friend! I can’t have such desires- I mean, curious thoughts!’ The dragon prince quickly turned his attention elsewhere as he tried to rid those dark, curious desires.
Thankfully, the stone simian was always good at distracting… and angering people. “I don’t see what the problem is. You are overreacting.” She huffed as she finished wringing out her clothes and scooping the water out of the boat.
Exasperated by her unreasonable and insensible words, he scrambled his mind in silence before he ultimately gave up due to embarrassment and shame. “Just… warn me next time.” He mumbled awkwardly, avoiding all eye contact.
Hearing and feeling his discomfort, Shihou agreed to his simple request, “Ugh, fine.”
Even though she compromised for the sake of having a companion, it did not clear the frustration and confusion she still had about his behavior. Even back on Huāguǒ Shān, everyone acted the same way. The stone simian genuinely didn’t understand why everyone was so concerned with her showing her fur.
Everyone else (the males) could do it, so why couldn’t she? Just because she is a female, she couldn’t? Nonsense! She could do whatever she wanted! She will not be restricted by such stupid rules! (A pair of certain macaques couldn’t help but sigh at her notion.)
In a huff, she tossed her clothes to the side as she dressed herself in another set of damp clothes. With nothing to do, the golden simian just relaxed and soaked in the sun as the dragon prince pushed them towards land. To fill the boredom during that time, they slowly got to know each other.
“The name’s Shihou. I was named that since I came out of a stone. No one else has done that but me which is why I am called Shihou.” The golden simain introduced herself as she looked up into the clear blue sky with a bright smile as she remembered the great old days.
Still laboring away in the waters, the sentiment went unnoticed as curiosity piqued the dragon prince more. “Like you were trapped in the stone before you were born? Why would anyone do that?”
Jumping to the edge of the boat, Shihou adamantly corrected the dumb dragon. “Are you stupid?! I mean, I was the stone! I was born from it! From what my grandpa said, the mystical stone basically exploded when I was born on Huāguǒ Shān.”
Although the prince was skeptical, he had a feeling that this innocent anger and passion could not be faked. In that case, his curiosity only grew along with his excitement.
“That sounds so cool! A mystical stone? That sounds crazy! You don’t think that you are something like “the chosen one,” do you? Like a hero who saves people in need! Damn! It feels like you are destined for something great!”
The golden simian laughed drily at the other’s compliment. Her birth wasn’t all that amazing. Her spectacular origins made it so that she was born alone from the day she was born and had even made it harder for her to fit in.
Even the phrase, the chosen one, just felt like it meant that she is going to be alone. Greatness? What a joke. Right now, she couldn’t even live normally with her powers, so it was more of a nuisance than a great power. Even with this being the case, she didn’t want to dampen the other’s excitement.
“Uhhh… Yeah! Anyways, why did those people try to capture you?” Shihou immediately redirected the flow of the conversation, avoiding the awkward topic that they were originally on.
Thankfully, the dragon prince’s situation wasn’t that much better and her attention on him successfully distracted him. It was clear that he wasn’t comfortable talking about it but Shihou waited patiently for him by staring a hole through him.
“Uh…” Feeling pressured, the white dragon fidgeted with his hair before finally answering in a low voice. “They were trying to bring me back to the Dragon Sea palace.”
Shihou rolled her eyes, clearly insensitive to the other’s discomfort. “Yeah, I already knew that, idiot. I am asking why they are trying to bring you back.”
With a sigh, the prince finally explained, “I… I was running away from home. They were just trying to bring me back.” Looking up into her clear and innocent blue eyes, the prince felt a need to explain himself.
“The dragon palace is a boring place. With my older brother, Ao Jia, as the successor to the throne, I practically have nothing to do. I spend my days learning literature, traditions, and other useless information. I’m forced to work as an official to put forth my worth as the second dragon prince. I was lucky enough to gain some independence before my older brother was crowned. Otherwise, I would become like my duty-bound and obedient younger brother, Ao Bing.”
Uh yeah, no fucking thanks. With just his words alone, a chill went down the queen’s spine along with a bit of cold sweat. She was already having a hard time as a queen with enormous responsibilities and duties, but she had great support. The second prince’s situation was a hundred times worse.
If she had been put in a similar situation, she would have done more than run away from home. Shihou was a free spirit who loved freedom and hated being restricted. Everyone on Huāguǒ Shān could agree on that and accommodated her wishes. If it wasn’t obvious enough, she absolutely hated traditions and rules, so whatever was happening to the second prince was downright dreadful in her eyes.
“Second prince-” She wanted to comfort the prince a little, but even before she could, she was abruptly cut off by the white dragon’s frightened outburst. “DON’T CALL ME THAT!”
Shihou withdrew her outreached hand, causing the prince to reflect on his actions. “I-I’m sorry. Please don’t call me that. …That title is still too much for me. I don’t want to be related to that place. I…”
The golden queen could see that the other was spiraling with fear. She did feel empathy for the poor prince but she was a bit pressed for time due to the lack of food. Making up her mind, she went and pulled the other onto her boat. Pulling the dragon in for a hug, she purposefully rested his head right above her heart.
Whenever her warrior was upset and chose to be silent and avoidant, she would bring him into a hug just like this. With his sensitive hearing, he would subconsciously move his head right above her heart. To him, the rhythmic beat of her strong heart was inexplicably comforting and soothing.
With only her warmth, scent, and comforting heartbeat, she always managed to calm and soothe the macaque. This technique also worked wonders on upset cubs, so it quickly became a habit and a technique she learned to use. It proved its effectiveness as the dragon prince quickly calmed down. With his mind at peace, the dragon absentmindedly became engrossed in the soothing nature of her hug.
After swaying in the ocean for a bit, she decided that the silence was long enough. “Look. I didn’t mean to invoke such a reaction from you, but what do you expect me to call you when all you’ve told me was that you’re the second prince? Like you didn’t even give me your name. So tell me, what should I call you?”
At this moment, the dragon prince snapped out of his daze and slowly pulled away from the golden simian with embarrassment. “My name is Ao Yi, but I like to be called Xiaobai Long.”
“Oh, okay! Nice to meet you, Xiaobai Long!” She greeted him with a toothy smile, outstretching her hand in a friendly gesture.
Feeling blinded by such treatment and smile, he attempted to look elsewhere bashfully. He immediately regretted doing so. He should have just chosen to be obediently blinded and not looked elsewhere. Even though she had changed her clothes not long ago, her clothes were once again soaking wet.
It made sense as Shihou did drag a soaking wet dragon onto her. The only problem was that, unlike before, where Xiaobai Long only saw the back of the queen, he got a full front view of the wet clothes clinging to the marvelous golden body. Oh gods, he couldn’t keep his eyes to himself.
Feeling ashamed of his disgusting actions, the dragon dived back into the waters and began to swim furiously as a way to distract himself. The clueless queen could only tilt her head at the other’s actions. No one had that sort of reaction when she hugged them. The admiral actually quite enjoyed their hugs and their moments together so she was confused why Xiaobai Long had such a reaction.
Her thoughts were short-lived as a cold breeze blew by, causing her to shiver from the cold. Now noticing her wet clothes, she decided to change clothes once more. After that, she attempted to talk to the dragon prince through the waters. It was mostly her talking, but she didn’t mind, after all, she was an extremely talkative demon.
Xiaobai Long kept his promise of getting to land before dark, so after pushing the boat ashore, Shihou made quick work of the leftover daylight to gather food. Tossing a couple of fruits and berries at her companion, she got comfortable around the fire. After eating, both of them lay down to gaze at the stars above.
“So, where are you going? If you don’t mind, could I follow along? I don’t really have a destination in mind, so…” Ao Yi meekly asked, keeping his eyes on the stars above to the best of his ability.
“I don’t really have a destination in mind either. I left my home in search of a mentor who could train me so that I could protect my homeland. I’m just wandering around mindlessly.” Shihou purposely left out the core reason, but she still felt too sensitive about that topic to discuss it with a stranger.
Sitting up excitedly, Xiaobai Long suddenly remembered something. “Oh! Then we should head to Língtái fèng shēn mountain! I heard from my father that after passing the trials on Língtái fèng shēn mountain, we can become disciples of the wise Pútí zǔshī!”
“Then let’s go to Língtái fèng shēn mountain! Do you know where it is?” The golden simian’s eyes twinkled with the same excitement as her tail wagged erratically.
“Of course! Not only do I know, but it is actually close by! We can get there in a few days with my speed!” The dragon proclaimed proudly with his chest puffed up.
With their destination determined, they got comfortable on the beachside and got some shut-eye for the trip tomorrow. They traveled for three straight days due to the lack of land near them. The only grace they had was their boat and the foresight of stocking food before setting out.
Finally arriving at Língtái fèng shēn mountain, they docked their boat as they entered the forest at the foot of the mountain. Once the pair made it past the forest and to the mountain, they quickly realized a horrifying fact. This mountain was more of a cliffside rather than a mountain they could hike up.
They took one look at each other and made the exact same conclusion as the other: this must be a trial set out for them. Ao Yi took the first attempt. Leaping up onto the cliffside, the dragon easily and securely clawed himself along the cliffside. Not willing to be outdone, Shihou took a few steps back to get a running start before leaping up.
Just before she was about to land, she kicked off from a ledge to an even higher and more suitable position for her to grab onto. As a simian, Shihou easily navigated the cliffside, even having the time to stop to help her sea dweller counterpart. As they continued to climb, they began to truly realize how tough this trial was going to be.
Even after a day of climbing, they were still far from reaching the top. Without a place to rest on, they were stuck climbing and latching onto the mountainside, whether that was eating, resting, or even sleeping. They had to learn to sleep while gripping onto the wall for dear life.
The first few attempts resulted in them plummeting to the ground. Fortunately, with their natural strength or cultivation, they were able to either recover or survive the fall. In the face of the sun, wind, and pressure, they persevered and continued to climb even though exhaustion.
After climbing for weeks, they finally reached some sort of flat ground on the mountainside. Right as they rolled onto the land, they fell asleep right then and there from exhaustion. When they woke up, they scoured the small forest for food to sate their dying hunger. After that, they decided to explore further, and upon further inspection, they found another set of cliffsides to climb.
“At the very least, this Pútí zǔshī was kind enough to give us a checkpoint,” Shihou commented as she tried to look on the bright side of things.
Of course, that did not appease the pampered dragon prince one bit. “Kind?! We have been climbing for weeks! Look at this!” Ao Yi yelled as he pointed accusingly to the top of the mountain covered by clouds. “This is another week of climbing!” Using his other hand, he then pointed to himself in frustration. “Look at me! Look at me!!! I look like I have been through hell and back!”
The once pristine pale white prince was now covered in mud and dust, with clear signs of exhaustion all over his face and body. At this point, it became difficult to tell the difference between him and a beggar who had been through the wringer. This, of course, excluded the golden queen. A fact that only frustrated the dragon even more.
Her clothes were without a single blemish or stain. Although a bit dirty here and there, her clothes were still in tip-top condition due to their mystical properties. On top of her practically clean clothes, Shihou didn’t even look exhausted. Sure, she was tired, but she didn’t physically show it like the white dragon. She didn’t like showing her vulnerability after all.
Shihou awkwardly scratched her face as she thought of a way to cheer up her companion. “How about we get you cleaned at the river?”
With a huff, the dragon prince stomped over the river before diving in to refresh himself. The golden simian, on the other hand, knelt next to the water bed to scoop out water from the river to drink. Just as she was about to refill her water pouch, she heard gallops of hooves coming in her direction.
She hastily slammed her hand onto the ground, sending herself into the air and dodging the charging fire qilin. Xiaobai Long leaped out of the way as soon as the qilin took a U-turn towards Shihou preparing to spew fire at her. The golden simian dropped and rolled out of the way of the qilin and the fire.
Without getting a moment to breathe, Shihou quickly got back on her feet, dodging yet another attack. Although she was able to avoid its direct attacks, the lands quickly turned into a sea of fire, cornering her. Thankfully, the dragon prince finally stepped in after charging up his power for a long time.
Summoning gallons of water from within himself and out of his mouth, he easily extinguished the fire. The qilin, noticing the perfect nemesis to his element, redirected his attacks at Ao Yi. Both fire and water collided, creating fumes as they canceled each other out.
Although they were of opposite elements, Xiaobai Long was obviously weaker, especially concerning his water capacity. When the flames got too close, Shihou leaped up to tackle her friend out of the way. Without something to neutralize the flames, it directly blasted through a nearby tree.
The qilin realized one step too late and ended up crushed underneath the trunk. The adolescents, on the other hand, let out a sigh of relief. The dragon prince was now more keen to continue to climb this mountain and was already walking away. The golden queen, contrastingly, stopped in place as she observed the qilin from a distance.
Noticing that she was not following along, Xiaobai Long called out to his companion hastily. “What are you doing? Let’s go!”
It was at this moment that she managed to catch a glimpse of the red qilin’s eyes water which solidified her initial suspicion. “We can’t just leave it like this. We have to help it!”
It wasn’t as if the stone simian suddenly felt a rush of compassion and heroism. If it wasn’t for the odd, suspicious feeling she got, she probably would have left it. In the end, her curiosity got the best of her. Of course, she didn’t voice out her reasoning.
Baffled by her statement, Xiaobai Long immediately scolded the other, “Are you crazy?! It tried to kill us earlier! We only managed to win due to this opportunity, and now you want to save it?”
Shihou obviously did have a reason, although not a good one. It is just that conveying it to her companion could make it harder to get the information she truly wants. Maybe this misunderstanding could even work in her favor…
Standing firm on her decision, the stubborn simian tried to persuade her friend to work with her. “Just help me! Stop asking stupid questions! If we leave it like this, it’ll eventually die!”
“If we let it out, the ones to die are us!” Ao Yi refuted, but Shihou was no longer listening to her companion.
If the other won’t help her, then she’ll just have to do it herself. Digging her feet into the ground and sticking her arms underneath the enormous trunk, she did her best in trying to lift up the trunk. Even with her strength, it seemed impossible for her to even pry it off the qilin.
Seeing her struggle, the dragon prince could only sigh and join her. But even after a few attempts, it didn’t budge. In the end, they could only slump to the ground with heavy breaths. Although Xiaobai Long wasn’t surprised by this result, the same couldn’t be said for the golden queen.
Both Shihou and Liu’er were extremely fit and strong demons on Huāguǒ Shān. It was no problem for them to lift a tree or two, and that was before Shihou lost control of her strength. It was extremely strange how she couldn’t lift this tree trunk, the same size she could have easily lifted back home.
It seems as though her suspicions were correct. This was another trial of sorts. The only plausible conclusion she could make was that this mountain was suppressing her strength and abilities. That or something was purposefully making this seemingly easy task impossible. Well, that’s great, she loves a good challenge.
“What do we do? It is too heavy for us to lift.” Xiaobai Long asked as he stared at the pained qilin.
They sat in silence as they racked their brains for ideas, and then it hit her. Springing up to her feet, Shihou bolted through the forest and came back with smaller tree trunks and sticks. The dragon prince watched as Shihou nudged the tree trunk under the larger trunk.
With a stone under the smaller trunk to form a seesaw, she pressed her whole body weight on the trunk. The larger trunk shifted, but it was not enough for the qilin to escape. The golden queen tried to push more strength into it in hopes of lifting it higher, but the trunk just broke. However, it was clear that she was getting somewhere so she was not deterred and tried again.
Once she got to a certain point, she turned to the idle prince. “Put the sticks under the trunk!”
It was only then that everything clicked. The prince did as he was told and promptly stuck the sticks underneath the large trunk. It was like building a platform underneath the trunk. Doing so makes it easier to lift it higher. They didn’t need to get the trunk off of the qilin, they just needed a space large enough for him to escape!
Thanks to the lifted trunk, Shihou was able to put more pressure on the trunk without it breaking. They repeated this process multiple times until the large trunk rolled off the qilin the moment it tried to escape. Once it was free from the trunk, it galloped over to the river and dunked its head in the water.
Even from a distance, the golden queen could see steam emerging from the river around the mythical creature. ‘It seems like there are still more mysteries to be uncovered… Is this also part of the test or…’
“Alright! We’ve helped it, so let’s get going before it tries to kill us!” Xiaobai Long heavily insisted as he tugged on the simian’s hand.
Then again, nothing ever goes smoothly with this simian around. “Not yet.” Pulling her hand out of his grasp, to then point at the qilin to direct the dragon’s attention to its weird condition. “I think there is something wrong with it. I’m going to check it out.”
Before the prince was able to stop her, she was already next to the creature. Not wishing to cause a fight, especially since she knew this was a test of some sort, Shihou did her best to seem soft and concerned. “There is something wrong, isn’t there? Tell me where it is and we’ll help you.”
Not sensing any ill intent, the qilin complied by opening its mouth wide to show a large red needle stuck in its uvula. Now all the dots are aligned. It was acting hostile because he was agitated from the pain. As she was trying to think of a way to help the creature, she courageously walked even closer to see the needle in question up close. This, of course, only frightened her dragon companion even more than he already was.
Gently placing a hand on the creature’s face, Shihou reassured him of her initial promise. “Don’t worry, we’ll get it out for you.”
Although the qilin was touched by her gesture, he could no longer suppress the cough he was holding in. Once he coughed out loud, flames blasted out. Thankfully, Shihou had leaped to the side at the right moment, narrowly avoiding the flames.
“You see! It tried to kill you!” Xiaobai Long shouted as he pulled her hand, preparing to drag her away from danger.
“No, that wasn’t on purpose.” She shook his hand off as she walked back over the creature. “The needle must be making you cough uncontrollably. I won’t be able to pull it out without being burned if that is the case.”
She stood there pondering before an idea hit her. “Put your mouth back into the water. I’ll swim in and pull it out there.”
Realizing the plan the other had, the sea prince finished her thought, “And if he were to cough out flames, it would just be extinguished in the river! That is a great idea, Shihou!”
Not wanting the simian to face the dangers, Ao Yi decided he was going to be the one to pull it out. Although the water was a bit too hot for comfort, the dragon prince was able to pull the needle out on the very first attempt. Proud and curious, the dragon presented the red needle to the stone simian to examine it together.
“What is this?” Shihou asked the obvious but neither one of them knew the answer to that.
“I don’t know. All I know is that after pulling it out, the heat and flames just disappeared. It was as if they were never there.”
Suddenly, a voice answered their curiosity. “That is the fire spirit needle.” Looking around for the voice, they realized that the one talking was the red, no, a green qilin.
“It has the ability to inject flaming energy into a being. I accidentally swallowed it years ago, and that is the reason why I, a wood qilin, turned into a fire qilin. Speaking of which, what are the two of you even doing on this mountain?”
“I nearly forgot the important matter! We are trying to get to the top of this mountain to find Pútí zǔshī and ask him to be our mentor.” Xiaobai Long answered as he looked at the location of the setting sun with disappointment.
“Oh? My role is to prevent anyone from reaching the Xiéyuè sānxīng dòng.” The qilin brought up with a soft smile.
“Xiéyuè sānxīng dòng?” Both youths repeated due to the lack of information about their quest.
“The sānxīng cave is where Pútí zǔshī resides. After reaching the top of the mountain, there is only one trial left to complete to get there, but you won’t be able to get there just by climbing. The great master had made it so that everyone must pass my trial in order to reach the top.” The qilin explained which caused the two youths to become dejected.
“Then… You mean, we have to beat you? Aren’t we screwed then?!” Xiaobai Long cursed, obviously upset and dejected.
Not wanting to let this misunderstanding continue, the qilin quickly corrected the young dragon. “No, no! You don’t have to worry, you both have passed my trial. Not only am I going to let you pass, I’ll personally send you two.”
Now excited, they hurriedly followed the qilin to a collection of trees. With a wave of his head, the trees parted to reveal a cave. Walking to the end of the said cave, the qilin pressed one hoof against an inconspicuous wall, breaking whatever illusion it had. Once the illusion was broken, the other side revealed a sea of trees and dense forest.
“This is the top of Fèng shēn mountain.” The qilin clarified as they walked through the portal to the other side.
Pointing at the floating cave above the forest, he explained the next trial to them. “To get to the Sānxīng cave, you must drink a cup of water from this forest. I wish you two luck.” With that, the qilin returned through the portal, leaving the two youths alone with their final trial.