Harry Potter and the Jade Dragon. Chapter 7


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HARRY POTTER AND THE JADE DRAGON
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Chapter VII

The Celestial City


Long avenues fringed with narrow alleys,
The many mansions of princes and peers.
The palaces face each other from afar,
Paired towers over a hundred feet tall.
Let the feast last forever, delight the heart -
Then what grief or gloom can weigh us down?

~ Unknown poet, Eastern Han Dynasty

Harry had just drifted off to sleep that night, in his canopied rosewood bed,
when a loud yell from Ron's bed suddenly startled him wide awake.

He sat up quickly, and saw Ron picking something up off his blankets and
throwing it away from his bed. He got out of bed, and promptly tripped over
something soft and furry, on the floor.

He heard a bouncing sound that seemed vaguely familiar. The lanterns in the
dormitory suddenly came on, and Harry found himself lying on his stomach,
looking at a small, sad black and white face. He heard a furry voice in his head,
speaking in Chinese, in a reproving tone this time. It was Ping-Ping, the Panda.

Pong-Pong was lying some distance away, near the dormitory wall, where Ron
had thrown him. Fatty was still fast asleep, but Chee Chong and Robert had
come over to see what was happening.

The dormitory door burst open, and Hermione and Pixie came in together with
Shan, who had LeafSong coiled around her wrist like a bright green bracelet.
Hermione was carrying Crookshanks, her cat.

"What's happening?" she demanded. "We heard someone shouting."

"It is Ping-Ping and Pong-Pong," said Chee Chong, as Robert went over to
Pong and picked him up. "They have come into our dormitory."

"He came crawling into my bed," said Ron, looking distinctly ruffled. "Stuffed
something into my ear. Scared me out of a sound sleep."

"Oh, is that all," said Hermione, looking rather disgusted. She turned and went
out, back to the girls' dormitory, Crookshanks still in her arms.

Pixie giggled. She went over to Ron's bed, and watched him brushing a pile of
leaves and other small objects off the bed onto the floor.

Harry looked around to see where Ping had gone, and realised that she had
climbed up onto his bed, and was stuffing several objects down his pillowcase.
He took hold of her and placed her firmly on the floor, and then took the pillowcase
out and shook it. A host of small things fell out : bamboo leaves, twigs, pebbles, a
small jade earring, and an ivory comb.

Shan had come over to have a look.

"They're always collecting all sorts of rubbish," she said, sounding rather apologetic.
"I don't know where they find half of it."

"How did they get up here?" asked Harry, brushing the leaves off the bed. "The
bamboo grove is miles away."

Pixie giggled.

"They get around," she said, coming over and looking at the ivory comb with interest.
"They seem to rotate around the school. They spent one term coming to my dorm in
Crimson Phoenix, and after that they went over to White Tiger."

"You mean, they're going to keep coming back here?" said Ron, not looking too
thrilled at the idea.

Shan laughed, as Pong wriggled out of Robert's arms and fell onto Ron's bed.

"I think they have taken a liking to you," she said.

Harry had to spend the rest of the night with Ping on his bed, curled up somewhere
near his feet. Ron similarly had to put up with Pong, who thankfully had run out of
objects with which to stuff his ear with. Both Pandas were gone, however, by the time
morning arrived.

The morning started off pretty much the same way as the previous day, with Robert
routing Fatty out of bed, and all of them hurrying to the Hall for breakfast. This time,
to evade the autograph-hunters, Harry brought his Invisibility Cloak along. He excused
himself from the table just before the gong sounded to signal the end of breakfast, and
waited outside the side door of the Hall, wearing the Cloak, until the others came out.

"That's the downside of fame," said Ron, grinning, as Harry gloomily removed the Cloak,
wondering if he was going to have to do this every day, three times a day, for the next
eight weeks.

They were to have their first Protection Against the Black Way class that morning. Shan
and the others refused to tell them what it would be like, mysteriously saying, "Wait and see."
Harry noticed, however, that all the Tian-Long students seemed rather tense, and that they
had all taken seats as near to the back of the classroom as possible, with the exception of
Robert, who, instead of sitting with Shan as he usually did, went up to one of the front seats
with a resigned air.

Harry immediately knew when Master Yang-Kang was coming, because the air suddenly
seemed to grow colder. He strode in, tall and forbidding, slammed his books onto the desk,
and glared at the students with his deep-set eyes.

"Today, we shall focus on the DEVIL'S CURSE," he said, in a deep, booming voice.
"The Chinese students should already be familiar with it."

He looked around at them, his eyes glinting, and then suddenly pointed at Fatty.

"You, there," he growled, "Tell me what a Devil's Curse is."

Fatty looked rather pale.

"It is a stone or precious metal that can magnify one's magical powers," he said.

"Close enough," said Yang-Kang, frowning at him. He looked around again, and then
picked on Shan.

"Tell me," he barked, "how a Devil's Curse is destroyed."

Shan pushed her glasses up her nose, nervously.

"Only by using Internal Magic," she said. Then, when Yang-Kang continued glaring
at her, added lamely, "but the effort required, er, makes one very weak, after that."

"CORRECT!" boomed Yang-Kang, his eyes glinting. "NEVER forget that! Do not
EVER try to destroy the Devil's Curse when your enemy is present, or he will be able
to DESTROY you!!"

Then he turned to look at Malfoy, Crabbe and Goyle, who were sitting with Yu-Lin.
They turned pale, when Yang-Kang came over to them, and seemed to shrink in
their seats.

Yang-Kang singled out Yu-Lin, and barked a question at her in Chinese.

Yu-Lin tremulously answered, and then Yang-Kang, obviously forgetting he was
supposed to be speaking English, began talking rapidly in Chinese, occasionally
singling out a student for questioning. Fortunately, he left all the Hogwarts students
alone.

After a while, his questions appeared to be getting more difficult, because none of
the Tian-Long students seemed to know the answers any more, except for Robert.
Yang-Kang, fingering the onyx tiger around his throat, would boom a question out,
and glare at the cowering students, his eyes flashing. Then, when no one replied,
Robert would placidly raise his hand and give him the answer.

Finally, the bell rang. Yang-Kang gathered up his books, and then stood there,
towering over them, and looking quite terrifying.

"Now you know about the DEVIL'S CURSE," he boomed. "It means DEATH!
DEATH to all when wielded by one who has the POWER to control it!!"

Then he turned, and strode out of the room, black cloak billowing behind him,
leaving the entire class rather breathless in his wake.

The Chinese students all seemed to relax, and heaved sighs of relief. Fatty stretched
his chubby arms, and then tiredly rested his head on his desk.

"Wow, is he always like that?" asked Ron, his eyes rather large.

Shan nodded, and looked sympathetically at Robert, who had gathered up his
things, and was now coming to the back of the class to join them.

"My classmates always make Robert sit in front, and answer all the difficult
questions," she said.

"You're lucky you have Robert," said Fatty, grumpily. "When no one knows the
answer in my class, Yang-Kang simply explodes."

They packed their bags, and started off to their next class, which was Divination.

"Who's the teacher for this?" Hermione asked Chee Chong, who was next to her.

"It is Madam Tang," said Chee Chong, looking respectful. "She is a very good teacher."

Shan didn't seem to agree.

"I don't really like Divination," she said, rather reluctantly, "but there's no escaping it, in
this school. Everyone has to start learning it, from second year."

The Divination classroom was not as unusual as Professor Trelawney's room back
at Hogwarts. It was also lit by a dim, red light, but it still contained the usual desks
and chairs. Instead of perfume, the room was permeated by the choking smell of
incense, emanating from a forest of joss-sticks arranged on a table in one corner. A
host of eight-sided mirrors hung on the wall facing the door, while several large urns
lined another wall. One was filled with bronze coins, another with yarrow sticks, and
a third with small tortoiseshells.

Hermione was looking puzzled.

"Why do you refer to some of the teachers as 'Lady', while you call others 'Madam'?"
she asked Shan.

"'Lady' is used for nobility," explained Shan. "For commoners, we use 'Madam'. Lady
Wen-Li is a distant cousin of the Emperor. Her family owns the land around here - when
she inherited it, she started this school."

"You mean, there's still an Emperor?" said Harry, surprised.

Shan nodded.

"In the Magical World, there is," she said, then gave a small shrug, "He's only a figurehead,
though. The nobility don't really run anything, but they're all pretty rich." She lowered her
voice, so that Yu-Lin and the Slytherins wouldn't hear, "Yu-Lin's one of them, sort of. Her
father is a nobleman who has done business abroad - that's probably why he knows Draco
Malfoy's father. Yu-Lin's mother is her father's favourite concubine - that's how she managed
to get hold of that Phoenix. But she has to keep it tied with the gold cord, otherwise it won't
stay with her."

She stopped talking, because the Divination teacher, Madam Tang, had just come in.

Madam Tang looked like a big black cockroach to Harry. She was short and stout, and
her robes were black. Her hair was tied severely back into a bun at the top of her head.

"Today, we shall practise the ancient art of plastromancy," she croaked, peering short-sightedly
at them through her black-rimmed spectacles. "Each of you may take one candle and one
tortoise-shell."

They spent the lesson heating their tortoiseshells in their candle flames, until fine cracks appeared
in the shell, and then trying to decipher the meaning of the patterns made by the cracks, using
the manual provided. Harry decided it made about as much sense to him as Professor Trelawney's
tea-leaves had during his third year.

"Next week, we shall start on the I Ching," announced Madam Tang, when the lesson was
ending and they had deposited their used tortoise shells in another urn. "We shall concentrate
on I Ching for the next few weeks. You may each bring a copy of The Book of Changes back
and familiarise yourselves with it."

Shan and Robert were looking rather bored, but Yu-Lin, Fatty and Chee Chong were gazing
at her almost with adoration, and hanging on to her every word.

"As I Ching is important, we shall have a short demonstration today, so that you shall be
more familiar with it," Madam Tang continued. She looked at Fatty. "Wing-Fatt, take six
bronze coins from the urn."

Fatty jumped up, and did as she said. He thought of a question he'd like answered - "Will
my business prosper?" - tossed the coins, and worked out which Hexagram he should read
from the book.

"It is Hexagram number two, 'The Receptive'," croaked Madam Tang, shuffling over to
Fatty. She took up her copy of The Book of Changes, and began to read from it in a
sepulchral tone of voice.

"'It is favourable to find friends in the west and southquiet perseverance brings
good fortune.'"

She paused, and to Harry's dismay, came over to where he was sitting, just opposite the
aisle from Fatty.

"It is clear to me what this means!" she barked suddenly in a loud voice, making all of
them jump. She stared balefully at Harry. "Friends in the westgood fortune" She
turned, and looked at Fatty.

"There lies your friend from the west, Wing-Fatt," she intoned loudly, pointing at Harry,
and jabbing a gnarled finger into his shoulder.

Fatty gaped at Harry, then turned to look at Madam Tang.

"Yes, Madam Tang," he said, almost reverently.

"He shall be your source of good luck, of good fortune," Madam Tang intoned, still
poking Harry in the shoulder. Harry groaned inwardly, and wished she would stop.
Ron, next to him, was sniggering, while Shan and Pixie were looking at him and giggling.
Hermione, sitting in front, looked resigned to the fact that the Divination here was
obviously not going to be any more precise than what they'd learnt at Hogwarts.

To Harry's relief, Madam Tang dismissed them soon after that.

"Good thing the light in the room was red," said Ron, as they went back to their Pagoda,
"so that we couldn't see how much you were blushing."

"Harry, you are going to bring me good luck!" said Fatty, looking rather excited. Chee
Chong was with him, also nodding earnestly.

"I don't think - " began Harry.

"That is good news!" said Fatty, looking cheerful. "I tell you what - tonight, to celebrate,
we shall go down to the City. Lady Wen-Li has given permission. I shall treat all of
you to dinner."

"Ooo, good idea," said Pixie, looking delighted. "Ronniekins, I can show you around!"


So, that evening, all of them went down to the Caverns, and Shan introduced them to
WindStar, the Common Bronzeback she and Robert usually rode for Jousting.

"I think all of us can fit on top of her," said Shan, bringing some saddles out, and
fastening them to WindStar's back. The Bronzebacks were smaller than the other
dragons, and were a rather nondescript brown, except for a pattern of scales that
curved down their backs, which glittered bronze when they caught the light.

Harry had been on a Hippogriff before, but never on a dragon. He could feel the
powerful thrust of muscles as WindStar launched herself into the air, and Hermione,
behind him, gave a small gasp. Then they were airborne, the school and grounds
becoming smaller and smaller, below them.

Flying a dragon turned out to be much smoother than flying a Hippogriff, because
WindStar was so much larger. It took about ten minutes to reach the City. Shan
landed WindStar in a large square, where several other dragons were also tethered.

Chee Chong looked rather green as he dismounted together with the others.

"Frying a dragon always makes me a bit airsick," he said.

"We need to change money," said Hermione, looking slightly anxious. "We forgot
to do it at Gringotts."

Fatty's eyes gleamed.

"I'll do it for you!" he said. "There's a money-changer nearby. Don't worry, I'll get
a good rate for you."

The square was full of people on bicycles, zipping in and out, but the cyclists were
not bothering to look where they were going. Some were reading books, others
newspapers, while one lady was busily applying her makeup. The bicycles seemed
to know where to go anyway, turning here and there, and making their way around
corners.

They left the square, Fatty leading the way. Harry, Ron and Hermione looked
around curiously. Most of the people around them seemed to favour neutral grey
or pale brown robes, but there were also groups of wizards who were dressed in
more striking colours - deep green, navy blue, or black. Stern-faced, they had a
rather militant air about them, and the inhabitants of the city seemed to regard them
with some respect, making way for them as they passed.

The surrounding buildings all had the same type of concave, overhanging curved
roofs as the school had, and figurines of various creatures could be seen on many
of them. They passed gardens and parks, and broad, imposing avenues lined with
towering stone statues, some of dragons, others of stylized Chinese lions. Several
driverless rickshaws went past, their passengers, like those on the bicycles, not
paying attention to where they were going, allowing the rickshaws to decide which
route to take.

Pixie had replaced her usual school robes with red silk ones, and had applied
matching lipstick to her lips. Gold earrings dangled from her ears, and bracelets
jangled on her wrists. She still looked very pretty, if a bit made-up, and Ron,
walking next to her, seemed to be in a daze.

Hermione was looking disapprovingly at them, and Shan, seeing this, chuckled.

"This is nothing," she told Hermione, "Pixie used to be a lot wilderI've had
combined classes together with her since third year. She once dyed her hair
blonde, and painted her nails, and used to wear six or seven pairs of earstuds
at one go. Lady Han-Yin was very angry with her."

Hermione looked even more disapproving. Pixie, however, seemed blissfully
unaware of this, and was asking Fatty where they would be having dinner.

"Grand Pagoda," said Fatty, jingling the bags of coins that Hermione and the
others had handed to him. "I've invited some of my other friends along, too."

"But - that is a very expensive restaurant!" said Chee Chong, looking shocked.

Fatty shrugged.

"When you do business, you have to entertain," was all he said.

"We'll have to fly WindStar there," said Shan, "The Grand Pagoda is on the
outskirts of the City."

They had reached a crowded alley, lined with shophouses. Fatty made his
way to the money-changer.

"Come on, Ronniekins, there's a nice shop that sells silk robes just here,"
said Pixie, taking Ron by the arm. "We can browse there while Fatty does
his bargaining."

Harry expected Hermione to look disapproving, but she seemed interested in
the silk robes as well, and was following them.

Robert was moving toward a bookshop.

"I'll meet you back where WindStar is tethered," he said to Shan, before
disappearing inside.

Shan sighed, and looked at Harry.

"Robert doesn't like shopping," she said to him, as they entered the Silk Shop.

The shop looked much larger inside than it had on the outside. Bolts of Chinese
silk lined the walls, while the rest of the shop was filled with rows and rows of
shimmering silk robes in all colours and sizes. Harry and Chee Chong hung around,
feeling rather out of place, while the girls browsed, Pixie with Ron in tow.
Fortunately, Fatty soon came in, jingling the bags of coins, and looking pleased
with himself.

"We don't have much time, so we'll look around elsewhere while the girls are busy
here," he said, giving Harry his money. Harry looked curiously at the Chinese coins.
They were round, and came in gold and bronze. Each coin had several Chinese
characters on it, arranged around a square hole in the middle.

Fatty gave Hermione and Ron their money, then pulled Ron away from Pixie and led
them out of the Silk Shop. As they made their way down the street, two groups of
the militant wizards passed them, one in dark grey and yellow robes, the other in black.
Long, sinister-looking swords hung from their belts.

"Funny," said Fatty, as they turned to watch the wizards pass, "these wizards are
definitely from some Pugilistic sect. We don't see them here very often, not at this time
of the year, anyway. They usually come at the end of the school year, to test those
students who want entry into one of the Internal Magic Schools."

"Maybe there is going to be a Duelling Tournament," suggested Chee Chong, his eyes
lighting up at the idea.

"That would be something to watch," said Ron enthusiastically, as the Pugilists disappeared
into the crowd.

Fatty brought them to a large store that sold a variety of things, from dried herbs to sweets,
to toys and trinkets and fireworks. The store was crowded, and they had to push their way in.
Harry was following Fatty, and presently found himself looking at a huge array of glossy,
circular cakes, which were slowly changing colour : from dark to golden brown, then pale
brown, pale green, and cream.

Fatty ordered several bags of the cakes, which he said were moon-cakes. Then, after he
had finished haggling over the price, they went to look for Ron and Chee Chong.

The girls had now also joined them. Hermione's cheeks were slightly pink, and a bulge in
her bag showed that she had not come away from the Silk Shop empty-handed. Pixie's
arms were filled with packages; spotting Ron, she promptly unloaded all her packages
onto him, and then went over to look at a counter filled with trinkets and jewellery.

Harry went over to Ron, and relieved him of some of the packages.

"She really knows how to spend money," said Ron, looking rather shaken. Chee Chong
now appeared as well, a large package under his arm, which he said contained fireworks.

"We need to go," said Fatty, looking impatiently at the girls, who were examining the trinkets.

"Just five minutes, Fatt," said Pixie, dimpling at him. She turned back to the jewellery. There
were all types of rings and bracelets and earrings, in ivory and gold and silver, and of course,
jade. Harry thought he had never seen so much jade in his life. It came in all colours, from
pale to dark green to pale rose-pink and lilac. There were jade bangles and brooches, and
a whole host of jade pendants, most of them jade dragons, but there were also plenty of fish,
and fruit, and flowers.

Fatty finally put his foot down, and herded them out of the store, saying he had to greet
all his guests at the restaurant. Back at the square, they found Robert sitting next to WindStar,
reading. A pile of books, in both Chinese and English, lay at his side. Harry looked at them.
The English books were a queer mix : The Sorceress of Alcandoro; Vorg the Vampire;
The Goblin Rebellions in Europe; and even some Muggle books : The Adventures of
Sherlock Holmes, and The Snow Goose.

They mounted WindStar, and rose high above the City. After about a minute, Harry saw
a lake in front of them with a small island in its centre. On the island was a dark green
pagoda, red glazed roof glowing in the evening sun.

Shan landed WindStar on the island, and they entered the pagoda. The restaurant was
at the top, and when they entered they found most of Fatty's friends already there,
taking up about half the tables in the restaurant. To Harry's dismay, Fatty dragged him
over to the main table where his friends were, claiming he would bring him good luck,
while Ron and the others sat at another table nearby.

Fatty and his friends spoke English at first, but after a while they seemed to forget that
Harry was there and began chattering away in Chinese. Harry had a gloomy evening,
watching Ron and the others who seemed to be having a very good time at their table.
Halfway through the meal, he noticed something small and green slithering over the
floor toward him.

Harry bent down, and looked at it.

"LeafSong?" he said.

The little snake looked up at him.

"Harry Potter can sspeak Parsseltongue!" she hissed in surprise, her forked tongue
flickering in and out.

"What do you want?" said Harry.

"Shan has ssent me to keep you company," she hissed.

Harry picked her up and put her in his pocket. LeafSong, pleased that she had found a
human who could speak her language, tried to strike up a conversation with him.

"Fatty's friendss are mosstly from Hong Kong," she hissed. "Their parentss are all
important business people there."

"Um," said Harry, not knowing what else to say. LeafSong, seeing he wasn't very interested,
began hissing a snake-song to him, obviously thinking he would find it entertaining.

Toward the end of the evening, Fatty's friends all came over to say good-bye. They seemed
quite interested in meeting Harry, and queued up to shake his hand and look at his scar.
The queue became so long that Harry suddenly realised, to his dismay, that it did not consist
only of Fatty's friends, but almost everyone in the restaurant.

Ron and the others came over as he stood there, red-faced and embarrassed, shaking
hands. At last, the queue came to an end. The last person in it was, to his surprise, a
distinguished-looking English wizard, tall and grey-haired, with a Roman nose.

"Mr Potter?" he said, shaking Harry's hand. "A pleasure to meet you, far from home.
My name is Douglas Dimbleby, representative of the British Ministry of Magic in Hong Kong."

He turned to look at Ron, smiling. "Aren't you Arthur Weasley's son?"

Ron looked rather startled.

"Uh, yeah," he said.

Harry had been relieved that no one, so far, had asked him for an autograph, but at this
moment, several of Fatty's friends came running back with a piece of parchment in their
hands, and a quill, and shoved them into Harry's hand.

Harry's heart sank. Fatty, however, looked very indignant, and let forth a torrent of
Cantonese at them. He removed the parchment from Harry's hand, and tossed it back
at them. They grinned at him, but took the parchment and left the restaurant, waving
good-naturedly at them.

Harry was relieved.

"Thanks," he said to Fatty.

Mr Dimbleby looked amused.

"Does that happen very often?" he asked.

Pixie gave an idiotic giggle.

"All the time," she said. "He hasn't stopped signing autographs since he came to
Tian-Long."

"I really think we should go," said Harry loudly, wishing Pixie wouldn't keep giggling,
and feeling that he'd had quite enough.

"Do you know this Dimbleby person?" Hermione asked Ron, as they went down the
pagoda's staircase.

"I've heard Dad mention him," said Ron. "He's something like the Ministry's ambassador,
in Hong Kong."

"Wonder what he's doing here," said Harry, taking LeafSong out of his pocket and
handing her back to Shan.

Ron looked thoughtful.

"Probably snooping around," he said. "He's had a shady past, from what I hearsome
people think he used to be a spy for the British, here in China. But it could just be a rumour."

They reached the pagoda entrance, where Fatty was examining Chee Chong's fireworks.

"We cannot let them off in the school," he said. "It's against the rules. We might as well
let them off here."

So they sat by the water's edge, and Fatty took the moon-cakes out as well. These
proved to be very sweet and sticky, and kept changing flavour, each corresponding
to a different colour. The first bite Harry took tasted like lotus seed, but the next bite
tasted more like sweetened hard-boiled egg.

Chee Chong arranged the fireworks in a row. They all looked identical : slender,
narrow sticks, each with a string attached. Then Robert snapped his fingers, and a
small flame appeared at the tip of his thumb. Reaching out, he lit one stick.

The stick burst into flame and soared up into the sky, leaving a trail of fire behind it.
It exploded high above them, and became a huge, shimmering silver tree. Then the
lights changed colour, and rearranged themselves, to become a glittering gold and
red dragon, which danced around, chasing what seemed to be a large pearl. After
a minute or so, the dragon soared higher into the air, and changed into a flock of
glittering birds, which twittered and swooped around, and then suddenly dove
downward toward the lake, disappearing just before they touched the water.

Robert lit a second stick. This time, it soared into the air and became two glittering
Chinese lions, facing each other and prancing around, jerking their heads up and down.
After several minutes, they transformed into a flock of golden phoenix, which swooped
around in a complicated dance, and finally flew inward toward one another, colliding in
a burst of light right above the students. A host of small white flowers floated downward,
landing on their heads and shoulders, and filling the air with sweet perfume.

Robert lit a few more sticks, each changing into something different. Then Shan said
they must go back, because WindStar was tired. They finished the remainder of the
moon-cakes, and Chee Chong packed the remaining fireworks into his carrier bag.

As they rose up into the air, WindStar suddenly sneezed, and flames shot out of her
mouth and nostrils, startling all of them.

"The effects of the herb has run out," Shan called from the front, turning to look at
them. "But don't worry, WindStar's very gentle. She won't hurt any of us."

At this moment, WindStar sneezed again, flames pouring out of her jaws. Chee Chong,
who was sitting behind Shan with his eyes closed, trying not to feel airsick, accidentally
dropped the bag of fireworks. A gust of wind blew it in front, so that it flew in front of
WindStar just as she sneezed a third time.

The bag caught fire, and the fireworks ignited and flew up into the air, high above them,
leaving a huge trail of fire in their wake, and exploded in a deafening burst of noise.

For a few seconds, the air all around them was full of sparkling light and fire. Then Shan
directed WindStar away from the lake, and back toward the school.

They all turned back to watch. It was a fantastic sight : the sky above the City was alive
with light, shimmering flowers and trees and fish and birds and dragons, in a myriad of
colours, some just hanging in the air, others swooping around in a graceful dance, the
trembling lights reflected in the surface of the lake below.

Then all at once the lights flared brightly, and raced toward each other, to meet at a
point just above the Grand Pagoda. They exploded when they met, in a brilliant burst
of light, into a thousand green-gold stars, filling the night sky. The stars sparkled and
twinkled, and then began to fall, one by one, to the dark surface of the water below.
Each sank into the water's depths, leaving a trail of golden-green phosphorescence
behind it, and was gone.

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More Chinese Notes:

Yang-Kang was one of the villains in Louis Cha's "she-diao" trilogy, while Liu Pei was the
crafty ruler of the Kingdom of Shu in The Romance of the Three Kingdoms.

"Black Way" is the literal translation of "hei-dao", the generic name for the whole range of
dirty tricks of Chinese spiritualism: cursing, barrenness, making of poisons, or at least very bad luck.

If you would like to know more about I Ching, go to http://www.teleport.com/~bioching/iching.html

For a look at all the hexagrams, go to http://www1.shore.net/~rdl/iching/Hexagrams.html

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