The New Order was the Jade Society 2.0. Clearly, the New Order warriors had gotten a much bigger chunk of the budget the gods had allotted warriors for building their societies. The apartment complex was way bigger on the inside than it appeared from the outside. It had everything a warrior could possibly need: a training ground in the basement, apartments on the first and second floors, a dining hall on the third floor, a library on the fourth floor, a game room on the fifth floor, and even a spa on the sixth floor.
“Everyone’s gone to the temple, of course,” Ah Qiao said loudly. “Don’t tell me you forgot what day it is.”
In the aftermath of my dream about Alex, it had slipped my mind. “July 31st. It’s the day before the Hungry Ghost Festival.”
One of the biggest celebrations of the year, the Hungry Ghost Festival was a time for the living to reunite with their dead ancestors and friends. It was more of a formality now, since the warriors were no longer powerful enough to actually summon the dead. Still, the holiday always reminded me of the family I’d never known—Mama, my mother; Nai Nai, my grandmother; Gu Gu, my aunt; Jiu Jiu, my uncle. They had all passed away before I was born. This year, my grandfather was also on my mind. Ye Ye had passed away during the last Lunar New Year and now lived as a deity in Heaven. The thought brought a pang to my chest.
Every warrior needed to be alert for demon activity during the Hungry Ghost Festival, just like on every holiday, when the demons grew stronger—and especially this year, the wake of the demons’ attack during the Lunar New Year. And I’d almost slept through the prefestival ceremony. The worst part was, Xiong, the master of the New Order, was just about the strictest guy on the planet. He once made me run ten laps around Chinatown because I forgot it was my turn to sweep the dining hall floors. I guess a guy named Xiong, which literally means “fierce,” is bound to be one tough cookie.
“Xiong’s speech starts soon. Ah Qiao, you should get going. I need to speak with Faryn.”
“No! I don’t wanna go to the dumb—”
One hard, penetrating stare from Ren was enough to silence Ah Qiao. The little boy gave me a sullen look, as though asking for backup. I just looked at him.
“Fine,” Ah Qiao grumbled. He tossed his crumpled-up Choco Pie wrapper into a nearby trash can and ran out the door.
“We should head over to the temple, too.” I stood up.
“Wait. First I have … something important to … to think about,” Ren mumbled, shifting his bag.
“More important than the New Order’s preparations for the Hungry Ghost Festival? Do you want to run laps for Xiong? ’Cause I’m telling you right now, it’s not fun.”
“I-I’ve been summoned,” Ren confessed. “To the palace of the Dragon King of the Center Sea. For training. The Dragon Kings sent me a vision in my dream. I saw the palace. This dark, ugly cloud surrounded it, and—and the Dragon Kings told me if I went to the palace, they’d train me for battle.”
My heart sank at the thought of Ren leaving me on my own. We hadn’t spent a day apart for the past six months. “Oh. What … what are they training you for?”
“Apparently, word of my—uh—special situation has spread pretty far. The Dragon Kings are worried that without their training, I’ll be a danger to those around me.”
“Th-that’s ridiculous,” I spluttered. “You haven’t hurt a single soul since arriving at the New Order!”
Ren still appeared hesitant. “Not yet. I’m sure it’s because the gods have been strangely quiet, so all the dragons—mine included—have been quiet, too. So have the demons. I don’t like it. I don’t like it at all …”
“Yeah, I prefer war,” I said sarcastically.
“I didn’t mean it that way. All I’m saying is, things have felt too peaceful lately. Feels like … something big is about to happen.”
Ren’s words reminded me of my dream about Alex and Xi Wangmu. I shivered. It had only been a dream. A vivid dream, maybe, but still just a dream. No way would Alex actually throw Mr. Zhao in the Underworld. Right? But the Hungry Ghost Festival did start soon and the demons were bound to grow stronger. Maybe that had caused Ren’s restlessness.
“I hate the feeling of waiting around,” Ren continued. “I want to train. Properly.”
“The New Order has been training us properly,” I insisted. “More than properly. Those guys practically have it out for us!”
At the New Order, every warrior took training seriously. Ren and I rose with them at five in the morning to jog three miles, and that was before the actual training of the day. In the evenings, we received lessons in math, science, history, English, and Chinese from world-class instructors, right in the apartment complex.
Ren shook his head with a sad smile. “I’m half-dragon and half-warrior. No warrior society is fully equipped to train someone like me.”
I knew Ren was right. In our time at the New Order, he’d kept up with lessons—better than most of the other warriors, in fact—but he hadn’t transformed into his dragon form. There was probably nowhere safe for him to do that, except in the presence of other dragons.
“There’s something else, too.” Ren suddenly seemed shy. “The Dragon Kings told me that if I go to them … I might be able to find my mother.”
“Your mother?” I blurted out. “You’re sure she’s there? I mean …”
Ren’s expression fell. During the Lunar New Year, we thought we’d found Ren’s mother, a Mandopop singer named Cindy You—only to discover that a demon prince had taken on her appearance instead. Talk about bad karma to start off the New Year.
“I’m sure she is,” Ren said softly. His forehead scrunched up. “Well, like, eighty percent sure. Rounded up from fifty.”
The steely glint in Ren’s eye told me that his mind was made up, and nothing I said would change it. I’d been in his shoes—I would go to the ends of the world for Ba, too.
“So you’re … leaving? Just like that?” I tried to sound casual, but my voice trembled.
“I was going to … but I don’t know,” Ren confessed. A shadow crossed his face. “I don’t even know if we can trust the Dragon Kings. The other gods believed that the Dragon Kings would side with the Jade Emperor, remember?”
I thought back to what Guanyin, Erlang Shen, and Nezha had speculated during the Lunar New Year: that the Dragon Kings would fight alongside the Jade Emperor—and against the humans.
Ren stood up straight. In the past six months, he’d grown taller and lankier, so much so that he’d had to buy all new clothes. He shouldered his bag more firmly. “Maybe I should leave. Nobody here would miss me anyway.”
“I’d miss you,” I blurted out and then blushed. Ren’s cheeks turned pink, too. “And—and so would Ah Qiao!”
The little eight-year-old boy had taken to hero-worshipping Ren, for whatever reason. Trailed him everywhere with hearts bursting out of his eyes. I think the kid just really liked Ren’s white hair.
A small, rare smile broke out across Ren’s face. But as quickly as it came, it vanished. “I don’t think anyone else would miss me.”