Fu's eyes narrowed. He grabbed hold of a whole roast duck and began to lift it to his mouth. Hung dropped the chicken and swiped at Fu's duck with a massive bear-claw fist. Hung connected, his dirty fingernails digging into Fu's duck.
Fu grimaced and let go, slamming his fists on the tabletop. He glared at Hung as Hung tore into the duck.
“Relax, Fu,” Seh said. “There's plenty of food to go around. No need to get into a food fight.”
“Food fight?” Fu growled. “That's not a food fight. This is a food fight!” Fu scooped up a double handful of boiled pig intestines and hurled them at Hung's head.
“ARRRRRRR!” Hung roared. He stood, flinging intestines out of his eyes. Hung picked up a whole smoked cow tongue and raised it high over his head. The long, thick tongue flopped back and forth, painting everyone in the immediate vicinity with specks of brown sauce.
“Hung!” Mong shouted. “Put the tongue down.”
Hung's beady eyes narrowed.
“Drop it,” Mong said. “Now.”
Hung dropped the tongue. It splashed into a large pot of corn chowder.
“Find someplace else to sit,” Mong said. “That's an order.”
Hung growled and walked to the opposite end of the table.
Malao jabbed Seh in the ribs and began to giggle uncontrollably. “Did you see that? Fu almost got a licking from Hung!”
The bandits burst into laughter. Even Fu grinned.
Seh shook his head and reached for a bowl of pickled carrots. The pit of his stomach began to tingle, and the snake tightened on his arm.
Seh froze. The chi energy patterns radiating from whoever just entered the doorway seemed oddly familiar. He spun around on the bench and saw a small, hooded figure slip into the room, clad head to toe in several layers of black silk. An eerie wave of silence washed over the room as the figure glided across the floor in a series of subtle curves, never moving in a straight line. Even Malao quieted down.
Seh heard Gao whisper to Malao, “Whatever you do, don't look into her eyes.”
Seh swallowed hard when the woman stopped in front of him. Two small hands emerged from within oversized robe sleeves and slowly lifted back the black hood. What was revealed was the most striking face Seh had ever seen.
The woman's skin was dark, yet seemed to glow in the light of the hall's lanterns. She had full red lips, a tiny nose, and high cheekbones that sloped down to a delicate, angular jaw. And then there was her hair. Luxurious and black as midnight, it cascaded over her shoulders and disappeared beneath her robe, shimmering like a rushing river in the moonlight.
But her most striking feature was her eyes. Long, narrow, and piercing, they were the kind of eyes you would never forget. Ever.
Something stirred deep inside Seh. A memory. There was something incredibly familiar about her eyes—
“I am AnGangseh,” the woman said to Seh. “Welcome home, ssson.”
Seh sat at the banquet table, mesmerized.
“Come with me,” AnGangseh whispered, and Seh obeyed. He couldn't help himself. It was as if his legs stood by themselves and carried the rest of him out the back door.
In a daze, Seh followed AnGangseh. Neither spoke until they were alone in a storage shed behind the banquet hall.
AnGangseh set down the small lantern she carried and closed the door behind them. She stared deep into Seh's eyes.
“I'm sssorry we have to meet this way,” AnGangseh said in a low, silky voice. “I've missed you.”
Seh didn't know what to say. He wasn't even sure if he could speak. He could hardly see his mother's face in the dim light, but he was transfixed. He knew that AnGangseh meant “cobra” in Cantonese and that certain cobras could hypnotize their prey. He thought maybe he should look away—just in case—but he was certain what he was experiencing was far more than some type of trick. Deep down inside, he remembered those eyes.
Seh stared at AnGangseh for a very long time. He couldn't explain it, but the longer he looked at her, the stronger the connection he felt with her. He had never experienced anything like this before.
“You have very ssstrong chi,” AnGangseh said. “That makes me happy.”
Seh nodded.
“Why is it you do not ssspeak?” AnGangseh said. “Are you afraid of me? Embarrassed? Ashamed?”
Seh blinked several times and closed his eyes. His head seemed to clear. “No, I'm none of those. Why would I be?”
“I don't know,” AnGangseh replied. “I sssuppose you may have felt abandoned by me and your father.”
“No,” Seh said, his eyes still closed. “I, uh, never really thought about my past much until Cangzhen was destroyed.”