Yulong Yeoh quietly entered Kermit's room. He smiled at Karen Simms and sat down in the second chair that was next to hers. He patted her hand. "Have you given any thought to my proposition?"
Karen hesitated and looked away. "I'm not entirely comfortable with this. Peter is a friend. Betraying him doesn't come easy."
"I do not imagine that it is easy to watch your young man languish in this hospital bed." He said.
"No… it's not." She said "Caine hasn't been able to help him. What makes you think you can succeed where he has failed."
Yeoh shrugged. "I am older. I have more experience and perhaps it is because I do not split my time between healing and harming. Warriors are necessary, yes, but it does carry a cost."
Karen bristled.
"Ah, you think I have insulted your friend. I have not. I am certain he is a good priest, just not as good as he could be, perhaps. We all have our strengths and weaknesses." He said. "Besides, we will be family soon enough. His son is marrying my granddaughter. They are very much in love."
"I've met her. Peter is very much in love. I've never seen him that much in love before."
He smiled. "I am happy to hear so."
"Then why do you want me to spy on him for you?" She asked, locking gazes with him.
The smile faded a little. "Because there is an artifact that he and Li Na are keeping safe. It has begun to affect him. I fear it has begun to affect my granddaughter as well. They have begun to distrust me and turn others against me. Earlier today I was giving aid to those in need in Chinatown and Peter convinced them that I could not be trusted."
"That's not like Peter at all." She said. "He's not the most trusting man on the planet, but that's part of having been a police detective. But he has always had a reason to distrust someone in the past. This artifact can make him turn against people?"
"It is a book that was created by the Sing Wah long ago. It is its purpose. To spread distrust, to break apart families."
She ran her hand down her face. "You can help him, and heal Kermit?" She asked, her shoulders slumped.
Yulong Yeoh touched her face and smiled indulgently. "Yes. I can help them both. You have my word."
She sat silently for what seemed an eternity. "I'll do what you ask."
(0)(0)(0)(0)(0)(0)(0)(0)(0)(0)(0)(0)(0)(0)(0)(0)(0)(0)(0)(0)(0)(0)(0)(0)(0)(0)
Peter held the sheetrock in place while his father hammered in the nails. "Well, at least there isn't any mold back there." He said and sighed. He had been helping others with their businesses and homes and hadn't done much beyond clearing the debris in his own.
Caine nodded. "Yes. This is a relief. " They had replaced several ruined sheet rock panels on the ground floor. It was minimal damage compared to other places. A few sheetrock panels, the tatami, the carpet in the offices, and the large plate glass window at the front of the building. "Yet you do not appear relieved."
"I am," Peter said. "I'm just tired. Overwhelmed. "
"Is it the wedding? It is understandable if it is. Weddings are stressful until they begin."
"It's everything. The wedding, the expense of the mortgage on this place and keeping Leanne's apartment, the destruction here in Chinatown…"
"Yulong Yeoh?" Caine suggested.
"You know, that is the one thing I am not overwhelmed by. He makes me angry and worried about how it's all going to affect Leanne but I'm not overwhelmed. It's just another day ending in Y in Chinatown. We will do what we do and keep doing it until he's stopped. "
Caine smiled and nodded. "Yes. We will not be doing it alone."
"Which is new if I'm being honest."
Caine shrugged. "There has always been help available." He said, "We have not needed it until now."
Peter nodded. He opened his mouth to speak but stopped when his cell phone rang. "Caine." He said into the phone.
"He was here," Karen said. "Let me know what to tell him and when. He says he'll wake Kermit once I give him the information. Peter… be careful."
"You know me, Captain."
"Which is why I'm telling you to be careful."
"That's not always possible. But I'll try." He told her. More than any other foe he had faced he couldn't afford to hold back where Yeoh was concerned. He was a monster not only there in Chinatown but in Kunlun Shan as well. Even when they stopped him the job wasn't done. He had promised to help Hu Li and that would mean finding her people. How the hell he was supposed to do that he had no idea, but it had to be done. He ended the call and sat down on the floor. "He made contact with Captain Simms. As soon as the banks are open we're on. "
Caine nodded. "Good. It is time for this to be done. Then we can focus on these things that have you overwhelmed."
"I'll be alright, Pop. I mean Dad." Peter said. "I am pretty sure I'm supposed to be overwhelmed right now. You are the only person I know who can turn meditation and peace of mind into a superpower."
Caine smiled. "One day you too will have this ability." Peter was capable of so much more than he realized. It was only self-doubt that held him back. Caine looked forward to being able to watch his son grow as a priest. "I was not always as I am now."
"I don't know… The only thing that's changed about you since I was a kid are your eyes… and the hair. I gotta tell ya, I don't miss being bald." Peter grinned.
"Then it is good that it is not a requirement as you are not a monk."
"I don't think Leanne would like it if I became a monk. Adjusting to being a vegetarian has been enough of a challenge. I didn't ask her to do it, either."
Caine nodded. "You may not believe this but your mother did as well. She wanted to support me in every way possible."
"Except in that whole sticking around and helping you raise me way," Peter said, bitterness tinging his voice.
It was natural that Peter would be angry with Laura for leaving. Caine was angry with her as well. Nevertheless, that anger would steal Peter's joy. It would taint his marriage and his priesthood. Now that Peter saw his mother abandoning him as connected to Pine Ridge it would add strength to the storm raging inside his son.
"Peter…"
"I know." He said before his father could continue. "I do… and believe it or not I am trying to let it all go but I can't. It's too fresh."
"Have you heard from Julian and Amelie?"
Peter nodded. "They called last night. They plan to drop in at some point today. At least half of Amelie's interest is that it's out of spite for our mother."
"Perhaps, but I believe the majority is because you went into the storm to search for her when she was lost and frightened."
"I wasn't the only one. Julian was there too." Peter said.
"Julian has protected her for her entire life, it is expected. As far as she knows you did not have to help her."
"I help people every day. I'd have to be a monster not to help my own flesh and blood."
Caine tilted his head a little to the side, "Ah." He said.
"What 'ah' ?" Peter asked.
"Is that how you perceive your mother? As a monster for not saving you from the orphanage?"
Peter's jaw clenched. He forced it to unclench and took a deep breath. "I'm not ready to process that yet. I'll get there one day, but that day isn't today." Maybe one day, after he'd buried the demons he carried from Pine Ridge. Once he had made sure no other children could be harmed, maybe, just maybe, it would be enough and he could forgive.
Caine nodded. "One battle at a time."
Peter looked up and smiled when Leanne entered the Kwoon followed by Master Khan.
"We come with food and extra hands," Leanne said.
"Both are welcome," Caine said.
Peter got to his feet and went to help. "It looks like you brought enough food to feed an army." He said.
"I did." She said with a knowing smile. "We also brought an army."
The doors opened again and people began to enter. Shop owners that they had helped earlier that week.
Caine smiled warmly. The community provided, even if all they could provide were willing hands to the task. The community took care of the priests that took care of them.
(0)(0)(0)(0)(0)(0)(0)(0)(0)(0)(0)(0)(0)(0)(0)(0)(0)(0)(0)(0)(0)(0)(0)(0)(0)(0)(0)(0)(0)
Chaoxiang despised the man called Navarro. He hated him nearly as much as he hated the Evil One. His people were proud, nearly as protective of their dignity as the mighty dragons. Even though they were enslaved and their protector was taken from them, they still had their pride. The Evil One understood this. Chaoxiang knew that this acknowledgment changed nothing. He knew that it was only the illusion of respect that Yulong Yeoh showed them. They were still tormented and used … killed. Men like Navarro made these things worse somehow.
"This is the latest batch." He said. It made his heart sick to see the shelves full of the little vials of golden elixir. His people's qi distilled and mutated. No one had died to produce these vials, but some had come close.
The man ran his hand over the vials, smiling darkly. Chaoxiang knew that look. He'd seen it on the faces of other overseers. Addiction. Obsession. There would be more death because of it. Then the Evil One would send another. This one was worse than the last. Chaoxiang shuddered to think of what the next would be like. What was worse was that when this man died he would rise again as a Jiangshi. He consumed far too much yiang qi. His soul would not rest without it.
Navarro selected a vial and held it up to the light. It swirled and sparkled, so much more vibrant in Kunlun Shan than it had been when Yulong Yeoh would deliver it to him in Madrid. Everything was more vibrant here. Including his anger and resentment.
He pulled the cork from the glass tube and downed the contents in one gulp. The fox moved back cautiously. Javier smiled. "Quality control." He said as his throat and stomach warmed dramatically. It spread throughout his body and for a moment his eyes glowed faintly. Then, visually at least, everything returned to normal.
"With your permission, Sir, I shall return to my duties," Chaoxiang said quietly, keeping his eyes downcast.
"Yeah, you do that," Javier said. "I'll be in my quarters if you need me… I don't advise needing me."
"As you wish," Chaoxiang said and backed out of the storage room. He walked quickly toward the barracks where his people were housed. There were monkeys as well, a few cats. But they had their people to look after them. He looked after the foxes in the absence of Sun Tiao Hu. He worried about her. She might have nine tails and be commissioned by the Goddess to watch over them, but she was not truly immortal. Unaging was not the same as unkillable.
He entered the building and put on a smile that he did not feel as he knelt beside the vixen in the worst shape. Jiang was young. Too young to endure this fate. He stroked her red hair from her face. "This human form costs you too much qi to maintain." He said gently. "Let it go for now."
"The humans prefer a human face." She said. "I will be alright."
"Not this human. He prefers nothing but himself. Let it go, little one."
She did as he requested, albeit reluctantly. She was proud of her human face. It had taken a lot of work to grow in strength enough to be able to transform. She was the youngest in her family to have achieved it. But Chaoxiang was right. It took a lot to maintain it, more than she had.
He smiled a more genuine smile and stroked her fur to give what comfort he could. "When you regain your strength you can wear your human face. It is a lovely face. Not as lovely as this face, but it is lovely. Rest now, little one."
He rose to his feet and made his way to another depleted fox, and then to the next and the next. Nearly half of his people were dangerously close to their next incarnation. The rest were huddled in small groups, afraid. More afraid than they had been with the previous overlord. If it would not bring down the wrath of the evil one on all of his people he would rip the human's throat out and then eat his heart.
(0)(0)(0)(0)(0)(0)(0)(0)(0)(0)(0)(0)(0)(0)(0)(0)(0)(0)(0)(0)(0)(0)(0)(0)(0)(0)(0)(0)
Julian opened the door to the kwoon and indicated that his sister should go in first. The building was filled with the sounds of hammering and sawing and Julian was certain he smelled fresh paint. It was faint so he assumed it was coming from upstairs.
Peter set aside the bag of debris he was carrying. "Hey." He said with a broad smile. "Sorry. I didn't plan on things being this crazy today. Come on in I'll introduce you around."
Hu Li watched from across the street. She knew who the new arrivals were. They were The Spanish Peacock's children. She was surprised to see that they were also related to the young priest. There wasn't much resemblance with the girl, she looked like her father. The boy, however, the boy could pass for a younger Peter. Curious. She wondered why Yeoh hadn't mentioned it to her. They would be prime targets to make Peter hand over the book and he'd never have to threaten his granddaughter again. Did he value The Spanish Peacock more than his precious book or his granddaughter? That would bear looking into.
She nodded as the young man approached her. "I'm surprised you're not in there with the others, Haoyu. You seemed to enjoy helping them earlier." He shrugged and she thought he looked more like a kitten than the full-grown cat that he was.
"I do not wish to anger the Evil One." It galled him to say it. It was worse still to feel it.
"You won't." She said. "He will see it as keeping an eye on things. Far closer than I can."
"They are good priests," Haoyu said.
She smiled indulgently. "I know. We cannot help that. We cannot help them. Not in any way that matters. They will live even if we do not help them. Our people will not if we do." She wished it could be otherwise. She genuinely liked the Caines. But they had Monkey and Sparrow to help them. She could let the priests be their responsibility. She had no choice.
"I'm not sure they will live no matter what we do or do not do." He said.
Her vulpine eyes narrowed, and for a moment her teeth elongated and sharpened. "If they do not, the Evil One will regret the day he became immortal." She shook the darkness off and her features returned to fully human. "Go on. Help them in the way you can. Let it soothe your conscience."
He nodded. He drew in a deep breath and slipped into the persona of the punk kid he resembled. By the time he crossed the street and entered the building, he began to swagger and his expression grew petulant.
Peter's mood had improved a thousand times over. The weight that had been on his shoulders lifted with every nail that was hammered, and with every roller of paint that was applied. They'd be able to move out of Leanne's apartment and into the apartment above the kwoon before the wedding. One less thing to worry about. One less thing for Yeoh to twist like a knife.
He heard the door open and smiled. "I didn't think you'd be back." He said. "I'm glad that you are. There's food on the table over there. Help yourself. If you feel like helping out I am sure we can find a place for you to pitch in."
The cat nodded. "Thank you." He said.
"I never got your name…"
"Haoyu."
"I'm glad you're here, Haoyu," Peter said.
"Even knowing who I belong to?"
"You don't belong to anyone but yourself," Peter told him, resting a hand on his shoulder. "But yes, even knowing who sent you."
Haoyu smiled a little "Then I will help." He walked away into the small crowd that had formed in the kwoon.
Master Khan approached Peter and spoke in quiet tones. "Are you sure that's wise?"
"No," Peter said. "But he's hurting. It's radiating off of him like heat waves. He needs somewhere safe to just… be. Maybe he'll tell me what's wrong once he feels safe. "
Khan smiled and clasped Peter's shoulder. "I'll keep an eye on him. "
Peter found his brother and sister with Leanne and his father. Even Amelie was smiling and laughing. He wondered how often that happened anymore. He worried about her. He worried about how his mother treated her. He wondered if there was anything he could do or if it was something he should stay out of and let it run its course. He pushed those thoughts aside and joined them.
"Okay, what's so funny?" He asked.
"Your Dad was telling us stories about when you were a kid," Amelie said.
Peter groaned, then laughed.