Dragon Moon by Carole Wilkinson

Author:Carole Wilkinson [Wilkinson, Carole]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781742590660
Publisher: Walker Books Australia
Published: 2013-08-19T04:00:00+00:00

Ping went back to Lao Longzi’s house later that afternoon. The old man was sitting exactly where they had left him.

“Can you tell me where Long Gao Yuan is?” Ping asked. “I have to take Kai there.”

The old man opened his eyes but didn’t reply.

“It’s what Danzi wanted.”

Lao Longzi slowly raised his head. “In the mountains.” One of his twiggy fingers pointed towards the north-west.

Ping waited for him to say something else, but he didn’t.

“Is there anything else you can tell me?”

Lao Longzi shook his head.

The evening was spent at a long and drawn out meal with Master Cai, listening to him recount the special skills of his children. Then his wife entertained them by playing a zither and singing very badly. The night passed as slowly as water dripping through a crack in a bucket.

Ping was up before dawn, packed and ready to go. She had changed back into her worn trousers and jacket. Kai couldn’t eat his breakfast. They set out before the sound of the jade workers’ tools could be heard. The perplexed elder stood at the doorway yawning in his nightgown as they thanked him for his hospitality, and promised to send a large order once they had shown their samples to the Emperor. They walked back the way they had come until they were sure they were well out of sight of the village. Then they stopped.

“So where are we going?” Jun asked.

“To the mountains,” Ping replied.

Jun scanned the horizon. “There’s a lot of them.”

Ping sighed. “We’ll have to hope that the white dragon finds us again.”

“Look,” said Kai. He pointed a talon into the morning mist.

Ping could make out what she thought was a large grey rock in a meadow. Then she saw the rock move. They edged closer. It wasn’t a rock, or at least not all of it was. It was a person sitting on a rock. The person stood up. Ping couldn’t believe her eyes. It was Lao Longzi. He leaned heavily on his walking stick as he shuffled towards them.

“I will take you to Long Gao Yuan,” the old man whispered. “If Danzi chose you as his Dragonkeeper that is all the recommendation I need.”

Lao Longzi pointed his stick away from the road into the hills to the north-west. The old man didn’t look like he could take five steps on level ground, let alone walk many li over mountains.

He looked at Jun. “Is the young man accompanying us?” he asked.

Ping heard the question in her mind. “Yes,” she replied.

“That is good,” he said.

Lao Longzi lifted one foot an inch off the ground and moved it forward three inches. Then he lifted his other foot. It was going to be a long, slow journey.

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