rubble and fallen stone, and then chose a large rock and buried it into the wound in the side of the skull before allowing the rock to roll away. Rocks constantly fell from the crumbling ramparts and sometimes killed. One of his foremen would discover the corpse tomorrow, and meanwhile, he must get Li back to camp unseen. He turned and saw that she was already behind him.
He studied her fiery eyes and the firm tilt of her jaw. She looked like she was ready to fight not to cry. Was this what rape did to women like Lotus Lily?
“Answer my question,” Li said. “Will you send me back to the Forbidden City to be executed?”
“Why would I do that? What crime have you committed that you should be executed?”
Li darted her eyes at the body. “You asked me once, Captain, if I could kill a man. There is your answer.”
“I saw no killing,” Quan said, and kicked at the trampled grass to force the blades upright like no one, except the boy, had come this way.
CHAPTER NINE
The Tomb of First Emperor
There was a time when he could summon the forces of the geomancer and devour the distance between the Forbidden City and the Yellow River loop in a matter of days, but things were different now, and Master Yun dismounted and urged his horse to the riverside. In this part of the country the river split into tributaries, winding in a near circular path past Xian, on its way to the frontiers of the Ordos desert. In the dead of night, on the village outskirts, he stooped to drink, then spat out the water before he swallowed. He could taste the bones of the dead. He tethered his horse to a shrub and gazed up at the moonlight to where the mysterious mound rose like a natural mountain, sloping gently toward Heaven. “Rest here, Xingbar,” he whispered to the horse. “Hopefully, I won’t be long.”
He fingered the contents in the pouch at his side. Satisfied that everything was there, he chose a stick from the ground and scaled the mound until he reached the summit. The vegetation here was scrubby and low with patches of bare earth. He breathed deeply, calling on the Chi of all that thrived in the vicinity. Here was a spectacular view of all of the Middle Kingdom: the forests and jungles, deserts and waterways, valleys and mountains.
The wind blew, swirled, causing his robes to billow like the sails of a great ocean-going junk. He crouched at the crest of the hill and emptied his pouch’s contents to the ground: two handfuls of white sand alongside three of plump azure jade leaves, obtained from the plants flanking the pillars of his Koi Temple. With the stick he scraped away the vegetation growing by his feet, and scored the outline of a triangle into the dried earth. Inside the triangle he drew the image of a dragon; within the dragon, he fitted the azure leaves of the jade plant. Outside the dragon he spread the white sand, and then gazed upon the Imperial emblem and rose. Hands outspread, he summoned the forces of the stars and the planets, the weather and the earth. But the mound failed to open.
Master Yun steepled his fingers, stamped his foot three times. At first, nothing, then the earth below his feet broke open. He braced himself for the fall, clamped his hands to his sides and fell straight into blackness. Dirt rained down hard on him, the soil above peppered the sky, and then he caught a glimpse of the moon as the shower ceased. A blue luminescence glowed from the dark as he struck bottom, and the vaulted ceiling above his head clamped shut.
He could see dark shapes, the quickening of shadows. Although an escape route had not occurred to him when first he conceived of this mission, it occurred to him now. The dragon emblem above marked his doorway, and even if he accomplished his task, it would do him no good if its use were forbidden.
The shadowy figures were the Night Guards Army, statues made of fired clay. Although they looked lifelike, they stood quite still. As his eyes grew familiar
He studied her fiery eyes and the firm tilt of her jaw. She looked like she was ready to fight not to cry. Was this what rape did to women like Lotus Lily?
“Answer my question,” Li said. “Will you send me back to the Forbidden City to be executed?”
“Why would I do that? What crime have you committed that you should be executed?”
Li darted her eyes at the body. “You asked me once, Captain, if I could kill a man. There is your answer.”
“I saw no killing,” Quan said, and kicked at the trampled grass to force the blades upright like no one, except the boy, had come this way.
CHAPTER NINE
The Tomb of First Emperor
There was a time when he could summon the forces of the geomancer and devour the distance between the Forbidden City and the Yellow River loop in a matter of days, but things were different now, and Master Yun dismounted and urged his horse to the riverside. In this part of the country the river split into tributaries, winding in a near circular path past Xian, on its way to the frontiers of the Ordos desert. In the dead of night, on the village outskirts, he stooped to drink, then spat out the water before he swallowed. He could taste the bones of the dead. He tethered his horse to a shrub and gazed up at the moonlight to where the mysterious mound rose like a natural mountain, sloping gently toward Heaven. “Rest here, Xingbar,” he whispered to the horse. “Hopefully, I won’t be long.”
He fingered the contents in the pouch at his side. Satisfied that everything was there, he chose a stick from the ground and scaled the mound until he reached the summit. The vegetation here was scrubby and low with patches of bare earth. He breathed deeply, calling on the Chi of all that thrived in the vicinity. Here was a spectacular view of all of the Middle Kingdom: the forests and jungles, deserts and waterways, valleys and mountains.
The wind blew, swirled, causing his robes to billow like the sails of a great ocean-going junk. He crouched at the crest of the hill and emptied his pouch’s contents to the ground: two handfuls of white sand alongside three of plump azure jade leaves, obtained from the plants flanking the pillars of his Koi Temple. With the stick he scraped away the vegetation growing by his feet, and scored the outline of a triangle into the dried earth. Inside the triangle he drew the image of a dragon; within the dragon, he fitted the azure leaves of the jade plant. Outside the dragon he spread the white sand, and then gazed upon the Imperial emblem and rose. Hands outspread, he summoned the forces of the stars and the planets, the weather and the earth. But the mound failed to open.
Master Yun steepled his fingers, stamped his foot three times. At first, nothing, then the earth below his feet broke open. He braced himself for the fall, clamped his hands to his sides and fell straight into blackness. Dirt rained down hard on him, the soil above peppered the sky, and then he caught a glimpse of the moon as the shower ceased. A blue luminescence glowed from the dark as he struck bottom, and the vaulted ceiling above his head clamped shut.
He could see dark shapes, the quickening of shadows. Although an escape route had not occurred to him when first he conceived of this mission, it occurred to him now. The dragon emblem above marked his doorway, and even if he accomplished his task, it would do him no good if its use were forbidden.
The shadowy figures were the Night Guards Army, statues made of fired clay. Although they looked lifelike, they stood quite still. As his eyes grew familiar
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