Dragon Bones (Red Princess 3)

David kept his eyes on the young widow as he answered, concentrating on his tones like never before. “Wo shi nimen de pengyou.” I am your friend, he told them, but he addressed his words solely to the woman. He reached into his breast pocket, and she cowered against the rocky wall, frozen by fear. He unfolded Brian’s map and slowly stepped toward her.

“We embrace Nine Virtues.” The sound rippled through the room as though Xiao Da were there with them.

“We don’t want visitors,” the old man said.

David didn’t bother to respond. He held out the map and pointed to the ancient character for good—a mother protecting her child—then to the woman. She looked at it, then up at David. Her eyes were anguished. He reached out his hand. The woman shrank another inch or two down the wall, but she had nowhere to go. His fingers lightly touched the dirty blanket. As gently as possible he pulled the blanket away from the baby’s face. The child was awake. He had blue eyes, and his hair was just beginning to come in as light fuzz. The old blind man couldn’t know that this infant was not his grandchild.

David pointed to the symbol for cave on the map. The woman averted her face and closed her eyes.

“You should go now,” the old man said.

Again David spoke to the young woman before him, using the purest tones he could manage. “Show me the way.” Then he leaned forward and whispered in her ear, “Brian died protecting you. Now you can save someone else.”

“The people will know,” she whispered back. She held the child out to him.

“The people will know anyway,” he said.

David watched several emotions play over the young woman’s features. She covered her baby’s face and brought him closer to her chest, then slowly and with great effort stood up. She looked at David, then nodded to the stack of boxes that made up the family’s storage area. He crossed to it as the woman went to the door. He timed his movements to hers. As she pulled up the bar, he pulled away the top crate. As soon as she opened the door and the sounds of the storm filled the little room, he yanked away the other boxes, grabbed the lantern and the ruyi, and stepped through the dark opening. He didn’t look back.

HULAN KEPT FLASHING BACK TO THE KNIGHT FACTORY AND THE women who’d died. This was an equally volatile situation. She didn’t want anyone to get hurt or die who wasn’t already a lost cause. She was willing to be left alone with Michael Quon rather than do something that would risk triggering a mass movement from the followers in the cavern below, which would only add to the tragedy. She would wait for them to go home before she made her move. But the only way to buy time was to engage Michael Quon in the intellectual cat-and-mouse game he’d played with her from the first time they’d spoken in the lobby of the Panda Guesthouse.

“You’re no better than the Falun Gong.” It was lame, but it was a start.

“We’re not as big,” Quon responded agreeably. “They have forty million followers worldwide. We have half that—all in China. But give us another year or two and the Communist Party’s fifty-five million will seem minuscule by comparison.”

“You think you can move so quickly?”

“I already have. The people have been waiting for someone like me. They see the corruption of the state and they embrace magic, qi gong, and—”

“And religious quacks like you.” She shook her head dismissively. “Your methods have been used by others before, but the people will understand the truth about you soon enough. As Mao said, the one who thinks he’s smarter than the masses will be abandoned by the masses.”

“The people look at nature and they understand the larger concepts of the universe. They see flooding and they know it is a message from Heaven that all is not right.”

“And you think you can help them?” Hulan baited him. “How? By preying on their weaknesses? By stealing their cultural heritage? By preventing them from enjoying the benefits of science and technology? Your motives aren’t so pure.”

The chanting resumed. Hulan fought her desire to look at her watch. Most of the people below were peasants. They would need to get up early to work their fields. The meeting had to end soon….

“You can’t stop the river from flowing,” Quon said.

“This isn’t about the dam or the people who’ll be move

d from these shores,” she countered, trying to break his reliance on his religious platitudes. “This is about the power of a single man. Do you really believe you have the Mandate of Heaven? You’ve said before that I know nothing of my country’s history, but let me tell you what we both know. Every dynasty was brought down by corruption, even that of Yu the Great.”

“You’re right. Each new Xia emperor was more corrupt than the last. First the amusements of the palace, then drinking and gambling, then women—”

“And you begin your rule with those most corrupt acts! I’ve seen you drink. I’ve seen how you are with women. And then there’s this….” She gestured to Hom and his brother-in-law.

Michael’s jaw clenched. She had to be careful.

“You say one thing to the people, but you’re just another fat rat stealing from them,” she goaded him.

“I’m not afraid of the intoxicating qualities of liquor.”

“Because you put yourself above the people! Tell me, Michael, did Yu labor for the good of the black-haired ones, or was he looking to create an empire for his own edification? What of his pride, his pleasure, his ego? During his labors he distressed his body, but he was rewarded by having the people under his control. This is no different than Qinshihuangdi or Mao. And you’re no different from them in your lies.”

“They destroyed the past. I’m preserving it.”

“By stopping the dam?” Hulan scoffed. “Even you can’t stop that.”