"I’M BUSY!"
"Building what?"
"A CITY!"
That got his attention. He stood up, looking at the cleared land. The foundation trenches. The drying bricks. The piles of materials starting to accumulate.
Feng Huang tilted his head. "City? What’s a city?"
Xin Yi blinked. Right. Beast world.
"It’s like......a LOT of houses grouped together. With roads connecting them. And places for cooking, and working, and bathing. Where lots of people live together in one place."
"Oh!" His eyes lit up. "Like what you were doing at Shadow Claw territory?"
Right! Feng Huang had helped them then!
"Exactly! But BIGGER!"
"With multiple buildings? And different areas for different things?"
"YES!"
His grin widened. "Can I help?!"
"What?! NO!"
"Why not?!" He stepped closer, his golden eyes bright. "I am VERY strong! I can carry heavy things! And—"
"Feng Huang—"
"I just want to be near you, Xin Yi." His voice went soft. "That is all. Unlike that big pouty panther, I’m content just standing next to a woman like you."
Oh....
Before Xin Yi could formulate a response, Qing Lin appeared out of literally nowhere.
He grabbed Xin Yi, spun her around, and kissed her, right in front of Feng Huang.
When he pulled back, he hissed at Feng Huang. "She’s MINE."
Feng Huang rolled his eyes. "Yes, yes, we can all see the bite mark. Very territorial of you, snake."
"Hmm." Qing Lin’s arm wrapped around Xin Yi’s waist.
"Can you two NOT do this right now?!" Xin Yi pushed at Qing Lin’s chest. "We have WORK to do!"
"He is trying to steal you—"
"I’m not trying to STEAL anyone!" Feng Huang threw his hands up. "Not anymore. I just want to HELP! Is that so wrong?!"
Xin Yi looked at the massive amount of work ahead. The materials. The buildings. The exhausted workers.
They COULD use more hands.
"...Fine."
"XIN YI!" Qing Lin looked betrayed.
"BUT!" She pointed at Feng Huang. "You work where I tell you to work! You follow MY instructions! And if you cause ANY problems, you’re BANNED! Understood?"
Feng Huang’s grin was blinding. "Understood, my goddess!"
"Don’t call that!"
"Yes, goddess!"
"FENG HUANG!"
~
DAY FIVE: TIGER REINFORCENTS
The next morning, Xin Yi woke up to ROARING.
Multiple roars.
"What the—"
She scrambled out of Qing Lin’s arms and ran to the clearing.
There were TIGERS. At least twenty of them. All in their beast forms, massive and striped and—
"FENG HUANG!" she scread. "WHAT DID YOU DO?!"
The tiger shifted to human form, grinning sheepishly. "I brought help! My warriors from our original abode! They’re very strong! Very good at building!"
"You brought an ARMY to my construction site?!"
"Not an army! Just.....enthusiastic volunteers!"
The snake warriors were already in defensive positions, hissing, fangs out. The tiger warriors were growling back, claws extended.
"Oh no," Xin Yi whispered. "EVERYONE STOP!" She marched right into the middle of the two groups. "RIGHT NOW!"
Both sides froze.
"Snakes! These tigers are HERE TO HELP! Not fight!"
"But Pink Skin—"
"NO BUTS! We have work to do and we need MORE hands! So you’re going to WORK TOGETHER!"
She turned to the tigers. "And YOU! You follow MY rules! You work with the snakes! You do NOT start fights! Clear?!"
One massive tiger—easily the biggest—shifted to human. He had scars across his chest and arms, and looked like he could snap soone in half.
"You are the female the Alpha keeps talking about?"
"Apparently!"
He looked her up and down. Then grinned. "You’re tiny."
"I AM AVERAGE HEIGHT!"
"For a rabbit, maybe." But he bowed. "I’m Huo Gen, the head warrior. The King says you’re building sothing impressive. We’re here to help."
"You......you actually want to help?"
"The King says you make ’golden soup’ that tastes like the gods made it." His eyes went dreamy. "I will work for soup."
[DING! (≧▽≦)]
[They’re motivated by FOOD!]
[This is perfect!]
Xin Yi grinned. "I can work with that."
~
Turns out, having twenty extra tigers was INCREDIBLY helpful. Also INCREDIBLY chaotic.
Problems:
- Tigers and snakes kept getting into territorial disputes
- Feng Huang kept "accidentally" working near Xin Yi
- Qing Lin kept moving him away
- The tigers didn’t understand brick-laying at first and kept crushing them
- Soone started a rumor about Xin Yi being a "three-marked female" and now everyone was STARING
Benefits:
- Tigers could carry MASSIVE amounts of materials
- They worked FAST when motivated by soup promises
- Huo Gen turned out to be excellent at asuring and leveling
- The competition between snakes and tigers made both groups work HARDER
"My team laid fifty bricks in just monts!" a snake boasted.
"We laid SIXTY!" a tiger shot back.
"SEVENTY!"
"EIGHTY!"
"Can you all just WORK without turning it into a competition?!" Xin Yi yelled.
"NO!" both sides answered.
[DING! (¬‿¬)]
[Competitive Spirit: MAXIMUM!]
[Productivity: DOUBLED!]
[This is actually working! ☆]
~
By Day Seven, they had completed the workshop and three houses.
By Day Eight, the soap facility and communal kitchen were done.
By Day Nine, all eight buildings stood complete, plus they had started on a NINTH building, a storage house for materials.
Xin Yi stood in the center of the settlent, looking at everything they had built, and her chest swelled with pride.
The tigers and snakes were actually TALKING now. Sharing techniques. So were even becoming......friends?
Huo Gen.clapped Kuan Tie on the back. "You snakes aren’t so bad!"
"You tigers are decent workers!" Kuan Tie grinned back.
Feng Huang appeared beside her. "See? I told you I would be helpful."
"You brought an entire tribe without warning."
"Details!" He waved his hand. "But we finished early! And everyone’s happy! And—"
Qing Lin materialized on her other side. "And now you can leave."
"But—"
"Thank you for your help. Goodbye."
Feng Huang pouted. "You’re no fun, snake."
"I’m PLENTY fun. Just not with YOU around my female."
Xin Yi sighed. "Can you two please—"
The world tilted.
"Whoa." She grabbed Feng Huang’s arm to steady herself. "Did the ground just move?"
"No?" He looked concerned. "Xin Yi?"
Sothing was definitely wrong. It was as though she was burning up from the inside. What was going on?
"I do not feel so good, Qing Lin."
Qing Lin was at her other side imdiately, his hand on her forehead. "Xin Yi, you’re hot!"
"I’m fine. Just... tired. It has s been a long week and—"
Her vision swam.
"Xin Yi!" Both males grabbed her as her knees buckled.
"What is wrong with her?!" Feng Huang’s voice sounded far away.
"I don’t know!" Qing Lin’s voice was panicked. "Xin Yi, talk to !"
She tried to speak but the words wouldn’t co. Her whole body felt like it was on FIRE.
[DING! (⊙_⊙)]
[WARNING! WARNING!]
[Host Status: CRITICAL!]
[Fever Detected: 102°F and RISING!]
[Cause: UNKNOWN!]
[This is NOT normal exhaustion!]
[Host is... SICK?! ☆]
The last thing she heard was Xiao Long’s terrified voice: "PINK SKIN!"
Then everything went black.
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