Nikola had been very conflicted on whatever or not he should simply scorch the whole canyon to smoke out the Wuzhiqi but then that would contaminate the water. So he asked how big a Wuzhiqi was and, when he found out it was no bigger than one-meter-tall, he created many wolves with the last of his paper. As the pack came to life Nikola gave it simple instructions:

“If it’s a monkey it dies.” He said and the wolves rushed to follow the river. Nikola heard someone squeal and then red trickled downstream. Nikola left the wolves to it. Just like the first manticore they will live for as long as there were pests in the area. Some would drown, he thought as the water’s level began to raise, but he had made plenty of wolves. He could spare a few and the survivors would breed and produce more Wuzhiqi hunters in the long run.

“Let us go.” Said Nikola to the gawking crowd. “They’ll do their job. Granny, the wolf?”

“Moving towards us. We will see it soon.” She said as she continued to walk. They reached a clearing and there was a wolf dragging it’s body carefully as to not drop the bundle on his back to the ground. Nikola hopped off of the manticore’s back and rushed towards the animal. Getting the baby in the safety of his arms and turning the exhausted wolf into a paper figurine.

With the girl with him Nikola announced they were going to get a small pause so the manticore could feed her. Some of the people who had snatched a baby also looked at the manticore with hope and the pause turned up until sunset because the manticore had to feed all the children, even though she grumbled about it.

Back on the manticore’s back Nikola let her lead them back towards Danyang. On the route he had to jump down more than once to kill a Wuzhiqi. This canyon was infested with them and Nikola couldn’t feel his wolves anymore. So, he rushed the survivors and jumped down from the manticore’s back to give his place to a little girl who was exhausted from hunger. The manticore had fed her and Nikola had given her some rice balls, but the girl could barely hold herself on top of her new mount.

Exhausted, after many stops to feed the babies, they finally reached Danyang. There was a commotion because of the manticore but the survivors made a protective circle around her and didn’t let anyone near her. The granny was touched at that and she whispered to herself that maybe she wouldn’t mind feeding humans again in the future.

Kang Lei, the magistrate, came to the group and greeted Nikola like an old friend. But Nikola had grim news for him.

“The canyon and the forest connected to it are teeming with Wuzhiqi. They were taming Gudiao. I cleared a nest but there might be more. This is a job for the army, not for a single mage.” He finished. He could make more dragons and have them nest in the canyon but then the casualties would be greater. Dragons were bottomless pits; they will start to eat humans. The Wuzhiqi were too small to satisfy their hunger.

“Are you sure? I will not tell anyone how you deal with this problem if you just deal with it.” Said Kang Lei hopefully. Nikola became thoughtful. The Wuzhiqi were responsible for the death of a lot of travelers. In theory he could work the ghosts in a frenzy, invisible soldiers would be by far more effective than their living counterparts. But he will need a sacrifice for that. And not just one. He pulled the magistrate to the side and whispered to him.

“Do you have prisoners on death roll?” Kang Lei looked at him and then looked in the direction of his palace.

“What will you do to them?” He asked and Nikola gulped. He had done this only once before and all of the people of Atlantis had demanded he stepped down from his throne. It had been considered a war crime of the highest caliber, even if the people of the land of the thousand volcanos had found a way to give life and control lava golems to throw at their troops.

“Burn them alive and then make their souls into a beacon for all of the ghosts in the area. Create a demon. One who will be loyal to me for the first ten years of it’s life.”

“And afterwards?” Asked Kang Lei worried. This man was talking about creating demons. There was just one man who had done so in the history of the world. Suddenly the fog around Nikola’s identity cleared and Kang Lei had the urge to call the guards on him. But if Nikola was the Emerald Emperor then the lady Pen was Penemue the angel. Kang Lei was sure of it. Danyang will become a smoldering ruin if the Emerald Emperor was so much as pushed towards the dungeons.

“I will bind it to it’s task, don’t worry.”

“Last time you had to pit a phoenix against your creation. The Naga Eileen was said to have nearly eaten it before succumbing to her injuries.” Nikola sucked in a breath. Kang Lei knew. He looked worriedly around for armed soldiers but found none.

“Eileen was an overkill on my part. This new one will be a tiger demon. I will name it Marek and bind it to it’s task of killing Wuzhiqi. I believe it is in your best interest to let me do this. And to keep quiet about what you have found.”

“Do you plan to reconquer the world?” That was what Kang Lei feared most. The Emerald Emperor didn’t even bother with making an army these days, it seems. He must have grown in power in the past hundred years. He could move mountains with a thought, poison rivers, bring famine. But to Kang Lei’s relief Nikola shook his head.

“No, everyone has a right to freedom. I will not trample on this right ever again. Instead, I will be where I am needed. For the next twenty years I will stay here in China and help when I can. After that I am going to go to India. I will keep moving west until I reach my true home. And then I will raise it from the depths and hide it with magic. And the world will move on without me, as it was meant to when I sunk down Atlantis.” Kang Lei was unnerved that the Emerald Emperor will be staying in his valley for such a long time but then he remembered all that the man had been doing ever since the ocean spat him out.

“You will have the prisoners today, but you will do your ritual at the palace. My wife and I won’t be there. Neither will the servants. If anyone asks, you are there to get rid of a ghost that you noticed on the day of your wedding.” And just like that Kang Lei turned around and began to walk towards the palace. He had pyres to prepare. His most trusted soldiers would have to do the job.

Nikola took the baby for whom he has been carrying these past days and went back to the inn. In his bedroom he saw Penemue and Wei Caihong holding hands. There was a miniature dolphin made of light between them. Nikola grinned and in his best impression of the inn owner he spoke.

“No pets!” He giggled and dodged a pillow flung by Penemue. Then Wei Caihong’s arms were wrapped around him. The little girl began crying at being squashed between them and Wei Caihong turned to look at her.

“Who is this?” He said and Nikola smiled.

“A girl I rescued from a Gudiao. She doesn’t have anyone taking care of her. Well, apart from granny. Granny is a manticore.” He clarified when Wei Caihong gave him a confused look.

“How did it go?” Asked Penemue from the bed. Nikola took Wei Caihong’s hand gently and led him to the bed so the four of them could all sit on it. Nikola relaxed on the mattress and felt both Penemue and Wei Caihong resting on his chest. They had a hand each over the small bundle in his arms.

“This place has a Wuzhiqi infestation. And these Wuzhiqi, monkey water demons, they have found a way to tame Gudiao.” He said and Penemue hummed as she adjusted her head so that she was more comfortable.

“What are you going to do?” Asked the angel and Nikola looked guiltily at the ceiling.

“I will make a tiger demon from all the wayward souls around Danyang and about twenty prisoners today. Then I will sick Marek at the Wuzhiqi.”

Wei Caihong sucked in a breath and Penemue lifted herself up to send him a stern look.

“Why don’t you scream from the highest peak that you are the Emerald Emperor? Make sure that all of China hears you?” Berated the angel, nails digging in Nikola’s robe.

“Penemue, I…”

“It’s too cruel!” Hissed Wei Caihong. “And the Naga you created last time was strong enough to eat an angel!”

“That was just a rumor.” Said Nikola. He didn’t know who spread it but because of it all the angels had been up in arms against Nikola, Penemue the only person stopping them from attacking. The angel in question turned out with a hangover and a pregnant wife the day after the rumor spread, but people still talked.

“Surely there are consequences!” Said Wei Caihong. He lifted himself up too and Nikola saw the look of pure fear on his face.

“You will all stay at the inn. And the only witnesses of the ritual will be the prisoners and they will be too busy burning alive to tell anyone.” Said Nikola and then Wei Caihong head butted him.

“There must be consequences for you, you fool! And everyone in Danyang will notice vengeful spirits gathering at the palace.”

“It will be during the night.” Protested Nikola. “And the cover story will be that I am getting rid of a vengeful spirit. So, if it calls for reinforcements then who is to say it hadn’t?”

“There is no talking him out of this.” Said Penemue to Wei Caihong who looked like he was panicking.

“Think of the children.” Pleaded Wei Caihong finally. The Naga Eileen had attack some of Nikola’s own grandchildren when it rebelled. This Marek will go for his children, Wei Caihong was sure of it. As the story goes the Naga had been delusional. She thought herself a daughter of both Nikola and Penemue, since they had both participated in the ritual which had created her. And she felt like she was the rightful heir to the throne of Atlantis. Many supported her, mostly from the colonies since she promised them independence. But in the end a phoenix ended her. What Nikola had given to the phoenix was not written down in history. But Wei Caihong could imagine it had something to do with human sacrificial lambs.

“I am. An infestation of demons can’t be allowed to remain in this valley. I have to work about securing it. And Marek will help with that.” Wei Caihong laid back down on his chest and brought the bundle to himself.

“Will we be raising her?” He asked. There had to be a balance. If Nikola was going to commit a crime, then he had to do something good too.

“If it’s not too much to ask of the two of you. She can be a great friend to Han Fengfan in the future. And who knows? Maybe Nathaniel will like her.”

Penemue huffed at that.

“You are an impossible matchmaker. But I better not hear of a marriage before this little girl has come into her maturity.”

Nikola didn’t promise anything and that was all Penemue needed to know that if the two children took a shine to each other then they will have Nikola’s blessing in a heartbeat.