Elixir of Immortality

Chapter 20

The sun was coming in Hēi'àn De Mìmì as we arrived. I stumped forward, stunned by the sudden shift of air. I breathed heavily, gasping. We're back in Hēi'àn De Mìmì, I thought. We were in the middle of the street, townsfolks and tourists peering at us in shock.

"You ruined everything!" Chang'e shrieked suddenly. I whipped my head around as her hair fell loose. Now, she didn't look regal, she looked insane. Unhinged, even. "Hēi'àn De Mìmì is mine to take!"

"Tell that to the cops," Ushi threatened, standing up.

The Moon Hare widened his eyes. "Oh dear..." He wasn't much of a talker.

I locked eyes with Xiong, who didn't seem to be nervous. What's his plan? Deep rumbles and tremours throughout the village. Screams and shouts could be heard throughout the entire village.

Suddenly, a corpse emerged from the ground. I screamed as the dead body dug itself out, walking crookedly towards me. The doing of the son of Zhung Kui. It grabbed me and yanked me forward, but I kneed him in retort. "Someone—get off—kill it!"

Ushi sprinted to one of the fish stands, grabbing a large cleaver. The woman running the stand cursed in Chinese as Ushi ran back, jabbing the cleaver in the corpse's neck.

I gave a final kick, snarling. With all the commotion, I didn't realize that Chang'e, Xiong, and the Moon Hare were gone. Corpses started to spring from the ground as ghosts in every nook and cranny.

"All of Xiong's little puppets are taking over Hēi'àn De Mìmì!" Abahai cried out as the villagers swore in Chinese and went to protect themselves. "How are we going to stop this?"

I pondered this. "If we kill the puppetmaster, we kill all the puppets."

"Killing Xiong? Good idea!" Ushi punched a ghost in the face, but her hand fell through. Not all of the corpses were solid. "Go find Xiong and bash his head! I'll oversee Hēi'àn De Mìmì!"

"And she'll have help," a voice grunted. It was Chaluai with Jia next to her. Chaluai had a mop and thwacked it on the head of a corpse. "Stay dead, idiot!" She yelled in English, continuing to thwack.

Jia had a pan and wooden spoon, making a lot of noise. "COME ON, FOLKS! MAKE SOME NOISE! Protect our village! Let's go, townsfolk! Come on!" Jia's commanding voice boomed and she banged the pan and spoon together to make a rally. I never knew Jia could be so loud.

"Come on, let's go find Xiong!" Abahai urged me on. We took off, encountering villagers of Hēi'àn De Mìmì who were beyond horrified and terrified. I spotted a shadowy figure on the roof of my house.

Bàba and Māmā! "Oh no, oh no, oh no!" I quickened my pace, bolting to the back of my house. I climbed the fire escape to the roof, pulling Abahai up with me. My hands were slick with sweat as we arrived on the roof.

"Move and he goes," Xiong said coldly, holding Bàba by the collar. I screamed, reaching for him, but Abahai held me back. My bàba looked so sickly and this was going to affect his health. Xiong held Bàba over the edge, looking at me threateningly. He holds the power.

"What do you want?" I cried out, gasping for air. "Don't hurt him!"

"Your heirloom, the jade necklace, Xiran. Chang'e wishes to keep the heirloom that is hers, not yours," Xiong replied simply. I unclasped the necklace as Abahai let me go.

My left hand fell to my side and landed on something in my pocket. I carefully angled my body so Xiong couldn't see what I was slipping out. Māmā fan heirloom, I realized as I grasped it. I have a plan.