Chapter 27 #2
What a load of festering shit balls.
‘Fine, fine,’ I say, rising again to leave, hastily covering the pearl up.
It’s so big. How in Tian am I supposed carry it around?
What if Niang Niang catches me with it? I shove it inside the robe’s sleeve pocket, hoping it won’t fall out.
Hoping I can find a way back to yin Shanghai.
Big Wang will know what to do. He’ll know where Mr Lee is, if he’s even okay.
‘I really must be going,’ I say.
‘Longnu also infused the pearl with the ability to transport between realms.’
I still. ‘Come again?’
‘Once it’s planted you’ll be able to conjure your own portal between realms.’
‘Hell and Celestial, or Hell and mortal?’
‘Hell, Celestial, mortal, and more,’ he says, buffing his nails with the pad of his thumb.
‘It’s terribly convenient. But for you, with your mixed heritage, with Big Wang and the Jade Emperor’s support, with your title and your character, I believe you have a promising diplomatic future. Promising and powerful.’
‘But having my heritage become common knowledge would bring dishonour on the Hulijing Court,’ I say wryly. ‘My grandmother says the dragon pearl is hers. She wants it back.’
Lord Black clasps his hands behind his back. ‘It is not hers, nor can it ever be. She is afraid of losing her standing in the Mahjong Council should the demand for yin silver decline. The dragon pearl cannot change modernity, or stop progress. She misinterprets my words.’
‘Imagine that,’ I say, then clear my throat. ‘Do all dragon pearls conjure portals between realms?’
‘No. Only this one.’ Lord Black doesn’t offer anything more.
I try again. ‘What do the other dragon pearls do?’
‘Some are just pearls.’
His empty answers grate. ‘Okay, what do the other special dragon pearls do?’
He smiles genially. ‘All dragon pearls are special.’
The tone he uses, like he’s trying to convince a child that one candy is much the same as another candy, makes me growl in frustration. The shit-bag claps his hands and laughs.
‘You are very funny,’ he says. ‘I like you. You must come visit again.’
I slump back into my seat, dizzied and exasperated. ‘Why me? Why did Longnu give me this pearl?’
‘My cousin was adamant. She sees far.’
‘Right. Dragon sight. She saw into the future.’
‘She sees many things.’
‘Fine, fine.’ I pull the dragon pearl from my sleeve pocket and hold it again in my hand. It is heavy and large. Carrying it around will be most inconvenient. ‘What do you mean by planted?’
‘Silly melon,’ Lord Black says, almost coquettishly. ‘Here, let me.’ He gestures for the pearl.
I give it to him, and he blows on it. This time the pearl becomes translucent, shrinks until it is the size of a small apricot.
He hops to his feet, grabs my chin. ‘Ready?’ His grip is surprisingly strong. ‘You’ll need to hold still. And keep your focus here.’ He points between his eyes. ‘You’ll feel pressure, but it shouldn’t hurt.’
Before I can say or do anything, he’s got the pearl pressing against my open right eye, and then he shoves.
I shriek. The pressure pinches, though, strictly speaking, after that night of dancing at the Paramount, those shoes Gigi gave me pinched in a much more painful way. My head is clamped in his hand; I can’t move even if I want to. I don’t, because I don’t want to risk losing my eyeball.
‘Almost there!’ he says with a disgusting amount of cheer. If he weren’t a rotted dragon with clearly far more strength than I have, I would totally stomp his brains into porridge.
‘You are definitely not strong enough for that.’
My face twists in horror. He can hear me?
‘Dragon sight. We are aware of many things. No, no, don’t move, don’t want the pearl going somewhere it shouldn’t.’
Holy Tian and rotted turd eggs. What have I got myself into? And then I hear a wet pop. Lord Black peers into my right eye, scrutinising – something. I have no idea what he can see.
‘There. I was a little worried. You moved and the placement got a little funny, but it’s in there properly now.’
I jerk my head away from his grip. ‘That pearl was almost as big as my face. It’s not going to expand in there, is it? I don’t want my head blowing up.’
He laughs. ‘It’s been a long time since I placed a pearl. Thought I might have lost the knack.’
I feel myself go faint and lean against the wall for support. ‘So glad you didn’t.’
Lord Black’s laugh is deep and smug. My hand itches to slap him.
‘So it won’t swell up?’
He looks at me like I’ve asked him if he has eight eyeballs. ‘Of course not. The pearl embodies the Cosmos, it isn’t the actual Cosmos.’
I stare at him, his answer infuriatingly circular, but bite my tongue. ‘That doesn’t make it better. I don’t want the Cosmos inside my eyeball.’
‘It’s not in your eyeball. It’s in your third eye.’
His nonsense is making me confused. I have only two eyes. Don’t I? I touch them and count, just to be sure. One on the left, one on the right. That makes two. Two eyes.
‘Fine.’ I can’t deal with his riddles anymore. ‘What if I want to take it out?’
‘That’s easy, simply blow on it. It will shrink and pop out.’
‘Blow on my third eye?’
‘Silly melon, no. Blow on the dragon pearl.’
The conversation is making me dizzy.
‘But – that makes no sense – it’s in my third eye.’
‘Mmmgh,’ he says.
‘How do I blow there?’
‘Embrace the Cosmos, and you become embraced. Nurture the Cosmos, and you become nurtured. Accept the Cosmos, and you become accepted. Clear your vision, and you will see. Open your heart, and you will be loved. Easy.’
I sigh, not sure I have the energy to pursue this bonkers logic. He cocks his head, as if listening to something. I listen too. Something tinkling.
‘Are those bells?’ I ask.
‘Yes. It is time you are on your way.’
‘How?’
‘You set your intention, and then you blink.’
‘Just like that?’
He nods. I visualise my hotel room in mortal Shanghai. And blink.
I’m still in the cave. ‘Are you sure there isn’t something else I’m supposed to do?’
Lord Black cocks his head. ‘It’s second nature to me. Let me see. I think of where I want to go. And blin—’
Lord Black disappears. And then reappears again.
‘That’s strange.’ He grabs my face, peers again into my eye. ‘Mmm.’ Without warning, he smacks me on the head. ‘There we go.’
‘Hey!’
He ignores me, pokes the side of my eye, and then lets me go. I totter backwards.
‘Try again.’
‘Give a girl a little warning. There’s no need to manhandle me.’
‘Try again,’ he says, ignoring my complaints.
I visualise the hotel room. And blink.