The legendary mo seto, p.21
The Legendary Mo Seto, page 21
CHAPTER 48 FIVE CLAWS
Hushed footsteps pad along the walkway above us.
Dad looks to the side door, to the main double doors, and back again. The side exit is nearer. He holds me close and starts to run.
Dad. Everything’s fuzzy, like grasping at a dream. His new beard grazes my cheek. He feels like a stranger. Can I really trust him? But between a maybe-bad-guy (Dad) and an almost-definitely-bad-guy (Yellow Jacket), I’m sticking with Dad.
Another flash of amber silk. The man is at the set of stairs leading to the side door. Dad pivots away.
“Not another step,” the man says. His voice echoes in the empty factory, seeping into my pounding head.
Dad freezes. He lowers me to the ground behind him. When my right foot touches the floor, I wince and grasp Dad’s elbow to steady myself. I peek around his body.
The fluorescent light overhead is dim, but I can make out the man striding toward us, his jacket shimmering like a mirage. On it, Chinese dragons are embroidered in gold thread, their long bodies coiling like snakes, and soaring amongst curly clouds. I feel like I’ve seen him before, with his composed posture and neatly trimmed goatee. Instantly I know. He’s the Five Claw man from the photo with my grandfather—just older. Like his image in the picture, his stance now is confident, controlled, regal.
The man’s hand curves gracefully in the air. Four men descend the stairs to stand behind him. Dad’s arm tenses.
“You have been here all along?” he says to the man.
“Of course. I needed to make sure you were doing your job and staying loyal to me. Then, when this young lady showed up, well, I had a feeling I would be surprised. And I was right. You never told me your daughter is so talented, Yong,” the jacketed man murmurs, his gaze roaming over me, piercing, probing. “When I ordered Jun to keep her around, it was only for leverage over you. But now…” He strokes his chin thoughtfully. And I see them.
Tattoos.
Under his heavy-looking gold rings are dragon scales. Scales shaped like swirling spires. Scales scorched with fire. Scales softened by petals. Scales shrouded by clouds.
They cover each of his fingers and his thumb. Five.
Five claws.
But…
“What do you mean you ordered Jun to keep me around?” Indignation sparks through me, overriding my terror. For now.
An arched brow, perfectly sharp, perfectly raised. “Did you really think you could fool Jun, a professional stuntman who evaluates distances for a living, with simply a hat and an elevated heel?”
“You mean…” My heart sinks. I was advanced not because of my skill but as an order?
“Why do you think Jun kept you around, xiao meimei?”
Xiao meimei. Small girl.
“Leave her out of this,” Dad says. “I have taught you everything I know.”
“Ah, but that’s a lie, isn’t it?” the man replies. “I see you’ve left some things out of our lessons, like that last kick you did. And your daughter, I’m very interested in what she can do. I think she will be a useful little addition to my growing empire.”
Dad reaches a hand behind him and grasps my shoulder, holding me against his back. So Dad’s been teaching this man Xiaoxi-shu. I thought Yeye said not to reveal it to the society.
A sound, a whisper-faint wailing in the distance. My skin prickles.
I hear the man say, “Give me Kwok Bing Wai’s book.”
They didn’t hear the sirens. But they will soon.
Hidden from view I yank my phone out of my pocket, making sure it’s flush with my dad’s back and out of sight. I breathe a quick sigh of relief when I see it still works. My hands tremble. I text one word to Nacho as fast as I can.
Sirens.
I shove my phone back into my pocket.
Nacho, please know what to do.
Until then it’s up to me. I peek around Dad. The men’s hands are at their hips, resting on something beneath their clothing. Weapons. Dark eyes glare at me. My leg quivers, but I force it to move. I step out. “What book?” I shout. “What are you talking about?” My words echo through the factory, drowning out—I cross my fingers—the sound of approaching police.
“Mouse,” Dad says sharply.
“Tell me,” I continue shouting, “what you are talking about. What book?”
“Mouse.” Dad tries to push me behind him.
I stand firm. “Dad,” I say quietly. “Trust me.”
Dad pauses. I see his ear twitch, ever so slightly. Then a barely visible dip of his chin in understanding.
Dad shouts, “I do not have the book.”
The man frowns, as if taken aback by Dad’s volume. Then, “Again, you lie. Your task was to retrieve the book from Kwok Bing Wai in exchange for his son. I saw you leave to meet him.” The man’s voice lowers to a growl. “And enough with your impertinence. Address me properly, subordinate.”
“I am not lying. I did not make it to see Bing Wai. I came back when I realized my daughter was here. However, I will retrieve the book now if you first let me take my daughter to safety.” Dad continues shouting, though his next word sounds strangled. “Huangdi.”
My Chinese might not be amazing, but did Dad just refer to the man as emperor? And is the man asking for Yeye’s book, the Book of Joy? Why would Cody’s dad have it?
The man’s eyes flash. “As I suspected, you cannot be trusted.” Without looking back he gestures. “Fang. Get the Book of Sorrow from Kwok Bing Wai.”
The Book of Sorrow?
“Shi,” one of the men replies in a respectful affirmative. He bows and starts for the door. The remaining three edge closer, hovering right behind the man called Huangdi. Their hands do not stray from the objects at their hips.
Four men against Dad and me. Can we take them? They’ve got weapons! I shudder. Keep talking, keep them distracted. Hold on… My head spins. The Book of Joy. The Book of Sorrow. “Xiao Xi wrote two books?” Fear and surprise surge through me, and my shout sounds like a squeak.
Huangdi peers at me. “What an outspoken girl,” he says, amused. “However, you are mistaken. She and her sisters wrote three.”
“Three books?” This time I don’t have to remind myself to shout.
Huangdi continues to stare, towering over me. “Since your father insists on feigning ignorance, perhaps you can tell me where the Book of Joy is hidden?”
I stare back, silent, though my heartbeats have become sonic booms.
“And when you do,” Huangdi says, as if there is no other option, “I will allow you to join me, xiao meimei.” His lips curl. “We are not so different, you and I. We both want to be the best.”
I suck air between my teeth, breathing in deeply. I am small—I exhale, my heartbeats quiet—but I am not helpless. And, I think at him, I am nothing like you.
“How do you know Cody’s dad has the Book of Sorrow?” I strain my ears, but I don’t hear the sirens anymore. Just in case, I keep shouting. “What if he doesn’t have it?”
“I know,” Huangdi says in his composed tone, “because many years ago Kwok Bing Wai sold everything he owned to save his movie studio from bankruptcy—except for one thing. He was desperate, and he made a mistake. He brought an old book to a pawnshop to assess its worth. Ultimately he couldn’t go through with the sale. When our sources recently caught wind of a mysterious book, filled with illustrations showing exquisite groundwork, tumbles, and sleights of hand, I immediately knew what it was; I knew I’d found the Book of Sorrow.”
Huangdi’s eyes gleam. “Soon I shall possess the secrets from two of the books, and when I find the final one, I will learn the form in its entirety, and I will be unstoppable. Then, xiao meimei, do you know what I will do?” He answers before I can say anything, his mocking tone turning sinister. “I will reclaim my birthright. My family name will once again be honored and respected and feared.”
Birthright? Family name? What is he talking about?
“I will exact revenge upon those detestable dancers responsible for my ancestral grandfather’s downfall and the ostracization of my family.”
Wait… Ancestral grandfather. Emperor. Dancers? Could this man really be the descendent of Emperor Kong, the very emperor whose reign was brought down by my ancestral grandmother?
“Starting now.” Huangdi flicks his finger at Dad, saying to the black-clad men, “Get rid of him.”
The men reach under their clothes.
Tattoos cover their knuckles.
Grim expressions darken their faces.
Flashes of metal in the pale light.
“Nooooooooo.” I dash in front of my dad.
In the same moment the main double doors burst open.
Headlights illuminate the factory floor.
Police sprint in, surround us.
Dad lifts his hands into the air.
Clatter, clatter. Weapons drop.
Huangdi falls to his knees.
An officer rushes over to me. “Are you okay?”
“Yes,” I breathe. I collapse into Dad’s arms.
CHAPTER 49 YONG SETO’S STORY
I wake to someone stroking my hair, a familiar sensation, fingers weaving through my strands, over and over. It’s soothing, so soothing. But this time the pressure remains at the top of my head, instead of running past my shoulders and along my back, where my hair used to end.
I peek through my lashes. Mom sits on a chair next to my hospital bed, her back to the door. She is wearing her purple silk blouse with a mandarin collar embroidered with fenghuang. The Chinese phoenixes shimmer in their gold thread. Fenghuang, for luck. And happiness. It’s the most colorful I’ve seen her in a long time.
“Daughter,” she says, her voice soft. She doesn’t stop stroking my head. “How do you feel?” She glances to the end of my bed, where a sling cradles my right leg.
I let out a big yawn. “Great. It doesn’t hurt anymore.” I’m sure it’s the painkillers, but I don’t want to worry Mom.
Mom’s eyes are bloodshot. “I couldn’t sleep all night. I kept thinking about how you told me you fought that kidnapper.” She takes a shaky breath. “I still don’t understand how you could go after them on your own.”
“You told me to make my own opportunities.”
“Opportunity to sprain your knee? Endanger your life? That’s not what I meant.”
“Opportunity to save Cody and Dax. And I did!”
Mom rubs her forehead. “You did.” She doesn’t speak for a while; she just stares at me. I can’t read her expression. Finally she says, her voice gentle, “I never knew my small daughter had such a big, brave heart.”
“Mom,” I say softly. “I know you worry about me, but you don’t have to.”
She nods slowly. The corners of her mouth flicker. “I’ll always worry about you. Maybe now I won’t worry quite as much.”
I look around the room. “Where’s Justis?”
As if on cue, the door to my hospital room swings open. “Right here,” Dad’s cheerful voice booms. Perched on Dad’s arm is my brother, holding his stuffed giraffe in one hand and a bag of crackers in the other. Dad’s wearing a blue tee and his Lakers cap. I recognize that tee. It used to be tight. Now it hangs loosely on his shoulders. In his other hand is his black hoodie. He hasn’t shaved his beard, but nestled in it is a wide, familiar smile.
“Dad,” I manage to choke out before the room gets blurry.
“I got to the hospital early this morning. Gave your mother quite a fright.” He looks at her, his eyes shining. “Thank goodness she was not too angry to help me retrieve a change of clothes and some other items from home while I watched you and this adorable guy.” Dad nuzzles the top of Justis’s head. My brother giggles.
“Oh, I was angry all right,” Mom says. “Your dad had a lot of explaining to do. Lucky for him I was in a forgiving mood.”
“Yes. After I groveled like I never groveled before and swore never to keep anything from her again.”
“Hmph,” Mom grunts, but I see my parents exchange smiles.
“You’ll never keep anything from me either?” I ask.
“Never.”
I press the incline button on my bed to sit up. My family is together. But before I can allow myself to be happy, I need some answers.
“So, are you or are you not part of the Five Claw Society? Who was that Huangdi guy? Why aren’t you in Beijing? Do you have a secret getaway home somewhere? How do you know Xiaoxi-shu? Is Xiao Xi really my great-great-great—however many greats—grandmother? Are you a criminal? Tell me now.” All my pent-up questions tumble out in a rush.
Dad makes sure the door is closed before sitting in a chair beside Mom and draping his hoodie over the armrest. Justis scampers out of his arms and crawls next to me, poking at the buttons that control the bed. The bed rises and falls in a jerky motion. I hardly notice.
“Do I have a secret home?” Dad gives me a wounded look. “Of course not.” He draws Mom’s hand into his, grasps mine with his other, and looks affectionately at Justis. “Why would I ever want to be away from my favorite people in the world?” The pressure in my chest starts to ease.
“As for your other questions, I will have to start from the beginning. Centuries ago there was an evil emperor named Kong—”
“I heard this story from Mom already.”
Dad glances at Mom. “Your mother did not know the full version of it until I told it to her earlier today—though she did start to suspect a connection between Xiao Xi’s book and the people who were looking for Yeye. It is now time for me to share the whole story with you.”
I lean forward.
Dad does the same. He takes a breath. “As a result of Emperor Kong’s obsession with finding the sisters, the longest-ruling, most powerful royal family in the history of China was overthrown. The former princes never gave up their father’s search. They called themselves the Five Claw Society. It is said that they spent the rest of their lives living in poverty, mocked and ridiculed wherever they went.
“Xiao Xi and her sisters bound their secrets into three books: the Book of Joy, the Book of Sorrow, and the Book of Calm.”
“The Book of Calm,” I exclaim. “What’s that one about?”
“No one knows,” Dad replies, “for it has never been found. The sisters moved to different parts of the country, each taking one of the books with her. Xiao Xi settled down in Yunnan province in southwestern China. We have family living there to this day.”
“We really are related to Xiao Xi!”
“Yes. She is, as you say, your great-great-great, many times over, grandmother. Her book was passed down from eldest child to eldest child, eventually ending up with your grandfather, the eldest in his generation.” Dad presses his lips together. “When Yeye was a young man, he was a reckless sort, often getting himself into trouble. His mother taught him from the Book of Joy. She warned him about an ancient secret society that desired their skills, but it all seemed like harmless tales to a boy raised in a sleepy village nestled in the beautiful Kuaile Mountains. Besides, he thought, no one had heard anything about the Five Claws for decades, perhaps even centuries. Surely they had been disbanded long ago.
“Yeye never resisted a chance to show off. He joined a traveling acrobatics troupe, and slipped Xiao Xi’s moves into his acts to delight audiences. News of his abilities reached the man who calls himself Huangdi. He was a poor youth at that time, rich only in the stories his mother had told him about their royal lineage.
“Sick of his family living in squalor, and fueled by raw ambition, he revived the Five Claw Society. He found and befriended Yeye. As soon as Yeye realized what Huangdi was after, he ran away, and hid in Hong Kong—that is where I was born—establishing a new identity as a humble florist. He taught Xiaoxi-shu to me in secret.
“We lived peacefully for years. Soon after your mother became pregnant with you, Yeye heard rumors of people looking for members of our family. Yeye’s house was broken into when he was not home.
“One evening Yeye appeared at our door, gave me the book, and told me to leave Hong Kong. With you on the way, we could not risk staying. We left immediately.” His words grow faint. “That was the last time I ever saw or spoke to my father. Relatives told me he simply vanished. I have been searching for him on my own, following all possible leads.”
“Is that why you kept traveling so much and working late?” I ask, framing “traveling” and “working” in air quotes.
“Yes. I need to find out if he is hiding or if he is”—his voice cracks—“dead.”
I don’t know what to say. I watch Dad stare off into space.
After a few moments he continues. “I had to be vigilant. I pushed you in your taekwondo training because it comforted me to know that you could protect yourself if needed. I wanted to teach you Xiaoxi-shu, but I could not risk it.
“I thought we were safe in America, but Huangdi—I do not want to use this honorific, but I do not know his real name—found me. He will do whatever it takes to avenge his family and ensure that the Kong name is once again feared and revered.
“He believes, as Emperor Kong and his ancestors believed, that the only way to achieve true power is by learning Xiaoxi-shu. He tracked me down on the day of your tournament and threatened to hurt you unless I went with them in the white van. When I told him I have not seen Yeye in over twelve years, and that I do not have the book, he forced me to stay at his compound to teach him everything I know.”
“Why didn’t you tell me?” I cry out. “I could’ve helped.”
“Mouse, I did not want to scare you and your mother. Huangdi put our house under surveillance and monitored my phone. He had Five Claws—like Jun—everywhere, watching me. He said he would harm my family if I made any kind of contact—”
So that’s why Dad stopped messaging us back.
“—or refused to follow his orders, like kidnap Cody Kwok.” He sounds perplexed. “Huangdi thought I would be the only one skilled enough to take on Cody, but Cody did not even put up a fight.”
I bite my tongue.
“I thought it best that you believed I was away for work so you would not worry about me. But I was never in Beijing. And I am not a bad person. I had no choice.”
