Chapter Four
The Quest for Immortality
Dodge trudged through the dank tunnel. He had found a new ally in Ho Xu-tan, who now followed him along. The big, scarred man from the Bamboo Dragon had turned out to be an ex-vigilante also known as the Darkness Warrior. At first Xu-tan was merely going to help Dodge find Tiansiang’s lair, but the closer they got the more involved Xu-tan became.
Back at the bar he had left Dodge for about half an hour, a situation the Australian adventurer hadn’t been too comfortable about. The rest of the patrons had glared at him with undisguised hostility and fingered their various weapons, just waiting for him to make a wrong move. When Xu-tan eventually returned, he stopped and had a hushed conversation with the bartender. To the nervous Dodge it had seemed a very urgent and agitated discussion. Eventually the bartender nodded reluctantly and gave Xu-tan a long object wrapped in a burlap sack. Both men shook hands, and as Xu-tan approached Dodge, the bartender glanced up at the clock on the wall.
“I have found out where Tiansiang resides in this city,” Xu-tan whispered. “It is most fitting considering the foul creature he is.”
They had left the Bamboo Dragon immediately, arriving at an old sewage outlet on the northern banks of the Stewart River. “Thanks for your help, Xu-tan. I’ll take it from here.” Dodge had told Xu-tan before climbing into the pipe. To his surprise, the Darkness Warrior followed him.
“I think you may need some help, Dodge Danger, so I’ll come with you just in case.” Xu-tan followed Dodge, the burlap sack slung over his shoulder.
The pipe had been about thirty feet long, and at the end they had found themselves in a larger main tunnel. They headed northeast, away from the river, but this soon led to a dead end, walled off many years earlier.
“Damn! Is it possible he’s under the river?” Dodge had muttered. Both men turned back and headed along the southwest tunnel.
Now they were trudging along a downward sloping, increasingly dank and crumbling tunnel. Dodge shone his flashlight ahead. A viscous slime started to appear on the walls and floor, reflecting the light of his torch. Dodge grimaced. He’d crept through some truly awful places before; tunnels and catacombs crammed with snakes, rats, cockroaches, centipedes, spiders and hideous bugs he couldn’t name. This was worse. And the smell! Like years of accumulated sewage!
As they continued forward, the evil sludge rose above the travellers’ ankles.
In the gloom the slime seemed everywhere. Dodge could hear his companion groan in disgust. Dodge mightn’t have been feeling the best, but he’d had a lot more experience with this kind of thing.
“It’s only slime, Xu-tan, nothing to worry about. It won’t kill you.” Dodge glanced over his shoulder at Xu-tan, who returned the look with disdain.
“I’m not worried, Aussie!” he growled. “I am not a child!”
Shaking his head, Dodge continued slogging through the black sludge. Suddenly his boot slipped into a small pothole and he lost his balance. As he stumbled against the wall, both feet slid out from under him and he splashed down into the filth on his backside. “Aww – shit!” he swore. The sudden movement had disturbed the stuff, sending waves of noxious fumes billowing through the confined space. He coughed, almost throwing up.
“Don’t worry, Dodge Danger - it won’t kill you!” Xu-tan howled with laughter.
Trying not to breathe through his nose, Dodge attempted to stand up. He could see his flashlight sticking out of the muck a few feet ahead, beam reflecting off the roof. As he picked it up, he noticed something the gloom had hidden from him.
The sludge was moving. Not flowing, but writhing. Dodge stayed in a crouch and shone his torch directly into the mire. A look of horror crossed his face.
The stuff was full of slugs - millions of slugs! Slithering in a mass that carpeted the whole tunnel. He shone the torch all around the passage.
They seemed to go on forever. Dodge scrambled up, the creatures squelching under his boots. He shone the torch onto the ceiling. There were slugs even up there, clinging to the mouldering brickwork.
And some people thought this job was glamorous!
“Do you see them, Xu-tan?” he asked his companion. “They’re everywhere!”
The Chinese warrior nodded grimly.
They both continued their hard push forward, attempting to ignore the creatures squishing beneath his feet.
“My empire stretches farther than you could imagine, Miss Kirkmuir. Once the whole of China once trembled within my iron grip. All the warlords bowed to me and paid homage. I have seen and done things you would not believe. However I grow old and my empire is crumbling. In recent years my direct influence was reduced to one province of China – Guangdong. That baby-faced buffoon Mao Zedong and his so-called war of resistance eat away at my enterprises. Many of my warlords are obsolete. I am too old and feeble to present much of a threat.”
He took a deep, rasping breath, the fire of defiance flashing in his eyes. “But I will not go quietly to join my ancestors, Miss Kirkmuir! I still have much to do and I need youth and vitality to succeed in my tasks!” Tiansiang took a teacup from a table in front of him and sipped some green tea from it as he regarded Susan. She sat before him, her own cup of tea untouched in her hands. She wasn’t interested in his “hospitality”, but had no choices in the matter.
“This is all very interesting, but I can’t see what it has to do with me ... or my late brother.”
“I have financed a number of archaeological expeditions throughout the world, examining the numerous myths surrounding longevity and immortality. I’m sure you have heard of the fountain of youth.”
“Is that what you’re looking for?” she asked derisively.
Tiansiang cackled again. “Not quite, my dear! But you are almost correct!”
Dodge and Xu-tan finally reached the end of the slimy, slug-filled tunnel. They found an old doorway, probably used by smugglers during the previous century and long bricked up. But the slugs had eaten through most of the mortar, and they managed to smash through the crumbling rubble. Beyond this obstruction lay another tunnel, mercifully free from slugs and slime. Dodge drew his gun, made sure his fall into the muck hadn’t affected it, and squeezed through the hole. Xu-tan followed, and Dodge continued on down the new passage. He stopped when he realised that Xu-tan was kneeling on the floor near the gap.
“Xu-tan, what are you doing?” Dodge hissed.
The Chinese warrior shot him a hard glance and started unwrapping the sacking from around the object the barman had give him. Inside lay a beautiful Japanese katana. Dodge stared as Xu-tan began a ritual preparing the sword for battle. Giving him the time and space to do this, Dodge turned away to examine the new tunnel in more detail. It didn’t look like part of the sewers outside, rather a more recent addition created by the smugglers. He could see old names and initials scored into the stone.
Xu-tan finished and sheathed the weapon.
“So what’s with the Japanese sword, Xu-tan?” Dodge asked.
“The Japanese were not gracious guests when they arrived in Manchuria. The garrison commander at my village took a liking to my wife. When I refused to hand her over, he cut his name into my face.” He gestured to his scars. “Then he forced me to watch as he raped and killed her. I was so enraged I managed to escape from the ropes he had tied me with. I killed him with his own sword. Gutted him like a pig and hung him up for the crows.” He took a deep breath, his eyes glittering. “Let’s find this woman of yours.”
““Wow, well - are you any good with it?”
“After I killed the commander, I had to fight my way through dozens of his soldiers to escape. I became good very quickly.” He turned and headed off along the tunnel.
“Good enough.” muttered Dodge and followed him.
“One of my archaeology teams found the long-forgotten remnants of a Norse settlement near Tashakta, on the Russian-Korean border...” Tiansiang began.
“A Viking village in Russia?
I doubt it!” Susan snorted.
“The Norse people were great explorers, Miss Kirkmuir. Did you think they would confine their journeys to the western seas? The Vikings, or rather their Swedish counterparts the Varangians, are known to have reached Constantinople. These people were explorers, warriors and diplomats of the highest calibre. They settled a long-standing feud with the Slavic chieftains, which led to them establishing the first Russian State. The capitol was Kiev. Make no mistake; history has never been fair with the Norsemen. They were much more than the savage barbarians so often depicted in the books.” Tiansiang smiled a gentle smile and took another sip of his tea. “However, I digress...”
Dodge and Xu-tan had almost reached the end of the tunnel.
Just around a bend ahead lay a large circular opening and beyond a corridor. Dodge thought it looked disturbingly familiar. He had run through similar passages in Yue Tiansiang’s fortress, the one the Japanese had trashed in Guangdong eleven years earlier. It only proved one thing to him; the Chinese warlord may have been opulent but he was boring.
Two guards stood on either side of the entrance, both armed with machine guns.
“Okay Xu-tan, I’ll take the one on the left, you-” But Dodge’s companion was already gone.
Xu-tan ran towards the guards, moving a silently as a ghost. The men noticed the flashing metal of his Samurai blade far too late. It was the last thing either saw.
“Or you can kill both of them.” Dodge muttered.
“You may mock, Miss Kirkmuir, but I was born in 1628. I am three hundred and ten years old. According to Chinese legend, the first person to achieve immortality was Huang Di, the legendary first emperor of China. There have been a few since. I intend to be the next … with your help!”
Dodge and Xu-tan crept through the corridors. Their entry into Tiansiang’s new stronghold had proven remarkably easy. So far they had only encountered the two guards at the tunnel exit.
Dodge still had his gun drawn and Xu-tan held his sword at the ready.
“This is too easy.” Dodge whispered.
His uttering broke the spell, and ten Chinese men in black pyjamas and jade sashes appeared from around a corner. All were armed with pistols and swords.
“Me and my big damn mouth!” Dodge fired and one of the guards fell. Xu-tan spun towards the nine remaining men in front of them, his blade cutting arcs of silver as it swung round.
Dodge heard the sound of metal slicing through meat followed by a wet gurgle. He fired again and another guard stumbled.
Xu-tan seemed like a typhoon of vengeance, his sword a weapon of pure destruction. Three more Chinese warriors fell before the rest of the guards were able to draw and fire their weapons. The first bullet had hit Xu-tan in the shoulder. The man who shot him immediately lost his arm at the shoulder for his trouble. He was disabled for approximately two seconds before the back swing of Xu-tan’s blade removed his head.
Dodge launched himself at the remaining guards. He assumed they were under strict orders not to kill him. They were armed, but hadn’t attempted to shoot at him. Yet.
Holstering his gun with one hand, he punched the first guard in the nose with the other. Bone crunched and cartilage shattered under his gloved fist. A second guard approached him and Dodge swung his hand in a backward swipe. The guard ducked and grabbed Dodge’s arm, locking it straight.
Dodge raked the heel of his boot down the man’s shin. His opponent yelped and released Dodge’s arm. Using this to his advantage he rammed his elbow into the man’s mouth, feeling teeth shatter.
Xu-tan swung his sword down towards the head of the last foe. The man had a moment to scream before being plunged into darkness forever. Dodge and Xu-tan leapt over the bodies and ran along the corridor. They arrived at a room and crept in. Behind them the door slammed shut. Dodge turned and started moving forward.
Then the door in front of them slammed shut too, boxing them in.
Dodge rolled his eyes. What now? Spikes, gushing water, poison gas...?
All too soon a faint hissing noise filled the room and clouds of noxious yellow started spraying from ornamental dragons’ heads fitted to the walls.
Dodge grabbed Xu-tan and pulled him to the floor. He crawled along looking for a gap, some means of escape.
There were none.
The fast-acting gas didn’t take long to affect him.
As he drifted off into dark oblivion he heard his companion coughing. Then Dodge lost consciousness.
Dodge struggled against the enveloping darkness of unconsciousness.
Again he awoke in the massive cavern, but; this time things seemed different. Dodge walked over to the tree and placed his hand on its mighty trunk.
It wasn’t quite as big as Dodge had at first thought, but still awesome in its majesty. Dodge felt a vibration shoot up his arm. The tree seemed to be trembling
A fragment of a half-forgotten memory floated through Dodge’s mind and he felt troubled. Why was the tree shaking? There had to be a reason. However, before Dodge could concentrate a number of slender green tendrils erupted from the ground around the tree. Dodge stumbled backwards, but the shoots wrapped around his arms and body. He started struggling, but then a strange, beatific calm came over him.
He felt himself being dragged towards the trunk. The hard wood drew closer and closer to his face. Dodge wondered if it would hurt, but really didn’t care.
Suddenly he felt his psyche being ripped away from this peaceful place.
Chapter Five
In the Jaws of the Dragon
Dodge jerked awake in a dark room, a beam of light shining down from directly above. He tried to move but couldn’t - at first he thought the trees’ tendrils still had him ensnared but soon realised that he was tied to a stake - ropes criss-crossing his chest. The stake felt strange, like it was warm and twisting! Then he realised he could feel the warmth of another body behind him.
“Xu-tan? Is that you?” As he spoke he felt as though his mouth was full of marshmallows.
“No Dodge, it’s me!” Susan’s voice came to him. Dodge struggled to realise his immediate reality. The dream or hallucination of that tree still seemed incredibly vivid in his mind.
“Where’s Xu-tan?” he mumbled.
“Who?” asked Susan.
“Your friend is dead! Or at least he soon will be,” an accented female voice drifted from the darkness.
“What?” Dodge shouted. “Who’s there?”
“Your accomplice will be found floating in the Stewart tomorrow morning. The police will not be too interested and any tests performed will reveal that his system was full of opium. The verdict will merely be ‘another stupid Chink dead because of drugs’! On the whole you Occidentals have no interest in our affairs, Mr Dodge Danger. It is unfortunate that you chose to be different.”
Dodge heard two claps and the suddenly the lights flared. Dodge and Susan were bathed in light. Dodge quickly examined their surroundings. They were both tied to a stake in the middle of an oval pit about ten feet deep. The wall directly in front of him had a strange ornamental quality about it. He could see a structure that looked like the upper jaw of a crocodile ... or a dragon. It was about six feet wide at the bottom, tapering to about a foot at the top, and about five and a half feet tall. It didn’t have any teeth, but he could see holes for them. Above them the beautiful Reptilia strode to the edge of the pit. She wore a form-fitting cream-coloured dress, the height of fashion, and in her slender gloved hands she held Dodge’s gun.
“You should not have become involved, Mr Danger. My father has not forgotten your last encounter, but he has more pressing matters on his mind at the moment.”
“Listen honey, I don’t feel like speaking with the organ grinder’s monkey. If your father has anything to say to me, then let him say it himself.” Dodge glared up at her with as patronizing an expression as possible.
It had the desired effect. A look of cold fury crept across Reptilia’s delicate features. Before she could r
espond a thin laugh drifted from behind her. Yue Tiansiang glided to the edge of the pit with his hands tucked into the cuffs of his robe, and smirked down at his captives.
“Mr Danger, with that attitude I hope you have something interesting to say!” he chuckled. “I have limited time and do not wish to spend it listening to inane prattle only designed to prolong the inevitable!”
Dodge stared his captor in amazement. It had only been eleven years since their last encounter, but Tiansiang looked at least sixty years older. In 1927 Tiansiang had been a tall, healthy middle-aged man. Now he was bent with skin was like parchment. He had lost most of his iron grey hair, and the remainder had faded to snow white wisps protruding above his ears. His vibrant red silk robe only seemed to accentuate his aged appearance. However he still commanded a formidable presence like a Chinese emperor of old.
“Jesus, Yue, what happened to you? Too many late nights torturing peasants?”
“Most amusing, Mr Danger. Now, what do you have to say that is so important?” Tiansiang asked wearily.
“This has nothing to do with the girl. Why don’t you let her go?”
Tiansiang laughed humourlessly. “Why do you assume that this has anything to do with you? Do you honestly think this is all part of some elaborate revenge? Mr Danger, you failed to take Musahi Hirutake from me when we last met, my fortress was going to be destroyed by the Japanese anyway. I have no reason to seek revenge on you. You are like a gnat buzzing around a dragon’s head!” Tiansiang’s anger started to rise.
With some satisfaction Dodge noticed that he had started wheezing and sought support from his daughter.”I would have been unaffected if our paths had never crossed again, Mr Danger. However, you chose to become involved in a matter that did not concern you! And now you will pay for this transgression!” Tiansiang gazed down at his captives. “Although in many ways you are to blame for my current state of ... infirmity.”
Dodge Danger Page 5