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“But I have soup the wrapped ruyi

“What is it?” Quon asked, his eyes still resting possessively on Hulan

When Hulan heard David’s voice, she didn’t want to believe it Then she saw hih the caves, Chaowen’s Band-Aids on his forehead He’d come all this way for her He always had

“The ruyi”

Hulan heard in Quon’s voice soreed

“The ruyi of Da Yu!”

She watched as David held on to the kerosene la the linen off the wrapped object with the other Didn’t he understand as going to happen if he gave Quon what he wanted? Michael et the ruyi Her husband would be dead as soon as he handed it over

Hulan had been raised to be a martyr, but she’d denied her destiny at every step of her life For the last thirty years, the knowledge of the consequences for others of her denial of her duty, obligation, and blood imperative had been almost too horrible to endure Now in the dankness of this cave she understood what she needed to do Her heart so long shielded had been battered and cracked by Michael Quon’s pernicious attacks Now it shattered open, releasing wave upon wave of feeling She would give Quon her life to save David’s because she loved him She loved hie

With Quon and Su focused on David, Hulan reached for the jade ax She glanced toward her husband one last tiet out of there

“The ruyi for rasped the ruyi by th

e handle and held it aloft Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Hulan leap up, reach for the ax that lay next to Hom’s body, and hack it into Su’s belly In that same instant, David threw the ruyi and the lantern at Quon The glass shattered against Quon’s chest, sending kerosene in flalanced down in surprise and then, as the fire began to eat away at his clothes, he dropped and rolled

David bounded across the cave, shoving his wife into the tunnel on the wall opposite the one he’d entered He lurched blindly in the darkness, bashing into the rocky walls, fully aware of the unseen crevasses that ht appear as traps beneath his feet but unable to do anything but press on He hit so He recoiled instinctively

“It’s me,” Hulan whispered

They stood in the absolute onized screams and, below them, footsteps

“This way,” she hissed She held David’s hand, and they edged along the wall