Esha and I left with Jing. I took over at some point and started leading them to my house. “Is there anybody following us?” Jing whispered.

“No, Mistress,” said Esha. It was starting to feel like there was nothing she couldn’t do.

No, my praise should be going to Jing. Jing was the one that convinced Esha to follow her.

Jing sensed my plants when we got close to the house. “Esha, go back. My father wants to be alone.” Esha stopped walking with us. I looked back and she had disappeared.

The formal Jing melted away. “Pap, can I have a piggyback ride home?” she asked.

“No.”

“Aw, why not?” she said.

“Because it’s weird,” I said.

“But there’s nobody around,” she whined.

“It’s still weird. You’re a grown ass little girl, I can’t have you riding on my shoulders.”

“Can’t you give your one month old daughter a piggyback ride?” She walked behind me and hugged my shoulders. “We missed sis’s fight, so your daughter is suuuper sad right now. She needs some attention and affection.”

“You don’t look sad,” I said.

“I am sad!” she insisted. I stared at her for a while longer. “Ok… I’m not that sad. But I am, just a little,” she pouted.

I took a deep breath and sighed. I reached over my shoulder and pat my back. Jing’s smile outshined the sun. She jumped up and sat on my shoulders, sandwiching my neck between her legs. The snake Jing gave me earlier squirmed out from underneath her and settled on my arm.

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“I thought it was a piggyback ride.” Give Jing an inch and she takes… well, two inches. This wasn’t that bad.

“This is pretty much the same thing,” she giggled and picked through my hair. I kept walking.

“What do you think the people that attacked the library wanted?”

She rested her hands on my head. “I have no idea. I’ll ask Esha if she’s seen them before. We also caught that the elemental, so we can ask him too.”

“I actually I know a few things about them,” I told her everything I knew about the “king”. I even told her about minor details, like the type of grass on their lawn and how the student worried about the king tripping.

“I’ll send Esha to investigate or something,” she said. “But can I tell on them?”

“Like, tell the school about them?” I frowned and thought for a while. “Sure, go ahead. Maybe that’ll get rid of them. It’ll become a problem if we provoke a real king, though.”

“You don’t need to worry about that. I’ve found a bunch of allies, you’d be invincible as a group.”

“Who?” I put my arms around her swinging feet, bringing them closer to my chest.

“Your classmates. I got in contact with your classmate, Alison. She says she’s found three of them! She didn’t tell me which ones though.”

“Three?” I wasn’t sure if I wanted to see them, especially after meeting Mark. I had settled in this world well enough. Seeing them could only bring chaos. But then again, there was always a chance Brian would be part of the three. “You’re being careful about it though, right? Remember what Mark said. They might come after you if they think you’re going to be the end of the world.”

“Yes, pappy. I’ll be careful.”

I smiled, thinking about this ridiculous situation. This was nothing to smile about, but I did anyway. Jing couldn’t bring the apocalypse. She was just a little girl riding on my shoulders.

“Good girl,” I reached up to pat her head. “‘The Family’, eh? You’re really expanding now, aren't chu? I didn’t expect you to turn that fight into a business opportunity. Way to go.”

“Praise me more!”

“I’m most impressed with how you got your hands on Esha. How’d that happen?” I asked.

“Oh…” She stopped playing my hair. “I got lucky. She and her cult happened to need something I can provide, so they’re following me for now.”

“Don’t tell me it’s those mushrooms you were handing out.”

“Actually, no. It’s the opposite. I don’t know where those mushrooms came from. Esha’s cult wants me to cut away their desires and emotions. Using hallucinogens would have the opposite effect.”

I lurched before stabilizing myself, “And you can do that?”

Her voice became softer and less chirpy. “I can do it with pills, but I can also do it directly.” She didn’t like talking about this, and I could guess why.

“But you know what’ll happen if you do that, right?” I asked.

“Yeah… but I have to. It’s what they want.”

I wanted to ask more, but I knew I shouldn’t press the topic.

I put my hands on the cold frame of my gate and pushed. Hui Ming was already waiting on the other side. She put on her professional smile and started to bow, “Welc-”

Jing jumped on her, sending them both crashing to the ground. Jing squeezed her big sister’s face between her thumb and index finger, “Stress ball cheeks!” she cried, “I can’t wait to tell you about everything that just happened!” I grinned and had an urge to jump in, but I walked past, leaving the sisters to do whatever they wanted.

Looking back, I saw Hui Ming hugging her in return. She tightened her hug, “Welcome back.”