"What was Elder doing in Great Master's room so early in the morning, muttering away?"
"No idea." Long Yao shook her head. "I brought noodles in, and they kept talking about emptiness and non-emptiness, truth and falsehood, some cypress tree and tea cup. Anyway, I didn't understand a single word."
"What use are you?"
"You understood it?"
Long Yao held a vermilion lacquered tray, her chin resting on its raised edge, looking deeply worried. "What if Elder really gets lost in the scriptures and shaves his head to become a monk? Then the future of our Dragon Man Tribe will be bleak."
Smack!
Two crisp, ringing flicks to the forehead.
Long Yao and Long Li crouched halfway down with cries, clutching the backs of their heads.
"A son discussing his father, a minister discussing his ruler! What kind of behavior is this?" Shadows grew and spread between the two of them. Liang Qu stood behind them, looking down from above. "Three days without a beating, and you're secretly badmouthing me, are you? You two are fined three days' allowance!"
"Two or three days? Is it two days or three?" Long Li asked.
"Five days!"
Long Li stopped asking. She protested, "I wasn't the one who said it. Why did you hit me too?"
Smack!
Long Yao cried out again, dropping from a half-crouch into a full squat. Clutching her head with both hands, she called for help.
"There, satisfied now? She got hit twice and you once. Two against two, so that means she got hit once and you got none."
Secret delight rose in Long Li's heart, but then she suddenly sensed killing intent. Avoiding Long Yao's resentful gaze, she lifted her head to look at the sky.
Long E Ying, dressed in silk sleepwear, leaned against the doorway