Martin silently passed the map to me. I studied it; it wasn’t a map of Shantou as we had expected, but a map of Guilin region. I glanced up at the King. He was watching me, his eyes full of humour.
I passed the map to Simone, who glanced at it, gasped, and then shot a look at the Demon King. ‘Seven Stars Cave?’
The King nodded, then pulled another dim sum basket towards him. ‘Any fung jao—phoenix claws?’
‘You’re sure the demon’s nest is under the cave?’ I said.
‘Only about an hour by plane from Hong Kong—a good central location if you’re going to be based in Guangzhou. Pretty too.’ The King pulled a chicken foot out of the steamer and sucked at one of the toes. ‘Good fung jao. Calling them “chicken feet” doesn’t capture the delicate essence of this dish—trust you Westerners to give them a name that is so much less glamorous.’ He spat some toe bones onto his saucer. ‘Probably chose Seven Stars Cave because of the irony of the name. That’s it.’
‘Like we can trust you,’ the Tiger said gruffly.
The King shrugged and spat out the last of the chicken foot bones. ‘Suit yourself. You can check them out yourself in your labs or whatever you have in the West, up to you.’ He rose, went to Rhonda, knelt and kissed her hand. ‘My Lady. You are welcome to visit again, any time. I will treat you with the respect that you deserve. Please, do yourself and your son a favour and do not marry this ugly cat.’
Rhonda hesitated, watching the King, then shook her head, smiling slightly.
The King rose again. He saluted us around the table. ‘Celestials. It’s been fun.’ He and Martin disappeared.
‘You okay, Rhonda?’ I said.
Rhonda shrugged. ‘Just fine. It was easy.’ She ruffled Michael’s hair, then turned and took the Tiger’s hand. ‘I’m glad to be home though.’
‘And we’re glad to have you back,’ the Tiger said gruffly. ‘I missed you.’
Michael made a show of studying the steamers in front of him.
‘I wonder who we can round up to take to Guilin this afternoon,’ I said. ‘Stone, ask around.’
‘How will you get there, Emma?’ Simone said.
‘Check flights as well, stone.’
‘No need, I’ll take you on a cloud,’ the Tiger said.
‘Oh, no, I hate riding on clouds,’ I moaned.
‘Scary?’ the Tiger said, grinning.
‘No,’ I said. ‘Ridiculous.’
‘Humph.’ The Tiger pulled a steamer of siu mai closer, dug one out with his chopsticks, then dunked it into a bowl of chilli sauce he had appropriated from the wait staff. ‘Travel by cloud is the traditional, classical and most respectable form of transportation for all Celestials.’
‘I am finding people who are willing to accompany you, ma’am,’ the stone said. ‘We are working on a meet-up place.’
Michael rose. ‘Let’s go.’
The Tiger waved him down. ‘Let the ladies eat, son. The nest will still be there in an hour or two.’
‘What if the Demon King tips them off?’ Simone said. ‘I think Michael’s right and we should head out now.’
‘I agree,’ I said.
‘Humph,’ the Tiger said. ‘Both of you need to spend some time reading the Tao. Okay, we’ll go. Do you need to get anything before I take you, Emma?’
Michael saluted me. ‘Lady Emma, if you don’t mind, in my role as driver I have the capability to take you to your destination on a cloud, hidden from view. Please permit me to fulfil my duties and do this for you.’
‘Oh will you cut it out with the formal Retainer bullshit,’ the Tiger said, exasperated.
‘Thank you, Michael,’ I said. ‘If you can bring a cloud here to Causeway Bay without being seen, go right ahead, and we’ll head out immediately.’
‘That I think nobody can do,’ Michael said wryly. ‘Far too many heads to mess with.’
‘I can do it,’ the Tiger growled.
Michael ignored him. ‘How about I drive you to the top of Braemar Hill and we head out from there?’
‘Let’s go.’
‘I’ll come too,’ Simone said. ‘Top of Braemar Hill is a good spot to start out from.’
‘I’ll bring the car around, you wait for me downstairs,’ Michael said. He kissed Rhonda on the cheek. ‘It’s good to have you back, Mom. Dinner tonight at the flat? We have some catching up to do.’
Rhonda hesitated, then said, ‘I’m sorry, Michael, but while I was away we re-leased the apartment and I moved out. I’m staying at the Palace now.’
Michael shot a swift glare of contempt at the Tiger, then smiled again at Rhonda. ‘Whatever you’re happy with. Maybe I can drop by the Palace later?’
‘You are more than welcome, son,’ the Tiger said.
Michael ignored him, smiling only at Rhonda.
‘I would love that,’ she said. ‘I have a lot to tell you about what happened after you left Hell and came back up to the Earthly.’ She looked around the table. ‘You are all most welcome to drop by after…’ Her voice trailed off, as she realised that I couldn’t travel to the Plane. She turned to the Tiger. ‘Maybe we can organise something at the Sheung Wan or Shatin hotels?’
The Tiger bowed his head slightly to her. ‘Your wish is my command, my Empress.’ He swept his tawny gaze around the table. ‘I’ll fix this up—you guys head out. Meet you on top of Braemar Hill. Let’s see who we can find to help.’
Michael effortlessly guided the Mercedes through the packed streets of Causeway Bay near the entrance to the Cross-Harbour Tunnel, then north towards North Point and Tin Hau. He slipped through the underpass to Tin Hau Temple Road and headed up the hill above North Point and Quarry Bay. The only other vehicles on the road were red Island taxis, dropping people to the exclusive apartment blocks clinging to the hillside.
‘Who do we have?’ I said.
‘Just us so far,’ Simone said. ‘We can’t take any human students, it’s too far for them. There’s no Celestials free at the moment, and the Demon King went straight from lunch to the Southern Palace to try out some real phoenix claws instead of the mundane ones you find in yum cha.’
‘Are the phoenixes okay?’
She shrugged. ‘Sure. They don’t need my help; it’s just the King and a lot of lower-level stuff.’
‘Na Zha wants to come along,’ Michael said.
‘He’s welcome,’ I said. ‘We haven’t seen him in a while. What’s he been up to?’
‘No idea,’ Michael said. ‘I haven’t seen him for a while either.’
‘You, me, the Tiger, Michael, Na Zha—I hope it’s enough,’ Simone said.
‘If it’s too much we just leave,’ I said. ‘And return with reinforcements.’
‘You underestimate yourself, Simone,’ Michael said. ‘The combined force of you and your elementals is more than enough to take down anything we face.’
‘Oh yeah, I keep forgetting about them,’ Simone said. ‘And every time I do, they come and spray me with water. I’ll bring a few of them.’
We climbed to the top of the hill, passing the highest high-rise housing estate and then parking near the three schools on top of the hill: a Chinese International School, a small English Schools Foundation school, and one of the campuses for the Japanese International School.
‘You have an appointment with the people at the Chinese School later in the week, Simone,’ I said. ‘They may be able to find a place for you.’
‘They should be able to,’ she said with scorn. ‘That school is freaking enormous.’
‘Are those the only types of school you can find, Emma?’ Michael said. ‘The kids who go to those are all rich and spoilt.’
‘I’ll fit right in then,’ Simone said cheerfully.
‘You know how hard it is to find a space if you don’t start at grade one,’ I said.
Just be careful, Michael said into my head. Some of these schools have drug problems—the kids are given way too much cash for their own good. I’ve heard of bullying as we
ll.
‘That is so rude!’ Simone exclaimed. ‘If you have something to say, say it out loud!’
We climbed out of the Mercedes and walked the couple of hundred metres up the hill to the end of the road. School was in and the sounds of children in the classrooms was a background murmur. We stopped a little into the scrub on top of the hill where we couldn’t be seen. From this high vantage point all that was visible were the roofs of the buildings below us, covered with washing lines and air-conditioning towers, and stained with damp. The busy harbour traffic caused white trails across the water far below.
Simone brushed her fringe to one side of her face and studied the Chinese International School. ‘Is this the best you could find? It’s huge.’
‘You’re being interviewed to go on the waiting list,’ I said.
She turned away from me.
The Tiger appeared next to us. ‘Let’s go.’
‘Na Zha’s coming along,’ I said.
‘He won’t join us here in Hong Kong, it’s too damn Western for him,’ the Tiger said. ‘Head out, he’ll probably meet us along the way.’ He stuck his fingers in his mouth and whistled loudly.
‘You don’t need that, Lady Emma is using mine,’ Michael said, and raised one hand. A cloud coalesced next to him, about three metres long, two wide and a metre tall. ‘Hop on, ma’am.’
The Tiger changed to a slightly smaller than usual version of his Celestial Form: two metres tall with furred face and clawed hands, and a huge mane of white hair held in place with a gold ribbon. He wore scaled armour of white and gold, and carried a large two-handed katana, also white and gold, loose in his right hand. A cloud swept in from above us and he stepped onto it with dignity.
Simone raised one hand and summoned Dark Heavens. ‘You ready to go, guys?’
I stepped onto Michael’s cloud. Although it appeared insubstantial, it was a steady platform with vapour around it.
Michael stood on the cloud as well. ‘I won’t go too fast, you need to be able to breathe,’ he said. ‘But you might like to take a seat, otherwise you could lose your balance.’
I sat cross-legged on the cloud, not a moment too soon. My stomach fell out as we shot into the air.
Michael grinned and sang the first few lines from the Aladdin magic carpet song in a surprisingly pleasant baritone. Simone floated up from beneath the cloud and flew next to us on our right side, her hair ruffled by the breeze. She scowled at Michael. ‘Dork.’
He gestured towards the cloud, still grinning. ‘Plenty of room for all the ladies.’
She tossed her head and looked away. ‘I prefer my own methods of transport, thank you very much.’ She drifted away, then closer again. ‘I have about six elementals who are coming with us.’
‘Nice,’ Michael said, nodding.
Simone flew closer. ‘Can you pull out metal ellies?’
Michael shook his head and his smile became rueful. ‘I’ve tried, but they ignore me. There’s something about me they just don’t like.’
‘Has your dad spoken to them about you?’ I said.
‘Told them to stay away?’
Michael appeared thoughtful for a moment. ‘Don’t think so. Actually I think he’d prefer it if they did come to me.’
‘He is trying hard, Michael,’ I said.
Michael looked away, then gestured towards the north, the direction we were travelling. ‘Na Zha.’
Na Zha screamed through the air towards us, creating swift-forming clouds of vapour as he broke the sound barrier. He wore his usual human-like form of a Chinese teenager wearing black skinny jeans and a white T-shirt three sizes too big for him, a nano clipped to one sleeve with earphones in his ears.
‘Heard you were heading to free the Black Lion. Count me in.’ He raised one hand to Michael. ‘Mikie bro.’
They high-fived, then Na Zha spun in mid-air on his fire wheels and kept pace with the cloud. Simone ducked under it and reappeared on the other side, away from him.
‘Hello, gorgeous,’ Na Zha called to her, leering.
Simone flew slightly higher above Michael and myself so that she could be heard. ‘When did you go emo?’ she said.
Na Zha’s face went blank with shock and he stopped in mid-air, then hurried to keep up with us. ‘I’m no emo!’
Simone pointed at his jeans. ‘Black skinnies, emo boy. Kissed any nice boys lately?’
‘Simone!’ I said.
She poked her tongue out at me and disappeared under the cloud again. ‘Nice view, have a look,’ she called from beneath us.
A cloud came down from above and slotted into position behind us. It was the Tiger. He nodded to Na Zha. ‘Third Prince.’
Na Zha half-heartedly saluted. ‘Emperor.’
‘I have sent some metal elementals to scout ahead,’ the Tiger said. ‘They have entered the Seven Stars Cave and have yet to find the entrance to the nest. But they say that something appears amiss.’
‘Exactly what?’ I said.
Simone popped up on my left again. ‘Oh, good idea, Uncle Bai, I’ll send some water ellies too. They can slide through the limestone in the caves.’
The Tiger nodded to Simone then turned to me again. ‘It is extremely quiet in the caverns. Very few tourists there; the humans seem to sense that something is wrong.’
‘Do you think the demons know we’re coming?’ I said.
He bowed his shaggy head. ‘It seems to be that way.’
‘I’ll fly on ahead and have a look,’ Na Zha said.
The Tiger raised one clawed hand to stop him. ‘That you will not, Third Prince. We will do this together.’
‘Fine,’ Na Zha said, resentful. He dipped below the cloud so that I couldn’t see him.
Both Simone and Na Zha were invisible beneath the cloud for a moment, then Simone shot out to the left, drew level with my cloud, then fell back to about fifty metres behind us.
‘Is he hitting on her again?’ I said.
‘Let him try,’ the Tiger said with amusement. ‘She hates him.’
‘Are there any boys she doesn’t hate?’ I said, mostly to myself.
‘Oh, one or two,’ the Tiger said with a knowing grin.
I opened my mouth to ask and then shut it. Simone’s love life was her business, and if she chose not to share it with me, that was also her business. I could only hope that when it came to advice on relationships she would come to me or someone else that she trusted, because it really was a minefield out there, Celestial or not.
‘Don’t worry, Emma, she talks to the Phoenix and the Lady and Master Liu,’ the Tiger said. ‘She says she doesn’t want to embarrass you.’
‘Humph,’ I said. I moved to a kneeling position so that I could see over the edge of the cloud. ‘Nothing she could possibly say could embarrass me.’
Simone streaked up beside the cloud and yelled with delight into my head. Hey, Emma, are you pre-menstrual right now? ’Cause you sure are hard to get along with! She grinned with mischief and disappeared again.
I could feel my face reddening and flopped back down so I was sitting on the cloud.
‘Eavesdropper,’ I said loudly.
We passed over the massively huge city of Guangzhou.
‘The city is probably a hundred and fifty kilometres north to south, Emma,’ Michael said as we flew. ‘If you include all the smaller cities that have joined up with it.’
‘It makes Hong Kong look tiny,’ I said.
‘True. But Guangzhou has ten million people, and Hong Kong has nearly seven, all crammed into that tiny space.’
‘Making Hong Kong even more tiny.’
The scenery changed. We were no longer passing over the grey tiled roofs of village houses and concrete apartment buildings; the mountains became more rugged and the population less dense. An occasional valley village stood out as a grey scar across the landscape where all of the trees had been removed.
As we approached Guilin, the famous mountains swept into relief before us. The slender, nearly vertica
l mountains that appeared in Chinese brush paintings weren’t an artistic affectation; they were real, and the district around Guilin was crowded with them, making the area as splendid as any painting.
Simone drifted up to fly next to me, watching the mountains unfold below us. ‘Seven Stars Park is in the city, across the river from the Elephant Nose Mountain,’ she said. ‘There are seven mountains in the park, supposedly taking the positions held by the stars in the Seven Star constellation, the Big Dipper.’
‘I’ve often wondered if a Celestial put them in Guilin as a sort of backyard feature,’ Michael mused. ‘They do mirror the constellation very closely, and there are caves underground that look like Guilin above ground. Mom and I did the Li River cruise thing a couple of years ago, it was great.’
Simone giggled. ‘Oh look, a theme park!’
I looked over the edge of the cloud but couldn’t see anything except brown scars of construction and long dirt roads below me.
‘It has a mock Polynesian village, with local people painted black and dressed in grass skirts, banging drums,’ Michael said with amusement. ‘Very culturally sensitive.’
‘You went there?’ Simone asked with delight.
‘We took a group of disadvantaged Mainland kids with us,’ Michael said.
‘You didn’t mention that,’ I said.
He shrugged. ‘Not really worth mentioning. Mom and I used to do it often, take disadvantaged kids on holiday, give them time away from the concrete jungle.’ He glanced back towards the Tiger’s cloud. ‘I dunno whether I’ll want to continue doing it if Mom doesn’t want to.’
‘If she doesn’t want to, can you and me keep it going?’ Simone said. ‘It sounds really worthwhile.’
Michael hesitated for a moment, then grinned at her. ‘Sure.’
‘Okay!’ Simone yelled. She nodded towards the ground. ‘Seven Stars Park, Guilin, everybody off!’