Cold and hungry, Xiao shivered in the damp cavern air. There was a moldiness about the place and a smell that that reminded him of the time he wore the same underpants for over a week: it had a human scent, a biological smell. It felt as if he had been born there and existed there forever.

What am I going to do while I wait for Jiang? I don't know if he's all right. Perhaps they've already captured him, perhaps he's behind bars . . . or worse.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Xiao was awakened before the sun rose by Jiang, who stood over him, smiling down at him, kissing him. Within moments, all of Xiao's anger fled from his soul: he was free now, forever free.

"Are you alright? Where have you been? What are the police doing? How's my family? How's Mei? How's Granny?"

"Calm down, everyone's fine. The police aren't after me. They have no clue that I'm even involved with anything and you know I've always been faster than a comet; I can move during night or day and no one knows where I am or where I'm going."

Xiao hugged Jiang and cried. "I don't know how I slept last night. It seemed like I was sobbing all night long and then I looked up and saw you."

Jiang kissed Xiao gently on the lips. "I'm here, you're mine, we're together-don't worry."

Jiang gave Xiao trousers and a shirt. "XiaoXiao told me to bring these to you. She has more. I'll bring them later." Jiang kissed Xiao's chest as helped him dress, running his lips from his neck down to his navel. Xiao lay back and closed his eyed, imagining his life with Jiang-as Jiang's lover-forever.

Suddenly, the floor shook beneath them as the walls quaked and part of the cave's ceiling collapsed, revealing a new tunnel-several meters high and forty meters long.

As soon as the dust cleared, Jiang and Xiao scampered over the debris to it, peering in around the debris. "How many tunnels do you think there are?" Xiao asked. "I thought we'd searched everywhere and every time I'm certain I know each nook, we discover a new one."

Jiang thought back to the time they'd discovered the golden door "Follow me, I have an idea. This tunnel curves. Don't you remember it? It's to our left and it curves right. This tunnel's on our right and curves left; maybe it will lead us behind the gold door. Follow me."

Xiao didn't need a second invitation; both boys covered their mouths and noses with their hands and struggled forward stepping over the jagged rocks, turning further toward the left as they wended their way deeper into the tunnel.

"Look, I told you." Jiang shouted. "It's the solid gold door, but how can it be the same door? Is there nothing inside?

"Perhaps it's magic, perhaps it's in an entirely new dimension."

"Anything could be possible in this cavern, but I think Kuan Yin, designed this place. She seems to be hovering over us and guiding us."

Xiao ran his hands along the sides of the door until he felt a raised word: TAO. "It is our door. Look at this!" Xiao took Jiang's hand and placed it over the raised word.

"But we heard sounds before. We heard people talking and laughing. How could they be talking in the door . . . or is it possible there are two entrances?"

"We haven't heard sounds in years and even then it could have been the sound of the wind or our own voices echoing. We may never know. We don't know if there's a universe in between the doors or if there's only one door-a magic door with spirits hovering inside." Xiao stepped on something hard and pulled his foot back. He reached down and picked up a small jade hairpin, shaped like a butterfly. Next to the hairpin were two bowls and a broken shard of pottery with words inscribed on it.

"I can't see; it's too dark. Let's take these back to the main cavern."

The boys went back to the front of the cavern, which was lit by the luminescent lights. "This is a jade hairpin," Xiao said, "and it looks ancient."

Xiao examined one of the bowls, "Herein lies your daily food. Herein lies your water."

"The bowls are empty, what good are empty bowls? I wish we had food and water," Jiang said as he tossed them to the rocky floor of the cavern.

The moment the bowls hit the cavern floor however, they began to fill. One bowl overflowed with rice and vegetables. The other filled with fresh spring water.

"This reminds me of the legend of Meng Jiangnu; she had magic bowls and a hairpin-but-"

"But we have a complete hairpin!"

"It's not broken!" Both boys shouted at the same time.

"How could it be Meng's? She broke hers in half and gave half to Fan Xiliang."

"And how could these be her bowls?"

Xiao was starving and automatically reached into the bowl, dipping out rice and fresh vegetables, eating while he talked. "If they're not Meng's, whose are they? And why are they magic?"

"Don't you remember the legend of Meng Jiangnu? Don't you remember that the goddess gave her two magic bowls as she searched for her husband?"

"But she broke the hairpin. And until we find out why this one isn't broken, we're just jumping to conclusions. We don't know what these things are."

"True," Xiao agreed, "but until we know for sure, we must learn more about the legend of Meng Jiangnu . . . and we must guard these treasures with our lives."

Jiang and Xiao ate well all day and night. All Xiao had to do was to think about chicken or vegetables or beef and the bowl filled instantly.

"I wish we had found these bowls years ago."

"I don't! We were too young then; we would have blabbed to everyone in the village. We must never tell about this. Ever!"

"We can guard the bowls and the jade pin, but I want to find out more about them."

"Then be careful. Don't let anyone think we've found an ancient treasure. Only the gods know what'll happen if anyone discovers our secret." Xiao turned the hairpin around and around in his hand until he felt something etched on the inside. "It's a character," Xiao said. "It's a name."

A sheet of whiteness enveloped Jiang from head to toe. "Don't tell me it says Meng."

"I don't have to, look!"

Jiang lifted the jade hairpin to the light and read the word Meng, the legendary heroine of ancient China.

"It can't be. It's in one piece, according to the legend, it should be broken in two."

"Maybe someone forgot part of the story. Maybe something happened we don't know about. Maybe the golden door has something to do with it. All legends are based on truth but we don't know what happened; we may never know. "Look, here's another inscription. Can you read it?"

Xiao strained his eyes as he moved the hairpin up and down, trying to see it in a better light. Then he paused and he, too, turned ghostly white. He looked down the tunnel before glancing back at Jiang, "It says The Great Wall, what does that mean?"

"I don't know, but it gives us one more reason to guard these treasures with our lives. As long as we have them, we'll be free, it's like we're protecting them and they're protecting us."

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

At home, XiaoXiao dreamt that the walls of her house were closing in around her, suffocating her. She couldn't see, she couldn't breath, she couldn't hear. One by one all five senses failed her as she awoke with a start.


On to Chapter Eighteen
Plan of Escape
Back to Chapter Sixteen
A Tunnel Transformed
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