Monkey (6 page)

Commander Woo cleared his throat and pointed to the ground. “But we have proof, sir.”

“Step aside,” Ying said. He stuck his face near the burn mark. The grooves in his face deepened as he grimaced. “I know this smell. One of the young monks has made it a habit to skip as many bathing sessions as possible. His feet are particularly pungent.” Ying looked at the soldier. “Tell me what you saw last night. Or at least what you
thought
you saw.”

The soldier cleared his throat. “Pardon me for saying this, sir, but I saw a spirit. I am certain of it. What I saw could not have possibly been a human, let alone a boy.”

“Why do you say that?” Ying asked.

“The spirit leaped all the way from the bathhouse roof, through the middle of that large tree, to the wall behind us. It landed perfectly in the center of the wall and paused for only the briefest of moments before floating down to the ground beyond. No human could do that.”

“Do you think a monkey could do it?” Ying asked.

“Well, I don't know …,” the soldier said, rubbing his chin. “I suppose. But monkeys can't talk, sir. The spirit we saw gave us a warning.”

“Listen closely, soldier,” Ying said. “You listen, too, Commander Woo. Share this information with the other men. I have reviewed the bodies of the fallen monks a second time, and I am certain five boys escaped our attack. One of the boys is called
Malao,
which means ‘monkey’ in Cantonese. I believe he is the one who took the decorated stick from that useless soldier on the night of the attack. He is probably still around. Malao could make the leap you claim is impossible for a human. I've seen him do more impressive things in the past.”

“But, sir,” Commander Woo said. “Surely any human that could manage a leap like that is in some way connected to the spirit world.”

Ying snickered. “No, Commander. You are mistaken.
At times these boys seem superhuman, but believe me, they are not. They are just very, very skilled and have extraordinary natural abilities. Fortunately, not all of them have learned to control their instinctive behaviors. This makes them vulnerable. We shall catch them, and you will see for yourself. But that is still several days off.”

“Several days, sir?” Commander Woo asked.

“Maybe more, maybe less,” Ying replied. “Who knows with this pathetic group of soldiers. Tonglong is on his way to the Emperor, and Captain Yue and his men are out searching for the boy called Fu, who stole the dragon scrolls from us. I don't expect either of them to return for a couple days, and we will not make any major moves until they both return. Do I make myself clear, Commander?”

Commander Woo swallowed hard and nodded.

“
F
ight! Fight! Fight!” the bandits chanted. Secured in the net, Malao struggled to catch a glimpse of his brother Seh among the bandits. It took Malao a moment to recognize his tallest brother, who stood at the front of the group wearing a brilliant blue silk robe. Seh's long, narrow eyes were barely visible beneath a fine silk hat that covered his bald head. He looked much older in that outfit.

The bandit Hung pointed one of his enormous war hammers at Seh. “Why don't
you
fight him, newcomer?”

“I have no complaints against the boy,” Seh replied. “In fact, if it were up to me, I would let him go. I thought he performed valiantly. But out of respect
for your grudge, I suggest you fight him. We form a ring, and the two of you battle until only one is left standing. The one standing determines the fate of the fallen one. What do you say,
Bear
? Or are you afraid of the little monkey?”

“Watch your mouth,” Hung warned, “or your liver may end up in my soup, too. I don't care that the men have already welcomed you into our group. You've only been with us a few hours. You've yet to prove yourself in my eyes. I will gladly—”

“HUNG!” said a deep voice from the back of the group. Malao watched as the bandits parted and a second giant of a man came forward. While Hung was one of the largest humans Malao had ever seen, this man was
the
largest. And Malao had seen him before. The giant had occasionally been a guest of Grandmaster's at Cangzhen!

The man was impossible to forget. He wore a red silk robe as big as a tent, and his head and face were smooth like a monk's. In fact, every speck of the man's glistening skin was strangely devoid of hair. He didn't even have eyebrows. Like Hung, the bandit leader was extraordinarily tall and big-boned. Unlike Hung, this man was pure muscle. The sleeves of his robe bulged and rippled as he folded his gargantuan arms and addressed Hung.

“What are you up to now?”

“I'm just about to tenderize my lunch,” Hung replied, waving a hammer. “Would you like to join me, Mong?”

Mong?
Malao thought.
That's another Cantonese name! It means “python.” That man kind of looks like a python, just like Hung kind of looks like a bear. What's going on here?

“You're going to eat that little boy?” Mong asked, chuckling. “He wouldn't even qualify as a snack for you, big man. Let him go, and let me get back to business.”

Hung growled. “I don't think so, boss.” He held up his bleeding hand. “This happened because of him.”

Mong laughed. “Is that why everyone was chanting, ‘Fight, fight, fight’? Because you got a little scratch on your overgrown paw?”

Hung snarled, and one of the bandits spoke up. “The newcomer suggested a fight to settle the score, boss. Let's let them fight! I want to wager. I'll take the monkey boy, along with all the money from anyone who wants to bet on Hung!”

Malao watched as several bandits rushed toward the man who'd spoken. There was a flurry of fast-talking. Gold coins exchanged hands. Mong grinned and walked over to Seh. “Well, I guess we've got ourselves some afternoon entertainment. Would you care to wager, newcomer? Since you're the one who suggested the fight, I'm presuming you'll take the boy.”

“I don't have any money,” Seh replied. “But if I did, I would bet it all on the boy.”

Mong smiled and slapped Seh on the back. The bandit leader reached into the folds of his robe and removed a sizable pouch. He held it high over his head and announced, “I bet this entire bag of gold on the
boy! Somebody give him a weapon and let the games begin!”

The bandits cheered and Hung grunted. Malao watched Hung take several steps back as the net was lifted and the bandits formed a circle around him and Hung. Hung twisted and stretched with his huge hammers in hand, preparing for battle. Malao stood weaponless.

“Didn't you men hear me?” Mong said to the group. “Somebody give the boy a weapon!”

No one responded.

Seh looked firmly at a bandit holding a long, tasseled spear. Even from a distance, Malao could tell the spear was well made. The tassel was perfectly positioned at the bottom of the metal spearhead where the spearhead connected to the wooden shaft. The main purpose of the tassel, made of long brown horsehair, was to distract an opponent from the spearhead's razor-sharp tip. Its secondary purpose was to absorb any blood that might run down the shaft, making the weapon slippery for the user. Apparently this particular tassel was effective. It glistened red with fresh blood.

Seh approached the bandit. “Let the boy borrow your monkey skewer.”

“I don't think so,” the bandit replied. He gripped the weapon with both hands and raised it over his head, out of Seh's reach. “I wagered on Hung and—”

Seh's long arms suddenly lashed out in a flash of blue silk. Malao saw him extend the first two fingers
on each hand and strike both of the bandit's arms high on the inner biceps, near the man's armpits. The bandit's arms instantly slumped to his sides, limp. The spear dropped to the ground.

Malao glanced at Mong. Mong was grinning.

“Thanks,” Seh said to the bandit. He relaxed his snake-head fists, picked up the spear, and hurled it at Malao.

Malao dropped to the ground and rolled sideways, thrusting his right arm straight up into the air. When he felt the tassel brush against his hand, he clenched his fist, catching the spear halfway down the shaft. He completed his roll and sprang to his feet.

Malao switched the spear to his left hand and brought his right hand up to his nose. He sniffed the blood that had been painted across it by the flying tassel. His upper lip curled back as he turned to face Hung.

Hung roared and raced toward Malao, his hammers raised high. Malao knew that the best defense against a war hammer was to not be there when it struck, so when the hammers came down, he leaped to one side.

There was an explosion of dirt as the hammers plowed matching craters into the earth. When the dust cleared, Malao was far from the damage. He stood in the exact center of the bandit ring, waiting.

Hung growled and lifted his hammers high once more. This time, he walked slowly toward Malao.

Malao straightened his arms and held the spear
out before him with both hands, parallel to the ground. But instead of placing his hands shoulder-width apart like most spear users, he placed his hands side by side at the spear's center balance point. He crouched low and bent his elbows, bringing his arms in to his sides. He relaxed his wrists and his hands sagged. The spear hung loosely in his curled fingers. Malao looked exactly like a monkey that had paused while eating an extraordinarily long piece of fruit.

Laughter erupted from the ring of bandits.

“Look at him!” one of the men shouted. “That's hilarious!”

Even Hung grinned. He stopped two steps from Malao's shivering body and lowered one hammer to adjust the pouches hanging from his sash. He raised the hammer again.

“P-please, I don't want to hurt you,” Malao said. Nervous energy raced through his system. His teeth rattled.

The bandits around Malao burst into laughter again. Hung's grin disappeared and he took an enormous breath. As Hung exhaled, he brought the hammers down a second time.

Malao let out a terrifying screech and spun powerfully to his right, narrowly avoiding one of the heavy hammerheads. As he turned, he tucked one end of the spear under his right arm, locking it firmly in place with his elbow. Still in a low crouch with one full revolution nearly complete, Malao lunged toward his opponent.

The swinging spear shaft connected with Hung's lead ankle. Hung howled in pain and tumbled to the ground face-first. Malao released the spear and sprang onto the enormous man. One of Malao's thighs landed on each side of Hung's head.

Hung roared and stood awkwardly as Malao locked his legs around Hung's neck from behind. Malao began to pound Hung's temples with fierce, open-palm strikes.

With another tremendous roar, Hung dropped the hammers and reached back, grabbing Malao's robe with both hands. Hung struggled to rip Malao from around his neck, but Malao's powerful legs held firm. Hung began to swing his gigantic fists, and Malao knew he had to think of something fast. He took a deep breath, straightened both his index fingers, and jammed them as hard as he could into Hung's ears.

Hung screamed and the ring of bandits widened as every man winced and took several steps back. Hung grabbed hold of Malao's wrists and yanked so hard that Malao had to let go with his legs or risk having his arms ripped out of their sockets. Caught off guard by Malao's sudden release, Hung stumbled forward and let go of Malao in order to catch himself before his face hit the dirt a second time.

Malao flew forward and tucked into a tight series of rolls. When he finally stopped, he spun around and saw Hung with his hammers in hand, trying to stand again on his one good leg.

Malao launched himself at that leg.

Hung hopped backward using one hammer as a cane. He raised the other hammer high and bellowed like a bloodthirsty beast. Malao landed short of Hung's good leg and threw himself forward onto one shoulder as Hung swung the raised hammer. When Malao felt the earth against his shoulder blade, he kicked straight up into the air with both legs.

Hung's mighty blow stopped in midair as both of Malao's feet connected with Hung's groin. Hung's eyes crossed and he teetered for a moment before crumpling to the ground, immobilized. Malao barely had time to roll out of the way.

Malao stood and backed away from Hung. Covered head to toe with dust and sweat, Malao looked over at Seh. Seh winked.

Mong laughed and stepped forward into the ring with Malao.

“Well done, little one!” Mong said. “To date, I'm the only one who's been able to put Hung in his place. It seems I must thank you for earning me a handsome sum from my friendly wagering with the men. You were a long shot, you know.”

Malao shrugged. Mong reached out as if to lay a hand on Malao's shoulder and Malao took several steps back.

Mong laughed. “There's no need to be nervous. At least not until Hung can see straight again.” Mong paused and rubbed his shiny, hairless head. “Speaking of Hung, I believe you have earned the right to do
what you will with the big oaf. Are you in the mood for liver soup?”

Several of the bandits gasped. One of them cried out, “You're not really going to let the boy kill Hung, are you, boss?”

“In all honesty,” Mong replied, “I hope the boy doesn't kill Hung, but it is his right. A deal is a deal. We may be bandits, but we're honorable bandits. We keep our word.” Mong looked at Malao. “So, what's it going to be, boy?”