Chapter 26 The Trap is Sprung
An hour or so later Li Chang was dining with his trusted friend Luk Yee at
a beautifully embossed table in the home of Wen-chi, while Liu was busily
preparing dinner in another room. Outside, the rain, punctuated by occasional
bursts of lightning and thunder, continued to plummet downward from a forbidding
sky.
"I don't understand it, Li. We have been married nearly two weeks, and yet
she still won't let me ..."
Luk Yee decided to change the ending of his sentence as the venerable
Wen-chi eased his fragile body into a third chair at the table, "touch her. I
can see by your expression, old master," Luk Yee addressed Wen-chi respectfully,
"that you suspect that I have been too rough in my words or manner with her.
But I swear that it is not so."
Luk Yee found himself obliged to repeat his comment; Wen-chi's hearing, Li
noticed, was failing almost as rapidly as his eyesight.
Li Chang concealed a smile at Luk Yee's marital woes; in other company he
might have suggested, with the coarse good humor of young men, that his friend
should take his new wife over his knee, and spank her pretty bottom until she
decided to be a little more forthcoming with her affections.
But Wen-chi, his aged adoptive father, almost entirely blind now, did not
make light of the troubles of Luk Yee. His nearly sightless eyes stared off
into the distance, as if were trying to see his own charming wife, gone now for
so many years, beckoning to him to cross the great divide and join her and their
ancestors.
"What say you, Wen-chi?" Luk asked loudly. "I fear she does not love me."
The white-bearded old man had a mystical expression on his face, as he
often did these days. Li Chang had wondered in recent months if perhaps Wen-chi
sensed that he was near death. But after a few more seconds of silence the old
man spoke. "The Master said: 'The wise are free from doubt; love is never vexed.
"
"Professor Leung - may his soul rest in tranquility - taught us to question
even the teachings of K'ung-fu-tzu," added Luk Yee, using the birth name of the
great philosopher, as he reached for another steaming dumpling from the dish of
dim sum, the delicious appetizers that Liu had set before them.
"I think that Confucius would have taught you the same thing himself. His
teachings are to be considered, to be turned over in one's mind, not to be
merely parroted by schoolboys," Wen-chi said in a frail voice, as he held up a
pair of chopsticks with a trembling hand. "Although he lived more than two
thousand years ago, I feel as if his words speak to me today. Confucius
comprehended the vicissitudes of life more than one your age can imagine."
Wen-chi lifted his other quivering hand to dab weakly at a rheumy eye.
"Luk Yee, I ask you ... Did your wife love you two weeks ago, when you were
wed?"
"Yes, old one. I courted Qieu for many months. Ours was not a marriage
arranged by our parents. She was... is... deeply devoted to me; I am sure of
it."
Li Chang remembered his friend's wedding -- the bride -- with her striking
dark eyes and long black hair, arranged high on her head in a ceremonial
headress. He remembered how Qieu's father had held her tightly by the arm as he
led her to the nuptial arbor, as if he were afraid to let her go. A peculiar
gentleman, her father, a widower with the robust body of a man of forty-five,
but with the tired visage of one a generation older. There must have been some
great sadness in his life, Li thought, for a man to be so strangely joyless on
his daughter's wedding day.
Qieu had been ravishingly beautiful there in the sunlight of the garden;
had it been any other man's wife he would have been jealous. But Luk Yee was
not only his friend, he was also his most trusted ally in his campaign against
the Black Scorpions. They had assembled, from the brave young students of the
city, a cadre of followers willing to risk their lives to throw off the
oppressive yoke of the Black Scorpions.
"Young man," the white-bearded old man addressed Luk Yee, " if she loved
you a fortnight ago, and you have done nothing to dishonor her or her family, I
assure you that she loves you still."
"I swear I have not dishonored her. But why, then ..."
An ominous rumble of thunder rolled through the heavens just as Liu,
wearing an elegant coral housedress, returned and the men fell silent. As
always, Li noticed that there was a luminous quality to her face, an ethereal
grace to her step that was rare indeed. Why had she not found a suitable young
man? Li wondered to himself. Surely there were many who would admire such a
lovely face and such a gentle nature. But she stays home always, looking after
her beloved grandfather.
"The rice will be ready shortly, grandfather", Liu advised him in her
delightful silvery voice. As she reached to pour her grandfather some more
green tea, Liu asked, smiling, "Why do you men always grow silent when I come
in to the room?"
Li grinned. "Luk is troubled; he feels that his new wife has not been as
properly ... forthcoming with her affections as a young bride should."
Luk Yee blushed. "How can you speak of these things in front of her."
"But why, Luk? I am no longer a child."
"But you are still a maiden; you know nothing of such things."
"Ah, but I am a woman, Luk Yee; it is given to women to grasp the meaning
of some things that men will never understand. Do you not know the poem of Fu
Hsian?"
She looked at each of the men in turn. Wen-chi nodded wisely, but the two
younger man looked at her blankly.
"Recite it for us, Liu," said Wen-chi. "They would do well to know it."
Liu set the teapot down and recited wistfully:
"How sad it is to be a woman;
Nothing on earth is held so cheap.
She bows and kneels countless times;
She must humble herself even to the servants.
His love is as distant as the stars in heaven.
A hundred evils are heaped upon her.
Her face will follow the year's changes.
Her lord will find new pleasures."
Liu finished the last line with a soft sigh.
Li Chang smiled affectionately at the grand-daughter of Wen-chi. "Surely it
cannot be as bad as all that."
Liu's soft brown eyes were downcast as she sipped daintily at her tea; "Of
course not, Li Chang. It is only a poem."
Wen-chi reached out to stroke her hand. "My child, you spend too many days
with me; you grow despondent.
Liu brightened, "Grandfather, I would fain spend them with you always. Are
you not both wise and kind? Where between the two great rivers should I find
another so learned and so good?" Then she stood and said, "I have talked too
much -- the tea grows cold. Let me make some more." And with a graceful
whisper of silk she left the room.
Luk Yee changed the subject. "Li Chang -- Have you had any word regarding
the printer?"
"The printer" was another daring young student named Zhong who lived on the
south side of the river. He too had studied at the feet of the great classical
scholar, the hunchbacked Professor Leung. For the past several weeks Zhong had
been printing and clandestinely distributing hand-outs and posters accusing the
Black Scorpions of all manner of extortion, mayhem and worse. But recently, as
Li Chang well knew, the Scorpions had traced the handbills to their source.
"Yes, Luk -- the Scorpions will come in two hours' time to destroy his shop
-- Richard Chan told me so today. But, my friend, you will be there with our
Blue Squadron. We shall be ready for them!"
"Excellent. We are making progress, Li Chang. One day our city will be
rid of these jackals. Two hours, you say? Then I must make the preparations.
Please make my apologies to Liu."
Luk Yee got up to leave, then, and as Li opened the door for him to step
out into the rain, Luk Yee paused in the doorway. "Do you not see how she looks
at you, Li Chang?"
"Who? Liu? Don't be silly. She is devoted to me as a sister would be.
That is all."
"I have a sister, Li Chang. I know the difference between the love of a
sister and the love of a woman. Does Ming-tsu mean so much to you?"
"She is incredible, Luk Yee. Why last night...." Li stopped realizing
that mentioning his vivid carnal exploits of the prior night would only further
frustrate the unfortunate young newlywed. "Last night, I confided in her as I
never have before."
"Well, I understand your attraction to her; she is indeed a great beauty."
Luk Yee looked up at the grim, gray sky. "I'll be back later to report on the
success of our mission. With luck, a few Scorpions will drown tonight in this
accursed rain!"
Li Chang bid his friend adieu, wishing it were possible for him to
accompany his men. But if one of the Scorpions were to recognize him, and live
to tell the tale, his efforts to rise within their ranks would have proven to
have been for naught.
Another ominous rumble of thunder roared through the dark sky, as Li closed
the door and returned to take a seat alongside Wen-chi.
"How is she, my son? The woman with whom you live?"
"Ming-tsu? She is well, father." Li Chang blushed to think what the
venerable gentleman would have made of the way in which he had ravished his
teasing mistress only last night. How he had thrust his rock-hard manhood into
the deliciously soft valley between her luscious breasts again and again and
again. How he had climaxed in an explosion that was for him not unlike the
titanic volcanic eruption on Krakatoa not so long ago. How he had spilled his
molten man-lava on the peaks of her deliciously well-oiled breasts and watched
the thick streams ooze down those majestic slopes...
Wen-chi was looking at him strangely. Li Chang shook his head to clear
it. There were times when he sensed that the wise old man could read his mind.
"One day," he smiled to Wen-chi, "when it is safe, you shall meet her.
After we have swept the last of the Scorpions into the sewers."
"I pray that I may live to celebrate that victory with you, Li Chang. It is
a day that I have longed for for many years."
The old man's face seemed lined with worry tonight. "This morning I was
thinking of how you came to my house, as a thief. Do you remember?
"Of course, father, but I was only a child ... a hungry child."
"To be sure, my son. Confucius summed up the first part of your life when
he taught, "The love of daring, inflamed by poverty, leads to crime."
"It is so," admitted Li Chang.
"Do you remember how the Master continued that admonition?"
"No, father."
"With these words, Li Chang. 'A man without love, if deeply ill-treated,
will turn to crime'. Be careful always, my son, that the second part of your
life does not, as your childhood did, prove the wisdom of those ancient words."
And with that pronouncement, the old man sank back in his chair.
A minute or two later, Liu returned with a marvelous dish of chicken,
scallions, black mushrooms and ginger. They ate quietly, commenting on the
unseasonable rainstorm that was pelting down on the tile roof of Wen-chi's home.
Li, anxious to take his mind off how the Blue Squadron would fare in their
encounter with the Black Scorpions, challenged Wen-chi to a game of chess after
Liu had cleared the dishes.
"Western or Chinese, Li Chang? It is for you to choose."
"Let us play European chess tonight, father; Wen-chi was one of the few
Chinese who had learned the western form of the game. Wen-chi had learned the
game from a book by an Englishman named Staunton who had once been the finest
player in the world. Wen-chi had taught Li Chang the game as a youngster,
explaining to him that mastery of chess required planning, imagination,
thoroughness and subtlety -- the four cornerstones of leadership. Over the
years they had spent hundreds of evenings playing together.
Although they played by western rules, the pieces were carved in images
from Chinese culture. The King was the Emperor, the Queen, his consort. The
bishops were courtiers, the knights were mounted warriors, and the rooks were
carved to represent battlements on the Great Wall. Each of the eight pawns on
each side depicted a different type of artisan -- a mason, a glass-blower, a
jeweler, and so on.
The two men were soon lost in thought in their game, only occasionally
looking up as Liu moved gracefully around the room dusting and re-arranging the
numerous curios and objets d'art that made Wen-chi's salon such an inviting
haven. Li Chang resolved to try to spend more time with the old man -- he would
not be around forever.
Li was quite a strong player and had the slight advantage of the white
pieces, but the old man, despite his great age, slowly got the upper hand in the
game, applying steady pressure on the queen's side, and eventually forcing the
win of a critical pawn.
Some time later, Li was defending a difficult endgame when there was a loud
knock at the door. "Ah! It must be Luk Yee, father. Excuse me for a moment."
Li went to the door, expecting to find his friend jubilant. But instead he
found Luk Yee dripping wet in the doorway, a look of consternation on his face.
"What is wrong, my friend? Did things not go well?"
"Something went wrong, Li. The Scorpions did not come."
"But Richard Chan himself told me that they would come tonight ... it is
not possible. He was adamant about silencing Zhong the printer."
"I believe you, Li. Yet they did not come."
As Li mentally reviewed the course of events, he could only come to one
conclusion. Somehow the lord of the Black Pagoda must have come to suspect that
he, Li Chang, was somehow involved in the recent deaths and disappearances of
so many of his men. And that the "attack' on Zhong had been nothing but a ruse,
a trap. And he had fallen into it. Like a child.
When Li explained his conclusions to Luk Yee, his friend said, "Li, if they
suspect you, you must leave the city. If you were to be caught and killed, our
movement would be strangled in its cradle. We cannot afford to lose you
permanently. Go, flee! Hide somewhere, anywhere! In a few weeks or months you
can come back when it is safe. Please. I beg you!"
Li Chang considered his friend's advice; he was loath to leave in such a
crisis, but perhaps this was an occasion that called out for discretion more
than valor.
Returning to the salon he said, "Father, something important has come up.
I must leave; we shall have to finish our game another time."
"Very well, my son. I was growing tired anyway. I think I shall retire
now. Your skill at the game has quite worn me out,' he smiled beneficently and
slowly turned to make his way toward his bedchamber.
"Goodnight, father." Then turning toward the beautiful dark-haired young
woman with frightened eyes, "Liu, I am sorry, but we must go."
As Li hurried to the door, Liu could see the grave expression on his face.
"Li," she asked in a worried voice, "what is wrong?"
Trying to speak calmly he told her, "I must leave the city, Liu, at least
for a while. There is a ferry that leaves at midnight for Taipei and I shall be
on it. I will write you and your grandfather as soon as I am able."
Liu's eyes were brimming with tears. "Li, be careful, please. I..." she
caught herself, "we ... shall miss you."
"And I shall miss you both." Li gave her a soft kiss on the cheek and was
surprised at the fervor with which she embraced him. "Do not speak of this to
your grandfather for a few days. He seems so frail tonight. I don't want to
alarm him."
"Yes, Li, I understand. May my father's spirit watch over you."
"With his blessing, I am sure I will be safe from all harm," Li smiled.
There was no sense in alarming her any more than necessary. But the Scorpions
were no doubt looking for him already.
"Li Chang, you must go! Quickly!" Luk Yee begged from the doorway.
"Yes, my friend, I am coming." Li kissed Liu on the cheek again, breathing
in one last time the faint scent of fresh flowers that seemed always to
accompany her. "Goodbye, Liu," he whispered as he stepped out into the downpour.
"My love goes with you always, Li," she said softly under her breath as he
hurried toward the street, but her words were swallowed in the storm.
Li and Luk Yee had only gotten a few hundred yards from Wen-chi's house
when Li turned to his friend. "Luk Yee -- you must do me this favor -- go to
the house of Ming-tsu -- it is near the club I took you to that time -- and tell
her that I have had to leave the city suddenly. Please -- she will be worried
about me, when I do not return tonight.
As Luk Yee turned to go in the opposite direction, Li called after him,
"Thank you, my friend," before hurrying off.
******
A little later, Liu, fresh from her bath, sat in front of a mirror in her
bedchamber on the second floor, brushing her long, lustrous, black hair in the
nightly ritual she that she had performed a thousand times. She wore only a
thin shift around her freshly scrubbed and freshly scented young body. When she
had applied the last of a hundred brush strokes to her hair she looked into the
mirror quizzically, wondering why the one man in the world she wanted seemed to
be so indifferent to her feelings.
As the rain continued to pelt down noisily outside she asked herself -- Was
she not fair? Were not her eyes as dark and brown as another's? Were her soft
lips not welcoming enough? Was her smooth-honey gold complexion not as clear as
any woman's in Shanghai? Was her skin not as soft, her body not as youthfully
slim and sensual, the secret place between her velvety thighs not as moist and
warm as any woman's?
Suddenly she heard a commotion in the street below the window of her
bedchamber, and then a pounding on the door. Picking up a lamp she ran to the
window to see four strange men outside in the rain, and one of them, the
largest, knocking furiously at the door.
A goateed, balding, black-garbed figure below saw her silhouette in the
window. "We have news about Li Chang! Come quickly! Open the door!"
A shudder of alarm coursed through her slender body as Liu raced down the
staircase, heedless of the fact that she was wearing only the thin thigh-length
chemise. She opened the door a crack to see a heavy-set man with a goatee
alongside a tall, ugly man with a gap between his yellowing upper teeth.
"There's been a fight, miss," the bald man said in a gruff voice. "Li
Chang has been hurt. Let us in."
"Oh, no!" she explained with alarm. "Come, tell me." She quickly unlocked
door and moments later the foursome of dripping men burst in. Liu backed away
from them, frightened by the nature of their entrance. She knew that Li Chang
was engaged in some form of clandestine activity, but she did not know these
men.
"This must be the girl," Gap-tooth said to the huge mountain of a man who
had pounded on the door. "We'll watch her. Take the boy and find the old man."
"But what about Li Chang?" Liu asked terrified, as the big man and his
young, slender companion brushed her aside. As he passed, her the 'boy', a
pimply-faced lad of about sixteen, let his eyes rove freely over her body,
making her uncomfortably conscious of the fact that she was naked under the thin
chemise. "Are his injuries serious?"
"We are to take you to him, miss," the bald one observed. His rain-slick
skull and sinister black goatee gave him a demonic appearance. "You and the old
man."
"Very well," Liu said, trying to calm herself, "let me throw something on."
And she turned to climb the stairs to her bedroom. But she felt the powerful
grip of the gap-toothed man grab her arm and hold her fast.
"Owww!"
"There is no time for that, miss." And then as his confederates returned
with a newly-woken Wen-chi in tow, Gap-tooth leered at her, his eyes frankly
exploring the proud thrust of her firm young breasts beneath the sheer wrapper.
"Besides, you won't be needing no clothes where we're taking you!"
"Let me go!" Liu cried out, but the grip of the gap-toothed man only
tightened. "Where are you taking us?"
"Should we tell her, Feng?" Gap-tooth asked the bald squadron leader.
An evil smile spread across the ugly face of the stocky black-garbed
visitor, as he admired the slim figure of his captive "To hell, my little
beauty. We are taking you to hell!"
Then turning to his three comrades, he said, "Let's go; they're waiting for
us."
