Year of the Golden Dragon (22 page)

Ryan’s head really hurt now. Why would Madam Ching have done something like that? What kind of a person would set a fire that was sure to kill people?

He caught snippets of what Hong Mei and Alex were saying: First Emperor, Black Dragon, power of the jade, a promise, fulfilling their duty. It was all stuff from the poem. Ryan reached up to massage his aching head and felt the beginning of a scab where that man had burned him. That man. Ryan swallowed and focused on Hong Mei and Alex.

“Hong Mei?” Ryan asked. “Do
you
believe that Black Dragon really existed?”

She nodded and said very slowly and quietly, “I believe he still exists. I have seen him.”

Ryan felt himself shudder. “I think I’ve seen him, too.”

Alex grabbed Ryan’s arm. “You have? Where?”

Ryan sighed, “Do you remember that weird guy at the airport that I told you about, the one with the scary eyes?”

Alex frowned. “Kind of.”

“I think he and the man who chased us into the subway in Kowloon are the same person.” Ryan could feel his brother staring at him, but his head hurt too much to turn it.

“Do you mean the one who was howling after we jumped onto the train?” Alex asked.

“I think so,” Ryan said.

“What does he want with us?” Alex asked.

“It is not
you
that he wants,” said Hong Mei. “He wants our jade. It belongs to him. Perhaps he wanted to frighten us, to make sure we would be afraid to fail. He wants us to feel what his anger would be like if we do not give him the jade as promised.”

“But if the legend is true, he’s going to die with or without the jade,” Ryan said. “Right?”

“Well, yes.” Hong Mei said.

Ryan continued, his head pounding. “He’d be angry, or disappointed or whatever, but he’d still die.” He massaged his forehead. “My jade is the only thing I have left of my father. I don’t know about you two, but I don’t really want to give my jade away; especially not to someone like that awful man.”

Hong Mei looked as if she was considering this. Ryan watched her put the box into her pocket before starting to bite one of her fingernails.

“It was a great sacrifice,” Hong Mei said dully. “He broke his jade and gave up his chance at immortality.”

“So what?” Ryan said. “It has nothing to do with us. That was two thousand years ago.”

Neither Alex nor Hong Mei said anything.

Ryan pushed his glasses up. Even the bridge of his nose ached.

“I am afraid that if we do not fulfill Master Chen’s promise, our jade may only bring us trouble, perhaps more death,” Hong Mei said quietly.

“What do you mean,
more
death?” Ryan asked.

Hong Mei and Alex stared at him in silence.

The realization hit him like a sudden slip on black ice. Madam Ching had killed his parents. She’d killed them for his and Alex’s jade.

Ryan felt anger bubbling up inside of him. His parents had died for two flat green stones. Reaching up with unsteady hands, he undid the clasp holding his pendant. What had seemed so dear to him a few moments ago suddenly seemed to burn the skin on his chest.

“Alex, take off your jade and give it to Hong Mei,” Ryan said. His headache had turned to thunder. “She can do whatever she wants with it.” His voice caught in his throat. “I don’t want anything more to do with
this,”
he said, letting the fan-shaped jade fall into Hong Mei’s already outstretched hand. “Hurry up. Give it to her and let’s get out of here.”

“I can’t,” Alex said looking up at him.

“What do you mean, ‘you can’t’?” Ryan cried.

“That’s not the way we’re supposed to do it, Ryan.
All
three heirs are supposed to meet Black Dragon at the river in the capital. All three of us have to hand over the jade.”

“Well,
I
am not going back to Beijing,” Ryan said. “If you want to go and see that
witch
again, go ahead, but I’m heading to Hong Kong.”

His younger brother’s eyes blazed. They sat, with eyes locked on each other’s faces, for almost an entire minute.

Finally Alex said, “Okay. But just remember that this was
your
idea,” he said, removing his jade and handing it over to Hong Mei. “Whatever happens will be your fault.”

Suddenly, there was the distant sound of a door slamming somewhere in the building.

He, Alex and Hong Mei looked at one another.

Hong Mei pointed to the tarp. “Quick. Cover yourselves with that.”

Ryan was instantly alarmed. Was this another trick?

“What are you going to do?” he asked.

“I will go see who it is. Perhaps it is the night watchman.”

“What if it’s not?” Alex asked.

“Just stay under there. I will come back as soon as I find out what made the sound.”

Ryan watched Hong Mei open her hand with his and Alex’s jade. She reached into her pocket and took her own out and added it to the other two. “Keep the jade. That is how you will know I will return for you.”

He didn’t reach out to take them, but Alex did.

Ryan looked at Hong Mei. One part of him said that he couldn’t trust her and another said he had no choice.

There was the sound of a door again but he couldn’t tell if it came from the same place or not. “Okay, but don’t take too long,” he mumbled. “I meant what I said, Hong Mei. As soon as you come back, Alex and I are out of here.”

To Alex, he said, “Don’t get any ideas. We’re only keeping the jade as collateral. It’s drenched in blood.”

Chapter 19

A Historical Question

After Hong Mei had covered Ryan and Alex
with the tarp, she made her way toward the sound. It was the middle of the night and nobody should be in the mausoleum. She hoped it was just a guard and they could stay clear of him.

Slowly, and as quietly as she could, she moved amongst the Terra Cotta Warriors. The soldiers were amazingly real, and the other figures were equally lifelike. Hong Mei could make out the defined muscles on the horses that stood proudly beside their riders. She marvelled at the intricate details etched on each of the full-size chariots that she passed. Hong Mei could only imagine how majestic the army would have looked when it was first painted in its glorious colours.

Lost in wonder, she was startled when she heard something behind her. Wheeling around, Hong Mei saw that nobody was there. She listened carefully, but could only hear her heart pounding in her ears.

Alex was right about this place feeling spooky. The soldiers seemed to watch her every move.

After taking a few more steps, she stopped again. Was this the way the three of them had come in? Hong Mei wished she had grains of rice to drop along the way, so she could find her way back to Ryan and Alex. Some leader she was turning out to be.

Hong Mei was about to retrace her steps when something thick and heavy coiled quickly around her ankles. She couldn’t make out what it was and tried to shake it off. Her efforts were useless. Hong Mei called out for help from an unseeing clay soldier, just before she was yanked down to the ground and everything went black – again.

•~•

“Ah. Young Chen is finally waking.”

Hong Mei was too groggy to place the voice. Her head throbbed. She swallowed and her throat burned with the effort. Opening her eyes, she tried to focus, but everything was blurry. She stretched her hand toward the figure and asked, “Who are –” but recoiled when she felt the dry, scaly skin. Now Hong Mei remembered who owned the voice.

“Black Dragon sees that Miss Chen is not well.”

Hong Mei imagined the smirk behind the words. “How did you find me?” she groaned.

“Miss Chen is clearly not as intelligent as Grandfather Master Chen.”

Drawing herself up to sitting, Hong Mei leaned against a cool wall. She could see better now, and noticed they were outdoors. Avoiding Black Dragon’s eyes, she tried to speak again. “Where are –”

“Silence!” the man hissed. “Miss Chen only speaks when Black Dragon allows it.”

Hong Mei smelled Black Dragon’s rancid breath. She tried to breathe in some of the early morning air. Keeping her eyes averted, something in Black Dragon’s hands caught her attention. The box. That’s what had attracted him. Why hadn’t she left that with the boys too?

“Has Young Chen recovered from her fall?” Black Dragon asked. He giggled. The high-pitched sound reverberated between her ears. It felt as if someone was poking around the inside of her head with acupuncture needles.

“Black Dragon longed to see his precious jade. Black Dragon worried that young Chen and the Emperor’s heirs might try to cheat Black Dragon.”

Hong Mei licked her lips. She glanced around without moving her head. Where was she? At her back was a cement wall and underneath her stiff legs were cobblestones. She and Black Dragon sat on the ground, but Hong Mei saw several stone tables and stools set up around her. Across the courtyard was a rolled-down shutter.
A tea shop?

“Is Miss Chen listening to Black Dragon?”

Hong Mei leaned back and away. “Yes.” She saw Black Dragon’s nostrils flare. His forehead above the sunglasses wrinkled into a frown.

Hong Mei tried again. “Yes, Mighty Black Dragon. I am listening.”

“Ahhh.” Black Dragon sighed, and a smile forced his thin lips into a curve. “The girl is not so stupid after all.”

Black Dragon stood up, towering over Hong Mei. She thought he looked bigger than he had at the airport. His robe fit tight, and the collar was undone. She saw the rough, dark skin of his neck. Black Dragon came within centimetres of her. Hong Mei drew her knees up as she tried to hide her fear.

“Black Dragon could no longer wait to see his jade. The jade that Black Dragon loved so much.”

Hong Mei heard Black Dragon gnashing his teeth. She bit her tongue to stop her own teeth from chattering.

“And what did Black Dragon find in the box Master Chen made? The jade of Black Dragon? No. A piece of the jade of Black Dragon? No. There was not even the scent of the lovely green stone; only the taint of sandalwood, left over, no doubt, by the perfume of that evil empress.” Black Dragon peered down at Hong Mei. “Miss Chen is trembling.”

“Black Dragon – I mean Honourable Black Dragon. May I speak?”

He smiled and said, “Young Chen may.”

“Madam Ching gave me the box, but –”

Hong Mei barely had time to cover her face as a searing blast of vapour shot out at her from the man’s open mouth. She scrunched her body into a ball facing the ground, her arms wrapped over her head. Why had Master Chen told her not to fear Black Dragon when each time she encountered him he was so horrible to her? Black Dragon leaned down and continued spewing hot, fetid fumes over her while he spoke.

“Ching? Another Ching woman in this modern age? How did a Ching get her filthy hands on Master Chen’s box? And why was she so foolish to give you this box?” His dark face turned blacker. “Are you telling Black Dragon the truth, Miss Chen?”

Hong Mei breathed in dusty air from the ground where she was huddled. This wasn’t how a daughter of an ancient and mystical clan should end up. She pictured Master Chen’s kind face and those of her loving mother and father, gathering strength from their images.

Using every bit of courage she could muster, Hong Mei pulled herself up again to standing. She straightened her back, stared Black Dragon in the face, and in a very firm voice said, “On my grandfather’s honour, I am telling the truth, Great Black Dragon. Madam Ching could not have known the power of the box. She gave it to me to take it to convince the Emperor’s heirs of their heritage. She did not give me the scroll. She kept that.”

“Scroll? Does Young Chen refer to the writing of Master Chen?”

“I believe so. It is the poem that my father taught me and the heir’s father told to them.”

“How does a Ching have this valuable document? It was to be kept safe by the Emperor’s descendants. Are
none
of the heirs fulfilling their obligations?”

“Benevolent Black Dragon, please forgive us. We have encountered many obstacles, but at this very moment, the Emperor’s heirs are safekeeping Almighty Black Dragon’s jade. We were tricked by Madam Ching once, but it will not happen again. Wise Black Dragon is right. Madam Ching is evil.”