Meng Po nodded and gave us a crooked-teeth smile that wasn’t reassuring at all. “That’s right. This tea is different. It’s not my Five-Flavored Tea—although if you wish, I could brew you some of that as well. It’s quite tasty, if I do say so mys—”
“No, thank you!” Jordan bellowed.
The old lady frowned. “This is the Tea of Strength. Just try it and see, sweetie,” Meng Po crooned at me.
I didn’t care if Moli thought Meng Po was trying to help us. I didn’t trust this lady as far as I could throw her. “Not a chance.”
I dropped the cup, but the old woman lunged forward to catch it before it could smash onto the ground. Miraculously, none of the tea spilled.
“You might as well drink the tea, warriors,” Meng Po growled. No longer sweet and innocent, her smile looked like that of some unhinged politician. “You’re not going to want to remember what’s about to happen to you.”
“Get back, lady!” Jordan shouted. He ran at Meng Po and stabbed his sword at her arm, but she dodged the attack with ease. Then she followed with an attack of her own, slicing her hand through the air and giving Jordan several thwacks on his back. He fell over. His weapon clattered to the floor, out of reach.
Most impressively, as much as I hated to admit it, Meng Po still balanced the teacup in her other hand. And her assistant hadn’t even lifted a finger to help.
I made eye contact with Ashley and Ren, hoping they’d be able to understand my message—that we were to charge Meng Po together. We could take one old lady and her assistant. Unfortunately, Meng Po snapped her fingers. A bunch of demon guards, armed with spears, appeared in a wisp of smoke around us.
I couldn’t think of any exit plan that would get us out safely. We were severely outnumbered.
“Moli,” Meng Po said in a cold, harsh voice.
Moli startled. She appeared as stricken as a schoolchild caught doing something bad. “Y-yes?”
“Tell the warriors my conditions.”
“But …,” Moli squeaked. I’d never seen her so flustered before. Ghostly sweat beaded on her forehead, and she shook from head to toe.
Moli, who I’d thought was on our side, who I’d finally considered a real friend, looked on the verge of obeying Meng Po’s orders.
“You … Did you mean to lead us to Meng Po?” I asked Moli. “Did you want us to fail? Did you want us dead?”
Before Moli could respond, Meng Po interrupted in a low, threatening voice. “Tell. The. Warriors. My. Conditions.”
I stared at Meng Po’s expectant gaze, following it to Moli’s petrified expression. A sudden realization hit me.
Moli shook her head, but the truth of her betrayal was apparent in her tear-filled, guilty eyes. Ugly red splotches rose onto her cheeks. “I didn’t—I didn’t want this to happen. Faryn, you have to understand. Meng Po threatened—my father—”
“Oh, don’t give us that,” Ashley snapped. She swung her sword so that the point faced Moli, centimeters away from her nose. Ashley’s face was blotchy with fury. She looked more livid than I’d ever seen her. “We should’ve never trusted some dead stranger—especially one wearing high-tops—to begin with!”
Darkness rose to Moli’s cheeks. “What’s wrong with my high-tops?!”
“We shouldn’t have trusted you,” Ren accused, although the look he gave Moli was more sad than angry.
This was my fault. Shame flooded my cheeks with heat. I had trusted Meng Po only because I’d trusted Moli and had convinced the others that she was definitely going to do her best to help us.
Well, look where trust had gotten me. Trapped by a bunch of demon guards and an evil old woman with her awful tea. Betrayed by someone I’d really thought had become a friend, since she’d sacrificed her life to save mine during the Lunar New Year.
If Alex had been here, he would’ve seen through this trap. He would’ve been more skeptical. He would’ve helped us make it out of here with the Ruyi Jingu Bang and our lives.
Ever since the Hungry Ghost Festival had started, all I’d managed to do was get us in a heap of trouble.
“Moli,” Meng Po growled. “We had a deal. Or do you wish for harm to befall your father?”
“No!” Moli gasped. “P-please don’t hurt my bà ba.”
My heart was numb. I couldn’t even bring myself to care about what it would mean if we drank Meng Po’s tea or if we didn’t drink her tea. “I just want to know one thing. Tell me just one thing, truthfully. Were you ever my friend?”
Tears spilled out of Moli’s eyes and down her cheeks. “Crocodile tears,” Ye Ye would have called them. I focused on keeping my heart cold against the sight of them. I wouldn’t let Moli fool me again.
“I haven’t always been a good friend, Faryn. I know that.”
I snorted. Understatement of the year. Still, I’d never seen Moli look so desperate and pleading before. The sight melted my stone-cold heart just a little.
“But please believe me—I don’t have any other choice. My father is being held hostage here in Diyu. He tried to lead a rebellion against the Jade Emperor earlier this year.”
Even though she appeared to be upset, I couldn’t help but notice a different emotion cross her face, too. Pride.
Moli’s words stirred a memory in my mind that I’d almost forgotten—the dream I’d had of Alex, where he said he’d put a stop to Zhao Boyang’s antics and throw him into Diyu. Fury at my brother flared in my stomach.
“If I don’t help Meng Po, my bà ba will d-die,” Moli squeaked.
There was no way Moli was faking those desperate tears in her eyes. The girl I’d known for twelve years would never allow herself to appear weak in front of others—unless her father was in mortal peril.
I thought of Ba. If I knew his life was in danger and the only way to save him was to put my friends at risk, would I do it?
I didn’t want to know the answer to that question.
“Things weren’t supposed to end up like this,” Moli explained, her voice still wobbling but growing stronger. “I thought once you all reached the tower and couldn’t take back the Ruyi Jingu Bang, you’d give up and go back to the human world where you belong. I didn’t know Meng Po’s true intentions …”
Moli buried her face in her hands.
“Silly child.” Meng Po sneered at Moli. “How could I let warriors who have seen Diyu go back to the human world? No, they must forget.” Her expression softened just a fraction. “I’m doing your friends a favor. They won’t want to remember who they are or their roles in this upcoming war.”
“We’re not her friends,” Ashley spat, glaring at Moli.
My heartbeat quickened, although it wasn’t the glares of the demons that made me nervous. I would lose my memories. Everything and everyone I’d ever known and loved.
Ba. Ye Ye. Alex. Ren. All the warriors at the Jade Society and the New Order. The gods who’d helped me on my previous quest, as well as this one.
My family on Ba’s side, who I still hadn’t seen in the Underworld. Nai Nai, my grandmother; Gu Gu, my aunt; Jiu Jiu, my uncle.