“No way,” Malao said. “This is Shaolin Temple. Nobody could—”
“Quiet!” Fu whispered. “The enemy might be all around us.”
Malao rolled his eyes. “You're paranoid, Pussycat.”
“Oh, yeah? Where are all the monks?”
“It's the middle of the afternoon,” Malao said. “If this were Cangzhen, it would be nap time. You remember nap time, don't you?”
“Keep your voice down!” Fu whispered. “It's better to be safe than sorry.”
“Fine,” Malao whispered. “What do you suggest we do?”
“Let's split up.” Fu pointed to a tall oak behind Malao. “You climb that tree and keep an eye out while I sneak up to the compound and investigate. If you see anything suspicious, screech like a monkey. Otherwise, stay quiet and sit tight. I'll come back here as soon as I'm through.”
Without another word, Fu turned and sprinted over to a large six-sided pagoda. After quickly scanning the area, he ran and dove next to a smaller one with a rectangular base. A moment later, Malao lost sight of him.
Malao shrugged his shoulders and walked to the tree Fu had singled out. He stretched and casually leaped toward the thick trunk—but felt himself suddenly yanked back to earth. A firm hand slithered over his mouth and clamped down hard enough to bruise his lips.
A familiar voice hissed in his ear, “Silly little monkey. You should learn to listen to your older brothers.”
Malao knew there was no point in fighting back. He relaxed and the hand over his mouth slipped away, dragging a thin line of saliva across his cheek.
“That's disgusting,” Seh said. He took a step back and wiped his hand on the corner of his blue silk robe.
“That's what you get for sneaking up on me like that again,” Malao replied. “Can't you just say hello like a normal person?”
“Keep your voice down,” Seh whispered.
Malao wiped his cheek and looked up at his tallest brother. He noticed Seh's spiky black hair was longer than his and appeared to be growing in unevenly.
“Hey, what happened to your hat?” Malao asked. “Maybe you should put it back on. It looks like your head got too close to Fu when he was practicing with his tiger hook swords.”
“Stop goofing around,” Seh said. “This is serious. I overheard you talking to Fu, and he is right. The enemy could still be near.”
“What enemy?” Malao asked. “And by the way, what are you doing here?”
“That's a really long story,” Seh replied.
Malao rolled his eyes. “Oh, come on—”
“Shhh,” Seh whispered. “The bandits heard about a planned attack on Shaolin and I volunteered to warn the monks, okay? Obviously, I arrived too late.”
“When did you get here?”
“This morning.”
“Do you know who did this?”
“The rumor was a huge platoon of soldiers led by one of the Emperor's generals. But I don't know for sure. I haven't found anyone alive to ask.”
Malao lowered his head. “This is terrible.”
“You have no idea how terrible,” Seh said. “It's awful back inside the Shaolin compound. Is that where Fu is headed?”
“Yeah.”
“He's in for an unpleasant surprise. I better go see if I can catch him.”
“Wait a moment,” Malao said. “Have you seen Hok?”
Seh's narrow eyes widened. “Hok? No. Why?”
“He told me and Fu that he would meet us here. But that was eleven or twelve days ago. The plan was for him to come here first, and then Fu and I would meet up with him later. Ying stole the dragon scrolls from Fu, but then we stole them back again.”
“You guys stole the scrolls back?”
“Sort of,” Malao said. “We got three. Ying still has one.”
Seh patted Malao's fuzzy head. “Nice work, little brother. Did you happen to see Long?”
“No. How about you?”
“I still haven't seen him, either,” Seh replied. “I'm sure he's fine, though. Listen, I want to catch up with Fu before he gets to the gates. Why don't you climb the tree like Fu suggested? We'll come back for you soon.”
“Why can't I come with you?” Malao asked.
“Having a lookout is a really good idea, Malao. It's an important job.”
“But what am I supposed to look out for ? You already said you haven't seen anyone.”
“Please climb the tree, Malao.”
Malao pouted. “Fine. I'll be waiting up there. Alone.”
“Thanks,” Seh said. He spun around and headed straight into the Pagoda Forest without bothering to sneak around like Fu had done.