8 One-eyed Pervert

The ruckus in the kitchen came to a halt as a menacing presence appeared from the hall. Long fingers reached out and twisted both the father's and the son's ears, rendering them limp in her hands at once.

"What do you think you are doing?" The venomous tone was like ice scraping along the two's spine and they dropped the cleaver, clanking loudly as it hit the floor, barely missing their toes.

"It was him!"

"It was the bracelet!"

"You two better get back to work before I pick up that cleaver!" Madam She bellowed and the two men moved like they were whipped by lightning, each running in a different direction, both as far away from madam She as possible.

What felt like an eternity later, the main hall finally cleared off the patrons, leaving behind a battlefield of broken wine bottles, chairs, piles over piles of dishes, a flipped over table and a wine-soaked floor and carpet. The moon was suspending by the sparse clouds as LiangLin finally pulled the gate doors in and closed it with a heavy metal latch. He stood there, in the dark, his hands still clinging to the cold metal, refusing to let go.

The night sky was beautiful, yet LiangLin had no interest in it. His eyes were glued over the jade bracelet that gleamed under the moonlight. The dragon had now loosened its hold over his wrist, but not loose enough for him to wriggle it off. LiangLin cursed under his breath. This damned jade was blocking him from shapeshifting. Someone was clearly playing a prank on him!

"Lin'er, go get some rest. We can finish up for you." LiChun called from the main hall, pulling LiangLin out of his thoughts. Throwing a last grudging look at the cold, indestructible bracelet, he pulled his sleeve over it and headed inside.

All of his sisters and parents were present, cleaning up the place. LiangLin didn't like the stares they were throwing at him. He cautiously took a step inside the main hall, running his eyes over the people present, then a frown formed over his face. "Where's eldest sister?"

"Enchanting the patron." Madam She said stiffly and waved at him. "Go to get some rest, Lin'er."

"Is the old geezer in my room?" LiangLin rather slept outside under the night sky.

"No, silly. He is in eldest sister's room." LiAi snickered as she picked the pieces of a wine bottle from the carpet.

"Lin'er." Madam She's tone was warning and LiangLin hurried behind the main hall into the far back where his room situated. As the sound of a door closing sounded, the sisters stopped their chores and turned to their parents expectantly.

"Yue'er, did you check the patrons?" Madam She asked, keeping her tone level to not attract attention.

"Yes, ma. I and sister Bai went through each and every one. Not a single one of them had elevated life force or were in any way suspicious. The sorcerer never stepped foot inside Xiangqi." LiYue said. After the scolding from before, she had strained all of her energy into scanning each and every man that stepped in or out of Xiangqi. She was feeling lightheaded but proud that she had exerted that much of herself to keep her brother safe.

"Good." Madam She said with relief in her strenuous tone. Turning to master She, she asked, "What is this bracelet you kept talking about today?"

"We shouldn't relax yet. Even though the sorcerer has not shown himself, but the dragon god's bracelet is already here, on LiangLin's wrist." Master She said with severity.

Madam She looked like she would die of an aneurysm. Her eyes widened, her skin suddenly pale and a sheen of sweat broke out over her smooth skin.

"Impossible…"

"But dad, what is this bracelet?" LiYue said quietly. All of the sisters had now grown restless as their mother, the unwavering patriarch and leader of the She household suddenly looked haggard and scared.

"The bracelet is the heirloom of the dragon gods." Master She said, his eyes growing hard. "The last of the dragon gods were killed years ago. The bracelet must have been brought here by the sorcerer."

"The bracelet has the power to inhibit our abilities to shape-shift." Madam She said gravely. "But that is not what makes it dangerous."

"It can also absorb your zodiac animal." Master She finished with barely a whisper.

"What does that mean?" LiChun cried out. None of the sisters had ever heard of someone stealing another's zodiac animal.

"The dragon gods were superior to all the other zodiacs due to this artefact. With it, they could steal your zodiac animal. You will never be able to shift again, your soul will be sliced and a piece of it will be taken away." Master She said. "Only a dragon god may revoke it. But they have now gone extinct."

"If they were so powerful, how could they go extinct? There must be at least one left!" LiAi said and the other sisters made agreeing noises. Master She shook his head slowly.

"They are powerful, but they rarely have children. The last of the dragon gods were killed by a sorcerer years ago. She was the only remaining dragon zodiac back then."

"How do we get the bracelet off?" LiYue asked, guilt clawing at the pit of her stomach. She had let LiangLin out of her sight. If only she had followed him…

"We can't." Master She paced around the main hall with a heavy stride. "But the sorcerer can. We must capture the sorcerer before they capture LiangLin."

***

LiangLin slipped inside his darkened room and bolted the door shut - then he realised he couldn't see a single thing. What the hell? LiangLin had perfect night vision, he was a snake god after all! But now the room was pitch black, not even a single ray of light breeched the abyss of nothingness.

The bracelet must have prevented him from using any of his snake abilities. Dejected, LiangLin hovered his hands in the air, searching for the candle and a match that he had left on the table. He hit his knee on the stool and fumbled forwards, crashing over the table. Groaning and cursing loudly he clawed at the surface of the table and happened over an empty bowl on a tray. Empty? LiangLin frowned in the dark. Sister LiBai had brought him the congee. But LiangLin hadn't eaten it, had he? He moved his hand around and finally touched the foot of the candle with his fingertips. He clumsily reached over and after a short struggle, managed to bring the candle to life. The light grew from a little flickering flame into a bright one as LiangLin placed the light on the table and turned his attention to the bowl. It was empty, licked dry by how clean it looked. Not even a droplet of congee was left behind.

"You know; I have never waited for a prostitute in my life. You should be flattered."

A deep, riveting voice nearly scared LiangLin shitless. He jumped but managed to hold in his scream. A man, in his twenties with dark cascading raven hair and an eyepatch over his left eye, was studying LiangLin with a mischievous glint. A perpetual smirk was tugging at his lips. The man was sprawled over LiangLin's bed, leisurely leaning to the back wall, his deep red robes pooling everywhere like puddles of blood. His long legs were dangling over the side of the bed idly.

"Who – why- what the hell are you doing on my bed?" LiangLin snapped as he took a step back towards the door.

"Is this how you talk to your patrons?" The man said, leaning his chiselled face over his hand, his gaze never leaving LiangLin. It was a rather heated gaze, LiangLin realised. The man was literally stripping him with his eye, damn one-eyed bastard!

"If you keep looking at me like that, you will need a second eyepatch."

"How cruel. Is this how you treat your customers?" The man drawled, sounding like a wounded puppy. A sudden urge to kick a puppy overwhelmed LiangLin and he had to shake his head to clear the thought away.

"You are in the wrong room, probably wrong building even, get out."

"My uncle booked the place and this room. Number 51, is it not?"

LiangLin froze. So this was indeed a customer. Sister LiBai was enchanting the wrong person!

"A prude prostitute? That is a first." The man continued, his eye still not leaving LiangLin. "But I'm always up for a challenge."

"I'm not in the mood, I will go to sleep." LiangLin hurriedly said, evading the man's gaze. A deep, warm chuckle raised the hair on LiangLin's arms. LiangLin found himself sneaking a peek at the source of this voice. LiangLin would be lying if he said the man was not attractive. Slanted, dark eye seemed to hide a pool of emotions under those long, slightly curved lashes. The sharp jawline and even the eyepatch added to the charm. LiangLin was quite sure not many men of this calibre walked into Xiangqi often – if at all. In fact, his sisters would have been ecstatic over this man if he had stepped into the main hall earlier that day. He was a treat for the eye.

"You were planning on sleeping?" The man sat up and was now grinning widely. LiangLin swallowed a lump forming in his throat and took another step back. The man's grin seemed to multiply his charm by a hundredfold. LiangLin could feel his ears warming up as the intense gaze ran over him, raking him from head to toe.

"Well if you insist, how do you want to sleep? Next to me? On top of me? Beneath me? Whichever way you prefer I will gladly comply."

All of them sounded pretty nice… LiangLin snapped out of it and snarled instead, "I want to sleep, alone, without company."

"What kind of a prostitute are you?" The man raised his eyebrow, his head slightly cocked to the side, a curious, lopsided smile graced his lips. LiangLin grimaced. No matter how good looking a man or a woman, She LiangLin wasn't going to sell his body for money. Lifeforce was another matter, but since he couldn't harvest it, what was the point of selling himself? And since when was LiangLin hot and bothered over one-eyed perverts?