Long knew firsthand his sister’s gifts as a healer, and he obeyed without question, lying back down on the boat’s rolling deck. Her handiwork had impressed everyone at Cangzhen Temple, and she had patched him up more than once after training sessions that had gone awry. He noticed now that his right thigh and the upper section of his left arm had been expertly rebandaged. That was no doubt her doing, too. He asked, “What is going on? I cannot seem to remember much.”
“There is quite a bit going on,” Hok replied. “Why don’t you tell me what you know, first?”
“From the beginning?”
“Sure.”
“Well,” Long said, “six months ago, Ying attacked our Cangzhen Temple with the aid of the Emperor’s soldiers. They had firearms and cannons, while we had swords and spears. Only Fu, Malao, Seh, you, and I managed to survive. I thought that Grandmaster might have made it out, too, but I later learned that Ying had killed him as well.”
“Go on.”
“I fled the attack as Grandmaster had commanded, and I came up with the idea of joining the fight clubs like Ying had done, in order to get close to the Emperor. I thought I might be able to change the Emperor’s heart like Grandmaster had directed us. I did manage to get close to the Emperor and even succeeded in becoming this year’s Fight Club Grand Champion, but it was all for naught. As Xie has probably told you, Tonglong is now the Southern Warlord, and he made a move against the Emperor right after I won the championship. I believe he may have succeeded. This is all I know.”
Hok nodded. “Unfortunately, I think you are correct about Tonglong succeeding. I saw ShaoShu briefly as we were leaving the rooftop across from the fight club last night, and he pointed to a figure wrapped in some sort of blanket, held by soldiers. A section of the blanket had separated, and in the moonlight I saw a flash of gold silk.”
“So I have only been asleep one night?”
“Yes.”
“And ShaoShu is definitely back with Tonglong?”
“Yes.”
“I wish he would have come with us.”
“ShaoShu can take care of himself,” Hok said. “What more can I tell you about our situation?”
Long glanced at Charles, then back at Hok. “Tell me about this fine boat.”
“The boat belongs to Charles, of course,” Hok replied. “He is a friend of my father and my mother, and I am proud to call him my friend, too. I believe we all are.”
Fu grunted in agreement from the bow, and Malao shouted down from the mast top, “Hear, hear!”
Hok continued. “Charles has been helping us for a while now, and we have been keeping an eye on Tonglong. We were recently staying with a group of Charles’ friends on a small island to the south, but Tonglong found us and destroyed everything and nearly everyone. We were fortunate to escape. Charles was going to take us farther north so that we could meet up with Seh and a group of bandits he is staying with.”
“Bandits?” Long asked. “Are you talking about Mong?”
Hok’s eyebrows rose. “Yes. How do you know about Mong?”
“Grandmaster shared some secrets with me,” Long said, slightly embarrassed. “Do you know that there is history between Mong and Seh?”
Hok nodded. “Yes, Mong is Seh’s father.”
“That’s right.”
“Do you know anything about Seh’s mother?”
“No.”
“His mother is, or I should say was, AnGangseh.”
Long shook his head. “AnGangseh was Tonglong’s mother.”
“She is mother to both of them, though from different husbands. Seh and Tonglong are half-brothers.”
“Unbelievable,” Long said.
“There is more,” Hok said. “AnGangseh blinded Seh. That is why he is not traveling with us.” She tapped the side of her ever-present herb bag. “Fortunately, I may have found a cure in the form of dragon bone. Now that you are with us, we are hurrying to Seh and the bandits. Fu’s father is with them, too, as is my mother and hopefully my little sister.”
“I feel bad for Seh,” Long said. “Did you say that you have a sister?”
“Yes. I only learned of her when I reunited with my mother. Besides my family, we have also tried to find information about Malao’s father, a man known as the Monkey King, but no one seems to have seen him in years. Fu has reunited with his father, though. His name is Sanfu—Mountain Tiger.”
“It sounds like you have been busy,” Long said, feeling light-headed. “What about Ying? I have heard rumors about him, but I do not know what is fact and what is fiction.”