

Dragon's Pupils

The Sword Guest

Martin Chu Shui
Dragon's Pupils – the Sword Guest

Copyright 2009 by Martin Chu Shui

Smashwords Edition

For my father

Prologue

Fifth Century, China.

Zhang lifted his calligraphy pen from the south wall of Anle temple, stepped back, stroked his long white beard, and smiled. He had been painting for three months, and now he had finally completed the last scale on the last dragon on the last wall of the temple.

'What a masterpiece!' the chief monk of Anle temple exclaimed. 'Master Zhang, these have to be the best dragons you ever painted.' He accompanied Zhang, followed by a large procession of monks, around the temple's walls, now stepping back to see each of the four ferocious creatures in full, now leaning close to inspect the exquisite features such as a curve of a spur or a filmy twist of steam.

Following along the dragon's long wangled tangled body, the group reached the end of the west wall, where the dragon met the dragonhead stretched around the corner from the south wall.

'Look at these talons—they could definitely cut your finger,' said one monk.

'You could almost pull their whiskers,' said another.

'Master Zhang, how many dragons have you painted in your life time?' asked the chief monk.

'Well,' Zhang stroked his beard. 'Today I finished my ninety-ninth.'

'Ninety-nine dragons! Truly incredible! I'll apply for the Emperor's permission to rename the temple the "Four Dragon Temple".'

The chef monk heard a quiet babble behind him. He turned around. 'What's the matter?'

A young monk in his early twenties blushed. 'Sorry, chief monk and master Zhang. I just noticed that there are no pupils on these two dragons.'

'What? Let me have a look.' The chief monk stepped forward, staring at the dragons' eyes from only inches away. 'Yes, you are right; there are no pupils in their eyes. Master Zhang, could you please explain?'

Zhang looked at the cloudless blue sky for a few seconds, and then said slowly, 'I haven't forgotten to paint their pupils. If I did, they would fly away.'

Surprised noises rose from the crowd of monks.

'Please be quiet,' the Chief Monk said. 'Master Zhang, we cannot have pupil-less dragons on our temple walls. You know the Emperor visits annually. It would be unforgivable if the emperor noticed the error...'

'Chief Monk, it is not an error; the dragons would fly away if I painted their pupils.'

More noise rose from the crowd.

The chief monk raised his hand for quiet. 'Master Zhang, as the chief monk of Anle temple, I formally request that you paint the dragons' pupils.'

Zhang looked at the endless blue sky for a long time, and then sighed. 'All right, I'll do it; but be prepared.' Taking out his calligraphy pen, he made four rapid strokes on the wall.

As soon as the pupils appeared in the dragons' eyes, they winked and twisted their whiskers a bit; large chunky rain clouds gathered in the blue sky, and the two dragons wiggled their bodies.

A bright bolt of lightning struck the walls, and they crumbled. The two dragons shook themselves and leapt into sky, against the heavy grey rain. There was a roar of wind and a howl of thunder, and they disappeared into the dark clouds.

The two walls with the pupil-less dragons remained intact.
Part one

1

Saturday Morning

Perth, Western Australia

'Time to go!' Henry knocked on Liz's bedroom door.

Turning her bedside light on, Liz glanced at her clock. 'In a minute!' Eyes closed, she dragged herself to the edge of her bed, searching the floor with her feet. A couple of minutes later, holding her shoes and a pair of socks, she walked downstairs slowly. While Henry held the flyscreen door open waiting patiently for his twin, Liz sat on the floor and put on her socks and sneakers.

'Ready?' said Henry.

'Yeah, let's go.'

It was very foggy. Along the Swan River, jogging on the damp grass, Liz could only see five metres ahead. Through the heavy mists drifting above the water, a large flock of black swans emerged.

It was strange. Liz had never seen so many black swans before. Then, along the river bank, more and more birds came into sight—hundreds of pelicans, black water birds, seagulls, and ducks. What was going on here? These birds usually came out here at dusk, and in summer, not winter! Then she saw the reason—hundreds of little fish had jumped out of water and were flopping on the riverbank; the birds were having a feast.

Henry pointed at the birds. 'What's going on?'

Before Liz opened her mouth, a blast of screeching heralded a large group of white parrots swooping down at them.

No time to think but act. Throwing herself to the ground, burying her face in the grass and crossing her arms behind her neck to protect her head, Liz felt the breeze from hundreds of fluttering wings only inches away. The noise was deafening.

A few minutes later, although it felt like eternity, the world became quiet again.

'This is mad! Fortunate I...we both reacted so quickly; otherwise God knows what would have happened to us!' Henry spat out bits of grass and gave Liz a hand up.

Liz stared at the clusters of birds fighting for a share of the suicidal fish, said. "Yes I agree with you that something was wrong with those parrots: we haven't seen them for months, and there have never been so many of them and being so aggressive."

'We'd better go.' Henry said.

They resumed their jogging.

Across the Narrows Bridge and across the overhead pathway they ran, up the steep hill of Kings Park. It was hard to keep jogging on the zigzag uphill paths. After reaching the hilltop near the war memorial, Liz and Henry bent, hands on their knees, panting heavily. When they raised their heads again, the river, the bridge, and Perth city were nowhere to be seen. The only thing in sight was the mist drifting over the hill.

'We're already five minutes late.' Henry glanced at his watch trying to encourage Liz to hurry up.

'I heard you,' said Liz.

They jogged downhill towards a flat grassy area, and Li Ping and Sue materialised from the fog when they were only a few metres away. 'Sorry we're late,' panted Liz.

'It's all right," said Li Ping. "We've only been here a couple of minutes. Shall we start?'

While Li Ping walked among them, Liz, Sue and Henry started the slow, graceful Tai Chi movements, moving smoothly from the 'Immortal Crane Stretching Her Wings' to 'Wild Horse Galloping'; then from 'Single Arrow Shooting Two Eagles' to 'Fishing Moon from the Bottom of the Sea'. In the next hour, they accomplished the seventy-two cycles of Tai Chi.

'You are doing very well,' Li told Henry, 'but recently you seem to have been losing your concentration a bit during class. Can you tell me why?'

'We've been doing this Tai Chi for so many years, and now we've mastered all cycles you taught us, so it's a bit boring. I wish that I could learn something more exciting, like hand to hand combat skills.'

'Henry, you may think you have mastered all seventy-two cycles of Tai Chi, but I haven't even started to teach you the real stuff yet.'

'What do you mean?'

'Do you know that Tai Chi can be used in real combat? Moreover, it is far more powerful than any other martial art you have ever heard about.'

'You must be joking; these slow moves can be used in real combat?'

The fog had become much thinner, so now they could see quite a distance. Henry pointed at a tree near the footpath. 'Look at that dog; it's climbed a tree.'

Li turned around. 'That is a bit strange.'

'I almost forgot.' Liz told Li about the strange behaviour of birds and fish earlier that morning.

The smile faded from Li's face. She counted on her fingers, mumbling words that Liz did not understand; Mandarin, she assumed. A few minutes later, Li said. 'That is all for today; I'll have to fly to Beijing tonight, but I should be back in a couple of days. Hopefully, we can still have our class next Saturday.'

'Are you going to teach us combat Tai Chi next weekend?' Henry asked.

'Wait and see.' Li left.

'I thought Li Ping was flying to Beijing on Tuesday,' Sue said.

'That's what I thought. Sue, I feel so tired...'

'If you'd gone to bed a bit earlier last night, you'd have had more sleep,' Henry interrupted.

'I had so much homework. I never have time to do it all, because I have so many after-school activities.'

'Maybe you should drop some of them,' Sue said.

'That's what I thought; actually I'm thinking of dropping Tai Chi class...' Liz's voice trailed off.

'What? Are you serious? You can't do that to Sue and me! Remember the combat Tai Chi?'

'Henry, stop it. Liz, I have the same problem. My mother actually suggested dropping the dancing class.'

'But you want to be a model...' Liz said.

'Mum doesn't think it's a good career for me.'

Liz glanced at her watch. 'Let's talk about this another day. Anyway, see you at the tree planting this afternoon.'

As Liz and Henry walked in the door, their parents came downstairs, seemingly ready to go out.

'Happy birthday, sweeties, I can't believe that you're fourteen years old!' Their mother hugged Liz and then Henry.

'Happy birthday,' Liz's father patted her head and then Henry's shoulder.

'Thanks, Dad.'

'Dad and I are going to a swap meet (similar to car boot sale). Oh, I almost forgot; Dad's going to cook a Sichuan banquet for your birthday tonight.'

Oh, no—not a Chinese meal for her birthday, particularly her father's cooking! And he didn't even have the courage to tell her directly. Liz shook her head and went upstairs to have a shower.

'A dozen scholars have gone missing from a conference in London...still under investigation...' Pushing his empty plate aside, Henry read the newspaper while engulfing a large bowlful of rice bubbles, cornflakes, and soymilk.

'Here's more news: rare parrots have been spotted near Wave Rock—they were supposed to be extinct two hundred years ago... Hang on, I can't believe this—the government has approved the mining project!' He pounded his fist on the table so hard that the contents of his bowl splashed over the newspaper.

'I already knew.' Liz did not raise her head from her part of the newspaper.

'So what should we do? Just sit here and watch the multinational mining companies destroying another Aboriginal sacred site, and cutting down more forests? How can you sit there so calmly?'

'Calm down, little brother. Sue told me that Fred has already organised a protest in front of the State Parliament House during lunchtime this Monday.'

'Thank God for that. Why didn't you tell me earlier? Where was I when Sue told you?'

'It was yesterday. I forgot to tell you. Please forgive me, little brother.'

'Can you please stop calling me "little brother"? It embarrasses me in front of others. I'm fourteen years old, for God's sake. You're only a few minutes older than me.'

'All right, I promise I won't call you "little brother" again, little brother... whoops, slip of the tongue.'

'So tell me, what exactly are the arrangements for the Monday protests? When, where, and who are going to join the action?'

'I really don't know. Sue didn't tell me any details; she had to rush home.'

Henry was going to say something but stopped. He was staring through the sliding glass door. 'Mice!' They both ran towards the door. In amazement, they watched the mice, dozen of them, scurry across the yard and disappear in a hole under the fence.

'Wow! Boy! I've never seen so many mice at once,' exclaimed Henry.

It was even more astonishing to Liz that their cat simply sat and watched the mice walking under her nose. 'What's wrong with Molly? She's just sitting there and watching.'

'Maybe she's become a vegetarian,' joked Henry.

Liz laughed, and was about to reply when she heard screaming. She dashed to the front door, and burst out, Henry hot on her heels.

'Go away, go away, go away!' Sue's hands covered her eyes; her feet in elegant pastel joggers stamped, and her voice rose higher with every word. At her feet a group of mice scurried around her and across the driveway. Henry laughed.

'Stop it, Henry.' Liz put an arm around Sue's shoulder. 'It's all right, just some harmless mice. They're gone now.'

'Ooh, I hate mice! Are you sure they're all gone?' Sue peeped through her fingers and put her hands down, looking around as if she feared a mouse ambush.

'Come inside. Would you like a glass of water?' No sooner were they inside than Sue started screaming again. This time Liz was inclined to join her.

'What's wrong with you? It's just a cockroach.' Henry got a handful of paper towels from the kitchen, and picked up the huge cockroach; at least four inches long, and threw it into the garden, where it scurried under a bush. 'All done.'

'Aren't you going to wash your hands?'

'Later. What's up?'

Sue took a deep breath. 'Fred just found out that the mining company is going to open the mine this afternoon.'

'What do you mean, open the mine?'

'They're going to blow up Wave Rock.'

'What?' Liz and Henry shouted at the same time.

'Yes. So Fred and other EPP (Environmental Protection Party) members are going out there to protest, and they'll be here to pick us up at quarter to nine.'

'That's right now.' Henry stared at his watch. 'Right, let's go.'

'But we haven't told Mum and Dad,' said Liz.

'How do we do that? They don't even have a mobile phone. Just write them a note. They always agree with us,' replied Henry.

Liz scribbled a note while he grabbed water bottles and a pack. 'Are you going in those clothes, Sue?'

Sue looked down at her miniskirt and cute little top. 'They're the latest fashion.'

'Grab a pair of old jeans from my room. You can't go to a protest like that.' Liz saw Sue about to argue, and added, 'They might get dusty.'

'Oh. Right.' Sue disappeared, and returned in an old pair of jeans and a baggy T-shirt. A toot came from the road.

'Let's go.' Henry burst out of the door, the girls close behind. Liz looked at Sue, who was tying her hair back. Once she decided to do something, she didn't do it half-heartedly. It was one of the things Liz liked about her.

Liz grinned. 'Let's have an adventure.'
2

Wave Rock

The Four-Wheel-Drive-tourist bus was full of members of EPP. Liz was impressed that Fred had been able to hire the bus and gather so many people in such a short time. He was so efficient. Henry and Sue found seats together at the back, and the only place left was right next to Fred himself, who was driving. Liz slid into it, feeling shy. Fred smiled at her and she felt herself blushing. She was glad when he turned away again and concentrated on the road. Sue and Henry talked and giggled in the back seats, but everyone else was quiet for most of the long drive. Liz was glad she didn't have to make conversation, because every time she was near Fred, her tongue tied up in knots, or said the most stupid things that made her groan inside. He's just Sue's big brother, she told herself, but it made no difference.

Her hands were in the wrong place. She crossed her arms; it seemed an aggressive gesture. She moved her hands beside her hips, but felt very silly. Her face burned. She was sure Fred was laughing at her.

Pretending to look at something on the far side of the road, Liz glanced at Fred. His handsome face looked very serious, his eyes focusing on the road. He might not have noticed what she was doing after all. Liz felt a bit easier and sat up, but at the same time, she felt quite disappointed. Whenever Fred looked at her, he was always serious. She had heard people say that Fred could become the youngest senator in Australian history, and that he might become Australian president—assuming Australia would be a republic one day. No wonder he had a sort of business-like manner. Liz couldn't blame him; and besides, the only things she could ever talk to him about without embarrassing herself were environmental activities, like tree planting, or cleaning rubbish along the coast. He looked at her seriously then, and spoke to her seriously.

Liz wished that he would look at her in a different way, even in the way he looked at his sister. Sometimes, Liz felt jealous of Sue, who was able to laugh and joke with Fred. Sometimes they even wrestled together. Liz sighed.

The strange morning fog lifted as they drove south. They moved through the forested hills to York, and slid through the quiet Saturday streets. As the bus slowed coming to a STOP sign, Liz noticed a turtle near the lamp-post. Its head slowly stretched out of its shell, and it started crawling across the road. Cars roared forward, only centimetres away. The poor turtle contracted its head and legs back to its shell.

'Let me help it,' said Liz.

'Liz, I understand your feeling towards the turtle,' Fred smiled at her. 'I feel the same. Unfortunately, we don't have time to help it; trust me, it'll be all right.'

'Look! More!' Without meaning to, she pulled the lever that opened the door and jumped out. There were loads of them. She picked up two and carried them across the street to the grassy bank leading to the river. Behind her she heard footsteps as other EPP members climbed out and helped other turtles across. In a few minutes the work was done; everyone piled back into the bus and it drove off. Fred gave her a measured nod.

'You were right, Liz. Sometimes I forget that small things are important too.' Liz looked at her hands, folded comfortably in her lap, and settled contentedly in her seat.

A few kilometres later they passed a huge red kangaroo, dead at the side of the road. Then another, and another. The protesters, who had begun to talk a bit after the turtle incident, fell silent as they passed body after body.

'I didn't know so many cars used this road,' said Liz in a small voice.

'They don't, usually,' said Fred. 'Or so many kangaroos, either.' He slowed down a bit. 'If a roo jumps out, all you can do is run straight into it. Otherwise you can skid and kill people.'

'Are people more important than kangaroos?' Liz asked. Fred smiled at her, but didn't answer; he was slowing and turning off onto a forest track. As the bus made the turn, Liz saw police cars and flashing lights in the distance.

The road was unsealed, just wide enough for the bus to drive on, and rough. Liz clung to her seat as they bumped and tilted along the narrow road. Now she understood why Fred was using a four-wheel drive bus.

They jolted along for almost an hour, and Liz felt her insides would never untangle. Just as she decided they would never reach Wave Rock, the forest fell away and, as suddenly as scenes changed in the movies, vast red desert dotted with low shrubby bushes appeared. The bus turned, driving along the edge of red gum forest.

A group of kangaroos burst out of the forest in front of them. Fred braked sharply. Something thudded against the bumper. Fred stopped and climbed out; from his expression, Liz guessed that no kangaroo had been killed. Then, as he climbed back into the driver's seat, hundreds of kangaroos bounded out of the forest into the red desert. Emus, the fastest running birds on earth, sprinted among them, and on the red sandy ground geckos, goannas, and blue tongue lizards crawled; black-headed pythons, tiger snakes, and dugites zigzagged; wombats, quokkas, wallabies, bush rats, echidnas, bandicoots, made a moving carpet rolling out across the vast red sand. Above, rainbow lorikeets, white cockatoos, crimson rosellas, tawny frogmouth owls, wedge-tailed eagles, and thousands of other birds darkened the bright sky and made thunder with their wings.

The bus became dark. All Liz could hear were grunts and scrapes and flapping and panting.

Twenty minutes later, the animals were gone as if they had never existed.

'What's going on?' asked Sue, who had crept forward and had an arm over her brother's shoulder as she stared at the dust cloud the animals had raised.

'It must be an earthquake coming. I read about it somewhere; whenever a disaster's going to happen, animals escape like this. They have an instinct for sensing danger beforehand, and humans don't,' said Henry.

'But Western Australia's never had an earthquake,' said Liz.

'Then it must be a volcano eruption, except we don't have any. No, I've got it—t has to be a bushfire,' stated Henry.

'Bushfires happen here all the time, but when did you see animals behaving like this?' said Liz.

'It must be a _massive_ bushfire,' replied Henry.

'Well, whatever it is, we have to do what we have to do.' Fred started the bus again, and everyone breathed the fresh moving air with relief.

Approaching Wave Rock, Liz wondered whether she would dare to fight the police if they tried to arrest her. Her stomach sank when she imagined being dragged into a police car. She imagined her parents watching her being arrested on television, and wished she had been able to speak to them before she came. They would worry.

'Here we are,' Fred said, and the bus stopped with a jerk, pulling her out of her thoughts. She glanced around.

They were not the first to arrive. A small group of protesters had already chained themselves together and was chanting and waving placards.

'Animal rights party,' Fred told her, waving at the woman who seemed to be in charge. 'This way, everyone, and bring the chains.' He led the EPP group forward, and they joined themselves to the chained group. A television helicopter hovered overhead, and then came down to land in a storm of dust. When Liz could see again, another group had arrived.

'Look,' she said to Henry, who was chained next to her. 'That's Professor Smith.'

'Who?' asked Sue, on her other side.

'Professor Smith. I met him at an environmental rally once; he's a specialist in ancient religions and stuff. And that old man, next to him, isn't that Mr. Dingo? The one who came to our school and talked to us about Aboriginal spirituality?'

'So it is,' said Henry. 'Wonder what they're doing here?'

'Well, this is a sacred Aboriginal site, so perhaps they're protesting too,' said Sue. She flipped her hair. 'Do you think we'll be on television, because my hair's a mess?'

But before the cameras could roll, a group of soldiers arrived, and things got hectic. Bolt-cutters appeared, and the line of protesters rolled and wriggled to make things difficult. Liz was vaguely aware of more people arriving, and scuffling and cursing as soldiers tried to clear people out and cordon off the area. The bolt-cutters came nearer and nearer; Henry had been cut free, and was being hauled to the back of an army truck. Liz twisted and heaved, trying to stop the soldier getting a grip on the chain, but she too was cut away and dragged to the truck. She had dust in her eyes. She heard Henry's angry voice yell, 'Take your hands off me', and turned around, seeing two soldiers pinning Henry in the red dust.

'Let him go!' Liz forgot her fear about fighting with police, and leapt onto the back of the soldier nearest her, kicking and punching. Then she felt herself lifted off and held in a strong grasp.

'Please let him go. We're on our way home.' Fred spoke calmly.

'Let him go? He's under arrest for assaulting a NSF soldier,' one of soldiers said, wiping blood from his mouth.

'I didn't assault anybody. You grabbed me and pushed me first,' Henry shouted, spitting red dust out of his mouth, and tried to punch the soldier. Fred grabbed him with his free hand and hauled him away.

'Stop it!' Fred told him. He turned to the officer in charge of the soldiers. 'Please let him go, and I guarantee that I'll take him and the rest of my group away without any more trouble.'

'Release him,' the officer barked. 'And now you lot get out of here!'

Fred led the twins to the bus, and gathered up the rest of the EPP members. Henry wiped his mouth with his sleeve. 'If Li had taught me combat Tai Chi they never would have got me.'

'Just as well, then,' said Liz tartly. Henry gave her a dirty look and headed for the back of the bus, where Sue was already sitting. Fred started the engine. 'What was Professor Smith doing here?' she asked him.

He shrugged. 'I didn't get to speak to him, but someone said he tried to kill himself and the soldiers stopped him.'

'My God!' Liz was shocked. Professor Smith must have been really upset about something to go that far. She hoped that he hadn't done it in front of the news cameras, or there would have to be a lot of explaining to anxious parents when she got home. She sat in silence all the way, wondering what, if anything, they had accomplished.
3

Birthday

Liz and Henry arrived home just before dinnertime. Her dad had spent the whole day preparing the meal, and Sue was invited to have dinner with them.

'Liz, thanks for leaving us the note; otherwise, I'd've had no idea where you were,' Liz's mother said.

'I'm sorry, Mum...'

'It's all right this time, but next time when you embark on such a big adventure, I'd like to know beforehand.'

'I promise.'

Liz felt enormous relief that her mother didn't ask what happened at Wave Rock. She tried to justify her action because of the urgency of the event, but deep down she knew that she should have got permission from her parents first; after all, she and Henry were only fourteen. She promised herself that she would not be so thoughtless again.

Liz and Sue went upstairs to clean up.

'Sue, I'm sorry you have to endure tonight's dinner. You know you could say no and I wouldn't be offended at all.'

'It's not a problem. I enjoy your dad's spicy dishes; they're a good change from my mother's cooking.'

'I don't mind Dad's cooking so much as the ye olde China stuff that goes with it, all the Tao wisdom and ancient folk tales and stuff. I wish he would be more Australian.'

'Well, I like your dad. He's sort of... quaint. And I like those stories. They always seem to mean something more, just under the surface out of sight.'

Liz groaned. 'Well, you're welcome to them. Would you like to use the bathroom first, then we'll go down and listen to the tale of the old man or the young girl and the horse or the chicken or the river, and eat moo shoo pork or something.'

Sue poked her tongue out at her on her way to the shower.

'Honey, these dishes smell wonderful!' Liz's mum announced as the family gathered around the table later that evening.

'Be honest, Dad's cooking has been quite good and consistent recently,' said Henry.

'They look so colourful,' said Sue. They picked up their chopsticks and dug in.

'This fish fragrant pork is the best you ever cooked,' Henry commented around a mouthful of the spicy pork dish. 'I like the aroma of the mixed but still distinguishable flavours of chilli, garlic, ginger, and spring onions, not to mention the melt-in-your-mouth meat strings.'

'Enough professional comment from you,' his mother said.

'I like this tofu dish, but I wish that you hadn't put beef mince in so I wouldn't have to separate it from the tofu every time,' said Liz. She caught Sue grinning at her and smiled back. 'But it is delicious anyway. Thanks, Dad.'

Afterwards, in the living room, Liz and Henry unwrapped their birthday presents. Last of all was one from their father. He gave Liz a small rectangular package and Henry a large rectangular one. From the shape of Henry's package, Liz guessed that it was books. Probably more Tao wisdom, she thought, like the ones they had got last year. Each twin still had them, untouched, on the bookshelves in their bedrooms.

Henry pretended to be surprised when he opened his package. It was a book about Chinese philosophy. He thanked his father, and put the books on the coffee table. Liz wondered if her poor father realised that they had never, and would never, read the books he gave to them. She felt a little guilty, and decided to put more effort into being surprised and delighted by his gift. She opened the package carefully, trying not to tear the paper, and uncovered a dark green silk-covered box. She hugged her father. 'Thanks, Dad. It's beautiful!'

'Aren't you going to open it? Or do you just love the box?'

Liz felt her face burn. 'Dad, I know there's a Chinese calligraphy pen inside. I really like it. I do. I promise I'll use it to write some Chinese characters, maybe for your birthday or Chinese New Year.'

'Sue, could you please help me?' Liz's mum and Sue went to the kitchen.

Her father blinked and smiled at her, and Liz, remorseful, opened the lid. As expected, she found a traditional Chinese calligraphy pen inside: but it was not quite as expected. In fact, it looked very strange. Although she was no expert on pens, Liz immediately recognised that this was not a product of the 'Made in China' variety. Firstly, the ring binding the brush inside the shaft was not plastic, but some kind of bone. Secondly, at the end of the shaft, was a black ball, a most unusual item, made of a dark stone engraved with a Yin-Yang sign. The pen's shaft was a reddish wood and, judging by the scars, had been well used. And finally, the brush hairs were loose, unlike the hairs of new pens that were always glued tightly together into a sharp point.

'It's quite unusual. Where did you get it from?' she asked.

'I got it from...'

The lights suddenly went off.

Liz's mum and Sue came back in holding a cake each and singing 'Happy birthday'; fourteen candles on each cake made the room quite bright.

While Liz looked at the floor thinking about the strange calligraphy pen and Henry danced about, impatient to get a slice. 'Make a wish,' said Sue, and Henry closed his eyes and blew his candles out with gusto.

'I bet I know what you wished for,' Sue said when everyone was settled with a piece of cake. 'You want to be a martial arts master, Henry, and you, Liz...'

Liz interrupted. 'Well, I'm definitely not becoming a fashion model. I know what you're going to say, but this time you're wrong.' Liz turned to her father. 'Dad, tell us where you got this pen from.' She explained about the pen to her mother and Sue.

'I wanted to give you a surprise.' Her father drank some of his green tea. 'You might expect it to be a new pen, but you would never guess that I bought it at the swap meet this morning. Ha, I tricked you.'

Liz sometimes wondered if her father would grow up.

'Let me have a look.' Her mum picked up the pen. 'The Tai Chi ball looks very cute. What's the writing on it?'

'It's a famous Chinese idiom, and can be translated as "the magic pen can paint a flower blossom'",' said Liz's father. 'Have you heard another famous pen-related idiom, "forming a full bamboo in your heart before you paint it"?'

'No, I haven't,' Sue said, 'but I'd like to hear about it.'

Liz put down her empty plate, picked up Henry's book, and pretended to read. None of her father's words registered in her mind; they were just a long series of blurred, meaningless noises that finally and thankfully came to an end.

'Wow, that's interesting,' said Henry. 'Can I have a look at the pen?' he grabbed for it, and it fell out of the box onto the tiles. The shaft split, and a beam of light flashed from the crack as if there was a diamond inside.

Liz bent and picked up her broken gift.

'I'm sorry, Dad, I didn't mean to break it,' Henry said. 'I'll get you another one, Liz.'

'It's very old. Maybe it's time for it to be broken anyway,' her father said.

Liz turned it over in her hands. 'Look! There's another layer underneath.'

Everyone moved closer. Henry snatched the pen out of Liz's hands. 'The layer underneath looks a bit yellowish,' he said, and used his thumbnail to push the crack wider apart.

'Don't! Be careful!' exclaimed Liz, but suddenly the shaft broke into pieces like a pile of burned paper ashes.

'Whoops! Wow, look what we've got here.' Henry brushed off fragments of the old shaft. The shaft underneath looked like bamboo, yellow with black patches.

'Let me have a look!' Their father suddenly became very excited. He stared at the bamboo shaft intensely. 'This must be teardrop bamboo.'

'What's that?' Sue asked.

Even before her father spoke, Liz knew another Chinese story was on its way. 'It is an ancient fairytale. After their emperor father died, two beautiful princesses wept in a bamboo forest; their tears dropped on the bamboo, staining them in beautiful patterns. People have called it teardrop bamboo ever since.'

'It's a beautiful story,' said Sue.

'I don't like these kinds of Chinese fairytales, always sad and depressing,' said Liz's mum.

Good on you, Mum, always direct telling Dad what your thoughts are. Still, Liz thought, I wish I could be as kind as Sue. I wish I could enjoy Dad's stories. But they are sad—or pointless—or both. Often both.

'That's part of Chinese culture, Mum. You should know that after living with Dad for the last twenty years. I just wonder if there's another layer underneath the brush hairs.' Henry pulled the brush hairs jokingly. To everyone's amazement, a layer came out.

'What kind of hair is this?'

The brush hairs were different from usual. Liz knew that wool, horsetail, rabbit or wolf hairs were used in brushes, but these were much thicker. Besides, they were dark blue.

Her father touched the brush hairs with a gentle finger. 'According to legend, the Yellow Emperor of China received a Dragon Whisker Pen from the Four Sea Dragon King at his coronation.' He mumbled softly as he spoke, as if his words were surfacing from long lost memories.

'Well, that's not much help; we all know that dragons don't exist,' said Liz.

'Has anybody managed to prove God exists? Lighten up, Liz, it's just a fairy tale,' said Henry.

Liz took her pen off him before he could think of something else to do to it, and put it back in its box. Behind her, her father turned the TV on. It was a newsbreak.

'IPCC (The Intergovernmental Panel of Climate Change) has just released a report establishing a link between human activities and global warming. Experts say that if we do not reduce greenhouse pollution significantly in the next ten years, it may be too late...'

Henry snidely commented, 'We know that already, don't we?'

'Shush, Henry, listen.' But the newsreader had moved on to the next item.

'An explosion at Wave Rock this afternoon has left several people dead....'

The three of them stared at the screen in shock. Soldiers with arms in slings were carrying stretchers; ambulances raced along the dirt road, sirens screaming; people milled helplessly, looking lost and frightened. 'The shock has left many people disoriented and confused. Many say they saw monsters escaping from the rocks, soon after the explosion.' The reporter stuck a microphone under the nose of a man with blood running down one side of his face. 'Father McCabe, tell us what you saw.'

'Hundreds and thousands of ancient monsters have been released. People are going to be slaughtered, eaten, and innocent people's blood will flow on the streets...' He raised a shaking finger and pointed at the rock, shouting, but the reporter had lost interest. He looked earnestly into the camera. 'Whether or not the tale of the monsters is true, there is a mystery about the explosion. The mining company denies setting explosives, and has issued a statement deploring the destruction of this great wonder of the Australian landscape. Back to you, Dave.'

Behind him, Father McCabe's hand shakily showed a black, gaping hole in the half-destroyed rock.

Liz no longer heard what was being said; her mind was focused on the hole in the ruined Wave Rock. The old man's words echoed inside her head over and over again. He had looked like a mad prophet, standing with his arm outstretched like that; and his words had the ring of truth.
4

Picnic

Sunday, 80 Kilometres East of Perth

The next day, Sunday, was fine. Liz and her family went to have a picnic at Lake Leschenaultia.

Sitting on the back seat of her mother's car, Liz watched the landscape gradually change as they drove on: from the city high-rise to suburban houses, from car yards and shopping centres into hills, from concrete to trees. Their car climbed to the top of the hill, and there, in thick bush, was their picnic destination.

People were everywhere, carrying huge eskies (cool boxes), fold-up chairs and tables, picnic rugs, cricket bats, and footballs. Australians loved outdoor activities.

Seeing Sue run towards their car, Liz rolled down her window and waved. Sue told them that they had a good picnic spot. As Sue directed, Liz's mother parked her car close to the foreshore picnic area.

Fred hadn't come. He rarely joined these kinds of family activities; too busy doing other more important things, as Sue explained each time. Even though she knew this, Liz had hoped he might call in for some unknown reason; she could think of millions of reasons.

Liz and Henry helped their parents carry things out of the car, and got the picnic area set up with all the paraphernalia Julie considered essential for outdoor living.

'Julie, would you like some ice?' Sue's mother asked Liz's mother. She sat on the black fold-up chair, holding a glass of white wine.

'What a good idea! Linda, you are so organised,' Liz's mother said.

'Wen, what about a beer?' Sue's dad asked Liz's dad.

'Oh, sorry, beer? No, thank you, I've got one here.' Liz's dad took a bottle of beer out of the esky and put it in a beer-holder with an Australia flag and kangaroo on it, a Christmas present from Liz. Although he often seemed lost in his own world, Liz noticed he had become worse recently, particularly today; he mumbled some words to himself from time to time. Mandarin, she assumed.

Looking at her father, Liz sighed inwardly. She didn't blame him for his lack of ability and disinterest in socialising with the others because of his introverted personality and not-so-advanced language skills, but it was his lack of courage that bothered her. For instance, once when Liz and her father were walking in the park, she overheard a conversation behind their backs. 'Those Chinks come here and take away our jobs. We should send all of them home.' Liz was angry and wanted to shout at the people, but her father had dragged her away. She wished that he was better at sticking up for himself.

Liz suddenly felt she had to get away from the wine and the beer and the whole plastic outdoor scene. She jumped to her feet. 'I'm going for a walk. Anyone coming with me?' Without waiting to find out, she started walking along the lake's white sand beach. Behind her, footsteps hurried and then slowed to her pace. Sue and Henry joined her.

Even though it was winter the weather was quite warm, and the air was still. Liz breathed in deeply, trying to shake off her mood.

'Are you okay?' Sue asked.

'Sure. Let's just go a bit further.' Liz headed away from the lake, and they walked a few minutes into the thick bush.

In front of them, the bush suddenly became sparse, like a deserted island in the sea, with dead tree trunks sticking out of the white sandy ground.

Liz took out her new calligraphy pen, the birthday present from her father. A light beam shot into the sky. 'Did you see the flash?' Liz asked Sue.

'Yes, I did,' said Sue.

'It must be the reflection of sunlight,' said Henry.

'I don't think so; I saw it last night,' said Liz.

'So what's unusual about it?' asked Henry.

'I'm not sure if it's just my imagination, but I felt it vibrate and get hotter in my pocket,' replied Liz.

'Why did you bring it with you to a picnic?' asked Henry.

'I couldn't stop thinking about it last night; there are so many unusual things about it. I have a strong feeling this is not just an ordinary pen,' said Liz.

Henry shrugged. 'Well, we can't work out the secret by standing here. Let's go and do something. What about canoeing on the lake?'

'Good idea,' Liz agreed. They followed Sue towards the lake. Sue suddenly stopped and screamed. Liz saw a snake, at least three metres long, in front of them.

'Keep still, Sue, don't move, be cool. Remember snakes can't see well...if we don't move...it's all right now.' The snake slithered into the bush.

'Liz, get me out of here. What if there's more, like yesterday?' Sue was starting to panic.

'Take it easy, Sue, we're on our way out. Just follow me.' Henry led the way, and everyone followed.

Ten minutes later, they were still surrounded by bush.

'I thought we only walked into the bush about 200 metres,' said Sue.

'Yes, it's a bit strange. We should have been out ages ago,' said Liz.

Henry took over. 'Let's use our brains. Obviously we walked in the wrong direction in the past ten minutes, but it's not a big deal; I'd say we're less than half a kilometre away from the lake foreshore. This is obviously not the right direction.' Henry pointed in the direction they just walked from.

'I remember we were heading east when we walked into the bush,' said Liz.

'Sun is there, so that must be west. Let's go!' Henry led the way.

'We're back to where we were,' Liz announced twenty minutes later.

'I don't think I can walk any more, and I'm thirsty.' Sue sat on the ground after checking for snakes.

'I'm sure that's west.' Henry looked at the sun again. 'I don't understand how this happened. We should be able to get to the lake within ten minutes.'

'Not if we're wandering around in circles,' Sue imitated Henry's voice.

'Very funny, ha ha, so you tell us which way we should go.' Henry sat down too.

'We don't even know which directions we've tried.' Liz flopped beside Henry and Sue.

'Henry, help...' Sue's voice trailed off.

'Another snake?'

'No, it's a spider.'

'Sue, it's just a tiny one. Please don't be so babyish and scared of everything,' said Henry.

'Henry, stop it. Sue, sit here with me.'

With her back to the deserted white land, Liz felt quite hot after all the fast walking of the last half hour or so. 'That's a nice breeze.'

Sue's face changed. Liz thought she had seen another spider, but then she saw Henry's face change too; she turned her head and suddenly felt freezing cold.
5

The Unexpected

Between the dead tree trunks sticking out of the bare white sandy ground, Liz saw thousands of creatures emerge from the bushes, moving towards them. The sky had turned dark, chunky black clouds blocked the sunlight, and strong wind started building up. Heavy rain would pour down at any moment.

Burying her head against Henry's chest, Sue clung to him tightly. Henry's eyes opened wide, and his jaw dropped. Liz somehow managed to keep watching what was happening in front of her.

In the dim light the creatures kept coming, straight towards them.

As the first group drew closer, Liz could just make out that they were human. Their clothing looked strange, but she was too scared to work out what was wrong with it.

At last the two figures at the head of the crowd were only metres away. The one on the left was a tall, thin person. Despite his dirty worn-out clothes, Liz could tell that he represented some kind of authority. When she looked at the man beside him, she almost fainted. His head was not a human but a bear head. Under normal circumstances, she would have thought it was somebody with a bear mask on, but she could clearly see it was a real bear head and the body was a real human body.

A red kangaroo appeared, hopping into the clearing hesitantly. The bear monster leapt forward, and struck it with his huge palm; the kangaroo, over two metres tall, was knocked high in the air, landing twenty feet away on the ground, dead.

As the bear monster walked over and began devouring his prey, the tall thin man applauded, and then walked towards Liz and her friends.

Liz's heart pounded violently, and her palms became sweaty and sticky. She put her hands into her pocket to wipe the sweat away, and as she did, her fingers touched the calligraphy pen.

The pen felt hotter than before.

The monsters were screaming, stamping, cheering and whistling. To her surprise, Liz could understand what they were shouting. 'Vampire King! Vampire King! Vampire King!'

The tall thin man, the Vampire King, was only feet away.

Feeling the calligraphy pen in her pocket jump (or maybe she jumped herself), Liz had an idea. Suddenly standing, she held her pen, pointing it at the Vampire King.

Nothing happened.

The Vampire King started laughing. Liz still held the pen towards him. He stretched his arm and grasped the pen.

There was a loud explosion.

A rainbow light beam jetted from the calligraphy pen, shot into the cloudy sky, and tore the dark clouds apart, letting a thin ray of the sunlight through.

Holding his hand as if it had been burned, the Vampire King barked, 'Kill them! All of them!'

Waving their long sharp claws, three vampires ambled towards Liz and her friends. Under the dim light, holding on to Sue and Henry, Liz stared hopelessly at the approaching vampires and their sharp fangs.

The vampires' claws inched towards Liz and her friends. They were intentionally prolonging the process of killing their victims, to enjoy their terrified expressions. Liz held tightly to her friends and prepared to die.

A tree branch cracked, making Liz turn her gaze upwards. A black-haired woman appeared on the treetop from nowhere. She broke a thick tree branch, like snapping a corn cracker, and waved it at the three monsters near Liz. They were swept high into air, landing twenty feet away with heavy thuds. The branch did not touch a hair of Liz.

The black-haired woman held her broken branch and jumped seven metres to the ground. She landed soundlessly, like a cat; holding the huge tree branch in one hand, she used her other hand like an axe to chop the spurs off. It seemed that her hand only moved once or twice, but the flying tree leaves and twigs told a different story; in a few seconds, she turned the branch into a two-metre stick with a pointed end.

The Vampire King neither moved nor spoke; nobody moved.

From a standstill, the black haired woman leapt to stand in front of Liz. 'Please give me the calligraphy pen,' she said, holding out her hand for it.

Liz gasped: it was Li Ping, her Tai Chi teacher! But there was no time to talk, and Liz passed the pen over.

Sadness appeared briefly on Li's face. Running around Liz and her friends, she painted invisible lines and circles on the ground and in the air. Liz felt the pen touch her face a few times. A few seconds later, Li completed her actions and stood still. Nothing seemed to happen.

The Vampire King spoke. 'Who are you? Are you going to fight with all of us on your own?'

'I don't really want to fight with you by myself. I'd prefer to wait for my army to arrive, and then we can have a formal battle; however, I do want these three young people alive. Give them to me, and I may let you live a bit longer—at least not kill you today.' As Li spoke Liz could see her twisting the calligraphy pen behind her back, as if she was painting invisible pictures in the air.

The King and his vampires burst into loud laughter.

'What you've just done is quite impressive, but unfortunately not good enough for me to hand the three over to you. Do you really think you are able to rescue them from all of my men?' He stretched his arms to show how many monsters he had.

'I have given you the choice; go ahead if this is what you want.' Li Ping pointed her wooden stick at him. The Vampire King waved his hand, ordering the three vampires that Li had knocked down earlier to attack her.

Li never stopped twisting the calligraphy pen behind her back, even when the vampires were only metres away. The vampires came to a standstill, moving sidewards and positioning themselves in a half circle in front of her.

The Vampire King shouted, 'Kill her!' At the same time, he waved to another three vampires to kill the three.

Liz felt her stomach sink as the vampire on Li's right slashed his razor-sharp claw at Li's neck.
6

Tai Chi Teacher

Li barely moved; her upper body turned slightly and the vampire's claw seemed to skip over her skin, while her wooden stick pierced his heart. The vampire let out a high-pitched scream, falling to the ground and twisting violently. In an instant he turned into a rotted corpse. The smell was so bad that everyone gagged. Liz almost vomited.

A split second later, the claw of the vampire on Li's left almost stabbed her neck. Li twisted her body leftwards; and grabbed the vampire's wrist, throwing him upwards. The vampire's body flew high into the air and landed on the jagged remains of the branch where Li had broken off her wooden stick. It penetrated his heart, and this second corpse hung high in the tree. There was a sickening sound of rotten cloth tearing, and the corpse fell apart, bouncing and crashing to the ground.

Hesitating for a moment, the third vampire reached with both claws to grab Li's neck. Li's upper body bent backwards fast. The vampire's claws clashed into each other centimetres above her eyes. Spearing her stick into the vampire's chest, Li jerked her arm, knocking the third stinking corpse beside her feet.

In all this time, Liz did not see Li moved her feet at all; only her body moving, turning, twisting and bending as gracefully as a flower in the spring breeze.

The three vampires ordered to kill Liz and her friends hadn't seen what happened to their fellows. Upon hearing shocked cries, they glanced around in time to see three piles of stinking dirt vanish into the ground.

The Vampire King turned to the bear monster who still sat beside the half-eaten kangaroo, and barked, 'Monster King, send your monsters to kill her!'

Wiping his mouth with his bloody hand, the Monster King shook his huge bear head. 'I don't like to eat humans, not my cup of tea,' he said, and went back to his kangaroo meat.

'How dare you disobey! I'll deal with you after I kill her.' Furious, the Vampire King commanded twenty vampires to attack the woman, and ordered the three vampires to kill the three.

Waving their long sharp claws, with shrill screams, the three vampires rushed at Liz and her friends.

A golden cage suddenly appeared around the three; the vampires crashed into the cage and were knocked back high in the air. Liz and Henry cheered with excitement. Sue, who had covered her eyes, peered out to see what was happening. Liz thought she looked quite different; Henry looked a bit strange, too; but she had no time to have a closer look; her attention was taken up by the battle in front of her.

Moving like ghosts, the twenty vampires took the blink of an eye to cover the twenty-metre distance to Li, waving their broadswords, long knives, war axes, and other strange killing weapons, forming a circle around her. In the middle, holding only the wooden stick, Li Ping stood motionless.

It became so quiet that Liz heard her own heart beating.

Suddenly, Li threw her stick high in the air. From nowhere, a green sword appeared in her hand. It slashed the air once, twice, and, Liz saw the stick, still in mid-air, turn into a pile of wooden darts. Li hit the darts with her sword; as if she had set a bomb among them, they exploded, and shot whistling at the vampires around her. A few were killed instantly.

With ear piercing howls, the remaining vampires dashed at Li, but she stood motionless until the first vampire's weapon was almost touching her skin.

What happened next was too fast for Liz to follow; but twenty seconds later, only two vampires still stood.

Pointing her green sword towards the bush behind Liz, Li shouted, 'Ji!'

Liz spun round, and her eyes opened wide: hundreds of soldiers marched out of the bush towards the monsters. Their armour and weapons looked strange: old and foreign.

The bear monster gave a loud roar, grabbed his half-eaten kangaroo, and ran across the clearing towards the forest. Hot behind him, the animal headed monsters followed.

Looking at the vampires left around him, and then at the oncoming army, the Vampire King took out a black twisted stick; he shook it, and a grey spark shot at Li Ping. She ducked, but a spark tore a piece of cloth off her shoulder before hitting the vampire behind her. He caught on fire and exploded.

Leaping forward fast and ducking a second grey spark, A third grey spark bypassed Li's chest by less than half a finger. Li pointed her sword at the Vampire King, shooting out two green beams, one onto his right shoulder and the other onto his wand. The Vampire King groaned, fell, dropped his broken wand, and sank into the sandy ground.

Li pointed her sword towards the ground and gazed at the vampire crowd. The vampires gave panicky whistles and backed away, soon disappearing into the bushes.

The black clouds overhead vanished and the bright warm sunlight beat down again.

As soon as the vampires disappeared, the golden cage around Liz and her friends vanished. Liz, Henry and Sue ran towards Li Ping. Dark green liquid seeped from the wound on her shoulder, and her face was very pale.

'Are you all right?' Liz asked.

Li sank to the ground and struggled into the lotus position, eyes closed and body motionless. Liz put her finger on her lips to indicate Henry and Sue should be quiet. The three waited in silence.

Half an hour later, the liquid leaking from Li Ping's wound had turned pale pink. Li opened her eyes and took a cloth from her pocket. Her face was calm and relaxed, as if nothing had happened to her. Liz took the cloth and helped bandage the wound.

'Wow, we had no idea how powerful you are,' said Sue.

'Oh man, you know how to fight,' said Henry.

'If the monsters had stayed a few more seconds, the tables would have turned,' said Li.

'But they didn't,' said Henry. 'Wait a minute, where's your army?'

Liz had completely forgotten the strange army. Now there was no sign of a single soldier; they had vanished into air.

'Can you please explain what just happened?' Liz asked her teacher, squatting back on her heels.

'I know that you have millions of questions.' Li looked at Liz, Henry and Sue in turn. 'But for now, I have to go and do something about my injury. I'll talk to you all tomorrow morning. Could you all please keep what just happened a secret? I'll explain the reason to you later.'

Li rose gracefully, and in two swift steps disappeared.

If she had not still been able to see broken tree branches and kangaroo blood, Liz would have believed that what had happened was all in her imagination. She rose shakily, and the three looked at each other in silence. At last Liz suggested that they try to find their way back to the picnic site. This time they found the lake foreshore easily.

'Good, you're back. For a moment, I thought we would be caught in a thunderstorm,' Liz's mother said.

'Mum, did you hear any noises while we were away?'

'No. Why?'

'Oh, nothing, I thought I heard some noises while walking in the bush.'

'It must be the birthday party on other side of the lake,' her mum replied.

'You could be right, Mum,' Henry grinned at Liz secretly.

Liz didn't know if she felt better or worse: why had nobody else heard anything?
7

Giant Panda

The alarm went off.

Turning the bedside light on, Liz glanced at her clock. Time to go jogging, but she was sure she had turned the alarm off last night. Murmuring to herself that she wanted to sleep just a bit more, she reached to turn the light off. There was something different on her bedside table.

Liz made a bleary inspection: beside her open half-read book was her fairy clock, a glass of water and her old teddy bear; behind the glass of water at the corner, she found what had caught her eye earlier, a paper crane.

She stretched her arm and picked it up.

It was a cute paper crane, like those Liz had learnt to make in her Japanese classes, but subtle differences told her that this was a Chinese version; only someone familiar with both Chinese and Japanese paper folding arts could tell the difference.

Who put it there? Sue? She had lived in Tokyo for many years when she was little, while her parents taught English there. She was able to speak fluent Japanese, and knew how to make those famous Japanese paper cranes. But since Liz had already decided this was a Chinese one, it couldn't be her.

Staring at the delicate little crane on her palm, Liz thought she saw it move. She blinked and peered closer: the crane stood up and, with its legs pushing against Liz's palm, launched itself into air.

She watched it fly around her head. Gliding in beautiful smooth curves, it descended towards her. Hurriedly she put her hands together to form a landing platform. It alighted gently and cocked its head, staring at her, then collapsed and unfolded, turning itself into a note written in Chinese characters. Li wanted to meet her in their secret hideout in Kings Park.

How did Li Ping know about that? Liz had never told her about it. Still, if Li Ping could do magic to defeat monsters, she could know anything she wanted to know. Liz thought some more: she _had_ remembered to turn off her alarm last night, and Li Ping had used her magic to turn the alarm on and put the paper crane on her bedside table.

Liz dressed, and went downstairs as quietly as possible; she didn't want to disturb anybody else in the house, but in the living area, she was surprised to find her parents already up. Her mother was reading a magazine. As she walked past, Liz glanced at the photos: Japanese gardens covered with little oval pebbles. Liz grinned to herself; she could not wait to see what the future backyard would look like: native Australia bush, the organic vegetable patch, and a Japanese garden.

The large anti-mine protest photo on the front page of the newspaper her father was reading reminded her—during today's lunchtime, all high school students in the state were going to protest in front of Parliament House.

'Are you going to attend the protest today?' her father asked.

'Yes, we all are,' Liz replied.

Henry came downstairs. 'Why are you up so early? I thought you didn't want to jog today.'

'I couldn't sleep, so I decided I might as well.'

'Would you like me to join you?' Henry gave her a meaningful look.

She stared at Henry, wondering if he was also invited to the meeting with Li Ping. His expression was a bit strange. He turned a bit towards the kitchen so their parents couldn't see his hand; a similar note lay in his palm.

'Of course you can come,' said Liz.

The morning breeze caressed Liz's face, soft and smooth as silk, as they jogged along the river foreshore and up to Kings Park, where they followed the footpaths among the native trees, turning off between thick bushes to reach their secret hideout. Li Ping was there, smiling at them, alongside Sue.

'How do you feel today?' asked Liz.

'Much better. I know you have many questions,' Li Ping pointed at a large dead log on the ground, 'so why don't we sit down and talk through them?'

'Can you teach me how to fight?' Henry said even before they sat down.

'I'd like to know where these monsters came from,' said Sue.

'What I'd like to know is what this calligraphy pen really is,' said Liz.

Li raised a hand. 'One thing at a time. Shall we start with the calligraphy pen?' Henry shrugged and Sue nodded. 'Nobody knows where it is from, or who made it; as long as people can remember, it was always there.'

'My dad said that it could be the dragon whisker pen that the Four Sea Dragon King gave to the Yellow Emperor on his coronation,' Henry interrupted.

'Your father knows that story?' said Li, 'I have heard it too. Unfortunately, there is no evidence to verify the legend. However, I would like to show you something. Can I borrow your pen for a moment, please?'

Liz and her friends followed Li to a tree so large that it would take five people holding hands to embrace it. Liz anticipated something special was going to happen.

Using the calligraphy pen, Li painted a picture of a giant panda on the tree trunk.

'It looks so real, almost alive—hang on!' Liz saw something was wrong with the panda's eyes. She took a close look. 'Have you forgotten to paint pupils in the panda's eyes?'

'No, I haven't forgotten—or rather, I left them out intentionally. Have you heard the Chinese expression about painting the dragon's pupils?'

She never paid much attention to the stories her father told her, however she did remember this one. But everyone knew it was just a fairy tale. Suddenly, her eyes became bright.

'Yes, the story was true.' Li flicked her wrist gracefully, and two black ink drops flew into the panda's eyes.
8

Fast and Slow

Immediately, the panda blinked, moved its paws, and slowly climbed down the tree trunk. Li Ping used the calligraphy pen again, making a few strokes in the air. As the pen moved, a patch of bamboo appeared; the panda started munching the green fresh bamboo leaves.

It was the first time the three had seen a real giant panda, and everyone watched it with great excitement. Looking at the tree trunk where the painted panda had been, Liz saw a panda-shaped piece of bark missing. Had her pen _really_ transformed the bark into a panda?

'Is this the same calligraphy pen that the painter used to paint the dragon's pupils in the tale?' Henry asked.

Li Ping nodded and passed the calligraphy pen back to Liz. Liz stared at her pen. 'But how could it be possible that my father bought it at a swap meet in Australia?'

'I don't know.'

'Could you please tell us where those evil monsters came from?' asked Sue.

'They escaped from their magic prison after Wave Rock was destroyed by the explosion.'

'Are you telling us that those monsters were living inside Wave Rock?' Sue said.

'Unfortunately I don't know about the history of the prison and the monsters, but Professor Smith may know something. We could ask him later.'

'OK, all the questions have been answered, now it's time to teach me—er, us, combat skills,' said Henry.

'Well, in fact, you all have been learning the skills for years.'

'Do you mean the slow Tai Chi movements can be used in real combat? Is that what you used yesterday?' asked Henry.

'I know it's hard to imagine. Can I borrow your pen please, Liz?'

Li made some invisible strokes in the air. Gradually a creek appeared along the forest floor, flowing into an oval pond. Liz watched admiringly as Li painted a smooth-skinned rubber ball floating in the water, and then a long thick bamboo pole. Liz hoped that Li would teach her to use the pen like that.

Li passed the pole to Henry. 'Try to push the ball under water.'

The ball was wet and slippery. Henry's pole skipped away each time it touched. The more he poked, the faster the ball spun; in the end he had to give up.

'Rather than head-on confrontation, Tai Chi does not use force against force. Instead, like a spinning ball, it deflects the opponent's attack.' Li painted a bamboo basket on the tip of the pole. 'Now, try it again.'

This time Henry could easily push the ball under. Li told him to push it deeper under water.

'It's getting harder and harder,' he gasped; soon he couldn't hold his position any longer, and he lost his balance and almost fell into the water. Li caught him in time. The ball popped out of the water and shot high into the air.

'If water is stopped by a dam, it will wait patiently, accumulating energy. When it finds the smallest flaw, it will break the dam and burst out unstoppably. Similarly, Tai Chi retreats when its opponent advances, and as the opponent's force reaches its limit, Tai Chi makes the enemy unbalanced, and then advances in full strength. The stronger the opponent's attacking force, the stronger the Tai Chi fighting back.'

'Sounds good, but how do you apply the theory in real combat?' Henry challenged her.

'Henry, would you like to step forward? Now punch me as fast and hard as you can.'

Hesitating initially, then without warning, Henry's right fist punched at Li's left shoulder, fast; however, as his fist almost touched her, Li twisted her shoulder slightly, just enough for Henry's fist to miss its target. Her movement was casual, like doing a bit of a stretch.

'All Tai Chi gestures are circular movements, so the attacking forces can be spun off. Henry, please keep punching.'

Henry used both of his fists to punch at Li continuously.

Li gracefully twisted, rotated, and moved backwards and forwards. Just before each blow touched Li's clothes, it landed in a void. Moving around Henry's punches, Li spoke as if she was strolling in her backyard.

'Keep going, Henry. You can kick as well if you are tired of punching.'

Panting heavily, Henry seemed very happy to do some kicking and give his arms a rest. Like a soccer player, his kicks were powerful and fast; again, each kick was unable to touch even the surface of Li's clothes.

'Fast and slow are relative. You have to agree that Henry's punches and kicks are quite fast.' Li put her hand up. 'Henry, punch my palm.'

Henry's shirt was saturated, as if he had just walked out of a shower. Now Li offered him a fixed target, he was more than happy to do as requested.

Liz watched him gazing at Li's palm, about an arm's length from him, and felt his desperation to win this round—a boyish thing, always wanting to win. Then he put all of his might into his right fist.

As his fist almost touched her palm, instead of moving sideways Li withdrew her hand. Her palm moved backwards at the same speed as Henry's fist; then she gripped his fist and gave a gentle twist. Henry lost his balance. Li's right foot caught Henry just before his nose hit the ground. She lifted her foot, throwing him on his feet again.

Henry used the back of his hand to wipe the sweat off his forehead. 'Man, that's cool.'

The girls both laughed.

Liz thought about something: 'Li, Henry is exhausted after just a couple of minutes of air punching.' She looked at Henry, and he looked embarrassed when she mentioned 'air punching'. 'But you show no sign of tiredness at all, you're not even panting. Is this to do with the Tai Chi meditation breathing techniques?'

'Yes, but it's also because I didn't directly fight with him, but followed the flow—like strolling in the back garden—so why should I feel tired? Can you tell me what I just demonstrated?'

'Henry's punch was fast but so was the speed of your palm withdrawing, so Tai Chi is not always slow; it can become faster than the attack force,' said Sue. Li nodded. 'Because the speed of withdrawing your palm was the same speed as Henry's punching, Henry's fist was still, related to your palm; so you could easily grip his fist. This is what you meant by fast can become slow.'

Li applauded. 'The reason we are doing the slow Tai Chi movements is to enable us to move faster than the fastest attacking force, making it relatively slow. Of course, in order to do that, one has to be extremely sensitive towards the attacking force. Can I please borrow your pen again?'

This time Li painted a Twenty-eight, the green parrot, on a lower tree branch. It looked beautiful and real. 'OK, let's paint its pupils.'

After Li's pen touched the bird's eyes, it turned and flew into the air. Liz only spotted a blur in the air, and the next thing she saw was that the bird stood on Li's open palm. Then a strange thing happened; the bird made a few attempts to become airborne, but gave up every time. Liz wondered if Li had trapped the bird with magic.

'Watch the bird carefully—it uses its legs to push off from where it stands, jump in the air, and fly away. I sense the pressure from the bird's legs, and move my hand backward so it loses its ground; that's why it is unable to fly.'

Li stopped moving her hand and let the bird flew away. 'You must wonder what the connection between Tai Chi and a bird trapped on my hand is.'

'I know,' said Henry. 'We need to be sensitive towards the attacking force. Whenever we are attacked, we sense the pressure and move backwards, forwards or sidewards to avoid the direct force.' His face was full of satisfaction.

'I agree in theory, but it's not possible for humans to react fast enough to avoid attacks. You should know that, Henry; that's why the goalkeeper doesn't have time to react in a penalty shot,' said Liz.

'You're right about human reaction time, but there are two exceptions.' Li Ping handed the calligraphy pen back to Liz. Liz immediately dropped it on ground as if she had touched a hot iron bar.
9

Yellow Crane

'Liz, sorry for the shock, but your hand will be fine.' Li picked up the pen. 'When we touch a hot object, our body reacts instantly, without waiting for our brain to process the signals.'

'What's the second exception?' Sue asked.

'It's Qi.' Li pronounced it like the beginning of the word 'cheese'. When Qi is built up within your body, it forms a protective layer, reacting to foreign force at lightning speed.'

'What is this Qi?' asked Sue.

'Qi can be simply translated as one's inner energy, but it is far more than that. Sue, can you step forward please? Put your palms against mine.'

From the expression on her friend's face, Liz imagined that something was happening inside Sue; her face was very calm, very relaxed, almost glowing. A couple of minutes later, Li moved away from Sue.

'Sue, look at the tree branch over there. I want you to chop it off with your hand, like this; in Chinese Gong Fu, it's called the Palm Knife.' Li Ping chopped the air with her palm vertically.

'What? Are you serious?' Sue stared at her hand, and then at the thick tree branch.

'Go on, Sue, you can do it,' said Henry.

'Why don't you try it gently first to see if it hurts your hand?' said Liz.

Sue looked at Li Ping, and walked towards the branch slowly.

It was thick and covered with dark rough bark. It would be very hard to chop it off even with an axe. Liz watched wood chopping competitions at the Perth Royal Show; this was not much thinner than the logs used in the Show.

Sue put her right hand in a vertical position, looked at Li Ping once more, and struck gently at the tree branch.

Nothing happened, but Liz noticed that Sue's worried expression disappeared; she looked more confident and chopped the tree branch a bit harder. It shook a bit, but didn't snap.

'Come on, Sue, harder.' Henry looked excited.

Sue raised her hand high and chopped at the tree branch with all her might. With a cracking sound, the dinner-plate sized branch fell neatly off the tree. Sue stared at her hand speechless.

Henry clapped, whistled and cheered. Liz gave her a huge hug. 'Well done, Sue'. She picked up Sue's right hand and examined it closely: a delicate, pretty girl's hand, no bruise, no blood, and not even a dusty mark, as if her hand hadn't touched the tree branch at all. 'How is this possible? What kind of magic did you put on Sue?'

'It's no magic; quite simple, actually. I injected Qi into Sue's body, and she used the Qi to chop the branch off.'

'Do you mean that Qi created an air cushion between Sue's hand and the tree branch?' asked Henry.

'I don't know if it's the perfect description, but it'll do for now.'

'Was Qi enabling you to fly during your fight with the monsters?' said Henry.

'Unfortunately I haven't reached the flying state yet. However, Qi can help you to defeat the earth's gravity, so you can jump much higher and run much faster.'

'So now I'm sure that you used Qi to shoot the green beams and injure the Vampire King,' said Henry. 'Why didn't you use your Qi to kill all the monsters from the beginning?'

'There are limitations in terms of how much one can use Qi to attack others, just as you are unable to keep punching without some rest.'

'If Qi is so powerful, why do we need to learn Tai Chi at all?' said Sue.

'Tai Chi is the Yin part, and Qi is the Yang part of Tao. We'll need to use Tai Chi to avoid an enemy's attacking force, and use Qi to attack our enemy; only when one's Yin Yang forces are in harmony can one gain a high level of Tao power.'

Liz, Henry and Sue met again in Kings Park, but Li hadn't arrived yet. Henry lay on the ground, staring into the tree above him. 'How long since we started our combat Tai Chi lessons? I'd say three years by now. Li always told us that she'd teach us Far Shu, but how long do we have to wait?'

'Henry, I don't think that you should complain. Think how much we've learnt,' said Liz.

'It'd be fun to know some Far Shu (Chinese words similar to spell and curses), like that sword with the green light Li used to injure the Vampire King,' said Sue.

'I'm sure Li'll teach us when she thinks the time is right,' said Liz.

'That's what we are going to do today.'

They all looked up; Li stood on the tree branch above them, just like the time she appeared when they were captured by the monsters; but this time she wore a black top, black trousers and white cape. She jumped off the tree branch, flying through air like a white butterfly, and landed soundlessly. Liz would say Li was just like a big cat, except she was much more agile and fast than any cat in this world.

'I've been in the tree since you arrived. Henry, you lay on the ground but didn't see me.'

Henry looked embarrassed. 'No one would expect someone up there.'

'The first thing about learning offence is learning defence. Whenever and wherever you are, keep your eyes open. Your enemy could be anywhere and in any form, and they won't formally announce they are coming, or wait for you to get ready.'

'How do we manage to do that?' Sue asked.

'It's a habit that takes a long time to form. You just have to practise it all the time so you are gradually able to do it automatically, like second nature...'

'Are you all right?' Liz saw Li's face turn pale.

'I don't feel very well.' Li suddenly threw up a mouthful of blood. She took a white handkerchief, wiping her mouth. 'I underestimated my internal injury from fighting the monsters.' She threw up more blood. Liz helped her sit on the ground.

'Liz, I need your pen...'

Liz passed it to her. Li struggled to paint a giant crane on the ground.

It was fascinating to watch the crane's body gradually materialise. It was the same type of crane Liz had received from Li that morning, although of course this one was much bigger.

The giant crane stood up and made a loud cry as soon as Li painted its pupils. Li gave the pen back to Liz. 'Could you please help me up on to the crane? Thanks. There are many dangers and challenges ahead of you... I'm sorry I can help you no longer...'

She suddenly fell forwards, but managed to use her arms to hold tightly to the crane's neck. With a loud cry, the crane carried Li high into the sky. Within seconds they melted into the white clouds.

Looking at the white clouds floating across the endless blue sky, Liz felt tears flowing down her cheeks. She remembered the Chinese poem Li had told her about the yellow crane:

Gone the immortal, on yellow crane riding,

Since then, empty is the Yellow Crane Building;

After departing, the yellow crane will never return,

Only the white clouds, a thousand years floating, accompany me.

'I want to fly on the crane, too. The crane...' Liz cried out.

'What crane?' Liz's mother stood in front of her bed. 'Why are you crying?'

Liz wiped her eyes. 'Have I been sleeping? What year is this? How long have I been asleep?' She sat up.

'Are you all right? You must be very tired from the picnic yesterday,' said her mother soothingly.

'The picnic, the one where we went to the lake, just after my 14th birthday?'

'Yes. Don't you even remember your own birthday? You'd better hurry up if you want to get to school on time and attend that protest.' Liz's mother turned towards the door.

'Mum,' Liz suddenly called.

'Yes?'

'I love you, Mum. I feel like I haven't seen you for years.'

'I love you too, sweetie.' Liz's mother left the room.
10

The Letter

Too many thoughts jammed up Liz's brain; she stared at the large giant panda poster on the opposite wall, not knowing where to start. Then she thought about her calligraphy pen. Looking around her bedroom, she saw her jacket on the floor. Liz jumped out of her bed, not even noticing that she landed on the floor as soundlessly as a cat. Picking up her jacket and fumbling inside the pockets, she found the pen; its bamboo shaft was sparkling.

Although unable to remember anything about how to paint animals and turn them alive, maybe she had learnt something from the dream. She touched the pen to the wall. Nothing. She pushed it harder. Still nothing, even not a faint mark.

What a shame; it was just a dream. Holding her pen with her eyes closed, she tried to relive her lovely dream; she and her friends had had such a good time, and learnt so much from Li.

Li Ping!

Had Li recovered from her injury? Now Liz was really glad that what happened to Li in her dream was just a dream. She had to visit her. Glancing at the clock on her bedside table, she quickly scrambled out of her panda-bear pyjamas, dressed, and rushed downstairs.

If she hadn't put her hand over her mouth in time, she would have cried out: downstairs in the living area, her parents sat in exactly the same positions as in her dream. She wondered if she was still asleep.

As she slowly passed her mother reading the gardening magazine and her father holding the newspaper with the mining protest photo on the front page, Liz heard her father say, 'Are you going to attend the protest today?'

'Yes, we all are.' Her parents stared at her in amazement. 'Did I say something wrong? Why are you staring me like that?'

'Do you realise you're speaking Mandarin?' asked Henry, coming downstairs.

'What? Am I?' she said, startled.

'I didn't know that you could speak such good Mandarin,' said her father.

Henry's expression was a bit strange. He opened his mouth, hesitated, and then whispered, 'Last night I had a weird dream...'

'Hurry up; we need to go in a minute.' She winked at him. He nodded.

'Liz, here's a letter from Li Ping. I found it in our letter box this morning,' said her father.

There was neither an address nor stamp on it. 'To Liz' and 'From Li Ping' were written on the envelope. Liz didn't open it.

When they arrived at their secret spot, Sue was already there. Liz and Henry had run so fast that both of them were out of breath. By now, Liz was sure that she was no longer in a dream (however, from this moment onwards, Liz would refer to this weird dream as the long dream). This was reality. When she saw the expressions on Henry's and Sue's faces, she knew that they thought the same thing. She flopped down and got her breath back. 'I had a very weird dream last night.'

'Me too,' said Sue.

'Me three,' said Henry.

'I suppose we all dreamed about the same things,' said Liz.

'Tell us what happened in your dream,' said Sue.

'Why don't you open Li's letter?'

'A letter from Li Ping?' asked Sue.

Taking it out and opening it, Liz found a paper crane inside the envelope.

'It's the crane from my dream,' exclaimed Henry and Sue at the same time. Liz put the crane on her palm, and they all stared at it.

Blinking its eyes, the paper crane stood up, looked around as if greeting everyone, and then pushed its legs against Liz's hand. Liz's hand automatically moved downwards; the paper crane lost its support and failed to launch.

'Wow, I can't believe you can actually do that—I thought it was just a weird dream!' Sue stared wide-eyed at the cross little bird.

'We don't have time for this. Let it fly,' demanded Henry. Liz held her hand steady. Flapping its wings gracefully, the paper crane flew in beautiful curves around her shoulders, and then away. It circled back and flew ahead of them again.

'I think we're meant to follow it.' The three leapt to their feet and gave chase.

A few hundred metres later, the crane circled a large tree until Liz and her friends arrived, and then glided towards Liz. As soon as it landed on her palm, it collapsed, unfolding into a letter from Li addressed to all three of them.

After reading it silently for a few seconds, Liz put her hand into the hole in the tree trunk, taking out two items. She passed a black leather belt to Henry and a golden bangle to Sue.

'I knew Li would give her belt sword to me. Oh no, I can't withdraw my sword. What's wrong with it?' Henry yanked fiercely, but without success.

'I can't activate my Yin Yang Ring either. Can you use your dragon whisker whip?' asked Sue.

Taking her pen out, Liz shook her wrist a couple of times, but nothing happened.

'What does Li say in her letter?' asked Henry.

Liz read aloud: 'You may already have figured out that what happened to you was not just a dream. Overnight you all have had three years of intense Tai Chi combat training, a special Far Shu, but you'll only be able to keep your power under one condition.' Liz paused, glancing at Sue and Henry, then continued. 'The condition is that nobody must ever know about the dream or the events that happened on the previous day; otherwise, you will lose not only everything you gained from the dream, but also possibly some of your own memories as well. I have left you three masks that will help you to disguise yourselves during your actions.'

'Where are the masks?' Henry put his hand inside the tree hole, searched for a while, and shook his head.

'The first three pages in the diary are your emergency help pages. They should only be used in life and death situations,' Liz continued to read the letter.

'Where's the diary? We haven't even found the masks yet,' said Henry.

'I injured the Vampire King, but the monsters will come out soon. I estimate that at the most you have a week to get ready...' Liz kept reading.

'To get ready for what?' asked Henry.

'I don't know. The letter stopped,' Liz replied.

'Let me have a look,' Henry snatched the piece of paper from Liz's hand, turning it over, holding it against the light, even reading it upside down. 'I guess Li suddenly fell ill and wasn't able to finish the letter, just like in our dream.'

'I think you're right,' said Liz.

'Where could Li be now?' Sue looked worried.

'I suspect she passed away,' said Liz.

'Do you mean she's dead?' said Henry. 'How could she be? She's magic, and in the dream she flew away to search for a cure.'

'Flying away on a magic crane is a Chinese way to say someone has become immortal; in other words, it means Li died,' said Liz.

'Let me get this right,' said Henry slowly. 'Li is the only one we know who could beat the monsters, but she could be dead according to your interpretation. Thousands of ancient evil monsters are on the loose somewhere in the country, and could appear at any moment. We're supposed to get a magic weapon each, but none of them works...' He slumped on the ground against the tree trunk.

'Maybe we should inform the government about the monsters,' said Sue.

'Nobody would believe us; besides, if we talk about what happened, we'll lose our memory; so we wouldn't be able to tell anybody. It's like a catch twenty-two. We're trapped. It's like waking up in the middle of the night and finding monsters everywhere, but we can't wake up the others...' said Henry.

Sue sat beside him. 'It shouldn't be that bad. Surely, something must happen, or someone must come up with a way to save the world.'

'Sue, I don't know if these monsters will destroy the whole human world or if someone will eventually destroy them, but one thing is sure— people in Western Australia are in danger. Many of them will be killed before any help comes. We were lucky Li saved us. I wish I didn't know about this, and then at least I'd have less time to worry about it,' said Henry.

Liz knew Henry was right. She and her friends, by chance or by fate, had stumbled onto something so big that it was beyond their ability to handle it. Li's intention to empower them overnight had been well meant, but her unexpected departure left them facing thousands of monsters alone and poorly prepared— even worse, because of the special Far Shu, they could not even tell anybody about the danger, let alone ask for help.

'Are you telling me that there's no hope for us?' Sue waited but nobody answered her question. 'I want to become a fashion model... I don't want to die...' she sniffled.

'Sue, the monsters haven't come out yet.' Sitting beside Sue, Liz put her arm around her shoulder. 'We still have time to work things out— hang on; I remember Li mentioned Professor Smith might know something about the monsters.'

'Yes, Li did say that, when I asked where the monsters were from.' Sue stopped sniffling.

'So that means that we should be able to talk to Professor Smith about the monsters,' said Liz.

'What are we waiting for?' Henry asked, leaping to his feet. 'Let's go!'
11

The Charging Horse

The door of Professor Smith's home was open. Seeing nobody around, Liz walked inside. Henry and Sue followed. It was messy; papers were everywhere; drawers were upside down on the floor.

'What happened? A break in?' said Henry.

'No. Otherwise the camera and laptop would be taken.' Liz looked at her watch.

Sue gasped. 'I almost forgot. We have to attend the protest in Perth city.'

'It's only 11.30, so we should be able to make it; fortunately, it's not far from here to the city,' said Liz.

'What are you talking about?' demanded Henry. 'We don't have time to attend a protest. Evil monsters may be out at any moment, eating everyone in the city. What's the point of protesting against a mine project?'

'Here's the point!' Liz pointed to a photo stuck on the fridge with a magnet: against the background of Uluru, Professor Smith stood shoulder to shoulder with an Aboriginal elder.

'Are you telling me Mr Dingo will be in the city today?' said Henry.

'Mr Dingo's very active in environmental protection. He was at Wave Rock, and I can't see why he'd miss today's protest against the mine project,' said Liz.

'And Mr Dingo may be able to tell where the professor is,' added Sue.

'OK, if that's the case, we'd better hurry.' Henry was first out the door.

Liz, Henry and Sue walked down Murray Street Mall. Under the veranda of an old building, an old man with a shiny suit sang and danced, accompanied by blue jazz. Two blocks away, under the overhead footbridge, a musician took turn playing dozens of musical instruments including a didgeridoo; next to him was a pile of CDs for sale. Down the street, a short topless man with black skeleton tattoos was doing a sword-swallowing performance, attracting a large crowd of people. Around the corner, using coloured pencils, a female artist was in the slow process of finishing a huge fairy tale picture. Spreads around her were finished drawings. Liz saw a few police officers standing along the street.

So peaceful. These people had no idea what kind of danger lay ahead of them. Liz walked a bit faster; they must find Professor Smith. He was their only hope to save these innocent lives.

When she and her friends arrived in front of Parliament House, the protest had already started. Holding a loudspeaker, Fred spoke to thousands of high school students who were enthusiastically following his speech, cheering, shouting, and whistling. Gazing at Fred's handsome face and listening to his inspiring words, Liz understood why so many girls were attracted to him. He had a charisma not many girls could resist.

'Liz!' Henry tugged her sleeve.

'What?'

'I can't see Professor Smith or Mr Dingo, can you?' asked Henry.

'No.' Liz tore her gaze away from Fred.

'What should we do now?' asked Henry.

Liz looked at the crowd and then Fred. 'We join the protest.'

'Are you crazy? We don't have time. Remember— the monsters?' said Henry.

'Shhh, don't mention it in public. I'm fully aware how dangerous our situation is, but I think we should still join the protest,' said Liz.

Henry looked at Fred for a second. 'If Fred wasn't here, would we still participate in the protest?'

Liz blushed. 'Henry, this is nothing to do with whether Fred is here or not. Remember that we only have ten years to reverse the greenhouse effect. Protest against the mine is as important as fighting the monsters for our survival. You know what I stand for. I can't believe you said that...'

'I'm sorry; the words just came out. But I still don't think that we should waste time on the protest. Global warming is bad, but we have ten years to combat it. If we don't find a solution to the... the other problem we've got, these people will be dead by tomorrow, and what's the point of a clean environment if everyone is dead?'

'But we may be able to find Professor Smith or Mr Dingo during the protest; besides, what else can we do? We've got no other option but finding Professor Smith,' Sue said.

The speech was over. Fred walked in front of the parade, followed by two big football players holding a large banner saying 'No more destroying our environment'. Thousands of high school students poured their energy into cheering and chanting as the long parade waved its way through the city.

'All right, let's see what happens,' Henry said reluctantly.

'Come on join in,' Liz urged as Fred's parade passed the three of them. They had to force their way into the parade.

Liz walked just one step behind Fred. Sue and Henry followed. Fred turned around, looked at Liz, and smiled. Liz smiled back happily. She was not sure if Fred was smiling at her or at Sue. She didn't really care.

All the entrances to the main street were blocked off by police. Office workers stood along the street watching the parade; this was much more interesting than their boring office jobs. Horse-mounted police officers appeared, riding alongside the parade. When it turned on to Barrack Street, dozens more police on large horses blocked the way. The horses were enormous. Liz reckoned that their backs were higher than her head.

Fred stopped in front of the police horses.

'The parade is not allowed to go to Forrest Chase,' said an officer.

As the news spread, the students behind became agitated, and a few dozen started to force their way ahead. Liz recognised them as part of the Animal Rights Party, famous for their bold actions.

The police officers on horseback ordered them back.

Somewhere, glass shattered. Liz turned around and saw a few car windscreens had been smashed. She saw a group of students kick at shop windows, and more glass-shattering noises filled the air. She didn't recognise the students; maybe they were from one of the tough neighbourhoods in the northern suburbs.

A water bottle flew from the crowd, smashing into the nose of the officer in charge. He was knocked off his horse, crashing to the ground. Sitting up, with one hand holding his nose, he waved.

'Charge!'

Without waiting, a large black horse charged straight at Fred. His mouth opened wide, but there was no room for him to get out of the way. In seconds the horse would trample him. Liz watched in horror as the hooves clattered nearer and Fred remained frozen in shock and fear. There was no escape.
12

Aboriginal Dance

Acting automatically, with a single leap Liz covered the five metres between her and Fred, positioned herself in front of him and faced the beast. She hooked her hand under his arm, leapt mightily, and they both fell onto the footpath.

'Sorry for knocking you over— I was too panicky,' Liz blurted out.

Fred blinked and focused on Liz's face. 'Are you OK?'

'Thanks, I'm totally fine.'

Standing up, Fred reached his hand to Liz, pulling her up.

Fred held her hand! As if lightning struck, a warm current fizzed from her hand straight into her heart. Liz felt she would never be happier. Gazing at Fred's handsome face, she promised that she would do whatever it took to protect him and all her beloved ones from the monsters.

Screaming and the sounds of hoofs hitting the ground mixed into a chaotic symphony. More and more police officers appeared; some students were dragged into police vans. In the chaos, Fred was lost among the crowd and disappeared; the protest was over. Liz signalled Sue and Henry to follow her, and together they walked towards the city centre.

As they turned the corner, Liz saw two homeless men walk slowly towards Kings Park. They looked a bit strange; they had wrapped their heads in large dirty rags so only their eyes were visible. She was about to mention them to Henry and Sue when something more important caught her eye. Under fluttering Aboriginal flags and anti-mining banners, a group of people were dancing accompanied by the heavy drone of didgeridoo music. An elderly man stood on one leg, watching.

'Come on, join the dance,' Liz ordered. Stamping their feet, shaking their hands, arms and shoulders, she and her friends joined in. More students followed. The dancing crowd expanded rapidly. Liz led the way round to the old man.

'Mr Dingo, do you remember me?' she asked as she danced around the elder.

'No, I don't.'

'You taught us Aboriginal dance at our school recently, Kings College.'

'I remember Kings College but I can't remember every student.'

'We also met on other occasions. I'm a member of EPP.'

'Yes, I remember now. You were with Fred one time, but I don't remember your name.'

'That doesn't matter. Mr Dingo, something isn't right, and I need to talk to Professor Smith urgently. Can you help me?'

Mr Dingo looked around and then said quietly. 'Someone is trying to kill him and he is hiding.'

'What? Who is trying to kill him?' Liz stood still in shock.

'Don't know. If you want to talk to him, go and wait under the Narrows Bridge at midnight tonight. I'm not sure if he'll be there, but it's worth trying. He was going to meet me there last night but he didn't show up,' Mr Dingo was looking worried. A large group of police was approaching the dancing group. 'Say hello to the Professor for me,' he called as he led his dancers towards the police. Soon their dancing sticks became weapons against the police batons. Screaming, shouting, and ambulance sirens became too much to bear. Liz, Henry and Sue disappeared into the crowd of bystanders.

'I still feel bad that we didn't stay and join the fight with Mr Dingo,' said Henry.

It was a few hours later in Liz's bedroom. She had organised for Sue to sleep over so they could go out together later. 'We have more important issues to deal with. You said that yourself earlier; you didn't even want to join the protest.'

'I know. I just wonder if Mr Dingo will be all right,' said Henry.

'He'll be OK.' Liz sat on her bed, took out the letter from Li, and stared at it.

'What are you trying to find out? Haven't we already read it a hundred times?' said Sue.

'I don't know; so many things don't make sense— if Li has time to teach us Tai Chi for three years, why can't she tell us what happened to her?'

'She may not be able to tell us anything in the dream. She could have been attacked while writing the letter. Do you think the people trying to kill the Professor also attacked Li?'

'I don't think so. Li is far too powerful for ordinary people. Remember she was fighting thousands of evil monsters.'

Liz took out her pen. 'I know it's a magic pen, but I just haven't had much luck with it. I wish Li had had a bit more time so she could have taught me how to use it.' She made a few strokes on the piece of paper, and then suddenly shouted. 'Look what's happening!'

They were all stunned, watching what happened in front of their eyes; the piece of paper curved and wrinkled as if it was being burnt by an invisible fire. A few seconds later, it stopped, but it was no longer a piece of paper— it had turned into a palm-sized diary.

'It's the diary Li mentioned in her letter.'

'Why didn't Li give it to us in the first place? If Liz hadn't touched it with her pen, we'd never have found out the secret.'

'It could be a precaution to prevent it falling into the wrong hands. Let's have a look what's inside.' Liz opened the diary. It was blank; turning to the second page, she found it was blank, too. 'So the first three blank pages are the emergency help pages.'

'Let's hope we don't need any emergency help, then,' growled Henry.

In between the next few pages, Liz found three masks the size of her palm. She spent a few minutes reading the Chinese words in the diary, and then she said. 'Watch my face carefully.' Her hand quickly stroked over her face.

Henry and Sue couldn't help gasping; in front of them, an Asian girl smiled at them shyly. 'Me no spoke English good.'

'Wow, that's incredible!'

'Can I try your mask?'

'We have a mask each— and there's more!' Liz stroked her face again from her chin to her forehead. To her friends' surprise, this time she transformed herself into Li Ping. 'There are a few layers in our magic masks.'

'Wow! Where's mine?' Henry reached for the diary, and Sue tussled him for it.

'I want to see what I've got. Do you think there's one that would make me look like Anna Sinkovska?'

'Who?' Henry found his mask and smoothed it on. 'What do I look like?'

'Your science teacher. Quick, change it! What about me?' Sue pranced, hand on her hip.

'My grandfather before he shaved his beard off...'

They had a lot of fun trying on their masks until almost midnight.

'Should we tell Mum what we're going to do?' Liz said.

'Are you crazy? Do you want to lose our new found power and memory?' Henry almost shouted.

'Shush, Henry. Liz, your mother will understand one day.'

'I know. I just feel as if I'm going to do something wrong, sort of guilty.' Liz raised her hand before Henry opened his mouth. 'OK, let's get out as quietly as we can, with masks on.' She opened her window and climbed out. Henry and Sue followed.

They walked silently on the soft grass along the South Perth foreshore. Occasionally Liz turned and looked at Sue and Henry. Sue's blond hair had changed into an Irish girl's red hair, and Henry was a blond surfing boy. Liz knew she had an Asian girl's black hair. How could the masks change their hair colour? She couldn't believe how much her life had changed in the last two days; she and her family had gone to enjoy a sunny winter picnic yesterday, and now she was walking along the foreshore at midnight to meet a professor about evil monsters.

The Narrows Bridge was not really narrow. The name referred to its location, the narrowest point of the Swan River. In fact, the bridge was quite wide: apart from a four-lane highway in each direction, there was also a railway track down the middle. The three peered into the shadows under the bridge, illuminated by pale lights on both sides. Nobody was to be seen.

'What are we going to do now?'

Liz looked at her watch: just a few minutes past midnight. 'We wait.'

Henry fumbled with his new belt and paced backward and forward. 'Who do you think is trying to kill Professor Smith?'

'I don't think it's the monsters we encountered yesterday.'

'I suppose you're right, because the monsters wouldn't know who the Professor is. But who else would have a motive to kill him?'

'We'll know the answer when the Professor turns up.'

'That assumes he _will_ turn up.'

'Relax, will you, Henry? We've only been here five minutes.'

'Let's assume that it's somehow related to the evil monsters, so there's a good chance we may need to combat them tonight. I wish I could use my sword,' Henry murmured to himself while marching backward and forward. He held the buckle of the belt. 'I saw Li do this in the dream, just like this, to withdraw the magic sword. Wow— look what I've got here!'

A green sword gleamed in Henry's hand.

'Could I please have a look?' Liz said. Henry gave an experimental swipe or two and passed it over reluctantly. It was about five feet long and two inches wide. Liz was unable to tell what kind of material it was made of, but it felt quite light and soft. She shook her wrist, and it made a pleasant humming. It seemed that the belt's buckle had transformed into the sword's hilt. It was decorated with a tiger's body, and the sword grew out of the tiger's mouth. In the background of the tiger-striped leathery hilt, two green eyes glowed in the dark.

Liz passed the belt sword to Sue, who turned to Henry. 'How did you withdraw it?'

'I just did it, pulled it out.'

'Can you put it back in the belt?' After a brief examination, Sue gingerly handed the sword back to Henry.

Henry made a series of Tai Chi sword movements; interwoven green circles appeared in the air. Turning it around, he thrust it back into the belt. Like an icicle melting, it dissolved and became a normal black belt again.

'What a magic belt sword! I wonder if my weapon will suddenly work.' Sue took her bangle off, throwing it in the air. It spun and grew while making beautiful curves. When it glided back to her hand, it had grown three feet in diameter and shone with golden fire. She gripped the rim of the ring lightly; when her hands rose again, she had a ring in each; one was the original gold and the other glittered silver. 'Ladies and Gentlemen, the Yin Yang Ring.'

'It looks beautiful.' After Sue had shrunk the ring back to a bangle again, Liz examined it closely; although its surface was badly worn, Liz could recognise a golden phoenix curved around its rim.

'Liz, try your weapon.'

Taking out her pen and shaking her wrist, Liz saw the brush of her pen suddenly grow longer and thicker, growing fast, like a jet of dark blue water shooting from a hose. In a split second, it grew nine metres long and thick as a tennis ball, a whip emitting rainbow sparkles. As if it was the ribbon in her gymnastics class, Liz shook her wrist, and rainbow loops and circles glittered in mid-air. 'Ladies and Gentlemen, the dragon whisker whip.'

'It's great that our weapons work. Any idea why?'

Shaking her whip into a pen again, Liz thought for a while. 'I think it has something to do with the magic masks.'

'Are you telling me that if we take off our masks, our weapons won't work anymore? I want to try it.' Henry reached for his mask.

'It won't be necessary.' A voice came from behind one of bridge's huge pillars.
13

Professors

Everyone turned around. A white-haired old man walked out from the shadow of a huge pillar. As he drew closer, Liz shouted, 'Professor Smith, we're...'

Professor Smith raised his hand. 'Don't tell me who you are; and don't show anybody your real faces. I've been watching you since you arrived. You need to be more alert.'

'Yes, Professor.' Liz felt her face became hot.

'I'm convinced you're somehow related to Li Ping. Don't tell me anything more— that's good enough for me to trust you. Now listen to me very carefully...' Professor Smith suddenly stopped, turning around. A group of black-cloaked figures emerged from shadows of the pillars.

'Professor Smith?' asked the leading figure.

'Yes? Who are you?'

'We are colleagues of Professor Brown in London. Let me introduce everyone to you.' He spoke with a strong French accent. 'I'm Dr Blanc; my specialty is ancient witchcraft; this is Dr Wolfgang, and his field is...'

'Sorry for interrupting you, Dr Blanc.' Professor Smith scanned the surroundings. 'This is very important; how did you know to find me here?'

'Quite simple— we traced you by following your Northern Star. I have to admit that Professor Brown told me about it...'

'Oh, no, how could I not think about it earlier?' Professor Smith used his fists to hit his head repeatedly.

'What's wrong, Professor?'

'Dr Blanc, the situation here is much more complicated than we thought; we are not only dealing with thousands of monsters...'

'That is what we are here for. We'll look after you. Let me show you one of my French charms. Look at the rock over there.' After a few rapid words, Dr Blanc swished a wand, and a pale green spark shot out, hitting a desk-size rock twenty metres away; it exploded.

'It's great, Dr Blanc, but I need to tell you about...'

'Obviously you have not been convinced by the power of my wand. Dr Wolfgang, could you please cast one of your famous German spells?'

'As you wish.' Speaking a series of German words, Dr Wolfgang's wand emitted a pale-blue spark, striking on a tree thirty metres away; the tree burst into flames. 'My mistake!' Dr Wolfgang mumbled a few more words and the fire was extinguished.

'Thank you both so much for your demonstrations. Believe me, I do not doubt your power and ability to suppress and kill evil monsters; however, what we're dealing with is far more dangerous than that.' Professor Smith stopped abruptly, turning around, and shouted, 'Who's there?'

Liz saw nobody at first; then figures emerged from behind the huge pillars. The first shadow walked to the light: a vampire with long shiny fangs. He was carrying a torch and wearing a backpack. The group behind him all looked like him. Each had a torch and a backpack.

'Professor, leave them to us. Comrades, deploy your wands.' Dr Blanc and his black-cloaked people spread out, wands drawn, and faced the vampires.

'Dr Blanc, they are not vampires...' Professor Smith's voice was drowned by Dr Blanc and his comrades' shouting; casting spells or charms, Liz assumed.

In slick synchronised movements, the backpack vampires raised their torches, shooting out showers of red sparks. Dr Blanc and his comrades were cut to the ground one after another; most of them hadn't managed to cast any spells. A few pale blue and green sparks from Blanc's and Wolfgang's wands did hit their targets but bounced off, dropping into the river and creating giant bubbles.

Professor Smith was in his seventies. Even so, in a split second he took out a short wooden stick and with a swift slash shot out a bright blue spark. The vampire leader reacted fast, ducking sideward and avoiding the spark. Still in the air, he fired a red spark straight at the Professor's chest.

Leaping forward, Liz cracked her dragon whisker whip. It flashed out; a dark blue jet with rainbow sparks, shooting at the vampire leader. He ducked again; the tip of the whip narrowly passed his body.

'Don't kill them, I want all three alive!' The vampire leader shook his hand, and his torch-like object grew into a five foot long sword. Taking fast strides, he advanced on Liz.

As Liz's whip flew out, Henry's sword jumped out of his belt. Leaping forward, he bounced away the vampires' swords. Then he heard Sue scream. Spinning around, he saw three vampires running toward Sue. She covered her face with her hands and screamed. Leaping back, Henry was just in time to block the vampires. With one hand he grabbed Sue's arm, with the other he made a series of circles with his sword; the vampires were forced back. Sue's face was pale and her eyes were full of terror.

Liz heard Sue's scream but was unable to help; the vampire leader was only feet away. In that short distance, her long whip was almost useless; she had to use the handle to block his thrusting sword. More than once, the sword missed her skin by only a finger's width. At first she was panic-stricken: how could three kids hold off a bunch of vampires? But as she twisted and curled to avoid the sword's deadly thrusts and slashes, she gradually calmed down. This was her first time in real combat, and she needed time to apply what she had learnt in practice.

She glanced back and saw that Henry was protecting Sue. Suddenly diving sideways, Liz flew towards the water. Still in the air, she twisted her wrist; her whip flipped straight at the vampire leader's face, knocking him down. It wrapped around another vampire's leg. Twitching her arm, Liz dragged the vampire to the ground; meanwhile, her body made a curve in the air above the water, and she landed on the riverbank twenty feet away from the group of vampires.

The vampire leader rose. Liz's whip had made a long, deep cut down his face, and blood flowed down his cheek. He raised his hand, gripped the cut, and pulled. To Liz's amazement, he pulled off a mask. He didn't look like a vampire at all, now; rather he seemed a man in his late twenties.

Liz didn't have time to think about this. Being the right distance away from her enemy, her whip was operating at maximum power. It whistled, wiggled, danced and made hundreds and thousands of interwoven loops. Two vampires were whipped into the air and fell crashing down to ground.

Bang!

Black smoke burst among the vampires, and more explosions deafened her. The area filled with heavy fog-like black smoke. Liz heard a vampire shout that someone was on top of the bridge. She heard some thuds. It seemed that a few more vampires were down. Then came screams, human screams.

Relying on her memory, Liz withdrew towards Henry and Sue. Tripping on a body, she made a side-tumble, just avoiding falling down. A weak voice came to her ears. 'Listen to me carefully.' It was Professor Smith.

'Yes, Professor, it's me.'

'One nine eight...nine four...one seven two...one four five. Remember, and go now. Don't call the police...don't tell anyone...' His voice died.

'Liz, where are you?'

Wiping her tears, Liz leapt forward, gripping Henry and Sue. 'Let's go.'

Under cover of the heavy smoke, she and her friends disappeared.
14

Internet Cafe

The rising howl of sirens and the flashing lights of an ambulance told Liz something was wrong. It was coming towards her home.

'Quick, into our bedrooms and into pyjamas.' They hurried over the fence and sneaked inside the house through the window they had left open a few hours ago.

Liz had hardly put on her pyjamas when her mother knocked on her door. 'What's happened, Mum? So much noise!' Liz tried to sound like she had just woken.

'Your father fell down the stairs...'

'Is he all right?' Liz rushed towards the stairs but her mother reached out and grabbed her, stopping her from racing downstairs.

'He's unconscious but still breathing. Don't panic! I want the three of you to stay here, and I'll ring you from hospital.' Her mother rushed downstairs. From the noise below, Liz knew the ambulance had arrived.

'What happened to Dad?' Henry poked his head round Liz's door.

Liz told him. She heard her mother open the front door and people tramp in; a few minutes later, the front door closed. Everything became quiet again.

'What are we going to do now?' Sue asked.

'No much, except wait for Mum to call.' Liz walked downstairs and sat on the sofa. Henry and Sue followed.

'What were those backpack things? I still can't believe that— they killed dozens of professors, just like that!' Henry snapped his fingers.

'I felt guilty about what happened; if we hadn't been there to meet Professor Smith, he and the others might be still alive,' Liz said in a low voice.

'That's why we should stay and fight to avenge their deaths,' Henry said.

'It's my fault. I'm so useless, only able to scream.' Sue paused, and then held up her torn top. 'What a pity! Do you know that it's the latest fashion?'

'It's terrible, so many deaths...' Liz was unable to complete her sentence. There was a long silence, and then, 'Do you have any idea who was on the bridge and saved us?' said Sue.

'I thought it was Li Ping at first, but that doesn't make any sense,' Liz sighed. 'I have no idea.' She remembered the numbers that Professor Smith had given her, so she told Henry and Sue.

'Could they be bank safe numbers?'

'Henry, you read too many mystery books. They could be a phone number, maybe a mobile phone number. Let me write down the numbers: one nine eight...nine four...one seven two...one four five, and that's it.' Liz stared at the number in front of her.

'Well, it doesn't look like a mobile phone number.'

'Or a bank safe number.'

'What are the other possibilities? I wish we had a codebook.'

'We could always search the internet...'

'I've got it!' Henry jumped up, turning on the PC on the nearby desk.

'What are you doing?'

'I know Sue was joking about the Internet search, but it reminds me that some hidden Web addresses are numbers.' Henry flexed his fingers and began typing on the keyboard.

'No, Henry.' Liz turned the PC off.

'Why? Don't you want to find out?'

'Yes, but not here.'

'Do you think it may cause trouble?'

'More than just trouble, danger— Professor Smith only told us about it when he knew he was dying, so we should be extremely careful how we proceed with this message.'

'Do you think someone will trace us here if we log on to a web site?'

'That's one thing the Professor taught us before he died: you can never be too cautious.'

'In that case, we'd better go to a net café in the city.'

The phone rang; it was Liz's mother. She told Liz that her father had recovered soon after being admitted to the hospital. The doctor said it could have been the shock or a slight concussion from the fall. Anyway, he would have to stay in hospital for now. She said the x-ray confirmed his right knee was fractured, but it was the concussion the doctor was worried about. She'd organised Sue's mother to stay with them that night.

Liz felt great relief that her father was all right. Soon Sue's mother arrived. She told them to go back to sleep. Feeling exhausted, Liz fell asleep in no time.

When she woke up it was ten o'clock. She rushed downstairs, where Sue's mother was having a cup of coffee in the living area.

'Good morning, Linda. Any news about Dad?'

'Your mother rang not long ago. Your father is in a stable condition; however, he'll have to stay in hospital for a week for observation. Your mother said you can visit him this afternoon.'

'Thank you very much, Linda; we need to go to the city this morning, and we'll go to the hospital this afternoon.'

'In that case, I'll go home for now and visit your father later. See you all there.'

As soon as Sue's mother left, the three headed out, Sue complaining bitterly about the top she had borrowed from Liz. The net café was located between a Japanese sushi restaurant and a large, cheap backpacker's accommodation, right in the city centre. Looking through the large glass window and watching crowds of office workers enjoying their lunch break, Liz said, 'Here should be all right. It's in public, and we can see who's coming.'

Sue left them to it and went off in search of a clothing store. Liz paid for a PC, and Henry typed the series of numbers into the web address bar. Feeling her heart pounding, Liz glanced around; nobody was paying any attention to them. Henry punched the enter key. The screen slowly grew black, and then white words emerged. Unlike a professional web site, it was very basic. Henry clicked on an icon with Professor Smith's nametag, and an article gradually appeared on the screen.

Liz took a deep breath and started to read. In the article, Professor Smith stated that exhaustive research proved that Wave Rock was a magical prison of ancient evil monsters.

'I knew something was wrong with Wave Rock.'

'Shush. Keep reading.'

After stating the dangerous consequences of destroying the rock, Professor Smith wrote that, according to his research, modern human firearms were useless against these ancient evil monsters; they could only be destroyed by witchcraft and ancient weapons such as swords, spears, clubs, wooden sticks, bow and arrows, and the like. Although he was trying to persuade authorities not to proceed with the mine project, he doubted anybody would listen to him, so he wanted the council to be prepared.

'What council?'

'Shhh.'

The article was short. Liz assumed people in the council knew what he was talking about.

Henry closed the article, and a white window popped up. A line of words appeared: _Is this Professor Smith from Western Australia?_

Henry typed rapidly; _Professor Smith was killed by a group of vampires last night._

'What are you doing?' Liz whispered as another line of words appeared on the screen. _Identify yourself; how did you get Professor Smith's login?_

'We are...' Before Henry managed to type any more, Liz gripped his wrist. 'What are you going to say? Remember Li's letter!'

'Whoops— forgot about that.'

'I'd better do this,' Liz said, but Henry insisted that he was able to type faster. 'I'll be more careful this time.' He typed _We're unable to identify ourselves, but we are Professor Smith's friends. He told us the web address before he passed away._

I believe you. Let me introduce myself. I am Professor Brown, the president of the council.

Dr Blanc mentioned you.

Did you see him recently?

I'm sorry. Dr Blanc and some of his colleagues were also killed by the backpack vampires last night.

Did you say 'Backpack' vampires killed Professor Blanc and the people with him?

Yes.

There was a long silence.

'What's happened?' Liz asked.

'I don't know,' Henry said. 'Let's wait a couple of minutes.'

'I think we should go. I feel creepy here.'

'Come on, Liz, we're in public. No vampires would dare come out in bright sunlight,' Henry said.

'Be quiet. Professor Smith said that they are not vampires. We should leave now.'

'Just another minute; this is our only hope to get help.'

'OK, sixty seconds and we're out of here.' Liz was fidgety and nervous; she stared out the window and was relieved to see Sue running towards the café. Finally, words appeared on the screen again. _Tell me about the monsters._

They broke out of a magic prison, and it's just a matter of a few days before hundreds or thousands of people could be slaughtered. Can you help?

_Professor Blanc and the group of people with him were sent there to slay the monsters_. There was another long pause. _Last night the council was also under attack by the 'backpack' vampires; only a few members escaped. I need to find a few more people and then we'll try to come to Western Australia as soon as we can._

'I remember reading in the newspaper about professors missing from a conference in London,' Henry said quietly. _How soon do you think you will be able to arrive in Perth?_

We will have to smuggle ourselves in.

Do you have any idea who these backpack killers are?

Some guesses, but not sure; they seem to be from a highly civilised world.

Are you telling us they are aliens?

Sue came gasping into the café and hurried over to her friends. 'Liz...outside...' She pointed with a shaking arm. Liz peered out the window.

'Wow, look at this!' Henry exclaimed. Liz swung back again.

_Yes, we believe they have been visiting and studying us for quite a while. They possess some extremely advanced technology, almost like they have decoded all ancient spells and applied them to their weaponry systems..._ The screen went blank. Henry hit keys and swore under his breath.

'Henry, we have to go. Now!' Sue stuttered.

Henry didn't answer, but hit the keyboard trying to reconnect. Liz grabbed him.

'We're going. We shouldn't have passed so much information over the net...' She dragged Henry from his seat even as a new window popped up.

'There,' Sue said in a muted shriek. Liz's stomach sank. A group of people, each carrying a backpack, strode towards them. She recognised the leader in front. They did not look like vampires any more.
15

Homeless Man

'Quick; out the back!' Liz said. Ignoring the protests of the café owner, the three hurried out to the alley and ran along it to the side street. Liz's face was pale; she tried to swallow the lump in her throat. They climbed the overhead footbridge and fled down it to the opposite side of the street. Looking back, she saw the backpackers walk into the café. After a few seconds they appeared at the steps of the footbridge.

'We'd better move. They're walking towards us.' The three speed-walked through a few shops and paused at the other side of the city arcade.

'They're still behind us,' Sue whispered.

'How do they _know_!' demanded Liz. It seemed the backpackers didn't know where they were exactly, but were following some kind of trace she and her friends left behind. 'How can they tell where we are, if they can't see us?'

Henry suddenly said. 'Of course! They're tracing our scent, left on the chair and keyboard. Follow me, quick.'

As the escalator carried them to the underground food hall, waves of food smells hit Liz's nostrils; she dodged among the hundreds of tables and people, feeling her stomach rumbling and reminding her she hadn't even had breakfast yet; but she had neither appetite nor time for anything at the moment.

Henry led the way past Subway, the Sushi bar, Mexican food, the Middle East stall, and the Chinese BBQ noodle bar, and up the escalator to the ground floor again. They skidded through another food hall, then another. Henry certainly knew where all the eating places were, Liz thought wryly. When they had passed through the third underground food hall, Henry said, 'We should take a bus and get out of the city before they trace us again.' He led them to one of the free city circle buses at a fast trot, and they leapt aboard as it moved off.

There was no sign of the backpackers behind them.

They sat under a large tree on the Kings Park hilltop, staring at the sky over Perth, the Swan River, and the Narrows Bridge. Liz used both hands to cover her face.

'What's the matter, Liz?' Sue put her hand on Liz's shoulder.

'I'm sorry; I just feel so helpless...'

'Liz, we can't just sit here and cry; hundreds of thousands of people's lives are depending on us; we need to do something.' Henry sounded quite angry. Liz shrugged and said nothing.

'Henry, can't you see what's happened? Dr Blanc and dozens of his colleagues are dead, Professor Smith and Li Ping have died, and the few remaining members of the council in Europe are being hunted by the backpack killers. Nobody is coming to help us. What can we do with only the three of us?' Sue slumped in misery. 'And I haven't managed to buy myself a new top!'

Henry groaned and threw himself onto the ground as well.

Sue said, 'Look at that strange old man standing beside the post box! Now he's walking towards the bush. I'm sure I've seen him before...' She paused for a few seconds, and Liz and Henry sat up. Strange men were very interesting to them right now. 'Yes, I remember now; I saw him in the protest march yesterday. Something's not quite right about him.'

Liz squinted at the old man, now vanishing among the trees. 'Yes, he does look a bit unusual.'

'Do you think he's a vampire?' Henry asked.

'Or one of the backpack killers,' Liz said.

Sue's face suddenly became pale. 'What should we do?'

Henry stood up. 'I'll go and capture him so we can find something out about our enemy.'

'Wait...' But Henry shot away before Liz managed to finish her sentence. She turned to Sue. 'I have to go and help him. Sue, you stay here and wait for us to come back.'

'All right, I should be fine here in public.' Liz disappeared into the bush. Sue leaned back against the tree, glad she wasn't being asked to help. She was still feeling shaken by her cowardice the night before, and didn't want to get into a fight again. She looked around and saw more strange men walking towards her. Hesitating for a second, she stood and walked after Liz and Henry.

Sue walked cautiously through dense bush. It was darker here and there was no sign of either Liz or Henry.

'Hey you - stop!'

Sue turned.

It was the old man. How could both Liz and Henry have missed him? She turned around, walking quickly out of the bush.

In the blink of an eye, the old man stood in front of her again. 'Did you hear me? I told you to stop.'

'Why should I stop?' Sue glanced around; hoping Liz or Henry would show.

'This is why.' The man took up the dirty rag off his head and his face.

Sue felt faint. The vampire's long fangs shone in the dim light, exactly as Sue remembered from the last encounter. Li Ping had saved her and her friends then, but she would have to save herself this time. She forced herself to gaze into the vampire's glowing, sunken eyes.

'You didn't scream, impressive. I guess you don't know who I am. I haven't sucked fresh blood for a very long time, and you are the lucky one today.' He advanced towards her.

Uncontrollably, Sue let out a loud scream, but her body was frozen by fear. The vampire stood in front of her and his sharp claws reached out towards her neck.

'Freeze! Put your hands behind your head.'

Turning, Sue saw two police officers about twenty metres away, their handguns aimed at the vampire. They must have been patrolling along the nearby footpath and heard her screaming. Sue felt relieved— surely the vampire would run away.

'What did you say, freeze? Why do I want to freeze? It's not that cold.' The vampire stepped past Sue towards the police officers.

'Stop where you are! One more step, and I'll shoot.'

'Shoot? Go ahead.'

A round of rapid gunfire echoed in the bush. Bullets hit the vampire's chest, but bounced away like popcorn.

'What the hell...'

The police officer did not have time to complete his sentence; the vampire leapt forward, his sharp claws slashing the officer's throat. Red blood shot high in the air. The second officer only managed two steps before fangs sank into his neck.

Sue's throat was dry, unable to make any sound; her legs were shaking, unable to move. She stood, helplessly, watching the vampire. He dumped the second police officer, turned, and walked towards her.
16

Kings Park

As the vampire's claw touched her skin, she managed to move her legs, stumbling backwards; tripping on something, she fell. The vampire leapt, diving like a hawk.

Being able to move again heartened Sue, even though she was flat on her back. She felt a warm current circulate around her. In an instant, she rolled backwards on her shoulders, recoiled her legs, and kicked at the vampire—and he sailed over her head like a string-snipped kite. Making a scissors cross-kick, she flipped up onto her feet.

'Well, I have to confess I underestimated you!' The vampire gave a whistle. As the high sound echoed in Sue's ears, two dozen vampires appeared from nowhere. 'I'll correct my misjudgement. You're shaking!'

Sue was. As she shook her wrist, her bangle slid off, slipping into her hand. In front of everyone's eyes, the little loop grew into a ring three feet wide; the rim of the Yin Yang Ring sparked gold.

'Look what we've got here, a magic toy.' The vampire leader chuckled in a high-pitched tone. 'I want her alive.'

With a series of loud clunks, the vampires drew broadswords, war axes, maces and other ancient weapons, advancing towards Sue slowly and cautiously. She took a deep breath and let the air out slowly. In a couple of seconds her knees stopped shaking; it gave her a bit more confidence. The vampires suddenly sprang. Sue was shocked by their speed as they formed a circle around her.

Although she had her new weapon and had practised her combat skills in the Long Dream for years, Sue had no faith that she could defeat these monsters alone. Listening to their armour and weapons clunk, watching their long sharp fangs getting closer and closer, she decided to run.

However the vampires were closing in from all directions; she was surrounded. Only one gap appeared. To her left was a huge tree so wide the vampires had to walk around it, so there was a gap in their formation. Without hesitation, Sue lifted her Qi upwards, feeling her body become very light. Her feet pushed against ground hard, and like an arrow, she shot towards the tree.

Behind, like a group of wasps, the vampires zoomed after her. Sue felt the wind of the first broadsword almost touching her back; she didn't look, but waving her ring backwards in a smooth curve, she bounced on to the approaching sword.

Clunk!

Her arm was jolted violently; she almost lost her ring. Immediately, she knew she had lost her touch— Tai Chi does not use force against force. But there was no time to think. She landed a metre in front of the tree and sprinted towards the tree trunk, touching it briefly as her body leapt ten feet into the air. Her right foot pushed on the trunk again, and she shot downwards at the nearest vampire.

She saw him heaving his war axe upwards, chopping at her with enormous force. She thrust her ring towards the axe, but before touching it, withdrew quickly, and then landed it on the huge weapon.

This time there was no clink.

It took only a split second to complete the sequence: pushing her Yin Yang Ring and utilising the support from the war axe, Sue launched herself once more high into the air. Twisting at her waist, she did a forward midair somersault, landing ten feet outside the vampire's circle. As soon as her feet touched the ground, she lifted her Qi upwards again and started to run.

But she was not simply running away— she used a special method, the Tai Chi Eight Palace Gong Fu, running in complicated patterns so her movements were completely random; there was no chance for the enemy to predict where she might move next.

As she ran among the trees, Sue realised that she was in the area of their secret hideout; she saw the giant panda shape missing from the large tree trunk ahead. Suddenly she felt more confident, with an advantage over the vampires. Twisting at the waist, Sue made a smooth curve right in front of a tree. The vampire behind crashed into the hard wood.

The vampires hadn't been able to get her yet, but Sue knew she couldn't hang on like this forever. 'Where are you, Liz and Henry?' While running, dashing, and leaping among trees and vampires, Sue repeated these questions in her mind. Suddenly, she heard Liz's voice.

'Sue! Where are you?'

She leapt in the air and glided through the narrow gap between a broadsword and a war axe, looking around to find where Liz's voice came from. 'Liz, is that you talking to me?' Sue asked aloud, but there was no answer.

A few seconds later, she heard Liz's voice again. 'Sue, where are you?'

'Liz, I wish that you could hear me. I'm battling over two dozen vampires right now,' Sue thought in her head. To her great surprise, she heard Liz's reply in her mind.

'Sue, I can hear you in my head. Henry and I got lost. It must be a vampires' trick. Tell me where you are.'

Sue understood. She told Liz where she was. But the conversation made her lose focus. Soon five broadswords covered all possible escape routes.

As the deadly swords closed in on Sue, a dark blue whip dropped from above. Sue gripped the tip of the whip and swung her ring in a circular motion, bouncing the swords away. In a swish, she disappeared from the vampires' circle.

Once she was securely hugging the tree branch fifteen feet above ground, Liz's whip appeared again; like an angry dragon waggling in the air, it whistled, twisted, and bit. Vampires were thrown into the air or knocked to the ground. With her whip making a large circle, Liz withdrew and then stretched out her arm; like an arrow, the whip shot out, penetrating a vampire's heart; its body exploded.

Then Henry appeared: wrapped inside spinning green sword shadows, he bounced a vampire's mace away and slashed his arm off.

Emboldened by her friends' attack, Sue jumped from her branch, ducked a war axe, and slashed at a vampire's leg. Blood gushed out.

It was the first time Sue's had ever seen so much blood. She felt repulsed; she wanted to throw up. She staggered a few steps backward, looking away. She failed to see five daggers fly out of the injured vampire's sleeve, shooting towards her.

Liz saw the daggers.

She leapt in front of Sue. Still in mid-air, she simultaneously kicked at the two lower daggers, captured the two higher ones, and clenched the last one between her teeth. Before her feet touched the ground, she twisted her wrists gracefully and threw two of the daggers at the vampire leader. As if she had been practising for years, she caught and threw the daggers in one smooth, circular movement.

The daggers sank into the leader's stomach; with an ear-piercing screech, he fell backwards and sank into the ground. The remaining vampires screamed in panic and ran, disappearing into the bush.

Liz spat the black dagger out. 'That was close,' she said, and collapsed.
17

The old man lost his horse

Rushing to Liz, Sue knelt beside her, shaking her shoulder gently, but there was no response. Liz's face was grey. Henry knelt on her other side.

'Do you think it's the dagger?'

'I don't know.' Henry picked up the dagger, examined it carefully and threw it away. He checked Liz's lips but could not find any cut or bruise. He examined her entire body; near the ankle on her right leg, he found Liz's trousers torn a bit. Pulling the cloth away, he sucked a mouthful of cold air. 'It looks bad,' he said slowly.

Sue peered at the ankle in horror. It was scarily dark, almost black, and the darkness seemed to be creeping upward.

'Please, do something— quick!'

Henry held his two fingers up together forming the sword fingers, and jabbed at a series of points along Liz's legs, arms, and shoulders.

'Do you think she'll be all right?'

'I hope so, but I'm not sure.'

Sue held Liz's hand, put it against her face and sobbed. 'Please Liz, don't die...please don't die...it's all my fault...'

'Stop it, Sue, it's not your fault. If it's anybody's fault, it should be mine because I tried to capture the vampire in the first place.'

'But still, if I hadn't been so scared of blood, Liz wouldn't have had to save me...'

Henry suddenly shouted. 'The emergency help page from Li's diary!'

'Yes, the help page.' She stopped crying and fumbled inside Liz's pocket, found the diary. 'Oh, but...' She stared at the first blank page. 'How do we get help?'

'Let me have a look.' Henry snatched the diary from Sue; the page in her hand was ripped out.

'Thanks a lot, Henry!' Sue said angrily, but immediately shouted. 'Something's happening!'

Traces of black ink were emerging on the white paper, finally firming into Chinese characters. Henry snatched again, and read. '"The frontier old man lost his horse." Is that all we have here? An old man lost his horse?' He crumpled the page and flung it down.

Sue picked it up and smoothed it out, frowning at the words. 'Isn't that some kind of Chinese idiom or story?'

'Might be; but how helpful will it be to save Liz?'

Sue tucked the page inside the diary and put it back in Liz's pocket. 'Do you think the vampires will come back? Maybe we should go somewhere else. I feel creepy here.'

'We can't move Liz until she wakes up; otherwise I'm scared she'll die. I don't think the vampires will come back soon. If they do, we'll just have to fight them. Let's not worry about them, and have some rest.'

Sue didn't think she would be able to stop worrying, but she did her best.

An hour later, Liz opened her eyes. Touching her injured leg briefly, she sat up with Henry and Sue's help, and leaned against a tree. Henry briefly explained what had happened, and what he had done to stop the poison. 'Liz, while you were unconscious we used the first emergency help page.' He told Liz what was on the page.

'It's a classic Chinese four-word idiom. I know there's a story behind it, but I don't know what it is.' Liz thought for a while. 'I wish Li Ping had told us about the story.'

'Why don't we go and ask your dad about it?' Sue suggested.

'Sue, we don't have time to find out about a Chinese story; the monsters may come back, and we need to do something about Liz's injury,' Henry said.

'But it's important to understand Li's message; it's our only hope at the moment. Besides, nobody here can help Liz with her injury.'

'Look, I agree with you, but my dad would have no idea what Li Ping's message is. All he knows are ancient stories for five year olds.'

Sue could be stubborn if she wanted. 'Your dad knows more about Chinese culture than anyone we know— and don't forget, he is always talking about Taoism, and Li Ping talked about it too, so there could be some connection there.'

'Oh!' Liz exclaimed remorsefully. 'I completely forgot about Dad being in hospital. Let's go and ask him.'

'But how can you explain your injury to Mum and Dad?'

'Could you help me stand up?' As soon as her injured foot touched the ground, Liz felt as if a sharp knife was stabbing into her ankle. She let out a painful groan.

'Are you sure you're able to walk?' Sue stared at Liz's pale face.

'I'll be fine.' Liz used her sleeve to wipe the cold sweat beads from her forehead. "I'll say I twisted my ankle.'

'I don't think that'll fool Mum and Dad; we need to work out something else.'

'We have no other option. Let's go.'

A couple of times, Liz almost fainted on the way to the hospital; however, when walking into her father's ward she tried to be as normal as she could.

Liz's father half sat and half lay on the hospital bed, his right leg covered with hard plaster; however, he looked cheerful. 'What's wrong with your leg?' he asked Liz immediately she stepped into the room.

'Nothing serious, just twisted my ankle a bit. Dad, are you OK?'

'My knee bone was fractured from the fall, but it's not a big deal. It's my head that's bothering me the most.'

'Have you taken some painkillers?' Liz asked.

'Normal painkillers didn't work, and the doctor isn't sure if it's related to the fall. That's why I have to stay here a bit longer.'

'Dad, do you know the story behind the idiom of 'The frontier old man lost his horse'?' Trying to act as normal as possible, Liz sat on the chair beside her dad's bed.

He looked at her for a second. 'Why do you suddenly ask that?'

'Oh, we were just talking about this Chinese idiom, and none of us know anything about it,' Henry said.

'Well, in that case, let me tell you the story.'

He looked pleased. Liz and Henry had rarely asked him anything about Chinese-related topics. When they were young, he had tried to make the old Chinese stories sound interesting, but he was rarely successful. In the last few years he had given up.

Today, under the most unlikely circumstances, Liz had to pretend to enjoy his talk. She sighed inside, and forced herself to listen to what her father had to say.

'A long time ago there was an old man who lived near the frontier in the north of China. He had a horse, and relied on it to carry goods to the market and to work in the field; the whole family depended on it to make a living. One day, the horse was gone. Although the old man and his son searched everywhere, they couldn't find it.

'The old man's neighbour tried to comfort him. "You should not feel too bad. This kind of disaster could have happened to anyone."

'The old man said, "But we don't know if it's a good or a bad thing yet."

'The neighbour thought he was too depressed to think straight. "Of course it's a very bad thing. How could it be a good thing if you lost all your assets?"

'The old man said calmly, "Let's wait and see."

'A few days later, the old man's horse came back to him, along with a few wild horses. The neighbour came to see him. "You're right about losing your horse; it's ended up being a good thing. Congratulations."

'The old man said, "How can you be so sure it is a good thing?"

'The neighbour was puzzled. "Of course it is a good thing; you've got a few extra horses."

'The old man said, 'Let's wait and see."'

Liz and Henry exchanged a look, but said nothing.

'The old man's son tried to ride one of the wild horses but he fell off and broke his leg. The neighbour visited the old man. "I'm sorry to hear what happened to your son. You're right again. It's not a good thing to get the wild horses."

'The old man said, "How can you be sure that it's not a good thing?"

'The neighbour was completely lost. "Of course it's not a good thing. How can it be a good thing if your only son broke his leg?"

'The old man said, "Let's wait and see."

'A few days later, a war broke out between China and its northern neighbour. All the young men in the village went to the war but none of them returned. The old man's son was unable to join the army because of his broken leg; he was the only young man in the village to survive. The neighbour asked the old man one last time, "Tell me when you can be certain it is a good or a bad thing."

'The old man said, "There is no absolutely good or bad thing: it depends on how you look at it."'

Their father paused. 'By the way, do you know where this frontier was?'

'I think...actually I have no idea,' Liz said, stifling a yawn.

'It was the Great Wall of China.' Her father paused again. 'Do you know, there's another Chinese idiom related to horses: "The old horse knows its way home".'

Liz felt it had been a complete waste of time to asking her dad about the idiom, and she had no interest in enduring another story, but before she could say anything, Sue said that she would like to hear it. Sue sometimes was too polite, almost painfully polite.

While her father told the story, Liz battled with the agonising pain from her injured ankle, the frustration of being unable to tell anybody about the backpack killers and the monsters, and the hopelessness of getting help from anywhere. It felt like eternity but finally her father completed his tale. All Liz had heard was that it was about an old horse that knew its way home.

She tried to smile and spoke as politely as possible. 'Thank you so much for telling us the stories, Dad, they're very interesting. I really enjoy them. Where's Mum?'

'She went to do some shopping and should be back soon.'

'We have to go out again. We have an appointment with... um... Li Ping this evening, so can you please tell Mum that we're not coming back for dinner?' Liz was relieved her mother wasn't here or, she wouldn't get away so easily; her mother would ask questions about the appointment.

Looking at her father, Liz found her eyes moisten; she didn't know what would happen to her, didn't even know if she would see her parents again or hear her father drone on about Chinese tales again. Trying her best to stop the oncoming tears, she kissed her father on the cheek. 'I love you, Dad.'

'What are we going to do now?' Sue asked after they were outside.

'I suggest we go to Li's apartment, and see what we can find there.'

Each step Liz felt searing pain on her ankle. She suddenly remembered the story of which a mermaid was happily dancing with the prince while enduring extremely pain. She would be more than happy dancing with Fred, and with the extreme pain that she endured now. What a stupid thought, Liz laughed at herself; how could she think about such a thing at such a time?

Li's apartment was on the third floor of a riverside apartment building. When they got there, it was quite dark. Henry found the spare key to the door. When they were inside, Liz suddenly felt dizzy and fell to the floor.

When she opened her eyes again, she saw Sue's red eyes and Henry's concerned face. 'How long was I passed out?'

'About half an hour.'

Turning her head, Liz saw something on the carpet. She picked it up; it was Li Ping's Chinese passport, and there was a plane ticket inside it for a flight that night to Beijing and return on Saturday morning.

Liz's eyes suddenly became bright. 'I think I've decoded Li Ping's message!'

'Really? What is it?' Henry and Sue asked at the same time.

'Go to China,' Liz said slowly, and her insides kicked and she lost her initial excitement. 'Look for the old man living at the Great Wall of China.'

'Of course!' Sue hugged Liz. 'You're a genius...'

'But the Great Wall is over five thousand kilometres long!' exclaimed Henry. 'How do you know where this old man lives?'

'The answer is here.' Liz shook Li Ping's passport. 'Li was going to go to Beijing, so the Great Wall in Beijing is where I need to go.'

'You don't sound very enthusiastic. What's wrong?' Sue asked. Liz didn't answer immediately. 'Are you worried about going to China alone?'

'Yes, I am. I'm actually very scared; there is so much unknown in front of me. I don't know if I can do it...' Liz's voice trailed off.

Sue held Liz's hand, tried to say something, but said nothing in the end.

There was a long silence.

And then Henry said, 'Liz, I'm sorry that I can't go to China for you, and I know it's very daunting to go, but you have to do it, not only to save yourself, but also everyone living here.'

'I know that. I'll do it.'

'You'll need some money. How much money do we have?'

They searched their pockets and found ninety-six dollars. Most of it was Sue's shopping money for her new top.

'You'll need more than that. Should I go back home to get more?' Sue asked.

'We have to leave now if Liz wants to catch the flight.' Henry looked at his watch.

As Liz stood on the footpath alongside Henry and Sue, waiting for a taxi, she worried aloud. 'I don't know if this is the right thing to do. I can't let Mum and Dad worry about me again. Last time we went to the mine protest only for one day...'

Henry interrupted impatiently. 'Liz, you're on a mission to save hundreds of thousands of people's lives, as well as your own. One day Mum and Dad will understand.'

Sue offered something more practical. Raising her hand she stroked her face, and in a blink she changed into Liz, and then Li, and back to herself again. 'With the help of this mask, I can be Liz, Li Ping and myself; surely we'll be able to make up some convincing stories to tell your parents.'

'Li said we have one week to get ready at the most, so you'll need to come back on Saturday...' Henry said, but Sue interrupted him. She held Liz's hand, and said softly, 'Liz, if you can't find any help by Saturday, you should stay there a bit longer. There are lots to see in China.'

Liz hugged Sue, and then Henry. 'I'll visit China and spend a long time there, but not this time. I'll come back this Saturday whether I find any help or not. Please take care.'

The taxi came and Liz got in. While waving at Henry and Sue, she felt tears flow down her cheeks. She hoped she would come back alive.
18

The Long Story

Opening her eyes, Liz looked around, and slowly the reality that she was in an airplane sank in. Glancing at her watch, she realised she must have been asleep or passed out for hours. Fortunately nobody was next to her; her seat was positioned near the toilets at tail end of the plane.

Feeling dizzy and headachy, she pulled herself to a sitting position. The throbbing pain at her ankle was now like a red-hot iron touching her bone at regular intervals.

Better to do something to take her mind off the pain. Liz took out Li's diary.

Among the pages and pages of detailed explanations of Tai Chi, there was no mention of any contacts in China. Liz sighed. She took out her pen and stared at it. What a pity that she hadn't learned how to write with it.

She stroked the brush across a blank page at the back of the diary, wishing that Li Ping had had time to teach her how to use it. If she could paint things and make them come alive the way Li had, she would be able to create an army of magic soldiers, and then she would no longer have to worry about the monsters or the backpack killers. She would be able to paint many lovely animals, too— for example, a handsome horse to ride.

While immersed in her daydream, she saw ink traces slowly appearing on the blank page. She thought her eyes were tricking her, but a few seconds later she was spellbound— the page in front of her eyes was full of Chinese characters.

Looking around to ensure nobody had been watching, Liz started to read.

'Liz, you'll be the only person ever to read this story.' Liz felt tears flow down her cheeks. How she longed to see Li again and get her help. Wiping the tears with a damp sleeve, Liz read on.

Once upon a time in China there were three magic warriors, the most powerful and brave fighters against evil at the time. However great the dangers and difficulties, galloping on their magic horses they went to the four corners of the vast land of China to slay evil monsters; with deep respect in their hearts, people called them the 'Wind and Dust Jian Ke Trinity' (Liz knew that Jian Ke means Sword Guest in Chinese). Because of the colours of their capes, they were also called the Red, White and Black Cape Jian Ke.

One day they were informed that evil creatures were gathering in a secret cave, so they went to slay them, but found it was a trap set not only by the evil creatures, but also by the 'good magic people' who were jealous of Jian Ke's success.

During the battle, the White and Red Cape Jian Ke were injured. Thanks to the Black Cape Jian Ke's magic pen, the three of them managed to get out of the situation.

It was the last activity of the Wind and Dust Jian Ke Trinity in China. Gradually, time eroded people's memories. Most people, including scholars, came to believe that the Wind and Dust Jian Ke Trinity referred to Lijing, Hongfu and Curled Beard Guest in the Tang Dynasty.

Li's story was a big surprise to Liz, as it contradicted what her father had told her about Jian Ke during the Tang dynasty, and all the historical books written by both Chinese and western scholars. But maybe she hadn't been paying attention. Liz kept reading.

In fact, the three had escaped to a mountain known to nobody but themselves, far from the human world. Using all the Far Shu he knew, the Black Cape Jian Ke tried to save the Red and White Cape Jian Ke's lives.

After three days of great effort, the Red and White Cape were out of danger but too weak to go anywhere, so every day they did their meditation together to cure their internal injuries, while the Black Cape went out to find food for them. The irony was that this was the first time they had time for themselves; they didn't have to rush around fighting evil.

_Finally the White Cape Jian Ke_ _felt strong enough to join the Black Cape outside, and then the Red Cape told her that he loved her._

Liz hadn't expected the White Cape Jian Ke to be a girl.

She liked both of her friends. Deep in her heart, she knew that she loved the Black Cape Jian Ke, and she knew he loved her as well. Because they didn't want to hurt the Red Cape's feelings, they had never said anything to each other.

She didn't know what to say. Those few seconds felt like eternity. Finally, she said she needed time to think about it, and rushed out of the cave without looking at the Red Cape Jian Ke.

It was the end of the page. Liz turned it over but there was no word on the next page. As she wondered what to do, the words vanished and new words appeared.

Outside the cave, she saw a glimpse of the Black Cape Jian Ke disappearing behind the huge triple-peak-rock, and she knew he had heard the Red Cape's confession. She wanted to tell him her real feelings, but wasn't sure if it was the right thing to do; anyway, she followed him to the deep forest.

Seeing him sitting on the ground in the lotus position, she thought that he was doing his normal meditation, but this couldn't have been further from the truth. As white smoke came out of his head, she knew in an instant that he was going to burn all his supernatural power, eventually ending his own life.

In just a single leap she reached him, but it was too late. All that was left in front of her was a pile of clothes; the Black Cape Jian Ke had vanished. She sat on the ground, tears rolling down her cheeks.

She didn't know how long she sat there, one hour or two days; finally she decided to go back to tell the Red Cape Jian Ke what happened, but he was nowhere to be seen. Searching everywhere around the mountain, even using all her supernatural powers, she failed to find him. He must have followed her and witnessed what had happened. Maybe he somehow felt responsible for the Black Jian Ke's self-destruction. Their most powerful enemies had failed to destroy them, but their own love had defeated the Wind and Dust Jian Ke Trinity.

_After wandering around the mountain for another few days, the White Cape decided to follow her lover, burn her power, and eventually end her own life. Sitting in the lotus position, she used a self-destruction Far Shu to burn all her supernatural powers. A feeling of enormous energy built up inside her like a_ _volcano. She knew that everything would explode and be over in a few seconds._

_Just then, a thought struck her like lightning. She realised that she had to live on, but it was too late: white smoke started_ _emerging from her head. Instinctively, she applied San Gong Far Shu, which can boost one's power a hundredfold to enable one to make a last strike against an enemy. Of course, the San Gong Far Shu is so strong it kills both combatants. However, the White Cape Jian Ke had run out of choices, and she hoped the two Far Shu would work against each other. She needed a miracle._

She felt an explosion inside her body. She saw her skin blow up like a balloon and burst. When all of her old skin had exploded, she had new skin underneath. By accident, she had invented a Reborn Far Shu.

In the split of second before she was going to die, she suddenly remembered the magic calligraphy pen was indestructible. If she could find the magic pen, she would be able to use it to discover where the Black and Red Cape Jian Ke were. And this thought had saved her life.

She rushed to where the Black Cape's clothes were, hunting through them, but failed to find the magic pen. If the Black Cape Jian Ke were dead, the pen would be there with his clothes; therefore, he must still be alive somewhere. She promised herself, at whatever cost, to search the whole world and find her true love.

Liz paused, looked around and then kept reading.

The White Cape Jian Ke wandered around China trying to find the magic pen and the Black Cape Jian Ke; year after year, century after century, she searched. With the help of her Reborn Far Shu, every sixty years she became young again, but each time she used the Far Shu, she wondered if she would survive. She had been lucky so far.

Fourteen years ago, an I Ching prediction told her that, in order to find the magic pen, she had to travel towards south over the oceans. She left China for the first time.

The prediction brought her to Perth, the capital city of Western Australia. She knew that one day the calligraphy pen would appear in this ancient, but also new, land. Day after day, year after year, she waited patiently, living in the strange country. She managed to master the language; meanwhile, she also started a Tai Chi class.

One Saturday night just before going back to China, she saw a rainbow light shoot into the night sky. She knew she should go to China and do what she should do, but she had to stay and find where the rainbow light came from. Nothing could stop her after so many centuries of hard searching.

_Unfortunately she didn't manage to locate the rainbow light, so she did another I Ching prediction. Tomorrow she_ _would go to the lake inside the bush, and find out..._

Liz couldn't believe there was such a long story behind her birthday present. At the same time, she suddenly understood why Li's expression was so sad when she took the calligraphy pen back into her hand at last; in her mind, Li had always imagined that she'd see her lover when she finally found the pen.

Liz turned the page and found descriptions of the San Gong Far Shu. Liz was fascinated that it could boost one's power a hundredfold. For the rest of the flight, she studied the Far Shu that Li had used to save her life.

The cabin lights went on and the stewards started busily distributing breakfast to the passengers. As she closed the diary, Liz saw the characters of Li's story disappear. To her amazement, in their place appeared a painting.

At that second a steward bent over her with a tray, and she didn't have time to take a closer look at the picture.

