Tears welled up in Malao's eyes. He had never mourned anyone before because he'd always snuck away from the few burials that had taken place at Cangzhen while he was growing up. He decided it was time he learned how to mourn someone. After all, who would bother to mourn him if he didn't care enough to mourn anyone else?
Maybe Hok could help me? Malao thought. Unless … Malao shook his head. Unless I offended him so much that he doesn't want me around anymore.
Malao began to shiver uncontrollably. Inside his head, it seemed like he was sliding down a steep, muddy slope in the middle of a thunderstorm. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn't make it back to the top. He just kept slipping down, down, down. All he could think about was the family he didn't have—
Or don't have yet? he realized.
The rain began to slow in Malao's head. He remembered what the bandit Hung had said about finding his parents or maybe an uncle. Hung had been joking, but what if it were true? What if he did have some family members alive somewhere?
Malao took a deep, cleansing breath, and his shaking subsided. The prospect of new family members was exciting, but he still missed his old family. Even though his brothers picked on him a lot, they would always stick up for him when things turned bad. Just like Seh had done. Malao thought it might be nice to join Seh, but he knew that was impossible after what had just happened with Hung.
I'll go back and join Hok then, Malao decided. I'll apologize, and maybe he'll understand. That is, if I can find the way back to Cangzhen. … Malao shook his head. Why didn't I pay closer attention when I ran off?
Malao felt thunderclouds begin to roll inside his head again. He closed his eyes and did his best to clear his mind with one of the meditation exercises Grandmaster had taught him, just like Hok had suggested. It took some time, but he eventually managed to push everything out except a single question that had been in his head much of the day. A question that somehow still made him think about family.
Who was the man called Monkey King?
He just couldn't remember.
Malao yawned. At least he had managed to sweep most of the clutter from his head. He was beginning to understand why the older monks enjoyed meditating so much. It was very relaxing. With his mind almost empty, sleep soon overtook him.
As usual, Malao's night was filled with vivid dreams. Dreams of slippery slopes and monkey kings. Dreams of pagodas and soup pots.
And a particularly vivid dream about a large snake slithering over him, coiling itself tightly around his body as it swallowed his face.
Malao woke in the dark, barely able to move, barely able to breathe. A firm hand covered his mouth and nose, and his arms were pinned to his sides. He twisted and turned and kicked and bit—but it was no use. His opponent always seemed to be one step ahead of him.
When Malao realized this, he gave in a little. To his surprise, so did his opponent. The hand squeezing his face seemed to soften more and more as he struggled less and less.
“Easy, little brother,” a voice hissed in his ear.
Malao let his body go limp and the blanket of pressure around him released. The hand slipped away from his face, dragging a trail of snot across his cheek.
“That's disgusting!” Seh said as he climbed off Malao in the darkness. He wiped his hand on Malao's shoulder. “Don't you ever blow your nose?”
Malao giggled and sniffed loudly. He wiped his face on the sleeve of his orange robe. “That's what you get for smothering me in my sleep, you sneaky snake. How did you find me?”
“I saw mushroom stems flowing down the stream earlier,” Seh said. “I thought they might be from you, so I walked upstream. Sorry I didn't come sooner. I had to wait until dark before I snuck out.”
Malao rubbed his eyes. “What are you doing here?”
“I came to check on you,” Seh said, slinking to the ground. “That was some fight you had with Hung. He moaned and groaned the rest of the day from the beating you gave him.”
“He deserved it,” Malao said.
“Of course he did,” Seh replied. “I had to beat several bandits senseless myself before the gang stopped attacking me. I didn't even do anything to provoke them.” Seh paused and looked off into the darkness. “Did you hear something?”
“No,” Malao said. He rubbed his bald head and stretched. “Why would you want to join a gang of bandits?”
“I'm hoping to earn their trust so that maybe they'll help us. They're very powerful, you know.”
“They're bandits, Seh. Why would they help us?”
“They aren't ordinary bandits. I think with a little time—” Seh stopped and stared off into the darkness again. “Did you hear that?”