Hok twisted around in mid-air and lashed out with a bony elbow. It connected with Tsung's forehead, directly over his left eyebrow. This was the exact spot Hok was aiming for. She knew that a person's face is rich with numerous blood vessels that pass between thick-boned skull and parchment-thin skin. Her powerful blow split the skin wide open. Blood poured into Tsung's eye, making it impossible to see out of.
One eye down, one to go. Hok floated to the ground beyond Tsung and turned to face him.
Tsung wiped his brow with his sleeve, but it made no difference. Before he could blink twice, his eye was flooded with crimson again.
Tsung roared. So did the crowd. Some of them cheered, while others booed.
Hok chanced a glance in Seh's direction and saw that he was hunched over, facing the lowest rung on the railing. The bulge around his midsection had disappeared. Seh was securing the rope to the bottom of the railing!
Hok glanced back at Tsung, and Tsung sprang.
Hok scuttled sideways, narrowly avoiding Tsung's grasp. She zigged and zagged her way to the opposite side of the circular pit, and when she reached the far wall she went airborne again. This time, she hit the irregular bricks with her left foot and attempted the same maneuver, twisting in mid-air.
Tsung didn't fall for it again. As Hok swung her elbow at his other eye, Tsung reached up and took hold of Hok's arm, pulling her from the sky.
Hok maintained her balance and managed to hit the ground feetfirst. She threw herself powerfully to the ground and her arm slipped free of Tsung's grasp.
Before Tsung could pounce on her, Hok hopped back to her feet and scurried across the pit once again. She realized that Tsung hadn't managed to lock on to her arm, which meant that he might be having trouble with his depth perception. She knew that poor depth perception often came with seeing with only one eye. That gave her another idea.
When Hok reached the pit wall, Tsung was on her heels. She leaped at the wall as she had twice already, except this time she hit the bricks with two feet and redirected her energy into a powerful backflip high over Tsung's head. Hok formed crane-beak fists with both hands and thrust them at Tsung's right eyebrow.
Tsung managed to block Hok's right arm with a lightning-quick swing of his leopard fists. He swung at Hok's left arm and hit it, too, but it was a glancing blow.
Hok's crane-beak fist continued toward Tsung's face. Instead of striking Tsung's eyebrow as Hok had planned, though, the bunched-up tips of her four fingers and thumb sank into Tsung's right eye.
Tsung screamed.
Hok completed her flip, landing hard on her knees. She stood and wiped her hand across her dress, and realized that the entire fight club had grown silent.
Tsung was clawing at his face, trying to wipe the blood out of his one good eye. He shouted to LaoShu, “I need to cage this bird! I can't see a thing. Bring on the Ring of Fire!”
LaoShu clapped his hands excitedly. “My pleasure!” he said. He looked toward the pit entrance door. “Tunnel guards, you know what to do!”
The crowd cheered wildly and began to chant, “FIRE! FIRE! FIRE!”
Hok had no idea what was going on. She watched Tsung walk to the very center of the pit and stand perfectly still. Waiting.
Hok scanned the pit, looking for signs of what was about to come. She saw none. She adjusted the strap of the silk bag still dangling across her torso and glanced up at Seh. He was scowling, his ear cocked in the direction of the Emperor's table.
Hok looked over at the Emperor's table and saw Tonglong staring at Seh. Several of the soldiers surrounding the Emperor and Xie were now standing and had their qiangs raised in Seh's direction.
Hok glanced at AnGangseh. AnGangseh puckered her full lips and blew Hok a long kiss, waving goodbye.
Hok heard the pit entrance door open, and she turned to see a young man holding a large bronze cauldron. Applause filled the fight club. Hok barely heard him yell at her, “Move away from the wall!”
Hok glanced beyond the young man, into the tunnel, and saw the two guards. Their qiangs were aimed straight at her. She decided to do as she was told. She walked toward Tsung, cautiously.
“I won't attack you yet,” Tsung said to her, trying to keep the blood pouring down his brow from running into his good eye. “It will be much more fun once the heat gets turned up.”
The young man with the cauldron entered the pit, and the crowd's applause grew. Hok realized that they were cheering as much for the man as for what he was about to do.
The crowd began to chant, “GOLDEN DRAGON! GOLDEN DRAGON! GOLDEN DRAGON!”
Hok locked eyes with the young man and realized immediately that it was indeed her brother Long. He didn't acknowledge her, though. His face was expressionless.
Hok watched as Long began to ceremoniously pour what appeared to be lamp oil in a tight circle around her and Tsung. When Long had finished, he handed the empty cauldron to one of the guards just inside the tunnel, then turned and ran full-speed across the pit. When he reached the far wall, Long did as Hok had done and used the irregular bricks and his momentum to send himself high into the air. Instead of twisting around and throwing an elbow, though, Long reached up and grabbed one of the burning pit torches. He snapped it free and returned to the ground, landing softly on his feet with the torch in one hand.