‘Chang?’ I said, confused. ‘I have no idea. What does he look like?’
‘Big!’ Yi Hao exclaimed. She spread her arms. ‘He looks like a … a … big man!’
I searched my memory. ‘No idea. Okay, I’ll go down after we’ve been through the diary. When’s my first appointment?’
‘In half an hour you have a meeting with General Ma.’
‘Good. Did you give us at least an hour?’
‘Yes, ma’am. After that, no more appointments.’ She gestured with her head towards the in-tray. ‘You’ll need some time to deal with this.’
I sagged over the desk. ‘You all hate me.’
She touched my arm. ‘You know we don’t, ma’am. Now go check on this human that you seem to have collected.’
I went down to the first floor, the armoury, the most secure area inside the Academy building. Master Liu, dressed in jeans and a scruffy Batman T-shirt, was waiting there for me with a massive Chinese man, nearly as tall as Leo and heavily muscled. He was sitting morosely in the holding room but jumped to his feet when he saw me. ‘Lady, help me!’
‘This was Demon Prince Six’s driver and general assassin-about-town,’ I said to Liu.
Chang grimaced. ‘Tell your janitor here that I am not a criminal. I was under an oath, but now I am free.’
Liu’s mouth flopped open with delight. ‘Janitor?’
Chang glared at him with derision. ‘I want to speak to you alone, ma’am, without this lackey around.’
‘What word did that come out as in English?’ Liu said.
‘Lackey,’ I said.
‘It was far more obscene and derogatory in Chinese,’ Liu said.
I turned to Chang. ‘Remember when I told you that Liu Cheng Rong hadn’t died six hundred years ago; he’d attained Immortality?’
Chang made the most lightning-fast double-take I had ever seen. He glanced from myself to Liu, then swiftly fell to his knees in front of Liu and touched his head to the floor. ‘This humble, worthless piece of dung profoundly apologises for this insult and prays that you will allow him to assist you with his skills as a Shaolin master.’
Liu’s face went thoughtful as he looked down at Chang. ‘Hmm.’
‘I was a disciple of Shaolin before I lost my way, Master. Please, help me to retake the oaths and return to the Path,’ Chang said, still with his forehead on the floor.
Liu rubbed his bearded chin. ‘Interesting. How long have you been outside the temple?’
‘Six years,’ Chang said with misery. ‘I made some terrible mistakes and I want to atone for them.’ He glanced up at Liu. ‘Master, please help me.’
Liu gestured to him. ‘Get up. Tell me what you have done.’
Chang rose, a swift and elegant movement. ‘I have killed,’ he said, almost a moan of despair. ‘I have broken my vows. I wish to retake them and follow the Path once again.’
Liu rubbed his chin again, studying Chang. ‘What was your reason for straying?’
‘Wealth,’ Chang said. ‘I saw the wealth of the West and wanted it for my own. I have since learned that wealth is an illusion and cannot bring true joy. For the last three years I have lived in misery, serving one who was truly monstrous and evil.’
‘If you believe in the concept of evil then you still have a long way to go,’ Liu said.
Chang’s face crumpled and he dropped his head. ‘The temple gave me only empty words and hollow rules. I have yet to see the full truth inside them.’ He looked back up to Liu, full of hope. ‘Help me to see the True Way.’
‘Very well,’ Liu said. ‘But it will not be easy.’
‘Tell me what I need to do, Master.’
Liu concentrated for a moment, and Lok appeared out of the armoury. ‘What?’ he said. ‘I don’t have all day. I have three junior weapons classes this afternoon and half those dipshits don’t return their weapons when they’re done with them.’
Liu gestured towards Chang. ‘I got you a new assistant-cum-janitor. Give him all the worst jobs.’
‘About time,’ Lok said, and raised his snout towards Chang. ‘You look like a nice strong one, you can do the heavy lifting for me. Not having opposable thumbs is a pain in my doggy ass.’
‘I am fully trained in the arts of Shaolin!’ Chang protested. ‘I was in the temple for twenty-three years! I’m better than any human I’ve fought, I was teaching juniors at Shaolin, and you want me to work as a cleaner? Assisting a dirty demon dog?’
‘Forget it,’ Liu said, and turned away. ‘Never mind, Lok.’
‘What an asswipe,’ Lok said, heading back to the armoury. ‘Dirty demon dog indeed. I had a bath last week. Nearly killed me.’
‘I’d be wasted as a janitor,’ Chang said. ‘I can help out with the martial arts training here. Use me! Help me to find the Way!’
‘You are so far from the Way that you do not even see the Path when it is placed before you,’ Liu said.
Chang turned to me. ‘Lady, don’t waste my talents.’
‘Come with me, I’ll see you out,’ I said.
I went to the lifts and pressed the button to go down to the lobby. What a waste — so intelligent and talented, and so damn proud he couldn’t see the redemption being offered him.
‘I need an assistant,’ Lok said, pausing. ‘You should make him stay.’ Then he gave a full-on dog bark of surprise.
I saw the glow reflected off the lift doors and turned to see what was causing it. It was Kwan Yin in Celestial Form, seated on a lotus blossom, a radiant field of shen energy pulsing around her. Chang fell to his knees and prostrated himself, while Liu and I quickly dropped to one knee. Lok bowed his shaggy head.
‘You do not need to bow to me, Emma, we are family,’ Kwan Yin said, her voice sounding the same as it always did. She changed from Celestial Form to her normal human form of a middle-aged Chinese lady, slim and elegant in a white silk pantsuit. She held her hand out to me and raised me, then pulled me into a gentle hug. ‘You are like the promised to my own child.’
‘And you are like another mother to me,’ I whispered into her ear. The fragrance of lotus and jasmine floated around her. I pulled back. ‘Has something happened?’
Ms Kwan gestured towards Chang. ‘This has happened.’
Chang didn’t look up from the floor; he lay there as if frozen.
‘One of the most intelligent prospects we’ve seen here in a long while,’ I said. ‘Gifted with language, very perceptive, and one of Shaolin’s finest practitioners. Shame he never managed to perceive the gist of the Teachings.’
‘He is full of pride,’ Ms Kwan said.
‘That he is,’ Liu said.
‘But he has potential,’ Ms Kwan said.
‘Not while he’s so damn up himself,’ Liu said with amusement. ‘Are you going to fix him, Lady? I don’t think he deserves it.’
‘All deserve what they receive, Liu; you of all people should know that,’ Ms Kwan said. She gestured towards Chang, who still hadn’t moved. ‘Rise, Chang, let me see you.’
Chang pulled himself together and rose.
‘You have been given an