‘For Hell’s sake, hurry up,’ I snap to the empty lift. Of course, the lift doesn’t respond, nor does it go faster. When finally we reach the ground, I shove myself through the doors before they’re fully open and bound across the lobby right into Bullhead and Horsey.
‘Lady Jing! Where have you been? Everyone’s been worried sick about you,’ Horsey says, his eyes bulging as he takes in my bright purple robe. ‘What in Tian are you wearing?’
‘How is that important right now? Where is Big Wang?’
‘He’s not with you?’ Horsey asks as Bullhead checks me over for scrapes.
‘What? I need to see him!’
For a moment I feel like a child again, running back to Bullhead with tears after falling off the roof trying to escape the guards, or after losing a fight to another yaojing.
‘Big Wang got a call from Willie and rushed off,’ Bullhead says, seemingly satisfied I’m not fatally injured, ‘He said he was going to the Hulijing Court?’
‘I was just there. I didn’t see him. What about Mr Lee? Have you heard from him?’
‘That’s odd.’ Deep lines etch into Horsey’s forehead. ‘Mr Lee had Fisherman Lo take him to the Hulijing Court too.’
I sag with relief. ‘He’s okay, thank Tian he’s okay.’ And then the rest of Horsey’s words sink in.Take him to the Hulijing Court.‘No, no, no.’ My hands flap uselessly in the air. ‘He can’t go there. They’ll kill him.’
‘We thought Big Wang had gone to meet him. But—’ Bullhead exchanges a worried look with Horsey.
‘I need to go.’ My insides prickle with fear. Niang Niang will leave him a desiccated husk.
Bullhead stops, looks at me as if only realising something. ‘We just came from Fisherman Lo – you didn’t come on the sampan. How did you get here?’
‘Ask Lord Black.’
They seem confused by my answer, but I don’t have time to elaborate.
‘I have to go. Mr Lee won’t last long with those bitches.’
For once neither chastise me for insulting the hulijing.
Horsey puts a hand on my shoulder. ‘Be careful of Niang Niang. She doesn’t play by the rules.’
I am touched by Horsey’s concern. Perhaps I’ve been too harsh on him all these years. He looks down at my feet and that frog-frown smacks him full in the face.
‘Where are your shoes?’ he shrieks.
Or perhaps not. Before he can say anything more, I visualise the pavilion, and blink.
I hear shouting from inside the palace complex. I run along the bridges, through deserted pavilions, towards the Hall of Preserved Harmony. I pad to the open doors and peer inside.
Huge pillars of polished golden silkwood soar upwards to meet carved wood ceilings painted with golden foxes. In the centre is a dais with a rosewood throne where Niang Niang reclines, cushioned by embroidered silk pillows. Her handmaids stand in rows either side of the dais, gazes cast downwards.
Standing alone at the foot of the dais steps is Mr Lee. His clothes are bloodstained, the same suit he was wearing when I left him slumped in the hotel room. But he’s standing. He’s breathing. The jade pendant worked. I sniff the air – hulijing scent dominates the room, but underneath, I can scent his yang qi. He smells healthy and his yang brims with vibrant potency. Relief courses through me.
‘You lie,’ he says, voice firm. ‘I know you have her. I demand you release Lady Jing.’
Niang Niang raises an elegant hand and laughs behind her pale, tapering fingers. Her laugh is carefree, like bells on a summer’s breeze, and it scrapes through me like shards of glass.
‘You? Demand?’ She waves the imperial jade nail guards on her right ring and pinkie fingers, casually admiring them. ‘On what authority, mortal?’
I lean against the door frame, preparing myself to confront my grandmother.
Mr Lee squares his shoulders. ‘Parley on behalf of the Ministry of Hell. Ordinance 6.2 of the Jade Emperor’s Treaty of Mount Kunlun.’
Niang Niang stills. The amusement drains from her expression and her eyes glitter dangerously. I have to step in before she sets her handmaids on him. Celestial command would be the easiest solution here. Niang Niang could not deny the authority vested in me as a ward of Hell. I’ve not yet managed it, but as Horsey says,Effort makes the mind.
