FOUR
"I still think you're acting too hastily," Wen said. The cords around his neck were silk, but they were still around his neck, and tightly. "We ought to be able to talk about this, Chin Gwai."
"We have said everything that needs to be said." Chin struck a pose, all the more irritating to Wen because there wasn't, so far as he could tell, the slightest bit of pretense to it. "The Great Sage said it better than I could: 'The mind of the superior man dwells on righteousness; the mind of the little man dwells on profit'."
"I don't mind you calling me a little man," Wen said, trying to keep himself from slipping from the keel of the upturned fishing boat on which he stood. He could feel the noose tighten around his throat as the distance between him and the tree from which the cords were slung increased. The underworld beckoned him. "Feel free to keep doing so, in fact. Just so long as you do it to my face, and I'm still alive to hear you."
"We are engaged in noble work," Chin said, "and you profane it with your lust for gold. If the cord is secure, men, I command you to pull that boat from under him."
"Can't I persuade you to think again?" asked Wen. I'm trying to save my father's life now; don't I get credit for at least that much nobility?
"No," said Chin.
"No!" shouted One-Eyed Lum. Thank you, gods, thought Wen.
"Hanging Wen Xia would be a waste," Lum said. "And hanging him on-shore would be a double waste. General, I urge you to think again. You're angry; I understand. Wen Xia's attempt to keep all that money for himself is a sin and an insult." Lum glared at Wen. "A serious insult." He turned back to Chin. "Haven't you yourself told us never to put our own desires for vengeance over the importance of our mission?"
You are so right, Lum, Wen thought, and I look forward to apologizing to you for not thinking of sharing the silver with you. Once you get me—us—out of this.
"Wen Xia," One-Eyed Lum shouted, "should be used as a sacrifice to the Dragon King Áo Guăng."
No! thought Wen as rough hands pulled him down from the fishing boat and hauled him back to the Jade Maiden.
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