Chapter 300 - Sandcastle Building
(Cai Hong POV)
"Papa! Papa! Fishie! Fishie!" Cai Hong pointed at the fishie that was swimming in the water.
"Hoh? Haha, yes indeed it is. Nicely spotted, Cai Hong."
Ehehehehe~ Papa is patting Cai Hong's head~ Cai Hong wants to play with Papa lots today!
Cai Hong never went to a 'beech' before, it is very hot and sandy. But Papa put nice cream on Cai Hong's hands and it was not hot anymore!
Papa is so cool!
"Master!"
Cai Hong and Papa looked at the 'beech'. Big sister Manami was waving at Papa and Cai Hong.
Cai Hong waved back too!
Big sister Manami pointed to the side and waved again.
Papa patted Cai hong's head again, "Stay here ok? I need to get your big brother Brendan out from the sand."
"Okies~~"
Papa walked out of the water and Cai Hong went back to look at fishies.
Muuu? The fishie from just now swam up to Cai Hong! It has really big eyes.
The fishie is staring at Cai Hong.
Cai Hong is staring back at fishie.
The fishie opened its mouth and bubbles came out.
Cai Hong reached out to the fishie.
The fishie continued to look at Cai Hong.
Cai Hong picked up the fishie and ate it.
Nom nom nom.
Muuu… Salty.
Cai Hong looked back at the 'beech'.
Papa is pulling big brother Brendan out from the sand. Muuu… Why is big brother Brendan so silly? Doesn't big brother Brendan know that sticking head in sand is bad?
Papa came back.
"Papa!" Cai Hong hugged Papa.
Ehehehe~ Papa is patting Cai Hong's head again~
"Is Cai Hong ok?" Papa asked.
"Mnnn! The 'beech' is fun!"
"Hahaha, that's good to hear. What does Cai Hong want to play with?"
Cai Hong hugged Papa tighter, "Cai Hong wants to play with Papa!"
Papa smiled, "Then does Cai Hong want to build a sandcastle?"
"Muuu? 'Sand cas wewl'? Is it yummy?"
"Hahaha! No, no, they can't be eaten. Come, I'll show you."
Papa carried Cai Hong out of the water and back on the 'beech'. Big sister Manami and Big sister Kiyomi were still putting the cream on each other.
Big brother Brendan was sleeping beside them, his face looked funny.
Papa brought Cai Hong to a big spot, then Papa squatted down on the sand. Cai Hong also squatted down beside Papa.
Papa put his palm on the ground, "We can use our Quarks to manipulate the sand to create sandcastles like this."
The sand made a rumble rumble and some of it popped out from the ground! It became a small house!
"Papa so cool! Teach Cai Hong?"
Papa laughed, "Haha, of course, of course. Come, put your hand on the sand and remember the feeling I taught you to control your Quarks."
"Muuu? The fuzzy wuzzy tingly feeling?"
"Yes, the fuzzy wuzzy tingly feeling. Concentrate on it and imagine the feeling going into the ground. Then imagine what kind of building you want to make with the sand. The more focused you are, the more detailed you can make your sand castle."
"Okies!"
Cai Hong did as Papa told, ummm… Put hands on sand… Then fuzzy feeling into sand and… And…
Muuuu? Sand is rumble rumble again!
A biiiiiiig sand popped out from ground and became big papa! Big papa looks so cool! Muuu, but Papa is still cooler!
*
(MC POV)
You know… When I wanted to teach Cai Hong about sandcastles, I was expecting us to just build small little ones that are less than one feet tall. Of course we could have used tools for it but this is much more interesting and good for training her control.
I even made a small version of the resort we were staying at just to show her. A simple trick really, just have to focus your Quarks on the sand and bend it to your will. If you were good enough, you might be able to influence it down to the tiniest sand particles which would allow you to create virtually anything.
Of course that's easier said than done since most people wouldn't be able to sense the minute sand particles or even know how to visualise it in the first place. So if an untrained person were to try this, they might end up with just a mound of sand and nothing else.
Considering how cute and smart Cai Hong was, I was thinking she might make something like a small fairy house or even a replica of our building back at the Sect.
That's why nothing prepared me for the giant, thirty foot tall sculpture of myself sprouting out from the ground without warning.
The sculpture showed me dressed in my usual robes while staring out into the sea with a sort of triumphant gaze. It was extremely detailed and even the robes looked like it was frozen in the midst of being blown by the wind.
The only difference between the sculpture and myself was that Cai Hong seemed to have added a pair of rather large dragon horns on the sculpture. They sprouted from the top of my head at an angle before curving backwards, reminiscent of antler horns.
Heck, there was even a dragon tail popping out from just above my butt, the appendage curling around my leg and raised slightly off the ground.
Putting aside the fact that she just managed to create that on her first try, which in hindsight I guess should be expected given her heritage, but is that how Cai Hong sees me?
"Papa! Cool!" Cai Hong hugged my waist
"Yes, that is very cool, Cai Hong," I agreed.
She puffed her cheeks at me, "No! Papa! Cool Papa!"
Ah… She is saying that I'm the cooler one, not the statue. Seriously, how precious can you be?
She started hopping excitedly, "Papa make big 'sand cas wewl'!"
Hmmm…. In that case…
I extended my senses down into the ground and spread it to the open area a few metres ahead of me.
Concentrating on the image I had, I extended control over the sand particles I needed before manipulating them to the shapes I wanted.
The sand began flowing up from the ground, forming into the shape of a giant, life sized Primordial Divine dragon.
I figured Cai Hong might like to see another dragon even if it's made out of sand and since this dragon's shape is imprinted quite deeply in my memory, I decided to recreate it. Hard to forget the one that 'killed' you, you know?
Cai Hong tilted her head at the sculpture before looking at me while pointing at it, "Mama?"
I chuckled, that must be her dragon instincts reacting to the sight of another dragon.
"No, that's not mama."
The loli dragon looked at it again, then back to me with a big smile on her face, "Cai Hong still wuvs Papa!"
Argh!! This cute little thing! Why is she so damn cute?!
"Ehehe~ Papa is warm~" Cai Hong giggled after I picked her up to smother her with a hug.
Just as I was about to commence operation 'headpat Cai hong till she's a giggling mess', I heard a pair of voices behind me.
"M… Master… Could we trouble you for a little help?"
I turned around to see Kiyomi and Manami covered from head to toe in the skin lotion, and I mean it quite literally. They even had it on their hair and tails which matted their fur and made it sticky.
"Oh dear, didn't I mention you didn't need to use them on your hair?"
The girls pouted at me, "No, Master. You did not."
"Ah, my bad then. Let me help you girls get cleaned up and I'll help you two put it on properly this time, how about that?"
The two fox youkais immediately brightened up and nodded their heads enthusiastically.
I placed Cai Hong back down and let her play with the sand castles, making her promise not to wander too far away while I was helping her big sisters.
Manami and Kiyomi quickly dragged me away after that, intending to make me keep my promise. Guess it's time for another sunscreen scene.