Undercover - In China - Book 7

Part 73 - He has a crossbow

I couldn't get up. At the back of my mind a tiny thought echoed, this is ridiculous. There are no such things as monsters. It must be a man. But there was a contrary thought. Maybe there were monsters in China two thousand years ago. What about Chinese dragons? 

 From lower down, Murga shouted. Another thud and Blue Shirt gasped in pain.

Somewhere behind me Miguel called, 'Ziff! Look out!' And I heard rocks sliding under booted feet. The moon disappeared again. A shout and then a deep throated roar from the monster. From somewhere behind me in the dark Kozak translated, ''E says a very vulgar word. Go away or die, vulgarity,' I giggled helplessly at the deadpan translation even though my back hurt I when I laughed.

Twang. A thud from lower down, a curse and Kozak said. ''E says, don't shoot, Zhu, you idiot. It's me and Wu.' 

 Blue Shirt gasped in pain as he shouted back. Kozak was crouching right beside me. 'He says, it is not 'im, vulgarity. It is zat one up zhere . . . 'e has a crossbow . . .  If you don't get ze brat, Murga will melt your tongue.' 

 'Ze monster says, 'Vulgar word! Lose your - impolite word - or I'll devour your vulgarity.'' 

 I couldn't stop my body shaking with laughter. I clamped a hand over my mouth to stifle the giggles.

Twang. Thud. Scream. Twang. Thud. Curse. Blue Shirt moaned. ''E says 'elp 'im up,' Kozak translated. 

 Then I heard the sound of sliding rocks and shouts fading down the hill followed by the clatter of hooves. Kozak fled. I was too frightened to run and, anyway, I couldn't get up. I heard a footfall, and the moon came out. The monster was staring down at me swinging a crossbow. I threw up an arm to protect my face from the shining eyes. The monster reached up and . . . pulled its head off. 

 It was panting hoarsely. 'Ah-um, Ziff, are you hurt?' And then I saw the head was an ornate Chinese helmet decorated with long feathers and tufts of horsehair that stuck out in all directions. The monster pushed the night vision goggles up on his forehead. 

 I started giggling hysterically and then howled with laughter despite the back pain. When I could breathe, I said, 'Yes, I'm okay . . . it only hurts when I laugh. You scared . . . the vulgarity bananas out of me.' I kept laughing until Dr Zhang sat down and joined in. 

 We were both laughing with relief at finding each other. Licia called again, from further down the hill. 'Ziff? Are you okay? What's going on? What's all this vulgarity stuff?'

Miguel caught up with us, exchanged high fives with Dr Zhang and called, 'Dr Zhang is here, Licia. Ziff's fine.' 

 Licia quickly joined us. 'Where's Chen Ling? Is she alright?' Dr Zhang reassured her. 'I left her with Wu Jun at the boat.  Can you walk?' he asked me. 

'I think so,' I replied when I had stopped giggling. 'But my back hurts. How did you know where to find us?'

  'Ah-um, I've been watching the road with Wu Jun since I lost you. We captured Wang Bang earlier. He told us he had helped you escape. He also warned us about those bandits. Since I had the night vision goggles, I could move faster than Wu Jun so I walked back until I saw you running up the hill. Sorry, I scared you. Zhang Fei loaned me his old helmet. Denny's crossbow and the goggles were in my baggage at the monastery.' 

 He patted the cross bow affectionately. 'Denny will be pleased to know it works.' 

 Dr Zhang stood up. 'Ah-um, if you're feeling better, we'll get back to Wu Jun before Murga and those thugs come back.' He pulled down his night vision goggles and put the helmet back on his head. 'Gadzooks, this helmet is heavy. Hold my hand. I'll lead you out of these rocks.'