"Exactly," Goku said, praising Yue'er with a gentle rub of her head. Her eyes narrowed into happy crescents.
"What's that supposed to mean—are you belittling my mechanism arts?" Master Ban glared at Goku, clearly offended. He didn't understand the talk of "other worlds," but he understood "won't fly," and that sounded like contempt for the Mo Family's craftsmanship.
Goku gave him a calm glance and shook his head. "Sigh. With your intelligence, it would be hard for me to explain."
"Heehee." Yue'er couldn't help giggling.
"You—what did you say?!" Master Ban's beard practically bristled. "I am the cleverest man in the Mo Family. If I call myself second, no one would dare claim first!"
"Bragger," Yue'er sniffed, unconvinced.
"Infuriating…!" Master Ban huffed, then forced himself to calm down. He produced a colored cube. "This is the Mo Cube, devised by our founding master to help everyone remember the doctrine of Shangtong—Uniformity. We call it the Shangtong Mo Cube. Its core is a universal axle, with twenty-six little blocks. Built with the simplest mechanism arts, it contains the most complex principles of planning and spatial reasoning. If you can restore these scrambled colors, I'll concede your point."
He tossed the cube to Goku.
Goku caught it and smiled faintly. "Are you looking down on me?" His fingers moved—and in barely two seconds the colors were perfectly restored. He tossed it back.
A trinket of the mortal world could hardly stump a Sovereign; one glance was enough for him to see through its workings.
Master Ban stared, eyes bulging. "How… how is that possible? In such a short time… completely restored…"
Even Duanmu Rong looked over in surprise. She knew the Mo Cube—deceptively simple, but devilishly hard. She had tried it once and given up; medicine, not mechanisms, was her field.
"It's just a little block," Yue'er said, rolling her eyes at Master Ban. She snatched the Mo Cube, scrambled it wildly, then, brows knitting in concentration, twisted it briskly.
In under a minute, it was solved again.
"See? Easy." She handed it back.
Master Ban held the cube, speechless for a long moment. Then he burst out, "I… Incredible! Do you know it took me three months to solve this the first time? And you finished in moments! Have you truly never studied the mechanism arts?"
"Nope. Today's the first time I've seen a flying wooden bird," Yue'er said with a grin.
"The Shangtong Mo Cube is famed across the land; among all under heaven, few can solve it," Fan Zeng murmured, stroking his white beard, awestruck. "Sir Goku is one thing—but for Miss Yue'er to do it so quickly is remarkable."
"Is it really that hard?" Tianming swaggered up, grabbed the cube, and started twisting. "Let me try."
One minute passed… two… ten…
"What a stupid block! Why is it so hard?" he finally exploded.
"If you could solve that, the sun would rise in the west," Shaoyu said, arms folded, full of scorn.
"Oh yeah? You try," Tianming shot back, thrusting the cube at him.
"Well… big brother… can't solve it either."
"Then you've no right to mock me!"
"How about studying mechanism arts with me?" Master Ban turned to Yue'er, eyes shining. "With your aptitude, you might surpass even our founder."
"It does look fun… but I'll pass," Yue'er said, shaking her head. "Big Brother Goku's teachings—I haven't learned them all yet."
"Don't refuse so quickly—think about it," Master Ban urged.
"No. If I study, I'll study with Big Brother Goku. He can do everything. I'm not learning from you." Yue'er's firm refusal left Master Ban crestfallen. Once upon a time, people begged him to teach and he refused; now he begged, and others refused him. Call it karma.
---
At the manor gate.
"I've sent word to the Mo Family's leader," Master Ban said, stroking his beard by the lakeshore. "He'll meet you at the usual place."
Shaoyu and the others turned toward the small boat.
"Time we were on our way. Everyone, until we meet again," Shaoyu called, cupping his hands from the boat.
Seeing Tianming still hunched over the cube, Shaoyu flicked a pebble at him.
"Hey, I'm leaving. Not going to say goodbye?"
"Ow!" Tianming yelped, rubbing his head. He crossed his arms, turned away, and huffed, "Goodbye? Hmph!"
Shaoyu could only shake his head and turn back.
The boat slid out, drifting farther and farther.
A pebble whistled back and struck the back of Shaoyu's head.
"Ah—!" He rubbed the spot and glared at the shore, where Tianming pulled a face, smug as a fox. Shaoyu "furiously" snatched up a stone and returned fire.
Pebbles traded across the water.
Unlucky Fan Zeng, seated quietly in the boat, took a ricochet to the back of his head. He didn't make a sound, but his face went thunder-black and a great lump rose beneath his hair.
Yue'er giggled behind her hand on the bank.
"Miss Yue'er, your smile is as lovely as a flower," Master Ban suddenly appeared at her side, eyes darting ingratiatingly.
"Hmph! Don't cozy up to me, old man. I'm not learning your mechanism arts," Yue'er shot back, well aware of his intent.
"Come now—at least consider it," he wheedled.
"Master Ban," Goku said mildly, "Yue'er won't be studying with you."
"And this gentleman is…?" Master Ban looked to Duanmu Rong.
"His sword should tell you," she replied.
"T-that sword…" Master Ban's eyes went wide as he stared at the weapon at Goku's waist. He looked back at Duanmu Rong. "Then he is…?" She nodded.
"Whew." Master Ban exhaled and stepped forward to bow. "I never imagined our humble Mirror Lake would host a figure of legend. It is the Mo Family's honor. Please forgive my earlier rudeness—this way, please!"
"Is he really that famous? How come I've never heard of him?" Tianming muttered.
"Because you're slow and ignorant," Yue'er sniffed, then followed Goku and the others inside.
Once in the manor, Master Ban held out a hand to Tianming. "All right, brat—give the cube back."
"Ehh—hehe…" Tianming's eyes darted, a sly grin creeping over his face.
"What are you plotting?" Master Ban asked warily.
"Old man, if you want the Shangtong Mo Cube, trade me one of those mechanical birds," Tianming said, grinning like a fox with a hen.
"'Old man'? Watch your mouth. You think mechanism birds are toys? Absolutely not. Hand over the cube!"
___
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