Ren raised a hand in farewell and then left through the doorway. I waited until the sound of his footsteps disappeared down the hall.
Something told me that I wouldn’t see him for a long, long time. I squashed that voice of doubt. Ren would come back. He had to come back, and soon.
I fell asleep to the thought of being reunited with Ren, after he’d been reunited with his mother, the pop singer Cindy You. I wasn’t sure when my thoughts morphed into dreams. One moment, my mind was fixated on Ren; the next thing I knew, I was in a huge, sprawling garden, surrounded by elm trees. There was a small pond in front of me with glittering, impossibly clear water, with a wooden bridge erected over it.
Three figures stood on top of that bridge. A red dragon, a black dragon, and between them—my brother, Alex. In his right hand, he wielded the mighty golden spear Fenghuang, which had once belonged to me. It was the spear that awarded him the title of Heaven Breaker, the Jade Emperor’s newly appointed general, who oversaw the entire army.
“Alex,” I tried to say, but again, my voice didn’t work. Nor, apparently, could Alex or the dragons see me, because they gave no indication that there was a fourth presence in the heavenly garden.
“Have you found any leads on that task I gave you?” Alex asked the dragons. His voice was magnified, as though he were standing and speaking right next to me.
The dragons both shook their great heads.
No, Heaven Breaker, the red dragon said. I guess in this vision, or dream, or whatever it was, I could hear the dragons’ voices again, as I had been able to when I’d been the Heaven Breaker. Dream logic. Gotta love it.
We searched high and low, just as you asked, added the black dragon with a forlorn snort. We did not see any sign of those whom you seek.
My curiosity burned. Who was Alex seeking? Why were he and the dragons being so cryptic about it?
Alex whipped his head around and stared straight at me. I gasped but made no sound. He continued to stare. Even though I knew I shouldn’t be here and I should definitely look away, I couldn’t bring myself to. My brother’s brown eyes had a cold and calculating look in them, but for just a second, they softened. Alex was still my brother. And I hadn’t truly looked at him in months and months.
What would you like us to do for you now, Heaven Breaker? asked the dragons, bowing their heads.
“Continue searching,” Alex ordered, snapping his gaze away from me. “And make sure no one else knows what I’ve asked you to do. Especially not”—he peered around nervously at the empty garden, then lowered his voice to barely a whisper—“the Jade Emperor. He and I … have very different … opinions.”
The dragons looked at each other and then turned back to my brother. This time, I couldn’t hear any of their thoughts. After a moment, both dragons bowed low. They took off toward the sky, tails swishing through the air. In moments, they became red and black specks.
Alex gazed down into the crystal-clear pond water. I could barely see his face, but he looked, for a moment, impossibly sad. His wasn’t the expression of a warrior who wielded one of the world’s most powerful weapons. It was the vulnerable look of a lost young boy. A boy who needed his big sister—his family—now more than ever.
But I couldn’t be there for Alex when he needed me, and knowing that hurt most of all.
The garden blurred, and the vision vanished. When I opened my eyes, I gazed up at my ceiling, with the sunlight pouring through the window of my room.
I didn’t know exactly what I’d seen in this vision, but I was certain about one thing. That had felt much more real than a mere dream. And if it hadn’t been just a dream, Alex was in search of something—or someone—behind the Jade Emperor’s back. If the ruler of all the heavens found out what my brother was doing, Alex could be in grave danger.
CHAPTER
9
I drifted off to sleep and awoke to yelling and loud, thumping footsteps. I rolled out of bed, wiping the sleep from my eyes, and ducked through my doorway.
“Ahhhhhhhhhh!” A whizzing blur flew past me with a gust of wind. I jerked my head back out of danger’s path. It was one of the children, although at that speed, I couldn’t tell which one.
The source of the commotion was the younger warriors returning from tutoring. Instead of attending public school, the young warriors received private tutoring from certified instructors in the New Order. It’s exactly as boring as it sounds. I had no idea how knowing the periodic table of elements was supposed to help us slay demons, but apparently, that was important. I’d rather face down ten demons than one math problem.
Mothers holding hands with their children came bustling down the hall. A few, like Mrs. Zheng and Mrs. Qiao, stopped to greet me. Most were harried-looking and just rushed past.
Before his mom could lead him away down the hall, Ah Qiao broke away from her grasp and ran up to me.
“Ah Qiao,” I said, smiling. “How are you?”
“I didn’t come to talk to you, ugly,” Ah Qiao snapped.
“Okay. Thanks.”
“Also, your hair is sticking up sideways. Did you even brush it this morning?”
“Gimme a break. I just woke up.” I patted down my hair. Great. I’d sunk to new lows if young children had to point out my unkemptness.
Ah Qiao’s eyes slid to either side of me and then down the hall. “Where’s Ren? He’s not in his room. I checked. I thought he might be with you.”
Oh no. How was I supposed to explain to this kid that his hero had left the New Order and that none of us had any clue when he’d be back?
“Ren? He, um … uh … he had something very important to do. Outside the New Order. H-he’ll be back soon, though.”
“How soon? Before bedtime?”
“Yeah,” I lied. Sheesh. Lying to a little kid’s face. I was gonna go to Diyu for this. “Yeah, before bedtime.”
“Did he leave me a message? Will he—?”
Ah Qiao’s mother grabbed his hand and offered an apologetic smile. I watched as she dragged him away, scolding him about being late for his lessons earlier, while Ah Qiao howled.
I sent a silent message to Ren. Please, for all our sakes, come back soon from the Dragon Kings’ palace. Preferably before bedtime, so I don’t go to Diyu for lying to children.
Instead of getting ready for tomorrow’s lessons like the other kids, I had something much more important to take care of.
* * *
Later that day, I packed my backpack with Restorative Potions and left the high-rise apartment building. I headed straight toward the temple of the New Order. The sun already hung high in the sky, and the streets of Chinatown bustled with activity.
Alone now, I could fully unpack my thoughts on the dizzying number of events of the last twelve hours, starting with Ashley’s transformation. What in the name of Erlang Shen’s long johns happened back there?
The two marble lions guarding the temple’s entrance seemed to glare at me, as if questioning why I was here this early.
“I’m not doing anything wrong,” I said. “I’ve got important business to tend to.”
I’d just spoken to two giant slabs of stone like they could hear or understand me. If anyone needed more proof that Faryn Liu was going bananas from loneliness, this was it.