12 Number 51

Long, delicate fingers brushed over She LiangLin's flushed cheeks. His eyebrows were furrowed. Sweat trickled along his temples, but he kept his eyes closed. He didn't stir from his feverish dream no matter how many times his name was called out.

Madam She gnawed at her lower lip as she reluctantly pulled her hand away, and tucked her son under the thin veil.

"Ma, what should we do now?" LiYue asked quietly as she returned to the room. The pig-god doctor had stopped by and deemed that LiangLin was having a fever now that he wasn't a zodiac god anymore. His fever was going to take a few days to subside since his body wasn't used to being sick.

"We should find and kill that sorcerer and bring back his zodiac animal!" LiAi snapped, then sniffled in her handkerchief. Tears cut lines through the powder layer on her cheeks, her eyes were red and swollen. "Look what he did to number 51!"

"It's impossible." Master She said quietly from the corner. He was slumped in a chair, all spark of life appeared to be drained out of him, leaving behind an old and weak body.

"He has that snake charmer with him. We can't fight against that."

"Then what can we do? We can't leave him like this!" LiChun quivered as she sat down at the edge of the bed, resting her hand over LiangLin's shoulder.

"The flute didn't work on him, nor you, dad." LiBai pointed out as she fiddled with her fan with distraught over at the table. Her brows furrowed as her mind worked overtime. "As long as it's a male zodiac snake, they can bypass the flute and its charm."

"I'm too old and weak to do anything. I was rendered useless with a little knife!" Master She hissed as he covered his face with his hands in shame. LiYue hurried to hug him in comfort.

"Maybe we should ask for help from the river folk," LiBai said after a moment of silence.

Madam She's brow twitched with annoyance as she said, "They wouldn't help us. Our clans have been separated for years."

"That is only because we have been too proud and have looked down on them due to their inferior rank." LiBai continued with force, her slanted eyes were now filled with determination, her lips a thin line of severity. "The sorcerer is not only a threat to us but all the zodiac animals."

LiAi slammed the table with force as she jumped up, her frail stature in a defiant posture. "Eldest sister is right, ma! Now that he reached immortality, he will be an even greater threat. We must work together to bring him down!"

Madam She grimaced. The green snake clan on the other side of the mountains were a bunch of bumbling idiots. Asking them for help was as good as offering the entirety of the snake clans at the sorcerer's feet to be skinned and made into boots!

"In that, you are wrong, LiAi." Master She said, a little colour returning to his skin as he sat up straight, his eyes holding a spec of mischief. "He has stolen LiangLin's zodiac animal, but not his immortality."

"What?" The sisters snapped in unison.

Madam She turned her eyes to her husband. "What do you mean? Why have I not heard of this before?"

Master She managed to chuckle as he brushed through his little goatee, pleased. "Our immortality was never linked with our snake zodiacs. We are born with immortality. It runs in our very veins, in every cell of our body. Even with the zodiac animal, it is but just an addition to our immortality, not the source of it."

"Then, this means number 51 lost it for nothing?" LiAi bellowed, now even more distraught than before.

"What… did you just say?" LiangLin's weak voice silenced them all. Madam She reached out and brushed the strands of hair away from his face. LiangLin cracked his eyes open slowly, confusion and anger swirled in the depths of his gaze. "Why does it hurt everywhere?"

"He took your zodiac animal." Madam She said bluntly. There was no way around, over or under that fact. It was better to whip it out, let him bear the sharp sting and get over it.

LiangLin's eyes clouded over as tears fought their way to the surface. His lips trembled as he asked, "What does it mean?"

"It means we will catch and gut that bastard," LiYue said with a venomous tone.

"Break his toes, cut off his fingers, and stab that other eye out too!" LiAi added.

"No!" Master She screeched, his eyes now sharp and focused. "Now that the sorcerer has not realised his mistake, we must hide LiangLin. He will come back for you once he realises he didn't take your immortality."

"Wait." LiangLin struggled to sit up, and madam She helped him prop up against a wall. "He wanted my body for that?"

"Yes." Madam She snapped as she pulled the blanket over LiangLin to prevent him from getting a cold, too.

"Then, how would he get it then, if not through the snake?" LiangLin swallowed the lump in his throat.

All eyes were on master She now, and a slight blush made its way across his face. He cleared his throat.

"Well, err, about that."

"Spit it out." Madam She hissed, her eyes narrowing as she nailed her husband in place with a murderous glare.

"Well, you see, it kind of happens." Master She spread out his hands in a dismissive way.

"What kind of answer is that?" LiangLin and Madam She shouted in unison. Master She flinched at their harsh tones.

"Well, you know, if LiangLin falls for the guy then it might become a problem…"

Both madam She's and LiangLin's eyes nearly popped out of their sockets.

"Why would I/he fall for that one-eyed bastard?" They snapped in unison.

Master She shrugged as he slumped back to his chair. "Love is an unpredictable thing. Look at me and your mother. We ended up together even though your mother was a terrible… tyrant…"

Master She's words died out as madam She shot him a glare that promised of death.

"Anyway! I think it's best to send LiangLin away as soon as possible, so that sorcerer won't find him. In the meanwhile, we must notify every zodiac animal within Hei'ang and the surrounding provinces of the sorcerer's appearance."

LiangLin groaned as he pulled the covers over his head and moped in silence.

"But where should he go, dad?" LiChun asked as she tried to pry the blanket off LiangLin's face. Master She pondered in silence before he said, "It is best if he moved to live with the river folk."

"Absolutely not! You are not sending my son to live with a bunch of idiots!" Madam She seethed with anger.

"Precisely the reason why he would be safe." Master She offered in his defence. "There, he would disappear into the mass of pretty male snakes. Their zodiac presence would take the attention away from our LiangLin."

"At any rate, he can't stay in Hei'ang anymore," LiBai added.

"Is no one going to ask me if I have a say in this matter?" LiangLin complained as he tossed the blanket away.

"Last time you opened your mouth, you ended up giving away your body!" Madam She snapped.

LiangLin decided to pass out from the fever. This was too much for him to endure at once.