Chapter 449 — The Girl on the Wooden Chest

Xiong Qi'er shook her head. "My mother took me out to hide from pursuers, and we always kept to the out-of-the-way places.

I can't remember where the True Heaven Palace really is. " Shen Mu pondered a moment.

"Fat Dragon, let us follow the official road and go to a great city to ask someone the way. The people there will most likely know where the True Heaven Palace lies.

" Dragon Qilin set off along the official road. After several tens of li the travelers grew more numerous; the road here was broad and smooth, far better than in Jingping.

The river beside the road was clear to the bottom, with fish and turtles and serpents swimming in it, none of them small; on the water there were also divine-arts practitioners and warriors hurrying on their way, women for the most part, though not a few men. The arts these people practiced must also have followed the path that all things have their spirit and all things have their god; some girls and boys came out onto the river, shouted a command, and at once the broad water heaved up in waves, and wave after wave bore them racing forward. On the road too there were travelers, many of them standing atop tree-men, and some on vine-men, though these were slower.

In the sky there were still other divine-arts practitioners riding all manner of birds, and as they flew past overhead their five-colored wings streamed with light, most dazzling to see.

"It seems we are near the city," Shen Mu said, and breathed a sigh of relief to see the travelers thickening.

Of a sudden there came a clatter of da-da-da, and Shen Mu saw a strange sight: many young girls came charging out of a mountain hollow, over a little hill, and onto the road.

What carried these girls was a great chest with more than a dozen legs, and the chest strode off on its legs, running swift as the wind. Other girls came rushing out of a mountain village nearby, riding wooden boats — boats that had grown legs and feet, and raced along the ground.

Shen Mu was struck dumb.

These chests and boats seemed to have taken on spirits, and could run as Dragon Qilin ran; it was strange indeed.

"In this vast world of myriad worlds nothing is too strange; the spells and divine arts of other places may serve Jingping too. If this art were spread through the Kingdom of Jingping, would it not be wonderful?

" Shen Mu blinked and thought, "Though I fear it would breed no small confusion as well. Some fellow of mighty power would likely ride a whole mountain peak about to show off.

" The girls were curious about the Dragon Qilin he rode, and the great chest with its dozen legs drew near. The chest was huge, several zhang long and wide, spread with silk bags like clouds, and six or seven girls sat atop it, studying Dragon Qilin and Shen Mu.

The foremost girl was surely their leader; it was she who had woken the chest with her arts and made it carry them racing along. She had a lovely laugh, her big eyes beneath tassels woven of silver pendants curved like crescent moons, and her speech had the peculiar flavor of the Western Lands; before she spoke she was already giggling. "Li'l brother, that big pig o' yours runs right fast — where'd ye get it?

" Shen Mu was taken aback, then realized that "li'l brother" meant "little brother," and laughed.

"This is a Dragon Qilin, a cross of dragon and qilin. " Xiong Qi'er poked her little head out of Dragon Qilin's fur, looking about her in curiosity, and the girls were astonished again; they took a great liking to Xiong Qi'er and wanted to kiss her and hold her. Shen Mu had no choice but to bring Dragon Qilin near, lift Xiong Qi'er up, and set her on the chest.

He fell into talk with the girls, and the reason for their astonishment was that he had Xiong Qi'er with him. The customs of the Western Lands were unlike others: after a man and a woman had walked their marriage, if children were born, the sons were sent to the man's family and the daughters kept by the woman.

This custom had bred the strangest of sights in the Western Lands — many a household held only women, or only men, and even whole villages where not a single male could be seen among the women. Seeing Shen Mu with Xiong Qi'er, they took her for his daughter; but Shen Mu looked young, a sunny big boy, not like a man with sons and daughters, and so they could not help their surprise. "Big sisters, let me ask you something.

" Shen Mu was much perplexed by the customs here, and ventured, "I met a girl, and we'd only laid eyes on each other once, and she invited me to her home — but she wouldn't let me in by the front door. She wanted me to climb in through her window instead. What sort of courtesy is that?

" The girls all giggled, and the leader's eyes curved into crescents again. "Li'l brother must be a fool.

When a body asks ye to climb through her window, it's to kiss ye she wants — like mandarin ducks with necks entwined, cheek and temple rubbing together. " Shen Mu scratched his head, puzzled.

"How do mandarin ducks entwine?

" The leader leapt down onto Dragon Qilin's head and laughed. "Don't ye move. " With that she leaned into his arms, took his two hands in hers and set them before her waist, pressed her face back against him, brought her long slender neck against his chest, rubbed her cheek against his cheek, and touched her earlobe to his earlobe — sleek and slippery, soft and bewitching beyond words.

Shen Mu went red as a beet, at a loss for what to do with his hands and feet, and all he could smell was the scent of the girl's body. The girl giggled and went back to the racing chest, and the other girls, seeing his drunken, flustered look, all laughed clear and bright, merry as could be. One of them teased, "Eldest Sister, has your heart been moved?

Why not take him walking in marriage?

" The girl glanced at Shen Mu, rather taken with him, and said hesitantly, "I fear he wouldn't be willing. . . " The other girls all urged her on in a chorus, and the girl took out a scented pouch and tossed it to Shen Mu, giggling.

"Li'l brother, ye can climb my window at night, and I'll teach ye how to be mandarin ducks.

" These girls were bold in their ways, spicier even than the girls of the capital of Jingping, and Shen Mu found them more than he could handle. He hastily changed the subject.

"Do you know the way to the True Heaven Palace?

"