Phoenix Rising (Wandering Phoenix and Roaming Tiger Episode 1)

by Thaddeus White

  Wandering Phoenix and Roaming Tiger

  Episode 1 – Phoenix Rising

  by Thaddeus White

  Text copyright © 2017 Thaddeus White

  All rights reserved

  Cover artwork © 2017 Jamie Glover

  Smashwords Edition

  This book is a work of fiction. Any resemblance to real-world persons, living or dead, places or events is entirely coincidental.

  Smashwords Edition Licence Notes

  This e-book is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This book may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

  Note on pronunciation, history and measures

  Many of the names have easy and obvious pronunciations but a few can look tricky to Western eyes. Here’s a short pronunciation guide:

  c = ts

  q = ch

  x = sh

  z = dz

  zh = j

  The story is not set in a particular part of China’s past, just a vague and fuzzy mythologised, fictional version.

  A few Chinese measures that may be used here and there:

  li = third of a mile

  catty = one and a third pound

  picul = 133.3lbs

  Part 1 – Liu Shanshan and Liu Tong face drunks in town, and the governor at home

  In a place thousands of years and miles away from here…

  On a farm thirty li from the town of Xuzhou there lived a young woman called Liu Shanshan. Calling her a young lady might be giving her too much credit. She dwelt on her father’s farm and worked the land with him and her brother, spending the evenings learning the arts of the calligraphy brush and the nine elegant weapons.

  A good heart, a rough tongue, and more tomboy than budding housewife, Liu Meng saw her almost as a second son.

  When she grew old enough, her father sent Liu Shanshan and her older brother, Liu Tong, to go and sell vegetables in Xuzhou market.

  “Why do I have to do it?” she asked whilst her brother heaped the crops into the wheelbarrow.

  Liu Meng, stretched out on the bench outside their little farmhouse, hands behind his head, smiled. “Because men buy more from pretty young ladies than old men with half their teeth missing.”

  Liu Shanshan spat. “So you’re sending me to be lecher-bait?”

  Her father grunted. “I’d go with you, but I’m still recovering from flu and, if we delay, the crops will go bad. Don’t worry, Liu Tong will protect you.”

  Liu Tong dumped an armful of melons into the barrow. “Maybe not, if she doesn’t start pulling her weight.”

  She pushed him aside and started heaping vegetables. “I don’t need someone to protect me. Any old goat tries to get fresh and I’ll knock some sense into him!”

  Her father laughed. “Shanshan, my fierce sparrow. I love you, but the gods alone know how I’m going to find you a husband.”

  “Do you want me to look for the village idiot whilst we’re there?” Liu Tong asked.

  Liu Shanshan threw a sack of rice at him, but her brother caught it.

  “Thanks for the snack, little sister.”

  Once the wheelbarrow was full, sister and brother fetched their quarterstaffs, travelling sandals and straw hats to keep the sun off. Liu Shanshan looked at the long, dusty road stretching ahead of her and sighed.

  “It’s so far away we’ll have barely half a day at the market before we have to come back.”

  Liu Meng shrugged. “You can always stay with Aunt Na.”

  “Aunt Na’s a withered old bitch.”

  Her father slapped her. “That she is, but she’s also my sister. How would you feel if someone insulted Liu Tong, even if he is a big hairy ape?”

  “Depends if the insult were true or not. Anyway, the sooner we leave, the sooner we return. Don’t overwork yourself while we’re away,” she told Liu Meng.

  The old man put his hands together and bowed. “No, master.”

  Liu Shanshan grabbed the handles of the wheelbarrow and strode off, her brother hurrying to keep up. Blue skies and baking heat followed them on the road. Now and then another peasant farmer would join them until a small caravan of wheelbarrows carrying fresh vegetables entered the town of Xuzhou.

  Her feet were sore and her throat parched, but there was no time to waste: it was already the afternoon. Liu Shanshan cut open a melon with her dagger, handed a slice to her brother, and enjoyed the rest herself. After so long on the road, covered in dust and sweat, she attracted two kinds of looks. Some saw a filthy peasant, others a pretty girl. Scowls and leers came her way in equal measure.

  “How much for a little kiss?” one of the townsmen, with buckteeth and warts to spare, called.

  She didn’t break her gait. “For the King of Shangri-La? Nothing. For you? I’d want your cooked liver.”

  Liu Tong laughed as the stranger scampered away with a face like thunder.

  Sister and brother entered the market square and occupied one of the few vacant spaces. Liu Tong shouted for custom, and Liu Shanshan handled the money. The sun wheeled in the heavens, the wheelbarrow grew empty, and strings of cash tied to its handles jangled in the wind. The siblings shared the last scrap of food, and put their hats, cash and Shanshan’s staff in the wheelbarrow for the journey back.

  “It’ll be night before we’re home,” Liu Shanshan murmured as she pushed the barrow out of the square, the sun setting over Xuzhou.

  “Scared of the dark, sparrow?” Liu Tong asked.

  “You should be!” a familiar voice interrupted.

  The bucktoothed peasant that had accosted her earlier strode into the street, a cudgel in his hands and two more ruffians behind him.

  “Out of the way, numbnuts,” Liu Shanshan ordered.

  The warty rascal pointed his club at her. “I’m not taking abuse from a rustic bumpkin. Get them!”

  Liu Shanshan grabbed her quarterstaff from the barrow. The bucktoothed rascal swung his club wildly, but drink had made him clumsy. She ducked beneath the blow and smacked her staff into his stomach. The hooligan collapsed to his knees and she struck him on the side of the head, knocking the wits from his noggin.

  “Are you ok?” Liu Tong asked.

  Her brother had bested his two foes, one of whom was hobbling away, the second face down and insensible.

  Liu Shanshan tossed her quarterstaff back into the barrow. “Takes more than a scallywag to get the better of me. His most powerful weapon was his bad breath.”

  Liu Tong put his own staff back, grabbed the barrow’s handles and wheeled it away. She almost had to run to keep up. “Don’t get cocky. If they’re friends with the guards we’re in big trouble.”

  “You worry too much.”

  They hurried through the city until they reached the gate, when a guard stepped out in front of Liu Tong.

  “Hold on, there,” the guard commanded. “What’s the rush?” he asked, eyes narrowing in suspicion.

  “I…”

  “It’s my fault, sir,” Liu Shanshan said. “Please forgive my brother. He’s hurrying so we can get home quickly because I’m afraid of the dark. It was only to save me embarrassment he couldn’t answer you.”

  The guard smiled and moved aside. “Ah, my niece is just the same. Better get a move on, the sun’s almost down.”

  Liu Tong bowed low and led L
iu Shanshan out of Xuzhou. Once they were on the road, he said, “All that moaning about lechers, and your first response to trouble was to bat your eyelids!”

  “Oh, shut up. It worked, didn’t it?”

  Even though the sun had set, it wasn’t too cold, and Liu Shanshan was looking forward to a foot bath when she got home. The journey was pleasant enough, until they were six li away from the farmhouse and a fire blazed in the night.

  “Is that our farm, or a neighbour’s?” Liu Shanshan asked.

  Liu Tong shook his head. “It doesn’t matter. We need to go help, either way. Come on!”

  He left the barrow and ran into the night, Liu Shanshan following close behind. As she drew nearer the conflagration, the sounds of men talking and laughing carried on the wind. Soldiers and horses were silhouetted by the flames.

  “What’s going on here?” Liu Tong demanded.

  A horseman turned their way, a dozen foot soldiers moving with him. The man had waxed whiskers and a slender beard, dark eyes and golden earrings.

  “It’s Lord Ximen, governor of Tiangjin, ruler of the whole province,” Liu Tong whispered.

  “This is imperial business. Be on your way, churls,” Lord Ximen commanded.

  Liu Tong hesitated.

  “It’s our home, Your Excellency,” Liu Shanshan said. “Just let us find our father and we’ll go.”

  Lord Ximen laughed and flourished a hand at the carnage. “You’re welcome to find the traitor. But it will take you some time. I’m afraid he’s in quite a few pieces!”

  Most of the soldiers joined in the laughter, but one did not. His face was grave and forbidding, a port-wine stain darkening his cheek. In the firelight, he seemed ominous as a demon.

  Liu Tong screamed in rage. He ran forward and pulled Lord Ximen from the saddle, but before he could pummel the man he was surrounded by the soldiers and forced to his knees. The grave soldier drew his sword and planted his blade by her brother’s neck.

  Lord Ximen struggled to his feet, and Liu Shanshan approached him, hands clasped and head bowed.

  “Please, Lord Ximen, spare my brother. He was driven mad with grief, he didn’t know what he was doing.”

  The governor scowled, but the expression fled when he set eyes on Liu Shanshan. The thing you must understand, reader, is that greed and lust are vices that only get bigger the more one has. Lord Ximen already had many fancy women to tend to his needs, and now saw the opportunity to add another.

  “What a pretty little thing you are. I was hunting traitors, and found myself an angel,” he said, stroking her cheek. “Why don’t we forget this sordid misunderstanding and you come home to Tiangjin with me? I’ll dress you in the finest silks and satins, and you’ll never go hungry again.”

  Liu Shanshan swallowed her rage for her brother’s sake. “Please, kind sir, I only want to go free with my brother.”

  Lord Ximen grew closer; she could smell wine on his breath. “Come now, don’t be shy. I’m a very generous man.”

  She stepped back, and he slapped her. “Ungrateful wretch! Here I am, condescending to make an offer to a rustic nobody, and you dare decline? I’ll have what I want!”

  Lord Ximen tried to slap her again, but Liu Shanshan caught his wrist and bit his little finger off. He staggered back and she spat the bejewelled finger into the dirt. “Come near me again and I’ll bite off more than your finger!”

  “You could have awakened in the palatial bedchamber, but instead the only embrace you’ll receive in the morning will be the hangman’s noose!” Lord Ximen cried, clutching his wounded hand.

  A soldier struck her from behind, and all fell dark.

  Will Liu Shanshan escape execution? What fate befell Liu Tong? Read on if you would know.

  Part 2 – Guan Shi meets a stranger, Sun Yang’s magic confounds the enemy

  A few days away from Xuzhou, between the town and the provincial capital, was an army encampment. Patrols were made around the perimeter, reinforcements sent to fend off barbarians from border provinces, and punitive expeditions departed to destroy bandit strongholds. But amidst the comings and goings of the army, a number of prisoners, deemed too dangerous to be housed in the Tiangjin jail, languished.

  All three were members of the gallant fraternity, poor in wealth but rich in honour. Guan Shi and Guan Song were brothers, known to the people as Roaming Tiger and the Jade Lion. Shi was wise and skilled, Song was strong and impulsive. With them was Sun Yang, a sorceress known as the Steel Shadow.

  “We’re leaving it too late,” Guan Song muttered. “I can bust this rotten lock with one kick, but if we sit here like a lobster in a pot we’ll still be waiting for the right moment when we’re being served up for supper!”

  Guan Shi stroked his moustache. “Calm yourself, little brother. The Steel Shadow knows what she’s doing.”

  Sun nodded. “When the heavens align, the earth gives way. Tonight, the constellations will be most favourable.”

  The three of them were kept in a single cage in the middle of the encampment. Past them a line of prisoners shambled, hands bound to one another and wooden cangues around their necks. One, a tall young man with hairy forearms, slipped his wrist from its rope, smashed the corner of his cangue into a guard’s head, and ran for the gate.

  Guan Shi winced as a halberd knocked the captive to the ground, and the guards gave him a kicking. “Anything you can do to help?” he asked Sun.

  The sorceress shook her head. “I only managed to hide one piece of rice paper, and we need it to escape.”

  One of the guards stomped over and tapped the cage bars with his halberd. “Hey! No chatter!”

  Guan Song reached for the halberd, but Guan Shi slapped his hand away. The guard walked off, and the prisoner was dragged after his fellows.

  “We’re escaping tonight, the last thing we need is a beating or to be separated,” Roaming Tiger told his younger brother.

  “Men like that only understand one thing,” the Jade Lion growled, clenching his fist.

  Twilight fell, and the clouds dispersed. Above the cage, the stars began to glitter and the full moon soared. Guan Shi and Sun Yang meditated in preparation, Guan Song prowled the cage, shadow-boxing in anticipation of his release.

  The door was opened and a new prisoner, hooded and hands bound, was shoved inside. The guards who had escorted the newcomer hurriedly locked the door and strode away.

  “I’ll bite your frigging throat out!” the stranger shouted, struggling to try and wrench her hood off.

  “The guards have gone,” Guan Shi told her. “Keep still and I’ll get that hood off.”

  Thick rope bound it around her neck, but Roaming Tiger’s nimble fingers undid the knot in a moment. He wrapped the rope around his wrist and plucked the hood from her head. The stranger sounded young, but it was hard to tell beneath all the dirt and bruises on her face.

  Wild-eyed and tangle-haired, Liu Shanshan stared at the three other prisoners. “Who the hell are you?”

  “I’m Guan Shi, also known as Roaming Tiger. This is my brother, Guan Song, the Jade Lion, and Sun Yang, a sorceress called the Steel Shadow. Who are you?”

  Liu bit at the rope around her wrists, in vain. The Jade Lion grabbed her bonds. His muscles strained, his eyes bulged, and the rope snapped. She rubbed her sore wrists. “Thanks. I’m Liu Shanshan.”

  Guan Song frowned. “I haven’t heard of you before. What’s your name in the gallant fraternity?”

  Guan Shi laughed. “Excuse my brother, all the strength is in his arms, there’s none left for his head! She’s not an outlaw, she’s just a farmer. Look at her calluses, not to mention her clothes. Whatever did you do to get thrown in here?”

  Liu turned her back on him and knelt by the door to examine the lock. “I bit Lord Ximen’s little finger off after he burnt down my house and murdered my father and brother. And there’s nothing gallant about your criminality.”

  “Criminals? It was the government that burnt down your farm and killed your fami
ly,” Guan Song said.

  “There’s no need to worry about the government, except when it tries to govern you,” Sun added.

  Liu kept her eyes on them. “The wanted posters say you’re all murderers.”

  Guan Shi raised an eyebrow. “I’m sure they do. The posters advertising our execution will probably say you’re a murderer too.”

  Sun shrugged. “The prefect of my city killed my husband and tried to make me his concubine. His death was deserved.”

  Guan Song frowned. He nodded at the lock, then looked to his older brother.

  Guan Shi stroked his moustache. We only have tonight to escape, he thought to himself. If our new friend can be persuaded to come along, all is well. But if not, we’re going to have to knock her out and leave her. It’d be a shame.

  “You’ve seen for yourself how that snake Ximen acts,” Roaming Tiger said. “None of us are doubting or judging you. Can’t you extend the same courtesy to us?”

  Liu slumped into the corner. “Fine. But I don’t see that it matters. We’re all going to die!”

  Sun smiled. “Yes, we are. But not yet.”

  The Steel Shadow sat beside Liu Shanshan and whispered in her ear, the sorceress’ words banishing the youngster’s fear and making a smile devour her frown.

  The four of them mulled over the plan, answering Liu’s few questions and ensuring everyone knew what to do. After that, it was merely a matter of waiting. Guan Shi and Sun Yang entered meditative trances, and Guan Song occupied himself teaching Liu Shanshan the basics of boxing.

  The sky darkened to black, and supper was brought for the four captives. Hot vegetable stew and weak wine, but it was all they needed. After the food was eaten, Sun stared up at the sky.

  “It’s time,” she said.