Blue Dragon

all the cauldrons and open all the gates. Do you know what a chakra is, Emma?’
    ‘I know. But that’s an Indian thing, not Chinese atall. You have dan tian, cauldrons and gates, not chakras.’
    ‘Same thing,’ John said. ‘Three cauldrons, the three dan tian. Three gates. One Inner Eye. Each corresponds to a chakra, there are seven altogether. There are seven cavities on the sword. One for each star, one for each chakra. She will need to load the sword with her own chakras for it to shine.’
    ‘That will be an incredibly difficult process to master,’ the stone said with awe. ‘One wrong step and she could destroy herself.’
    ‘I am well aware of that,’ John said. ‘I think she will be able to do it.’
    ‘She’ll be projecting her own dan tian into the sword?’ I said softly.
    ‘Yes. The sword will become perfectly aligned with her. She and the sword will protect each other. Part of her consciousness will enter the sword.’ His eyes turned inwards and he smiled. ‘The experience is incredibly euphoric when you do it right. The destructive power of the loaded weapon is immeasurable.’
    ‘Under what circumstances would she need to use it, though? There probably won’t be any demons that she’ll need to fear anyway, once she’s all the way there.’
    ‘You are quite right, Emma,’ John said. ‘She will only need to use it if faced by an overwhelming force.’ He leaned back. ‘Now, go and talk to your parents.’
    ‘How long do we have, Xuan Wu?’
    His face went rigid. ‘Not long.’

CHAPTER TWO
    I went back with my tea and sat at the kitchen table. Simone was amusing my parents with stories of Zhu Que’s chicks.
    ‘The birds talk?’ my mother said.
    ‘They’re not really birds—’ I began.
    ‘Yes, they are, silly Emma,’ Simone said. ‘They’re really birds . Not really children at all.’
    ‘They look like baby emus,’ I said.
    ‘What’s an emu?’ Simone said.
    ‘I should take you to Australia again.’
    ‘That would be fun,’ Simone said. ‘Maybe after Daddy has gone, and we don’t have to worry about the demons so much. After he’s killed One Two Two.’
    My mother made a small sound and I glanced at her. Her face was unreadable.
    I turned back to Simone. ‘It’s a deal. Maybe next Christmas. Even if he’s still here, we’ll go and take him for a swim in the sea.’
    ‘What would you like to do today, Mrs Donahoe?’ Simone said. ‘Where would you like us to take you?’
    ‘Any suggestions, Emma?’ my father said through his cornflakes.
    ‘It’s difficult on a Sunday,’ I said.
    ‘Why, nothing open?’ my mother said.
    Simone giggled at that. My mother looked at her with bewilderment.
    ‘Everything’ll be open, Mum, that’s not the problem,’ I said. ‘Hong Kong is very densely populated, and for many people Sunday is the only day off. So the shopping centres, the streets, everywhere, will be packed.’
    ‘You can’t move in the middle of Causeway Bay,’ Simone said, still delighted. ‘The ground floor of Sogo is packed. You can’t even get in.’
    ‘Sogo is a big Japanese department store in Causeway Bay,’ I said. ‘I don’t know why, but everyone agrees to meet at the entrance on a Sunday. It’s absolutely packed to the rafters with people.’
    ‘Want to go yum cha ?’ Simone said. ‘There’s a couple of places that know Daddy, and we don’t have to take a number.’
    ‘Oh no, please , Simone,’ I moaned, ‘you know I can’t eat anything there. Hardly any of it’s vegetarian.’
    ‘What?’ my father said, still through the cornflakes.
    I ran my hands through my hair. ‘I’m mostly vegetarian now, guys. Sorry.’
    ‘It’s because Emma’s becoming Immortal,’ Simone said with relish. ‘Human Immortals are vegetarian. Like Kwan Yin.’
    The phone rang. I rose to get it, but John answered it in the study.
    ‘Tell us about this Immortal stuff, Emma,’ my mother said as I sat back down.
    I was silent. I didn’t want to go into detail about it.
    ‘If a human being attains the Tao, then they become Immortal,’ Simone said, her eyes sparkling. ‘That’s what Emma’s doing.’
    ‘Tao?’ my father said.
    ‘The Way,’ I said. ‘It’s complicated. I’d prefer not to talk about it.’
    ‘You are no fun at all sometimes, Emma,’ Simone said, sounding much more mature than her six years.
    John appeared in the doorway and leaned in to speak to us, one hand on either side of the frame. ‘Emma, we have