by Katie Zhao
Alex and I shrank back into our seats as the deities broke out in polite applause.
After exchanging a look with his wife, who nodded, the Emperor continued. “As you all know, I called the Heaven Breaker here as part of a test of courage, strength, and loyalty to the gods. She had to pass several trials in order to prove her worth as my future general. Not surprisingly, she has made it.”
“She?” spluttered Ao Ji.
I swallowed, feeling my face redden as the deities murmured among themselves. No doubt they’d all thought Alex was the Heaven Breaker. My brother stiffened and remained silent.
“Yes,” the Jade Emperor continued. “The Heaven Breaker’s successful arrival should come as no surprise, given the strong, mixed blood that runs in her veins.”
The gods scrutinized Alex and me. My skin crawled, and heat crept into my cheeks. I waited for the Jade Emperor to claim that our invitations had been a mistake. That we weren’t worthy of being here.
“It is fitting that we welcome both warriors to our immortal family on the last night of the Lunar New Year,” said the Jade Emperor.
“Both?” Alex echoed in a shaky voice.
“Indeed,” said the Jade Emperor with a small smile that didn’t reach his eyes. “The Heaven Breaker will become my Heavenly General, but you, brave boy, will join the ranks of my immortal soldiers.”
Applause followed the Jade Emperor’s pronouncement. Alex pumped his fist into the air with a loud whoop that startled some of the deities. I blinked with shock.
“If only Mao could see us now,” my brother said.
Even the idea of the mistress seeing our luxurious glory couldn’t bring me to smile. I didn’t get it. Any warrior would’ve given his right hand to be sitting where I sat, in the position to lead the Jade Emperor’s army in Heaven. But I only felt empty.
Maybe the gods were rewarding my whole family by granting me this honor. After all, by following the demons’ presence to America to better protect the people of Earth, my family had given up everything so I could carry on their glory. Alex and me serving the Jade Emperor would exceed all their wildest dreams.
Ba, Ye Ye, wherever you two are, are you proud?
Why don’t I feel proud?
“Now, on to the big announcement.” The Jade Emperor stood. Every figure, immortal or human, royalty or servant was enraptured by his words. “The Great War is coming. A war against the demon uprising, far greater than World War I, World War II, or any wars that have ever shaken the Earth. My fellow deities—my family—we relocated to the West hoping that our warriors would mix bloodlines and grow stronger. We hoped the humans would spread word of our greatness to the Western world, so we’d have more followers, and become even more powerful. Yet somehow, their journey to the West has made them forget our greatness, take it for granted.”
I shuddered at the power-crazed glint in the Jade Emperor’s eyes. Deities nodded up and down the table, though I noticed Guanyin and Erlang Shen didn’t look as happy.
“In past wars, we gods have held back our full power for fear of destroying humanity,” said the Jade Emperor. “But the humans have proven that we deities can be powerful even without their loyalty. This time, only the most loyal humans will be spared our wrath. And when we defeat the demons once and for all, Earth shall return to a golden age of the gods once more.”
CHAPTER
23
Most of the deities shouted in celebration and raised their stone glasses. “Gān bēi!” They clinked and downed their drinks. Xi Wangmu gave her husband a satisfied smile, and the servants resumed their dancing and singing.
Guanyin half-heartedly raised her glass in toast. But instead of digging into her food, she began murmuring with Erlang Shen.
I turned to Alex and was glad to see that he, too, looked stunned by the Jade Emperor’s declaration.
“Is the Jade Emperor saying he’s gonna commit genocide on … the human race?” I spluttered.
“He’s saying he wants us—I mean, you—to lead it,” said Alex.
The realization made want to empty the contents of my full stomach.
“No way.” I shook my head so hard I almost gave myself whiplash. “Nope. Not gonna happen. This is—this is madness. How can the gods not see it?”
Alex coughed and squinted at his untouched plate of food. “W-well, I kind of see where the Jade Emperor is coming from …”
“You what?”
He was kidding. He had to be kidding.
“Like, people like Mao and Mr. Yang. They’re clearly abusing their power,” Alex said, the words coming out of him all in a rush as though he’d been holding them back for a long time. “They made our lives miserable, Faryn—making us do all those chores, calling us names, disrespecting Ye Ye. It wouldn’t be the worst thing if people like them, you know …”
Dread filled the pit of my stomach. I almost couldn’t speak. I couldn’t believe these words were coming out of my own brother’s mouth.
At least Alex had the decency to squirm and look uncomfortable. “Plus, the Jade Emperor did say he’s going to spare the loyal humans.”
“So it’s okay to kill the humans who don’t pray to the gods?” I demanded.
“I didn’t say—”
“You did.”
Alex bit his lip and kept his gaze trained on the table.
Fireworks still shot up into the sky, forming patterns I hadn’t noticed before. Pictures of horses. Outlines of deities. The words xīn nián kuài lè, or “Happy New Year.” They glittered in the air for their one shining moment of life before dissolving and falling to the Earth.
But now, the lights looked threatening rather than pretty.
Ye Ye had always told me to turn to prayer whenever I was in trouble. But it wasn’t exactly like I could pray to the gods to help me get out of the gods’ clutches.
Still, I squeezed my eyes shut and prayed to the only person who might be able to help. After all, he’d come to me in a dream and helped me escape from the Red Prince.
Ye Ye, I need to get out of here. Take me to Ren and Moli. Cindy You’s concert. Anywhere but here. I can’t be the Jade Emperor’s general. I’m sorry.
Nothing happened. I peeled my eyes open and was shocked to see that a familiar male deity looked right at me.
Wenshu, the god of wisdom and Ye Ye’s master.
Something shot up through a tube behind him. He snatched it out of the air.
It was a small white note. A prayer note.
My prayer note?
Wenshu didn’t even look at the note before crushing it in his free hand, scattering the white dust in the air. It swirled high above, glittering in the light from the lanterns. The deity stared at me coldly for a few seconds that seemed to span an eternity.
Then he turned to speak to the Dragon King of the North.
Wenshu had just intercepted and destroyed my prayer note.
“A-Alex?”
Before I could tell him what Wenshu had just done, a plate appeared between us, held up by a servant’s pale, dainty hand. Two ripe, pink-and-white peaches sat in the middle of it.
“Special delivery,” said the girl. “Two peaches of immortality. Eating one peach will extend your life by three thousand years.”
“We never ordered these,” I said.
“Of course we did,” said Alex. “Don’t listen to my sister—she’s an idiot.”
Alex grabbed the two peaches, tossing one to me. He held the other in his shaking palm, a hungry look in his eye.
He raised his peach to me with a grin. “To immortality?”
My peach felt cold in my palm, even though the air up here was lukewarm. The deities had all begun digging into the peaches the servants passed around the table. But even though the fruit looked delicious, I no longer had an appetite.
I placed my peach on the table. “I’ll never accept immortality. Not like this. And don’t you dare eat that peach, Alex Liu.”
The peach trembled in his hand, where it was
inches from his mouth. “Just because you’re the Heaven Breaker doesn’t mean you get to tell me what to do.”
“I’m not telling you as the Heaven Breaker. I’m telling you as your sister. Just me. Just Faryn Liu.”
“Oh, give me a break,” Alex spat. “You’re clearly ordering me around as the Heaven Breaker. You’ve been looking down on me the entire time we’ve been on this quest. Don’t deny it. And you aren’t better than me, by the way. In case you’ve forgotten, we were both raised as outcasts.”
“Alex—”
“Being immortal means we’ll finally be better than Mao, Luhao, Mr. Yang, and all those idiots who hate us,” my brother said, his eyes turning watery. He blinked furiously, as though to hold back tears.
“Alex …”
“If you get to be the Heaven Breaker, I at least deserve to be immortal, too. Otherwise it’s just not fair.”
“Alex!”
I knocked the peach out of Alex’s hand. He yelled. The deities around us gasped. By refusing the peaches, I’d defied the Jade Emperor, the ruler of all the heavens.
I guessed Alex and I wouldn’t be staying for dessert.
“Y-you—insolent little—!” Xi Wangmu cried.
“Time to go out in style,” I said, grabbing Alex’s hand and refusing to let go even when he tried to wriggle away. Turning my pin into a spear, which knocked over half the stone glasses before me, I channeled the power of my weapon and shouted, “Dragons, get us out of here!”
Something red flashed past me. More gasps and yells from the deities.
We have come to rescue you, Heaven Breaker.
A huge, familiar red dragon swooped down on the table, scattering cups and bits of food everywhere.
“Catch that menace!” Ao Ji shrieked. He’d stood up and spilled wine all over the tablecloth.
The four Dragon Kings began squabbling.
“That dunderheaded dragon came from your sea, you handle it.”
“What are you talking about? Obviously an ugly beast like that had to have come from your filthy waters!”
Hands clamored to grab the dragon, but it was too quick. My eyes widened when the dragon shot straight at me. Behind it, I could see other dragons swooping in—the ones we’d rescued from Chuangmu’s hotel, and more.
“Protect the Jade Emperor,” yelled He Xiangu, one of the eight immortals. “And grab the Heaven Breaker!”
Ao Ji lunged for me. Alex reached for me, too, his eyes full of shock. With a gust of wind, the dragon swooped in. Its claws gripped the back of my shirt as well as Alex’s. It yanked us out of our seats and flew us up and away.
The dragon navigated an impossible maze in the sky, weaving in between lanterns and fireworks. My brother’s voice came from behind me. “I think Nezha’s going Third Lotus Wushu on all of Heaven!”
I looked down to see that the eight immortals’ banquet had dissolved into chaos. Dragons descended on the ruined table and sent the servants screaming, while the deities struggled to fight the airborne creatures left and right. Nezha rode a white dragon and led the charge on the banquet. Had this been part of his plan all along?
The harsh wind forced me to shut my eyes. My stomach swooped, and I screamed as the dragon brought us spiraling downward. The dragon plowed past something hard and solid.
“Hey! No unauthorized persons allowed back here,” a gruff voice yelled.
The dragon’s claws released me, and I tumbled about three feet before falling onto solid ground. A second thud and groan told me Alex had landed, too.
Get your friends to safety, Heaven Breaker. The dragons will join you soon.
Wings flapped above us. I opened my eyes in time to see the red dragon fly out the door.
I took in my surroundings: a soundboard, black benches, lots of microphones and wires. A broken keyboard in the corner. Scattered sheet music on the ground.
And distant chants of “Cindy! Cindy! Cindy!” muffled by a thick red curtain.
“Where are we?” Alex groaned, sitting up and wincing.
“I think … we’re backstage at the chūn jié wǎn huì,” I said.
“Great. We traded immortality for a stupid concert. Everything always has to go your way, doesn’t it?” Alex spat. “Are you happy now?”
“Alex, I’m sorry, but this isn’t the time.”
He must’ve realized, like I had, that there had to be a reason the red dragon had dropped us here and told us to get our friends to safety. A reason Nezha had launched an attack on the Lantern Festival banquet.
Something big was happening tonight. Much bigger than us, and dangerous. We had to find Ren and Moli.
There was nobody around, but footsteps thundered somewhere nearby.
“This way!” someone yelled.
Guards. Alex and I scrambled to our feet, searching for an escape route. I knew we were thinking the same thing: if the guards caught up to us, they’d throw us out of the venue with pleasure.
Worse, they might take us back to the Jade Emperor, and I couldn’t deal with that war-crazed tyrant now. Or ever.
Grabbing Alex’s hand, I yelled, “Run!”
We turned—and almost ran straight into a woman who stepped out from stage left, to tumultuous applause and encore requests from the audience. She wore a sparkly red gown that fanned out past her ankles. Her face was caked with makeup, her short hair so glossy it practically glowed. Her lips formed into a round O when she saw us.
Cindy You opened her mouth to scream.
“Wait!” a familiar voice yelled from behind me—Ren’s. “I have to talk to you.”
Ren and Moli arrived, their clothes torn and faces covered in scratches. They’d fought tooth and nail to get back here.
“Hey, loser.” Moli flicked Alex on the forehead. Alex seemed unsure whether to scowl or smile. He settled for elbowing her in the side, and then smiling.
I frowned in annoyance. So Alex would play nice with Moli, but not with me? I was starting to see a pattern. And not a pretty one.
“Ā yí,” Ren said to Cindy You politely, pulling something out of his back pocket, “I loved your performance. It was amazing. Spectacular.”
“Thank you,” the singer said stiffly, “but you didn’t need to come all the way back here to—”
“I think you should see this.” Ren handed her something small—a photograph. The photograph.
Understanding flooded me at once as I considered the similarities in their features.
Cindy’s eyes flickered over the old, yellowed picture. She turned it over, and then turned it back again. “Why are you giving me a picture of myself?”
“M-my father gave it to me.” Ren was shaking. I reached out and grabbed his hand, and he squeezed it gratefully. “Jianfei. It’s a picture of … his wife. My mother.”
Cindy You’s mouth fell open.
“Jianfei, my father,” Ren repeated, sounding desperate. “You—you remember him, right? That woman in the picture is you, right?”
“I … why, yes, it—”
Before Cindy could finish her sentence, several guards emerged from a door behind us.
“Preparations are finished,” one announced. “And you should see what’s going on at the immortals’ banquet, my lord. Nezha started a food fight or something—”
The chatter abruptly stopped as the guards’ gazes swept over us. Cindy’s attention shifted away from Ren to someone behind me. I turned around to see a bunch of men wearing sunglasses and business suits. They growled, narrowing their eyes at us.
“No trespassers allowed back here,” one said. “Do you fans have no shame?”
“W-we were just leaving,” Alex said.
“No, stay.” Cindy stuffed the photograph back into Ren’s hand. “You four spectacular fans came all this way to see me, and I’m so flattered.” Her lips curved into a smile. “It’d be a shame if you didn’t get to see the real show.”
As if on cue, a familiar, silky woman’s voice boomed out on the other side of the curtains. �
�Do I hear more song requests for Cindy? Wonderful!”
Cindy cursed and turned toward the stage.
“You’re doing another encore?” Moli gawked at the singer. “Girl, you’ve been singing for two hours.”
The curtains parted, revealing a female emcee in an elegant black gown with a rose on one shoulder. She scowled and waved at the singer. “Get up here, you—”
The emcee stopped and blinked at the four of us.
Chuangmu, the goddess of love. She’d escaped the destruction of her hotel. She was here. Hosting Cindy You’s concert.
“What’re you doing here?” I asked, dumbfounded.
Before I could sort out what was happening, Cindy whipped her gown around, and it burst into flame. “I’ll show those idiots an encore!”
I was too stunned to scream. Alex grabbed Moli. Ren pulled me back, tugging me along as he ran for the exit.
Cindy’s feminine laugh turned into a boyish one. The laughter was followed by a loud crashing noise that shook the whole stage.
Cindy was no longer … well, Cindy. In the singer’s place stood a familiar demon lord, one we thought we’d beaten back in D.C.—the Red Prince.
“I missed you brats at my banquet last night,” the demon lord snarled, “but I’m glad we get to enjoy this one together!”
I fell back, speechless. The Red Prince was joined by the beast that was supposed to be long dead, that I’d helped Erlang Shen kill on Lunar New Year’s Eve. This time, the creature was fully formed, the size of a small building, its scales a glistening blood red.
The nián.
CHAPTER
24
Y-you,” Ren stammered at the Red Prince. “You’re alive?”
“Didn’t you say you killed the nián?” Alex whispered to me. The creature shook out its mane, digging its claws into the floor. “That thing looks pretty alive to me.”
The Red Prince threw his head back and laughed. “Better get used to demons not staying dead. King Yama’s power over Diyu is weakening. Many more demons are coming. And no matter how you try to kill us, we’ll be back before you know it.”