Now what? Ying thought. Grandmaster’s sword would be useless against a charge like that.
He tore his chain whip from the pocket in his robe sleeve, and as Tonglong emerged from the smoke, Ying rushed into the clearing and lashed out at the front legs of Tonglong’s horse. The extra-long chain wrapped itself around the horse’s knees, and the animal went down in a heap. Ying locked eyes with Tonglong as Tonglong sailed forward over the horse’s head, and Ying could see the surprise of recognition written across Tonglong’s face. Ying knew that Tonglong had thought him to be dead.
Ying watched Tonglong crash headfirst into a stand of saplings at the clearing’s edge, their trunks snapping like twigs. Tonglong lay still as his horse skidded and thrashed about, managing to stand and shake the chain whip from its bloody legs.
The riders in Tonglong’s wake somehow steered around Tonglong’s horse, and Ying thought, Those men are very, very good riders. Let’s find out how skilled they are with weapons.
As Tonglong’s horse hobbled off, Ying snatched his chain whip from the ground and headed for Tonglong.
The soldiers on horseback formed a barrier between Ying and Tonglong’s unmoving body. There were ten mounted soldiers in all, and three of them raised their pistols and pointed them in Ying’s direction.
Ying did not care. If Tonglong wasn’t already dead, Ying would put the final nail in his coffin, regardless of the consequences.
Ying began to swing his chain whip overhead like a lasso, preparing to slice every one of those soldiers to pieces. He had taken two steps toward the line of horsemen when he was knocked violently to the ground. At the same instant, three pistols rang out, their bullets throwing up chunks of earth where he had been standing.
Ying rolled several times and popped to his feet. He was beginning to wrap his chain whip around one hand, ready to smash his attacker with it, when he saw that it was Fu who had tackled him.
Fu scrambled to his feet. “Run, you idiot! This way!” He sprang into a thick stand of pine trees, and two more shots rang out, the bullets striking the soft trunks.
Ying leaped into the evergreens after Fu, landing out of the soldiers’ sight. He was about to crawl deeper into the interwoven pine boughs when he heard a familiar voice. He spun around on his stomach and peered into the clearing through a tiny opening in the wall of pine needles.
“What happened?” ShaoShu shouted, emerging from the smoke atop a pony.
The horsemen ignored ShaoShu. Eight of them fanned out across the clearing to guard against a possible counterattack by the bandits, while two riders remained in front of Tonglong’s body.
It appeared that ShaoShu was at a loss as to what to do with himself. He steered his pony over to the tree line and began to ride slowly along the clearing’s perimeter. As he neared Ying’s hiding spot, Ying whispered through the pines, “ShaoShu! It’s me, Ying. Find out if Tonglong is still alive.”
To his credit, ShaoShu did not bat an eye. He acted as though Ying were not even there and casually turned his pony around, heading back toward the two horsemen.
One of the horsemen scowled at ShaoShu. “Where do you think you are going?”
“I want to check on our leader,” ShaoShu said. “To see if he needs help.”
“No one could survive a fall like that. We are just protecting his remains in case the bandits return.”
“I would hate to be you if he is still alive and he finds out you said that.”
The man glowered at ShaoShu, and the second horseman spoke up. “Let the kid take a look. What can it hurt?”
Ying watched as ShaoShu dismounted and hurried over to Tonglong’s side. ShaoShu began to fidget about Tonglong’s neck, and he suddenly stopped and pointed across the clearing. “Hey!” he said in a worried tone. “I think I see someone in the smoke!”
The two horsemen looked away, and Ying saw ShaoShu slip something into the folds of his robe.
The horsemen looked back at ShaoShu. “What were you pointing at? There’s nothing—”
“He’s alive!” ShaoShu interrupted, genuine surprise in his voice. “He’s breathing!”
The horsemen looked at each other, their eyes wide. “Let’s get him away from these flames!” one of them said. They dismounted, and ShaoShu scurried away, hurrying in Ying’s direction. When he got to the edge of the clearing, he pretended to trip, stumbling and tumbling into the pines. He stopped next to Ying.
Ying could not help but smirk. “You are insane,” he whispered.
“I know,” ShaoShu whispered back. He slid one hand into his robe and pulled out a key tied to a thin strand of silk. The key was entwined with dragons. “Take this. It is supposed to open one of the gates or something at the back of the Forbidden City.”