27 - Dear Diary...

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Tsaam Lam, the pine forest of the Kingdom of Dzu, forms a broad, protective shield around the kingdom. The forest has a kind of hushed tranquillity, dappled light falling through the pine needles to a carpet of flowers below. Even in winter, I am told, flowers bloom here.

I grew up on Mount Faa, the mountain of flowers, where plum blossoms rain from the sky in spring, azaleas froth in summer, chrysanthemum burst forth in autumn, and wintersweet perfumes the air in winter.

I have never seen such flowers as those that grow in Dzu. I'll remember them for a long time.

*

"What are you writing, Cheng Si-mui?" Gou Dzing asked, peering at the page.

"I thought it would be good to write down my travel experiences," Cheng Baak-hap explained. "I was going to start when we were at Yuk-hoi, but things go so... busy. I'll have to write things down quickly before I forget them. It'll be good to read back over it when we get back home."

"That's a great idea." Chan Bik chewed her finger contemplatively. "Maybe I should do that too..."

"Do you think you could keep it up?" Cheng Baak-hap teased. "Give it a day and you'll already be bored."

Chan Bik made a face. "Don't make fun of me. I do try to stick with things, it's just so hard..."

"Okay, okay. Have a read of this, Bik Mui, see what else I should add."

"Write about me!" Tsaam Lei demanded, his light brown eyes big and pleading. He fluffed out his tails until Cheng Baak-hap and Chan Bik squirmed with delight.

"Don't be fooled," Gong Lau Yan laughed, back in human form. "This guy is over a thousand years old. He's an old man!"

"I am not," Tsaam Lei huffed. "See this?"

There was a puff of smoke and a little girl stood where the fox had been, abundant red-brown hair framing a heart-shaped face. The contrast between her light brown eyes and tanned skin was striking. She held out small hands to Cheng Baak-hap.

"Dze-dze, pick me up!"

Before anyone could move, Gong Lau Yan grabbed the fox spirit by the back of his neck and shook him lightly. "Change into your usual humanoid form."

"Why? Do you like it so much?"

"Yes, you're very handsome."

The little girl blushed at this unexpected compliment. "Well, I guess I'll have to, for my beloved Yan Yan..."

The girl's body grew taller, lost its feminine shape and took on a distinctly masculine one. Within moments, a tall man stood beside Gong Lau Yan, a broad-shouldered, suavely-dressed character with his long red-brown hair tied like the tail of a fox. His light-brown eyes lazily drifted over his audience. "Good?"

"Not bad," Gou Dzing said appraisingly. "His face could give Se Sue some competition."

"So is this your type?" Cheng Baak-hap teased, as if she were a fox spirit herself.

"Yuk Ying is my type," Gou Dzing said loyally. "What do you think, Yuk- Yuk Ying?"

Gaam Yuk Ying was staring at Tsaam Lei's human form in a similar manner to how he had watched Se Sue when they had first met. It was Gou Dzing's turn to be anxious. Did Yuk Ying like pretty men? Gou Dzing prodded his own face. He'd been told he was quite handsome, but what if it wasn't enough?

"Can I learn how to do that?" Gaam Yuk Ying asked. Everyone choked.

"What? Why?"

"Yuk Ying, you're pret- handsome enough, you don't need to learn these things!"

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