“He is plenty old enough,” one of the old men said. “Pay up.”
“What is happening?” ShaoShu asked. “Why are you doing this? What bounty are you talking about?”
“Do not play dumb with me, kid,” the soldier said. “We have been recruiting every man and boy for Warlord Tonglong’s army for days now. I do not know how you managed to hide from us all this time, but it looks like you are in the army now.”
ShaoShu remembered the scroll Tonglong had made the Emperor sign. That must be what this was all about. “You mean you’re just going to take me straight off to the army?” he asked. “Without telling anyone? What about my, um, family?”
“When you do not come home, they will know exactly what happened,” the soldier said. “Everyone is accustomed to it by now. Every man and boy in the entire region is being fitted for a uniform at this moment. Now come with us. We need to find a way to verify your age.”
“You had better let me go!” ShaoShu warned, growing angry. How could Tonglong do this? “Listen,” he said. “Southern Warlord Tonglong has sent me out to deliver an important message to the owner of the Shanghai Fight Club. If you don’t believe me, just ask him.”
The soldier laughed. “You don’t say? Can I take a look at this message of yours?”
“No,” ShaoShu said. “It’s secret.”
“I will see about that,” the soldier replied, reaching into the folds of ShaoShu’s robe. ShaoShu wriggled and squirmed, but the man still managed to grab hold of the small scroll and pull it out. Fortunately, the dragon scrolls remained hidden.
The soldier unrolled the scroll, and his eyes narrowed. “Is this your idea of a joke?”
“No,” ShaoShu said. “Why?”
“Because of what it says, you little runt. You are going to pay for this!”
“How am I supposed to know what it says?” ShaoShu asked. “I can’t even read!”
The soldier’s eyes narrowed even more. “It says, ‘Major Guan is a buffoon.’”
“Who is Major Guan?”
“Me!” the soldier roared. “I am in charge of rounding up all the dodgers—people like you who try to hide from their responsibility to answer the Emperor’s call for additional troops. As if you did not already know this. Tie him up!”
“Wait—” ShaoShu began, but his words were cut off by his head being shoved forward until his chin dug into his chest. One soldier kept his head pinned in that position while another soldier yanked his arms behind his back. A third soldier crossed ShaoShu’s wrists and began to tie them together with a rough cord.
ShaoShu did not despair. His life on the streets had put him in the path of constables before, and he had been through this routine more times than he would like to admit. He knew just what to do.
He made fists with both hands, tensing his forearm muscles as the unseen soldier wound the cord around his wrists, behind his back. ShaoShu pressed his flexed forearms outward against the cord with steadily increasing pressure until his wrists ached. He maintained the pressure even after the man had finished.
ShaoShu’s head was released, and he lifted it up. Behind his back he felt the cool breeze blowing through the open space he had managed to leave between his wrists, and he forced down a smile.
“This way,” Major Guan growled, and the six other soldiers replied, “Yes, sir!”
One of the soldiers gave ShaoShu a shove, and they began marching toward the compound. The men surrounded ShaoShu as they walked, but they kept their hands off him.
That was their first mistake.
Their second mistake came when a pretty young girl stepped into the road behind them and approached the old shopkeeper. All the soldiers turned to look at her.
ShaoShu took advantage of the distraction. He pressed his wrists together to close the gap he had left between them and unclenched his fists, straightening his fingers. He quickly folded his right palm upon itself by touching the tip of his thumb to the tip of his little finger, and slid his uncommonly flexible folded right hand out from beneath the bindings in one smooth motion.
His hands were free. ShaoShu balled them into fists, and as Major Guan turned to face him to continue walking, ShaoShu drove them both straight into the major’s groin.
Major Guan cried out and hunched forward, and ShaoShu zipped around him, racing away from the command center. He had taken only a few steps when he heard pistol shots and the sound of horses’ hooves. ShaoShu turned to see Tonglong and several soldiers racing down the road toward him atop squat, hairy stallions.