“Have mercy!” the pet vendor pleaded. “Don't kill me!”

“Give me one good reason why I shouldn't,” Ying said.

“One reason?” the pet vendor replied with a nervous grin. “All I need to give you is one word.”

“I'm listening,” Ying said.

The pet vendor cleared his throat. “Saulong,” he said hesitantly.

Ying felt his blood run cold. He tightened his grip on the dagger. “How do you know that name?”

A sly smile spread across the pet vendor's face. “I was there when your father announced it to the camp.”

Ying blinked. “You knew my father? I don't believe you. What was his name?”

“Cholong,” the pet vendor said. “Loud Dragon. He used a chain whip, just like the one in your hand. He also had eyes exactly like yours. Your fire burns deep, young man, just like his did. I suspected who you were when you first came here more than a year ago.”

Ying lessened his grip on the dagger and stepped away from the pet vendor. He felt dizzy.

The pet vendor sat up. “It's been a long time, Sau-long.”

“Don't call me that,” Ying said.

“Okay,” the pet vendor said. “Whatever you say, Ying.”

“Don't call me that, either!” Ying roared. He began to shake. He felt sweat pouring across his carved forehead and down his carved cheeks. What was happening to him?

Ying shook his head to clear it. He took a deep breath. So what if this man had known his father? So what if this stranger knew his original name? That was ages ago.

Ying's eyes filled with rage. “My father is dead and my name has been changed. I don't care about the past. Of what use are you to me?”

“If you don't care about the past,” the pet vendor said, “then what about the future?”

“What do you mean?” Ying asked.

The pet vendor smiled. “Let me go free and I'll tell you where you can find something far more valuable than dragon bone.”

“And that would be?”

The pet vendor's smile broadened. “Your mother.”

Tonglong sat in the lap of luxury, his mother at his side. In front of them sat the Emperor with his enormous bodyguard, Xie. They were all lounging together inside the Xuzhou Fight Club, in the Emperor's personal seating area. They had arrived the previous day, exhausted from the long boat ride down the Grand Canal. It was time for some excitement.

Tonglong looked down into the pit arena. He remembered this one well. It was nearly identical to the one at the Jinan Fight Club, a deep, brick-lined hole wide enough to give the combatants plenty of room to maneuver. Off to one side was a single large door that led to a network of underground tunnels.

The door swung open in dramatic fashion, and the crowd erupted with cheers. The fight club owner announced that they would begin the night with something special. One of the headliners, Golden Dragon, would fight first.

Tonglong had never seen Golden Dragon fight. He was looking forward to this.

Golden Dragon entered the pit arena, and the crowd roared. Bettors began to scramble to and from the bettors’ table. Golden Dragon's opponent soon shuffled into the arena, and the crowd jeered. He was an obese foreign round eye with a pale, bald head and hairy back. He was much older, and much larger, than Golden Dragon.

The fight club owner left the pit arena through the tunnel doorway, and the door slammed shut. A huge gong rang out, and the fight began.

Golden Dragon's opponent was twice his size, but it was immediately clear to Tonglong that the huge foreigner wasn't half the fighter Golden Dragon was. Golden Dragon zigged and zagged across the stone floor, mimicking the movements of a mythical dragon with inhuman fluidity. He floated and sank, adjusting his weight to allow for maximum velocity should he decide to strike. He was biding his time, sizing up his lumbering, cumbersome opponent.

Tonglong knew that you could tell a lot about a person by watching him or her fight. Some fighters were constantly on the attack, while others were counter punchers. Some committed to a technique and followed through, while others primarily used feints.

Some were very technical, while others were brawlers who lived for the lucky punch.

It was said that Golden Dragon was a technical counterpuncher who committed. The hairy foreigner was rumored to be just the opposite. To the uninformed, this might sound like an interesting match. In real life, it was a disaster waiting to happen.

The foreigner quickly grew tired of Golden Drag on's hypnotic movements and dropped his hands, running straight at Golden Dragon, attempting to tackle him. Golden Dragon backed up to the perimeter wall and sank low, then rose high into the air with a powerful leap that took him clear over the foreigner. Unable to stop his own forward momentum, the foreigner crashed into the solid brick wall with a loud THUD!




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