This chapter became a little long, sorry.

For the ones, who are waiting for new chapters for the story "Under Our Wings", I can just ask for patience. I'm happy that some people want to know what happens next, but this story is a hard project and needs time to write a good chapter. But you can be sure that I don't abandon the project, but big breaks between the chapters are always possible. I'm sorry about it, but I try to write a new chapter as fast as I can. Thanks for your big interest. :-)

23. The curse of beauty

Shen blinked and opened his eyes. Sunbeams shined through the curtains into his room. His gaze wandered beside himself. But no one was in bed except him.

Groaning, he turned on his back again. He felt an uncomfortable pull on the side of his stomach. He must have moved a little too much yesterday. Still, he couldn't stand it any longer in bed and got up with difficulty. He made his way slowly to the door and carefully, he went down the stairs. There was no one in the lower rooms. The others had had breakfast already.

Without thinking long, he shuffled to the front door. No sooner had he opened it, he groaned and held his wings in front of his eyes when the midday sun dazzled him. After he got used to the light, he looked around outside. To his relief, only Yin-Yu was standing on the lawn next to the house and was looking into the distance. It hadn't been a dream yesterday.

He took a few steps towards her. She didn't notice him. The peahen seemed to be very deep in thought. When he was right behind her, he raised his wings and carefully he encompassed her shoulders.

She started with fright. Only when she saw his white wings, she calmed down again.

"Oh, are you awake?" She turned to him. "But you shouldn't stand up…"

He held a pair of feather fingers in front of her beak. He didn't want to hear a warning from her. She obediently closed her mouth, which raised a smile from Shen. She was never provocative or imperious, which he appreciated about her. But then his expression turned serious again. He let his wings slide on her wings and looked her straight in the eyes.

"Are you really fine?" he wanted to know.

She briefly dropped her gaze. "Yes, I'm fine…"

"You look so drained," he stated.

But Yin-Yu shook her head. "It's just because of that so much happened yesterday."

Shen's eyes narrowed. "Has anything else happened? Why didn't you wake me up?"

She smiled at him. "No, everything has remained calm so far. And besides, you should sleep in."

She stroked his face, but to her surprise, he avoided her touch.

"Where's Shenmi?"

"She is playing with a couple of cotton dolls that were given to her."

Yin-Yu nodded behind Shen. In fact, the white peacock girl was crouching in the grass in the yard in front of the house. She had also made a few origami figures among the many dolls.

Shen smiled at the sight. "Did she eat anything?"

"Very little," the peahen replied, but before Shen could draw his daughter's attention, she held him back with a question.

"Why did you take her with you?"

Shen paused. Then he looked her straight in the face. "I didn't ask her. She just smuggled herself under the luggage. I couldn't do anything about it."

Yin-Yu looked down. "Much would not have been missing and something else would have happened."

Shen clutched her shoulders with his feather fingers. "Honey, I promise you this will never happen."

They looked at each other. But Shen's words could not encourage Yin-Yu. "I don't know what's wrong with me either," she continued desperately. "I have a strange feeling. I've been so nervous since this morning…"

The white peacock comforted her in his arms. "That's the anxiety," he reassured her. "You know how to react under stress."

He stroked her back. Yin-Yu took a deep breath. "Maybe you're right."

Her gaze wandered down the hill, where the little hut with the two guards stood in front of the door. "Maybe it's because of…" She paused and broke away from Shen's embrace.

Shen couldn't avoid looking at the hut either, and folded his wings. "Any new statement from him?" he asked inquiringly.

But Yin-Yu shook her head. "We have left him alone until now."

She looked at him. "Do you want to talk to him?"

"No." Shen turned away. "And I don't want to see him anymore either."

The peahen sighed heavily. "It doesn't matter whether you ignore him or not, but if we get through this, then we have to decide what to do with him."

Shen rolled his eyes. "Decide? About him? How often should we still do that?!"

He turned to her hard. "We gave him his life twice. At some point, my patience will run out. No matter how many times we spare him, the result is only trouble." He propped his wings on a fence. "You may not like it, but at the next provocation, I see myself forced to execute him for good." He kept silent for at least three seconds before continuing in a bitter voice. "And don't pretend I'm wrong. I can no longer allow him to constantly endanger you and the others."

Yin-Yu bowed her head. She couldn't deny that statement. Xiang had escaped from a detention center before. Was an isolated incarceration the best solution, or even a final verdict where he could never return again?

At that moment, Shenmi looked up from her toys. When she saw her father next to her mother, she got up hastily and ran towards him.

"Daddy!"

Immediately, Shen turned in her direction so that she could fall into his wings. Almost begging, the girl pressed herself against him.

"Are you okay again?" she asked.

"Yes, I'm fine," he said, even when he felt a severe stitch again. "But let's have a look at you."

With that, he lifted her up a little and seemed to be searching her really thoroughly. Then he put her back on the floor, kneeled down in front of her and looked at her seriously.

"Now tell me what happened yesterday. Has he harmed you?"

Shenmi looked at him in surprise. "Who?"

"The blue peacock," Shen explained. "Did he hurt you?"

"Well… um…"

The girl didn't know what to answer and looked at her mother for help. She nodded encouragingly to her. "Just tell him what you saw."

Shenmi looked uncertainly at her father again, as if she feared something bad. Finally, she forced herself to make an objective statement.

"He… he… he had a knife in his wing. I was scared and ran away, then this other bird woman came along and hugged me the whole time… Ouch! Daddy, you're hurting me."

Shen immediately released his grip on Shenmi's shoulders. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry."

At that moment, Yin-Yu put her wing on his shoulder. "You'd better eat something now. You haven't eaten anything since last night."

Shen wanted to protest, but the peahen looked at him so intensely that he swallowed his anger down and stood up. He passed Yin-Yu, but before he disappeared into the house, he whispered something to her: "The jury on this subject is still out."

Then he went into the anteroom.

Shenmi looked after her father in amazement. "Mom, what about the blue peacock?"

"Well… you don't have to be afraid of him anymore." She stroked her daughter's little head. "He can't hurt you anymore. He was just pretty confused."

"Is he sad?"

Yin-Yu hesitated to answer. Then she nodded slightly. "I guess so. - I have to bring your father something to eat now. Play with the cute panda for as long as you like."

As soon as her mother was gone, Shenmi walked thoughtfully along the houses. She still shuddered at the thought of yesterday, but if her mother said he was sad, he could be made happy again. Maybe then he wouldn't be mean to her anymore.

The girl brooded for a while. Then she reached under her little coat, where the blue paper was still underneath. She looked at it for a while. Then she sat down on the grass and began to fold. She folded and folded… In a matter of minutes, it was done.

"Po?"

The panda woke up with fright. He had taken a nap under a tree and was immediately on his two legs when a girl's voice had spoken to him.

"Who… where… what?! Who's there?... Oh! Oh, it's you."

With relief, he looked down at Shenmi, who looked at him questioningly.

"May I go to the blue peacock?"

Po raised his eyebrows in surprise. "Why do you want to go to him?"

"I want to give him something. Maybe then he won't be so sad anymore."

"Xiang, sad?" Po looked at her in confusion. "He's more a little… well, how should I say it…" He looked for a more harmless synonym for "evil", although he had to admit that Chiwa was much worse. "… very nervous. Or rather irritated, I'd say so."

Shenmi looked pleadingly at him. "Oh please."

Po gave up. "Alright. But you are careful, otherwise your father will tear my head off."

He took the peacock girl by the wing and together they went over to the little hut. Po felt uneasy about it, but what should Xiang do? He was unarmed and unable to fight. What should happen then? Perhaps it was even quite good to face his gruesome manner with peaceful intentions. At least he could imagine Shifu would tell him that.

The guards in front of the hut looked down at the two in amazement, but also sternly.

"May we go in for a moment?" Po asked.

But the guards shook their heads.

"Nobody is allowed to enter without permission," the first one said.

"It's just a very short time," Po asked further. "Don't worry. He can't do anything to us. Honestly. He can only stand on one leg. He can't compete against a strong dragon warrior."

The two guards exchanged glances briefly, then one of them nodded. "Okay, but not for long."

He pushed the bolt aside and opened the door. It was dark inside despite the bright day. Only a single small window let light into the storage room for garden tools. Xiang was sitting on the blankets against the wall. He glanced over at the door, then he stared straight ahead again.

Po cleared his throat. "Uh, hello?"

But the peacock ignored his greeting. Po was not deterred and continued with his explanations. "Uh, the little girl wants to give you something."

With that, Po shoved Shenmi forward, albeit in a tense manner. If Xiang made any threatening movement, he would intervene immediately.

Reluctantly, the peacock girl walked up to the huddled peacock.

"Hello," she began tentatively. Xiang still didn't respond. Uncertainly, Shenmi pulled something out from under her wing.

"Um, I've got something here for you."

With that, she held up a blue folded thing. Only now, the blue peacock turned his head in her direction.

Shenmi tried to smile at him, but Xiang wanted to stare dead at her with his eyes. What the peacock girl showed him didn't help either. It was an origami figure made out of blue paper. More precisely, a blue origami peacock. The girl moved the folded tail feathers, which she could move up and down, open and closed, like a real peacock.

"And what is that supposed to be?" Xiang asked icily, although he knew exactly what it was.

Shenmi was a little disappointed. Nobody had reacted to her folding work like this before, but she still managed to explain to him, what she had folded.

"That's a blue peacock." She smiled slightly at him. "I like blue."

Xiang narrowed his eyes to dangerous slits.

The girl put the folded peacock on a box. "I did that for you."

Po stayed nicely in the background, but somehow the panda was uncomfortable with the whole thing. Xiang's shoulders tightened extremely unnatural, and now they even began to tremble slightly.

Suddenly the peacock hit the paper figure with his fist. "GET OFF MY BACK!" he yelled at her and wiped the crushed paper from the box onto the floor. "JUST GO AWAY! LEAVE ME ALONE!"

Po thought his heart would stop. He was so struck dumb that he couldn't even move from the spot. The next second of silence felt like an eternity. He didn't dare to look at Shenmi. At least the girl was standing with her back to him so that he couldn't see her face, but he could very well imagine what was happening next.

At first, the girl looked at Xiang in horror. Then she turned away from him with a cry.

"Shenmi!"

Po had to watch helplessly as the girl ran away crying. Po wasted no time and immediately he ran after her. But no sooner was he over the doorstep, he remembered Xiang. In Po all angry muscles contracted and he clenched his fists. He wanted to rush back into the hut and give him a whipping, but the guards interpreted this escape as a threat and immediately they closed the door behind the panda again.

"Hey, let me in!" Po protested. "I'll beat him up!"

However, the guards did not allow him to reach the door.

"Without King Wang's permission, we cannot tolerate anything like that," the first ox said.

"Exactly," the second one agreed. "Until then, you have to control yourself, dragon warrior."

Po paused. Control… self-control. Self-control.

What had his master once said about self-control?

A long time ago…

"Dragon warrior," Master Shifu began. "I've taught you a lot. You learned to acquire strength, discipline, courage,... "he cleared his throat. "And humility. - And yet there is still something you need."

Po raised his eyebrows in surprise. "What? Flying? Or moving objects? Blowing up a mountain?"

"Self-control."

"Huh?" Po looked at him in amazement. "I have a lot of that. Even when you showed me the dumplings and waited to see how long I could take it without eating them…"

The little master raised his hand. "I'm not talking about the self-control of abstention, but of the self-control under extreme conditions."

Po raised his eyebrows. "Extreme conditions?"

Master Shifu turned to leave and the panda followed him through the Jade Palace.

"It's a great strength not to lose control of oneself even under great stress," Master Shifu explained. "This includes keeping your anger in line and staying calm."

The panda waved his hand. "That's easy."

"Then let's see how well you can implement self-control. Like this."

They stopped and Shifu pointed in front of them. Po opened his eyes wide when he saw a baby pig sitting in the dining chair around the corner, with a bowl of porridge in front of him.

"An extreme condition can be as stressful and nerve-wracking as a small child," Master Shifu continued. "That pushes everyone to the limit."

Po thought for a moment, then laughed cheerfully. "Ha, ha, okay, all right. If that's all. I can waltz through that easily."

He stepped up to the baby in the small chair and smiled at him in amusement. Then a question occurred to him.

"Okay, what do I have to do now?"

"Feed it," Shifu asked him to do.

Po stroked his chin. Then he picked up a spoon that was standing next to the porridge bowl and used it to scoop up a spoonful of porridge. Then he led it to the baby's mouth. But the little pig did not think of trying this porridge and turned its head away.

"Oh, come on," Po tried to persuade the baby. "Be a good boy and open your mouth. Now the crane comes and serves you a nice little morsel."

But as soon as the full spoon was in the vicinity of the baby pig again, it knocked the spoon out of the panda's hand and the porridge landed in Po's face.

"Hey, what's the point?" Po complained and wiped the pulp off his face.

Shifu smiled. "In such a situation, you have to be patient."

Po sighed and took a deep breath. "Okay… patience, patience... AH!"

Another load of porridge had landed in Po's face, which the baby had tossed to him babbling and Po was busy again with rid of the sticky food from his fur. "Hey, what's that supposed to be?!"

Shifu laughed. "Practice self-control."

Po glanced at the ceiling. "Self-control… self-control…" He looked at the giggling baby with a forced smile. "Oh, you cute little…"

The baby pig had taken the bowl and the porridge was flying towards the clumsy panda. The black and white bear reacted immediately and smashed the sticky bullet. Mash and broken pieces landed on the floor with a clatter.

In embarrassment, Po put his hands together. "Uh, I fix that again… I mean the bowl."

He looked shyly over at Shifu. But at the next moment, the baby began to cry out of sheer frustration. Po covered his ears in desperation. "Shhh! Please be quiet…"

But that only made the baby screaming louder.

Shifu smirked in amusement. "Just keep practicing, dragon warrior. Try to calm it down. In the meantime, I'm going to meditate."

With that, the little master left them while the baby only screamed louder. Even holding ears didn't help. Finally, Po couldn't take it any longer and let out a scream as well.

"AHH!"

"AHHH!"

Po stopped abruptly. Only now, he realized that at this memory he had screamed, albeit more softly. The guards who were still standing behind him looked at him in surprise. Po smiled at them in embarrassment. Then he hurried off.

"Okay, okay, self-control, self-control," Po muttered over and over again. "Self-control."

But then something else occurred to him. Where did Shenmi run to? To her parents?

If Shen found out what had happened, there would be a disaster. Immediately, Po made a big getaway and headed for the house where the white peacock was.

Yin-Yu was glad that one of the sheep had agreed to cook some food. During this time, Shen was sitting at the dinner table, reflecting on his thoughts from yesterday. Yin-Yu was sitting next to him and was drinking tea.

Finally, Shen sighed. "Do you really think I look too pale?"

The peahen looked at him, startled. "That's not true!"

She got up quickly and pressed herself against Shen's back. "She is a devil. You don't need to listen to one of those. She doesn't know the half of it." She massaged his shoulders. "It doesn't matter to me what you look like."

The white peacock knew her attitude, but generally it had reopened the old wounds from his childhood.

"It cannot matter to you either, because you have not been able to look at the colors. But what if you could see colors?"

She snuggled up against him. "If someone like her only looks after the outward, she will be alone forever." She stroked his face. "But are you alone?"

Her wings wandered down to him. Shen's tension slowly dissipated and he enjoyed her caresses. It always reminded him of the lovely evenings they'd spent together.

Both jumped up when the door was thrown open and a panting panda stood in the door frame.

"Shenmi?" Po said excitedly. "Is she here?"

The peafowl parents looked around in confusion. Finally, Yin-Yu shook her head.

"No, not that I know of…"

Shen, who found it extremely suspicious that the panda did not greet him first as usual, jumped up from his seat. "Anything happened?!"

Po took a step back. "Happened?" He put on a pained smile, visibly relieved that Shenmi hadn't run to her father immediately. "Oh, no, no, of course not. We… we just play hide-and-seek."

He looked to the side and pretended to look around the corner of the house. "Oh, oh, I can already see you over there…. Hey Shenmi! I found you!"

With this cheer, Po ran away. Shen tried to follow him, but Yin-Yu grabbed his shoulder. "No, you still have to take care of yourself. Please, remain seated."

Po looked behind. A load fell from his shoulders when he saw that Shen wasn't following him. But that only half solved the problem for him.

"Okay, okay, where can she be, where can she be?"

He looked around. In the end he couldn't think of anything else to do but ask the sheep who were doing their work here and there in the village.

Finally, he found what he was looking for when a lumberjack pointed out that the girl had run down into the woods. Po quickly steered in the indicated direction. He looked behind every tree and every stone, but he did not find her immediately. Only a little further down the mountain, he heard a sob. Po put up his ears and followed the weeping sounds.

"Shenmi?" Po craned his neck and rummaged through the bushes. "Shenmi? Is that you?"

At last, he saw the girl somewhere in the grass in front of a big tree. She was lying face down on the ground with her head buried in her wings. Po quickly approached her.

"Shenmi, are you okay?" He leaned down to her, worried. "Say something. Hey."

Carefully, he pushed his hands under her small body, which trembled a little under his touch. She was still crying.

"Well, well, well," Po said to her. "Now calm down first."

He sat down and took the girl on his lap. Gradually the sobbing sounds subsided as the panda stroked her head.

"Are you okay?" he asked and leaned closer to her.

Shenmi moved her beak, which was trembling slightly so that she was barely able to speak calmly. "He… he… he has…"

"Yes, I know," Po helped her with the sentence. "He broke your figurine."

Po bit his lower lip so as not to let his frustration run free as well. That would only make him a bad role model for Shenmi, and his master would not like that either. Eventually, Po managed to dampen the whole situation, even if he had to protect Xiang a little.

"Look, he certainly didn't do that on purpose," he said. "I'm sure… he liked… that he liked your paper figurine."

Shenmi looked at him with tearful eyes. "W-why is he doing that then?"

"Well, you know…" Po came under pressure for failing to offer an explanation with that and he rubbed his neck in embarrassment. "Hey, when did you have an argument with your brothers where you even had to cry?"

Shenmi swallowed hard. "Daddy… always paid attention…"

Po tried another explanation. "Well, then you were lucky. Nobody paid attention to him. He always had someone who trampled on his toys…" Po thought for a moment. It was true. If Xiang's claim was true that he was bullied by his mother from the beginning, then it could be called that. At least that's what he believed. "Yeah, you know," he continued. "Because of that they were mean to him, he behaves the same way towards others."

Po didn't think his statement was exactly right. Basically, Xiang had no right to behave like that to a good kid, but at the moment Po couldn't think of anything better to calm things down. Especially after this, Shen could really "accidentally" cut Xiang's throat.

At least Shenmi had calmed down a bit.

"Do you really believe that?" she asked uncertainly and looked up at him.

Po smiled at her. "Of course I do." He brushed a tear from her cheek. "Say, why didn't you go to your parents?"

Shenmi lowered her gaze. "I don't want that daddy bandies blows again."

Po sighed dejectedly. He was kind of glad that she never had to watch the fighting between him and her father. But he knew she had to be told at some point. Xia and Sheng already knew everything and what their father was capable of. When Po looked into Shenmi's eyes, it hurt him that she had a father who had done so many bad things in his life.

"Are you alright?" Shenmi asked worried when she noticed Po's sad face.

"What? Oh, yes, everything is okay. I just thought…" He hastily shook his head. "I think we should go back to the others now."

He smiled at her. "Come on. Wipe the crocodile tears away from your eyes."

The panda pulled a handkerchief from his pocket and held it up to her. After all traces of grief had been removed, Po stood up.

"And don't worry," he encouraged her. "I'll clear it up with him. I'm sure that he will apologize to you."

The girl looked at him shyly. "Sure?"

"Absolutely sure."

And he hoped he wouldn't lie.

After Po had safely delivered the little girl to her parents, Shen was a little surprised that Shenmi was a little quiet, the panda went back down to the hut with firm steps.

Only with great persuasion, he could persuade the guards to let him through again. Still, it took all of Po's self-discipline to avoid shouting a war cry at the sight of the open door. Instead, he walked inside with a scowl. Xiang was back on the blankets. When the panda's shadow fell on him, he raised his head stubbornly. Po narrowed his eyes.

"Hey! I want to make one thing clear right away!" the dragon warrior growled. "I'm warning you. If you do that to Shenmi again, I'll give you what for!"

He raised his fists threateningly. But this gesture left Xiang completely cold. Either he aimed to provoke the dragon warrior or he didn't care whether Po wanted to beat him up or not. He looked at the panda, silent and indifferent.

"Oh, are you feeling sorry for this brat?"

Suddenly, a mean smile crossed his beak. Po pressed his fists even tighter together. "I advise you to apologize to her as soon as possible."

Xiang's nasty grin disappeared. Instead, he was now looking at the panda as if he had just told him a fairy tale. "I should apologize?" He asked incredulously. "I should apologize?"

This question outfaced the panda a little. "Uh… yes. That's what I said."

The peacock's beak began to tremble. "I should apologize?! To a woman?!" Xiang seemed completely stunned. Then he raised his head. "I'd rather die!"

Po thought to have misheard. Was apologizing to a woman so humiliating to him? The panda narrowed his eyes. Both stared at each other. Po didn't know what to loathe more. The peacock itself, or its twisted idea of women. No matter how he looked at it, Xiang's disdain for the opposite sex was like a shadow that would not let go of him. Finally, Po withdrew from the visual battle and went indignantly to the door. Xiang didn't care about the panda's dismissive demeanor and looked angrily after him.

Liu did not feel well that morning. She consciously avoided the others. She was afraid of their looks. Afraid of their questions. Basically, she was partly complicit in the whole thing. If she hadn't freed Xiang from the geckos, the others would probably not have been caught in the crossfire. Still, she shied away from repentance, even though she couldn't approve of Xiang's misdeeds either. Until noon, she spent the day quietly and listlessly in her room, until she heard footsteps from outside, followed closely by a knock on the door.

"Come in," she said.

She was surprised to see the panda entering.

"Oh, good day." She noticed Pos's serious, and angry, facial expression and she dawned on evil. "Anything happened?"

Po went deep inside himself again.

Self-control.

The panda took another deep breath before answering.

"Well, I don't know what you find so likeable about him," he began in a pressed voice. He was still very angry with the blue peacock. "But if you want to do something for him, then you should talk to him that he should behave kindly towards certain people."

Liu looked at him questioningly. "How come? What has he done?"

Xiang raised his head in annoyance when the door opened for the third time today. When he saw Liu come in, he raised the corners of his mouth mockingly and he stood up. "And I thought the killing squad would come storming in."

Liu sighed heavily. "Then you know why I'm here?"

Xiang snort disparagingly. "Broads always stick to one another."

The peahen swallowed the insult. She was used to Xiang's misogynistic statements, but he always found a fresh new wound to stab the soul.

"Listen," she began calmly. "I know it's hard right now. I also don't know whether I'm coming and going…"

"I'm not interested in your confusion," he cut her off and gave her an angry look. "Don't be so stupid. Come on. Tell me that you'd like to grab my throat like this fat monster."

Liu gathered up all her courage again. "I didn't come to scold you for it," she said in a firm voice. "I just can't understand why you hurt her so much. She is still a child."

Xiang twisted his beak. "Just a child? Well, well. Just a child." He leaned against the wall. "The uglier a peahen, the more dangerous it is." The peacock narrowed his eyes. "My mother wasn't ugly, but that wouldn't have stopped her from tormenting me either."

Liu looked at him pityingly. "But why? She must have had a reason."

Xiang raised his eyebrows in surprise. "Isn't that patently obvious? She was jealous because men are more beautiful than women peacocks. Even this white brat thinks my color is beautiful. Sooner or later, she will hate me for not being as beautiful as me. What am I? A display model?!"

Liu's gaze fell on the crushed paper peacock on the floor in the corner, while Xiang continued talking. "Just like my mother with her wicked sister. They often have ripped out my feathers for fun and adorned themselves with them. When I tried to disfigure myself once, my mother threatened to gouge out my eyes. My body would no longer be mine. I had no right to him."

Liu shook his head in disbelief. "You don't believe that all women are like that, do you?"

She walked up to him and wanted to touch him on the shoulder, but before she could do that, he knocked her wing away. "Women only want one thing: the beauty to look better!"

"That's not true!"

"You only make it worse with your cheeky lies."

"For me, you are more than just a beautiful peacock…!"

Startled, she covered her beak. Even Xiang stood there like frozen. They stared at each other for a while.

Finally, the peacock gave a derogatory chuckle. "Tz, you are much younger than me. Why should you take an interest in me? Especially since my perfection is gone."

He looked down at his lame leg.

"That wouldn't change anything," Liu dared to say, looking up with a firm face. "And by the way, I'm over 20. I'm old enough."

Xiang looked at her in amazement. Then he waved his wing disapprovingly. "You're just a cheap employee. If you don't care about my look, then only my money. If I still have any."

Liu swallowed hard. She was close to tears when he gave her the cold shoulder again. Still, she found the strength to tell him what she always wanted to say to him. "I would do a lot for you."

Xiang paused. Slowly, he turned his head to face her. His face was filled with skepticism. "A lot?"

"Except the illegal things," Liu corrected. "What you did to the little girl was bad enough. But I would forgive you if you regretted it."

For a moment, Xiang didn't know what to say in response. Then he avoided her gaze.

"I'm sorrier about that I was born. But I regret more that I was born peacock."

There was silence between them. But then, to Liu's surprise, he began to smile. Finally, he even laughed a little.

"Do you want to hear something really crazy?" He didn't wait for an answer from her, but just continued. "I don't know how many lies my mother told me, but she once said, I had had a sister." He had to giggle again, but it was a rather sick giggle. "As soon as it came out who of us was the boy, she picked him out." He pointed to himself. "But for her…"

He was silent for a moment. "Who knows. A beautiful boy was enough for her to prove who is more beautiful… The other chick would have been too ugly for her anyway. Then why should it still stay alive?"

He looked at Liu in amusement, who looked at him in horror. The peacock continued to speak unmoved. "Well, if I had been that girl… who knows. Maybe then I would have been spared a lot in life. How do people say? Beauty knows no pain?"

He ran a feather finger over a shelf as if he were fascinated by the wood. Then his spiteful gaze wandered back to the peahen, whose mouth was slightly open.

"What do you think I should think of brats who envy me for my feathers?"

For a moment it looked like Liu was about to say something, but then she just turned and walked to the door. But before she opened it, she paused again.

"I cared for you over 4 years," she whispered. "Do you really think I haven't had the opportunity to bully you more than once?" She sighed. "I never thought of it for a second. Just think about it."

With that, she pulled the door open and left Xiang alone.

Outside, Liu leaned against a tree and took a few deep breaths. Xiang seemed to poison the whole area with his hatred, so that she had to regain consciousness. It took at least a minute before she could think clearly again. Finally, she resolutely kicked a stone away.

"I'll prove it to him."

If you want to see Shenmi's origami peacock, you can watch it on youtube:

(youtube com address) watch?v=63h9Ct6MrDw

The video is not mine, but it gave me the inspiration for the origami figure.