10 They're coming.

For the umpteenth time, Tai Yang found himself being dragged along. This time it was down the hallway to the courtyard by Ji Ru. The little wolf had had Tai Yang thrown on him twenty minutes prior, with an angry command of, "MUTT! Get the prisoner dressed and down to the courtyard before 6:30! Move it!"

To which Ji Ru responded with, "Whoa-What? Prisoner? Do you mean Tai Yang? Why? Wait, why is he awake? Isn't too early? Oh dear, I remember he said he wanted to-" His shiny eyes flicked between Tai Yang and Li Jun.

"Shut your muzzle and do as I say. Li Wei, we have a problem."

And so while cursing Li Jun, Li Wei got out of Ji Ru's bed to follow his brother, letting the two friends wash and get dressed. The guards that had been stationed there waited outside the bedroom, and once the men had emerged, they'd hurriedly escorted them down to the courtyard.

That was how Tai Yang found himself in a peculiar white, Taoist robe ensemble with a new pair of glasses. He was staring up at the sky, wondering if the strange planet had planes and jets too. If they had that kind of advanced lab tech, a plane wasn't too farfetched.

Ji Ru who had his arm linked with his poked him slightly, grinning like an ecstatic puppy. He was blatantly unaware of the situation, since Tai Yang didn't find it in his jurisdiction to say what he'd heard about 'Rai Lin', and Li Jun hadn't cared enough to fill him in.

"Do you like your glasses?" Ji Ru asked as his tail whipped about behind him.

Tai Yang glanced at him and stepped a little backward to bow in gratitude. How could he not like them? 

They were beautiful. Each large, circular lens was rimmed with gold that shone brighter than any jewelry he'd seen on Earth 72 . They weren't loose, yet they didn't bite at the bridge of his nose, and he saw much better than he did with his old pair. Additionally, being as large as the lenses were, the gold and crystal flowers (attached non-clumsily to the outermost ends of lens frames) didn't hinder his vision at all. 

In all, they made Tai Yang look like a person of high stature, and the golden flower designs emphasized that he had a delicate nature.

"Yes! Really, I do. Thank you so much-"

Ji Ru waved his hand, forced Tai Yang to stand upright, and relinked their arms. "That was your last prescription. It belonged to you."

Something smacked the top of Ji Ru's head. Ji Ru yelped. "Stop talking about irrelevant bullshit, you peanut-brained dog! She could be here any minute! Do you want your tail cut off?" Li Jun snapped, putting his sheathed sword back at his side. Li Wei who had arrived out of nowhere hit Li Jun just as hard on the head with his own sheathed sword. "Don't hit Ji Ru, you hooligan. Did you even tell him who was coming? I know you didn't. And who are you to call him peanut-brained? Your microscopic brain couldn't even begin to compare to his. Your head is only big because of your ego. " Li Wei said an irritated tone, before rubbing the top of his own head.

"Hooligan? How dare you hit me over the dog! And for the last time, my head is not big!" Li Jun snapped, grabbing Li Wei's collar. 

"What 'dog' are you referring to?" Li Wei grabbed Li Jun's collar too. Ji Ru blinked in confusion and looked at Tai Yang. "Do you know what they're on about?"

Tai Yang scratched his cheek. "A queen called-"

"Your majesties. She's almost here." Someone alerted from above. It was General Wang Bin and Lieutenant Lan JiRen. They were hovering in the air on what seemed to be semi-transparent, colorful discs while their soldiers were flying behind them on swords. The princes looked up and begrudgingly let go of each other. 

"Yeah. There she is." Li Jun clicked his tongue and crossed his arms. Tai Yang tilted his head upward and saw something flying at an impossible speed towards them. He blinked rapidly; if he didn't know any better, he'd have thought that speck in the distance was an asteroid. While he couldn't make out the features of the woman, or see what she was flying on, he was sure that it wasn't a private jet.

Ji Ru's eyes widened as he sniffed the air. A small gasp escaped him. "Rai Lin and..." He trailed off.

"After the last time, seeing her again even centuries later would be too soon, yet she's here after barely four years." Li Wei said, also sounding displeased.

Li Jun clicked his tongue again. "It's too early to be dealing with that wench. Why is she so persistent in being a burden to society? Ugh."

"... If she's a queen and she's coming here herself, wouldn't it be something important?" Tai Yang asked Ji Ru quietly. Before Ji Ru could respond, Li Jun glanced at him and scoffed. "You can't apply your logic to this person. She's insane. The last time she came here, it was to blow up all the toilets in the castle."

Ji Ru instinctively reached back to hold his own butt. The gesture was not missed by Tai Yang who looked at him in confusion. The gruesome images of people flying off the toilet halfway through their business entered his mind. Instantly his face contorted, and he shook his head to rid himself of the thought. Ji Ru swallowed, staring at the speck flying rapidly towards the castle. He was still dealing with the trauma of Queen Rai Lin's last dynamic entry into the castle... If it happened again, he'd have no tail and he was sure he would have to become celibate. And Tai Yang...

Ji Ru glanced at him, wondering if the antisocial man would survive Rai Lin's 'boisterous' personality. 

"I... We... If I may, could I keep Tai Yang in the room? Her majesty can be a bit...And Wu Ji... He's..." He trailed off as he addressed Li Jun and Li Wei.

Li Wei chimed in, seeming quite keen on the idea. "Yes, Tai Yang and Ji Ru should stay in their room and not emerge till those two leave."

"No. He needs to be seen by Rai Lin and Wu Ji. That's why I brought him to you to get him dressed."

Li Wei and Ji Ru looked at Li Jun with immense confusion. 

Steeling his nerves, Ji Ru spoke again. "Your majesty, that may be stressful for him. Tai Yang is quite introverted and gets very uncomfortable around people he does not know well. He may feel overwhelmed, and those two are quite overwhelming." Ji Ru let out a slight whistling whine after he spoke, holding Tai Yang's arm a little tighter. 

"He took something for his anxiety, he should be fine for the day. No matter what, Rai Lin definitely won't leave till she sees him." Li Jun said.

Tai Yang looked at everyone, trying to gauge the situation. 

He picked up that Rai Lin was... a peculiar character, and that everyone was wary of her. However, he wasn't sure if they were simply exaggerating, or if their worry was justified. Seeing how traumatized everyone looked, he realized it was probably the former. He gulped. 

'That's right... You're still in a strange place. There are people flying on swords, chimeras, potions,weird pills and magic. This is the embodiment of a million ways to die. You can't be too careful. Yeah... be wary of everyone. After all, this woman is an immortal, perhaps she gets too carried away thinking that everyone around her is most likely a mortal too. Silly boy. She might try to kill you if she is a severe prankster, and if you're careless she'll kill you. If this prince here is this dangerous, and she's worse than him, you'll die here before you get to die on your own Earth.' He thought deeply.

"Why do you think she's coming here all of a sudden? Based on her time of arrival and that filths' average speed, she must have heard about him being here late last night, most likely from a certain princess who can't get enough of this mushroom." Li Jun said, poking the top, center of Tai Yang's scalp. Tai Yang blinked, snapped out of his thoughts, with his head slightly bouncing at the force of Li Jun's poke. 'Why am I a mushroom now?'

"How can you be sure of that?" Li Wei frowned.

"Xiao Xia is her best friend. They see each other all the time. She wouldn't come all the way here to see Xiao Xia when she can simply go to her when she gets back in three days. As much as she is a moron, she wouldn't purposely try to ruin things for me while Xiao Xia was here, so it can't be a prank."

'I thought we couldn't apply logic to her...' Tai Yang thought, scratching behind his ear. 'If Rai Lin wouldn't purposely ruin Li Jun's days with Xiao Xia, then Li Jun and Rai Lin must have a sort of friendly understanding, I think... Friendly rivalry?'

"Xiao Xia must have gotten excited last night, and probably dropped Rai Lin a wisp." Li Wei said.

"Exactly. The journey is at least five days from Valor to here. She's definitely on her skank. What else could travel five days and four nights in a single night without powers like Ji Ru's? It's not possible otherwise." Li Jun said, looking very irritated.

Tai Yang frowned at the words. 'Her skank?'