They spend the next handful of weeks with Xiao Wu.

Jiang was enjoying lounging in dragon form on a stone as Da Ming, or the Azure Bull Head Python, told them tales of mischief from Xiao Wu and Er Ming when she returned with stories from Tang San and Xiao Wu's time at Shrek.

In between, she tried out their new fighting styles against Xiao Wu, and they both showcased the fruits of their training, moving at blazing speeds, combining and fighting with all the tricks they knew.

It was exhilarating.

Yin had always faced opponents who were much more powerful. Who were seldom willing to go all out against her, or people much stronger than she was that she fought against, often knowing she would lose. There was no other way; if she won, it was only because they had gone easy on her.

With Xiao Wu, it was a fight of equals, one where they could go at each other to their heart's content and not hold back their victories and defeats against each other, hard-earned.

While Tang Yin had more power in terms of sheer spirit power, she found herself often dodging Xiao Wu by a hair's breadth. In one battle, they entangled and clashed with each other, exchanging shark kicks and precise sword strikes. Dazzling sparks of energy fill the atmosphere. As they ended up panting, sweating and exhausted, staring at each other like there was nothing they could do otherwise but stare at each other like two gladiators.

Hidden weapons from the Tang Yin side were stuck in trees, on the ground, and lying everywhere. Xiao Wu without a scratch.

"You have gotten faster," Wu commented, and Yin grinned at her.

"So have you." She said, and they both ended up laughing and lying on the ground, staring into the sky in silence.

"I missed this." Xiao Wu then quietly said, and Tang Yin agreed with her.

"Me too." She grinned. "There was no one on Sea God Island I could go to like this."

"You think San has also gotten stronger?" Xiao Wu asked her, and Yin turned her head and looked at her, puzzled. What the hell was she going on about?

"What do you mean. You do know we are talking about my brother." She pointed out. "He is a training maniac, of course, he got stronger. I am rather worried that in his goddamn ambition, he may have forgotten that he needs a life."

"Right." Wu let out a sigh. "You are right. I'm just getting antsy and confused, I guess, because I miss him the most. What if he found another girl, I mean, he is kind, strong...you know."

"I know. But Wu, I don't think he will ever look at anyone but you." Yin assured her. "Not that way, because in the end, he is not one to easily open up to another person to begin with."

Wu remained quiet, and Yin joined her as they looked upwards, watching the clouds. "If you want to, I can bring something along for him. I mean, I already should be on the way to Moon Pavilion, in fact. So I guess I will be departing tomorrow, well, actually sometime soon, hook myself to Jiang's back, and then we will go high altitude and he will push through."

"I have not agreed to that," Jiang growled from the side, lounging on the large stone which he had picked as his favourite place. His long, scaly tail hangs into the water, one eye of the storm clouds open, gazing at the two of them.

"But I know you will," Yin said with a smile, and he huffed.

"You know me too well."

Standing up, she jumped over to him and then stumbled over his head, hugging him. Giving him a feather-light kiss on the scaly cheek. "Well, I watch out to notice things about the person I like. I might be disastrous at it, but some things I do notice."

"I guess so." His enormous tail moved, and suddenly she found herself hosed down from head to toe, coughing.

"Seriously?" She asked as she fished a piece of seaweed from her hair.

Jiang merely blinked, his expression a perfect picture of dragonic innocence.

"Mhh." She hummed and then kneeled down to splash water on him. He blinked and then whipped his tail again to drench her a second time. She huffed when, suddenly, Jiang was drenched by water as well, looking up to see Da Ming, who seemed to be laughing.

Rising from his cosy place, he growled and then put his head into the water before splashing Da Ming. Yin laughed when a wave hit her from behind. She ended up in water, gulping down water as she was ripped with it, and ended up dangling on a claw of Jiang's as he lifted her out of the water.

She blinked and spotted Er Ming with Xiao Wu on his shoulder, laughing and punching her fist into the air.

"Now that calls for revenge," Yin said and then released her wings. Fluttering up and then landed on Jiang's shoulder.

"Let's go." She shouted, and Jiang rumbled as Da Ming, next to them, shook his head.

"And they say we men are the ferocious ones." He said as the water war went into full throttle.

Xiao Wu and Tang Yin are splashing each other. Jiang and Er Ming helped when Da Ming joined in, and it turned into a multi-front water  battle.