Ying spat. “I suppose every little bit helps. Where is your camp? We should warn the others immediately.”
“Whoa,” Gao said, holding up his hands. “I am not sure you should be shown its location.”
Hok glared at Gao. “I just told you that Ying can be trusted. I would bet my life on it.”
“You might just have to,” Gao said. “Even if he proves trustworthy, there are many within the camp who would love to tear him limb from limb after he helped capture our stronghold.”
“I am truly sorry for my actions,” Ying said, “and I do not blame you for hating me. However, you once fought against the Emperor, and now it appears you are his ally against Tonglong. Perhaps you can reconsider me, as you have reconsidered him.”
Gao scratched one of his large ears. “You raise a good point. Why is it that you want to come to our camp, though? We could just as easily convey this information without you.”
Ying nodded toward his grandfather’s sword. “I need a whetstone. If you can provide me with one now, I’ll be on my way.”
“Isn’t that Grandmaster’s sword?” Gao asked.
“Yes.”
“Do you promise to never use it against me or any of our men and women at the camp?”
“I do,” Ying said. “The only flesh this blade will cut is Tonglong’s.”
Gao nodded. “Since Hok says that you can be trusted, you may follow us to the camp. However, I suggest that you remain out of sight. There is no telling how people will react to you. Stay back in the trees, and I will find you the finest sharpening stone we possess.” He nodded at Grandmaster’s sword. “That blade looks like it deserves it.”
Ying followed well behind Gao and Malao, with Hok at his side and the white macaque overhead. Ying and Hok conversed in low voices as they hurried along. Hok told him of her adventures since they had parted company in the south, and Ying gave her a detailed account of his encounter with ShaoShu. By the time their conversation reached the present moment, it was late afternoon.
“Will Fu and Seh be at the camp?” Ying asked.
“They should both be there,” Hok replied. “Seh never leaves, and Fu and his father were supposed to return to the camp last night, along with my mother. They were on patrol with us, but their watch ended.”
“Are their replacements patrolling the other side of the stronghold?”
Hok shrugged. “The replacements never showed up. That happens sometimes, especially with newer recruits. They get lost or become frightened upon seeing soldiers, and they run off.”
Ying frowned. “I wonder if Long will get lost on his way to Tunhuang.”
“Long will make it. You of all people should know that.”
“What do you mean?”
“You know how tenacious he can be. He is a lot like you.”
“I suppose.”
Hok shook her head. “No, he truly is a lot like you—in more ways than you are likely to know. In fact, he asked me to share something with you.”
“Such as?”
“I am not sure how to tell you.”
“Just say it,” Ying said.
Hok pursed her lips. “Long is your cousin. Your father and his father were brothers.”
“And?”
“‘And?’” Hok repeated. “You knew?”
“No, but it does not surprise me. Long is a dragon, like Grandmaster was. I am a dragon, too. Long and I also look alike. I have never told anyone this, but part of the reason I changed my appearance was so that I would look less like Long.”
“Really?”
Ying nodded. “So Grandmaster was Long’s grandfather, as well as mine?”
“That is what Grandmaster told him.”
“Did Long know how he came to Cangzhen Temple in the first place? I remember he was already there when I arrived, but he was a tiny infant.”
“It pains me to tell you this,” Hok said, “but apparently your father killed Long’s parents.”
Ying rubbed his carved forehead. “I guess I believe it. Before I reunited with my mother I would not have, but she has told me stories about what a horrible man my father was. I wish Grandmaster had told me some of it.”
“If he had, would you have believed him?”
“Probably not. However, I would have believed that he was my grandfather. As much as I did not like him, I always felt a bond with him. If I had known we were related, I might not have killed him, and we would not be in this situation now.”
Ying felt his dan tien begin to tingle, and he rubbed his stomach.
“Do you think there is trouble ahead?” Hok whispered.