Ling Mei’er

"Snake King, this egg looks special. Does it belong to a super creature?" The lady dismounted the snake and ventured towards the egg; she stroked the egg as she spoke.

The big snake nodded to the lady.

"Good. We haven't had super creatures in our shelter for a long time. It would be best if we brought it back with us," the lady went on to say.

The snake wrapped itself around the big, heavy egg and tried to lift it onto its scaled back.

But when the Snake King pulled to lift it, the egg shattered instead.

It was an unexpected and slightly disheartening shock to incur, but as they watched it shatter, something came falling out of it. It was a humanoid shaped-creature that came tumbling out—one that glowed white and bright.

The creature was actually Han Sen. The issue with the egg, Han Sen had realized, was that it was actually empty and devoid of any yoke.

So, what he did was dig underground and come up underneath the egg. From the bottom, he was able to insert himself into the egg and prepare to play the part of a newborn—something he figured he'd be good at.

At first, he only wanted to get a glimpse of what might have been left behind in the egg, if there was anything.

He did find something inside the egg, too. It was an abundance of fragrant, aromatic mushrooms. They were pleasant to his nose and he planned to eat them, but all he had the time to do before his cover was blown was pocket the mushrooms.

The mere scent of the mushrooms was enough to excite the cells in his body; it was truly invigorating. And it got Han Sen thinking of the various ways he could sizzle and serve them whenever he returned home.

"These are good, these are so good," Han Sen told himself repeatedly, before putting them all inside his Cruel Bottle.

And unlike the unfathomably heavy shell that had veiled the mushrooms, they were easy to pick. All in all, he managed to collect seven of the wide-brimmed 'shrooms.

He was going to escape shortly after, as he was well-hidden and the sub-subterranean passage he had carved out for himself would take him a good distance away from the snake's chamber.

But before he could get out, the snake grabbed hold of the egg and clumsily broke it with ease. Han Sen came tumbling out, which was a surefire guarantee of his presence being exposed. The need for an act came then.

When Han Sen looked up, he saw the lady and the eye-less snake looking down at him.

The lady was not a human, that much was certain. She had cat ears and a fluffy fox-tail—which delighted Han Sen's inner furry.

Han Sen could sense she was not a spirit, and she was most likely a humanoid creature, and a fine one at that.

Unfortunately, he was unable to detect what strength she possessed and what level she could be classed at. Whatever she was, though, he knew he shouldn't underestimate her.

"Should I run?" Han Sen wondered to himself.

Before he could come to a decision, the woman spoke to him. She said, "We mean you no harm, you cute little thing. I am the master of Dark Spirit Shelter. I was hoping you might be able to join us there."

Han Sen was surprised, but also a little relieved. They were not hostile, and what's more, they believed he was a creature.

When Han Sen was in his super spirit mode, spirits believed him to be a spirit and creatures believed him to be a creature.

Han Sen didn't play it like a doe-eyed newborn, though. He went straight to business, asking, "What kind of shelter is it? And how many super creatures reside there?"

"All children of Dark Spirit need to have their own shelter to grow up in. But for now, there is only me and the Snake King here. If you join, that makes three!" The lady blushed as her tail stood up alongside her ears that twitched left and right like a couple of rotating satellite dishes.

Han Sen mulled the situation over swiftly, and came to the decision it wasn't an all-bad proposition. With how gullible she had been, he said to himself, "Whoa! She's easy to fool. Perhaps I should go after her and see what goodies I can wring out of her."

"What are the benefits of joining your shelter?" Han Sen asked.

"You are newly-born, aren't you? Me and my big snake can protect you. We can offer you food, warmth, and much loving care." The lady blushed again, and did so at several random intervals. She went on to say, "We only have mushrooms to eat for the time being, but it is early days yet. As we grow and prosper, what's on the menu is sure to expand."

"Okay, but what is your name?" Han Sen asked.

The lady was half-expecting Han Sen not to agree, but she told him, "My name is Ling Mei'er. What about you?"

"My name is Dollar," Han Sen answered, thinking it had been a long time since he last used that alias.

"Well then, Dollar, let's return. If Dark Spirit found you, things would not turn out so well." Ling Mei'er invited Han Sen to ride on Snake King's back.

She seemed to be a very naive woman, so Han Sen asked her all the questions he could think of. He wanted as much intel as he could possibly gather.

Han Sen was surprised by what he heard. The Dark Spirit she had referred to was actually a tribe of super creatures.

"Will this tribe come after me, if they know I kidnapped Ling Mei'er?" Han Sen asked himself, thinking of what he could ultimately do with the cat-fox girl.

Ling Mei'er didn't stop talking to Han Sen along the way. He learned he was in a large underground realm, one that would not make for a short trip.

Han Sen was expecting, from how humbly she spoke, that her shelter would be something rather small. He wasn't expecting much, but what greeted his vision would have disappointed him, even if he set the expectation-bar at its lowest possible point.

He was frozen at what he saw. It was a cave, next to a dirty river that babbled like a wheezing exhaust.

"This... is what you consider a shelter?" Han Sen asked, unsure if she had been pulling his leg.

This was the first time Han Sen had been to a shelter that wasn't an island of polished constructs. It was a hole in the underground and little more.

Ling Mei'er blushed, as she frequently did, and told Han Sen, "There aren't many shelters down here. But don't worry! We are sure to claim a bigger shelter someday. This is just our temporary residence."

Han Sen smiled like a weirdo, telling her, "Actually, you don't have to stay in this place. That little pit is not worth our time. With our combined might, you and I can most certainly conquer or claim many shelters above ground."