4348—YEAR OF THE TIGER
(1650 AD)
After years of sneaking around, few things surprised twelve-year-old Seh anymore. The attack on Cang-zhen, however, had caught him completely off guard.
As Seh slipped through the undergrowth, leaving the destruction far behind, he knew exactly what he needed to do—get more information. Spying on Grandmaster had taught him that the more information a person had, the more influence that person had. And with enough influence, a single person could convince many others to join his cause.
Seh knew he was going to need help. A lot of help.
Ying was going to pay for this.
Four hours from Cangzhen's burning courtyards, Seh stopped at the edge of a moonlit clearing. The treeless expanse had been formed by a gigantic rock slide, originating somewhere higher up the face of ShiShan Mountain, looming to his right. Mount ShiShan had long been rumored to be the home of numerous organizations that preferred to operate outside the normal boundaries of society and law. Its shadow had been the perfect location for a temple like Cangzhen.
Seh had overheard Grandmaster mention several times that this clearing was a secret meeting place. Seh wondered if he met anyone here, which side of the shadows they would reside on. He tightened the sash around his orange robe and stepped out into the open. The pit of his stomach immediately began to tingle. He sensed chi. Human chi. Someone was out there.
Seh spun around and slipped beneath a large slab of stone jutting out from a pile of boulders. He lay on his side, curled into a ball. It wasn't a perfect hiding place, but it would have to do.
Seh rested his cheek on the cold, rocky ground and held his breath. He did not feel any vibrations. No one was moving. At least not yet.
He raised his head slightly and began to breathe… slowly… deeply. He scanned the moonlit surroundings, and his ears strained to pick up any sounds. Nothing. There was still a fair amount of chi in the air, but Seh could not pinpoint the source.
And then something stirred in the tree line across the clearing. Seh locked on its position. He hissed softly and compressed every muscle in his body, poised to strike.
“I hope you took your shoes off before crawling into my living room,” a nasal voice said from across the clearing. “I'd hate for you to dirty up the place.”
Beneath the slab of stone, Seh blinked twice. He had a hard time believing what he was hearing—or seeing.
A strange-looking man stepped from the tree line into the moonlight and began to wobble directly toward Seh's hiding place. The man was of average height, but he had curiously short arms and legs. His stubby legs worked double time to move him along at a normal pace, and his long torso swayed as he walked. Though the air was chilly, the man wore only a tattered vest and threadbare silk pants torn off at the knees. He was streaked with dirt from head to toe, and his long, thinning hair was matted with bits of leaves and twigs. A similarly long, thin mustache hung down on either side of his tiny mouth, stretching almost to his chest.
As the man scurried forward, he scratched his extremely wide nose with a dirty fingernail. His nose looked like it had been pounded flat with a hammer.
Seh grimaced. He had never seen a man so ugly or so filthy. The man didn't smell so great, either.
The dirty man stopped in front of the stone slab. He peered into the moon shadows beneath and frowned. “That was a joke, kid. Don't you find it funny?”
Seh didn't reply. He stared hard at the disgusting man.
“My, you're a serious one,” the man said. “Come on out, then. Let's forget the small talk and get down to business. I suppose you have information to exchange.”
Seh didn't reply.
“People only come here for one reason,” the man said. “Especially in the middle of the night. Do you have information to exchange or not?”
“I might,” Seh replied.
“You might,” the man repeated, shaking his head. He knelt down and leaned toward Seh. “Get out of there.”
Seh compressed his body and sank farther under the slab. He wedged his back between the heavy rock and the ground.
“If you want information, we're going to do things my way,” the man said. “We're going to play a little game. You'll stand a much better chance if you crawl out of there. Trust me.”
“Trust you?” Seh said. “I don't even know you.”
The dirty man sighed and one of his hands shot forward, grabbing Seh's wrist with an iron grip. Seh expanded his body and locked himself into place, but the man was unbelievably strong. Rock and stony earth scratched Seh as he was dragged out from under the slab. He writhed and twisted and tried to pull free, but the dirty man held fast.
Seh grunted as he struggled to his feet. “Don't… make me … hurt you.”