A crossbow bolt thudded into his breastplate. Wen waited for the pain to come, but apart from a sting where the metal smashed back against his naked chest, there was none. Cheap though it may have been, the armor had held. This time. He looked to see that the oncoming soldiers had paused in order to loose a volley; another bolt shot past him, just missing. Behind him somebody screamed.
"You are throwing away your lives!" he yelled to the soldiers as he waved his followers away from the target he made. "You are defending a lying bastard who can't lose the mandate of heaven because he never had it!" Charging at Li and Chin he shouted, "Think of what your ancestors would say!" I am such a hypocrite, he added silently, stumbling as another crossbow bolt deflected from his leg armor and skittered across the paving stones.
Li pushed Chin in front of him, then began to run up the square to meet his soldiers. Chin, Wen now saw, was dressed in the full, formal armor and tunic of a general in the Ming army. Enjoy your promotion, you bastard, he thought, for all the good it will do you. Rather than attack with his sword, Wen tucked it under his arm, lowered his shoulder, and ran full-speed into Chin Gwai—just as the man began to levitate off the road. Rather than hitting him in the chest and waist, Wen smashed into Chin's knees.
The force of the impact sent Chin spinning, which in turn caused him to crash back down to the street. Wen had also gone down because of the shock, but he had known what to expect and so was first up. Now he brought out the sword, and with a loud, wordless cry drove it straight at Chin's midriff.
The old blade snapped at the hilt the instant the point met Chin's breastplate. "Oh, buggeration," said Wen.
Howling, Chin bounced to his feet, drawing his sword. Wen recognized the broad, scimitar-bladed dadao that Chin had wielded as captain of the Jade Maiden. Then he filed that information away for later use, dodging over to where one of the crossbowmen had abandoned his gear. The sword wasn't as large or as long as Chin's dadao, but it was a hell of a lot better than nothing.
"You realize, don't you, that you have completely perverted everything you claimed to stand for," he said to Chin, raising the sword to block the first lunge.
"Why couldn't you stay dead?" Chin shouted, hacking with the scimitar blade.
"I never was dead, you fool." Wen dodged easily. Then his foot landed on a crossbow bolt and he skidded, nearly going face-first into the cart of a noodle-seller who had long since decided to write off the day, his stock and his equipment. "I was in heaven, meeting the Heaven Honored Jade Emperor himself," he added when he'd regained his balance. He shook the noodles from his sword-blade. "I'd pass on his greetings to you, but he didn't give any! So far as the Jade Emperor is concerned, you and your master are dust!"
"You lie!" Chin slashed at him and, missing, carved a chunk off the back of the noodle-seller's cart. "I've seen the portents myself! According to the oracle bones I'm going to be the first proper emperor of Fusang!"
"Oracle bones?" Wen stopped in mid-slash. "Nobody uses oracle bones anymore, except for that idiot Liang —" He stopped, and lowered his sword. Oh, of course, he said to himself. It makes perfect sense. Aloud he said, "Good old Liang Sheng. The sage who's always had your best interests at heart. Isn't that right, Chin Gwai?"
"Of course he's always done that." Chin had stopped as well. "What do you mean?" Gasping for breath, he and Wen faced each other on opposite sides of the noodle cart.
"What I mean is, think about everything that's happened since Liang Sheng joined you. Who was it who sent you off to the village where you were captured, the first day I met you? Who was it who told you to accept Governor Li's offer of an alliance because it would allow you to get rid of me first? I'll wager your life it was Liang Sheng." Uncertain now, Chin nodded slightly. "I thought so. Liang Sheng!" He was shouting now. "Who has been a spy for Li Ling all along, playing on your stupidity to get you into a position where Li can control you and kill you at his leisure? Liang Sheng!"
From the bottom of the fire-pit Liang Sheng squeaked an indignant denial, but it sounded half-hearted and no doubt was.
"I! Am! Not! Stupid!" Chin picked up the cart with one hand and heaved it to one side. Before Wen could react he had brought his dadao blade crashing down onto Wen's left shoulder. The cheap armor screamed, buckled, gave. The blade, turned sideways by the small resistance the armor had offered, smashed into Wen's flesh. Wen, trying to regain his balance, stepped into a puddle of spilled noodles and sesame sauce.
As he tumbled to the ground he was able to think, over the pain in his shoulder, At least the bastard only used one hand.
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