Chapter 23: Attack of the Cubs!

Bai Yue’s eyes locked onto the flash of golden fur darting between the branches high above. Her heart seized in her chest as she caught the unmistakable blue glow emanating from whatever the creature was clutching.

“Eh?? Is that the stone???” she shrieked, pointing up at the canopy like a madwoman. “BRING IT BACK!!!”

The monkey paused on a thick branch and looked down at her. It had intelligent amber eyes, a long, curling tail, and a smug expression that said it knew exactly what kind of chaos it was causing.

It held up the Lumina-Stone, letting it catch the morning sunlight. The gem pulsed with an ethereal blue light, looking absolutely gorgeous against the creature’s golden fur.

“Hey! Give me it!” Bai Yue screamed, jumping up and down like she could somehow reach a branch that was thirty feet in the air. “That’s not yours! Do you have any idea how much trouble you’re causing?!”

The monkey tilted its head, then did something that made Bai Yue’s blood pressure skyrocket.

It stuck its tongue out at her.

“You little—!” Bai Yue didn’t finish her sentence. The monkey turned and bounded deeper into the canopy, the stone clutched possessively to its chest.

“NO! WAIT! COME BACK!” Bai Yue took off running, her bare feet slapping against the forest floor as she chased the infuriating thief through the undergrowth.

She was doing pretty well, actually. Her new body’s reflexes were no joke. She leaped over fallen logs, ducked under low-hanging vines, and even managed to avoid three separate spider webs that would have been a nightmare to get out of her hair.

But then her foot caught on a particularly vindictive root.

THWACK.

Bai Yue hit the dirt face-first, her momentum carrying her forward in an ungraceful slide that sent leaves, twigs, and what she really hoped wasn’t animal droppings directly into her mouth.

“PTHHHH! PTHHH!” She sat up, spitting and sputtering, her hair now decorated with half the forest floor. A beetle crawled out of her bangs and she shrieked, swatting it away. “OW! Stupid root! Stupid forest! Stupid transmigration!”

She scrambled back to her feet, ignoring the scrape on her knee that was already starting to sting. The monkey was getting away!

“I… I…” she panted, trying to catch her breath as she resumed the chase. “When I catch you, you furry little thief

, I’m going to—”

A figure dropped from the trees directly in front of her.

Bai Yue skidded to a halt, nearly face-planting again. Standing before her was a beastman she had never seen before. He was lean and wiry, with the same golden fur as the monkey, though his was more subtle, dusting his forearms and the sides of his neck. He had a long tail that swished behind him playfully, and his eyes held the same mischievous glint as the creature that had stolen the stone.

A monkey beastman.

He was young, maybe in his early twenties, and he was grinning at her like he had just won the lottery.

“Well, well, well,” the monkey beastman drawled, tossing something up and down in his palm. The Lumina-Stone. “Look what I found in the dirt near your hut yesterday. Shiny! Pretty! Mine now!”

“YOU!” Bai Yue pointed an accusatory finger at him, her chest heaving. “You stole it! Do you have any idea what you’ve done?! There is a Dragon Prince in the village who’s going to turn us all into charcoal because of that rock!”

The monkey beastman’s grin widened. He held the stone up to the light, examining it with exaggerated interest. “Hmm. Dragon Prince, you say? Sounds scary!” He looked back at her, his eyes dancing with mischief. “You want the stone?”

Bai Yue’s heart leaped with hope. “Yes! Yes, please! I’ll give you anything! Food? Shiny trinkets? A lifetime supply of bananas?”

The beastman’s grin turned absolutely wicked.

“Come get it!” he shouted, and then he launched himself back into the canopy with inhuman speed.

“NO! WAIT! COME BACK!!!!” Bai Yue screamed, her voice cracking with desperation. “I… I…” She turned in a frantic circle, trying to spot where he had gone, but the monkey was already gone, vanishing into the green maze above like smoke.

“BAI YUE!!!!!”

The roar that echoed through the forest made every bird within a hundred-foot radius take flight in terror.

Uh oh.

She was supposed to be with the Dragon prince!

She raced toward the river, and Bai Yue’s heart sank further with every step.

The scene that greeted her was adorable.

Cāng Jì was standing knee-deep in the river, looking like a statue of barely-contained homicidal rage. Draped over him like extremely affectionate barnacles were at least seven cubs.

Miao Miao was perched on his shoulders, her little panther paws tangled in his sunset-colored hair. “Look, everyone! I’m the tallest!”

Xiao Hei and A-Li were clinging to his legs, giggling as they used his calves as a climbing wall.

Yòu Lín, was sitting directly on the Dragon’s head, his fox tail swishing happily. “You’re so shiny, Mr. Lizard! Are you made of gold? Can I keep you?”

Two wolf cubs Bai Yue didn’t recognize were attempting to braid his hair, and a tiny otter kit was trying to wash his scales with river water, splashing enthusiastically.

“Oh,” Bai Yue breathed, her hand flying to her mouth to cover her smile.

Cāng Jì’s eye twitched. He turned his golden gaze on her, and she could see his entire body trembling with the effort of not exploding.

“Get. Them. Off. Me,” he said through gritted teeth, his voice vibrating with barely-suppressed violence. “Before I kill them.”

Bai Yue couldn’t help it. She snickered.

“Are you laughing?” Cāng Jì hissed, smoke literally puffing from his ears now. “This is not funny, star-thief! These…..these creatures have been assaulting me! One of them tried to groom me! I am not a communal pet!”

“Okay, okay!” Bai Yue said, trying to control her laughter as she waded into the water. “Cubs! Come here! Let’s give the nice Dragon Prince some space, okay?”

“Awww!” the chorus of disappointment was immediate and heartbreaking.

“But he’s so warm!” Miao Miao protested, hugging Cāng Jì’s neck tighter. “And he smells like sunshine!”

“Yeah!” A-Li added. “And his scales are so smooth! Papa’s fur is itchy sometimes, but Dragon is soft!”

Cāng Jì looked like he was having an existential crisis. “Soft? Soft?! I am a apex predator! I am not—”

“Why is Dragon so cranky all the time?” Miao Miao asked, tilting her head with genuine curiosity. “Does he need a nap? Mama says I get cranky when I don’t nap.”

The Dragon snarled, baring teeth that were definitely sharper than any human’s. “I do not nap, you insolent—”

“Alright, everyone off!” Bai Yue said quickly, scooping up cubs and passing them to the riverbank like she was unloading cargo. “Go play with the other children! I will come find you later!”

After much whining and promises of future playtime, the cubs finally scampered off, leaving Cāng Jì standing in the river looking like he’d survived a battle.

“Are they gone?” he whispered, his eyes wide. “Are they truly gone?”

“Yes,” Bai Yue said, patting his shoulder sympathetically. “You survived the great cub attack of the morning. Congratulations.”

He slumped, looking genuinely traumatized. “They had no concept of personal space. One of them sneezed on my shoulder.”

“Here,” she said, grabbing a soft river-stone and some of the mineral-rich clay from the bank. “Let me buff your scales, and you can tell me all about your horrible ordeal.”

She began working on his arm, carefully polishing the golden scales until they gleamed. Despite his complaining, she had to admit, his scales were beautiful. They caught the light like molten metal.

“Did you find the stone?” Cāng Jì asked after a moment, his voice finally losing some of its sharp edge.

Bai Yue swallowed hard. “I… I…”

He turned to look at her, his golden eyes sharp. “You did?”

“Well, yes!” she said quickly. “I mean, no! I mean……I saw it! With a monkey! And—”

“Monkey???” Cāng Jì’s voice dropped to a dangerous whisper. His eyes began to glow with an inner light, and the water around them started to steam. “Did you just say…..monkey?”

“Uh…” Bai Yue took a step back, suddenly very aware that she was standing in a river with an increasingly-agitated dragon. “Yes?”

“NO!” Cāng Jì roared, his voice echoing across the entire village. “NOT THE MONKEYS! ANYTHING BUT THE MONKEYS!”

And then, as if the universe had a truly terrible sense of humor, a familiar golden shape swung down from the trees above them.

The monkey beastman landed on a rock in the middle of the river, the Lumina-Stone held high above his head like a trophy. He was grinning from ear to ear.

“Did someone say monkeys?” he called out cheerfully. “Hi! I’m Hóu Xián of the Golden Monkey Tribe! And I believe you’re looking for this!”

He held up the stone, wiggling it tantalizingly.

Cāng Jì’s face went through approximately seventeen different shades of purple.

“YOU!” he screamed, pointing a trembling finger at the monkey. “YOU INSUFFERABLE, TREE-SWINGING, BANANA-OBSESSED PEST! GIVE ME BACK MY STONE THIS INSTANT!”

Hóu Xián’s grin widened. He looked at the stone, then at Cāng Jì, then at Bai Yue.

“Hmm,” he said thoughtfully. “Nah!”

And then he ate it.

He shoved the Lumina-Stone directly into his mouth and swallowed.

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