Journey to Wubang 01 - Earth to Hell (58 page)

‘This tree sprouted the day I was born, and I have been that tree ever since,’ Sang Shen said. ‘I am the tree child of a turtle.’

‘That means that you’re my
nephew
,’ Simone said in shock.

Sang Shen nodded to her. ‘That I am, I suppose.’

‘What about Sang Ye?’

‘She is not mine, she is all tree,’ Yue Gui said. ‘My time with Sang’s father was short. I felt the call of the sea and left him, and when I came back he had found a new love. But what we had together was very special.’ She held her son’s hands harder. ‘Sang Shen, you will not die. We can save you. We can save all of you.’

‘Yue Gui, Ming Gui and Simone together can bring warmth and light to the Heavens again,’ I said.

Sang Shen gazed down at her. ‘No more trees will die?’ He released his mother’s hands. ‘Show me. Show me that this is true.’

Martin, Simone and Yue Gui joined hands, raised their heads, and the sky immediately filled with light and warmth. The breeze changed from chill to comforting, full of the scent of life.

Sang Shen raised his face and arms to the light, his expression beatific. His tree sprouted shoots, turning green all over, and the grass beneath our feet turned greener and grew as I watched.

‘Can you hold it though?’ Sang Shen said. ‘It will not
drain you? You will not plunge us into darkness?’ He shook his head. ‘It feels so
good
! My sap is moving for the first time in
years.
’

‘Too much information,’ Yue Gui said with amusement. ‘Yes. We can charge it like a battery, and it will last at least two weeks. We will need to top it up every now and then, but it will not be a serious drain on us.’

‘By the Heavens, I think I’m going to flower,’ Sang Shen said, embarrassed. ‘I can’t control it. Right in front of everybody too.’

The tree sprouted greenish-grey flowers, each long and narrow and hanging in bundles off the branches. Sang Shen’s face was full of rapture.

‘Spring has arrived in the Northern Heavens,’ Simone said. ‘It’s a good feeling.’

Sang Shen nodded to her. ‘You have returned my mother, and with her, life to the Heavens. I thank you.’ He turned back to the guards. ‘I am ready now.’

‘Let us try to save you,’ I said. I gestured with my nose towards his tree. ‘You are full of life, we can’t cut you down now!’

Sang Shen ignored me and walked back to his tree.

‘The sentence must be carried out, my Lady,’ one of the guards said. ‘You may not want to watch. Whatever happens to the tree happens to the Shen as well.’

Yue Gui released Martin’s and Simone’s hands, but the warmth remained. She came to stand next to me. ‘He will be the first Shen tree cut down in living memory.’ She glanced down at me. ‘And when somewhere is populated by Immortals, that is a very long time.’

I lowered my head. ‘I don’t want to watch.’

‘You can’t close your eyes, you’re a snake, same as our father,’ she said. She touched the top of my head. ‘Come. All will be well. The Heavens are just.’

She reached out and took Martin’s hand and the sky flared to life again.

Sang Shen knelt under his tree, his head bowed and face expressionless. One of the guards pulled the cord to start the chainsaw and approached the tree.

Simone looked away. ‘I don’t want to watch either.’

‘Take our hands and add energy to the Heavens, See Mun,’ Yue Gui said. ‘And watch what happens.’

‘Okay,’ Simone said, and joined hands with them. The sky visibly brightened and the guards looked up, then returned to the tree.

‘Did you know that some of Heaven’s finest silk is produced by worms that eat the leaves from his tree?’ Yue Gui said as the guard approached the tree with the chainsaw. ‘One of his main sources of income was his own leaves, carefully harvested and sold at a premium to silk producers in the Eastern Heavens.’

‘They did not tell anyone that their mulberry leaves came from the north; they wanted the legend to stand that their own trees were better,’ Martin said, and winced as the chainsaw hit the tree.

The guard stood with the chainsaw against the trunk of the tree and an expression of confusion swept across his face.

‘It is enough,’ Yue Gui said. ‘We just need to hold it.’

The chain on the saw broke, and the guard turned it off and stared at it, confused. The other guard hefted his two-handed axe, took a deep breath and swung it into the trunk. It bounced off ineffectually. He tried again twice more; each time the axe made no mark on the bark.

The guards stood back and stared at the tree, perplexed.

Yue Gui released Simone’s and Martin’s hands and stepped forward. ‘Report this matter to the judiciary. I will take custody of the prisoner until a solution to
this problem has been reached. Suggest to the magistrate that the best option might be a suspended sentence until the execution can be carried out.’

The guards knelt and saluted Yue Gui, then walked back to the Palace complex.

Yue Gui turned to us and smiled broadly with her arms out. ‘I hope the demons in my residence have maintained it while I was away. Who is hungry? I believe it is lunchtime. And after lunch, Ming Gui, See Mun and myself have some more trees to save.’ She threw one arm around Martin’s shoulder. ‘I think I still have some really
ripe
whale in my freezer that I found in the South Pacific about twenty years ago. This is a special occasion, I hope it is still good.’

‘You eat
whale
?’ Simone said with horror. ‘Hunting whales is barbaric!’

‘Only whale that has died of natural causes,’ Yue Gui said, her smile not shifting. ‘Do not be concerned, little sister, I think the human hunting of whales is barbaric too.’

‘A treat I haven’t had for a very long time, sister,’ Martin said. ‘Lead on.’

‘What about me?’ Sang Shen said.

‘You are released into my custody,’ Yue Gui said.

‘No.’ He didn’t move. ‘I deserve to be punished.’ He turned to return to the Palace complex. ‘They can put me in jail.’

‘Ah Shen,’ Yue Gui said, but he didn’t stop. She went after him and took his arm. ‘You are released into my custody. Obviously you don’t understand. You’ll be living with me. Full-time.’

He stared at her for a moment, then turned back to the Palace. ‘I’d rather go to jail.’

‘I know, that’s why you’re coming with me,’ Yue Gui called after him. ‘Don’t make me put the chains back on you.’

He stopped, dropped his head and shook it, then returned to us. ‘You are a cruel woman, Mother.’

She bowed slightly to him. ‘Thank you. Now let’s go find some lunch. I might be able to send someone to the market for some lemonade for our tree.’

‘It is good to have you back, Mother, Uncle.’ He grinned at Simone. ‘Auntie. I will ask Sang Ye to join us for lunch; she did not want to watch this.’ He lowered his head and shook it. ‘She will not die. None of us will die.’ He raised his head. ‘This is a great day!’

‘My family just keeps growing all the time,’ Simone said with wonder.

‘This is not a bad thing,’ Yue Gui said.

‘I guess it’s not.’

‘I’ll go back to the guesthouse and wait for you,’ I said.

Martin gestured towards the Palace. ‘There is an Empress’s apartment in the Palace, and I believe that is yours.’ He stopped and turned. ‘But please, come with us.’

‘No, this is for family only, I think,’ I said. ‘And I don’t want to lord it over the Palace staff as a snake; it’s not right. Sang Shen has a point: I’m the cause of most of this and it would probably be a good idea if I kept a low profile. You’re a much more acceptable representative.’

Simone came to me and touched my serpent head, then threw her arms around my neck. ‘You’re family too, Emma, you’re like my mother.’ She turned to Sang Shen with one arm still slung over my neck. ‘Don’t hate her. The only crime she’s committed is falling in love with Daddy. The rest of it is his fault more than hers.’

‘This is true,’ Martin said. ‘Come to Jie Jie’s house, and we’ll tell you the whole story and you can decide for yourself.’

Sang Shen hesitated, then shrugged. ‘I don’t think I have much choice.’

‘Oh, excellent idea,’ Yue Gui said with enthusiasm. ‘While you stay at my house, you will have to listen to Di Di’s jokes and stories every day you are there.’

‘What’s wrong with my jokes?’ Martin said, indignant.

‘You really are a very cruel woman indeed,’ Sang Shen said. He spread his arms. ‘Let’s go. Lunch with the family sounds good.’ He nodded to me. ‘I suppose I am willing to give you a second chance if they all say you are genuine.’

I
went into the kitchen the next morning to find breakfast and once again Ah Yat shooed me into the dining room. Simone and Leo were sitting there together, talking as if a day hadn’t passed since he left. Martin was intent on his soup noodles and didn’t notice me come in.

I stopped for a moment, watching them, revelling in the feeling of having some of the family back. One more member to return and we would be whole again.

‘Hi, Emma. Anything important that’s happened since Leo left that we need to tell him about?’ Simone said. ‘I can’t really think of anything.’

I sat at the dining table, and Ah Yat brought me my toast, tea and the newspaper. ‘Tsim Sha Tsui is a disaster area,’ I said.

Simone’s face cleared. ‘You’re right, it is.’

‘What, an earthquake or something?’ Leo said.

‘It looks like it, but it’s all just development,’ I said. ‘The KCR’s been combined with the MTR, and the KCR has a station in East Tsim Sha Tsui now. So what they did was make a massive series of underground walkways all through TST, and block off a buttload of roads for roadworks—’

‘I don’t think I remember a time when TST wasn’t full of roadworks,’ Leo said with amusement. ‘Kowloon Park Drive has never
not
had roadworks on it.’

‘Now you can’t even cross Kowloon Park Drive down near the Star Ferry,’ Simone said. ‘You get routed through this stupid complex series of underground walkways that make you walk a mile out of your way to get to Harbour City.’

‘Wan Chai’s the same,’ I said. ‘We’re renovating the exterior of the Academy building, and I think it’s a sign of the times that instead of tiny stationery shops and computer outlets, we have a big comfortable coffee shop downstairs that makes really nice lattes.’

‘The rest of it isn’t rented out yet though,’ Simone said. ‘America broke the world economy or something in 2008 and it’s taken everybody a long time to recover.’

‘Oh, you have a black president,’ I said.

‘No
way
,’ Leo said with delight. ‘
Really
?’

‘Yeah,’ Simone said. ‘Anyway, after breakfast we’re going down to the Academy. Wanna come?’

Leo didn’t hesitate. ‘Sure.’

‘I would like to come too, if you don’t mind,’ Martin said. ‘I need to brush up on my Arts, and I would like to talk to some of the Masters about some tutoring.’

‘Good idea,’ I said.

‘You need to think about whether you want to move the Academy back to Wudangshan now that you can go to the Heavens,’ Simone said.

‘Not until the demon essence is removed,’ I said. ‘I want to be able to run it as a human; the damn snake can’t type.’

‘Understandable,’ Martin said.

‘What demon essence?’ Leo said.

‘One Two Two injected me with demon essence. Somehow it filled my dan tian, and when I lose control
I turn into a really big Snake Mother,’ I said. ‘John gave us a suggestion on who to talk to about clearing it, and we’ll go see them soon.’

‘Wait, you said Mr Chen gave you a suggestion—he’s back?’

‘No,’ I said. ‘He comes and goes. He appears in my dreams, he’s met us in True Form—he appears to be returning. It might take a while.’

‘Did he fall into True Form and disappear?’

‘No. One Two Two took his head in exchange for Simone’s safety.’

‘What happened to that bastard One Two Two?’ Leo said.

‘I yinned him,’ Simone said.

‘What, just…yin…destroyed…gone?’ Leo said.

‘Exactly.’

‘And I’m left stuck as a half-demon, half-snake thing,’ I said.

‘Yep, sounds like you,’ Leo said.

‘I love you too,’ I retorted.

‘It’s good to have you back, Leo,’ Simone said.

He didn’t hesitate. ‘Absolutely.’ Then he remembered. ‘How’s Michael?’ Leo said.

‘He is in…what’s the term? A serious but stable condition,’ I said. ‘Basically, he’s not going to die, and they’re waiting to see if that clout on his head has caused permanent brain damage.’

Leo was quiet for a moment, then said, ‘Do you think I could visit him?’

‘We’ll contact the Tiger when we’re down at the Academy and see what we can arrange,’ I said.

He nodded. ‘Sounds good.’

‘I’ve organised to go shopping with Eva and Sylvie after lunch, Emma,’ Simone said. ‘Can I take Leo with me?’

‘No,’ Leo said.

‘Come on, Leo. All your outfits are way out of date, and I need you along to help me choose,’ Simone said, wheedling. ‘Please?’

He hesitated for a moment, then said, ‘Okay, why not. I suppose I have to get used to being in a wheelchair.’

‘Yay! We can help each other buy stuff, sounds like great fun,’ Simone said. ‘Emma can sort all that out at the Academy, get the stones to set up an identity for you, and we can just use my company expense card until you get your own. How long will that take, Emma?’

‘Shouldn’t take more than a week to get all that sorted out,’ I said. ‘Don’t worry about cash, we’ll set you up with a corporate expense card and your own bank account. You’ll never have to worry about money again.’

‘I hope you have a limit on your monthly spending, young lady,’ Leo said sternly to Simone. ‘I don’t want to see you wasting your money like those spoilt local girls who wheedle money from their fathers to buy expensive designer handbags all the time.’

Simone tossed her head at me. ‘Emma’s a cow. She won’t give me nearly enough money to buy a Kelly.’

‘Well, that’s different, that’s just child abuse.’ Leo glared at me. ‘If the Princess wants a Kelly, the Princess should have a Kelly.’

‘She had a Coach bag last year that she completely destroyed within six months,’ I said. ‘Dragged it around in the rain, then didn’t dry it properly and it got mouldy. Ruined. No way am I spending fifty grand more on another bag that’ll last a similar amount of time.’