Curled up at the bottom of the statue’s plinth he listened to the soft birdsong outside grow fainter and fainter. After a little bit the song had disappeared completely as the tiny plinking sound of small raindrops on the roof appeared.

He sat up and looked around the quiet annex before he hopped to his feet. “Huh, I hope it doesn’t rain too heavily,” he mumbled to himself as he went down the hall to check on Zhu'er. She had been doing much better after being under Lin's care. She was more like a regular child instead of a shriveling little ghost.

Inside a small room, the little girl was already sitting up on her bed with her face turned towards the window where the rain fell as a pretty light grey mist. Lang Lang walked up behind her and crouched down. She shifted on the bed and turned around, squeaking loudly when she noticed him.

“Good morning Zhu'er!” He smiled as he spoke softly. “I didn’t mean to scare you. I thought you would still be asleep.”

She backed up more on the bed, staring at him warily. She was eating well enough that he could see color in her face, but that did not mean she fully trusted him. It hurt him a little, but he did not know what else he could have done besides scare her. She kept looking at him as he stayed still and smiled. Then she turned her head and pointed towards the window, saying something.

“What?”

She repeated the word, gesturing at the window.

He tipped his head in confusion, “I don’t understand.”

Zhu'er held up her hands and wiggled her fingers as she moved her arms downwards, making a ‘pssshhhh’ sound, then she pointed out the window again.

“...Rain?” He pointed out the window too. “Rain! You’re saying it’s raining, aren’t you?”

“Rain!” She nodded.

“Right, rain! Hm,” he stood up and moved over to the window, leaning out of it and feeling water drop onto his head and back. The roads looked empty and he could see the closest buildings already had their windows covered to keep any rain from seeping in. “Well, there goes the plans for today, Zhu'er! We’ll just have to find something to do in here together!”

Zhu'er looked at him with a slightly furrowed brow, repeating his words to herself slowly before shrugging at him.

“Don’t worry, there’s lots of fun things! Like playing catch!” He felt himself already growing excited at the thought. He then felt that excitement abruptly deflate with a needle of alarm.

Someone was trying to get into the town.

“Hm?” Zhu'er tugged on his sleeve.

He continued to smile, “don’t worry. But actually I changed my mind. I’m going to take you to Sister Hua for a bit. You’ll like her, she’s very pretty and kind! Just wait here a moment.”

Lang Lang left the room and went further down the hall. He was not very organized with his belongings, but he felt as long as he had a general idea of where he kept things then he would be able to find them. The fact that this only held true about a third of the time did not bother him, although his friends frequently told him it should. Things were not lost if he could find them… eventually.

After a moment of shifting through dusty broken swords, shattered spears, ruined mirrors, cracked armor, boxes of broken pottery, and bits and pieces of other things he could not readily identify. Then finally he found what he was looking for beneath a pile of jumbled tattered clothing.

An umbrella!

It was probably a nice looking one at one point, the waxed paper was still surprisingly sturdy even though the ink painting under it had somehow bled out into an unrecognizable blob. He patted some dust off from it and went back to Zhu'er’s room with the umbrella tucked under his arm.

Zhu'er was waiting, sitting on her bed with her little shoes on and her eyes still focused on the rain outside. He scooped her up with one arm and held her on his hip. “Alright, off to Sister Hua’s!” He said.

By the time they left the shrine, the rain was coming down harder, turning the road into dark mud. Rain slid off the umbrella and splashed down onto the ground, a cool breeze whistled around them, and the scent of fresh rain filled his nose. Zhu'er shivered slightly against him and he tightened his hold to keep her close.

They went down a short path that cut through a row of houses with the sounds of people talking spilling out from them before stopping at a small shop that seemed to almost coyly sit within the little neighborhood, unobtrusive except for the dull red paint on its wooden walls.

The door opened a crack as he approached it and the gentle scent of fresh blooms drifted forth, a pale face with starry eyes and long hair like black silk looked at him from behind it. “Hello Sister Hua!” Lang Lang greeted.

“Someone’s trying to break through your maze curse, Lord Lang.”

This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

“I know.”

Sister Hua opened the door fully, revealing a slender beautiful woman in fine clothing with slightly too long arms that had slightly too long fingers with slightly too long nails filed into sharp points. One hand clutched a reed-thin pipe. “Do you want me to go deal with it?”

“No, but thank you for the offer. I was going to ask if you could watch Zhu'er for me while I’m gone,” He gently set Zhu'er down on the ground. “She doesn’t speak our language very, but she understands a lot more than she says.”

“Oh!” Sister Hua kneeled down to look Zhu'er in the face, “so you’re the cute little piggy I’ve been hearing about.”

“Don’t eat her.”

She rolled her eyes, “I don’t eat children, you know that.”

“Just reminding you,” Lang Lang said with a grin. “But I trust you!”

“I know. I wouldn’t be around if you didn’t,” Sister Hua offered her hand to Zhu'er who took it after an encouraging nod from Lang Lang. “What are you going to do?” She asked him.

Lang Lang waved good bye to Zhu'er, “I haven’t decided yet. I’ll just have to meet them in person first. I’ll save some for you if it comes to that.”

“Thanks,” Sister Hua gently started pushing the little girl inside her shop. “Come on, do you like flowers? I have a lot of flowers!”

Lang Lang walked down the familiar but now muddy roads to the fields. The millet was nearly fully grown, their heavy grains bobbing up and down as the rain splashed on them. Lang Lang started wondering what the next crop should be as he passed through them and then through land left fallow. Pools of water were forming in the dirt where decaying plant life was left. Barley next, he thought. There was a place to get fairy-wheat from in the Eastern Kingdom, and as he left the fallow area and moved into the tree line he smiled at the idea of what sort of things his people would turn the wheat into. He liked farming too, especially with others to talk with.

The rain still found its way through the canopy of leaves above, pattering on his umbrella and washing away all scents.

But he could still tell he was being watched and followed. He had more senses to rely on than just his nose. The general thrum of life could not be erased by the rain from him, and neither could the bright and warm energy that circled warily around him.

He reached a small opening in the forest where a thick carpet of green grass proudly stood nearly shin high.

“Hello there, friends!” Lang Lang called out. “Is there something I can help you with?”

His hunters stopped moving, coming no closer yet not backing away.

Lang Lang tipped his head slightly, “I know you’re all there. Please come out so we can talk.”

Then from the other side of the clearing a man emerged, head held high and his soul burning passionately. Lang Lang could feel his strength radiating like embers. “Lord of Hounds, you’ve been condemned a hundred times.”

“I think it’s more than a hundred times,” Lang Lang said evenly, “but might I ask you why you’re visiting here sir? This is a peaceful place, its inhabitants are kind.”

“I don’t consider you kind,” the man spat. “You’re a monster who has been given too much leeway, Lang! You’ve killed hundreds of people and imprisoned thousands, and you come to me pretending to be a peaceful individual?”

“I’ve killed far more than a hundred,” Lang Lang corrected quietly, “but I suppose you don’t count mortals as people do you? Besides, it’s not so much that I’m approaching you for no reason. You were poking around my maze and I just can’t exactly ignore that can I?”

“Don’t get snippy with me,” the man hissed. “Getting so caught up in specifics, are you trying to distract me?”

Lang Lang felt a twitch of movement around him, other concealed figures were moving close to him. “Not at all,” he said.

“Then will you come quietly and face punishment? It’s raining, you won’t be able to call on any of your ash hounds right now.”

“Sir, I think you have the wrong idea. I’m fine with letting you go right now, but I will not be leaving,” Lang Lang said as kindly and slowly as he could, as if he were talking to a child. “So please sir, turn tail and run. I don’t have any interest in fighting you or your disciples.”

There was the soft squelch of mud beneath a boot and Lang Lang moved backwards, avoiding a dozen arrows where his head formerly was. The man charged forward, swinging a sword at him. Lang Lang blinked languidly before grabbing the blade in his hand where a bright flare of amber colored flame bloomed where the sword bit into his palm. The man’s eyes grew wide as Lang Lang’s foot connected with his stomach, the sound of bones snapping before the man tumbled backwards into a heap.

Lang Lang sighed, still holding the sword. “That was disappointing,” he admitted with a frown as he approached the wheezing man. He tensed his grip around the sword until the amber flames burst into white, then the blade cracked and shattered. Somewhere he could hear panicked yells and gasps. The man got back up shakily to his feet and Lang Lang kicked him again, watching the man tumble over himself as his ribs rattled around. “Who put you up to this?” He asked, following the man’s tumbled form. The man coughed and sputtered, getting back to his feet once more, letting out panicked and pained groans as he turned around to start wobbling back to the trees. “Look at me.”

“D-don’t kill me!”

“Ah, those words! I keep hearing them, but I rarely listen!” Lang Lang smiled as he dropped the umbrella, grabbed the man by the back of his robe and dragging him back towards him. The man pulled, turning on his heel to face Lang Lang. He stood close to the man and rammed his hand into the man’s guts, the warm flesh easily parting around his fingers, empty intestines splitting open. Blood rolled down his arm and splattered on the wet dirt and grass between them. “Congratulations on achieving immortality, sir,” Lang Lang’s smile did not leave his face as his fingers curled around something hot inside the gurgling man’s body. “It’s a shame you had to waste it like this.” He pulled, pieces of torn intestine falling out as his hand emerged with a strange palm sized golden organ that pulsed with a terrified life of its own, streaked with blood.

The man’s eyes focused on the organ, wide with horror and pain. “G-give.. Give it back…” he demanded through a throat choked with fear.

“Haha, no I don’t think I will,” Lang Lang said before biting into it. Blood poured over his lip and chin. “Ah, it’s a bit malformed,” he observed in bemused curioisity as the man collapsed onto the ground. Lang Lang glanced out around the tree line at the terrified figures hiding behind bushes or tree trunks. “You’re all free to leave! I won’t hurt you. Just please tell them to stop sending people after me!”

It seemed the people around him had no wish to come protect their master, since he caught shapes fleeing deeper into the forest. He had a feeling that he might end up dealing with one or two of them sometime in the distant future. There was always at least one disciple who regretted their actions and would come back.

He finished eating the golden organ, found his dropped umbrella and opened it again, before crouching down to look at the man’s paling face. “Still alive? That’s good! I like warm things much better than cold ones, and you’ll go cold soon if I don’t start now.”

The man’s eyes fixated on him with pure terror.

“Sister Hua, I’m back!” Lang Lang knocked on the door, holding the umbrella with one hand and a wet sack with the other. The rain still came down, he could sense it was going to be a downpour soon. The clouds above were growing darker by the moment.

The door opened and Sister Hua stuck her head out. Zhu'er also peeked out from behind the door, flowers tied into her hair that Hua had somehow managed to comb out and style.

“Hi Zhu'er! You look really cute!”

“Of course she looks cute, I did her hair,” Sister Hua sniffed before her eyes focused on the sack. “Is that for me?”

“Yes,” Lang Lang held out the sack. “I’m sorry it’s probably all washed off by now. Thank you for watching Zhu'er.”

“It’s fine,” she took the sack with one hand while patting Zhu'er’s head kindly. “You can let her come back whenever you want! And thank you for the meal.”

“Come on Zhu'er, lets go home before we get caught in a flood,” Lang Lang scooped the little girl up in his arms before looking back at Sister Hua again. “Thank you again! See you later!”

“Bye bye!” Zhu'er managed to squeak out as Lang Lang briskly carried her away from the building.