Later that day, Xiong called a society-wide meeting in front of the temple. Everyone was gathered for the send-off. Some of the women had brought flowers. Xiong handed us backpacks stuffed with packaged foods like dried meat, Choco Pies, and rice crackers. We had enough food to sustain us for this quest—plus the next five, probably. The backpacks also contained prayer notes, which we could use to pray to the deities and ancestors for help if we ran into danger.
“Use these only as a last resort,” Xiong warned. “We don’t know which gods or spirits are on our side. Praying to the wrong one might send you to your doom.” On that cheery note, he walked away, calling order to the other warriors.
Ah Qiao ran up to me. “Ren still isn’t back,” he said accusingly. “Master Xiong said he’s gone for a long time! Why did you lie to me?”
“I’m sorry, Ah Qiao.” I didn’t know what Ren was up to any more than he did. For a brief moment when Ren had turned into a dragon yesterday, I’d been able to communicate with him. But now, when I reached out with my mind, I couldn’t sense him anywhere.
The little boy squinted at me, like it was my fault that Ren hadn’t returned. Then he sniffed and placed a clipboard with a paper and pen in front of me. “Sign this.”
I obeyed without thinking, then handed the paper and pen back to him when I was finished. “What is this?”
“Your last will and testament,” Ah Qiao said seriously. “It says that if you die on this quest, I get to turn your room into my video-game room.”
I was not reassured by his grin and hopeful tone of voice. “Gimme that back.” I reached out for his slip of paper, but he yanked it out of reach. Then he ran for his mother.
A current of fear passed through the air. Some of the warriors kept shooting the siblings frightened looks. A few of the older women, though, gave them encouraging smiles.
None of us had forgotten what had happened last night. How Ashley had won her duel with some mysterious magic. But a win was a win, after all.
“What did Xiong say to you guys last night after we all left?” I muttered to Jordan.
He shifted his weight from foot to foot and wouldn’t meet my eye. “Just … you know,” he said vaguely. “The usual. The normal stuff. The haps.”
“Xiong gave you ‘the haps’ on a life-or-death quest? The first one in decades?” I said in disbelief. I was almost certain that Xiong had spoken with the siblings about Ashley’s transformation, but I didn’t want to press for details. Not yet, anyway.
“Look, we don’t know any more than you do, okay, Jade Society warrior?” Ashley burst out.
“What’s your problem? So what if I’m a Jade Society warrior?” I snapped. Enough was enough. I wasn’t going to let Ashley keep pushing me around. Besides, the dislike was mutual. I would’ve given anything to have Alex, Moli, and Ren with me on this quest instead of Ashley and Jordan.
Ashley’s fists clenched at her sides. “You don’t know anything about how hard we’ve had to train for this moment. All of us at the New Order. Including Jinyu. Especially Jinyu. We never knew if we’d even live to see a quest.” She shook her head. “You know what? Never mind. I don’t know why I’m bothering to explain myself to an outsider.”
Ashley stomped up the temple steps, taking them two by two, to join Xiong outside the door.
“Don’t take it personally,” Jordan said with an apologetic grimace. “Ashley’s always been hard to get along with. She used to steal all my Pokémon action figures right out of my hands while I was playing with them and flush them down the toilet. Made me cry.”
I winced. I was reminded of Luhao, who’d bullied Alex and me back at the Jade Society. “I’m sorry. Sounds like Ashley was a real childhood bully.”
“Childhood?” Jordan gave me a funny look. “No, no. I’m talking about last week.”
“You know I’m right, Jordan,” Ashley called, startling me. I hadn’t realized she’d overheard. “Faryn isn’t a New Order warrior. She has no idea what it means to be one of us.”
I gritted my teeth. I hoped there’d be lots of hungry demons on this quest. I had an idea of what to feed them, and it rhymed with “Mashley.”
“Maybe I’m not a true New Order warrior,” I said, “but I did help save the world half a year ago. Where were you, Ashley?”
Bright-red patches rose to Ashley’s cheeks. She opened her mouth to retort but then shut it again and turned away with a huff. A flash of triumph surged through me but quickly faded—especially when Jordan gave me an annoyed look.
“What? She started it,” I mumbled, kicking a stone beneath my foot.
“You two.” Jordan sighed.
Guilt shot through me. I didn’t even have time for petty squabbles. I had to save my brother, father, and the world.
“Are you guys coming or not?” Ashley shouted from the top of the steps.
Jordan looked at me, and we both rolled our eyes at the same time. Together, we ran up the steps and followed behind Ashley to enter the temple of the New Order.
I looked past the statues and tables of offerings for the Hungry Ghost Festival. My attention was quickly diverted by the presence of very real gods and goddesses standing inside the temple.
“They got my nose all wrong.” Erlang Shen glared at a statue of himself. “It’s not that big. And my stomach does not have that much flab. I’ve been doing P90X for nine weeks now!” The god of war jabbed his three-pronged spear at the statue and then looked down at his own belly as if comparing the two.
Nezha hovered near his statue. “Do I really look that angry to you guys?” He stared around at the room with a worried look. “Hey, guys?”
Only Guanyin seemed satisfied with her golden statue. “My eyebrows are on fleek,” the goddess of mercy said.
They turned when Jordan and I entered the temple and the doors closed behind us. Xiong and the Elders stood in front of the statues of the Jade Emperor and Xi Wangmu.
“Warriors,” said Xiong. “Ashley, Jordan, and Faryn. You have proven yourselves worthy of an honor that generations of warriors have only dreamed of—to embark on a quest for the gods. Now, as we prepare to send you off, please pray to and receive this blessing from the gods.”
Three Elders stepped forward. They placed smoking incense sticks into our hands. Ashley led us as she stepped in front of the table, inserting the sticks into the holders beside the food. As one, we knelt down onto the ground and prayed to the gods.
Even though my eyes were closed, I could still see the brilliant flash of light that accompanied our prayers.
“Ahhh,” sighed Erlang Shen. “That feels good. That feels powerful.”
As we gave our prayers of thanks, I could feel the power surging into the gods, the energy crackling through the air. I was pretty sure there was enough energy filling the temple to bring down the whole town.
When Guanyin spoke, her voice sounded more distant than before, as though she were speaking from somewhere high above us. “The shī, Erlang Shen. Repeat the shī of prophecy to the warriors.”
After a moment, Erlang Shen chimed in.
“To seek the weapon of greatest power,