Dragon (6 page)

Hok hurried over to Charles and wrapped him in a blanket she’d brought, while Xie held up a bundle. It was another blanket wrapped around Charles’ pistols and holsters. Xie unwrapped the blanket, draped it over Charles’ head, and said, “I will hang on to your firearms until you have warmed up.”

“Th-th-thank you,” Charles stammered, his lips beginning to turn purple.

Long felt his
dan tien
begin to tingle, and he turned toward the house. A hunched figure in a hooded overcoat appeared from the opposite side of the structure, and an elderly female voice called out, “Why, Charles! Your sloop looks very different! I hardly recognized it from my window. Come in and dry off. Hok, Malao, Fu! So good to see you. Bring your friends and get yourselves out of this vile cold weather.”

The woman headed back the way she had come and disappeared, and the others hurried after her. Malao led the charge toward the house, followed by Hok and Fu with Charles between them. Long and Xie brought up the rear.

As they approached the home, Long took in the details. The house was small and old, but still in good condition. Most of the window shutters had been nailed shut for the winter, and the heavy front door appeared to have been designed to keep out more than the cold. It also looked like it had been broken down and repaired several times. As he entered the house and closed the door behind him, the old woman saw him eyeballing the pockmarked doorjamb.

“Occasionally, I receive unwelcome or impatient visitors,” she said with a smile. “You, however, will be received like family. Welcome. I am PawPaw.”

Long bowed. “I am Long. Thank you for allowing me into your home.”

Xie bowed, too. “I am Xie. I thank you as well.”

“No need for bows, and certainly no need for thank-yous,” PawPaw said, throwing back her hood to reveal thin gray hair and clear, sharp eyes. “I have not done anything. My home is your home. Tell me, what happened to your leg, Long? I noticed you limping and I can see the lump of a bandage on your thigh. There is one on your left arm, too.”

“It is a long story,” Long replied, unsure how much information he should share. He glanced at Hok.

“It’s okay,” Hok said, pointing to the front door. “PawPaw will understand our predicament better than anyone. She is an ally of the bandits, and is a key link in their information chain. That is how her door got that way.”

PawPaw smiled warmly, and Long found himself
smiling back. “I see,” he said. “In that case, I was sliced open by a man with a hidden dagger in the Shanghai Fight Club pit arena, then chased by soldiers under the leadership of a man called Tonglong. Hok sewed me back together. Do you know who Tonglong is?”

PawPaw nodded. “I do. Are you poor dears running from him?”

“Yes,” Hok replied. “That is why Charles’ sloop looks different. He changed its appearance to fool Tonglong. We are in trouble and need to see the bandits as soon as possible.”

PawPaw looked at Long’s leg. “All of you?”

“No,” Hok said. “If you do not mind, we would like my temple brother Long to stay here with you. He needs to heal.”

“Excuse me?” Long said. “You aren’t going anywhere without me.”

Xie laid a firm hand on Long’s shoulder. “Yes, we are. Hok and I have already discussed this, and you have no say in the matter. If it is agreeable with PawPaw, you will remain here while Charles takes the rest of us to Kaifeng in his boat. Once there, Hok, Malao, and Fu will seek out the bandits, while I continue home alone. Charles will head off on his own, too, traveling back to the southern sea in search of the pirates. He will attempt to obtain firearms for us.”

Long frowned.

“You are in no condition to travel overland,” Hok said. “Your stitches need to come out in the next day or
two, and afterward you must not put too much strain on your leg or arm. Walking the distances we must travel would be too much for you right now. Once you have healed, of course we would like you to join us with Mong and the bandits. By the time you reach us, we will hopefully have a plan to deal with Tonglong. Someone will then need to share that plan with Xie, and the most likely candidate is you.”

Long looked at Xie.

Xie nodded. “That is right. It is a long and treacherous journey to the city of Tunhuang—my homeland. However, an individual can do the trip relatively quickly, provided he or she has the right equipment. Have you ever ridden a horse?”

“No,” Long said.

“Then you will have to learn,” Xie said. “I have a contact in Kaifeng who breeds horses unlike any other in China. I will take one of his mounts for my journey home, and I will make arrangements for you to have one as well. You must heal first, though. You cannot ride with your leg in that condition.”

PawPaw looked at Xie. “You are the son of the Western Warlord, are you not?”

Xie’s eyebrows rose. “I am. How did you know?”

“I make it my business to know things,” PawPaw said. “I recently received important news from a black market dealer in Jinan called HukJee—Black Pig. He has received reports from within Tonglong’s ranks that Tonglong has slain his own mother, as well as your father. I am sorry.”

Long saw Xie’s massive jaw muscles tighten. “Bad news travels quickly,” Xie said.

“It does,” PawPaw replied. “And there is more. Tonglong’s people are spreading the claim that he had no choice but to take action against your father because your father was planning to revolt against the Emperor. They also say that you escaped from Tonglong with the help of a fight club fighter called Golden Dragon, and that you intend to carry out your father’s plan. Tonglong says that the Emperor is in his protective custody because of this threat to national security, and he is currently assembling an army of civilians to join his existing troops and march upon your lands.”

Xie scowled. “The lying dog! I must get back to my people.” He turned to Charles, who was crouched next to PawPaw’s fireplace. “How long do you think it will be before we can leave?”

“Give me half an hour and a bowl of hot soup,” Charles said, “and I’ll be ready.”

PawPaw smiled. “I will get the soup started.”

“Thank you,” Xie said. “All of you. Your kindness will not be forgotten.” He removed a large ring from his little finger and handed it to Long. It was a jade scorpion resting atop a small mountain of gold.

Long slipped the ring onto his thumb.

“After you have healed,” Xie said, “go to Kaifeng and seek out a horseman called Cang. He is quite famous and will not be difficult to find. Show him this ring. He will take care of the rest. Any questions?”

“I suppose I have one,” Long said. “Should I really do this on my own?”

“Unfortunately, yes. It will be asking a great deal for Cang to provide me with a horse, as well as you. Asking for a third might be out of the question.”

“Can someone ride the horse with me?”

“No. The journey is too taxing to expect a horse to carry more than one rider.”

Long nodded.

PawPaw glanced at Hok. “How long do you think it will be before Long has healed enough to handle the stress of riding a horse for several days?”

“I would estimate four weeks,” Hok replied. “That is, if you have a complete stock of healing herbs. He could probably sit on a horse for short periods in about two weeks, which is what I would consider to be the time frame for a general recovery. Is that acceptable?”

“Of course,” PawPaw replied. “I am just trying to make plans of my own. Do you know how to find Mong once you reach Kaifeng?”

“Yes,” Hok said. “We need to talk with Yuen at the Jade Phoenix.”

“Perfect,” PawPaw said. “She can tell you how to find them. The bandits are constantly on the move. Even so, it should take you less than a week to reach them. They live in the forest, but tend to remain relatively close to Kaifeng. As soon as you arrive, ask Mong to send three strong men to me with two horse carts. By the time we load up and return to the bandits’
camp, and Long travels to Kaifeng, his leg should be healed.”

“We?” Hok asked.

“I am going to the bandit camp, too,” PawPaw said. “There is war on the horizon. Mong is going to need all the help he can get.”

S
haoShu sat on the edge of his bed, picking lint out of his belly button. He had not been this bored in a very long time.

Since the incident with the Emperor and the spilled ink several days ago, he had been kept away from Tonglong’s command center office and meeting rooms. In fact, he had been excluded from just about everything, spending nearly all of his time in this makeshift bedroom. Tonglong had recruited a group of elite soldiers to follow him around to do his bidding, and one of these soldiers had caught ShaoShu trying to sneak extra food to the Emperor. Consequently, he had been confined here.

This was just as well, as far as ShaoShu was concerned. The more distance between him and Tonglong,
the better. He had heard a few things about what the sneaky mantis was up to, and he did not like any of it. For example, just that morning he’d overheard a conversation about Tonglong showering his elite soldiers with money to keep hidden the fact that the Emperor was currently being held prisoner in the pig crate. Everyone knew that the Emperor was with Tonglong, but they thought that he was being luxuriously catered to in one of the wings of this massive building.

ShaoShu had also heard that Tonglong was sending vast sums of money to the Forbidden City to bribe people to do his bidding. This money was said to be coming from the sale of some of the treasure Tonglong had stolen from Ying’s family, and this upset ShaoShu. However, there was little that he could do about it. He could not just sneak away and find Ying to tell him about it. Not only did he not know where Ying was, there was always one of those elite soldiers near his door. He had tried to sneak out before, but never had any luck.

ShaoShu pouted. He hated being stuck in this room.

A pouch tied to his sash began to wriggle, and ShaoShu looked down to see his pet mouse poke its head out of the soft bag. It was probably hungry. He had taken the mouse into his care while he was stowed away on a boat Tonglong had commandeered. This was before Tonglong had even become the Southern Warlord. Until now, keeping his pet happy and fed regularly had not been a problem.

“I’m sorry, little one,” ShaoShu said, taking the
mouse out and stroking its head. “I can’t just go and swipe food for us whenever I like, like I used to. I have to wait for it to be delivered. I don’t even get to pick what we eat. I know the things they have been bringing lately are no good for mice. I’m sorry.”

The mouse looked up at him with sad eyes, and ShaoShu scratched its scrawny sides, running his fingers along its protruding ribs.

“Maybe I should let you go?” ShaoShu said. “You can go places I can’t. You would probably be better off free. I’ll let you decide.”

ShaoShu placed the mouse on the floor. It stood still for a moment, staring at him; then it twitched its nose and scurried away beneath the door.

ShaoShu sighed. “Goodbye, my friend.”

He wished he could do the same thing. He was very good at squeezing through tight spaces, but he had not been able to figure out a way to escape this place. Tonglong’s elite soldiers were the best of the best, and as good as he was at creeping around, he could not sneak past them. He would be stuck here forever.

Unless—

Unless he just made a break for it. Forgot stealth and simply ran. After all, he was small, quick, and nimble. It might be worth a try. Besides, he would go crazy otherwise, just sitting in this room all day and night.

ShaoShu decided to give it a try. He crossed the room, checked to make sure the two dragon scrolls he had swiped were securely hidden deep within the folds of his robe, and slowly pulled his door open.

He got lucky. There was a soldier looming nearby as always, and this man was very close—only two paces away. Perfect. Before the soldier could even open his mouth to ask what he was doing, ShaoShu lowered his head and ran right between the man’s legs. The soldier snatched at him, but missed. As the man spun around to begin his pursuit, ShaoShu picked up speed.

“Stop, you little rodent!” the soldier yelled.

ShaoShu didn’t look back. He saw that this corridor was coming to an end ahead, and he had to make a decision: turn right or left. He chose left.

He should have chosen right.

As ShaoShu rounded the corner, he crashed headfirst into Tonglong, who was striding forward. Shao Shu spun to one side in an effort to get around Tonglong, but Tonglong’s hand snapped downward with incredible speed and latched on to the back of ShaoShu’s neck. ShaoShu squealed in pain, and Tonglong responded by squeezing even harder. Tonglong’s grip was amazing.

ShaoShu began to sob. “Please stop, sir. That really hurts.”

A group of elite soldiers rushed forward from behind Tonglong, and the disgraced soldier that Shao Shu had evaded approached from the opposite direction. Once ShaoShu and Tonglong were surrounded, Tonglong released his grip, shoving ShaoShu’s face toward the floor.

“Kowtow,”
Tonglong said.

ShaoShu obeyed. He dropped to his knees and tapped his forehead against the floor three times before
focusing his eyes on the tops of Tonglong’s heavy boots.