Tonglong looked over at the camp and saw his half brother, Seh, standing near a fire pit, next to the young Cangzhen monks Malao and Fu. Also standing there were a woman and a teenage girl, both wearing turbans; a very young girl with long brown hair; and a white teenage boy. It was an odd-looking bunch, so engrossed in each other that they failed to see what was happening around them. Tonglong decided to give them a sporting chance. He stood, removing his hat. His long, thick ponytail braid spilled out and he adjusted it over his front shoulder.
Tonglong stared at his half brother, Seh, and shouted, “Remember me?”
Seh didn't respond. However, Fu, the aggressive boy tiger, shouted, “Tonglong!”
Tonglong smirked. “Very good, Pussycat. Now it's the serpent's turn to talk. You have something that I want. Give it to me, and we'll be on our way. Deny me, and—”
Tonglong snapped his fingers and each soldier in his boat raised a qiang.
The crowd lost control. Hundreds of bystanders scattered, stumbling and tripping over one another. A panic-induced tension filled the atmosphere, and Tonglong breathed it in deeply, savoring it.
Tonglong saw Seh turn away from the shore, and he followed Seh's gaze. A group of five adults was pushing toward the camp. Tonglong recognized all of them from the bandit stronghold.
In the lead was Mong, the enormous, bald, pale mountain of muscle who was AnGangseh's second husband and Seh's father. Mong meant Python in Cantonese. He was the bandit leader.
Behind Mong was the gigantic, hairy bandit called Hung, or Bear, carrying a huge pair of golden melon hammers. The group also included the iron-body kung fu bandit with dirty, stubby limbs whose name was NgGung, or Centipede; the crazy, big-nosed, floppy-eared bandit called Gao, or Dog; and a beefy man with a scraggly beard and long, matted hair that Tonglong recognized as a famous drifter often called The Drunkard, but whose real name was rumored to be Sanfu, or Mountain Tiger.
They were a formidable force, to be sure, but Tonglong had a hundred armed men on shore and twenty loaded qiangs in his boat. Tonglong knew he had the upper hand.
“Don't give up that scroll!” Mong shouted to Seh over the cries of the fleeing crowd.
Seh turned back to the river and looked at Tonglong. “I didn't plan to,” he shouted.
You had your chance, little brother, Tonglong thought. Goodbye. He tucked his long ponytail braid into his sash and raised one arm high, then let it drop.
“FIRE!”
Shots rang out overhead as Hok retreated from the waterfront hand in hand with GongJee. Their mother was beside them, as were Charles, Fu, and Seh. Unfortunately, Malao was not with them.
As they rushed into Kaifeng's narrow streets, away from the soldiers’ qiangs, Hok glanced at the five men with strange but familiar animal names surrounding them. These men had risked their lives to help keep Tonglong's soldiers at bay. Bear had been shot in the arm, and another qiang ball had grazed Mountain Tiger's cheek. Both men were bleeding heavily, but they remained in a protective circle around Hok and the others, even now. These men were warriors, and they had very likely just saved her life, as well as the lives of GongJee and Charles, not to mention her brothers.
Warning bells rang out from the city's central bell tower, and people everywhere began to scramble to lock themselves inside their homes and storefronts. Hok was grateful because it meant they could put even more distance between themselves and the soldiers on their trail.
In order to run better, Hok had abandoned her sling and turban back at the waterfront, and Charles had stripped himself of his costume. However, Charles was grumbling about having been caught without his qiangs. They were still back at the camp.
Hok felt that none of them were in a position to grumble. She was just thankful to be alive. She hoped Malao was as lucky.
It seemed Fu couldn't stop thinking about Malao, either.
“We have to help Malao!” Fu complained. “Didn't you see what happened to him? We need to go back!”
“We saw what happened to your little brother,” Bing said to Fu. “AnGangseh, Tonglong, and HaMo captured him. We'll discuss this at the safe house. We're almost there.”
The group soon slowed down and Mong stopped in front of a small shop. There was no sign on the building. The only thing that set it apart from the other buildings on the street was a small metal phoenix in the center of the door, painted green.
Mong banged on the door three times. A moment later, the phoenix rotated up and Hok saw a concerned eye quickly scan their group.
“Come in, come in!” a woman said in a hurried, muffled voice from the other side of the door.
Hok heard several locks disengage, and the door swung open. The group rushed inside without a word. As the woman relocked the door, Hok glanced around.