Four Dragon Island
Volume Twenty-nine
Distant Flower Shadow

Summary by Amparo Bertram




An important party is short on entertainers, so Fei volunteers to help out by dressing as a woman. When in costume, however, he's so beautiful that everyone begs him to stop or he'll put everyone else to shame. Max walks in and asks if the Howaluu Leader has quit his position and taken up prostitution--in which case, he offers to buy this prostitute to make "her" live in his mansion. Fei had used losing at Go as an excuse to wear the jade earring again, yet he still refuses to move in with Max. His response is that Max needn't go to such an extreme, because "the Howaluu Leader is already yours."

Fei's cousin Liing shows up in secret to report that a group of warehouse burglars has escaped the Heitanyui and come to Bailong. Fei tries to keep Liing's presence a secret from the White Dragon, knowing that Max still holds a grudge against him for stealing Fei away a few months before. One morning, Fei and Liing have a sparring match, after which Liing presses Fei to return to Heilong. Unfortunately, Max walks in on them during such a compromising situation and becomes quite angry. He plots to use the burglars as an excuse to start trouble with Heilong by blaming the Heitanyui for any damage they cause.

After one warehouse is robbed, Fei manages to capture a young boy who is working as a lockpick for the burglary gang. Without the boy, the thieves are forced to turn to breaking and entering the ship owners' home. The boy is only working for them because he was rescued and treated kindly by one of their number, whom he calls his "master." He realizes that what the gang is doing is wrong. Even knowing that he may be exiled or executed for his crimes, he wants to be with his master again, so he agrees to help Fei capture them. Fei is touched by his honest devotion.

Liing goes to tell the White Dragon about Fei's plan, and to apologize for entering Bailong secretly. Max doesn't care about that...he believes there is something else for which Liing should apologize. Liing admits that he has cared for Fei like a flower, waiting anxiously for it to bloom--yet when it finally came to full blossom, it did so for another man. He is jealous of Max for "stealing" his flower. The White Dragon's possessiveness is so strong, he insists that what Liing should apologize for is not his attempts to take Fei back to Heilong, rather it is for noticing that Fei is a flower in the first place.

The gang is successfully captured. However, when it comes time for their sentencing, Max agrees to give Liing one thing he desires--if he can defeat the White Dragon in a duel. Fei watches with his heart made up to duel Liing himself if necessary to stay with Max. The White Dragon loses the duel on purpose, yet Liing asks only to have the thieves given to the Heitanyui. He later assures Fei that he will use his influence as the Black Dragon's heir to lighten the sentences of the boy and his master. After his experience at the duel, Fei finally admits in his heart how he feels, and he agrees to Max's wish that he live in his mother's former house.

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