Dream Butterflies

Crap, crap, crap, this whole day had been the crappiest in my entire life!

On a scale of one to ten, I would say… a minus six—ah, a minus four because I had got myself a boyfriend (worth celebrating, right?). First, I hadn't been to Foodville for a long time like a month and I didn't know if my workers were slacking off or my restaurant did earn something. Second, I was kidnapped by a now-called-boyfriend-in-name's obsessive fan to become her human cauldron. Third, I was on my adventure on searching over some goddess' body.

Woohoo! It sounded so much fun! Yeah, Like hell, it would.

I knew it too well that finding this goddess was for my own good, but… I couldn't keep myself together!

This whole place looked like a war zone, with E'mei's army of marionettes were lying on the frozen floor. At least ten bodies, maybe more. If I hadn't known they were enchanted, I would have thought they were dead as corpses. Seemed like Jie Moshu had used his usual drugging magic to make all of these humans asleep.

"Will they remember, though?" I snapped. "I mean, those people there."

Who knew they would know a nine-tailed fox lady had kidnapped them to become her army, and the existence of magical creatures would be exposed to the world.

Instead of Jie Moshu answering me, I heard Si Ming was the one who replied to my question. "Your Highness, this won't do. As I'm in charge of mortals' life, I'll erase this part in their book of life. Humans are weak-hearted beings, knowing that Gods and all mythical creatures exist will cause them to lose their minds. In other words, they'll go crazy."

Did that dandy god just call me "Your Highness"? I was standing there, my entire body twisted in tension. The corner of my eyes was twitching in disbelief. 

"Um… Si Ming, you can still call me Huahua if you like," I said relentingly—at least it was better than having someone to call you like you were some kind of royalty. Ugh, no thank you.

"This humble god can't do that," he creased a smile on his face while remonstrating. "Especially after witnessing…" he cleared his throat, "showing disrespect to you will cause my soul shattered. A god only dealing with brushes doesn't have any big magical powers. Shame. Shame."

At Si Ming words, my cheeks stained pink. 'You're considered a boyfriend' was echoing in my head like a broken radio. Oh, and not needed to remind me about the 'level up performance' thing. I could feel a wave of humiliation had washed over me.

"You still know some manners, star deity," Jie Moshu interjected. "I'll spare you."

Si Ming slightly bowed, "Thank you for your kindness, Your Highness."

Red aura flared from Jie Moshu as he extended his hand for healing Huashe. For a moment Huashe's body was enveloping with bright light. His wounds were slowly mending together, vanishing away those nasty cuts on his skin.

When I saw this otherworldly healing method, I wondered whether all gods have the power to heal. I asked, "Si Ming, can you heal people?"

His smile faltered, and let out an awkward laugh, "This humble god only knows how to use a brush and a few self-protection magic. Gods don't do healing, but transferring reiki. To do that, I should give away my cultivation which has the same meaning of giving away my shards of life."

Oh, god. I stared at Jie Moshu, reeling in shock. I recovered from it enough to realize what Si Ming meant. So that time when Jie Moshu was healing my lower body, he was actually transferring his reiki? And now he was sharing his shards of life for my familiar?

Why didn't he tell me? 

Just how much was he keeping from me? From the poison, finding the goddess' whereabouts… He was doing this much for me because he was thinking I was his wife. I needed to ask him, after finding this goddess, I would definitely ask him.

Huashe struggled to his feet. "Don't… "He took a deep breath, clenched his fists as if he was trying to keep from swaying. "Don't expect to show you some gratitude."

"I don't," Jie Moshu smirked at Huashe's obvious irritation. "I didn't do this for you, but my wife."

No! I should stop before the two of them might make this turn back into a catfight. 

I grabbed Jie Moshu's hand, making his attention diverted. I could still see Huashe was still swaying his head, watching me like a viper. 

"What's wrong, wife?"

My mind went blank. Okay, maybe I was too hasty in making my moves. I wet my dry lips. Blinking rapidly. "I… um… Ah, I was wondering why Axiang hasn't woken up. Didn't you break the enchantment in him?"

Jie Moshu gave me a knowing smile, "This is because Axiang is still at an early age. It's normal for him to be asleep. Rest assured, wife."

"So, what about this goddess' body? We should at least go find it—"

A snort was sounded from one end of the room. Startled, all four of us turned to look at the fox fairy who was still bound by the invisible magic Jie Moshu put on her.

E'mei laughed in disgust. "Do you actually think you can find the goddess' body easily?"

"You'd better tell where you keep her body before I burn your soul," Jie Moshu interjected before I could come up with a confused response.

She shrieked in pain as Jie Moshu put another wave of enormous power through his gaze. There was no hint of wounds on her flesh, but it seemed like she was being torn in her soul. 

I winced at her pain. Then, I felt Jie Moshu's hand was on my shoulder. The warmth of his fingers soaked through my T-shirt. My face burned by his touch. He was calming me.

"I'll… I'll tell you! Stop this!" E'mei shouted, struggling to get out of the magic.

"Where is it?" Jie Moshu demanded. Just his words getting louder, a wave of invisible pain ripping through E'mei and she wailed in agony.

"Be-behind that giant door!" She said hurriedly. 

"Si Ming, go and see it."

"Your Highness, this humble god… er… didn't dare to. That takes a lot of cultiva—"

"You people from S'sssky Realm are all fus'sssy like women," Huashe snapped, rolling his eyes. He muttered under his breath. "One big old door, what's the big deal?"

"Then, you should go check it, mighty mythical beast Huashe," I chimed in. 

"Your Highness..." Si Ming cleared his throat, batting his eyes at me. "I don't think that's a very good idea." 

Somehow I sensed something was wrong that hinted at his words. I quirked an eyebrow, "Why not?"

"S'sssince you're all too much like scaredy cats'sss!" Huashe pushed his long blonde hair back. He was still in his serpent form with those horns sticking on his forehead. 

"You can try if you want." Jie Moshu retorted.

I watched Huashe in slight guilt as he walked straight to the big door where Si Ming first made an appearance with Axiang. Just because E'mei was hurting, it didn't mean this could be a trap. I believe Jie Moshu also noticed this, that was why he asked Si Ming. His answer was clear, there was something behind that door. E'mei was full of tricks like that. Jie Moshu wouldn't let her get away fooling us again. I was hoping nothing bad would happen. Crossed my fingers.

Huashe pulled open the heavy door. Even though I knew it was coming, the loud screech still made the hairs on my neck standing. 

He flicked his tongue and turned back to us. "Just opening a mere door, easy as a piece of cake."

Another snort came again from E'mei. Despite she was hurting from Jie Moshu's torture, I wondered why if she could still laugh.

As if her laughter had magically summoned them, something pink flew out from behind Huashe and fluttered to his sides. Those pinkies suddenly surrounded him like some swarm of killer bees.

"Don't do anything to those things!" Si Ming snarled—but it was too late.

Huashe raised his hands, slowly streams of water swirling around his palms. He rammed his power at those pinkies, making them drenched and fallen to the ground.

"Now this is easy," Huashe said in arrogance. "Why do you even stop me for?"

I eyed at Si Ming, dumbfounded. Somehow, Jie Moshu also had the same expression as him, cranked up from frown to all-out glower. 

Si Ming clucked his tongue. "Those things can't die, they're charm magic. By killing them you're only unleashing their power!"

E'mei barked a peal of laughter, in between hissing from pain. "Very well done, star deity. You… you saved me from explaining. You think by torturing me like this and threatening me to burn my soul, then I'll easily yield to you? Even if I have to die, I'll not let you all go that easily. My dream butterflies should let you embark on your darkest journey."

I found Jie Moshu next to me, covering me with his cloak while Axiang was still in his arms. He whispered, "Don't breathe."

My heart leaped at the sight of him. A strand of his dark hair fell into his now glowing with crimson-red dark eyes. My eyes wandered to his firm arm wrapping me close to him. I flushed. 

How could I breathe when he was taking my breath away?

It was a weird sensation. I thought it was because Jie Moshu was an inch away from me. Feeling his breathing brushed over my skin, making blood rushed to my ears. Or his eyes flickered to my face with the huge urge to protect me. But it was neither of them, like catching something out of the corner of my eye only to have it move before I turned my head. 

The room was filled with a bundle of dark energy evaporated from those butterflies. Pinkish smoke poured out of them, spreading everywhere. 

My heart thudded uncomfortably in my chest. I felt dizzy, sick. Hell, there was something in the air. A violent shudder wrenched through me. On a split second, I was starting to lose myself, followed by wave of numbness washed over me. My body sagged against Jie Moshu's chest. I couldn't support my own weight anymore.

"Don't worry, you have me."

Jie Moshu's soft, gentle voice was the last thing I heard before the world went black.