Early the next morning, Sung Li's men found Wei's half-eaten body along with lion prints leading off into the great forest. Sung Li ordered two of his men to carry the head and several other pieces of Wei's body home while he and the rest of the posse continued on to the Great Wall.

As soon as they reached the great river, Man-Ho, one of Sung Li's men lost his footing and tumbled into the raging river. He avoided the rocks as his body was propelled downstream and was able to grab onto a low-hanging tree long enough for the rest of Sun Li's men to rescue him. As soon as they finished pumping him dry, they saw Ming's body battering against the rocks.

It looks like Ming fell into the river while in the line of duty, trying to rescue his partner," Sung Li said, hesitant to go any further-hesitant to tell the posse his real mission. "And Wei, too, gave his life for his country. We must remember these brave men as the heroes they were."

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Jiang spent the night dreaming about Meng Jiangnu in the goddess's house. I will protect you and lead you through the glorious gold door. Trust your instincts, follow me, and obey the voices and I will protect you.

The next morning, after a gracious goodbye, Jiang tore back to the cave; he knew the gods were close now, he hoped they were ready to help.

"Xiao, I dreamt of Meng Jiangnu last night. She's going to help us."

"So did I! The goddess came to me in my sleep. She said we must trust our instincts, follow her and obey the voice-nand she will be there to guide us and help us."

Jiang nearly passed out. His knuckles and face turned whiter than any Westerner either boy had ever pictured.

"What's wrong? Did I say something wrong?"

Jiang took a deep drink from the magic bowl, "I had the same dream, Xiao. We are Fan Xiliang and Meng Jiangnu-we are their souls-we are The Great Walls in China."

Now it was Xiao's turn to pale, as his knees crumbled and he sat down with a plop onto the cavern floor. "The exact same dream? You mean-"

"Yes, the goddess visited both of us last night. Everything's going to be okay, Xiao, everything's going to be okay."

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Sung Li's liver ached now. He knew he would never rest until both boys were tied down to his table. He wouldn't sleep until he had his vengeance. "You, follow the trail of the lion. And you, take this message back to the village: Tell the people I will hunt down this cur; I will keep them safe."

As soon as his men had left him, Sung Li scouted the area along the river. Feng Xiao and Jiang are hiding close by. I will hunt them down like dogs. I will find them.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

As excited as both boys were, they were still unaware of the deaths of Sung Li's men, let alone that Jiang had been followed by both man and lion. Their voices rose in anticipation of their journey to freedom, resonating inside the cavern, spilling out into the river valley, echoing and reverberating to the river . . . and to the forest beyond.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Sung Li's ears perked up like a chow-chow. I've got them now - they're over there!

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

"I'll be on the team and go to Guangzhou unless I break my leg and you know I'll win the gold; we're both sure of that." Jiang stopped, pausing for a moment, taking in a great deep breath as Xiao screamed in joy, "Maybe the coach will help you; maybe we can disguise you as a towel boy-that would be one way to get you out of here."

"You'd never be able to concentrate," Xiao squeezed Jiang's hand. He loved to watch his lover blush.

"I won't be able to concentrate without you, Xiao, you're my soul. I saw you in my dream-I saw you as Fan Xiliang. I saw you as my husband and without you I can win anything, but I can never truly succeed."

Xiao no longer wondered about Jiang's relationship with Mei or even of Jiang's infidelity. He smiled broadly, his lower lips curling almost as high as his eyebrows; he knew now that the goddess would always shelter them with her love. They were her chosen!

Xiao dug his foot into the sandy soil, doing his impersonation of a humble cowboy movie star, "You can beat anyone; you're a thousand times stronger than me."

Jiang loved Xiao even more when he acted so boyishly, so sweetly. "We're both strong enough to survive on our own, but in my dream, the goddess told me we must rely on each other. Remember: We are the reincarnated souls of Meng Jiangnu and Fan Xiliang."

"Apart, we are strong," Xiao added.

"Together we can free all of China."

Again the boys paled. They had had the same dream-down to the same words and same gestures. Every nuance, every thought, the same.

And for one joyous moment Xiao believed Jiang could work magic with the coach-and together they would escape to Guangzhou.

"Do you think Coach Lu will put his life on the line for me? Will he sacrifice himself and his family for a boy he hardly knows?"

"As long as we're careful, he'll do it for me."

On the other side of the door, the Goddess Kuan Yin sighed. She had spent the night with Jiang. She had appeared in both their dreams, yet they still didn't get it. They were trusting too much in themselves - and not relying on divine intervention. It's the same thing Jiangnu did when she faced the emperor. She jumped before she looked. She relied on herself and neglected me. What can I do? What else can I do?

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Feng Chung slept fitfully after sharing a brief moment of love. Is it too late for Fengxia to give me another son? Can we ever be a normal family?

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The first meet in Guangzhou is easy," Jiang said. "I'll only be completing against Chinese boys, but when I win, I'll go to one town over, to Hong Kong and compete against the British. If you can get to Hong Kong, we can work our way on a freighter to Australia and be free."

"I can't just get in the truck and go with you. I'll have to find another way; perhaps I can build a raft and float down the river. Perhaps I can run along the Great Wall and hide in the towers at night and make my way east."

For a moment, Xiao thought he heard a sobbing sound emanating from the gold door, but he was too engrossed in Jiang-and in his logic, to pay careful attention.

"Sure, perhaps you can find a magic tunnel to Guangzhou; maybe that's what the golden door is all about."

Xiao wanted to cry; he turned his back on Jiang and walked a few paces away. He never understood why Jiang had to be so mean and insensitive.

"I didn't mean that," Jiang approached Xiao slowly, carefully, methodically; he had seen his lover like this before-hurt, overly sensitive; he knew he had to slow down. "You can't ride in the truck until we're out of the area, but once we leave Shuoxian, you can join us, and we can travel to Guangzhou together."

Xiao believed Jiang's story about as much as he believed the stories of the wild lions lurking in the forest-he wasn't a child. He didn't respect Jiang when he lied to him.

"We're the sports team. People may come alongside us and cheer, but the police won't stop us. No one will bother us. We're more powerful than the government."

"No one is ever more powerful than our Communist government and just because the police haven't stopped trucks before doesn't mean they won't stop you now, besides I'm a fugitive; everyone is searching for me. Everyone knows what I look like, what-" Xiao was unable to continue. He realized that everyone in China must have heard of the faggot in the north by now. The tears welled up in his eyes when he thought about XiaoXiao. I'll never see my grandma again; I hope she doesn't hate me. "It's only a matter of days before the army begins searching the hills. It's just a matter of time before I'm captured and castrated or-"

"Don't put yourself in such high regard! You're a boy; the government has better things to do than search for one little boy."

"Sung Li doesn't think that way."

"You don't know what Sung Li thinks. You don't know how he feels inside. Perhaps this is just an act; perhaps he's only playing a role. I don't know what's inside his mind any more than I know what's inside yours."

Again Xiao stepped back, wondering where Jiang was going with his logic.

"We're friends and we're lovers, but that doesn't mean we read each other's minds, sweetie. It doesn't mean we know everything about each other." Jiang thought about Mei, about how he wanted to with her, knowing he had told Xiao too much, knowing he hadn't said enough.

Xiao understood now. He understood where Jiang came from. He knew Jiang loved him but he also knew Jiang had a life of his own and that Jiang would ultimatly marry a woman-someday. Perhaps I'll be part of Jiang's life and perhaps I won't! If Jiang wants to change our friendship, I'll have to be strong enough to accept it-that's what friends do. But what about Meng Jiangnu and Fan Xiliang? Aren't we destined to be together forever?

"Perhaps. . . and perhaps not, no one knows what the future knows but in the meantime, you must learn to walk straight and act straight. You'll come in contact with many people in the next few weeks, but you must never give yourself away. Until we're both free, you must pretend to be a normal heterosexual," like me, Jiang thought, like me.

"Are you going to give me lessons?"

"Yes. Watch me, watch how I walk, listen to me speak, watch the way I hold my hands. Life is nothing more than an serious of properly orchestrated acts in a long game called compatibility! We must be compatible with the rest of the world-with all of society and we can only do that, Xiao, if we know the rules and play by them."

"Suppose I want to change those rules, Jiang? Suppose the rules are wrong or I'm wrong for the game?"

"You can't change the rules until you've learned them."

Xiao accepted that fact and he knew he could learn anything-given enough time. He also knew he had to continue playing the game until he could master it, then he'd be free to set up his own rules and create his own society-hopefully, with Jiang at his side.

"Are you serious about taking the truck to Guangzhou?"

"I'm sure I can get the coach to get you a temporary pass that will let you to get to the next village. Even if we have to disguise you, you can at least get there safely. Then you can meet up with the rest of us on the truck and ride to Guangzhou. The boys all like you and we can always use a towel boy."

"Don't play with me."

"We can use a friend, okay? And you're my friend, so will work, and besides, once we get to Guangzhou, we'll be on our own. Sung Li doesn't have any power in there and the federal police will be more concerned about crowd control than about a group of school boys, and, anyway, once I win the Gold, I'll be a hero."

"If you win, but may the goddess help us if you lose."

"I'll win, but right now I have to get back to Shuoxian. I've been away too long."

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Sung Li continued to stand by the riverbank. Mere seconds had passed since he had heard the sounds-the vibrations, but the hills were vast and he wasn't sure which why they had come from. Xiao's nearby, I know that, but I must not blame this on Jiang. I must keep Xiao's secret to myself. If the government finds out about this pervert and that I'm not able to handle him, I'll lose my job . . . or worse.


On to Chapter Twenty-Two
The Coach
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Into the Maelstrom
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