"Why in the world does this village keep khalkotauroi?" Chang said as she sat down again after placing another round of tea on the small porch table. "They are not native to this region." Something fell behind her, ending in a flashing noise, and she looked to find three of the children who weren't asleep standing around a flipped over bucket, its contents pooling at their feet. She huffed at their antics.

"It's a remnant from an old policy from, ah . . . yes, about two decades ago, now. The local magical government was trying to help the isolated villages that had refused to leave their old lands to live in the pocket dimensions the wizards created during the turmoil survive and avoid detection. The bulls were brought in for food and a source of heat. There were incidents where villages in the outskirts of magical communities were completely cut off. They knew how to survive but had ultimately little protection-"

"Xing Lao Lao!" The holler was distant.

"Oh!" Xing Lao Lao quickly set down her cup and started getting up. "They must be storming us sooner than expected." She went inside, gently tiptoeing around the bed rolls and the sleeping children. She was surprised she got as many of them to sleep as they did. Down the adjacent hall to the front door she opened it up to a large brown form that stepped aside to allow her through. "Yes?"

"Lao Shi was in the village telling about what happened," he breathed, his chest heaving from sprinting at full speed. "Others will be here soon."

"The children are fine. Most are sleeping." She gestured to the door. "Please come to the courtyard and I'll get Lin." He followed her in, the door frame suddenly expanding to accommodate his large body and his horns. "We'll be walking right next to the nursery," she whispered and placed a finger to her lips.

He nodded.

MoLu(double dot) stepped out on to the porch where a young woman was sitting quietly. He studied her and concluded he really didn't know her and could not remember seeing her in the village.

"Baba!"

MoLu leaned down to pick up the little fawn that cantered to him.

"The thing was huge!" Her daddy gave her a funny look. "And I outran it! It was awesome! You should have seen how fast I ran. Let's have a race!"

He hugged her and sat her on the ground. As soon as her hooves touched the planks of wood of the porch they were immediately prancing.

"Let's race!"

"Not now," he whispered. He placed a brown hand on her little head to still her. He turned to Xing Lao Lao. "Is it alright that I take her home? It is about time anyways . . . and my wife is horribly worried. She wasn't able to come because of the fawn."

"Oh, no! It's plenty fine!"

Lin escaped from the hand. "Let me say 'goodbye' to Susan first."

"Alright." She quickly skipped off.

"This is Miss Chang," Xing Lao Lao gestured to the woman, "she is an acquaintance of Lao Shi."

"Good afternoon," he bowed, one front hoof bent. The woman, Chang, bowed in turn.

"Hey, down there!"

The two of them leaned over the railing to look up into the sky as Xing Lao Lao sat down to rest. Fu Dog, held under the shoulders by Lao Shi, waved at them. They landed and Fu Dog went up the steps. "We're about to get very popular. We got a sky view of the mob."

Xing Lao Lao sighed and relaxed while she could.

"Lao Shi," MoLu stepped into the courtyard. "I must thank you for helping my daughter."

Once settled on the ground, Lao Shi transformed back into his human form. "It's fine, MoLu."

"Don't be modest, Lao Shi." (Chang was hiding her gaze as she studied them. He has definitely changed.) "How is your daughter dealing with this? She must have been scared."

Chang, just sipping from her cup, swallowed those words down roughly with her tea. "Lao Shi?"

All their attention turned to her.

"Yes, Chang," he asked.

"Yo-"

They all flinched as a loud noise exploded from the other side of the courtyard. A whole corner was now covered or currently growing with varying sizes of iridescent purple mushrooms, quivering strangely as they grew bigger and bigger, shimmering in the sunlight. Xing Lao Lao flinched her hand over her heart as a gesture, "Oh, my."

"What on the Mother's Earth?" MoLu stepped closer. "These do not grow in this region of the mountains," he mused.

"Mushrooms?"

They turned to see a handful of children, most of them rubbing sleep from their eyes, spilling out onto the courtyard porch.

"MushPunsh!"

"Children," Xing Lao Lao called. She was going to get answers.