WangXian Forever Book 9: The Flower Demon

Chapter 8 Shaman

Feng Li Pao led the cultivators past dancing girls and jugglers, and acrobats tossing one another for the entertainment of the crowd.

He was truly puzzled by the level of animosity he was getting from the Second Jade of Gusu, and he couldn’t help but notice that it intensified whenever he was standing close to Wei WuXian.

So...maybe he could limit his proximity to the charming man...but he had a legitimate reason for needing to speak with him later, and he sighed to himself, feeling the beginning of a headache form behind his eyes.

He was going to have to convince someone that he had no interest in other people's partners beyond a professional one.

And soon.

Today was going to be a long day...

They stood outside a stationery caravan with a big stick passed through the spokes of its back wheels, preventing movement. The caravan was decorated on the outside with every available inch covered in paintings, obviously done by hand. They were exquisite in art, every line drawn and coloured in with the utmost of care.

There were scenes of mythical creatures fighting or bestowing their grace upon lucky individuals, iconic items such as the golden bow of the Jade Emperor, the silver mirror of Chang'e, the Waterfall of Tears, and famous landmarks.

A huge bagua was painted on one long side of the caravan, all reds, golds and green with black ink calligraphy.

In the spaces between these marvellous paintings, someone had taken the trouble to find and copy old zen writings and koans and interspersed with these were auspicious symbols.

Feng Li Pao climbed up the rickety small steps, hoping he didn't drop his precious cargo. He knocked on the door politely.

A noise came from within and Feng Li Pao decided to take that as an affirmative for entering. He opened the door and went inside.

He had assumed everyone else was going to follow...but when he turned back, they were all waiting on the narrow threshold of the door.

Wei Ying did his best not to gag, but he knew he didn't look his best when Lan Zhan stopped him from entering right away.

Even XiChen looked a little green.

Snizzy kept her mouth shut but Ke-ai jumped out of Lan Zhan’s arms and ran away with many oinks.

XiChen looked pointedly at his brother to chase after his favourite little piggy, but Lan Zhan couldn't care less since Wei Ying had gone extremely pale.

He whipped out a little pot of balm and rubbed some around Wei Ying’s nose, helping himself to some as well. He offered the pot to his brother only as a concession for not running after the pig.

Wei Ying was pleasantly surprised to be able to smell menthol. It cleared his sinuses and stopped him feeling sick because of the pungent stench emanating from the caravan itself. He smiled his thanks, not daring enough to open his mouth.

And then they followed Feng Li Pao inside.

After his eyes adjusted to the darkness because there were no windows much to his dismay, Wei Ying looked around with interest.

Leathery skins painted with arrays lined the walls on the inside; and Wei Ying assumed they were the source of the unnaturally bad smell.

He wanted to examine them closer but he thought it might be rude because a man was sitting on the floor watching them with a matching curiosity. His seat was more skins lined with a blanket.

Next to him, perched on a wooden stand was a barred owl, at least a foot tall looking fluffy and proud, its talons gripping tightly. Its feathers were brown and white and it studied them too, its yellow eyes unblinking and intense.

He wore a turban made out of real fur and in this dim light, it was hard to make out the animal whose contribution it was. The man had dark skin. It gleamed in the light of the single candle with an orange flame.

Wei Ying noticed the necklace around his neck made entirely out of teeth, all a similar size, jagged and sharp-looking. The man had two snakes tattooed along his bare arms, black on one side with a gaping mouth, fangs poised to attack, while on the other side, a red cobra watched them.

Both tattoos were too realistic.

On his navel, there was a closed golden lotus bud growing out of his belly button.

Certainly, this was quite the character.

They followed Feng Li Pao's example of bowing to him.

The man held out his hand, palm open and turned up.

To the surprise of all four cultivators, SniZiDian slithered across from XiChen's neck and willingly alighted on his given platform. The candle in front of the man began to change colours and went from orange to yellow to green to purple, even as he began to hum in a low voice.

Wei Ying tried to listen better, but he could not make out the words he was singing to Jiang Cheng's spiritual weapon. Snizzy began to coil into a flat circle, resembling a folded whip. Her eyes became mere slits as she fell asleep.

The Lotus flower began to glow even brighter, its golden petals casting a yellow aura around the tiny caravan, which didn't seem to be so dark now. As the stem lit up between the man and the closed bud, it began to vibrate with his energy and one by one, each petal lifted away from the hidden centre.

Twelve petals opened.

And there, in the centre of the now fully open lotus flower, they saw a tiny fairy.

She was about the size of Wei Ying's palm, only the soft, round part. She glowed too with the energy of the flower, her skin a luminous pale pink. Her wings were transparent and iridescent, reminding Wei Ying of his own wings. She wore the tiniest crown on her head, a circlet of golden flowers resting just above her pointy ears.

"Welcome." She called out in a clear voice. "My name is Xiannu."