Chapter 22

The Emperor’s Army

“Hong Mei?” Ryan called. “I’m coming to help you.”

“I am here, Ryan,” Hong Mei said.

He made his way toward her voice.

“I’ve tried pushing and it didn’t do any good,” she said.

Ryan reached up and felt around, his fingers looking for cracks and loose rock. He wished he had something sharp that he could use to chisel with. That’s what they needed. A chisel and hammer like sculptors used.

“Ryan?” he heard Alex approaching. “Can I help?”

“Yes. Let’s all try,” Hong Mei said.

Together, the three of them put their hands flat against the stone. “Yi, er, san!” Hong Mei called out and they heaved against the barrier.

They stopped when they saw that they had made no headway. Alex asked in a small voice, “Will we really run out of air?”

“No,” Ryan replied. “We’ll figure something out.”

“Ching Long was only trying to scare us,” Hong Mei said gently. “We have come this far. We will find a way.”

“Right,” Ryan said. “What time is it anyway? I can’t see my watch.”

Hong Mei said, “Mine says: 8:17:21.”

“What’s that in real time?” Alex asked.

Ryan pictured a clock face and counted backward from midnight. Was it nearly quarter to four already? He tried to keep his voice steady, “I think it’s sometime in the afternoon,” he said, thinking that wouldn’t alarm Alex as much as saying it was nearly four o’clock.

“Exactly what time, Ryan?” Alex asked.

“Three-forty-five,” he said softly.

“Let us not think of the time,” Hong Mei said. “Let us concentrate on a plan.”

The three of them sat quietly. Ryan thought about what he could use to chisel away the stone. Perhaps his belt buckle would help. Or his peppermint tin. He reached into his pockets. Not there. Oh, right. He’d put it down when he was tying his shoe next to the statues of the Emperor and his family. His wife and two sons, just like Alex and him. Royal sons. Heirs to the throne. Huh? That meant that, in a way, the Emperor’s army was their army, too.

“I’ve got it!” Ryan practically shouted. “I’ve got an idea.”

“What?” Alex asked. Ryan could hear the hope in his brother’s voice.

“Let’s try asking the army to help us,” he said confidently.

“The army?” Alex and Hong Mei asked in unison.

“Yeah. We’re heirs to the throne, remember? They’ve got to listen to our command.”

“They’re made of clay,” Alex said.

“I know that,” Ryan said. “But stranger things have happened. Remember us being sent here by Master Chen’s box? The train from Hong Kong? Hong Mei ending up at Madam Ching’s? Papa talking to us just a while ago?”

“We had the box and the jade for all those things,” Hong Mei said. “I do not believe the army can help us without them.”

“Can’t we just try?” Ryan asked.

They didn’t answer him.

“Do you have any better ideas?” Ryan asked.

Hong Mei said. “He is right, Alex. Let us try.”

“Okay. So what do we do?” Alex asked.

“I was thinking that since I’m the eldest, I would be the first in line, right?” Ryan asked.

“Yes, that is correct,” Hong Mei said. “So you should be the one to tell the army to help us.”

Was this really going to work? What should he say?

“Doesn’t he have to say it in Chinese?” Alex asked.

Did he? Yeah, Ryan guessed so. He thought about which words to use. He knew how to say help and Emperor. “How do I say army and heir in Mandarin?” he asked Hong Mei.

She told him and he cleared his throat. “I, Ryan Wong, heir of your Emperor, command you to help us. Release us from the royal chamber.”

The three of them sat expectantly.

“Try it again, but louder this time,” Alex said.

Ryan said the words over again, but much louder.

There was still no sound of movement from the mouth of the tunnel.

“Perhaps you should both say the words,” Hong Mei said.

“My Chinese isn’t good enough,” Alex said. “I can’t speak it like Ryan can.”

“You just have to say a few words,” Ryan said. “I’ve heard your Mandarin. It sounds better than you think.”

“Well,” he said. “If you think I can.”

“Yes,” Ryan said, “I know you can. Let’s say it a couple of times before we shout it out.”

He and Alex repeated the sentence twice, and then, on the third time, raised their voices and called out, “We, Ryan and Alexander Wong, heirs of your Emperor, command you to help us. Release us!”

The earthen floor trembled and there was a sound of stone scraping on stone. Ryan felt new air waft into the room.

“It worked,” Alex yelped, jumping up. “Let’s go!”

“After you,” Ryan said to Hong Mei.

“You did it,” she said, moving to him.

Ryan heard the surprise in her voice. As she walked past him, he caught her hand in his. She squeezed his fingers and tugged his hand for him to follow her.

When the three of them stood outside the royal chamber, they looked at the huge pile of broken clay and stone.

Alex said the words that they were all probably thinking. “I don’t know if we would’ve got out without the army’s help.”

None of them said anything.

Finally Hong Mei looked up at the few skylights in the hangar. “It’s getting dark. We had better find our way out and go to the river. Madam Ching must be waiting there for Black Dragon.”

•~•

By the time they got outside and stood on the steps at the entrance of the tomb, it was those few short minutes between nearly dark and dark.

The three of them shivered in the twilight. Which way was the river: north, south, east or west?

“We need to go north,” Hong Mei said.

“How do you know?” Ryan asked. “Have you been here before?”

“Not to this part of Xian, but I’ve been to where the old palace stood. I know a little about feng-shui and how people, particularly an emperor, would have had his homes set up. We are now on Lishan Mountain. According to tradition, the Emperor was buried in the eye of a dragon-like shape. The river should be to the north of us.”

“How far north?” Alex asked.

“That, I don’t know,” she said.

“Well, let’s get going,” Ryan said.

“Do you think if we see anything to eat along the way, we can pick something up?” Alex asked.

“Yes,” Hong Mei said. “Do you like Chinese food?” she asked.

“Not really, but I’ll eat anything right about now,” Alex said.