Chapter One

Prologue

Eight-year-old Seh slid his lanky body along the enormous rafter high above the Cangzhen banquet table, doing his best to disturb as little dust as possible. Even in a room as dark as this, Grandmaster would notice a single particle drifting toward the floor. Grandmaster was that good.

But Seh was better. As long as he didn’t lose focus.

Once in position, Seh stretched to his full length and flattened himself against the top of the wooden beam. He began to slow his breathing. His heart rate slowed to that of a hibernating reptile beneath a sheet of ice. She began to wait.

An hour later, Grandmaster entered the room. Although Grandmaster didn’t say a word, Seh knew exactly who it was.He sensed powerful chi–life energy– radiating from Grandmaster’s body like heat from the sun.

Seh slowed his breathing further. He needed to keep his heart rate as slow as possible so that the chi coursing through his own nervous system would not alert Grandmaster to his presence. As long as he remained calm, Grandmaster would not detect him. Dragon-style kung fu masters like Grandmaster and Seh’s brother Long possessed tremendous amounts of chi, but they weren’t particularly good at detecting it in others. Snake stylists like Seh, however, were masters at detecting the most minute amounts in any living creature.

As Grandmaster stepped farther into the hall, She heard a second man stop in the doorway. Seh took a long, slow breath.

Seh focused on the visitor and noticed something strange. The man seemed to possess no chi at all, which was impossible. All living things possessed chi. This
could mean only one