Xiao had spent the morning waiting for Jiang, running in and out of the cavern, lurking at the entrance, waiting, waiting. Shortly after noon, he saw a single bicycle moving toward the Great Wall and something or somebody racing behind it. I thought Jiang was going to spend the day with me. Why is he with someone else? Xiao crouched lower as he strained his eyes, watching. It's a girl's bike. But who? Xiao watched the bicyclist until she was out of sight. Then he saw Jiang, pedaling up the hill in the opposite direction, racing toward him. I get it! Those two have spent the entire morning together. Mei has her fingernails deep inside him now. But what about us? Should I tell Jiang I saw Mei pedaling away or should I simply ignore it?

Within a few moments, Jiang hid his bike at the bottom of the cliff, looked around carefully to be sure he wasn't being followed, hid his bike behind a big rock and then hiked up the side of the mountain to be with Xiao.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

"Come, see what I've discovered," Xiao said as he grabbed his lover's hand and led him inside the cavern. "You won't believe what I've found."

Jiang's mind whirled around him. He wasn't ready to tell Xiao the truth about Mei-not yet, anyway, and he was thankful for the diversion.

The boys raced to the end of the tunnel where they reached a sealed door.

"It's metal," Xiao said, "Do you think it's gold?"

Wu Jiang squeezed his lover's hand; he knew Xiao was overly excited, but he knew how to calm him down. "It doesn't matter what it's made of, we just need to discover what's behind it and why it's here."

"I didn't think that far ahead. I was already chopping it up in pieces in my mind-and spending the chips for everything we've ever wanted."

"Well before you start chipping, let's try to find out what's behind it, okay?"

The natural light of the luminous tunnel was stronger than any artificial light Jiang had ever seen. It was bright enough to light several finely carved details and it was clear enough to show him the secret to gaining entrance.

"Look at the door!" Jiang said, "It's the Tao and there're words written around it. Can you make them out? Can you read them?"

Xiao squinted; his eyesight had never been as perfect as Jiang's but he had never admitted that to anyone. "Show me. Do you mean these?" Xiao pointed to a section of the door that was devoid of any words or markings.

"No, sweetie, can't you see these words, 'He who enters'? There are more, but I can't read them. One, two, three, four, five. There are five more words here. Can you read any of them?"

Xiao moved forward, but he, too, was unable any of those final words, even though he pressed his nose up against the frame, he was still unable to see the words Jiang had seen.

"I bet Emperor Qin Shi Huangdi hid his treasure here when he built the Great Wall."

"Why would Emperor Qin leave anything here?"

"He built the Great Wall. What better place to hide his treasure. It would be safe here, wouldn't it?"

"You do know the emperor is buried near the old capital of Xian. Wouldn't he keep his treasures there with him?"

"Well. . . perhaps he put something here under the wall to protect it."

"Let's wait to see what's behind the door, okay? And until we're able to read the rest of the words, let's keep this our secret."

Wu Jiang touched the frame and ran his hands slowly up and down the wall in front of him. "It's smooth, the whole wall feels like it's new. I don't understand. When was the Wall built? How old is this cave?"

"The Wall's over two thousand years old, but this cave could be thousands of years older. The ramp seems to be manmade, and it appeared so mysteriously that I thought it was magical."

"I don't believe in magic."

"The cave's natural but it's lit unnaturally: it's as if the walls are made of flame. It'll make a great hiding place for us."

"I agree, but we need to find a way to open this door and reach the other side," Jiang said as he ran his hands up and down the frame, feeling along both sides of the door, reaching as high as he could.

"What are you looking for?"

"Perhaps there's a mechanism. Perhaps there's a way to open this door by pressing something."

"You've been listening to too many fairy stories . . . and you call me a child." For the first time in their relationship, Xiao felt superior to Jiang, but as soon as he finished shutting his mouth, he was sorry. Jiang looked crestfallen, punctured, destroyed.

"I'm sorry," Xiao said. "I didn't mean that. What I meant was that I'm the dreamer, not you." Xiao paused as if in an epiphany. "I have an idea!" Xiao raced outside the cavern, grabbed the box he had brought with him, and returned to Jiang.

"I'm glad I started bringing supplies," Xiao said. "Stand on this box, see if you can reach the top of the door and look for a lever or button while I feel along the bottom."

Jiang hopped onto the box and started pressing along the top of the frame. Then he worked his way down along the door. Suddenly, he felt a soft spot and when he pressed it, he thought he heard a sound. The cavern seemed to rumble and shake-

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

XiaoXiao awoke suddenly from her nap. She had had another of her dreams. This time she dreamt about Meng Jiangnu. Why do I keep dreaming about Meng? XiaoXiao looked lifted up her bedding to see if someone had planted a curse there-something from the olden days-some broken piece of pottery, a chicken feather, a toenail, anything that didn't belong to her. Someone has cursed me, XiaoXiao thought as she hoisted up her bedding and dragged it to the door, and by the gods, I'll shake them out until the fleas rattle.

XiaoXiao spent the rest of the day cleaning house, scrubbing everything that didn't move, washing the rice bowls several times over, sweeping a layer of dust off the dirt floors, washing the walls, dragging all the family's clothing and shoes into a heap outside the door and then taking everything to the river to wash. I'll drive away the spirit of Meng Jiangnu I don't want the curse of Emperor Qin Shi Huangdi lurking around my house. I don't want the newlywed bride crying on my pillow. XiaoXiao thought for a moment and wondered if in the ancient times her house could have been Meng Jiangnu's, but then she reflected, How silly. My husband and I built this house. It's never been Meng Jiangnu's. I refuse to believe in spirits. I refuse to believe in Meng Jiangnu.

Then she continued scrubbing, convincing herself that she believed neither in spirits nor in spells, but realizing that common sense told her otherwise. I won't stop cleaning until the nightmares end and I drive all the spirits from my house.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

"Earthquake," Xiao screamed as he tugged Wu Jiang's hand and pulled him down from the box. Run!"

The boys ran back to the center of the cavern and started up the ramp toward the safety of the river and the forest. As they neared the top, however, they heard an insidious whistling sound. "I remember that whistle," Xiao said as he stooped to the ground and pulled Jiang down along with him. "It's Sung Li," Xiao whispered, "be still."

The boys lay quietly at the top of the ramp. Whatever movements Xiao thought he heard had occurred inside the cave and now the movements that he perceived as an earthquake had stopped. Outside, the day was bright and inside the quivering had stopped. Jiang wondered if Xiao merely thought he felt an earthquake; he had felt nothing-nothing, that is, except the movement of the door or what he thought was the movement of the door.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Sung Li walked slowly, staring intently walking along the Great Wall. He had passed through the forest, remembering that wonderful night when he took Xiao as his own. He had passed along the river, wondering what it would be like to see Xiao swimming, naked and vulnerable. He had even walked past the double staircase, one like a ladder, the other steeper than most men wanted to climb unless the weather was warm and the sky was clear. He had etched everything in his mind, trying to discover Xiao's hiding place. I know he's somewhere nearby. I know he's found shelter-perhaps a hut,; perhaps he's even hiding in one of the towers in the Great Wall. He's here and I will find him-I just know he's here.

Sung Li continued walking, unable to see the ramp or the entrance to the cave, perhaps because it was too low on the horizon, perhaps because it was surrounded by shrubs, or perhaps because the spirit of Meng Jiangnu hovered around Jiang and Xiao, protecting them while they were inside.


On to Chapter Twelve
The Bowl by the Door
Back to Chapter Ten
The Cave and a Fairy Tale Told by a Fairy
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