“So, you haven't seen a pale girl with brown hair, or a teenage boy with his face carved to resemble a dragon?” Tonglong asked the older man.
The man, who Charles was now certain was the shopkeeper, shook his head. “No, sir.”
“You will send someone for me if you do see either of them, right?” Tonglong asked.
“Immediately,” the shopkeeper said. “Will you be in Hangzhou long?”
“As long as it takes to find them.”
“If you don't mind my asking, a man of your rank has traveled all this way to find two children?”
“They are special children,” Tonglong said. “They have something I want. So, it seems, do you.” He gestured to the numerous bottles on the counter. “I will take them all.”
Charles watched the shopkeeper's eyes widen. “What on earth could you possibly do with so much snake venom?”
Tonglong chuckled. “It's not for me. It's a gift. For my mother. She couldn't make the trip here with me, so I thought I might bring her back a little something.”
“Snake venom?” the shopkeeper asked.
“My mother has an interesting … hobby,” Tonglong said with a grin. “Wrap these up for me.”
“Oh, I'm sorry,” the shopkeeper said. “You will have to carry these bottles individually. Packaging them is too risky. The stoppers could pop out or the bottles could break. I've seen these things happen before with snake venom. People have lost their lives. I am sorry.”
“I will carry them individually then,” Tonglong said. “I plan to return tomorrow to do some more shopping. I will pay you then.”
“As you wish, General,” the shopkeeper said.
Charles had hoped to hear more about what Tonglong was up to, but it seemed his conversation with the shopkeeper was drawing to a close. It was time to leave.
As Tonglong began to carefully pick up the small bottles, Charles headed for the door. He'd taken three steps when he heard Tonglong shout, “Hey, you! Round Eye! Step over here.”
Charles began to run. He raced back through the maze, knocking items and customers to the floor. Tong long called out, “To the front door, men! There is a young round eye coming your way. Stop him!”
Charles reached the front door without seeing a single soldier. He grinned and rushed out of the doorway, directly into the arms of two very large men. Soldiers.
Charles writhed and twisted and kicked, but it was no use. He soon gave up. Tonglong came out with his arms full of snake-venom bottles. “Take him to the barracks,” Tonglong said. “I will go on ahead. As you can imagine, the last thing I want to do is drop one of these on myself—or on you.”
“Yes, sir!” the soldiers said in unison.
Tonglong nodded to them and walked away. Charles watched, dejected, as Tonglong hurried along the riverbank, then turned away from the water and headed up a narrow side street.
“Let's go,” one of the soldiers said, and both burly men began to drag Charles in the same direction Tonglong had gone. Charles looked back at the apothe cary's entrance and saw people streaming out as fast as their legs would carry them. They were obviously worried about the soldiers, too.
Charles glanced upstream, and his heart leaped. Fu and Malao were strolling along the riverfront on wobbly legs, both intently focused on consuming their dinners.
“Fu! Malao!” Charles shouted. “Help!”
Fu and Malao looked up and came running. Malao held a skewer of fish balls in each hand, while Fu held the remains of a chicken carcass. Fu roared and hurled the carcass at the head of the soldier to Charles’ right. The man ducked forward and Charles lifted his knee, driving it hard into the soldier's face.
The soldier howled and straightened, and Fu rushed forward, slamming a meaty fist into the man's Adam's apple. The man choked, and Fu hit him again on the side of the neck with his forearm. The soldier went down.
Malao stopped in front of the second soldier and shrieked loudly. He whipped the skewers forward with a quick snap of his wrists, flinging fish balls into the man's face. The soldier closed his eyes for a moment, and Malao dropped low, jamming the pointed bamboo skewers into the man's thighs.
The soldier screamed and his legs buckled, and Charles broke free. As the man teetered forward, Charles threw an uppercut into his jaw. The soldier's head rocked back and he toppled to the ground, unconscious.
Charles looked around for Tonglong. He wasn't there. He must not have heard the ruckus.
“Let's get out of here!” Malao said.
Charles nodded. “Follow me.” He took a step toward his sloop and heard a shrill whistle behind him. It sounded like a large bird.