Red Phoenix

and detailed cruelty that you deserve.’
    ‘Can’t you two grow up?’ I said. ‘It’s not Western food, John, it’s definitely Chinese.’
    ‘Western Chinese,’ the Tiger said. ‘Lots of chilli. Spicy.’
    ‘I hate it,’ John moaned.
    ‘How about a beggar’s chicken for the Lady, and some vegetarian buckwheat noodles and a selection of Northern-style steamed buns for the Lord?’ The Tiger’s voice was amused but his face didn’t show it.
    ‘Now you’re talking. Monica can’t do Northern food.’ John grinned. ‘I was there, you know.’
    ‘Where?’ I said.
    ‘When the beggar was caught with the chicken. I was riding past the palace with my guards.’
    ‘You are a lying bastard,’ the Tiger growled.
    ‘I saw him do it. It was already wrapped. He covered it with mud and buried it next to the little fire he’d built. I told my guards, silently, to leave him, as he’d already ruined his dinner. I changed my form and went back later to check on him.’ John smiled, remembering. ‘He was a great guy.’
    ‘That’s not vegetarian, John. I can’t eat the chicken.’
    ‘Beside the point on the Celestial Plane. You can let your hair down here.’
    ‘Don’t you dare,’ the Tiger said. ‘I am very careful not to get any fur in the food, and you will be too. Mao tai?’
    ‘Now you are really talking,’ John said with grim pleasure.
    ‘Yuck,’ I said. ‘Mao tai tastes like donkey urine that something died in.’
    ‘It’s an acquired taste,’ John said. ‘After a couple of hundred years I think you’ll probably like it as much as we do.’
    ‘I sincerely hope I’ll have the chance.’
    ‘You will. Here’s the chicken,’ the Tiger said. A servant brought a large covered platter. ‘My Lady, would you like to do the honours?’
    ‘Sure, where’s the hammer?’
    ‘I usually make one on the spot.’ The Tiger looked around. The lid of the serving platter twisted and went shiny. Part of it separated and formed a tiny golden hammer. The hammer floated in front of me, and I picked it out of the air and nodded to the Tiger.
    The servant removed the remains of the platter’s lid to reveal a large lump of baked dough. ‘I have to be careful not to hit it so hard that I completely destroy it,’ I said, almost to myself.
    ‘Look inside the dough, see where its weakness is,’ John said. ‘It will have points in its structure where a single firm tap, not too hard, will crack it open.’
    ‘How do I look inside it?’
    He took my hand and showed me. He opened his consciousness and studied the dough. He released my hand. ‘Now you try.’
    I did the same thing he had. I opened my inner sight and peered inside the dough. I could see its structure, the way it was put together. The dough had been made slightly unevenly and there were parts where it was strong and other parts where it was weak. There were points where the strong and weak parts met, making clearly visible fracture lines. I studied one of the lines and followed it, searching for the place where a single light tap would crack the dough open. I found it.
    I drew my consciousness back, remembering the location of the weak spot. I put the hammer down; I wouldn’t need it.
    I reached with my index finger and lightly tapped the dough on the weak point. It fell open like a flower, revealing the steaming chicken wrapped in lotus leaf. Awonderful warm aroma of wine and chicken and lotus leaf spread around us.
    ‘You should not have been able to do that,’ the Tiger said with awe.
    ‘She did shen work this afternoon as well,’ John said.
    The Tiger pondered for a while, then spoke. ‘There is something seriously weird going on here, Xuan Wu. Lady Emma is an ordinary human. Why is she able to do this? It’s worrying.’
    ‘Please let’s just enjoy the meal and not freak me out,’ I said with a calmness I didn’t feel.
    ‘Good idea, Emma,’ John said briskly. He lifted his chopsticks and eyed the buns impatiently as they were brought in. ‘I haven’t had this in a while and I don’t think I’ll leave you any.’
    ‘How will you eat, Bai Hu?’
    ‘Very messily,’ the Tiger said. ‘Looks like I get all the chilli peppers.’
    Familiar music began to play. It was soft enough for us to talk and seemed to come from all directions. The Tiger pointed with his head. ‘They’re over there.’ An alcove on one side of the room was covered with a gauzy curtain. ‘I had them come over and play specially for you, since I