Swooping through the sky, Song Wei paused, hovering high in the sky over the city. He gazed down on the lotus, a thoughtful expression on his face. Acquire the statue… hmm. Stealthily. That isn’t going to be easy. I—

A small pale snake head poked out from around his neck.

Song Wei startled. “You—Master’s snake?”

The snake gave him a look, clearly expressing, Phrasing.

Song Wei coughed. “Forgive me. What are you doing here?”

Zhubi reared up. He looked down at the town, then at Song Wei. With a forceful wiggle, he poked his nose at the statue.

“Do you have a plan?” Song Wei asked politely.

Zhubi tilted his head. He thought for a moment.

“Zhubi, why did we follow this man?” a blue dragon asked, rearing up on Song Wei’s shoulder.

Song Wei’s politeness vanished. He grimaced at the blue dragon. “Where did you come from?”

“I followed Zhubi to you! In that place where I couldn’t leave the sleeve, I was getting bored, and then when that white hair lady started touching that Hui person—”

Song Wei stiffened. A pained expression crossed his face.

“—so when Zhubi flew away, I followed him. And he came to you! So now I’m here.”

“Leave the sleeve?” Song Wei asked, annoyed.

“That Hui person’s sleeve. I was hiding there because I was following him,” Tian Lan explained.

“Eh? You followed him, and he put you in his sleeve?” Song Wei murmured thoughtfully.

“Yes.”

“It’s that easy?”

“Mhm!”

Zhubi glanced down at Tian Lan. He shook himself hard. No, no. Don’t encourage him. I’m the one who gets to stay close to Hui! Don’t interfere!

Song Wei nodded decisively. “Let’s get this statue and return to Master’s side. This time, I’ll cling until he lets me get as close as you two!”

Zhubi glared at Tian Lan.

Tian Lan stared back, lost. What’s he angry about? There’s plenty of room to cling to Hui! There’s another wrist, and two ankles, and you could fit another person on his neck and on his head, and maybe two more on his shoulders. If there’s room, why not share? She stuck her tongue out. “Jealous.”

Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

Zhubi hissed, showing his fangs.

“He isn’t even here. Don’t waste your energy fighting now,” Song Wei advised them sagely.

At that, Zhubi sat back. He settled in on Song Wei’s neck and nodded.

Tian Lan shook her head. She looked at Song Wei. “He needs to grow up.”

Abruptly, Song Wei nodded to himself. He flew down into the city and landed just outside the central square with the gold statue. “There’s no way to steal this statue stealthily. We’ll have to fight our way out.”

Zhubi trembled. He gave Song Wei an uncertain look.

“Yes! Like a dragon would!” Tian Lan cheered, excited.

“I refuse to leave Master alone with that woman for too long!”

Blinking, Zhubi gave Song Wei a confused look.

Song Wei laughed haughtily. His murderous aura burst out, manifesting as blood-red energy that slashed on the air, vivid as an open wound. Black lotuses bloomed around him, dark and ominous. He cut his eyes to Zhubi, an evil smile on his lips. “I’m known as the Demonic Black Lotus back in the mortal realm. Let me show them all why!”

Zhubi rolled over on his back, playing dead.

A man in a silver mask with a wildly murderous aura strode toward the gold statue. A dead white snake draped around his neck, a horrid counterpoint to his black and crimson robes. As he approached, a blue dragon burst out behind him, circling in an imitation of a halo. The other cultivators fled, hurtling off into side streets or ducking into restaurants and shops. Charging directly at the statue, Song Wei clawed at it, and a bloody red-black claw bit into the ground and scooped up the entire road beneath the statue, along with the statue itself. He flew off at speed, carrying the statue with him.

All around him, gold-robed Inspectors flew up. Sa Zhangli stood at their rear, brandishing her brush. “Stop him! Stop that man!”

A lead Inspector threw his sword forth. The sword transformed into a bolt of sword light and shot after Song Wei, chasing his back, where Tian Lan spun in the air after him.

Song Wei dodged. Tian Lan, less used to battle, didn’t. The sword light struck her fangs and deflected off, knocking a few scales free.

Tian Lan screamed. Transforming back into a small snakelike dragon, she shot to Song Wei’s side and wrapped around his upper arm, outside his robes.

From the blue palace, a terrifying aura shot up. It locked down on the Inspectors, locking them in place. A deep voice growled, “Who dares to hurt my daughter?”

Sa Zhangli glared. “Who dares to stop the Inspectors?”

An enormous blue dragon shot up from the blue palace and directly blocked their way. Tian Chen bared his teeth, each one as large as an Inspector. “You harm Tian Lan and dare to question me? Failing to recognize your seniors… let me teach you small bugs a lesson!” He opened his mouth, shooting a beam of powerful dragon aura back at the Inspectors easily a thousand times the power of the sword light that had harmed Tian Lan.

Song Wei turned to Tian Lan, surprised. “Thank you for the assist, Young Mistress.”

“Hmph! It’s nothing. It’s good that you humans know your place!” she returned, putting on a brave face and copying her father’s tone. A moment later, she sniffled and nudged the bald part of her body, tentatively exploring the small wound.

Carrying the statue and the two dragons, Song Wei hurtled back toward the brothel as the large blue dragon fought back the Inspectors effortlessly. In the rear of the Inspectors, a man in gold looked at Sa Zhangli. “Attacking a dragon? See, this is why you civil servants—”

“One more word, and you become one of us. Permanently,” Sa Zhangli growled.

Xi Muchen put his hands up, laughing.

“Have we finally found a way to shut Xi Muchen up?” Cho Haoli muttered.

“Only for Sa Zhangli,” Xi Muchen returned, grinning.