Ying grasped the coin pouch Charles had given him from HaMo's boat and untied it from his sash. He set it on the small table in front of the man. “This much,” Ying said, opening it. He turned to Hok. “What about you?”
Hok was staring at the enormous birdcage. She replied without looking at him, “I will contribute an equal amount of coins to purchase an equal amount of dragon bone.”
The pet vendor's eyes lit up. “Wonderful! I don't keep any here, for obvious reasons, but my supply is not far away. I can retrieve it and be back in less than a quarter of an hour. After I return, we will negotiate specific pricing.”
“Good,” Ying said. “We're in a hurry.”
“I'll leave this instant. Before I go, is there anything else you are considering?”
Ying glanced at the stacks of bamboo cages and smacked his lips. “Yes, a snake or two.”
Hok cringed.
“Of course,” the pet vendor said. “I have plenty to choose from. How about this Asian vine snake?” He pointed to a snake that appeared to be nearly as long as Ying was tall, but was only as big around as his middle finger.
“Too skinny,” Ying replied. He pointed to a very colorful snake with a more robust build. It had a bright blue and black head and looked exactly like Seh's snake. “What is this one?”
“That is a cave-dwelling rat snake. It lives in caves and eats, uh, rats. Bats, too. It's a type of beauty snake.”
“It fills its belly with bats and rats?” Ying said. “No thanks. What about these?” He pointed to a large ball of snakes writhing in a small cage. The snakes were black and gray with brilliant yellow triangles and diamonds on their backs.
“Those, my friend, are Mandarin rat snakes. Very beautiful, also.”
“I guess,” Ying said. “But how do they taste?”
“Excuse me?”
“I asked you how they taste.”
“These are … ahhh … pets.”
“So?”
The pet vendor scratched his head. “Well … I … ummm … never mind. Do you want one or not?”
Ying smacked his lips again. “Absolutely.”
“Which one?” the pet vendor asked.
Ying thought for a moment. His wounds were healing remarkably fast, and mixing the powdered dragon bone with fresh snake's blood would cure him even faster. However, his left shoulder was quite sore. Wrangling a snake would be a good test to see how far his healing had come.
“Give me the meanest snake you've got,” Ying said.
The pet vendor chuckled. He pointed to a small, tightly woven bamboo cage on the ground beneath the table. In it was a snake patterned much like the cave-dwelling rat snake and equally vibrant, but with different coloration. It was primarily yellow in the sections where the cave dweller was blue.
“That is a true beauty snake,” the pet vendor said. “I hate that snake. He's more trouble than he is worth. I'll give him to you free of charge if you purchase some dragon bone.”
“Perfect,” Ying replied.
Hok cleared her throat and turned away from the birdcage. She knelt in front of the beauty snake's cage and frowned. “He looks amazing.”
“Yes, he does,” the pet vendor said. “But he's the meanest creature I've ever laid eyes on. Go ahead, get closer.”
Hok leaned toward the cage, and the beauty snake reared its colorful head. It opened its mouth, hissing loudly.
Hok stood and backed away, but the snake did not settle down. It kept its eyes locked on Hok.
“Maybe he's just upset that he's in such a small cage,” Hok said.
“That's nonsense,” the pet vendor replied. “Snakes can't reason. He has plenty of space. Snakes of his type live in cages that size their whole lives and never have any problems. He's just plain mean.”
Ying squatted down and put his carved face close to the snake's cage. The snake raised its head even higher and pulled back, forming an 5 shape with its neck. The snake hissed louder and began to vibrate its tail amazingly fast. Ying could feel nervous energy pouring out of the beauty snake, permeating the air around it.
Ying stood and looked at the pet vendor. He grinned. “I'll take it.”
“Done!” the pet vendor said with a laugh. “Shall I go get the rest of the merchandise?”
“Yes,” Ying replied. He nodded toward the cage with the writhing ball of Mandarin rat snakes. “I'll take them, too.”
The pet vendor's eyes widened with delight. “The whole lot?”
Ying nodded. “We can work out a price for them along with the dragon bone.” He pointed to a small dagger in the pet vendor's sash. “I'll take that knife, too.”