bluedragonauthor

The Blue Dragon: Chapter 26

Added 2024-07-28 06:18:40 +0000 UTC

-- CHAPTER 26: Penghou --

****

“HRK!”

Although she was an extremely powerful shapeshifter with the ability to expand the geometric dimensions of her physical body at will, Tianshi still abruptly choked at the rather violently abrupt penetration of my thick dickhead into her too-tight throat.

She was not in one of her many “Angelika” guises this time, nor was she trying to trick me by transforming herself into Hannah or anyone else I intimately knew. The ageless huli jing beauty was in her true form with diamond-white irises, porcelain skin, and even elaborate hairstyle. But the white and pink flowers that evoked the sense of fox ears were somewhat disheveled, mussed up as they were by my rough fingers bunched up in the beautiful young woman’s silky, jet-black hair, gripping her skull tightly in order to mindlessly use her pretty face as my personal masturbatory device.

“HRK! HRK! HRK!”

She knelt on the floor of my bungalow’s living room completely naked save for multiple strands of red lace ribbon that had been strategically wound around her body and tied together in large bows so that she reminded me of a gift-wrapped present. She was stunningly gorgeous and outrageously curved - huli jing were natural beauties, after all. She had impossibly firm and buoyant big breasts, a tiny waist, flared hips, and a peach-perfect ass. Her nipples, pussy, and ass-crack were all covered by the ribbon, but just barely. There was a large bow around her neck like a choker. And several strands of lace bound her forearms together across her lower back, leaving her helpless to resist me as I stood directly in front of her, held her head with both hands, and repeatedly blasted my big dick down her throat, staring down at her skewered face with an almost maniacal sense of satisfaction.

“NNGH-NNGH-NNGH-NNGH-NNGH!”

[GLUG-GLUG-GLUG-GLUG-GLUG!]

She choked repeatedly.

I didn’t care.

She dry-retched several times.

I didn’t care.

Rivers of tears streamed down her cheeks as she whimpered and moaned and sobbed in agony from my merciless destruction of her oral cavity.

I didn’t care.

I wanted my revenge.

This wasn’t the first time I’d skull-fucked Tianshi, of course. Yesterday, she’d been in the form of someone else, having tricked me into believing I was skull-fucking my dear Hannah. The very thought of that deception stoked my anger and fueled my fury, driving me to drill my dick deeper and deeper into the backstabbing bitch’s fucking face. Every now and again I’d pause to reach down and pinch her nipples beneath the lace or even slap her big titties just for the fun of it. I slapped them hard, getting her to squeal around my fat cock in her mouth. Then I went back to remorselessly throat-fucking her, and when my remorseless throat-fucking didn’t seem to cause her enough pain, I pulled out my dick and let fly with my open palm to deliver a wicked slap to the bawling beauty’s cheek, rotating her head around with enough lateral force to knock her sideway onto the floor.

So I yanked her back up onto her knees, this time alongside the sofa. She sat on the floor with her legs splayed out but bent at the knees in a W-shape, and I pinned the back of her head against the side of the sofa’s armrest with one hand while gripping the top of the sofa with my other hand, resuming my big dick’s brutal assault on her defenseless throat.

“NNGH-NNGH-NNGH-NNGH-NNGH!”

[GLUG-GLUG-GLUG-GLUG-GLUG!]

I held nothing back, not the full power of my forward thrusts nor the imminent eruption of my scalding sperm. It didn’t take long to bring my balls to a boil, not at the rapid pace of my pell-mell pumping with the exquisite constriction of her moist oral orifice. I slammed myself all the way in so that her nose was pressed up against my short and curlies, and her diamond-bright eyes bugged out from lack of oxygen while my already thick dick thickened even more from the pulsing flow of my torrential jism.

Tianshi very nearly passed out before I finished spunking my semen straight into her stomach. She was certainly dazed and hunched over, coughing and gasping for air once I finally pulled out. I slapped her again, twice, just to make sure she stayed awake.

I remained hard, you see.

And I wanted to keep using my personal pleasure device.

With a rock-hard erection ready and eager for more, I didn’t hesitate to hoist her up by her armpits, bend her face-down over the armrest, and slam my sausage straight into her soaking-wet snatch from behind.

But I only long-dicked her a few times before deciding her porcelain-white ass needed some color. I pulled out, let fly with my open palm to redden first one cheek and then the other. Then I grabbed her bound forearms, drove my big dick back into her sodden depths, and resumed ramming her tight cunt at a rapid pace.

“AAAH! AAAH! AAAH! AAAH! AAAH!” she yelped with each heavy slap of my pelvis against her ass.

“FUCK! YEAH! FUCK! YEAH! FUCK! YEAH!” I crowed in victorious delight.

She tried to turn and look back at me once. Big mistake. I raised my right leg, planted my foot atop the back of her head, and pushed down on it hard to make the bitch remember her place as my personal fucktoy. She grunted from the extra pressure, gritting her teeth and groaning while I continued savagely sawing in and out of her saturated snatch. And I reveled in my conquest of the beautiful babe.

Once again, it didn’t take long for me to cum. I’d been using her lush body for my greedy pleasure without a single care for hers, seeking nothing but my own self-satisfaction. All I wanted was to feel the euphoric bliss of ultimate orgasm, and I soon got my wish, slamming forward one final time and emptying out all my pent-up cum into the bent-over babe’s clasping cunt.

Still, I remained hard.

Still, I wanted to keep using my personal pleasure device.

After pulling out of my personal pleasure device’s pussy, I spread her asscheeks apart and smirked at the sight of her crinkled starfish sphincter. I’d already cum in her mouth. I’d cum in her cunt. Now it was time to go for the trifecta.

With a sickening grin, I fisted my schlong and stepped back into place, pressing the tip of my powerful prick against her pink pucker. It resisted my initial push, unwilling to surrender her most sacred hole to my rampant invader while she whimpered in obvious pain. But I refused to be denied, raising my right foot onto the back of her head once more, this time for the sake of gaining additional leverage.

When I began to push forward again, that tightly clenched gateway to her delicate derriere slowly started to open.

With a triumphant roar, I thrust myself in.

And then I woke up.

“AAAARRRRGGGGHHHH!!!” I roared, thrusting my pelvis up and lifting my ass off the bed. But there was no exquisite asshole surrounding my steel-hard shaft. There were no supple feminine hips in my hands. I was still in the bungalow at our Lake Bracciano villa, but the bedroom was dark and it was the middle of the night.

“Aksel? Wha-? What’s wrong?” Hannah asked sleepily, putting her hand on my chest and snuggling in against my side.

I turned to look at her with wild eyes, sweating and gasping for breath. The memory of skull-fucking Tianshi, violently pounding her pussy, and then mercilessly stabbing my dick into her ass was still vividly fresh. And my mind whirled with disorientation as it desperately tried to connect where I thought I had just been with where I presently was.

“I… I…” I muttered, staring around the room and still breathing hard. As the reality of my situation sank in, I finally managed to say, “I was… I think I was dreaming.”

“Mmm… dreaming about sex?” Hannah asked through closed eyes, the dirty-blonde smiling and humming as her hand slid down my belly and over the rock-hard erection she found stabbing upwards at a slight incline above my pelvis. Her fingers wrapped around my shaft, slowly stroking.

“Well… yesss…” I admitted slowly, my mind still racing. Had I really dreamed about having such rough sex with Tianshi? It had been so… brutal. Why would I do that? I wasn’t overly fond of the woman, but that didn’t mean I would ever seriously consider mistreating her in such a way. And I found it rather… unsettling… to contemplate the idea that my imagination would even go to such an extreme in the first place.

Are you sure the dream was the product of your imagination? Dong asked me quietly.

‘Umm… what are you implying?’

Well, Tianshi is a telepath. For all you know, she could have planted that dream into your mind as a way of stimulating you towards her stated goal of having sex with you for the purpose of activating your dormant powers?

‘Why the fuck would she plant a dream of me mistreating her? That’s not my idea of having a good time. I like pleasuring my partners, not hurting them. Why not plant a dream of us enjoying each other’s company?’

Well on the one hand, she definitely likes fucking with your mind, and maybe this was just one more way of doing that. On the other hand, ‘enjoying each other’s company’ might be your idea of having a good time, but…

‘Wait-wait-wait. You’re suggesting that what I just witnessed is HER idea of having a good time?’

Raise your hand if you’d truly be surprised a woman like that might have some… non-standard… proclivities.

‘Not raising my hand. Oh, fuck. What if she’s not merely planting a dream? What if I was experiencing HER dream?’

Hehe. You’re suggesting that Tianshi is having a wet dream about you right this very minute, and that she’s been broadcasting it to you telepathically?

‘I know. It’s crazy.’

Crazy awesome. Watching that in your head was better than Pornhub. When you put your foot on her head? And you just started hammering her? Mmph!

‘Please don’t remind me.’

What? It was effing hot!

‘It was disturbing.’

You’re feeling disturbed that you actually kinda liked it.

‘No, I’m feeling just plain disturbed.’

Admit it. A part of you enjoyed it. It’s not like you’ve never had rough sex before.

‘I’ve never hit a girl before!’

Okay well yes, that part was way outta line. But still, the sex part was--

“You’re so hard…” Hannah murmured into my chest. I think she’d fallen back asleep for a moment, still holding my dick. But she was semi-awake again and had resumed slowly stroking my shaft.

“Shhh… Go back to sleep,” I told her gently, kissing her forehead.

“Mmm…” she mumbled, and for a second I thought she would go back to sleep. But she opened her eyes a moment later and looked up at me with a smile. “I want it inside me again.”

I vote ‘yes’.

“Um, well…” I began, but Hannah was already crawling on top of me. We were both still naked after making love before bed, and her pussy was still saturated from the previous loads I’d left inside her. It was a simple matter for her to get herself lined up and sink that sweet snatch around my stiff schlong, and we both groaned in pleasure as our two bodies became one.

“Mmm… yeahhh…” Hannah sighed in satisfaction as she pressed her forehead down onto the pillow, and I turned to tenderly kiss her cheek. “I love this… I love you.”

Holding Hannah in my arms, I nuzzled her cheek with my nose and murmured back, “I love you too.”

She turned her face to mine, beaming a wide smile of joy.

And then she moved.

****

The next morning, I found myself unable to look Angelika in the eyes. Since she was in her platinum-blonde internet model guise, they were ordinary blue eyes (not alien-esque diamond-white), but I still couldn’t look at her without remembering that disturbing (disturbingly hot) dream. And so rather than blush and stammer awkwardly around her, I merely avoided looking at her as much as I could.

If she noticed my atypical behavior, Angelika didn’t act like it. She merely went about her own business, greeting us politely enough when Hannah and I arrived at the main house for breakfast before disappearing into the master bedroom, not emerging again until the front doorbell rang.

Not expecting to hear the sound nor have any visitors here at the villa, I was instantly on high alert. I tensed and started checking the windows, readying myself to grab Hannah and duck underneath the dining table while armed assassins busted in. That made absolutely no sense, of course. If armed assassins were really coming after us, why the fuck would they ring the doorbell?

But Rae and Angelika were obviously expecting the visitor, because Rae stood up from breakfast to go to the door and Angelika came out from the bedroom. Hannah and I stood up as well to go see what was going on, and Rae opened the door, greeting politely, “您好外婆”

An elderly Chinese woman stood outside, her face sagging with wrinkles so that her eyes were mere slits. She was extremely short, perhaps four-feet-nine, and held a gnarled walking cane. Her clothes were comfortable and warm: light pink sweatpants and what appeared to be a fleece jacket on top of a sweater on top of a shirt, even though it wasn’t particularly cold here. And with slightly saggy jowls, she smiled a warm, welcoming smile that made me feel warm and sunny just to see it.

She was adorable.

Despite her apparent advanced age, the woman’s eyes twinkled and she moved quite well, despite needing a walking cane. She spoke rapidly with Rae in Chinese, the both of them laughing, before Rae bowed her head deferentially and more formally invited the woman in.

Next, the newcomer talked at Angelika, and I do mean “talked at”. Her tone was scolding and harsh, carrying an undercurrent of deep disappointment and admonishment, and Angelika promptly transformed back into her Tianshi true form before bowing her head quite low and muttering repeated apologies.

It was rather satisfying to watch.

I had no idea how old the visitor was, nor was I really sure how old Tianshi was either, but it was clear that Tianshi acknowledged the woman as a respected elder, and so when the newcomer started walking over to me and Hannah, I reflexively bowed my head and greeted, “Very pleased to meet you, Dà mā.”

How did you know to call her ‘Auntie’?

‘I don’t know. It just sorta popped into my head.’

“Nǐ hǎo, young man,” the old woman greeted me pleasantly. The large wrinkles over her eyes raised, letting me see more of her eyes. Her irises were slightly clouded with cataracts, and she peered at me curiously. But after only a moment, she turned to stare at my right shoulder, stating, “展现自我东方青龙”

I caught her stating the name Dōngfāng Qīnglóng, and a moment later, Dong revealed himself, standing on my right shoulder right where she was looking.

“我很高兴再次见到你临塘” Dong replied with a formal bow. And for a few seconds, the two of them merely stared at each other.

Then the old woman cried out happily, raised both arms in the air as if reaching for a hug, and exclaimed, “天啊，真的是你啊！”

Dong leaped off my shoulder and then landed on the old woman’s shoulder, declaring rapidly, “我？真的是你啊！已经多久了？六百年？你看起来很棒！没有一天超过五百”

The old woman reached up, and to my complete and utter surprise, it looked like her hand was actually able to hold him. He reached up to pat her cheek, and they enjoyed a heartwarming little moment together as they continued their conversation.

Meanwhile, Hannah squeezed my hand and leaned in, whispering, “Where did the talking blue gecko come from?”

I glanced at her with wide eyes, only now realizing that Hannah shouldn’t be able to see Dong. I tried to imagine what the situation must have looked like from her perspective, this wrinkly old woman first speaking to my shoulder and then opening her arms out in our vague direction without ever actually looking at us. But evidently, Hannah could see Dong now, and I wasn’t entirely sure how.

But then I noticed that Dong was glowing. The glow was subtle, but it was there. The newcomer had picked up Dong, holding him up in the palm of her hand so they could talk face-to-face. And I had to believe that whatever she was doing, that was the reason Hannah could see him.

The pair must’ve overheard her, because they stopped their conversation and both turned to face us.

“Sorry, where are our manners?” Dong stated apologetically. “Lin Tang, may I introduce you to Aksel and Hannah. Aksel and Hannah, this is Lin Tang.”

“Pleased to meet you,” Hannah replied politely right away, focusing on the woman, although her eyes kept switching over to the glowing blue gecko standing up on the woman’s palm.

The talking blue gecko in question grinned, stating, “And I’m Dong. I’m the avatar of the great Azure Dragon sent here to help Aksel complete the quest for Faguang Long. I’ve actually been with him since before he left America, but humans normally can’t see or hear me, so this is the first time I’ve been able to introduce myself to you.”

Hannah nodded. “Oh, so you’re Dong! I’ve heard Aksel talking to you from time to time. I’m very, very pleased to meet you in person!”

“Yes, yes,” Tianshi interrupted breezily. “Everyone is so pleased to meet everyone else, but can we please move on? Lin Tang, I asked you to come here because we have an urgent need--”

“Patience, young one. Patience,” Lin Tang cut her off with a dismissive wave. “Always with you everything is so urgent and in such a hurry. You must allow an old woman time to settle in.”

“But time is of the essence and we need your help.”

“Of course it is, and of course you do. And of course I will give you my help, but not until I have had my tea.”

“Right here, Wài pó,” Rae spoke up, carrying a tray with a blue-and-white porcelain teapot and a set of matching cups. And I wondered where she had gotten such articles as their hand-painted Chinese designs meant that they certainly hadn’t come with the rented villa.

“Come. Let us sit,” Lin Tang instructed. “There is much we all have to discuss.”

****

We really did have much to discuss, but much to Tianshi’s dismay, absolutely none of the conversation involved the life-or-death urgent quest for Faguang Long in order to defeat the evil immortal warlord hellbent on enslaving all of humanity through a zombie plague. Instead, Lin Tang seemed far more interested in catching up with Dong, asking Rae about her training, and chatting with Hannah about her modeling career.

It wasn’t that she was ignoring me or Tianshi. Okay, she was a little dismissive of Tianshi, and roundly put down any attempts by the huli jing to bring up the epic quest for the two-thousand-year-old ancient artifact or the fate of all mankind, silly stuff like that. But rather, it appeared that Lin Tang simply had more interest in the other topics that revolved around the other three people in the room, so even if Tianshi or I spoke up in the course of the natural conversation, Dong, Rae, and Hannah ended up doing more of the talking.

Over the course of that conversation, I learned a little bit about Rae’s training around the world, the places she’d been to, and some of the people she’d worked with. All of that was new to me, so I listened with rapt attention. I also learned a little bit about Hannah’s jet-setting life and desire to see the world before she got older, her looks faded, and she would contemplate settling down. Most of that stuff I already knew, but I still enjoyed listening to the excitement in Hannah’s voice as she told her stories, and I especially liked the way she’d squeeze my hand and give me coy looks whenever speaking about settling down one day.

But what really piqued my interest were the stories about Lin Tang’s time spent with Dong six hundred years ago during what would later become known as “The Ming Treasure Voyages”. From A.D. 1403 to 1433, the Yongle Emperor of the Ming Dynasty ordered seven far-reaching ocean voyages that stretched as far away as East Africa, projecting military power, carrying Chinese treasures to faraway lands and bringing back foreign treasures in return, and establishing tributary kingdoms and vassal states even before the western European nations began their own ocean-going exploration and colonization.

As an avatar of the great Azure Dragon, Dong was the guide for Admiral Zheng He, who led the first six such voyages. Dong helped ensure the fleet’s survival across the open ocean and in its encounters with various pirates and foreign powers that opposed the expanding Chinese Empire.

Lin Tang was… old. I mean, I could tell that she was supernatural given the way she could make Dong glow, and it wasn’t like I didn’t know supernatural beings could be exceptionally long-lived. But it wasn’t made clear how old she really was. Obviously, I knew she was at least six hundred years old given the time period being discussed, but she may have been ancient even then, and possibly older than Ziyi.

It also wasn’t made clear exactly how Lin Tang had gotten involved with the Ming Treasure Voyages, as she had a habit of switching to Chinese for long stretches of the conversation. Something about repairs to one of the ships and finding the best source for the right kind of wood. But neither Dong nor Lin Tang spent much time rehashing the past. Instead, they spent more time chatting like old friends, teasing each other, and… dare I say it… flirting?

It was cute really, to see such a wrinkled old lady laughing and winking and making rude remarks in Chinese that made Rae and Tianshi both blush to hear them. In particular, Tianshi facepalmed more than once in exactly the way one might imagine a daughter facepalming every time her own mother said something really racy. But at the same time, I didn’t particularly want to imagine the old woman having sex.

I mean, I knew I was letting Lin Tang’s physical appearance affect my reaction. I mean, Ziyi was over a thousand years old and Tianshi was a few centuries old at least, but I had no trouble imagining either of them having sex given that they both physically appeared to be young women.

I was still contemplating that particular thought puzzle when Lin Tang suddenly reached out and rubbed my upper thigh. I jerked in surprise and looked up at her with alarm, especially given the quite… suggestive… expression on the old woman’s wrinkled face.

“I remember you now,” Lin Tang said with wide eyes and a rather… ravenous… grin. Then she started cackling at the terrified expression on my face.

“Um… what?” I asked in confusion.

“You were quite naughty that evening, seducing a teenage girl and claiming her maidenhood.”

I blinked twice before repeating, “Um… what?”

“Does the name ‘Princess Puning’ mean anything to you?”

NO. WAY.

“I am NOT Princess Puning, just to be clear,” Lin Tang added quickly, patting my knee and cackling merrily once more, as if giving me a heart attack like that was one of her life’s greatest pleasures.

“Oh! I… uh… okayyy…” Still processing all that, I managed to blink a couple of times and start calming my racing heart. “But then… how do you know that name?”

“How do YOU know that name?” Rae interjected, looking at me strangely.

“Umm… long story…” I muttered, unable to stop myself from blushing.

“Puning was the daughter of Emperor Taizu, the former warlord Zhu Wen,” Rae interjected with a frown, turning to look at me. “The same warlord you said was a shu yaoguai rat demon that… well… that killed you in tenth-century China.”

Lin Tang’s shoulders slumped. “The Emperor killed you?”

“Umm… long story…” I muttered again.

“You didn’t mention any Princess Puning,” Rae stated accusingly.

“Umm… long story?” I said weakly.

Lin Tang started laughing again. “This young man was the first to pluck the young princess’s budding--”

“You popped Zhu Wen’s daughter’s cherry!?!” Rae exclaimed.

“Well, it was a complicated situation and I wasn’t trying to--”

“OhMyGOD!” Rae cut me off.

“Yeah, that was a helluva night,” Dong drawled with a smarmy grin, nodding his head grandly. “The princess was alright, I guess, for a virgin. Enthusiastic, at least. But really, it was her maid Júhuā that was the real firecracker, and when she spread her asscheeks and invited our boy here to vio--”

“Wait-wait-wait-wait-wait!” Rae interrupted again, waving both of her hands and then gawking at both Dong and Lin Tang. “You’re saying that Aksel ACTUALLY transported himself to tenth-century China? You’re saying that TIME TRAVEL is REAL?!?”

“Yes, totally,” Dong confirmed while Tianshi simultaneously insisted, “Time travel is NOT possible”. And further adding to the confusion, Lin Tang laughed and corrected, “In a manner of speaking, yes it IS possible.”

Tianshi scowled and glared at the ancient woman. “YOU were the one who taught me that time travel was not possible.”

Lin Tang shrugged. “I did.”

“Then how can you say today that it is?”

“Because I remember him.” The old woman pointed a bony finger at me.

Tianshi shook her head. “We have over five thousand years of archaeological evidence and written history describing a wide variety of supernatural powers and abilities, both elemental and not. Supernatural beings can fly. They can transport themselves across vast distances. But never has there been anything to suggest that a physical being can actually travel through time.”

“That is correct. A physical being cannot travel through time,” Lin Tang confirmed.

“But a physical being’s consciousness, on the other hand…” Dong drawled knowingly.

Hannah piped up, “You’re saying his soul time traveled?”

“His hun,” Lin Tang stated seriously with a nod.

But when Hannah looked unsure of what to do with that response, Rae explained, “In Chinese philosophy, every living human has two souls. The po is the corporeal yin soul that is tied to the physical body. The hun is the ethereal yang soul. For example: my po is that of a human, which gives me physical form, but my hun is that of a fox, which is why I’m described as a fox spirit.”

“There are many stories of a person’s hun leaving the body to inhabit a different physical form,” Tianshi added. “Monks train for years to learn how to separate their hun from their bodies and move about the astral plane. But in all of these cases, the person’s hun remains in the same flow of time as their physical form. Never before has there been evidence of a hun traveling to a different time period.”

“Faguang Long has the power to change the very fabric of reality,” Lin Tang intoned quietly. “Perhaps the Chosen One of Qīnglóng would be the first to do it, especially if he also possesses…” The old woman’s voice trailed off as she took hold of my wrist and then turned it over before running her coarse fingertips over the subtle red outline of a feather imprinted on my skin. “… if he also possesses the relic of Zhūquè.”

Rae frowned. “But he only got the feather yesterday, well AFTER he supposedly time traveled to the past.”

Lin Tang chuckled. “Do not attempt to derive chronological consistency from the concept of time travel, dear child. To attempt so is to invite madness.”

“But you are the very definition of chronological time and memory,” Tianshi stated, extending both of her hands forward.

“Which is why I do not make such an attempt to derive consistency from this. I simply accept it as it is. Aksel is here. Aksel is the chosen one. And I remember when he was Chezhou.”

“Yeah, about that…” I interjected, raising my hand. “If you’re NOT Princess Puning, how exactly do you remember me?”

“I am a penghou,” she replied simply.

I blinked twice. “I realize that’s probably supposed to mean something to me, but I’m not getting it.”

“Lin Tang is a tree spirit,” Rae explained. “She herself is ancient, more than two thousand years old, and was alive when the original Qin Dynasty was the first to conquer all of China and unite the nation under Imperial rule. But even beyond her own memory, a penghou is able to access the collective memories of ALL tree spirits who have ever lived.”

“Not ALL tree spirits who have ever lived,” Tianshi corrected sternly. “Only those who reached Fusang or Ruomu.”

I glanced back and forth between them, waiting for one to continue. But Rae was blushing and looking chagrined, while Tianshi merely rolled her eyes and looked away as if she couldn’t believe she was still part of this conversation.

Dong finally spoke up, stating, “Fusang is a divine tree and an island far to the east of China, across the ocean where the sun rises from the sea. Ruomu is a similar divine tree in the great mountains to the west. And tree spirits who visit either of these divine trees are able to upload their life’s memories to the trees as well as download the collective memories of all the tree spirits who came before them. Kinda like family iCloud storage.”

“Or like the Tree of Souls from Avatar,” Hannah remarked.

“Yes, exactly!” Dong said brightly. “So when Maleficent over there said that Lin Tang is the very definition of chronological time and memory, that’s what she meant.”

“And because Puning was a tree spirit,” I began slowly as the implications dawned on me, “she eventually uploaded her memories to this divine tree cloud, and then you downloaded those memories later, which is why you can say you ‘remember’ me.” That last bit was directed at Lin Tang.

The old woman nodded and winked. “Puning had very fond memories of your visit.”

Rae snorted, Hannah giggled, and Tianshi rolled her eyes again.

“What happened to Puning?” I asked. “Did she go on to live a happy life? Oh wait, if tree spirits can live this long, is she STILL alive?”

Lin Tang gave me a pained look. “Unfortunately, she is no longer alive today. But she did go on to live a long, happy, and healthy life… eventually.”

“Eventually?”

“Puning was married to Wang Zhaozuo, the son of Wang Rong, who ruled the state of Zhao, a tributary of the Hou Liang Empire. But in the year 921, Wang Rong’s soldiers mutinied and assassinated their lord and then decapitated Puning’s husband Wang Zhaozuo in front of the army camp.”

“Oh, shit,” I spat. “But what about Puning?”

Lin Tang smiled kindly, putting me at ease. “Puning was the only one spared, as the mutineers were hoping to gain favor with the Hou Liang Dynasty, which by then was ruled by Puning’s brother Zhu Zhen. She was set free, but instead of returning to Luoyang, she went off into the wilderness to live as a tree spirit. So yes, she did go on to live a long, happy, and healthy life.”

I nodded slowly. “That’s great to hear.”

“Yeah, great for her,” Rae commented, “but can we get back to the whole time travel thing? Does all this mean that Aksel actually time traveled back to tenth-century China? Or at least his hun did?”

“Evidently,” Tianshi muttered, still scowling and still shaking her head in disbelief. But then she took a deep breath, exhaled slowly, and said, “Not that it really matters whether or not he did. What matters is the quest. And what matters is that for all of the water elemental abilities he was able to perform while inhabiting the corporeal body of this Chezhou over a thousand years ago, we need him to be able to perform them here and now.”

Hannah gestured to the old woman. “So can Lin Tang help him with that?”

Rae immediately snorted and then covered her face with both hands, looking embarrassed. Tianshi smiled thinly and shook her head. And to be perfectly honest, I felt a little bit relieved. Lin Tang was certainly an adorable little old lady, but I had zero sexual interest in her whatsoever.

“No, my dear, she cannot,” Tianshi stated somewhat coldly, her diamond-white eyes boring lasers into Hannah in such a way that made the dirty-blonde beside me tuck herself closer against my side for safety. “We found the problem causing the Chosen One’s inability to access the full force of his powers.”

“And what’s that?” Hannah asked nervously.

Tianshi’s grin was all gleaming white teeth.

“The problem… is you.”

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

Prologue & Chapter 1: The Ax Effect: https://www.patreon.com/posts/102225387

Chapter 2: Santa Monica: https://www.patreon.com/posts/102437478

Chapter 3: The Zellij Fountain: https://www.patreon.com/posts/102691018

Chapter 4: Euhemerism: https://www.patreon.com/posts/102919819

Chapter 5: The Fremont Troll: https://www.patreon.com/posts/103191700

Chapter 6: Jade: https://www.patreon.com/posts/103443053

Chapter 7: The Blue Gecko: https://www.patreon.com/posts/103699709

Chapter 8: Yaoguai: https://www.patreon.com/posts/103978374

Chapter 9: Rome: https://www.patreon.com/posts/104213388

Chapter 10: Seeing Sights: https://www.patreon.com/posts/104466709

Chapter 11: Liu Kang: https://www.patreon.com/posts/104728056