Journey to Wudang

  I nodded back. ‘If you would.’

  Gold wheeled me around the desk so that I was knee to knee with Cheung.

  ‘Let me see you out,’ I said.

  ‘No need,’ Cheung said. He picked up the documents, opened the office door and left.

  ‘One day I am going to take him through this place and show him exactly what we do for people like him,’ Gold said mildly. ‘I’ll throw a low-level demon at him and see how he reacts.’

  ‘Did we ever have friends in the police force?’ I said.

  ‘In the past, but they’ve always been more trouble than they’re worth,’ Gold said. He wheeled me back behind my desk and I nodded my thanks. ‘They came squealing to us every time something looked even mildly difficult, complaining that it was demons when it was actually human criminals and none of our business.’

  ‘He didn’t even ask about my injuries,’ I said.

  ‘He may not have noticed,’ Gold said. ‘And if he did, he probably didn’t care.’

  ‘It’s okay to stay in the wheelchair,’ Simone said. ‘It’s only been six weeks, and you’re still bright pink.’

  ‘No,’ I said. ‘I want to be standing for this. I want to show the Lion the respect he deserves. I can’t be in Celestial Form like you, so this is the best I can do.’

  We were in the square in front of the Hall of Purple Mist on Celestial Wudangshan, the Disciples standing in neat rows in their black uniforms, covering the whole area. The students around the edges of the square held black banners on long pikes: half were plain black — the livery of the Dark Lord; the other half were black with the silver motif of the Seven Stars of the big dipper, the most potent constellation in the Heavens and the symbol of his power. The banners snapped in a Celestial breeze provided for us by the dragons floating above.

  The Celestial Masters stood behind us, most of them in Celestial Form. The human Masters stood in the front row of the assembled students in their black Wudang uniforms.

  ‘If you need a hand let me know,’ Simone said quietly, and I nodded.

  Leo, in Celestial Form, walked up the centre of the students; Michael behind him on his left and Martin on his right as escorts, also in Celestial Form. As Leo passed each row of students they fell to one knee to acknowledge him.

  He stopped in front of me and Simone. Martin and Michael moved to stand with the Celestial Masters behind us. Leo kneeled and saluted us, and we nodded back.

  I held out one hand and the forge’s head demon reverentially passed me Leo’s new sword. I staggered slightly at the weight of it; the sword was way too big for an ordinary mortal to handle. Simone moved to help me but I shook my head. I held the sword horizontally with both hands and raised it. As I spoke, a stone amplified my voice for me. I wished my vocal cords were more healed; my voice sounded weak.

  ‘Wudangshan welcomes its newest Immortal, Leo Alexander, the Black Lion. He has served the House of the North with integrity and honour and now takes his rightful place among the Masters of Wudangshan.’ I held the sword out to him. ‘This sword is a gift to you from the House of the North. You are no longer a Retainer, Lord Leo. You are a Celestial Master of Wudangshan.’

  He stood and took the sword with both hands. ‘I vow to use this sword in the service of the North and the Celestial.’

  ‘Turn around and show them,’ Simone said.

  Leo shrugged slightly, turned and raised the sword for the students to see. He seemed surprised when they all jumped to their feet and erupted into applause, some of them whooping and whistling with delight.

  ‘Well, how about that,’ he said, his voice amplified by the stone, and the students cheered even louder.

  Michael broke ranks first, coming to Leo and giving him a huge hug. The other Masters quickly followed and Leo was surrounded by a scrum of wellwishers.

  I used the opportunity to take Simone’s hand. ‘I think I need some help.’

  She caught me and I leaned on her as she helped me to my wheelchair.

  ‘This is a turnaround,’ I said. ‘I’m in the chair and he isn’t.’

  ‘Oh, look,’ Simone said. ‘That’s so cute.’

  Martin had come to Leo and given him a hug as well, and kissed him on the cheek. For a long moment they gazed into each other’s eyes, seeming to forget everybody else around them. Then they broke apart and grinned.

  ‘About time,’ Simone said.

  I materialised in the living room. The furniture was gone, the carpet as well; the floor was bare concrete covered in dust. I went to the wall where my sword was usually clipped but it was empty. A faded rectangle showed where the photo of the family — Emma, Simone and me, Leo and the Tiger — used to hang. I went down the hall to my office; it was empty. The training room was devoid of weapons and the mats were gone; again there was just the bare concrete floor. I went to my room; everything was gone from there too.

  I wandered through my home, alone and bereft. Where were they all? My Emma? My Simone? I dropped my head. Perhaps the Demon King had attacked them … but surely I would have known? But I was so weak, so drained …

  Had I possessed my love again? I checked … no. She wasn’t with me; I was alone.

  I raised my head and concentrated. My child, my Lady, where were they?

  I couldn’t see them. I couldn’t find them. I fell to my knees with grief. Surely they weren’t dead? I would have known. Where were they?

  I changed and returned to the sea.

  The Serpent takes its smallest form and drifts through an oil slick,

  choking on the filth in the water, suffocating on the debris.

  The Turtle stands in the snow on the highest peak of the Western

  Heavens, gazing up at the perfectly black sky with its steadily

  brilliant stars, not sure what it is seeking.

  They cry. There is no answer.

  BOOK THREE

  HEAVEN

  TO WUDANG

  The Serpent lies on the carpet, alone.

  The city lights shine through the windows.

  It raises its head and tastes things gone;

  it drops its head and returns to the sea.

  The Turtle raises its head from the water;

  the lake stretches around it.

  People point and talk, excited.

  It goes to the bottom and settles in the mud.

  CHAPTER 1

  Leo and I sat on the mats across from each other in the Fragrant Lotus training room. His dark face was rigid with concentration as he held the chi on his outstretched hands.

  I held one hand on his forearm, watching as the energy flowed through him. ‘Float it to the other hand.’

  He lost it and it snapped back, hitting him in the middle of the chest. He bounced backwards but didn’t fall; then sagged, leaning on the floor. ‘This is so damn hard.’

  ‘That was a pathetically small amount of chi for anybody to generate, especially an Immortal,’ I said. ‘You ate meat, didn’t you?’

  He didn’t reply but his face said it all.

  ‘Alcohol too?’ I said.

  ‘Not alcohol.’

  I felt the answer through his arm. ‘Well, I’m glad you’ve forgiven him.’

  He pulled his arm away. ‘That is none of your business and you’re not supposed to be able to do that.’

  I didn’t pursue it. ‘You have a choice here, Leo. Either give up trying to do energy work or give up meat, alcohol and sex. You can’t do both.’

  ‘But I’m a Shen,’ he said, softly protesting.

  ‘Shiny new and green as grass,’ I said.

  He grimaced.

  The door flew open and my secretary, Chang, charged in and planted himself in front of us. ‘They’re taking away my job!’

  Leo waved one hand and his wheelchair rolled to him. He pulled himself into it. ‘You salute your Master when you enter. Where is your respect?’

  Chang fell to one knee and saluted me and Leo. ‘Lord. Lady.’ He rose and gestured impatiently. ‘They say
I am no longer to serve you, ma’am. Stop them!’

  Yi Hao came in, her expression desperate. ‘I’m sorry, ma’am, I didn’t expect him to react like this. I thought he’d be happy not to have to do it any more.’

  I pulled myself to my feet and Leo held one arm out to steady me. ‘Yi Hao was my secretary before you were, Chang. You had the job on a temporary basis; I explained it to you before.’

  ‘I thought she couldn’t be trusted.’

  ‘That’s why we’re going down to the Earthly this afternoon. I’ll find out one way or the other if she’s trustworthy, and if she is she can resume her post.’

  ‘Let him do it, ma’am,’ Yi Hao said. ‘I’ll do something else.’

  That stopped Chang and he stared at her.

  ‘She’s a tame demon, she doesn’t have free will,’ I said. ‘If a human or Shen orders her, she must obey. She’s seen that you want the job, so she’s ceding to you, even though it’ll make her miserable.’

  ‘And the fact that you’re making such a fuss about it proves that you’re not worthy to do it,’ Leo said. ‘You need to release your attachments and accept circumstances with serenity and grace.’ His face went strange. ‘Where did that come from?’

  ‘You were just connected to the universe while we were doing chi gong,’ I said. ‘Well, that’s what it feels like anyway. Some of it rubbed off.’

  ‘I think I’ll spend more time connected to it then,’ Leo said, musing. He glared at Chang. ‘Cede the position. You deserve to be moved back in with Lok.’

  ‘I don’t want to serve the dog again!’ Chang said, desperate. ‘I’m better than that …’ He stared at us for a long moment, then fell to one knee and lowered his head. ‘I will report to Master Lok immediately.’ He rose, saluted us, and went out without looking back.

  I exhaled a huge breath. ‘Finally!’

  ‘What if Lok doesn’t want him?’ Leo said.

  ‘Then I’ll put him to work in the gardens,’ I said.

  ‘Oh, good idea.’ Leo concentrated, attempted to lift himself out of the wheelchair, and failed. ‘Okay, I give up. Meet up with me again after I’ve been vegetarian for a few days.’ He spun his chair to leave.

  ‘Martin will understand,’ I said.

  ‘Martin’s been trying to make me abstain,’ he said without looking back. ‘He said the same thing you did.’

  ‘Don’t forget you’re driving me to Kwun Tong in an hour to meet with the Demon King,’ I called after him.

  ‘Don’t go, ma’am,’ Yi Hao said. ‘Don’t see the King. He’s …’ She searched for the words. ‘He will hurt you again.’

  ‘Don’t you want to be sure that I can trust you? That you won’t turn?’ I said.

  ‘Not if it puts you in danger.’

  ‘I won’t be in danger. Half a dozen Celestials are coming along. We’ll be fine.’

  She shuddered and dropped her voice. ‘Protect me, ma’am.’

  I pulled her into a quick hug. ‘Don’t worry, I will.’

  Leo drove me through Hong Kong’s industrial area in Kwun Tong to the meeting place. We had to meet on the Earthly; I refused to invite the Demon King onto the Celestial Plane, and I wouldn’t travel to Hell if I could avoid it. The streets were two lanes either way, passing between multi-storey factory buildings with the floor numbers painted in large letters on the sides, for easy lifting of objects up to the correct floor by crane.

  Leo checked the building numbers carefully, and pulled into the right one. The entrance was large enough to allow two trucks to pass side by side. Just inside the ground floor on the left were three enormous lifts, large enough to hold the ubiquitous Hong Kong blue lorries. The ground floor was deserted, and the small grimy windows let in rays of sunshine that lit up the floating dust. Leo drove to the edge of the vast space of the ground floor area and parked the car next to the wall. Bricks were heaped against the back wall, strewn haphazardly on the concrete. Paint marked the floor, taking the shapes of the objects that had been sprayed with it.

  The Tiger and several of the Wudang Mountain staff came into the building through the truck entrance, knelt to salute me, and waited quietly behind us.

  ‘This is a bad place to meet,’ Leo said softly. He was in his wheelchair behind me to my right. ‘Difficult to defend.’

  ‘He’ll stick to the protocol,’ I said. ‘Not even the Tiger could teleport in. We’re safe.’

  ‘I wish I had your confidence.’

  The noise of the traffic outside stopped and the only sound was the breeze whistling through the factory’s broken windows. All ten floors of the building were empty.

  Someone shouted and a red and gold palanquin appeared in the entrance. About twenty young men surrounded it: demons in human form. All of them appeared to be in their early twenties, of all races, tall and muscular and wearing only skin-tight black bike shorts. They were all impossibly handsome. Some carried the sedan chair and others flanked it.

  ‘Is he insulting me?’ Leo said.

  ‘He’s probably insulting both of us,’ I said.

  The Demon King stepped out of the sedan chair in Celestial Form. His perfectly white, strikingly beautiful face was surrounded by a huge mane of red hair that stood up on his head then fell down his back past his waist. His scaled armour and boots were red and gold.

  The Tiger summoned an outdoor table and chairs, and I stepped forward to talk to the Demon King. He saluted me and I saluted back, then I gestured for him to sit. He bowed slightly and gestured for me to sit first.

  I had an uncomfortable feeling of déjà vu and wished that John was doing this. Now that I was clear of the demon essence, I felt the King’s dark nature even more intensely. He was sinister and charismatic, and I just wanted this done and to get out of there.

  I sat at the table, and my staff repositioned themselves to the optimal configuration. The King’s men moved to stand behind him, mirroring my own Retainers. The Demon King sat and smiled across the table at me, his face alight with warmth.

  ‘You failed,’ I said.

  He raised one hand slightly. ‘I forgot for a moment it was you, and straight to the point as usual. You’re alive, Emma, and clear of the demon essence. I didn’t fail.’

  ‘If the Xuan Wu Serpent hadn’t intervened I would have died.’

  He dropped his head slightly and an expression of remorse swept across his face. ‘I acknowledge that I caused you a great deal of suffering and that you nearly died.’ He raised his head and saluted me again. ‘I apologise most sincerely for my misjudgement, madam.’

  ‘You owe me one, George.’

  He waved one hand to indicate the demons behind him. ‘These are a gift to make up for it. Enjoy them until they expire, then dispose of them.’

  I glanced at the handsome young men. ‘I think you underestimate me, Wong Mo.’

  He shrugged. ‘Okay. Worth a shot. Come and live with me and you can have as many of these as you like.’ He leaned over the table and grinned. ‘Three, four, at once, they’re remarkable. You should try. How about I send you one or two just for a sample?’

  ‘Give it up,’ I said.

  He sighed theatrically, his shoulders moving with the sound. ‘Guess I’ll just have to give them to the Mothers then. That’s what they were originally bred for. I have to keep making them, they don’t last long.’

  I inhaled sharply. ‘I’ll take them then.’

  He waved me down. ‘No, no, if you’re not going to use them as sex toys then don’t bother. That’s all they’re good for, they can’t even speak.’

  ‘I’ll still take them.’

  He shrugged. ‘Suit yourself.’ He waved the young men forward. ‘Serve the Dark Lady.’

  The demons moved mechanically to stand behind my staff, seemingly unfazed by their fate.

  ‘Will you still bring me Kitty Kwok?’ he said. ‘She needs to be stopped, and she’s human. I can’t do it.’

  I nodded once. ‘We made a deal. You cleared the essence from me; I agree
d to bring her to you. You will have her.’

  ‘Is there anything else I can do to atone for the pain I caused you, Emma?’ he said, his face still warm and full of affection.

  ‘Yi Hao, Er Hao.’ I waved my two demon servants forward without looking behind me. ‘These are my demons from One Two Two’s nest. I want you to tell me if they are the original demons or copies; and if they are programmed to turn. I want your assurance that I am safe with them, because I love them dearly.’

  He turned his attention to them and his face lit up. ‘If you can love these two demons then maybe there is room in your heart for one more.’

  ‘You said you’d love me as snake broth,’ I said.

  He leaned back and his expression grew wry. ‘You’ll never let me forget that, will you? It was a spur of the moment thing, Emma, just competitive bullshit. You know I was talking out of my ass.’

  ‘Will you check my demons for me?’

  ‘I will.’ He waved them closer. ‘Come here, little ones, I will not harm you.’

  ‘Or hurt them,’ I said.

  He nodded acquiescence. ‘Of course.’ He waved to them again and they sidled towards him. ‘I hear you were willing to sacrifice the Tiger’s wives — one of whom is your own best friend — for these two tiny demons.’

  ‘The wives had the Tiger’s whole army defending them. All these demons had was me,’ I said. ‘Any creature that chooses to seek humanity and attain the Tao is worthy of protection.’

  ‘You need to concentrate on the bigger picture, sweetie. Ah Wu would have protected the humans before any demon.’ He gestured towards the demons. ‘Kneel.’ They hesitated, and he spoke more brusquely. ‘Down!’

  Yi Hao approached and knelt before him. He put one hand on the side of her head and concentrated; she remained rigid with fear as he studied her.

  ‘Demons are demons and they don’t have a real life at all,’ he said. ‘Even if they choose to turn and pursue the Way, they’re not worth anything.’