Blue Dragon

said, and fell to one knee before us, saluting. ‘Lord Xuan. It’s been a blast.’
    ‘I hope you’re free when I return, because there’s a job for you if you are,’ John said.
    ‘Double my salary and I may consider it,’ Gold said. ‘I have a family to support now.’
    ‘Done,’ John said, and Gold disappeared.
    ‘But we don’t pay him anything,’ I said, crouching to examine the floor.
    ‘That’s precisely the point,’ John said, crouching next to me.
    The other Immortals moved to join us.
    ‘Stand back,’ Na Zha said. ‘I’ll just blast it open.’
    He didn’t need to. The building’s external doors slammed shut by themselves and the trapdoor flew open. We all stepped back. About a dozen young men climbed up some stairs into the room. They looked like gang members with their dyed hair and tattoos. They carried small guns and grinned.
    ‘Damn!’ John said softly.
    The Dragon concentrated and they all collapsed as if they were dead.
    ‘That was unnecessary, Ah Qing,’ the Phoenix said. ‘You will be reprimanded for that.’
    ‘They were only humans,’ the Dragon said, and gestured for us to follow him down the stairs.
    I checked one of the young men. The Dragon was right: they were human. And he’d killed every single one of them with his Internal Eye.
    The stairs went a long way down but the corridor didn’t darken. The walls were lined with white enamel panels, similar to the walls of some of the more upmarket exits to the MTR stations, but there was no visible lighting.
    ‘Touch the wall for me, Emma,’ the stone said softly.
    I put my hand on the wall as I walked down.
    ‘Touch me to it.’
    I turned my hand over and slid the stone against the wall.
    ‘The Grandmother will be nearly as pissed as I am,’ the stone said. ‘I have half a mind to take human form and join you.’
    ‘Stay there,’ John said. ‘He may not be aware of what you are.’
    The stone was silent.
    The Tiger took True Form and loped ahead of us. The Phoenix and Dragon stayed in human form; their True Forms would be too big to fit on the narrow stairway. John didn’t transform either.
    ‘Will you take True Form, my Lord?’ Leo said as he followed us down the stairs.
    John was silent, still moving quickly. It was a long way down.
    ‘Oh my God,’ I said softly.
    ‘What, Emma?’ Leo said.
    I stopped. ‘Wait, John,’ I said. ‘Tell me how bad it is.’
    ‘At the bottom,’ John said. ‘There are no demons there.’
    ‘At the bottom you will tell me exactly how bad it is, John Chen Wu,’ I said grimly, rushing to keep up.
    When we reached the bottom, I looked back. We were a good five storeys down, and the stairs hadn’t turned so we’d travelled about two hundred metres in as well. The trapdoor was a tiny square of light a long way behind us.
    ‘Can you sense Simone?’ I said.
    John concentrated. ‘Yes. She is behind us, about three hundred metres away.’
    ‘And about fifty metres down,’ the stone said. ‘You will need to descend further.’
    ‘Now that we are inside, can you still see the layout?’ the Phoenix said.
    ‘In a way,’ the stone said. ‘Some of it. I may be able to guide you.’
    ‘Good,’ John said.
    There was an opening at the bottom of the stairs, and we went in. The smell was indescribable. This was obviously where the men had their rest room. There was a television, a table set up for mah jong, a filthy couch and a microwave. Cigarette butts coated the floor and the walls were greasy with smoke. Beer cans were strewn everywhere.
    I moved as close to John as I could. ‘You will tell me how bad this is right now, or I swear I’ll use the phone anyway,’ I said.
    John glanced at the Tiger.
    ‘Tell her,’ the Tiger said, his tail twitching.
    John gave in. ‘It is very bad. I don’t know how much will remain once I take True Form. If there are demons present, the Turtle will destroy them. After that, I don’t know.’
    ‘What do you mean, “remain”?’ Leo said.
    ‘Sometimes I’m glad none of my wives are as smart as this one,’ the Tiger said.
    I explained for Leo. ‘If he changes while he’s this drained, the True Form will probably be all animal. John Chen won’t exist. That’s why he’ll be gone for so long. Like he said, if there are demons around, the Turtle will destroy them, that’s its nature. But if there are no demons present, the Turtle could very well just take off.’
    Leo glanced at John. John’s face didn’t shift but his