Chapter 15: Eat Deliciously (津津有味)
A wetness pierced through the layers of Daiwen's sleep and pulled them out of their dream. They awoke with the feeling they'd pissed themself somehow all over their body. They pushed up groggily from the red, feathersoft grass into a reddish, gold ring.
That wasn't right. A sticky, red dampness coated Director Cai's scales and dulled their shimmer. Daiwen raised a red, trembling hand to his serpentine torso. They fell to the elbow through a hole in his chest.
Daiwen screamed, soundless to their ringing ears. They jerked their hand from the hole, flinging gore, and scrambled to their feet. They sobed for breath, vision blurring. The garden, the grass, and the dragon spun around them in all directions. Daiwen bawled and staggered for the gap between the green walls like the village drunk.
They staggered right into the same young woman from last night. Daiwen and the young woman reeled apart. Daiwen fell butt-first to the grass. The same four shifters caught the young woman.
Everyone stared at the bright, sticky read coating her from bangs to belt. The young woman screamed. The shifters screamed. The leaves rustled away the sound.
"Security!"
The dragoncat's gold-scaled and white-whiskered head appeared at the end of the green alley. Yishao leaped over the leaves, the sun bursting in gold rays around their white-furred belly. One massive paw slammed Daiwen to the ground in a cage of black claws from toe to shoulder.
Yishao opened their mouth. Daiwen screamed. Genuine piss gushed down their legs. But Yishao didn't tear off their head like a cat would a mouse. Instead, an unseen bell tolled from their open mouth. A load but warm and soothing voice rolled out and broadcasted over the entire park:
"Ladies and gentlefolk, Yueliang Stairs's rooftop gardens will be closed for cleaning until noon tomorrow. We apologize for the inconvenience and thank you for your cooperation. Please enjoy the rest of your stay with us at Shengtaiguan Park!"
A few seconds later, the message repeated. At the start of the third loop, a tall, lithe shifter wearing silver silk and their black hair cropped close appeared at the end of the green alley. As they approached, their earth brown skin and silver slit pupils shimmered in the morning light.
"Excuse me, pardon me, coming through."
They squeezed around the young woman and company, stepped over Daiwen in the dragoncat's paw, and entered the clearing. They clapped both hands to the sides of their face like blinders on a horse and stepped back into the alley.
"Ok, uh, yeah, so that happened," they looked up at the young woman and lowered their hands to wipe their palms on their silk robes. "Uh, hi. I'm the, uh, new Director Cai, they/them. The, uh, former Director Cai was my older brother-not that that's, uh, particularly relevant."
The young woman only raised an eyebrow. The new Director Cai cleared their throat with a hasty cough.
"Did you, uh, see that?"
"I want a full refund."
"Yeah, sure, right, of course. I'll escort you to the-"
The young woman and her sex posse turned on their heels and walked out. Director Cai swung their arms, clapping weakly.
"Great, I guess they know the way. And, uh, you caught the killer, so there's that-"
"I'm not the killer!"
"Aren't you?" they cringed down at Daiwen.
"No! No, I would never have hurt your brother."
"You're-you're covered in his blood. Even your mouth like you ate him like a, uh, raw fucking fish platter."
"Get a priest-there has to be a priest here."
This time, Daiwen really was innocent, and with the time of death so close, the former director's spirit would still be around the body to vouch for them. If shifter spirits behaved like human spirits-no, they had to. Daiwen needed them to.
The new director chewed their lips. At the end of the sixth loop, they threw their hands up in exasperation.
"Fine! Yishao, could you, uh, find a priest-or just someone holy enough to throw the blocks (筊杯). Do we, uh, keep a record of-"
Yishao leaped over the alley in a spray of grass and dirt. Daiwen rolled out of their piss puddle and huddle against a leafy wall, knees curled to their chest. Director Cai back further away from the puddle and continued their swinging clap.
"You, uh, aren't a guest, are you?"
"No."
"What's your name?"
"Daiwen."
"Daiwen, that is...the first good news I've had all morning."
Yishao returned with a flying leap. Daiwen instinctively flattened themself to the green wall, but the dragoncat landed lightly in the murder scene clearing. A priest straddled their back.
Daiwen's eyes widened, their jaw falling slack. The shock of the murder and getting accused of murder hadn't even worn off, but the sight of the Bashi Temple priest shocked them again.
One hand gave Daiwen a finger-waggling wave. The other held an open censer filled with soft, gray sand. The priest slid down the dragoncat's side like a child and stepped into the dead dragon ring at the lowest point, where the director's gossamer-finned tail met his koi-whiskered mouth. They set the censer down where Daiwen had laid and took a red stick of incense between their palms with a murmured prayer.
They stuck the incense into the sand so it stood red and smoking. They drew two red, palm-sized wooden crescents from their robes. The priest walked three times around the censer with the moon blocks on their palms. They stopped with their back to Daiwen, the director, and the dragoncat.
"You may ask three questions before the spirit has gone."
"Is Daiwen here your murderer?"
The priest cast the blocks. The blocks came up with the round sides up in angry answer (怒筊): 'no.'
"Two questions."
"Do you know who killed you?"
Again, the blocks came up round and angry.
"One question."
"I, uh, can't really think of any-"
"Will you let Daiwen lead the investigation into your murder?" asked the priest.
"Hey-"
They cast the blocks. The blocks came up one round and one flat in divine answer (聖筊): 'yes.'
The red stick of incense collapsed into a little heap of ash over the gray sand. The priest turned to face the three with a ghost of a smile.
"The spirit has spoken. All we can do is respect their answer."
"Woah, woah, woah, woah," said the new director, holding up both hands. "You can't be serious about that last part."
"I don't need to tell you what happens to those who respect only two thirds of a spirit."
"Mother of fucking Souls. Ok, uh, Daiwen. You have until noon, tomorrow, to clear your name. After that, I'm pressing charges. Yishao!"
Director Cai vaulted up onto the dragoncat's shoulders.
"Take me to my fucking office, I guess."
They whooshed over the alley. The leaves rustled and stilled. The priest crouched down and offered Daiwen a hand. They took it blinking hard. Instead of standing, the priest opened their arms in an embrace. Daiwen sobbed into their shoulder, blood and piss be damned. The priest held Daiwen and rubbed their back until they'd run out of tears.
"You feel so tired," said the priest.
"I am," Daiwen half-laughed, half-cried.
"Would you like a bath?"
"Yes."
They would've used necromancy to kill for one.
"Come to my room. When you're clean, I know a ritual to make you strong again."
The priest led Daiwen to their room but didn't enter themself. Though large, the room was bare. There were three walls of simple wooden boards and one wall of glass that opened to a balcony holding a large, unmarked stone altar.
A tub brimming with a mountain of fluffy bubbles sat in a corner by the sliding door. Daiwen's punching doll, already cleaned, sat at the opposite corner. Daiwen turned its button eyes to the wall before sinking to the warmth under bubble mountain.
The priest returned as the last bubble popped. They carried a clean white towel with the park's name embroidered in gold over their blood-stained sleeve. Daiwen stepped out of the chilled water, dripping onto the floorboards. The water ran in magically-designated rivulets to a drains at the center of the floor. The rivulets spelled out 'Shengtaiguan Park.'
The priest snorted a laugh. Even Daiwen had to chuckle at the ridiculous extent of the park's advertising. The priest gently tugged the towel of their damp, freshly bathed body.
"You won't be needing this."
They led Daiwen onto the fifth-story balcony. The morning skies above were gray with guided rain. Daiwen shivered in the wind over the treetops, every inch of skin rising in goosebumps.
"Lie down."
Daiwen laid flat on their back on the rough stone altar. The priest removed all of their own clothes except for the necklace of eyeball-sized wooden beads.
"I'm going to give you my strength, but you must lie very still. Your qi (氣) has to stay in alignment, or the ritual will fail. Any questions?"
"Only one."
"Speak."
"What god to you serve?"
"The Sleeping God," smiled the priest.
They lowered their smile down to Daiwen's clit. Daiwen's breath shortened to ragged pants, but they kept their fists and teeth clenched against the vicious suck. They focused on the rough stone digging into the bare skin of their back.
-/-
Explicit encounter on AO3