Snake (11 page)

Seh slid up to the back door and began to open it slowly.

S
eh stuck his head through the banquet hall's back door. Inside, it was pure pandemonium. The front door was open at the opposite side of the hall, and both bandits and soldiers were pouring in and out. Inside the hall there must have been about fifty bandits and one hundred armored soldiers. Several soldiers had
qiangs.

Seh felt his head begin to cloud from all the activity. He fought it and moved forward.

The instant Seh stepped through the back door, the wide blade of a soldier's broadsword slashed through the air in search of Seh's forehead. Seh dropped to one knee and rolled, and the blade sank deep into the doorjamb.

Seh jumped to his feet, stumbling on something. He glanced down and saw a large, elaborate silk hat lying in the middle of the floor. Irritated, he kicked it out of the way.

The pale head of a well-groomed man rolled out of the hat, turning end over end across the floor.

“Captain Yue!” Seh's attacker gasped.

The soldier went after the head and Seh backed up against the wall. Seh heard someone retch, followed by Hung's voice sounding wet and sloppy. Seh looked in the corner and saw Hung hunched over. Fu was next to him.

“Do it!” Hung growled. “You need to empty your stomach to fight. Don't make me shove my finger down
your
throat, too.” Hung shook a bile-covered finger at Fu. Seh saw bits of food clinging to the back of Hung's hairy hand.

Fu extended his finger.

Seh turned away.

“Seh, over here!” Malao shouted. He was standing on top of the banquet table, kicking plates of food into soldiers’ faces. Gao was jumping frantically around on all fours next to him. Gao's tongue was hanging out, and his eyes rolled around crazily

A soldier climbed onto the far end of the table and ran toward Malao and Gao. Gao responded with an unorthodox maneuver that was half dog roll, half foot sweep. The soldier's legs flew out from under him and he toppled to the floor.
Woof! Woof! Woof!

Seh heard several small bones crunch behind him,
and another man cried out. Seh looked over at the back door and saw NgGung waddle through it into the banquet hall. NgGung laughed in the face of the soldier who had just punched him in the stomach, then knocked the soldier unconscious with a hammer fist. NgGung turned toward the center of the hall and began to spin, cutting a wide swath through the combatants. Seh followed him with his eyes until NgGung passed a soldier with an extraordinarily long ponytail braid. It was Tonglong.

Tonglong was pitted against several bandits, and he wielded his straight sword with great skill. So much so, three of the bandits facing him ran off.

KA-BOOM!
A
qiang
fired near Seh.

Yip! Yip! Yip!

“NOOO!” Malao shouted.

Seh looked back at the table. Blood began to squirt out of a wound in Gao's arm. Malao's upper lip curled back, and he pulled the monkey stick from the folds of his robe.

Seh was about to jump onto the table to help Malao when the pit of his stomach began to tingle. He glanced out of the corner of his eye and saw Tonglong staring straight at him.

Tonglong raised his sword and charged toward Seh.

Seh lowered himself into a horse stance and raised one fist to protect his face. He lowered his other fist in front of his midsection as Tonglong attacked.

Tonglong swung his straight sword at Seh's head
and Seh ducked, only to realize too late that Tonglong's swing was just a ploy. Tonglong already had one of his legs cocked, and he unleashed a mighty kick toward Seh's chest. Seh brought his forearms together in time to block the kick, but the powerful impact sent Seh tumbling backward to the ground. As Seh scrambled to get to his feet, Tonglong jumped on top of him.

Seh grabbed the wrist of Tonglong's sword arm with one hand and used his other hand to lash out at Tonglong's neck with a snake-head fist. Tonglong blocked Seh's strike by raising his shoulder and countered by grabbing the front of Seh's robe with his free hand. Tonglong ripped Seh's robe wide open and, to Seh's amazement, jerked free and jumped off Seh.

Tonglong turned and raced toward the center of the hall as Seh stood with his robe spread wide across his chest. Seh watched Tonglong grab a uniformed man and lead him to the fringe of the fighting. The man turned to face Seh. It was Ying.

Tonglong pointed to Seh's exposed chest and handed Ying what appeared to be one of the dragon scrolls. Seh checked the small of his back. His scroll was still there.

Ying tucked the scroll into his own robe and grinned. He flicked out his forked tongue and shrieked, “BROTHER SEH!”

Ying took three strides sideways up the nearest wall and leaped high in the air, his arms spread wide. As Ying soared over the group, Seh sank into a defensive
position with one hand held high, the other low.

Ying landed and snapped his right wrist forward. The sharp, weighted tip of his long chain whip shot straight at Seh's head. Seh leaped backward and crashed into the wall. The chain whip missed him, but Ying had snapped it back and began to swing it over his head in a huge circle.

As Ying began to swing faster and faster, Seh felt the pit of his stomach tingle. He glanced out of the corner of his eye and saw Malao running full speed across the top of the table toward them. Malao's upper lip was curled back.

“No, Malao!” Seh yelled. “Don't—”

But Malao didn't stop. One step from the edge of the table, Malao lunged forward in a powerful front handspring. He flipped through the air as Ying lashed out at Seh with the chain whip. Malao scissor-kicked his legs, attempting to kick the sharp, weighted end of Ying's chain whip before it slammed into Seh's skull.

Malao's timing was off. He screamed as the tip of the whip sliced a deep gash across his inner thigh, then fell silent as he hit the wall and his head slammed against the floor.

Seh hissed and lunged forward with a snake-fang fist, aiming for Ying's left eye. Ying tilted his head and Seh's fingers dug into one of the deep grooves in Ying's face. Seh raked his hand downward and Ying's cheek tore open.

At the same time, Seh struck at Ying's neck with his other hand. Ying dropped his chain whip and
latched on to Seh's wrist. Then he grabbed Seh's other wrist and began to pull Seh toward him.

Seh unleashed a powerful front kick. Ying blocked it by raising one knee. Seh kicked again. Ying blocked it again.

Ying pulled Seh closer. He opened his mouth wide and hissed, his sharpened teeth glowing in the light of the banquet hall lamps. Ying lowered his face toward Seh's left hand.

The snake beneath Seh's robe sleeve suddenly shot forward and clamped onto Ying's eyebrow. Ying shrieked and swatted at the snake, releasing Seh's hands—but the snake had already let go of Ying and was retreating beneath Seh's sleeve.

Seh heard Hung roar behind him.

Ying shrieked again and spun sideways, narrowly avoiding one of Hung's enormous war hammers. Ying snatched up his chain whip and launched himself out of Hung's reach, disappearing into the fray.

Seh watched Fu pick up Malao's limp body. Fu's eyes were moist.

“Take Malao out the back,” Seh said to Fu. “I'll be right there.”

Fu nodded and headed for the door.

“You go, too,” a voice said beside Seh. It was Mong.

Hung growled. “Where did all these soldiers come from?”

“The shipyard, I suppose,” Mong said.

“HaMo—” Hung said.

“Toad?” Seh asked. “Another Cangzhen monk?”

“Yes,” Mong replied. “HaMo was in charge of guarding the shipyard.”

“Do you suppose he's… dead?” Seh said.

“Not yet,” Hung replied. “But he will be if I catch him. We've wondered about his allegiance.

Mong looked at Seh. “Why are you still standing here?”

“I don't have a plan—”

“You want a plan?” Mong said. “These soldiers probably docked on the back of the island and climbed up with ropes. You should head in the opposite direction—through the main gate. Take the stairs down and get the boatman who brought you here to take you across. Do what you can for Malao and meet me in the capital city of Kaifeng on the first day of their Dragon Boat Festival at an inn called the Jade Phoenix. There's your plan. Go!”

“What if the boatman won't take us?” Seh asked.

“Then kill him,” Mong said. “Kill him and take the boat.”

Seh's eyes widened. “Kill him?”

“Listen to me,” Mong hissed. “The boatman is HaMo's friend. If the boatman doesn't help you, that means he may harm you. If he doesn't cooperate or if he seems the least bit suspicious, kill him.”

“But—”

“Kill him anyway!” Mong roared as Hung shoved Seh toward the door. “Now go! That's an order!”

S
eh stumbled out of the banquet hall into the night. Fallen soldiers and bandits now dotted the grounds of the stronghold. Fu and Malao were not among them.

Seh glanced down and saw a trail of blood glistening in the moonlight. It led to the storage shed. He followed it and burst through the door.

Fu was kneeling over Malao, next to the two soldiers AnGangseh had finished off.

“Help me,” Fu said, his voice hoarse. Tears fell from his face like rain.

Seh knelt down and saw that Fu had torn several strips from the bottom of his white silk robe. Seh and Fu bound Malao's leg as best they could.

“Are you okay?” Seh asked Fu.

Fu grunted and wiped his face. “I am going to kill Ying.”

“Not right now,” Seh said. “We need to get out of here.” He checked the scroll tucked away in the small of his back and the snake wrapped around his arm. Both were fine. Seh reached into the folds of Malao's robe and removed the carved monkey stick. “You carry Malao. I'll clear the way.”

Fu grunted again and lifted Malao. Seh stood and slipped out the door, the monkey stick in his hand.

As they crossed the compound, Seh kept his senses finely tuned for signs of danger. Soldiers were everywhere, but they posed no threat. They lay broken and bleeding in the middle of the main through-way and alongside burning buildings. Bandits were sprinkled about as well, gaping holes ripped through their bodies.

Seh and Fu found the main gate wide open.

“Look down the stairs with those cat eyes of yours,” Seh said. “Do you see anything?”

Fu shifted Malao in his arms and peered into the darkness, down toward the lake. “Nope. Do you sense something?”

“No,” Seh replied. “But the beach is a long way down. Somebody might be hiding there.”

“There's only one way to find out,” Fu said. He began to descend the steep stone stairs.

Seh quickly followed, watching Fu's back.

Seh still felt nothing when they reached the small patch of sand that sloped into the lake. He checked
the only patch of reeds in sight and found no one.

“At least the boat is still here,” Fu said as he climbed in with Malao. “I wish the boatman was, too.”

“No, you don't,” Seh said, slipping Malao's monkey stick into the folds of his own robe. “Mong ordered me to … Never mind. Let's just go.”

“Where are we going?” Fu asked.

“To Kaifeng,” Seh said. “We're supposed to meet Mong at an inn called the Jade Phoenix on the first day of their Dragon Boat Festival.”

“In a month?” Fu asked.

“Yes,” Seh replied. He pushed the boat into the water and climbed aboard, taking hold of the long oar. Seh worked the oar back and forth like he had seen the boatman do. The boat moved forward, but steering proved to be far more difficult than he thought it would. Eventually, he found that if he used smooth, steady strokes that traveled the same distance left to right, the boat moved more or less in a straight line.

Seh scanned the lake for other boats. He saw none. Halfway across the lake, he looked over at Fu. Fu was curled around Malao on the floor of the boat.

“What's wrong?” Seh asked.

“Malao won't stop shaking.”

“Oh, no,” Seh said.

Fu didn't respond.

Seh choked back the sadness welling up inside him. “Are those bandages working?” he asked.

Fu ran his hand over Malao's leg. “I think so. The blood that soaked through is drying.”