Snake (Five Ancestors #3)(41)
Author: Jeff Stone

After a quarter of an hour, Sanfu stopped in front of one of the small shops. It looked exactly like every other small shop, except it didn’t have a sign. Instead, it had a small metal phoenix in the very center of the front door. The phoenix was painted green.

Sanfu knocked on the door three times. A moment later, the phoenix rotated up and Seh saw a big brown eye look out of a hole in the door.

“Sanfu!” a woman said from behind the door. “Come in! Come in!”

The door swung inward, and Sanfu bowed. “Greetings,” he said. “It is good to see you.” He motioned inside.

Seh entered first. He nodded to the large woman holding the door open and scanned the room. He saw nine or ten small, battered tables, surrounded by mismatched chairs. All the shutters were drawn, and the medium-sized room was lit by too few lanterns. Seh supposed the low light level hid aspects of the place better left in the dark. There wasn’t a single customer, and he wasn’t surprised.

Fu entered next, followed by Malao. Sanfu entered last, quickly scanning the street before closing the door and locking it.

“Welcome to the Jade Phoenix!” the woman said. “My name is Yuen. You must be Seh, Malao, and Fu. Mong told me you’d be coming.”

One corner of Seh’s mouth rose in a lopsided grin. Mong was still alive.

“Hello,” Seh said.

“Hi,” Malao and Fu said in unison.

Sanfu smiled. “So, Mong is here?”

“Yes,” Yuen replied. “He survived that terrible attack on his stronghold, thank the heavens. But he’s in a meeting right now. He said if you arrived, he wanted you to join in—but the boys are to wait here in the dining room.”

Seh’s grin faded. How did Mong know that Sanfu was with them?

“I understand,” Sanfu said. “Is it possible for you to serve these young men some food while they wait? Seh and Malao are vegetarian, but I know Fu would love to sample some of your famous soy sauce chicken.”

The woman’s eyes lit up. “Certainly! Will you be eating, too?”

“Later,” Sanfu said. “After the festivities. Are the dragon boats scheduled to race this afternoon?”

“Yes,” the woman replied. “They should start in a few hours.”

“Perfect,” Sanfu said. He looked at Seh, Malao, and Fu in turn. “Have a seat and relax. This place may not look like much, but the food is outstanding. Trust me.” He nodded to the woman, and she blushed. “I will return shortly.” Sanfu headed for a long, tattered curtain at the back of the restaurant, and the woman followed.

Seh watched them pass behind the curtain. He wondered why Mong would want to see Sanfu without him or his brothers around.

Fu plopped into the nearest chair. “I don’t know about you two, but I’m starving.”

“Me too,” Malao said.

Seh didn’t respond.

Malao looked at Seh. “Are you feeling better?”

“I’m fine,” Seh said. “I just have something on my mind.” He lowered his voice. “I want to look around. If anyone asks about me, tell them I went to find a toilet.”

“Don’t tell me you’re worried about the filling in their dumplings?” Malao said. He giggled.

Fu rolled his eyes.

Seh remained serious. “Will you cover for me or not?”

“I’ll cover for you,” Fu said. “But it will cost you half of your lunch.”

Malao giggled again.

Seh shook his head. “It’s a deal,” he said, and headed for the tattered curtain.

Seh found himself in a small kitchen at the back of the Jade Phoenix. He was alone.

Where did Sanfu and Yuen go? Seh wondered. He looked around for a back door. There wasn’t one. All he saw was an open window. They wouldn’t have climbed out the window. There must be a trapdoor somewhere.

Seh scanned the wooden floor. It was pockmarked and stained and warped in several places, but there was no sign of a door anywhere.

Then he looked up.

The ceiling, like the floor, was made of staggered slats of wood. Years of dust and grime had accumulated across the length of the ceiling, but in one corner, Seh noticed a faint, square-shaped outline where the dust had been disturbed in four perfectly straight lines. The square was just large enough for an adult to pass through.

An attic, Seh thought. I wonder what’s so important that Mong and Sanfu need to hide to discuss it. Hmmm. Seh glanced at the open, sun-filled window. Maybe I can just listen in for a moment.…

Seh stuck his head out the window and saw a thick terra-cotta drainpipe running up the side of the building, within reach. He shimmied up it, stopping when he reached a Jade Phoenix medallion like he’d seen on the front door. Only this one was as big as his head.