Snake (Five Ancestors #3)(21)
Author: Jeff Stone

For now.

Tonglong glanced down the beach from where the young warrior monks had shoved off. He could clearly see two figures—a boy and a girl—sitting side by side, mending a large fishing net. They looked like twins and had hollow sticks dangling from their mouths.

Tonglong thought about how dangerous those hollow tubes could be. For example, if a person were to sink into a murky lake and use one of those tubes to breathe, that person would be at risk of inhaling whatever might happen to pass into that tube. Sleeping mushrooms were plentiful in this region, and it was conceivable that some spores could be drifting about. What if those spores found their way into those hollow sticks? Very dangerous indeed.

Tonglong reached into his robe and pulled out a tube of a different sort—the dragon scroll he had taken from Ying as Ying lay unconscious at Shaolin Temple. He opened it and frowned. It was not the scroll he wanted. The snake boy must have the special one, along with the other two dragon scrolls. Tonglong would have to make plans to acquire them all without arousing suspicion.

In the meantime, he had to devise a way to give this single scroll back to Major Ying and make it look like the boy snake had been in possession of it.

Ying and his ridiculous carved face, constantly shouting orders and making demands, Tonglong thought. Ying’s most recent demand had been that Tonglong return to Cangzhen as soon as his mission of following the boys was complete.

As far as Tonglong was concerned, this mission was accomplished. He climbed down from the tree.

Just one more thing to do, Tonglong thought. Before heading to Cangzhen, he needed to see a man about a boat. Actually, a fleet of boats. It was time he collected some favors. If everything worked out, he would not only be able to give Ying the young warrior monks, he would also give Ying his very own stronghold. Ying would be a very happy young man. Tonglong, however, would be even happier.

MALAO!” Seh shouted.

Fu roared and jumped to his feet. He began clawing at the massive stronghold gate. Tree bark flew in every direction.

From behind the gate, Seh heard Malao squeal, and somebody growled, deep and powerful, “Why, you little—”

Seh recognized that voice. It belonged to the bear-style kung fu master, Hung, Mong’s right-hand man.

“Open up, Hung!” Seh shouted. He banged on the gate.

“Seh, is that you?” asked another voice from inside the stronghold. Seh recognized that voice, too. It was NgGung.

“Yes!” Seh said. “Open the gate, NgGung! And tell that hairy beast to leave my little brother alone. Malao hasn’t done anything wrong.”

“Malao is fine,” NgGung replied. “Just a moment.”

The gate swung open, and Seh slipped inside. The pit of his stomach began to tingle, and the snake gripped his arm tight. Seh ducked.

The back of NgGung’s fist spun over Seh’s head. “Nice move!” NgGung said. “Welcome to the stronghold!”

Seh’s eyes widened. “You’re crazy!”

“Thank you,” NgGung replied. He turned toward the gate opening and began to spin.

“Be careful, Fu!” Seh shouted. “Crouching Tiger Comes Out of the Cave!” Seh glanced over his shoulder and saw Hung leaning against the trunk of a large tree, grinning. Hung’s beady black eyes shone bright beneath his massive, hairy brow. Hung folded his arms and rested them on his enormous, jiggling belly.

Fu lumbered through the gate hunched over, like a tiger crouching. NgGung’s spinning back fist breezed over Fu’s head, and Seh saw one of NgGung’s legs begin to rise. Fu must have seen it, too. Fu lifted one knee high to block the kick and thrust two tiger-claw fists straight out with a mighty roar.

Fu’s fists connected solidly with NgGung’s mid-section and NgGung was lifted off the ground. Fu clamped onto NgGung’s tattered vest with both hands and dropped to his knees, twisting his body powerfully to one side. NgGung slammed to the ground and Fu jumped on top of him.

NgGung lay in a heap beneath Fu, laughing. “That was fantastic!” NgGung said. “Oh, my back is killing me! Where did you learn that?”

“It’s an original,” Fu growled. “Where’s my little brother?”

“Up here, Fu!” Malao said. “Nice move!”

Seh looked high in the tree Hung was leaning against. Malao was dangling from a thin limb close to the very top.

Hung ran one hand through the greasy mass of thick hair on top of his head and growled at Fu. “You are Sanfu’s boy, aren’t you?”

“Who?” Fu asked.

“Mountain Tiger,” NgGung answered. “That’s how we know him. You might know him as the Drunkard.”

Fu slammed his fist into the dirt next to NgGung’s head. “What do you know about the Drunkard?”