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He took in a breath and smelled the slight scent of berries and flowers.
Pi Pa, today. Chun Ke smelled more like warm earth.
He knew two pigs apart by smell, because he slept with them so often. His mother’s face was the one that invaded his thoughts this time, looking vaguely disapproving.
Vaguely disapproving, but she couldn’t do anything about it.
Follow on NovᴇlEnglish.nᴇtBowu smiled, in a good mood, and took stock of himself.
He wasn’t in the delightfully soft bed Master Jin and Big Bro had made for him. Instead, he was a bit sore from where he was laying on wood. A familiar feeling. He’d fallen asleep often enough on his desk while tinkering with the Steam Furnace that he knew the feeling all too well.
Instead, he was fairly certain he was on the floor.
He concentrated, trying to remember the night. Bi De, Tigu and Miss Cai—Xiulan, she had told him to call her Xiulan— had come back from whatever they were doing, and Master Jin had offered them a drink.
Bowu flushed as he remembered the sound Xiulan had made when the mead hit her tongue. It was good, but really? He had heard purer sounds coming out of a brothel, the one time he and his sister had passed by one in the city.
He shook his head slightly to clear the thought.
Then, after that, Big Bro Yun Ren had come back, looking extremely amused about something, and then he had a cup, which meant everybody else had a cup…
And then Xiulan sang a truly spectacularly vulgar song about a donkey as Lady Meiling, the only sober person in the room, egged her on. Pi Pa had been dancing to it, standing on her hind legs and pirouetting surprisingly gracefully… if occasionally stumbling.
Bowu had fallen asleep after that.
He finally opened his eyes, wincing a bit at the light, and looking around.
The first person he saw was Lady Meiling, who had a massive grin on her face and a recording crystal floating beside her that was chiming softly.
Bowu’s eyes drifted to what she was grinning about.
Xiulan was laying on her back, drooling and snoring as she used Yun Ren as a pillow. Her shirt was completely open and her face was covered in doodles, as was Yun Ren’s.
“She's very grabby when she's drunk,” Tigu muttered petulantly.
Meiling just smirked, because Cai Xiulan had caught another person.
Master Jin had his head in her lap… technically, for Xiulan’s legs were also positioned in a devastating chokehold around the Master’s neck. Master Jin simply continued to snore though, so… Bowu guessed it was fine?
He had several pieces of male anatomy drawn on his face, and Bowu guessed Lady Meiling was the culprit, judging by the brush in her hand.
She glanced over at Bowu and grinned.
“Awww, you woke up! You were next!” She said cheerfully, and Bowu sighed with relief. Not like getting the ink off was hard, but he had no desire to have his face recorded like that.
He winced and held his head as he tried to get up.
“Go and drink some water, okay?” Lady Meiling told him kindly. “I’ll make something for the headache if it stays with you.
Bowu nodded, staggering to his feet. He glanced out the window and saw a rust-red mass sticking out of the river like a strange rock formation. Bowu hobbled over to the kitchen. He grabbed a cup and paused as he noticed a pair of feet sticking out of an “oven tray” as Master Jin had named them.
Follow on Novᴇl-Onlinᴇ.cᴏmThe regal Bi De was on his back, with his feet sticking straight up in the air, shoved together with Miss Ri Zu and Yin the rabbit supporting him by the sides.
Yin was wearing his vest and Ri Zu wore his necklace. All of them were covered in half-eaten vegetables.
“So that's why he sounded quiet today.” Bowu muttered, before going into the river room.
Wa Shi, in his fish form, greeted him, resting against the stone edge of the floor, with one muscular arm sticking out of his side. He had a cold sausage in his mouth and was holding a cup of fruit juice in his hand. The snake beside him simply drank his cup of water.
“...morning,” Bowu said.
The fish smirked, another arm forming with a pop to salute in greeting. A stream of water rose from the river and poured into Bowu’s glass.
His thirst quenched, he managed to get back into the main room and sat down at the table. Lady Meiling had gotten everybody else in order, though most were still asleep. Master Jin had woken up and was staring amused at his wife’s handiwork.
There was just one who was missing.
“Where's Big Bro?” Bowu asked, looking around.
Lady Meiling pointed up.
Bowu stared blankly at the man tied to a ceiling beam.
“...I’m going back to sleep,” Bowu decided.
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