Chapter 27
Twenty-Seven
Surprise
The cavern walls glitter as if embedded with diamond chips.
The polished stone floor is dry and warm against my bare feet.
Lord Black is no longer a great writhing dragon.
He’s in his human guise, dark hair slicked back, wearing his trademark brown robe.
I give him a critical once-over – handsome, especially with that rakish nose, elegant bearing, though why he insists on wearing those tired old scholar robes, I’ll never know.
There is a chair and desk a few paces away I can use as a weapon if need be. I raise a fist palm salute, and slowly back towards the desk. ‘Venerable Lord Black, Dragon King of the North, ten thousand years of good health. But I really mustn’t mafan you with an unannounced visit.’
He dismisses my protest with a wave of his arm. ‘No need to be so polite. I am delighted to have a chance to chat with you. You are certainly full of surprises. May I enquire what you were doing at the bottom of the Lake of Eternal Reflection? Trouble with the Hulijing Court?’
Turd balls. I scoff, feigning incredulity. ‘Why in Tian would you say that?’
‘Oh, a little rooster told me that there are some tensions between you and some of the ladies of the court.’
‘Ah yes. Misunderstandings, you know. Nothing for you to worry about.’ I scan the cave but the only opening is in the ceiling above me, far too high for me to jump.
Lord Black watches me. ‘As I said, I have something for you.’
I fake laugh into my hand. ‘Oh, I’m sure you say that to all the ladies. But really, I must go. Abundant gratitude to the Dragon King of the North, this humble one requests you send me back to the Cathay Hotel.’
I walk with purpose towards one of the walls, hoping he’ll dip his chin again and send me off.
I stop with my nose to the cavern wall, waiting for that sucking sensation.
It doesn’t come. Slowly, I turn. He’s watching me with that same expression he had in the water.
With his human face, I can tell he’s amused.
‘Why am I here? And where is here?’ I pitch my tone between warning and demand.
‘Apologies for whisking you away, Lady Jing. Niang Niang was approaching, and it’s better if she doesn’t catch me with one of her court.
Especially when she’s in a snit.’ He glances at my stance.
‘I am not going to hurt you. Lord Ma and Lord Nioh would not stand for it, and I would never disrespect my old friend Big Wang by harming his ward.’
I weigh his words. He does not smell like a liar or a coward. I nod, but even so, I don’t let down my guard. I stroll over to the desk, placing it between us. In his dragon form, I have no chance. But in his human guise? Maybe.
He waves a hand in the air. A robe of deepest purple appears, draped across the back of the chair. ‘That should fit you,’ he says.
‘I’m happy as I am.’
Lord Black’s eyes twinkle. ‘Well, between you and me, clothes are overrated. We are all naked beneath them, are we not?’
It’s the first time I’ve heard another deity express such a progressive attitude. Expose so much as a knee and the whole town is a titter. But shove my chest in everyone’s face? Well, that’s de rigueur. I will never understand the double-standard.
‘However,’ he continues, interrupting my silent shock, ‘Lord Ma would likely not be quite so understanding to find I entertained a decidedly underdressed Lady Jing in my home. For the sake of my future welfare, please.’
I reconsider Lord Black. Maybe he’s not dangerous. Maybe he is. At any rate, putting on clothes won’t put me at a disadvantage. Better to play along. It might get me out faster.
The robe glides over my arms in a heavy swish of embroidered silk, soft, smooth, and comfy. I pull the sash tight around my waist. ‘Abundant gratitude, honourable Lord of the North Seas.’
He bows slightly. ‘May sherrr. Come,’ he says, leading me to an alcove in the wall with two seats and an outcrop of stone to serve as a small table.
‘Do you live here?’
Apart from the writing desk and chair, and this sitting niche, there’s not much else.
‘I am sorry for the lack of furnishing. I normally keep to my true form when I am here.’
‘I didn’t know you had a home in the Turquoise Hills.’
‘I don’t, at least, not officially.’ He smiles, though there’s a touch of sadness. ‘I don’t think I am to the Hulijing Court’s taste.’
‘Too scaly? Too large? Too reptilian?’ I press my lips together, too late. The words are out before I remember to filter them.
Lord Black is silent for a beat, then bursts out laughing. ‘I have heard of your famed directness.’ He chuckles again, running a finger over his fine moustache. ‘The ladies of the Hulijing Court prefer mortals.’
‘To eat, yes.’ I know what hulijing do with yang.
If they are kind, they let the mortal live, and thus continue to take nourishment from them.
If they are not . . . well, empty husk is a generous description of what hulijing leave of their mortal quarry.
Having come upon those husks as a child, I don’t blame Mr Lee for his fear of hulijing.
‘But you’re the Dragon King of the North. ’
He shrugs, but he doesn’t seem at all bothered. ‘You are more mature than Lord Ma led me to believe.’
‘Nice to know Lord Ma thinks so highly of me.’ I can’t help the archness of my tone.
Lord Black crosses his legs and leans back against the cavern wall. ‘He does. You should hear him boast about you.’
My face scrunches up. ‘You are talking of Lord Ma – long face, big teeth?’
‘The one you call Horsey?’ He smiles at my reaction. ‘Yes. The very one. At seven you had mastered all five Confucian classics. At twelve your mastery of brush control was second to none. At sixteen you committed the entire Ming poetry canon to memory.’
‘How do you—?’
‘I told you. Lord Ma never shuts up about how proud he is of your achievements. He even got into a fight with one of the Celestials who refused to believe you were as impressive as he claimed.’
‘What? I never heard about that.’
‘Lord Nioh had to break up the fight. Very unseemly for such high-level yaojing to be brawling in the street. Lord Nioh is very persuasive when he wishes to be. The Celestial was politely asked to leave Hell and threatened with his virtuous peaches if he were to mention your name again.’
‘But Horsey’s always berating me. I’m never good enough.’
His gaze is gentle. ‘I don’t think Lord Ma knows how else to encourage you. But there is no doubt he is proud of you.’
‘That makes no sense.’
‘Raising a child is no easy thing.’ He sucks his teeth, regards me as if weighing up a decision. ‘I was waiting for your birthday, but since we happened to meet fortuitously, it would be foolish of me to deny the Cosmos.’
From his changpao sleeve pocket, he pulls a small bundle wrapped in thin golden silk and holds it out to me with both hands, a gesture of great respect. I am stunned. He is one of the highest-ranking deities in Tian. I am a nobody.
Bowing low, I hold out both my hands to show my humble appreciation and receive his gift. The shimmering fabric is unlike anything I’ve felt before. It is smooth like silk, but has a cool sponginess to it. Like water, but dry. What is this?
‘Sea silk,’ Lord Black answers my unspoken question. ‘Spun from the fibres of clams and algae from the North Sea.’
‘Extraordinary,’ I breathe. I carefully unwrap the square to reveal a small pink pearl. It’s about as big as the tip of my pinkie.
Lord Black leans forward and blows on the pearl. It immediately swells, growing larger until it is the size of a small melon. Pale pink scales cover the surface of the pearl. I tilt the bauble in the light, and the whole thing flickers as if bathed in pink iridescent flames.
‘Is this—?’
‘A dragon pearl, yes. This one is the Longnu dragon pearl. I was tasked with keeping it safe until you came of age.’
I stare at Lord Black, and then at the priceless dragon pearl in my hand . . . the cause of so much mafan.
‘I thought Big Wang bought it from my mother—’
‘Buy a dragon pearl? Oh child, you are too na?ve. There is no dragon in Tian who would permit their dragon pearl to be bought, sold, or bartered. That pearl was gifted to you on your birth by my cousin Longnu.’
‘That’s what Brother Zhu said, but I didn’t believe him. But then why does everyone think Big Wang made it part of the deal to buy me?’
‘He did.’
‘You just said—’
‘It really isn’t my story to tell. You need to ask Big Wang.’
I suck my teeth at him, but Lord Black is unmoved.
‘So you wanted to give me the pearl? Thanks. I’d like to leave now.’
‘Don’t you want to know more about your gift? Why your grandmother wants it?’
Yes. No. I stand, irritated by the convoluted story, by still being in the dark, and the ever-present worry for Mr Lee. ‘I have to get back to the mortal realm, check on a friend.’
Lord Black chuckles into his fist. ‘Lord Ma did not exaggerate your obstinance either. The dragon pearl can make things easier and faster for you, if you will allow me to explain.’
I count to ten, allow my annoyance to settle, and then sit. I nod imperiously.
‘A tiger never births dogs,’ Lord Black mutters. ‘That pearl will grant you dragon’s sight. It is a great gift and an honour. Dragons see far.’
‘Yes, you’ve said that before. But I don’t know what that means.’
‘We see much.’
I try not to huff. What kind of answer is that? Infuriating creature. I squeeze my eyes shut. ‘Yi, er, san,’ I count slowly to ten. Breathe. Open my eyes.
Lord Black watches me, clearly amused. It makes me want to spit in his eye.
‘We see what is in all its forms. We embody the energy of the Cosmos. I cannot properly describe to you what it is to be connected with the Cosmos – all of yin and yang as it exists and as it does not.’
What in holy yin is he talking about?
He chuckles at whatever he’s seeing on my face. ‘You will simply have to figure it out on your own terms. Dragon sight has never been gifted before.’