But how? ‘I’m supposed to blow on my third eye,’ I mutter to myself. ‘What does that mean?’
Niang Niang’s black gaze settles on me. ‘What nonsense are you spewing? The only thing that can touch your third eye is your qi.’
I lean back on my heels, swallowing down a hysterical urge to laugh. Of course. That convoluted old dragon. Why the Tian didn’t he just say that. I will Mr Lee to hang on. I focus my qi and send it over my third eye. There’s a strange pressure behind my forehead, akin to the hollow feeling of an empty stomach, and something pushes against my eye.
‘I see it!’ shrieks Niang Niang.
She flies down the dais stairs, waving her handmaids away from us. Her talons are at my face, but I bat her away and hunch forward protecting myself from her nails. There’s a wet sucking sound and something falls, glistening and sticky, into my waiting hands. The dragon pearl.
I stare at it, stunned that blowing on it actually worked. Niang Niang snatches the pearl from my palm, hissing in triumph. Her eyes have a wild sheen to them. A smile slashes across her face like cracked porcelain.
I put my forehead on Mr Lee’s chest. His heartbeat is weak and fading fast. After all that, I may lose him anyways. But then something strange happens. All the handmaids who fed on Mr Lee start to twitch. They fall to their knees, gasping, hands clawing at their throats. They writhe on the ground, their skin sloughing away like a crumbling wasp’s nest.
Niang Niang stares at them, mouth wide in horror. ‘What is happening?’
As the handmaids wither, Mr Lee’s skin plumps out. His breathing eases. As if being nourished by their qi. For a moment, I’m as confused as Niang Niang. And then I remember.
‘The jade.’ I laugh, long and hard. ‘Dear Niang Niang, you’ve landed yourself in a spot of mafan. Not only have you attacked a mortal with prior claim, you’ve attacked a mortal under the dual protection of Lord Lei and Queen Mother of the West. Mr Lee has her qi in him.’
Niang Niang’s complexion turns a ghastly shade of grey. ‘Impossible. Why would she—’
I step forward. ‘Look at your handmaids. You’ll have some explaining to do. Queen Mother of the West does not take kindly to hers being harmed.’
‘I did not know! You never told me!’
‘Give me back my dragon pearl and I’ll tell her myself that you did not know.’
Niang Niang’s fingers close around the pearl. She steps backwards, clutching the pearl to her chest.
‘Never. It is mine now. You gave it to me.’
‘As I understand it, dragon pearls can neither be bought, sold, or bartered. It is mine. And you will give it back.’
‘Little mongrel, you of all people, have no authority to make me do anything.’
I stand and move towards my grandmother who seems to shrink with every step I take.
‘Parley on behalf of the Ministry of Hell. Ordinance 6.2 of the Jade Emperor’s Treaty of Mount Kunlun,’ I invoke.
Niang Niang backs onto the dais steps.
‘I have come into my Celestial voice,’ I continue, emboldened by her reaction. ‘I claim both my position as a minister of Hell and a minister of the Hulijing Court. I claim protection of both the Ministry of Hell and the Hulijing Court according to the laws of Tian. You think I have no authority?’ I step forward again. My grandmother moves up the steps to her dais, her gaze never leaving mine. But she’s lost her smile. She looks diminished.
‘I have the authority to bring you before the Jade Emperor for breaching his Treaty,’ I say, biting out each word. I step onto the first step of the dais, forcing her backwards.
‘I have the authority to bring you before the dragon kings for stealing my dragon pearl,’ I say and take two more steps up as she too moves up the steps to maintain her distance. ‘I have the authority to bring you before the great Queen Mother of the West for harming one of hers.’ With one more step I’m level with my grandmother who backs into her throne. She has nowhere else to go.
I hold my hand out. ‘Give me back my pearl.’
Niang Niang grips the pearl tighter. ‘You disrespectful little leech—’
I cut her off. ‘The pearl cannot stop Big Wang’s banking project, nor can it compel demand for yin silver. Surely you know this.’
She swipes at the air as if she can repel me, stumbles, and lands heavily on her throne. ‘I heard Lord Black say the pearl gifted dragon sight. What could a mongrel do with such a gift? Wasted on you! With dragon sight I could lead my court to better trade deals, more power, more prestige. We could throw off the limits imposed by Tian on hunting mortals. We would no longer be under the thumb of that mortal-loving bleeding heart, the Jade Emperor. I don’t care if you’ve ascended. You will never have authority over me!’
I tilt my head and give her my sad face. ‘Grandmother, has no one given you a snack? I, too, get grumpy when I’m hungry.’
‘How dare you!’
