“I make it my business to know things,” PawPaw said. “I recently received important news from a black market dealer in Jinan called HukJee—Black Pig. He has received reports from within Tonglong’s ranks that Tonglong has slain his own mother, as well as your father. I am sorry.”
Long saw Xie’s massive jaw muscles tighten. “Bad news travels quickly,” Xie said.
“It does,” PawPaw replied. “And there is more. Tonglong’s people are spreading the claim that he had no choice but to take action against your father because your father was planning to revolt against the Emperor. They also say that you escaped from Tonglong with the help of a fight club fighter called Golden Dragon, and that you intend to carry out your father’s plan. Tonglong says that the Emperor is in his protective custody because of this threat to national security, and he is currently assembling an army of civilians to join his existing troops and march upon your lands.”
Xie scowled. “The lying dog! I must get back to my people.” He turned to Charles, who was crouched next to PawPaw’s fireplace. “How long do you think it will be before we can leave?”
“Give me half an hour and a bowl of hot soup,” Charles said, “and I’ll be ready.”
PawPaw smiled. “I will get the soup started.”
“Thank you,” Xie said. “All of you. Your kindness will not be forgotten.” He removed a large ring from his little finger and handed it to Long. It was a jade scorpion resting atop a small mountain of gold.
Long slipped the ring onto his thumb.
“After you have healed,” Xie said, “go to Kaifeng and seek out a horseman called Cang. He is quite famous and will not be difficult to find. Show him this ring. He will take care of the rest. Any questions?”
“I suppose I have one,” Long said. “Should I really do this on my own?”
“Unfortunately, yes. It will be asking a great deal for Cang to provide me with a horse, as well as you. Asking for a third might be out of the question.”
“Can someone ride the horse with me?”
“No. The journey is too taxing to expect a horse to carry more than one rider.”
Long nodded.
PawPaw glanced at Hok. “How long do you think it will be before Long has healed enough to handle the stress of riding a horse for several days?”
“I would estimate four weeks,” Hok replied. “That is, if you have a complete stock of healing herbs. He could probably sit on a horse for short periods in about two weeks, which is what I would consider to be the time frame for a general recovery. Is that acceptable?”
“Of course,” PawPaw replied. “I am just trying to make plans of my own. Do you know how to find Mong once you reach Kaifeng?”
“Yes,” Hok said. “We need to talk with Yuen at the Jade Phoenix.”
“Perfect,” PawPaw said. “She can tell you how to find them. The bandits are constantly on the move. Even so, it should take you less than a week to reach them. They live in the forest, but tend to remain relatively close to Kaifeng. As soon as you arrive, ask Mong to send three strong men to me with two horse carts. By the time we load up and return to the bandits’ camp, and Long travels to Kaifeng, his leg should be healed.”
“We?” Hok asked.
“I am going to the bandit camp, too,” PawPaw said. “There is war on the horizon. Mong is going to need all the help he can get.”
ShaoShu sat on the edge of his bed, picking lint out of his belly button. He had not been this bored in a very long time.
Since the incident with the Emperor and the spilled ink several days ago, he had been kept away from Tonglong’s command center office and meeting rooms. In fact, he had been excluded from just about everything, spending nearly all of his time in this makeshift bedroom. Tonglong had recruited a group of elite soldiers to follow him around to do his bidding, and one of these soldiers had caught ShaoShu trying to sneak extra food to the Emperor. Consequently, he had been confined here.
This was just as well, as far as ShaoShu was concerned. The more distance between him and Tonglong, the better. He had heard a few things about what the sneaky mantis was up to, and he did not like any of it. For example, just that morning he’d overheard a conversation about Tonglong showering his elite soldiers with money to keep hidden the fact that the Emperor was currently being held prisoner in the pig crate. Everyone knew that the Emperor was with Tonglong, but they thought that he was being luxuriously catered to in one of the wings of this massive building.
ShaoShu had also heard that Tonglong was sending vast sums of money to the Forbidden City to bribe people to do his bidding. This money was said to be coming from the sale of some of the treasure Tonglong had stolen from Ying’s family, and this upset ShaoShu. However, there was little that he could do about it. He could not just sneak away and find Ying to tell him about it. Not only did he not know where Ying was, there was always one of those elite soldiers near his door. He had tried to sneak out before, but never had any luck.