But even the relief of seeing Black Wind again did not lessen the wonder of the newcomer. There was something formidable about him. Perhaps it was the way he held himself, as if the air somehow weighed less upon him. Or perhaps it was the way he moved, like a mighty dragon about to leap into the sky. Whatever it was, all felt his power and were awed. Noiselessly, the crowd parted to make a pathway for him, and the sound of his footsteps echoed as he walked up to Mulan.
“Pet rabbit?” the man said again, his eyes twinkling even as his voice thundered. “If that rabbit is a pet, then I am not Lu Ting-Pin!”
LU TING-PIN! The Rabbit rolled his eyes at the tall man and Mulan felt a rush of hope. She looked out at the crowd, many of them looking confused and whispering. Most didn’t know who Lu Ting-Pin was, she realized. They probably thought he was some sort of aristocrat, or perhaps a government official.
Mulan couldn’t tell if the Magistrate knew, but he definitely recognized Lu Ting-Pin as someone highly esteemed, for he bowed deeply.
Without waiting for the Magistrate to rise, Lu Ting-Pin addressed him.
“What is going on here?” he demanded.
“Master Lu,” the Magistrate said, in an ingratiating tone that made Mulan feel as if she had just eaten spoiled rice porridge, “we are conducting, uh…a…a ceremony to placate and honor the River King.”
“A ceremony?” Lu Ting-Pin snorted. “This looks more like an angry mob! Is this the way a civilized town is supposed to behave?”
“This is no business of yours, Lu Ting-Pin!” the Hag broke in. Lu Ting-Pin’s arrival seemed to have shocked her into silence, but she found her voice now. “The River King demands his bride! You are not wanted here!”
“A bride?” Lu Ting-Pin brushed aside the Hag’s objections as if he hadn’t heard them. “How do we know the River King wants a bride?”
“This…um…woman,” the Magistrate said, indicating the Hag. “She informed us that the River King contacted her with his wishes.”
“Did she?” Lu Ting-Pin said, arching an eyebrow. He looked at the Hag, who glared at him. “And you spoke with the River King yourself?”
“Of course,” the Hag snarled. “He told me that he would never stop flooding the river unless he had a new wife. So I notified the Magistrate immediately.”
“Who, of course, told these townspeople,” Lu Ting-Pin said, looking out at the sea of staring eyes, “and, no doubt, lined his pockets with bribes from fearful parents.”
The Magistrate started, making a choked noise of surprise and guilt. An undercurrent of grumbling clamored through the crowd.
“And once he couldn’t squeeze any more from them,” Lu Ting-Pin continued, “you were able to divine a bride of destiny, am I correct?”
“I asked the River King to tell me which woman he wished,” the Hag said, her chin rising in defiance. “And he told me she would ride into town on a black horse, and there she is!” The Hag’s voice rose to an enraged screech and she pointed at Mulan. “That is the River King’s bride! She must go to the bottom of the river, now!”
“This is the River King’s bride?” Lu Ting-Pin said, his calm, unhurried manner like water upon the fire the Hag tried to stoke. He turned to Mulan and looked at her carefully, then turned back to the Hag, shaking his head. “This cannot be his bride. She is too young! She is not yet of marrying age.”
“When they marry matters not!” the Hag snapped. “He wants his betrothed with him below!”
“That makes no sense,” Lu Ting-Pin said. “If the poor River King has been in anguish over loneliness, why would he choose a bride he must wait to marry? There must be some mistake.”
“There’s no mistake!” the Hag ranted. “We must send this girl into the river!”
“Come, come,” Lu Ting-Pin said, again in his untroubled way. He turned to the Magistrate and looked at him directly. “We don’t want send the River King the wrong bride, do we? That’s apt to make him even angrier.”
The Magistrate shifted uncomfortably, his face growing flushed as Lu Ting-Pin continued to fix his gaze upon him. “No, no,” the Magistrate mumbled, “we don’t want to anger the River King.”
“I think we should make sure we know what the River King wants,” Lu Ting-Pin continued. He glanced over to the Hag. “Why don’t you go down and ask him?”
“What?” the Hag sputtered. “Me? Go down?”
“Yes,” Lu Ting-Pin said nonchalantly. “You need to find out exactly what the River King wants.”
“I…I…I am not going to the bottom of the river!” the Hag said, her eyes narrowing with seething anger. “Not me!”
“But of course, you,” Lu Ting-Pin said. “You are the River King’s emissary. You already know him so well.” He turned again to the Magistrate. “Don’t you think?”
The Magistrate’s face was now shiny with perspiration, completely flustered by Lu Ting-Pin’s revelations and the townspeople’s angry, suspicious eyes. “Um, yes,” the Magistrate said, wiping his forehead and looking back and forth from the man to the Hag. “Perhaps it’s best if she…uh…you…go see the River King.”
A roar of agreement rose from the crowd as all finally grasped some of the truth. “He’s right. Why would the River King want this girl?” one person grumbled. “He could have his choice of goddesses and fairies.”
“I bet the River King didn’t ask for a bride at all!” accused another. “You just made the whole thing up so you could get more money out of us!”
“If anyone’s going to the bottom of the river,” someone yelled, “it should be you!”
And with that shout, years of pent-up resentment and bitterness seemed to burst from the crowd. They surged forward, an unstoppable cresting wave of fury. The Hag’s eyes widened, and with a shriek of wrath, she stepped back and jumped into the river. The Magistrate stared openmouthed at the empty air where the Hag used to be and then back at the surging mob. He yelped, then bolted away like a runaway pig.
The crowd swarmed after him. Lu Ting-Pin put one arm around Mulan’s shoulders and the other around Black Wind, and the teeming hordes passed them by as if they were rocks in a rush of water. Mulan heard their frenzied howls and crashing feet, their clenched fists and gnashing teeth, but the rampage was a blur around her.
For while everyone else was looking elsewhere, Mulan’s eyes were fixed upon the Hag. So when the Hag disappeared into the river, no one but Mulan saw the white fox tail poking out from the waves, nor did anyone but Mulan see the miraculous transformation of that tail into a fish’s.
SOON, LU TING-PIN, Mulan, and the Rabbit were alone. They could hear faint howling echoes as the town’s magistrate received justice from the townspeople, but the Magistrate must have been quite a good runner, for the pandemonium was a great distance away.
“Tuzi! My old friend!” Lu Ting-Pin boomed, his face splitting into a wide grin. “What are you doing here?”
“Hello, Yan,” the Rabbit said, pushing his head and paws out of the pouch. “What do you think I am doing here? I’m looking for you.”