Mouse (16 page)

ShaoShu stood and began to clap. “That was great! Is he dead?”

Golden Dragon looked up at him. “No, he's not dead. He's unconscious. Who are you?”

ShaoShu glanced around to make sure none of the workers were close. He leaned over the pit arena railing and said in a low whisper, “My name is ShaoShu, and I am friends with Hok, Fu, and Malao. I have a message for you.”

Golden Dragon's eyebrows rose up. He scanned the fight club, too. “Come down here so we can talk.”

“Me? How?”

“Jump.”

“What?”

“Just jump,” Golden Dragon said in an impatient tone. “I'll catch you. Try to lie down in the air as you fall.”

ShaoShu looked around again and caught one of the workers staring at him. Before anyone could stop him, he swung his legs over the railing and launched himself toward Golden Dragon as though he were flopping onto a bed on his back.

Golden Dragon caught him with ease, setting him onto his feet.

“Well done,” Golden Dragon said.

“Thanks,” ShaoShu replied. He nodded toward the unconscious man, still lying on the pit arena floor. “Is it safe to talk here?”

“Safer than most places in this building. There are guards everywhere, but none of them would dare come into the pit with me. Don't worry about my friend here, either. It will be a while before he regains consciousness.”

ShaoShu grinned. He liked Golden Dragon.

“What is this message you're talking about?” Golden Dragon asked.

“Well, first of all, Hok told me to tell you that—”

Golden Dragon's body suddenly went rigid, and he held up a callused hand.

“What is it?” ShaoShu whispered.

“Shhh,” Golden Dragon said. “Someone is coming. Someone bad. Keep quiet, and let me do the talking.”

ShaoShu listened and soon heard footsteps on the opposite side of the pit arena door. A huge brown face filled a little window in the door, and the door swung inward, into the tunnel. A petite woman wearing a large black silk hood glided into the pit. The gigantic man whose big brown face had been in the window remained in the doorway, his massive arms folded.

Golden Dragon bowed, and the woman asked, “Who are you?”

When Golden Dragon didn't answer, ShaoShu realized that she was talking to him. He was about to reply when Golden Dragon spoke first. “He is my ring boy.”

“Your what?”

“My ring boy,” Golden Dragon said. “He is responsible for assisting me tonight. He will carry my water, my towels, my—”

“Look at me, child,” the woman interrupted. She stepped closer to ShaoShu and pushed back her hood to reveal a beautiful face and long, luxurious hair. Her black eyes shone bright, and she stared deeply into ShaoShu's eyes.

ShaoShu suddenly felt light-headed, and the room began to spin. He tried to look away, but for some reason he could not unlock his eyes from hers.

“Do you know who I am?” the woman asked.

ShaoShu shook his head.

“I am AnGangseh. General Tonglong, the new Sssouthern Warlord, is my ssson. I believe you know him.”

ShaoShu nodded.

“What are you doing here?”

ShaoShu felt himself beginning to answer, even though he didn't want to. Words started to form in his mouth, and Golden Dragon slapped him on the back, bringing him back to his senses. He looked away, shaking his head to clear it.

“I asked what you are doing here,” AnGangseh repeated.

“Your question was already answered, gracious lady,” Golden Dragon said. “He is helping me. If you'll pardon us, we have work to do before tonight's event.”

“You will answer my questions until I am sssatis-fied!” AnGangseh hissed, turning to the huge man in the doorway. “Isn't that right?”

The big man nodded.

ShaoShu cleared his throat. “My name is ShaoShu, miss. I work for your son. I came here to pick up some posters for tonight's event, and I met Golden Dragon. He asked me to help him.”

AnGangseh flicked a piece of white hair from the hem of her black robe. “Golden Dragon's opponent tonight is a young man called Lei, who is now my ssson's commander in this region. I find it odd that you work for Tonglong, but you are going to help Golden Dragon.”

“If Lei had asked me to help him, I would have. But he didn't. Golden Dragon did. I had to say yes. This is the most exciting thing to ever happen to me!”

“Leave the kid alone,” said the huge man in the door way. “He's answered your questions. We have more important things to do.”

AnGangseh turned toward the man. “You will provide your opinion only when it's asked for, Xie. I have reason to be sssuspicious of Golden Dragon and anyone connected with him.” She looked back at Golden Dragon. “Tell me about Cangzhen Temple.”

“I don't know what you're talking about,” Golden Dragon replied.

“I think you do,” AnGangseh said. “I believe your real name is Long and that you are a fugitive. All Cangzhen monks have been deemed enemies of the ssstate. What do you have to sssay to that?”

“Nothing,” Golden Dragon said.

“Of course not,” AnGangseh snapped. “Let me leave you with this bit of information, then. My ssson
has your precious dragon ssscrolls. He no longer has use for them, ssso I am going to burn them. Better yet, maybe I'll ssslice them into little sheets for Tonglong's sssoldiers to use in the latrine.”

Golden Dragon's jaw tightened noticeably, and AnGangseh laughed.

“I knew it!” she said. “You
are
Long! Wait until I tell Tonglong.”

Xie took a step into the pit arena, glaring at Golden Dragon, daring him with his eyes to make a move.

“Never mind, Xie,” AnGangseh said. “After tonight, it won't matter. Lei is going to kill him. Make sure he doesn't leave the fight club.”

“I am not going anywhere,” Golden Dragon said. “And I resent your accusations. We can discuss this further after tonight's bout. Right now, I need to complete my preparations. ShaoShu, come with me.”

Golden Dragon walked past AnGangseh and Xie with his head held high, and ShaoShu followed him into the tunnels. After several twists and turns through the torch-lit corridors, they reached a room containing stacks of event posters.

“This is what you've come for,” Golden Dragon said. “Now is not a good time to talk. Take your posters back to Tonglong and return here in two hours. Tell the guards you are my ring boy. They will be expecting you. Meet me near the pit arena again, and I'll take you someplace private so that you can tell me about Hok and the others. After that, I will tell you what you need to do to help me tonight.”

“I'll do my best to return tonight,” ShaoShu said, “but Tonglong might not let me do it. I am sorry things turned out this way for you.”

“No need to be sorry. People were bound to find out eventually. I'll just have to think carefully about how I am going to handle things after I win.”

“You really think you're going to beat Lei?”

“I don't have a choice, do I?”

“I guess not. Is there anything I can do?”

Golden Dragon shook his head. “I've gotten this far alone. I'll finish it alone. Maybe afterward I'll join up with Hok and the others. I had other plans, but they're of no use now.” He looked around and pointed farther down the tunnel. “To exit, walk in that direction until you come to a fork. Keep to the right, and you will soon find a door that leads outside. Hope fully, I will see you in two hours.” He gave ShaoShu a slight bow and walked off.

ShaoShu grabbed an armload of posters and left, following Golden Dragon's directions. He hurried back to Tonglong's ship and found Tonglong alone in his cabin.

“You're back at last,” Tonglong said from behind his writing desk. “I was beginning to worry about you.”

“I met Golden Dragon!” ShaoShu said excitedly, placing the posters in a neat stack on the floor. “He asked me to be his ring boy tonight! Can I do it, sir? Please?”

Tonglong folded his hands upon his desk. “How do you think Lei will feel about it?”

ShaoShu kicked at a ball of cat hair that drifted past. He shrugged.

“You don't like him very much, do you?”

ShaoShu shook his head.

“Why not?”

ShaoShu considered saying that Lei was a liar and a thief and that he was the one who stole Tonglong's key. However, he decided not to. Tonglong might not believe him, and then Lei would surely kill him. Instead, ShaoShu lowered his voice and said, “He scares me, sir.”

“No need to worry about him right now,” Tong long replied. “He's at the fight club, preparing for tonight's bout. How is it that Golden Dragon asked for your assistance?”

ShaoShu's eyes brightened. “It just sort of happened, sir. We were talking, and then your mother came by, and—”

“My mother?” Tonglong interrupted. “Are you sure?”

“Yes, sir. She knew that I knew you.”

Tonglong's eyebrows rose up. “I don't believe I've mentioned you in any of my communications, and I certainly haven't seen her yet in Shanghai.”

“Maybe she just assumed I knew of you because you are famous, sir.”

“I doubt it,” Tonglong said, rubbing the powder burn on the side of his face. “She has been exchanging information with someone. Remember the other day I told you that I might have a job for you in Shanghai?”

“Yes, sir.”

Tonglong pulled a small pistol from the folds of his robe. “When you return to the fight club, I would like you to switch this with the pistol Lei carries beneath his pant leg.”

“Huh?”

“No questions,” Tonglong said. “Figure out a way to do it before he enters the pit arena tonight.”

ShaoShu turned the pistol over in his hands. It looked normal to him, but he doubted it was. He noticed Tonglong absentmindedly feeling for the necklace he no longer wore. “This is about your key, isn't it, sir?”

Tonglong lowered his hand. “No questions.”

ShaoShu nodded. “I understand.”

“Do you?”

ShaoShu thought for a moment. “Maybe not, but if this
is
about your key, you picked the right person.”

“I know I did,” Tonglong said, watching the ball of cat hair glide across the floor. “I always pick the right person. Now go do as you're told.”

A
nGangseh sat in the back corner of Lei's fight club preparation room, nearly invisible with her black hood pulled over her head. Xie had returned to the Emperor, and she had very little time before she would be expected to return, too. Lei had better be on time.

Moments later, Lei rushed into the room and closed the door. He looked around, and AnGangseh stepped out of the shadows.

“Do you have it?” she asked.

“Yes,” Lei replied. “Do you have the money?”

“Of course.” AnGangseh set a bag on the floor and took a step back. “Go on, look.”

Lei walked toward the bag and reached for it, then hesitated.

“It's not full of sssnakes, if that's what you're worried about,” AnGangseh said. “Out of respect for your family, I wouldn't do that. Your father was a famous sssellout. He helped me many times.” She smirked.

“Like father, like son,” Lei said with a chuckle. He opened the bag and removed a
tael
of silver. “This has the Emperor's personal seal!”

“Of course. Where else would I have been able to obtain the amount we agreed upon? Just melt them down into sssilver bars, and no one will know where it came from. Now give me what's mine.”

Lei reached into one of the holsters across his chest and removed Tonglong's key, admiring the entwined dragons that wrapped over and around the key's unique teeth. He tossed it to AnGangseh.

AnGangseh caught it and retied the dangling cord around her neck, then slipped the ornate key into the folds of her robe.

“I've never seen a key like that before,” Lei said. “What is it for?”

“You wouldn't believe me if I told you,” AnGangseh replied.

“You got it from HaiZhe, didn't you?”

“I received it before you were even born. How it came into my possession is none of your business.”

“Well, you never thanked me for killing him, you know. That is one loose end you won't have to tie up.”

“Thank you,” AnGangseh said in a sarcastic tone.

“What are you going to do with the key?”

AnGangseh paused, considering her reply. “You are ssstill on my payroll, yes?”

“Yes,” Lei said. “And as long as you keep paying me as well as you have been, I will continue to do your bidding, even after I win the fight club championship and climb higher up the Emperor's ranks.”

AnGangseh nodded. “I was going to give the key to my sssecond husband, Mong, but he was not interested in ultimate power. He would rather lead a group of misfit bandits and their ssso-called ‘Resistance’ and waste time with our ssson, Ssseh. Instead, I entrusted whereabouts of the key to my firstborn, Tonglong. However, once you informed me that he had retrieved it, I began to have regrets. You could sssay that it is the key to the Forbidden City, and being the Emperor's mother no longer appeals to me. I would rather keep the key for myself and use it to become the current Emperor's wife.”

“Well, good luck with that,” Lei said. “I look forward to my next payment. You should leave now. I have to start preparing for my fight.”