REVELATIONS
Three weeks had passed since that unfortunate day, but Shen continued to avoid Rose. He did not want his possible outburst of anger to have harmful consequences and since anger, because of what he called "accident", had not yet passed, was kept at a safe distance from the human. If things went wrong inside the reserve, you could not say otherwise in the castle. Ghosts continued to collect and bring information about what they discovered day by day, especially about the terrible inventions of humans. Some to facilitate daily actions, while others much more obscure and dangerous! One object in particular frightened Cong and the others. He made an absurd noise, warning anyone of his presence even at a safe distance, a fortune for them! It was used to remove the dust, since, apparently, doing it manually would have required too much energy and Cheung had repeatedly asked himself what fate would have touched him if by chance he too had been caught in what they called "the sack of death"! It only served to contain the dust, but they were sure that the noise it made hid some terrible secret! But they would have preferred to be sucked into that strange machine rather than appear sociable towards the boy. He was Rose's best friend, but even that didn't seem to benefit him. He was still the one who attacked Shu and Syaoran! The mustelids were always very aggressive with poor Sam, or disappeared as soon as they heard him arrive, not allowing the boy to try to establish a rag!
At the time Cong and Cheung were busy stuffing themselves with strawberries, while Genji finished cleaning his fish to say the least delicious. Rose was extremely kind, despite their attitude towards Sam and they tried to be so with her to return the courtesy. Meanwhile Dishi was in crisis with an apple, which did nothing but roll, making his intention to eat it difficult. Fa had been missing for a few days and Rose had justified his absence by replying that he had allowed him to spend some time in the reserve. Although they knew very well that she was lying, under Shen's advice, they had decided to go along with her. Without really knowing why!
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Life had begun to flow smoothly. Indeed it had improved without the guards who passed between the houses every hour, frightening almost all the inhabitants and making the most obstinate nervous. Shen knew well that the situation had stalled. It had never happened that a human, who was not a poacher, had managed to enter and this had alarmed many. Anger and discontent had been quelled, but for now they were like boiling lava boiling under the surface: nothing was enough to explode! Shen knew well that it would take time to come up with a good plan, and much more to convince everyone to participate. But the tactician in him had not remained with his hands. Taking advantage of Rose's kindness, and aided by spies, he had managed to make a map of the building noting numerous security weaknesses. Once discovered, but not considered dangerous, the squirrels and mustelids had been admitted to the castle. Rose had managed to convince her father that she was working on a relationship of mutual trust that would benefit her future business. Clever girl! But she hadn't done everything alone, on the contrary, it could be said that it was Shen who had convinced her! During the only conversation they had during that time ... Dishi and Genji had gone on exploration several times and managed to go unnoticed since all humans were aware of their presence. To attract their attention, after about four days of empty laps, it was a room full of magic mirrors through which humans could see inside the reserve.
Some were positioned on the various entrances, others in the main square and the last ones controlled from outside, almost all the houses! This presented a strong point in favor of humans. Having the opportunity to see what was going on inside the reserve they could have become suspicious seeing them converge towards an exit with a few guards ... and sound the alarm if one of the animals had attacked them! Shen did not believe in magic, on the contrary he was convinced that these strange objects were one of the many and strange inventions of humans!
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One evening Cong noticed something different. Rose was getting ready to leave! "Is your world very big?" Asked Genji, who was beginning to have sympathy for the girl. "Sure! Yours too! "Replied the cheerful human. "Having never been outside these walls, I am unable to say which is the largest, but I am sure that, like us, you have not yet visited it all, am I wrong?" Dishi said while looking at a map hanging on the wall. "Not at all! Today we will go to a new place! The city is called Rome and they say the food is delicious! Plus there will be sales and I will be able to buy a lot of desigual things! "Rose said with dreamy eyes. "It's a store that sells stunning clothes!" The girl explained when she saw her friends raise their ears for a silent question. "I can come in!" An unknown voice made everyone turn towards the door. "Beatrice!" Rose shouted upset "No! I'm not ready! "She said in the least convincing tone in the world. "Come on ..." insisted a voice from behind the door before it was opened "... you know how many times I saw you while you changed ..." a girl with long dark hair and a very pale skin she stared upset at the various animals in the room. "But then it's true that you want to work in a zoo ... your room looks a lot like us!" Beatrice said that suddenly she couldn't take her eyes off the albino squirrel. "I'll explain later! Now can you wait for me outside? "Rose asked, more and more agitated. "You have to ask please!" Her friend complained "Please!" Said the owner of the house, pushing the intruder out badly.
"Who is it?" Genji broke the silence as Rose finished packing her luggage. "A friend from school!" Briefly explained. After making a last appeal of the things he took, he turned to his friends "So, soon guards will come to bring you back to the reserve, unfortunately in my absence you will no longer be able to explore the castle, I'm sorry, I know you are having a lot of fun!" was listing things on the shopping list. "We are sorry for not being able to work on the escape plan ... we enjoy it so much!" Cong thought. "So early?" Cheung asked in surprise. They had been inside the castle for three weeks. They might have seemed many, but they weren't. Returning to the reserve would have represented a sharp setback in the work undertaken on behalf of Shen and their dreams of future freedom. "Yes! Because of my departure, your reintegration has been ... anticipated! "Rose answered before putting on his jacket and taking the last things. "See you soon guys! I'll be back in a week! "He said happy as an Easter before going out. A pinging noise made it clear that humans were serious. He had locked them in! Not that it was a problem ... they knew how to force a lock during, but it was still a bell: they could not go out! Although no one could have hindered them since, since the last checks, Dishi and Genji had ascertained that the guards, in Rose's apartments, never passed by! But the girl had talked about reintegration. "I won't stand still waiting for the guards to come and bring us back! If we really have to come back, I will do it of my own free will, "Dishi said.
"I would suggest leaving a passage open to allow us to enter even without human help. It could help in the future! "Genji said before disappearing into the pipes.
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Through the ventilation ducts the spies had headed towards the exit, except to meet a white peacock who had decided to personally explore the castle. He did not seem to be worried at all about being noticed and this gave one last push to those who were reluctant to browse around without the cover of the human. The desire to leave the castle was not to be as strong as the curiosity towards the human world, not yet dormant, despite their long stay compared to any other animal ... apart from Fa who had become a kind domestic owl! "Wow! He can hear my footsteps! "Cheung said looking at the perfectly polished marble that he trod on. They were all poor peasants, ordinary people who were surprised even in front of a laid table. No wonder they were surprised by the sumptuousness exhibited by Derek just to show how disgustingly rich he was.
They were in a large corridor and Cheung looked with interest at a large staircase that led to a part of the building unknown to them. "How the hell are they going to move in there?" Dishi asked, twisting her nose in front of large armor that seemed to be several years old. "Remember that they don't have natural weapons and probably looking like a portable cage helps them to be safer!" Cong said to whom, instead, they instilled fear. A low growl warned all five. "Can squirrels growl?" Cheung asked with obvious sarcasm. "Not so strong, but they are!" Genji said pointing to a point behind his friends. Four large dogs snarled at those they saw as intruders and easy prey to catch. Dishi avoided investigating whether they were able to speak and started running. Without knowing it, he awakened the hunting instinct of the canids that started running after them. For the mustelids and the squirrels it was easy to climb a chandelier or fold up on the curtains in order to escape those fangs, but this went to the detriment of Shen who now enjoyed the full attention of those guard animals perfectly domesticated and trained by humans. As if things weren't serious already, he realized that he wasn't wearing his metal-clawed gloves. Ever since he started training with the Master he had laid down his arms since the goal of Kung Fu is not to hurt the opponent and a warrior uses only his own body to fight.
For the final clash with humans he would have taken them back, too bad it wasn't that! Only now did he deeply regret his choice, because his claws, even if sharp, could not have done much against the fangs of dogs! And hand-to-hand combat was excluded because it would make him vulnerable to a possible bite! But despite this Shen ran fast and in a short time he lost sight of Genji and the others. Fortunately he had an approximate mental image of the castle and that was why he headed towards the training room, there he would surely find something to make those canids understand who was in charge, making them retreat in their primary intentions to devour it! Once inside he was stunned to note that there was no sharp object that could have been used, but only buildings on which to climb, large bags hanging from the ceiling and other gadgets of which he had no idea what they were! He climbed onto a kind of wooden ladder attached to the wall that was solid enough to hold it up and was relieved to find that the dogs were unable to climb. Now there was another problem, with all the fuss they were doing they would surely have attracted attention, indeed, it was strange that nobody had noticed them yet! He jumped onto another wooden construction and began to move from one to the other with ever greater speed. His idea worked because the dogs, in an attempt to follow him, began to stumble and collide with each other and this gave Shen time to drop a remarkably heavy wooden ladder so that it blocked their way, jump on the ground, run to the exit and quickly close the heavy doors. "What's going on?" The voice of a man made him jump and the peacock, once seen on the stairs, walked to get off the road of the probable guard who was coming towards him. He found himself on a lower floor and after passing a dense branching of corridors he found himself in the kitchens.
He was not surprised to find the rest of us. The spies, despite their stature, ate like pandas, that is, as soon as they could and extraordinary quantities of food compared to their small body. Poking around a bit, they found a dessert sprinkled with peach jam and without compliments they finished it in no time. Shen tasted almost everything and started snooping around as he had the opportunity to taste new and unknown foods. Their interest was not limited only to what the human mind was able to create with some pieces of iron, but it was general. And importantly, Shen was convinced that the more they knew the enemy, the better the chance of defeating him! The peacock found an envelope that seemed to contain something delicious and once opened it ate something very similar to the dragon clouds, but these were definitely more crunchy and salty! After opening six envelopes, the mustelids managed to calm the hunger pangs that had caught them as if they had fasted for groups. Only then did Shen think of a question "But where are the humans?" He asked realizing that no one had witnessed their feast. "Before there were ..." Dishi replied with his mouth full "But the humans shouted HELP, THE MICE! and they disappeared in less than five seconds locking the doors behind them, "Cong continued, who instead had swallowed the bite before speaking. "I would say we can now ..." Genji was interrupted by distant barking that seemed to approach their current position rather quickly. "What a beard!" Complained Cheung who was still eating. Shen wasted no time and jumped to a table on which humans apparently were kneading something and leaving work halfway through once they saw the mustelids. More likely it was Genji and Dishi who made them run away since the similarity a rodent was more evident! The dogs entered the kitchen like fury and as Shen thought there were humans with them! It was impossible that they had managed to open the doors, they did not seem to have a highly developed brain as it was very easy for the peacock to sow them.
Through a secondary exit Shen, Genji, Dishi, Cong and Chueng headed for Rose's rooms. But when everything seemed to be resolved Shen felt something holding him by the tail and fell badly on the ground. One of those dogs had landed him! Even before he could try to free himself, a broom crashed into the animal's face and the peacock saw him run away while yelping as if he had been mortally wounded. At the other end of the broom was the last person Shen thought he saw: Sam! "What the hell are you doing? You can rest once you are back in the reserve! Move! "The boy said excitedly, looking around as the dogs did nothing but approach and increase. Shen didn't have it repeated and ran again. He avoided or dropped numerous guards drawn by all the hustle and bustle and arrived unharmed in Rose's rooms. From there he knew how to move. As expected, the other four were already there waiting for him since they didn't have to worry about the dogs! "Did they get you?" Cong asked with a strange curiosity "Just stuck! Rose's friend paid off the debt by freeing me from the grip of one of them! "Shen explained that he was panting heavily because of the unbridled race he had just made. "Won!" Dishi said "Lost!" Genji joined him. The peacock rolled his eyes: they had bet! Even though he often took part in bets of this kind, he hated when someone made them about him!
Maybe because, in general, he didn't like to be the center of attention! Hurried footsteps forced everyone to hide. Dishi and the others managed to get into some large objects while Shen ducked behind the bed from the front door. Fortunately it was only Sam. After what happened, they were less likely to attack them ... at least, compared to the guards, they completely reset themselves! "But shouldn't you have been in the reserve? Especially you! "Asked the confused boy, pointing to the peacock. Dishi shrugged while Cong scratched his head. They were signs to try to make Sam understand that they knew less about him. With little results since he continued to stare at them in a bewildered way. "Wait, I know how to do it!" The boy finally said. Shen raised the crest curiously when he saw him take pen and paper. How had he not thought of it before! There was a way to communicate ... he immediately started thinking about it when he saw that the human was writing in a language incomprehensible to them. "Guys, I can't read these signs!" Cheung protested. "Evidently humans speak like us but write in another way! Isn't that strange? "Genji asked amused. Dishi snatched the pen from the boy's hand and started writing in Chinese characters "We were locked in Rose's rooms! Someone opened the door allowing us to go out and being hungry we headed towards the room from which the smell of food came. " Making up lies was easier than he thought. The calligraphies differed completely from each other and Shen was sure that not even Sam could understand an accident! "I can find someone who can translate! Wait! "The boy said running out ... but he didn't have time to open the door that it slammed in his face. Rose peeked from behind "What are you doing here?" She asked shocked "And what are they still doing here!" She asked even more surprise.
"The real question is, what are you doing here?" Sam asked confused. Only four days had passed since the travel week for her and her friends! "My father asked me to come back! But I still don't know why! The holiday has been ruined and I swear that if I find out it's your fault I'll make you pay! "Rose yelled at her friend" Happy to see you too! "Sam replied before running away from his friend's clutches. Once she was out the girl turned to the animals "I know why my father called me back!" He confessed looking at them with a mixture of suspicion and ... fear? Shen knew for certain that that speech was going to take a bad turn! "Why did you start spying on us? Why did you make an accurate map of the castle? "The girl asked more and more worried. "How do you know these things?" Cong asked suddenly wary. "My father watches you and can see everything that happens in this room and in the reserve! He saw you poking around ... it's not simple curiosity, is he? "Rose seemed to want to deny that obvious truth but Shen did not understand why! Was she disappointed that they wanted to escape? Didn't he understand that what they wanted was freedom only? Eventually the peacock decided to silence all those doubts and questions that seemed to torment the poor girl "Rose ... we want to leave!".