Snake (16 page)

Tsung clapped once and every soldier pointed his
qiang
at Ying.

Ying stared up at the Emperor, confused.

“What do you have to say for yourself?” the Emperor asked.

Ying tried to make sense of the question and what he saw around him. “Thank you?”

“Thank you!” the Emperor bellowed. He glared down at Ying.

“Thank you,
Your Highness?”
Ying said.

“Do you know why you are here?” the Emperor snapped.

“I believe I do,” Ying replied. His eyes darted around the room.

The judge cleared his throat and opened a sizable
scroll. “Major Ying, you are under arrest for negligence in the line of duty.”

Ying's eyes widened. “Under arrest? What did I do?”

“You failed to protect my nephew, Yue,” the Emperor said. “He was your captain.”

“With all due respect, Your Highness,” Ying said, “he lost his life while taking the bandit stronghold. He went down fighting—like a soldier. We were victorious.”

“Try telling that to my sister,” the Emperor said. “I couldn't stand him personally, but my sister seemed rather fond of him.”

“I… I don't understand,” Ying said.

“He was under your command, and he lost his life,” the Emperor said. “You are responsible. There is also the matter of your failure at Cangzhen Temple.”

“Failure?” Ying said. “I'm sorry five young warrior monks escaped, Your Highness, but other than that, the mission was a success.”

“What about the Grandmaster's head?”

Ying twitched. “Didn't my man Tonglong deliver it to you?”

“No,” the Emperor replied. “The only head he brought me was Yue's.”

Ying scowled and fought the urge to spit on the floor.

“Does that upset you?” the Emperor asked. “Well, how about this—I've rewarded Tonglong by giving him your troops as well as your title. You've officially been stripped of it.”

Ying's lips curled back, and his entire body began to shake. He struggled to form words. “When did Tonglong know this?”

“Before he delivered the invitation to you.”

Ying snarled. “What is to become of me?”

“You will be punished.”

“How?”

“Slowly,” the Emperor said. “You will sit in prison until the flesh rots off your bones.”

T
his can't be,
Seh thought.
Those dumplings Fu ate… ? And that long black hair
…
?
Seh's stomach began to turn, and he swallowed hard. How many of those dumplings did Fu actually eat?

The only thing that kept Seh from retching was the sound of approaching footsteps. The old man and woman were coming toward him. He closed his eyes completely.

“Hurry up and tie them down,” the old woman said. “You know how quickly that sleeping broth wears off.”

Seh sensed the old woman walk past and heard her lock the front door. When he sensed the old man hover over him, Seh made his move. He opened his
eyes and thrust both arms out, latching on to the man's throat. Seh wasn't about to become somebody's dinner.

The old man dropped the ropes and the meat hook and grabbed hold of Seh's arms, just below the elbows. The old man began to squeeze and Seh cried out. The old man wasn't frail at all. He was incredibly strong, and he was clamping down on pressure points in Seh's forearms.

The old man laughed. “You should never judge a book by its cover, boy.” He squeezed harder, and Seh nearly collapsed. Seh struggled to focus enough to lift one knee so he could kick the old man away.

“Eeeeeow!” the old man suddenly shouted, and released Seh. The man took a step sideways and lifted one of his arms. Seh saw blood trickling out of a snakebite.

Seh caught a glimpse of the beauty snake slipping back beneath his robe sleeve. He stepped toward the man but sensed trouble from the rear. Seh ducked just in time. The old woman swung her meat cleaver at his head powerfully from behind. She wasn't the least bit frail, either. Seh realized he was going to have to use every bit of force he could muster.

From his crouched position, Seh slid forward, throwing all his weight into a punch to the side of the old man's left knee.

“Arrrgh!” the old man shouted as he tilted toward the floor. He fumbled for his meat hook. “I'm going to string you up and fillet you into—”

“Quiet, old man!” Seh shouted. He rose and slammed his fist into the old man's jaw, hitting exactly halfway between the man's ear and chin. The old man dropped like a rock, out cold before he hit the floor.

Seh sensed something behind him again and turned to see the old woman launch the meat cleaver at the center of his back. He shifted his weight to one side and watched the cleaver graze his gray cotton robe before it sank deep in the far wall.

The old woman shrieked and headed for the curtain at the back of the restaurant. It took Seh three steps to catch her. A sharp yank on the back of her collar stopped her dead in her tracks, and a single arm around her neck brought her to her knees. Seh hissed in her ear. “If you ever—”

The front door suddenly exploded off its hinges. Sanfu barreled into the room shoulder first. “I heard you shout…” He stopped and stared at the old couple. His upper lip curled.

“What are you doing here?” he demanded. “I thought the Governor locked you and this butcher husband of yours away months ago.”

Seh released the old woman. She glared at Sanfu. “The
Emperor
recently overturned that decision.”

Sanfu scoffed. “So the Emperor has lowered himself to taking bribes from murderers and thieves?”

“I'll be sure to tell him you said that,” the old woman spat. “He comes here when he's at his summer palace.”

“I'll bet he does,” Sanfu said. “Seh, tie her up. Tie up her husband, too. We're spending the night here.”

Seh nodded and scanned the room. “Where is Malao?”

“Guarding the back door,” Sanfu replied.

“Seh?” a deep, groggy voice said. “What… what's going on?”

Seh glanced over and saw Fu rubbing his eyes. “You were drugged, Pussycat,” Seh said. “Go back to sleep.”

Fu sat up and groaned. “I think I'd rather go back to following the white monkey through the forest. Ohhhhh. How many more nights are we going to have to do this before we get to Kaifeng?”

“Five,” Seh replied. “But from now on, I'm picking the inns. And no more dumplings.”

A
re you okay, Seh?” Malao asked. “You don't look so good.”

“I'll be fine,” Seh replied. “Let's just go.”

Seh stepped out of their fifth inn in as many nights. He squinted in the early-morning haze and took a long, slow breath. It was the beginning of their fifth day on the road to Kaifeng, and the closer they got to the city, the worse he felt. Even at this hour, hundreds of people flowed along the road before him, like ants hunting for food. His head was beginning to cloud, but he fought it.

Sanfu put a beefy arm around Seh's shoulders. “Only a few more hours to Kaifeng.”

Seh nodded and followed as Sanfu pushed his way
into the crowd. Fu and Malao trailed close behind Seh. Seh double-checked the dragon scroll in the small of his back and the snake on his wrist. Both were secure, though the snake was trembling. Its senses were being overloaded, too.

Seh had never experienced anything like this. Since they had left the Divine Dumpling, the road had continued to widen until twenty men could now easily stroll down it side by side. The people traveling along it in both directions carried every object imaginable—live chickens, grain, shoes, tea—the list was endless. Goods were carried on mules, in carts, and on shoulders.

The variety of travelers seemed endless, too. Merchants, craftsmen, and peasants all pushed headlong beside one another, wearing gray threadbare cotton, shimmering silk robes, and everything in between.

It was lunchtime when they reached the massive wooden gates of Kaifeng. The gates were as high as four men were tall and designed to keep intruders out of the walled city. Today they were wide open. A river of more than a thousand people ebbed and flowed in and out of the gates. People pushed up against Seh from every side as they entered the city.

But the worst part was the stench. Between the unending walls of shops along the city's main thoroughfare and the high surrounding walls, there was no air circulation. The combined stink of animal dung, open-air-cooking-stall steam, and human sweat seeped into his nostrils. Seh coughed.

Sanfu muscled his way up to Seh. “It's normally not this crowded,” he said. “The first day of New Year and the first day of the Dragon Boat Festival are the worst.” Fu and Malao finally pushed through the throng and joined them. “Stay together and follow me,” instructed Sanfu.

Sanfu moved forward, parting the crowds, and stopped at the base of an enormous bell tower raising its head high above the masses. Seh was so preoccupied with everything at ground level, he hadn't noticed it until now.

Sanfu pointed at the tower. “Remember this structure. You can see it from anywhere in Kaifeng. Notice it's positioned on the main thoroughfare, which runs south to north. Follow the road south and you'll go back the way we just came to the primary city gates. Go north and you'll run into a wide bridge that spans the Yellow River. We're now going to head east.”

They pushed their way down a side avenue. The farther they went, the fewer people there were milling about. They passed row after row of two-story housing interspersed with small shops offering any item you might need or want. Seh saw grocers, bakers, bankers, and blacksmiths. Like the line of travelers on the road, the list of goods was endless.

After a quarter of an hour, Sanfu stopped in front of one of the small shops. It looked exactly like every other small shop, except it didn't have a sign. Instead, it had a small metal phoenix in the very center of the front door. The phoenix was painted green.

Sanfu knocked on the door three times. A moment later, the phoenix rotated up and Seh saw a big brown eye look out of a hole in the door.

“Sanfu!” a woman said from behind the door. “Come in! Come in!”

The door swung inward, and Sanfu bowed. “Greetings,” he said. “It is good to see you.” He motioned inside.

Seh entered first. He nodded to the large woman holding the door open and scanned the room. He saw nine or ten small, battered tables, surrounded by mismatched chairs. All the shutters were drawn, and the medium-sized room was lit by too few lanterns. Seh supposed the low light level hid aspects of the place better left in the dark. There wasn't a single customer, and he wasn't surprised.

Fu entered next, followed by Malao. Sanfu entered last, quickly scanning the street before closing the door and locking it.

“Welcome to the Jade Phoenix!” the woman said. “My name is Yuen. You must be Seh, Malao, and Fu. Mong told me you'd be coming.”

One corner of Seh's mouth rose in a lopsided grin. Mong was still alive.

“Hello,” Seh said.

“Hi,” Malao and Fu said in unison.

Sanfu smiled. “So, Mong is here?”

“Yes,” Yuen replied. “He survived that terrible attack on his stronghold, thank the heavens. But he's in a meeting right now. He said if you arrived, he
wanted you to join in—but the boys are to wait here in the dining room.”

Seh's grin faded. How did Mong know that Sanfu was with them?

“I understand,” Sanfu said. “Is it possible for you to serve these young men some food while they wait? Seh and Malao are vegetarian, but I know Fu would love to sample some of your famous soy sauce chicken.”

The woman's eyes lit up. “Certainly! Will you be eating, too?”

“Later,” Sanfu said. “After the festivities. Are the dragon boats scheduled to race this afternoon?”

“Yes,” the woman replied. “They should start in a few hours.”

“Perfect,” Sanfu said. He looked at Seh, Malao, and Fu in turn. “Have a seat and relax. This place may not look like much, but the food is outstanding. Trust me.” He nodded to the woman, and she blushed. “I will return shortly.” Sanfu headed for a long, tattered curtain at the back of the restaurant, and the woman followed.

Seh watched them pass behind the curtain. He wondered why Mong would want to see Sanfu without him or his brothers around.