Scar scowled and glared at Hok, then threw something at her. It was the blood-soaked bamboo wager stick that had been in his calf. Hok jumped out of the way, and the stick clattered to the floor among the other refuse.
Scar limped through the doorway. As soon as he entered the tunnel, Hok saw the shrouded cleanup man coming from the other direction. The Cleaner shoved his way past Scar and headed for Malao.
The last thing Hok wanted was that filthy man touching her little brother. Who knows what kind of germs were crawling on him. She stepped between him and Malao, and one of the guards shouted, “Back up to the wall, girl! Let the man do his job.”
Hok glanced at the pit entrance and saw the two guards beyond the doorway. They both were staring down their qiang barrels at her.
Hok gritted her teeth and backed up nearly to the wall. What had she gotten herself into?
The Cleaner hoisted Malao over his shoulder and left the pit. Two more men came out of the tunnel with brooms and quickly swept up the broken wager sticks and other debris, then left.
Hok looked up at LaoShu and he nodded to her, a huge pointy-toothed grin on his face.
“Let the games begin!” LaoShu announced, and the gong sounded.
Tsung stood, and the crowd roared.
Tonglong stood, too, placing a hand on Tsung's shoulder. They spoke for a moment, then both looked at Hok and grinned. Hok watched as Tonglong removed something from around his neck and gave it to Tsung, who then retied it around his own neck.
People began to chant, “LEOPARD MONK! LEOPARD MONK! LEOPARD MONK!”
Hok felt the walls, floor, and even the air around her vibrate from the crowd's chanting. Tsung jumped onto the top of the narrow metal railing in front of the Emperor's table and balanced there for several moments. Hok watched him tense every muscle in his body until he, too, began to vibrate.
With a vicious snarl, Tsung hurled himself into the pit, somersaulting twice before landing on the pit's brick floor in a flawless single roll. The cheers of the crowd were deafening as General Tsung popped onto his feet and turned to face Hok.
“So, we meet again?” Tsung purred. “Welcome to my home away from home. I missed you after our little encounter at the prison.”
Hok's eyes narrowed. She took a step back, and the crowd began to boo.
“Tell me, what do you think of the present Tonglong just gave me?” Tsung asked. He reached into the collar of his robe and pulled out a tiny green object on a silk thread. It was her jade crane!
Hok took a step toward him, then stopped. What was she thinking?
After her step forward, the crowd began to cheer again.
“Make the crowd happy,” Tsung said. “Give the people what they want. Come and get your trinket.”
Hok didn't know what to do. She started to glance up at Seh, then thought better of it.
Tsung must have been following her eyes. He looked up at Seh, then back at her.
“We've been watching you and the other two since you first stepped into the fight club entrance line hours ago,” Tsung said. “What do you take us for, fools?”
Hok's heart sank. She should have known better.
“We already have the round eye,” Tsung purred. “It was stupid of him to go to the bettors’ table alone.”
Hok's mouth dropped open.
“The boy up there with the silly hat is your brother Seh, isn't he?” Tsung asked. “I remember him from an encounter outside the walls of the destroyed Shaolin Temple. I suggest you say goodbye to him now. Like you and the round eye, he will not be leaving here alive.”
Hok twitched. She risked a glance up at Seh, and Tsung lunged at her throat.
Hok was ready. She had a feeling Tsung was trying to distract her. She hopped to one side, flattening herself against the pit's circular wall. Tsung leaped straight past, narrowly missing her. Hok knew he wouldn't miss again. She needed a plan to fight a leopard on the ground.
With her back still to the wall, Hok felt the coarse, irregular bricks digging into her shoulder blades. She got an idea.
Hok glanced across the pit and ran as fast as she could toward the two guards watching the action from the tunnel entrance. The guards scrambled to close the door. Hok had no intention of attempting to run into the tunnel; she simply wanted Tsung to think that was her intention and follow her.
Tsung did follow her, with amazing speed.
As Hok reached the tunnel door, it closed completely. Still running full speed, she veered to the right and jumped into the air, straight at the rough bricks surrounding the doorway. Hok stuck her right foot out in front of her, curled back her toes, and hit the irregular wall at full speed with that single foot. She bent her right knee to absorb the energy of the impact, then released the energy back toward the wall by straightening her leg like a tightly coiled spring. Hok sailed backward high into the air with her arms spread wide, while Tsung was still coming toward her, low to the ground.