I don't own Jackie Chan Adventures, the characters, items or settings used in this story. This is all pure entertainment and no money is being made.

Special thanks to Alan Wilkinson for beta reading this.

HEING MEH

Chapter 33

Shendu was not in a good mood. "That cursed Tso Lan..." he muttered quietly to himself. He didn't remember when he had last time felt such hatred for one of his own family.

He had been used! Tso Lan had been willing to listen to him as long as the fire demon was useful. He had been accepted as the moon demon's ally only for as long as he had information on Sha Fuju. Once Tso Lan had realised that Shendu didn't know anything else he had pushed his younger brother aside.

"I have no place in his plans, even though Sha Fuju was my idea!"

The anger he felt for his brother burnt in his veins like the hottest flame. It was because of him that they had got so far. And how was he rewarded? He was sent to some stupid Nordic country to take care of Valmont's business! It was wrong! He should have been there to make the decisions.

And most of all, he should have been allowed to get an answer to his question in Sha Fuju.

Shendu drew a breath. He would get his answer. Perhaps not the first time around, but one could travel more than once to Sha Fuju. Origami was his slave, he could feel some of the man's life in his own veins, and he would not let the thief go. No, he would have to stay along and be there to open the portal again.

The problem was how he'd make Viper do it too. Shendu knew better than well that the Chans would do everything to stop him from getting what he wanted. He would somehow have to force her to obey him...

Perhaps it would work if the Chans no longer existed?

Shendu flinched when he heard a voice in his head. "What? Who are you?" he asked sharply. Fortunately he was alone at that moment because talking to himself would have assured the rest that he had truly lost it.

You know me. You can call me Shin, the voice said and Shendu frowned.

"Then you are my enemy," he growled.

Ah, don't be so sure about it. Have I ever tried anything against you? Shin asked.

"You tried to kill Tso Lan and Dai Gui. That was an unforgivable crime against my family!" Shendu snapped.

So what? Didn't you just a moment ago think how much you hated your siblings? They are only a burden for you.

"Can you read my thoughts? Stop at once!" Shendu demanded angrily and perhaps slightly nervously. An enemy who knew what he was thinking was a dangerous one.

Don't worry about what I know. I will not try to use it against you. I want to offer you a deal, Shin said.

"A deal?" Shendu tilted his head in curiousness. "What do you have to offer?"

Someone is a greedy one, eh? Well, I have no reason to hide anything. I am ready to help you kill the Chans, who you hate so much, once you've taken care of Heing Meh. After that there is nothing to stop you from opening a portal to Sha Fuju.

"What makes you think I can't get rid of them myself? I don't need your help!" Shendu said and his head was filled with laughter.

Yourself? Well, why haven't you done that already? Ah, but I know. Your family is in your way. 'Don't hurt the mortals, we need them,' they say. What use are they? In the ancient times you would have just taken what belonged to you. Admit it, your family has gone soft. You are the only one who remembers old traditions.

Shendu said nothing so Shin continued: Believe me, with my help you will get rid of them with ease. After Heing Meh is gone everyone will be so relieved that they won't even see it coming. I will help you and you can blame it all on me. Then nobody from your family will rise against you.

"An interesting plan. But tell me, why do you want to get rid of Heing Meh? Aren't you the one who revived him in the first place?" Shendu asked. He was interested in hearing Shin's reply. The dragon wasn't sure what he should have thought of the sudden appearance of the creature and his strange plea.

Heing Meh... Let's say that the cursed demon who desires that name hasn't kept his side of our bargain. He summoned me to this world and promised that I would be able to return to my family once he is alive again. Now he is not ready to let me go because he is still relatively weak and needs me, Shin growled and Shendu could almost taste the poison in his voice.

"So you are going to betray your master," the demon said in dark amusement. "Tso Lan would be interested in hearing about this."

You must tell no one! Otherwise I won't help you! Shin warned. Shendu shrugged.

"We'll see. And what do you want in return?" he asked.

To travel home. I live on another plane of existence and the way there can only be opened by a demon. My master doesn't want to free me, but if you'd open the portal once I've served you... The spell is not difficult, I can prepare it for you myself, Shin said.

"I can hear how desperate you are. I wouldn't have thought you to be so attached to your family," Shendu remarked.

I am not. I only want to return somewhere where I have at least some power.

Shendu was silent for a while and considered the options. Then he nodded. "I like this. With your help I will finally get rid of Chan and then I will help you."

"What do you mean we aren't leaving? Are you mad? This might be our last chance before Black gets us. He is here, I have seen him!" Hoyle said and looked at his employer in disbelief.

"I already told you we will stay for a while. Aren't you interested in seeing how this ends?" Necrosis asked.

"Of course I am, but I would rather do it elsewhere. Let's at least get rid of that book."

Hoyle watched, perhaps in slight worry, how Necrosis had placed the book on his knee. He had imagined that now that Jade was alive again they wouldn't have to even think about Necromancy anymore. Unfortunately, Necrosis seemed to have other ideas.

He wasn't sure if the doctor realised what he was doing. While he talked he browsed through the book and let his fingers rest on the cover. In Hoyle's opinion the man acted too lovingly towards it - especially since he remembered how Necrosis has feared Necromancy before.

"Let me take a look at it," he said suddenly. Necrosis lifted his gaze at once and tightened his hold on the book.

"Why do you need it? You can't understand a word of it," he said.

"I know," Hoyle stated. I just feel it would be the best to have it away from you.

"Well, then why do you want it?"

"It's no use to us anymore. It would be the best to throw it away," Hoyle suggested. Necrosis was suddenly on his feet, holding the book tightly against his chest and stared at his employee and friend with a shocked expression on his face.

"Away? After what use it has been to us?" he asked.

"What use has it been?"

Necrosis looked like he would have loved to answer, but he said nothing. He merely turned his eyes on the book.

Hoyle made a sharp gesture with his hand and the book was snatched from the doctor's hands. Necrosis yelped in surprise and glared daggers at him.

"I didn't help you to develop your powers so that you could use them to steal from me!" he snapped. "Give the book back."

Hoyle browsed through it, but just as Necrosis had said, he didn't understand anything. "I think we should have let Po Kong have this. The demons could keep it out of our way," he said.

Necrosis stepped closer and took the book back. "It's mine," he said. Hoyle didn't resist but let the old man have his book.

"I thought you didn't want to have anything to do with Necromancy," he stated.

Necrosis didn't reply.

"Bai Tsa, what are you doing?"

The water demon turned to look at the door when she heard Tso Lan's voice. She smiled at her brother.

"Isn't it obvious? We are painting the walls," she replied.

She and Finn had managed to get much done during the short amount of time they had spent with paint. It was mostly because of the water demon's swift movements and sharp words that she shot at the Irishman to make him paint faster.

"But why? There is nothing wrong with them. And how can you think about something like that when so much is going on? Shouldn't you concentrate on the Eye of Atlantis?" her brother asked.

Bai Tsa snorted. "I will take care of it later. And this won't take much longer anymore," she said. "And you there, watch how you are painting! That picture is almost ruined!"

"Well, it's not my fault! I told you I am not an artist!" Finn snapped back and threw his paint brush away. Unfortunately, his aim wasn't that good and the item flew to a black paint pot and a little paint splashed on Tso Lan's robe.

The moon demon started at himself in annoyance. "That wasn't a very wise thing to do, mortal," he said and Finn backed away a couple of steps looking like he would have liked to shoot himself. Bai Tsa frowned and put her own brush away.

"Are you threatening my slave?" she asked slithering to her brother. Her scaled body was covered in paint and it looked like she had swum in oily water.

"He ruined my robe," Tso Lan stated calmly. "You have not trained him properly. Look at him, he doesn't even lower his eyes when I talk to him."

"It is my business how I train him. Your slaves were never anything but empty shells that only existed to please you," Bai Tsa pointed out.

"That is why we have slaves."

"Of course, but they are not exciting if you get rid of all edges. I want to have fun with them!" the water demon announced and lifted her nose in the air.

Tso Lan only sighed. "Whatever. I came to announce that we will open the portal to Sha Fuju very soon. We need your presence in chanting the spell," he said. "And if you'd excuse me now, I would like to find a new robe." Tso Lan glared at Finn before floating away.

Bai Tsa placed her hands on her hips and sighed. "He is so boring..." she muttered. Then she suddenly cheered up and turned to Finn. "It looks like we have to stop now for a while. Well, we got almost everything done anyway. Better get washed up," she said looking at herself and the Irishman.

"I'll never get this clean," Finn said eyeing his once so white jacket.

"Nah, it's not that difficult. You only need the right spell and you can get rid of everything with water," Bai Tsa promised. She suddenly rushed forward and grabbed Finn's wrist.

"Hey! What are you doing?" he asked as the demon started dragging him away.

"Dai Gui was stupid and didn't build a pool in my rooms. I must make one myself. Help me close this door," the water demon said and let go only once they had arrived to the double doors that separated her rooms from the rest of the palace.

Bai Tsa and Finn pulled both doors closed and the water demon took a look around. The paint they had used was water proof and nothing could wash it off because of her spells. Some extra water would cause no trouble.

She dipped the tip of her tail in the paint pot and started to paint a complicated, round pattern on the floor. At the same time she chanted something again and again until the words seemed to unite with the paint. Finn watched the scene from a small distance not really being able to say what was going on.

And then water started pouring out of the pattern.

Finn yelped in surprise and leaped high when the water rushed to his feet. It rose steadily and soon the rooms were half full of it.

"I don't like this at all," he complained as he was forced to swim.

"Stop whining. You better get used to it. Once we have finished painting the walls I'll make some tiny changes around here so that my rooms can be underwater all the time," Bai Tsa said as she swam to him.

Now, in the middle of her own element, she felt brilliant. The water was just perfectly cool and clean, so unlike the horrible mess at the docks in San Francisco. She dove under the water and resurfaced right next to Finn.

Yep, she was on a playful mood.

"You'll never get your clothes clean before I have put the pain removal spell on it," she stated as she saw how the Irishman tried desperately to get his jacket clean.

"Then do it! This thing means a lot to me," Finn said. He didn't look like he was too pleased about Bai Tsa swirling around him. The water demon was one of the smallest in her family, but still bigger than any human.

She wrapped her arms around his shoulders and pressed her face on his neck. "Say 'please, mistress'."

Finn struggled free of her arms and she let out an annoyed growl.

"Dude! This is not the time to play slave games!" the man snapped clearly upset. Bai Tsa swam to him and gave him a playful smack with her tail.

"Don't be ridiculous. This is not the time for anything. I was merely practising. You are my only slave at the moment, so I don't really have much to choose from," she said.

"Well, how about finding someone who wants you?" Finn asked. Bai Tsa slit her eyes and felt a hot flame of anger go through her.

"You mean you find me undesirable?" she inquired angrily and Finn swam quickly farther away.

"No! But you are a demon! We don't match!" he tried to explain.

"In the case you haven't noticed, the only other demons around are my brothers. Do you think I will live in celibate for all eternity? Besides, your behaviour is ridiculous. I am not looking for a husband, I just want to have fun!" Bai Tsa snapped. Then she muttered one or two words and the paint on Finn's jacket and her scales started dissolve in water. "You are the most boring slave I have ever had..."

"I'm not too sorry about it," Finn replied.

Suddenly there was a set of knocks on the door. "Bai Tsa?" Dai Gui's voice was heard.

"What is taking so long? Why are the doors closed?" Tso Lan asked.

Bai Tsa and Finn glanced at each other. They both realised the situation at the exact same moment.

"Dai Gui! Don't open the doors!" the water demon warned, but a bit too late. The earth demon, who - just like Tso Lan - was curious about the closed doors, opened them a little and after that there was nothing to do.

All the water flowed out with an enormous force, slammed the doors open and took Bai Tsa, Finn, Tso Lan and Dai Gui with it. Their surprised screams echoed in the palace until the water spread in so many tunnels that the surface wasn't very high anymore.

They all lay on the floor, panting.

"Bai Tsa," Tso Lan said dryly. "This is the second robe that was ruined because of you today."

The water demon couldn't help laughing.

Chow felt nervous. No, more than nervous. He was about to have a mental breakdown!

It will go fine, he told himself. It has to go fine. They wouldn't send me there if it wasn't safe. After all, they need me to tell them the answer.

And yet he couldn't help thinking about all the terrors he might face in Sha Fuju. No one had been there in thousands of years and no one had any idea what was there.

Why was he the one who always got in messes like this? Why? All he wanted was to live his own life, make some money and have fun every now and then. Chow knew he was far from perfect if you considered general standards, but that had never mattered a thing to him.

He drew a deep breath and forced himself to calm down. He was doing much better than some others. Finn for example... The Irishman would really have to struggle in order to get free of Bai Tsa. Even though he had made jokes about it as well, Chow was in fact very worried about his friend. He naturally didn't want Finn to be a slave forever.

Almost everyone was there. The only demons not present were Tso Lan, Dai Gui and Bai Tsa and the lacking humans were Finn, Valmont, Jade and Jackie. The first one would probably arrive with the water demon - at least Chow hoped so - and the three latter wouldn't come at all. Chow didn't know the details, but he wasn't even interested in them. Though he had to admit that Valmont not being there bothered him just the slightest.

He, Viper and Origami stood with the old Chan in the middle of the hall. In fact it was part of Tso Lan's rooms and near the library containing Uncle's books. It was the best place to open the portal. They were surrounded by heaps of herbs that Uncle had lit just a moment ago.

Chow took a look at the thieves that were in the same mess as he. Their thoughts were not evident on either's face. It encouraged him to control his nervousness as well and he tried to look like there was nothing wrong in the world.

Everyone's head turned when they heard loud steps. Dai Gui arrived red eyes blazing and panting with rage.

"Dai Gui hates water," the demon muttered while taking his place in the line of siblings. Chow didn't even have time to wonder what had happened before the rest of the missing people arrived - all in similar condition.

"What happened?" Xiao Fung asked eyeing Tso Lan's soaked robe with a smirk on his face.

"Bai Tsa caused a flood," the moon demon replied dryly. Unlike Dai Gui, he controlled himself fairly well and the only thing that revealed him was the angry slithering of his tongue.

Chow saw how Finn went to stand with Ratso and Hak Foo near the edge of the group. The Irishman shrugged. It was most likely meant as a good luck's gesture.

Despite his wet look Tso Lan managed to look powerful. "I do hope that nothing goes wrong. Everyone has received instructions and the one who ruins this won't see tomorrow. No matter who it is," he said. Chow thought Tso Lan had looked specifically at his family while talking, but he couldn't be sure.

All seven demons stood in a clear circle. Uncle was next to Viper with a serious expression on his face. Chow didn't feel like smiling either. All the people who were not needed in the spell stood some distance away watching them.

"I and the old Chan know the spell by heart. You others only need to repeat what we say and focus your chi on the words," the moon demon said. Then he turned to Viper and Origami. "And you know what you have to do." Both mortals nodded.

For a while everyone stood still. Chow felt butterflies in his stomach and he wished for everything to be over. When Tso Lan's voice finally flooded over him he felt almost relieved; they had finally begun.

Uncle followed the demon's example and started chanting another part of the spell. Chow paid attention to those two and didn't even glance at the other members of the demon family, who hadn't done a thing yet.

When they suddenly charted humming he felt almost surprised. The demons' voices were buried under Tso Lan and Uncle's spell, but when he concentrated Chow could almost hear the words they were chanting.

He couldn't say how long everyone was chanting the spell. After a while he started paying more attention to the herbs that continued burning around them and spread grey smoke everywhere.

This has been gone on forever, he thought to himself and hoped that he had had a watch.

And then all voices grew silent. The silence was so sudden that it jerked Chow sharply back to reality. He watched how Viper and Origami - reluctantly, perhaps - pressed the halves of the artefact together.

At the instant they touched each other a bright blue light appeared around them. It faded away in the blink of an eye and after that the two halves were joined together. The ball-like artefact that had been created floated in the air and nothing happened in a while.

Then the ball rose above their heads and shot a blue beam at the opposite wall. It reminded Chow of the way the Pan Ku box had acted years before. The light grew into a round portal with nothing but blue on the other side.

Chow felt how someone grabbed his shoulder.

"Remember the question," Tso Lan told him and forced him to take a step forward. And then, feeling terrible and hands shaking, Chow stepped through the portal of Sha Fuju.

"Jade, what really happened?" Jackie asked seriously. Jade couldn't be bothered to look her uncle in the eyes.

"I just wanted to have a look around. It's so boring to just lie here!" she explained.

"But you are not yet in the condition to wander around. Just look at what happened. It could have ended really badly," Jackie said with a sigh.

"I know," Jade muttered. "I was pretty lucky to have Hsi Wu around. Otherwise I could have lain there for who knows how long."

Jackie said nothing.

"Uncle Jackie?"

"Jade, what do you think of Hsi Wu?" Jackie asked and surprised the girl. Jade frowned.

"What do you mean?" she asked on guard. Why did Jackie want to know something like that?

"Jade... It's so complicated. I don't know what to think of him. He is a demon and yet he is almost like a human. He is worried about you and though he denies it -" Jackie started, but Jade interrupted him at once.

"What has he said about me?" she wanted to know.

"That you are his slave and that he had no intention to let anyone hurt his property," Jackie said and his tone told enough of what he thought of these words.

"That same old song again. I would have thought him to grow a little during years," Jade said rolling her eyes.

"And yet the way he behaves... I don't know. Jade, promise me one thing," Jackie said.

"Uh, sure. What?"

"Never let Hsi Wu hurt you. Then I would have to do something about him and as you know, I hate violence," Jackie said with a slight smile. Jade only stared at him.

"Eeww! What do you mean by that? You are supposed to stop me from that, not to tell me to do it!" she snapped.

Jackie looked a little shocked. "Jade! You shouldn't talk like that! Of course I don't want you to have anything like that to do with Hsi Wu. When this is all over we can forget the demons forever. Just make sure you don't trust him. I know you were sort of friends five years ago, but that is in the past," he said.

"Yeah, yeah, I know. I have brain too, you know," Jade said. Jackie chuckled and ruffled her hair.

"Unfortunately I have had to see that a bit too often," he said. "You can't understand how happy I am to have you here. When you... went away I didn't know what to do."

"Xu Lin told me about it. But Jackie, it's mostly because of the demons that I am still alive. Don't you feel bad about banishing them back to the Netherworld?"

Jackie frowned. "I don't know. I never thought about it like that," he admitted.

"The last moments must have been exciting. I wish I could remember them," Jade muttered.

"Your memory hasn't returned yet?" Jackie asked sounding worried. The girl shook her head.

"I can't remember a thing of what happened. In fact, the entire time with Shin is just a huge mess in my head," she said.

"Strange. I hope you will have your memory back soon. But I doubt you'd lose much if you never remembered the ritual."

Valmont had no intention of watching the opening of the portal to Sha Fuju. He wasn't needed there, he didn't know a single spell. He couldn't say the matter didn't interest him, but he had still thought it to be the best to pass the entire thing.

Now was one of the few moments that he could dedicate to himself only.

The balance he had obtained at Kebnekaise... It had been too easy. He hadn't been able to banish the demon away, but it didn't bother him anymore. And yet he would have to think about how his life would change.

He was still in control of the Dark Hand and he had no intention of abandoning it. The crime organization was his entire life. Someone might have said that it was not a very strong or nice base, but to him it meant what he had always wanted: power and money.

The mere thought of the business he must have missed because of the demon mess angered him. He would have to return to his office soon and make sure that no more money was lost.

And yet it was so difficult to concentrate on it. His thoughts kept returning to what the others were attempting. Would they be able to do it? His own future depended on it too because Heing Meh would come after him as well if there was no one to stop him.

Something bothered him, but he shrugged the feeling off. It was probably nothing important.

He had told Tso Lan that he didn't want to have anything to do with the demons. In a way it was true. Shendu disgusted him and his hatred for the fire demon would never fade. But he couldn't say that he wanted to spend an eternity away from Hsi Wu who was the only demon who had shown more than just hate for him.

And they were also fellow sufferers.

Valmont snorted at himself. He shouldn't have pitied the demon. Especially since Hsi Wu most likely wouldn't have wanted it.

And what about... He now had two forms, a human and a demon. He had tried taking his demon form almost as soon as they had returned from Sweden, but had had no luck. Either he had done something wrong or he just wasn't supposed to take it every time he felt like it.

The matter mostly angered him, but he figured he had more important things to think about.

Besides, he had a strong feeling that everything would work out in the end.

Chow didn't know what he had expected to see in Sha Fuju. However, he had at least had the idea of a landscape in his mind. None could be seen on the other side of the portal.

Everything was blue but not endless in the same way the Netherworld was red. It wasn't because of the colour only as something around him seemed to throb with ancient wisdom, peace and intelligence.

And stupid or not, he liked it.

"Anyone in here?" he called. He was supposed to ask an important question, but first he would have to find someone to talk to.

He started walking away from the portal. The farther he went, the more details he started noticing. Everything wasn't blue after all but other colours decided to join the view. First a little black and red to the ground, some white in the sky...

The view around him changed slowly into a more recognisable form. The red and black ground rose in hills and strange pillar-like trees. Everything moved slowly and despite that it was all really weird Chow didn't feel scared or nervous anymore.

And then he saw someone he recognised immediately.

"You!" he exclaimed in surprise and halted. Tchang Zu! What was the thunder demon doing in Sha Fuju?

And then he remembered what Tso Lan and Uncle had said. According to them the souls of dead demons and other magical beings travelled to Sha Fuju if nothing had been done to stop it.

Tchang Zu frowned. "I remember you," he said. He looked just as threatening and cruel as Chow remembered and for a while the peaceful landscape lay in pieces. The demon's eyes glowed red, his muscled form stood much taller than Chow and the same wicked grin split his face.

Chow didn't know what to say. What could he have said to a dead demon that he knew nothing good about? "Uh, you don't happen to know anyone who I can ask questions?" he asked.

Tchang Zu looked disappointed. "Do I have to understand that not even Tso Lan was able to find anyone better for this task?" he asked.

Chow blinked. "You mean I have to ask you?"

"I was chosen for this because it concerns my family. I have also been told the answer to your question," the thunder demon said.

"How can you know it when I haven't asked anything yet?"

"There are answers for every question here, even for those that no one has asked yet. Next question."

I wonder how many questions once can ask here, Chow thought. I better hurry before those two squares snap.

"How can we get rid of Heing Meh?" he asked. That was it. Now he only needed the answer and would be able to go.

Tchang Zu looked at him before replying. "Heing Meh can never be destroyed."

Chow took a step back in surprise and stared at the demon. He felt cold inside.

"What? What do you mean he can't?" he asked. Their whole plan was ruined!

"Destroying Heing Meh would mean the destruction of the world."

"Then what can we do? Do we have to sit and watch how he takes over the world?" Chow wanted to know. It couldn't be like that!

"No. Heing Meh is part of this world, but once his blood colours the square of Ze Zeng you will get the chance to fix some of what he has done. You have spent quite a while here already. It is not good for mortals and I'd hope you to make it so that you can warn my family. So hurry," the thunder demon advised.

Chow would have liked to say that he felt perfect and that he wanted to know more, but one glance at Tchang Zu's face made him keep his mouth shut. He turned around and started heading back towards the portal.

Everything happened as if in a rewed film. The view became completely blue again and the peace that had taken over him disappeared. He started feeling worse and worse with every step and finally he had to concentrate on staying on his feet.

Mortals can't survive long in Sha Fuju, he thought remembering what Tso Lan had said to him.

He tasted blood in his mouth as the finally stepped through the portal to the real world.

To be continued...