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“We can't concern ourselves with everyone else's business. If we did, who would look after our interests? With all due respect, General, here in the south, one Emperor makes no difference over another. They keep to themselves in the north and leave us alone, and we send them tribute. Boatload upon boatload of tribute, I might add.”

“Are you saying that you have no need for an army here?”

“This is a peaceful region,” the commander said. “The only difficulties we have are a few pesky bandits by land and the occasional Round Eye pirate by sea.”

“Isn't it your duty to stop these Round Eyes?”

“Heavens, no!”

Tonglong's face began to turn a bright red. “Why not?”

The commander looked confused. “Because one of my men might get hurt, of course. No, no. We couldn't have that. What would their families say? We leave the barbarians be. Let them take a shipment here or there. It is a small price to pay for our well-being, don't you think?”

“Would you like to see what I think?” Tonglong asked.

“Nothing would please me more,” the commander replied.

ShaoShu watched as Tonglong drew his straight
sword, throwing its ornate scabbard to the ground with unusual force. He gripped the sword's hilt with both hands and twisted his body powerfully from right to left, slicing across Commander Sow's midsection. The sword's blade appeared to have only grazed the commander, but to ShaoShu's dismay, the officer split completely in half. His torso and upper body toppled to one side, while his waist and everything below it fell to the other. Soldiers leaped backward as the air was filled with a shower of red rain.

ShaoShu turned away, shaking violently.

Tonglong glared at the group. “Does anyone here share this man's sentiments?”

Every soldier shook his head.

“Very well,” Tonglong said, wiping his blade across the fallen commander's chest. “I blame this buffoon and his absentee leader, HaiZhe, for your regiment's shortcomings. From this moment forward, you have a new commander.” He pointed to Lei.

Lei looked surprised, but he bowed respectfully. “At your service, sir!”

Tonglong eyed the soldiers. “Gentlemen, tonight you will go to sleep as commoners. Tomorrow you will wake as warriors. Your new leader is called Commander Lei—Thunder. Some of you might recognize him from the fight clubs. He is going to train you hard for the next several weeks in the repair, maintenance, and use of firearms, while I
will drill you in all manner of what it means to be a soldier. No one is to leave this camp. Your next step outside these walls will be as a single fighting unit. Is that clear?”

“Yes, sir!” the men replied as one.

C
harles sat at the large table in the apothecary's secret storage room, contemplating his next move. They had arrived without incident, and he was certain no one would ever find him or the others inside this cleverly concealed location. Hok had previously used it as a hideout, and there was more than enough room for them, including Ying, WanSow, Fu, and Malao. How ever, Charles was concerned about his sloop. If Tonglong and his men had gotten a good look at it while they were at sea, they might be able to identify it. He wanted to get out of there as soon as possible.

“So, what are you going to do?” Hok asked. “We would like you to remain with us, but I understand if you want to be with your friends.”

“I'm still not sure,” Charles said. “I—”

He was cut short by the seamless hidden door to the room swinging open on silent hinges. It was the apothecary owner, a gentle-looking man called LoBak. As near as Charles could tell,
LoBak
was a respectful way of saying “old man,” which was interesting, because the apothecary owner didn't look all that old. He did have thinning gray hair, though, and his wrinkled hands were badly stained a rainbow of colors from years of mixing and grinding medicinal herbs. He closed the door behind him and sat down at the table, handing WanSow a drinking bowl full of steaming liquid.

“What is that?” Hok asked.

“It is the brew I deliver to a local official each night to help him with his … condition. It will help her, too. It's a combination of nearly twenty herbs, but the primary ingredient is dragon bone.”

Ying's eyebrows raised and he looked at Hok. “Dragon bone? See, I told you it works.”

Hok shook her head. “It may very well work, but you are no longer ill, Ying. You take it because you think it makes you more like a dragon.”

“You possess dragon bone, Ying?” LoBak asked.

“Enough to last me several years,” Ying replied. “Why?”

“You will need it for your mother's treatments. I can supply you with the other ingredients, but dragon bone is difficult to come by, as I'm sure you know.”

“You sound as if I will be taking her somewhere,” Ying said.

LoBak nodded. “It may be wise for you to leave as soon as she can walk without assistance. The local official I just mentioned is a man called HaiZhe and—”

“Jellyfish!” Fu interrupted.

“That's right,” LoBak said. “You know of him?”

“Yes,” WanSow said, finishing her drink. “I fear he might soon be looking for me.”

“Your fears are well founded,” LoBak said. “He has mentioned your name several times. It seems General Tonglong has laid his hands on a veritable dragon's hoard of treasure that HaiZhe has been after for many years. The man giving HaiZhe the news heard about it from a group of fishermen who'd spoken with Tong -long's crew just this morning. They were docked in a village to the south.”

“Did they happen to mention a little boy?” Hok asked, her voice anxious. “ShaoShu stowed away on that ship.”

“Oh, dear,” LoBak said. “ShaoShu did seem a little too curious for his own good while he was here with you. Fortunately, there was no talk of a stowaway. What is he up to?”

“He is trying to help us, I suppose,” Hok said. “I was thinking maybe we should stay here in case he happens to sneak away to try and find us. This was the last place I saw him.”

“We don't
all
have to stay here,” Charles said. “Those of us who can leave should do so.”

“But is it safe to leave?” Hok asked. “Now that
HaiZhe knows about the treasure, he'll be searching high and low for it, and for WanSow.”

“That's why we should get moving immediately,” Charles said.

“I agree with Charles,” Fu said.

“What do you think, Malao?” Charles asked.

Malao shrugged. “Don't look at me. None of this sounds like fun.”

Charles sniffed. “There is something else we need to consider. What about Tonglong?”

Ying popped his knuckles, one at a time. “Tong long will get what's coming to him. Trust me.”

“What are you going to do?” Charles asked. “No offense, but don't you have other priorities?” He nodded at WanSow.

“I will stay and help WanSow—” Hok began.

“No,” Ying said in a firm tone. “I will take care of her myself, and I will deal with Tonglong in time. All of you can do as you see fit.”

“Why even worry about going after Tonglong?” Charles said. “I mean, won't the Emperor eventually take care of Tonglong?”

Ying scoffed. “Tonglong works for the Emperor, remember? I am sure the Emperor has no idea what Tonglong is up to. He will build himself into an unstoppable force; then he'll overthrow the Emperor.”

“Do you really think so?” Hok asked.

“Count on it,” Ying said. “I know Tonglong well. He double-crossed me, and he'll double-cross the Emperor. I think he would even double-cross his mother to get his way.”

“Well, somebody has to stop them,” Fu growled. “Remember what AnGangseh did to Seh?”

“Look, everyone,” Charles said. “This has gotten too big for any of us to handle. Perhaps I should discuss the situation with my friends on Smuggler's Island? You can come with me, if you'd like.”

“That might be best,” LoBak said. “I know the island you speak of, and it is far more secure than my shop. I suggest all of you leave with Charles when WanSow is ready to travel.”

Hok sighed. “I hate to keep imposing on you, Charles, but maybe this would be best. I would like to go with you, and I want to help WanSow. This plan allows for both. Besides, the longer we wait here, the greater the chance we might get word about ShaoShu. What do the rest of you think?”

“Fine with me,” Fu said.

“Me too,” Malao added.

“Not me,” Ying said. “I think you three should go with Charles, but I will take my mother into the mountains to heal where the air is clear and the earth's
chi
is strong. I also have a few things of a personal nature to sort out.” He exchanged a knowing look with his mother.

“Are you sure?” Hok asked.

“Yes,” Ying said. “I have made some mistakes in the past, and I need to fix them. I am sure our paths will cross again.”

“I hope they do,” Hok said.

Silence fell over the room.

“Is there anything else we need to discuss?” Charles asked.

No one replied.

“Then it is settled,” Charles said. “As soon as WanSow is fit to leave, we shall all be on our way. Now, I suggest we all get some rest. Tomorrow I'd like to start changing the look of my sloop.”

T
he next few weeks were among the most trying of ShaoShu's life. Unable to leave the fortress, he spent nearly all of his time following Lei around like a lost puppy. His orders were to learn as much as possible about firearms in preparation for a future assignment, but without knowing what the assignment was, it was difficult for him to concentrate.

To make matters worse, he had an excellent memory, whereas most of the soldiers did not. Lei had to show the men the same basic tasks over and over before they finally understood the proper way to load a cannon or aim a musket. ShaoShu was certain he could now do these things in his sleep, even though he doubted he ever would. Firearms still frightened him.

Three weeks into the training, things finally began to get interesting. While Tonglong was off drilling a legion of foot soldiers, Lei took ShaoShu and several of the officers out to Tonglong's ship for a demonstration. The cannons aboard were Lei's, and the gun crews were made up of men Lei had previously trained to an extraordinary degree of efficiency. The soldiers and officers on shore had fired numerous muskets and pistols up to that point, but their cannons had remained silent, because the long-neglected weapons had not yet been fully refurbished. So far, their cannon training had involved only practice loading and pretend firing.

There were fourteen cannons on Tonglong's man-o-war, five along each side, plus two at the bow and two at the stern. Lei took command of the center-most cannon along the port side and unlashed it from the ship's side rail with a practiced ease. He ordered the fortress's small transport boat to release six large floating barrels at varying distances from the ship, and once the transport was safely retied to the ship's stern, Lei called all hands to their battle stations.

Amidst a flurry of activity, Lei leaned over, sighting his right eye along the length of his cannon's glimmering bronze barrel. He directed his gun crew to position the cannon to his liking by having them shift the barrel up and down and turn the cannon's carriage side to side on its heavy wooden wheels.

Lei explained that he always left the cannons loaded in case they were attacked, and this particular
cannon was packed with a single twelve-pound ball. The floating targets were heavy-duty barrels constructed of wood nearly as thick as the planking on a Chinese junk or a typical Round Eye ship. This exercise would give an accurate representation of what would happen to an enemy vessel in an actual battle.

A gun-crew member lit a section of slow match with a flint firestone and a metal strike bar and handed the slow-burning fuse to Lei. Lei stepped off to one side of the cannon, well away from the bone-crushing undercarriage wheels, and leaned toward the cannon's back end. He timed the roll of the ship in relation to the roll of the targets upon the waves and touched the slow match's burning embers to the cannon's priming hole.

KA-BOOM!