Eagle by Jeff Stone Read Free Book Online Page B

on his face beneath a small pile of rotting lumber. The new clothes were of the finest quality and fit him well. He adjusted the black silk scarf across his face, tied his chain whip around his waist, and was about to step back onto the street when he froze. He felt that someone was watching him.
    Ying sank low and poked his head quickly out of the alley. At the far end of one of the buildings, he saw a man's shadow. Someone was hiding around thecorner. Ying could have kicked himself. He should have been more careful leaving HukJee's.
    Ying slipped the leather bag over his shoulder and quietly untied the chain whip from around his waist. He placed the chain's handle in his right hand and the weighted tip in his left. He silently wound each end of the chain around his hands until he had two metal-wrapped fists with a length of chain as long as his arm dangling between them.
    Ying stepped out of the alley without making a sound and hurried toward the building's far corner. As he reached it, the shadow moved and Ying leaped high into the air, just in time. A big man with brown hair and round eyes had been expecting him. The man let out a roar and burst around the corner, swinging a large boat oar exactly where Ying's knees would have been.
    The giant's mighty swing left him off balance, and Ying slammed a metal-clad fist into his jaw. The big man rocked back on his heels but must have had a chin made of iron because he shook off the blow. The man dropped the oar and dove straight at Ying.
    Ying leaped into the air again, and the huge man missed him a second time. The giant landed sprawled on the ground, face-first, and Ying spun 180 degrees in the air, landing on the man's back in a sitting position. Ying wrapped his legs around the man's midsection and looped the chain whip around the man's thick neck. Ying leaned way back, cutting off the supply of air to the giant's lungs, as well as the supply of blood to his brain.
    The big man thrashed wildly, clawing at the chain, but slipped into unconsciousness after just a few heartbeats.
    Ying released the tension on the chain immediately. He didn't want to kill the man. He had a few questions to ask him first.
    Ying unlocked his legs and was about to unwind the chain from his hands when he heard someone speak in heavily accented Mandarin Chinese.
    “For a man who wears women's scarves, you fight pretty well.”
    Several men laughed, and Ying looked behind him. Six men stepped out of the shadows, each holding a short
qiang
in one hand and a strange sword in the other. They were all round eyes.
    Ying started to unwind the chain whip from his hands, but a small man at the front of the group shook his head. “Leave your shackles on, Ying. You're coming with us.”

Y ing found himself being led through a maze of back alleys and side streets, his hands bound with his own chain whip. Six heavily armed round eyes surrounded him while a seventh, the giant, led the way. The giant had just returned to consciousness and was still groggy. He weaved from side to side as he walked, Ying's leather bag swinging wildly over one of his wide shoulders.
    “Where are you taking me?” Ying asked the group.
    The small man who had spoken to Ying earlier smiled and said, “Sorry, we no speak Chinese.”
    The group laughed.
    Ying bit his lip. He was fighting mad, but he knewhe was in no position to do anything. He might be able to take out one or two of the round eyes, but they all had
qiangs
and those strange swords. The swords were long and thin like a Chinese straight sword, but curved. They had a large, wide guard over the handle to protect the user's hand. Ying had seen them before, carried by round eyes in attendance at the fight clubs. The swords were called cutlasses. Ying had always wanted to test his skills against a man with one of those. Perhaps he would have his chance yet.
    They eventually stopped behind an ordinary-looking single-story building. The small round eye turned to Ying and said,