‘Can you sense Martin?’ I said.
‘No.’ He hefted his blade and continued along the path, pushing past a family who were strolling very slowly through the park. ‘Let’s go.’ The family saw the blades, exclaimed loudly and took off, walking quickly.
‘Damn,’ I said. ‘They’ll probably call the police and report a gang war.’
‘Here’s the yamen building,’ Na Zha said. ‘The police won’t find anything.’
The yamen building was the old administration building for Kowloon Walled City. It was red brick, with a traditional green tiled roof and a pair of cannons flanking the doorway. Inside, it was bare concrete. We all stopped and looked around.
‘This is difficult,’ the Phoenix said, concentrating. ‘Because of the blockage to our vision, we cannot see the entrance at all.’
‘Stone?’ I said.
Gold appeared and saluted us. He took his stone form and floated around the room, checking. The stone drifted out of my ring, grew to a similar size to Gold, and moved along the opposite perimeter of the room from Gold. It shrank and returned to my ring, and Gold returned to human form, gesturing to indicate the floor.
‘The entrance is here. I don’t know how to open it. It appears to be some sort of trapdoor.’
John nodded. ‘Don’t worry, we will find a way in. You are dismissed. Well done.’
‘Get the bastard who did this to my siblings,’ Gold said, and fell to one knee before us, saluting. ‘Lord Xuan. It’s been a blast.’
‘I hope you’re free when I return, because there’s a job for you if you are,’ John said.
‘Double my salary and I may consider it,’ Gold said. ‘I have a family to support now.’
‘Done,’ John said, and Gold disappeared.
‘But we don’t pay him anything,’ I said, crouching to examine the floor.
‘That’s precisely the point,’ John said, crouching next to me.
The other Immortals moved to join us.
‘Stand back,’ Na Zha said. ‘I’ll just blast it open.’
He didn’t need to. The building’s external doors slammed shut by themselves and the trapdoor flew open. We all stepped back. About a dozen young men climbed up some stairs into the room. They looked like gang members with their dyed hair and tattoos. They carried small guns and grinned.
‘Damn!’ John said softly.
The Dragon concentrated and they all collapsed as if they were dead.
‘That was unnecessary, Ah Qing,’ the Phoenix said. ‘You will be reprimanded for that.’
‘They were only humans,’ the Dragon said, and gestured for us to follow him down the stairs.
I checked one of the young men. The Dragon was right: they were human. And he’d killed every single one of them with his Internal Eye.
The stairs went a long way down but the corridor didn’t darken. The walls were lined with white enamel panels, similar to the walls of some of the more upmarket exits to the MTR stations, but there was no visible lighting.
‘Touch the wall for me, Emma,’ the stone said softly.
I put my hand on the wall as I walked down.
‘Touch me to it.’
I turned my hand over and slid the stone against the wall.
‘The Grandmother will be nearly as pissed as I am,’ the stone said. ‘I have half a mind to take human form and join you.’
‘Stay there,’ John said. ‘He may not be aware of what you are.’
The stone was silent.
The Tiger took True Form and loped ahead of us. The Phoenix and Dragon stayed in human form; their True Forms would be too big to fit on the narrow stairway. John didn’t transform either.
‘Will you take True Form, my Lord?’ Leo said as he followed us down the stairs.
John was silent, still moving quickly. It was a long way down.
‘Oh my God,’ I said softly.
‘What, Emma?’ Leo said.
I stopped. ‘Wait, John,’ I said. ‘Tell me how bad it is.’
‘At the bottom,’ John said. ‘There are no demons there.’
‘At the bottom you will tell me exactly how bad it is, John Chen Wu,’ I said grimly, rushing to keep up.
When we reached the bottom, I looked back. We were a good five storeys down, and the stairs hadn’t turned so we’d travelled about two hundred metres in as well. The trapdoor was a tiny square of light a long way behind us.
‘Can you sense Simone?’ I said.
John concentrated. ‘Yes. She is behind us, about three hundred metres away.’
‘And about fifty metres down,’ the stone said. ‘You will need to descend further.’
‘Now that we are inside, can you still see the layout?’ the Phoenix said.
‘In a way,’ the stone said. ‘Some of it. I may be able to guide you.’
‘Good,’ John said.
There was an opening at the bottom of the stairs, and we went in. The smell was indescribable. This was obviously where the men had their rest room. There was a television, a table set up for mah jong, a filthy couch and a microwave. Cigarette butts coated the floor and the walls were greasy with smoke. Beer cans were strewn everywhere.
I moved as close to John as I could. ‘You will tell me how bad this is right now, or I swear I’ll use the phone anyway,’ I said.
John glanced at the Tiger.
‘Tell her,’ the Tiger said, his tail twitching.
John gave in. ‘It is very bad. I don’t know how much will remain once I take True Form. If there are demons present, the Turtle will destroy them. After that, I don’t know.’
‘What do you mean, “remain”?’ Leo said.
‘Sometimes I’m glad none of my wives are as smart as this one,’ the Tiger said.
I explained for Leo. ‘If he changes while he’s this drained, the True Form will probably be all animal. John Chen won’t exist. That’s why he’ll be gone for so long. Like he said, if there are demons around, the Turtle will destroy them, that’s its nature. But if there are no demons present, the Turtle could very well just take off.’
Leo glanced at John. John’s face didn’t shift but his eyes blazed.
‘You should have told us this, my Lord,’ Leo said softly.
‘I thought I would be coming in after a week with the Lady,’ John said. ‘If I had spent that week with her, I would have been able to retain control long enough to see the demon destroyed. Now…’ His face didn’t shift. ‘I am very drained. It is best if I do not release the Turtle until we face One Two Two. Let’s go.’
The door opened onto a wider corridor, but it didn’t go down. It did make a U-turn to go in the right direction though. We didn’t hesitate, we followed it. It was lined with the same white enamel panels and seemed to stretch forever.
‘Any corridors or turns or stairs up ahead?’ I said.
Nobody said anything.
‘Can anybody see anything at all?’
There was complete silence as we marched down the hallway.
‘Hold,’ the stone said. ‘I think I can sense some demons ahead on the left.’
Nobody stopped.
‘Stop,’ I said. ‘The stone says there are demons up ahead on the left.’
‘You will need to relay for me now, Emma. I’m silenced,’ the stone said.
The Immortals stopped and concentrated.
‘Hard to tell,’ the Phoenix said.
‘A large number of very big ones, about ten metres along this corridor on the left,’ Na Zha said. ‘I’ll take them. You go past.’
‘You sure?’ I said.
Na Zha transformed into his True Form. His pale blue robes flowed around him and his long hair was down to his waist. He held his whip in his left hand and his ring weapon in his right.
‘Just go past,’ he said. ‘Let me take them.’ He shook out his shoulders. ‘I’ve been looking forward to having fun with some real opposition for a while. This should be good.’
‘Meet up with us later,’ John said. ‘
Enjoy.’
About fifty metres down the hallway, on the left side, was a door. The corridor turned a corner at the door and continued to the right. Na Zha stopped at the door and nodded to us as we went past. When we were about twenty metres away he opened the door and laughed loudly.
We didn’t look back. We raced down the hallway. It turned a sharp left at the end. We went around.
A slime waited for us. It was a fluorescent lurid shade of green and hung off the ceiling in a mucousy stringing curtain.
‘What the hell is that?’ Leo said behind me.
‘Slime,’ I said. ‘Very rare and highly toxic. Only energy can take it out. Impossible to tell how big it is until you’ve hit it. Energy workers have to be very careful with these; sometimes they’re big enough to kill you with the chi backlash, but you don’t know until you’ve tried.’
‘Then it’s obviously meant for you,’ Leo said.
‘Obviously,’ I said. ‘It’s probably big enough to kill me.’
‘That’s beside the point,’ the Phoenix said. She quickly transformed to True Form and blew a shaft of searing flame directly at the demon from her beak. It shrivelled, blackened and fell off the ceiling. The Phoenix turned back into her preferred human form, with flowing long red hair and a red robe.
‘Don’t step in it,’ she said as she lifted her robes to walk carefully over the smouldering mass on the floor.
We all followed her, the Tiger leaping easily over the blackened slime. The corridor ended about ten metres away at another door. As one the Immortals stiffened and spun. The Dragon grabbed me and pulled me behind him.
‘What?’ I said.
‘Back,’ John said.
‘What?’ Leo said.
‘Ah Na Zha was taken down,’ the Dragon said softly. ‘I am not sure what these things are that destroyed him, but they are on their way.’
We backed to the door. It was tiled with white enamel and didn’t have a handle. I gave it an experimental push. It didn’t move.
The Dragon and the Phoenix transformed and moved into position in front of us.
‘Go,’ the Dragon said, and the door flew open behind me. ‘Go and find Simone. Zhu Que and I will handle them. Tiger, Turtle, take them.’
I heard them coming down the hallway, but never saw them. The Dragon pushed me through the doorway with his tail, then pushed Leo and John after me. The Tiger came last. The door closed in our faces.
We were at the top of a flight of stairs that went down about fifty metres to a door at the bottom.
‘Simone is at the bottom of the stairs, about twenty metres further along,’ the stone said. ‘You are nearly there.’
‘Nearly there,’ I said. ‘Bottom of the stairs, about twenty metres further along.’
John didn’t say anything as we raced down the stairs. Then he and the Tiger stopped and concentrated.
‘There are more on the other side of this door, waiting for us,’ John said. Then he went rigid. ‘The Dragon and Phoenix are gone—the demons destroyed them—but they managed to take the last couple of turtles with them.’
‘Can you three handle them?’ the Tiger said.
John concentrated. ‘Yes. There are about fifteen level sixty snakes on the other side of this door.’
‘I’ll scout ahead and find the demon, you get Simone,’ the Tiger said. His body shimmered, then he snapped back. ‘Can’t travel in here; interesting.’ He shook his shaggy head. ‘Ouch.’ He grinned up at me. ‘I’ll just have to destroy these demons with you.’
‘Let me go through the door first,’ Leo said. ‘I’ll see how many I can take out before I go down. You can take the rest.’
‘Go through together,’ the stone said. ‘Emma, with energy. Turtle, Lion, Tiger, physical. Go in swinging. You will have more of a chance.’
‘Stop, Leo,’ I said. ‘The stone says go in swinging together. Me with energy, you three with physical.’
‘Yes,’ John said. ‘I’ll open the door, Leo stand back, Emma hit them first with energy.’
‘Can I shoot chi into the ground?’ I said. ‘Are we on the ground?’
‘Good idea,’ the stone said. ‘Yes.’
‘Into the ground,’ I said, and John nodded, understanding.
We readied ourselves. The Tiger used PK to open the door, then he and Leo stepped back.
All I saw was a writhing black mass on the other side of the door; they were silent, not hissing. They must have been at least thirty centimetres across.
Using my sword, I shot a bolt of chi into the floor and it went right through the middle of the snakes, blowing them up. It popped out of the floor about three metres away at the other end of the room, and I managed to make it swerve through a few more as it returned to me. I’d taken out about five of them. I sent the chi into the earth; if I retrieved that much it would kill me.
John and Leo raced through the door, swords swinging. The Tiger leapt. I followed them in and threw another bolt into the floor, destroying another three demons. Eight down. Seven to go.
The room was about three metres to a side, plain concrete. Just us and the snakes.
John had no difficulty with the demons he faced. He backed into a corner and only one at a time could battle him, they were so enormous. Dark Heavens destroyed them easily as it sliced through them; just its touch seemed to be enough to make them dissipate.
Leo had trouble with the demon he was attacking, so I took it out with a bolt of chi, then threw the result into the floor at another one.
The Tiger was a white blur. He leaped at them, tore their throats out, and worried them as they fell.
The demons moved back from me, obviously concerned by the energy. John, Leo and the Tiger continued to battle.
I sent another bolt of chi through the snakes, then more into the ground.
John ripped Dark Heavens through the demon he was facing and it fell.
All gone.
We all stood, panting, trying to regain our breath. Leo stumbled to me and leaned against the wall next to me. John came and stood with us, the Tiger backed to us.
‘Anybody injured?’ John said.
‘Poisonous,’ the Tiger said, panting. ‘Fangs. Leo?’
‘Yeah,’ Leo said.
The Tiger transformed into human form and went to Leo. Leo slid down the wall to sit on the floor, his face ashen. The Tiger took his hands, lowered his head and concentrated. Leo’s face screwed up with agony and he gasped.
‘Hold,’ John said, putting his hand on Leo’s forehead. ‘The pain will pass.’
Leo was completely still, his face stiff with control.
‘Breathe,’ John whispered.
Leo took a deep gasping breath and arched his back, then went limp. The Tiger concentrated again, and his hands filled with the golden glow of chi. The energy grew like a nimbus around his hands, then moved onto Leo, creating an aura around him. He appeared to be surrounded by golden fire for a split second, then it was absorbed into him.
Leo exhaled a huge deep breath, snapped open his eyes and smiled. ‘Thanks.’
‘It wasn’t as bad as I thought,’ the Tiger said. ‘The fang just grazed you. You were very lucky.’
Leo raised his left forearm and examined the long red mark where the fang had sliced across. ‘Gone.’ He pulled himself to his feet. ‘Any more between us and Simone?’
John and the Tiger faced the door at the end of the room and concentrated.
‘No idea,’ John said. ‘Stone?’
‘What you just faced was nothing compared to what is on the other side of that door,’ the stone said grimly. ‘Twice as many. Much bigger. Turtles.’ Its voice softened. ‘They are guarding Simone. She is on the other side of that room, in a holding room.’
Everybody looked blankly at me, so I relayed the message.
‘Emma, Leo,’ John said, ‘you two will go straight through, grab Simone and take her out. Take her straight home, both of you. The Tiger and I will finish our business here. Just make sure Simo
ne is safe.’
I didn’t say anything, I just studied the door.
‘Emma?’ John said.
I nodded. ‘Okay. I suppose this is goodbye.’
‘No, it isn’t,’ John said. ‘Because I will return for you. I promise. Now.’ He hefted his sword. ‘Let’s get Simone out of this.’ He didn’t look away from the door. ‘Leo, I am giving you a direct order. You do not have permission to give your life. Simone will need both of you. I order you to stay alive.’
‘My Lord,’ Leo said, expressionless. ‘It’s the least I deserve.’
‘Tiger, on the count of three, open the door,’ John said. ‘One, two—’
The door flew open by itself and Martin threw himself through, holding Simone, unconscious, in his arms. His eyes blazed. ‘Go!’ he shouted when he saw us. ‘Get out of here!’
John ran to them and turned to bring up the rear. ‘You heard him, run!’
We all turned and raced for the door. Leo hit it first and went down. The Tiger crashed into it as well. The rest of us managed to stop before we reached it.
I put my hand out. There was an invisible barrier where the door should have been. The door appeared to be open, but we couldn’t go through.
‘Move,’ John said. He raised Dark Heavens, filled it with brilliant white shen energy and tried to break the barrier with it. The sword glanced off.
John pulled the energy back out. We all faced back into the room. The door on the other side was open, but the demons weren’t coming in yet.
The Tiger shook his shaggy head and pulled himself to his feet. ‘Never seen that before.’
‘Leo?’ I said.
Leo grunted, then pulled himself up to sit, shaking his head as well. The Tiger moved next to him. ‘How many paws am I holding up?’
‘Two,’ Leo said.
‘Close enough,’ the Tiger said.
Leo clumsily pulled himself to his feet and staggered to the white katana to retrieve it.
I went to Martin. Simone lay limp in his arms.
‘Is she okay?’ I said.
‘Yes,’ Martin said. ‘I broke out of my cell and found her. But—’ He glanced at the other room, then gently put Simone onto the floor next to the door. ‘Give me your sword, and stand back with Simone. Let us deal with them.’