The tailsman

The group followed the female back to the outside veranda where the pair was busy talking and giggling. The female seemed to have been charmed by Fu Hua and Xiao Lan could not help but roll his eyes at that.

The other was still the same, charming everyone he met with false cherry and fake concern. Fu Hua had always been a people's person, especially for the common people. While Fu Hua's relationship with the nobility had never been great, his connection with the lower folks had been something to admire.

And use them when the times called for it. The other had used those 'useless' connections of his so many times to solve so many cases that it had been almost admirable. But those were obviously faked by Fu Hua because he had ended up betraying Xiao Lan and this country.

"Is this the one? It is beautiful, just like you" there was the flirting and compliments that had once burned Xiao Lan with jealous rage. But now they seemed so empty to his ears.

Outside, the sun was beginning to rise up beyond the horizon and a new day was about to break into its full glory.

"Ah, it's already so late. We should really go because this young one here needs his rest or he'll never grow any taller" Fu Hua had one hand on Xiao Lan's shoulder now and the other pointed to his height.

Xiao Lan was going to murder him with slow and agonising techniques. The other would find it hard to breathe by the time Xiao Lan would be done and he would not be able to walk at all for days and the hand would not have any energy left.

Xiao Lan's feet were no longer on the ground, his body in the arms of the other who was sweating lightly with effort now but he had not put Xiao Lan down.

"Let me go or you will suffer the consequences. I will make your life a fate worse than hell" acid was dripping from Xiao Lan's mouth at every work and it caused detective Song to winch. The elderly female gave him a disapproving glare but Xiao Lan had no mind for it.

His attention was focused on Fu Hua who was carrying him and had ignored him all the way and now he wanted his attention again? And to put him to sleep? Xiao Lan was not tired, even if his body seemed to suggest otherwise.

"Yup, he's grumpy because he has yet to sleep. Please excuse his words for now and I'll take him away" Fu Hua gave the elderly an apologetic smile and the rage got worse.

So Fu Hua could spare the unknown female an apology but not Xiao Lan who had waited for one for about four years now? Where was his apology? Not that he was going to forgive the other but still, did he not deserve one himself?

"You piece of shit, let me down or die. Are you hearing me right now?" so maybe Xiao Lan was more tired than he had expected but his anger was justified right now. He did not like to be treated as such a kid.

"Ok, Ok. I will let you down but please cooperate just long enough till we reach our room. I have things to tell you right now" had the other finally caught up with him and Xiao Lan was finally getting his apology?

"Finally" this calmed Xiao a lot and his temper finally calmed down. Fu Hua quickly entered the room and locked the door behind him. Detective Song, who had followed behind the pair, shook his head at the display and returned to his own room.

He would let them sort this out themselves while he enjoyed the rest of his free time doing his own thing - sleep. He had too much sleep to catch on and he had almost no time to do so.

Inside the room, Xiao Lan and Fu Hua were having a mini-staring contest. No one seemed ready to talk before Fu Hua sighed and resigned to be the one to bow first.

"When I visited this place last time, I decided to pay a visit to the local temple held by Xi. At that time small monsters attacked the village at random so I provided some of them with a protective talisman. Today I saw the very same talisman but it held no trace of my power. Someone mass-produced my design" Fu Hua did not sound worried but Xiao Lan could read his face.

The other was almost terrified that someone had thought of doing so. It must be a big deal for him if he had reacted as such. Perhaps there was more to the story and Xiao Lan waited for the other to continue.

"You have to understand what time frame I am talking about here. I was not in the right state of mind then and I might have threaded the line of magic and cultivation far too much and -" Xiao Lan glared at the other to get on with what he was saying.

"- the talisman I made held demonic powers inside. That's why it was so effective against Hinoe uma but this one is a mixture of both powers. I designed it as an experiment and it was supposed to be a one-time deal kind of thing. Someone modified it afterwards and mass sold it"

This was a huge headache if that was true. A mixed talisman was unheard of and it was impossible to predict what the long term usage of such a thing could result in.

"Is that why the Hinoe uma we saw was so different? A mutation?" Xiao Lan asked, his voice quiet and questioning. It was entirely possible and it took his mind back to another such insurance of the Byakko.

A coincidence? So close to one another?

But no, that was not it. The Byakko case was recent while this one was ongoing for a few years now. But it was really interesting how similar those two cases were. Two divine animals corrupted by demonic energy.

"Do you think the Hinoe uma has a master? We did not see any type of harness but that also begs the question of how the other survived here this long without sustenance" as a rule when a divine beast or demonic beast was summoned, it formed a contract with the summoner for its existence beyond the array.

The summoner provided the sustenance while the beast did the bidding of the master. This was the regular system and had been for ages now and there was no other alternative that could exist.

It was a case of co-dependency between the summoner and the beast.

"That reminds me, wasn't there no summoner insight for the Byakko case? It was still in the array but it was also absorbing magic from the surroundings" Fu Hua muttered almost quietly and Xiao Lan twitched at those words.

That had been true. The Byakko was sustained by the surroundings but it was also a higher level divine beast in nature. It had slipped everyone's mind at that time but it was an important detail.

"You think there's something similar going on here! Are you serious? Do you know what it even implies?" Fu Hua did and what he ended up with did not please him at all. In fact, the realisation was too much to even think about.

"This is a disaster. Let's not make it into a bigger deal before we are sure about this. Is commander Yuhan not back yet?" Xiao Lan needed a distraction. His mind had gone through a big ordeal today and his body did not appreciate it at all.

"I'll go and check, you should try and sleep. You will not grow to your original height if you keep on stressing yourself like this" the pillow Xiao Lan threw met the closed door and the soft muffled laughter from behind it.

"Idiot, you are the cause of half of my stress. Besides, I grew that tall despite you being in my life so I don't think I will have a problem this time either" but Fu Hua had already left the room and only empty walls heard his words.

With a huff, Xiao Lan went back to sleep, his body shutting down for the coming few hours. Nothing would wake him for now.