Dragons Flying over China

Souryuuden Volume Seven

Novel by Tanaka Yoshiki
Summary by Amparo Bertram

Jump to: [Chapter 2] [Chapter 3] [Chapter 4] [Chapter 5] [Chapter 6] [Chapter 7] [Chapter 8] [Chapter 9] [Chapter 10] [Illustrations]

Chapter 1: Silk Road Escapees

Townsend is in Hong Kong with a professional Four Sisters baddie named Edgar Mayhew, who reports that the Dragon Brothers have already made it into China. They try to get a look using the Four Sisters' spy satellite, Green Knight, but clouds prevent any clear shots. They discuss the progression of starvation in Third World countries for a change of pace. Not only are all the plans falling into place, they end on the note that even Mt. Fuji is showing signs of erupting.
The Ryuudou brothers are staying in a hotel in a city called Sian under the pretense of scouting for mining resources. Hajime has to keep a tight leash on himself, or he knows he'll close himself in a museum or library somewhere and lose track of everything else. Unfortunately, important Japanese officials have come to the same city, which means security has been increased. Down in the hotel garden, two men watch Owaru and Amaru while discussing the high reward offered for their capture. One of the men is Lu Tahchee, a commander in Sian's People's Free Army.
The boys, along with Wang and Lee, decide to leave town in the morning. (Matsuri and the others are waiting for their return at a hotel owned by Huan Tahren.) They're all prepared with mountain climbing gear and other equipment. Suddenly they hear hurried footsteps and raised voices outside their room.
The boys are forced to abandon their hotel room by the Free Army. They jump into a swarm of soldiers, who swamp them with sheer numbers. A two cars drive up and someone shouts for them to get inside. Though Hajime is suspicious, they have little choice but to go along. As soon as they leave the hotel, the car with Tsuzuku and Owaru splits off and goes a separate route. Watching from nearby, a Japanese man makes a phone call. The woman who answers says that the brothers are hers, and she'll make them regret they were ever born, as her father's revenge.

Chapter 2: The Empress Is Royally Pissed

The Japanese officials are in China to make deals to compensate for America's refusal to pay its debt. The former Prime Minister is going to meet with a woman called "The Empress of Beijing." He's looking forward to it, until she phones and chews him out. He had promised things such as nuclear weapons to her father but had never delivered. Suddenly Hajime and Amaru appear in the doorway, startling everyone. Hajime is about to leave, when one of the underlings yells at him for disturbing Japan's former Prime Minister. Hajime, of course can't help stating his opinion of that august personage, which prompts a brief (and fruitless) retaliation. Hajime picks up the telephone receiver and hears a female voice laughing on the other end.

Tsuzuku and Owaru wind up at a hotel run by and catering mostly to Japanese. They're escorted to a room set with a feast, but Tsuzuku immediately smells a rat and picks up a wine glass, throwing it at a dividing screen to reveal a woman with obviously nasty tastes. (He had smelled her pet boa constrictor, actually.) When Kobayakawa Natsuko (the Empress) greets them, Owaru gets such a chill that he would have turned and run if it weren't that he didn't want to show weakness in front of his brother. Even Tsuzuku can hardly bring himself to face her, though that has a lot to do with the centimeter-thick layer of makeup she's wearing. [Illustration #1]
The Empress proposes that they join forces against the Four Sisters, but the idea holds no appeal for the boys. Tsuzuku declines, saying Hajime makes all the brothers' decisions, to which she replies that the remaining two will be arriving soon. Tsuzuku observes that she may look unappealing, but she has a great deal of strength in her massive form. She begins to demonstrate how she feeds her snake, closing it behind a thick glass wall with a human baby. She claims the baby probably would have died of starvation anyway, so there's no reason for them to be upset, but they are obligated to attempt a rescue.
The snake is furious when Owaru shatters the glass and steals its meal. A battle ensues, leaving Owaru dizzy but victorious. Natsuko throws a tantrum, flipping over the food-laden table, and then runs out of the room. She charges back a short while later wearing a suit of armor and brandishing a chainsaw in each hand. Without a word, the two boys turn and run the other way as fast as possible.

Chapter 3: Sian Escape

The Empress had told Hajime to bring the former Prime Minister to her if he wants to see his brothers safe again. They encounter one of her underlings, who grabs Amaru and threatens to pour boiling water on his face if Hajime doesn't do as he's told. While he describes how much fun it is to torture people, Amaru manages to use his speed to get away and the boiling water winds up spilling on the sadist. They head inside the building, meeting up with their brothers coming the other way. They stop while Hajime gets filled in on what happened, which allows Natsuko a chance to catch up.
The former Prime Minister immediately begins begging for forgiveness. Hajime asks why he's so afraid of the woman, and she pauses to explain that her father is the one who was known as Kamakura no Gozen. Then she starts up the chainsaws again, and Hajime orders them all to retreat. (She trods upon the Prime Minister as she pursues them.) They run out into the hotel lobby, where Owaru lures her into charging into the diving pool. Contrary to expectations, she climbs back out, armor and all. Luckily, Wang and Lee appear with a car and drive the boys away in the nick of time. They leave the baby at a nearby Red Cross office.
The boys get one last briefing about the facility they plan to break into. It's not supposed to have much in the way of high tech defenses, since it would be inconvenient to "waste" so much electrical power out in the middle of nowhere. However, it makes up for the lack with an overabundance of guards. Tsuzuku is still suspicious that they're being deceived, but Hajime intends to trust the Chinese men they're working with.
While Hajime wonders whether the dragon blood affects the minds of those who take it as well as their bodies--or were Kamakura no Gozen and his daughter simply twisted to begin with?--Natsuko prepares to chase them and exact her revenge. She wants to kill the Ryuudou brothers, take their blood, and then follow in her father's footsteps to become ruler of Japan's underground empire. The brothers' car suddenly runs into a locust swarm. Hajime is saddened that the swarm will likely result in further deaths of thousands, if not millions, by starvation.

Chapter 4: Rumor Stream

While out of the Four Sisters' reach in Huan Tahren's hotel in Hong Kong, Matsuri takes the opportunity to telephone her mother and catch up on what's been going on. They chat about all the terrible events happening in the world, including the rumored impending eruption of Mt. Fuji. Matsuri's mother tells her to keep a firm grip on her cousins' reins. [Illustration #2]
Townsend is of the opinion that admitting Natsuko onto the stage, even in a minor role, turns the whole operation into a farce. Mayhew thinks they should take out Matsuri and the others before they cause any trouble, but Townsend shoots that proposal down. Lambert Clark is set to take over the vacant tycoon position on October 1st, ten days hence. Clark himself pays Matsuri a visit, complaining that he's being forced to get married. (She feels sorry for the bride.) He reveals that the Four Sisters hope her cousins discover the location of a place called Kunlong, because then they can nuke it. Matsuri wonders if "Kunlong" is the same as or related to Dragon Springs Village.
The current Prime Minister is informed that many volcanoes are showing signs of activity, threatening Japan's best tourist spots, which is bad news for someone who gets a great deal of income from construction and resort companies. Another expert tells him that if they lose their imported rice supply, millions of Japanese will starve. Then a member of the House of Councilors, Nagoshi, pushes his way into the room.
Nagoshi figures they should force the good-for-nothing foreigners out of the country, before they consume all Japan's resources. He says Japan deserves to be a nuclear power, getting around constitutional limitations by launching missiles from a location in some other country (thus they never enter Japan). The others laugh him out of the room when the sound of a lightning strike scares him witless. However, that lightning was the last straw for Tokyo's electrical plant (overburdened by a heat wave), and the city blacks out.

Chapter 5: Signal Fire in a Remote Region

The boys' car runs out of gas, so they set off walking the last six miles. At their altitude, at night, the temperature is below freezing, plus the air is thin. Wang and Lee, unable to keep up under such conditions, settle down to wait for the brothers' return. Chatting along the way, the four reach their destination at three in the morning. [Illustration #3]
Hajime suspects that the grounds are dotted with land mines. He doesn't think they can be killed that easily, but if they turn into dragons and blast the facility, they'll defeat the whole purpose of their trip. Owaru comes up with the idea of using rocks to set off the mines, then when the guards come to investigate, using them as guides to a safe path. The invasion goes as planned.
They enter the facility, Owaru separating from the others to look for the kitchen. On his way to rejoin his brothers after helping himself to the soldiers' breakfast, he comes across some prisoners being tortured and decides to help them. He takes a key ring from a fallen soldier and opens all the cells in the area, allowing all the prisoners to surge free. He meets up with the others and they locate Huan Tahren's brother. He appears quite healthy for having been a prisoner for years.
The old man bops Owaru on the head for coming to his rescue so late (he had wanted to take part in tearing down the Berlin Wall), then orders Tsuzuku to carry him on his back. He says he was just like Tsuzuku sixty years ago--a pretty face but a nasty mouth. His name is Huan Sheichan. They make their break from the prison just as the sun begins to rise.

Chapter 6: Seven People of the Wilderness

They rejoin Wang and Lee (Tsuzuku hoping the old man will get down, though he doesn't). The two want to take Huan Sheichan--who goes by the nickname Kourou--to his brother in Hong Kong, but he refuses. He announces that he has to take the boys to Long Shenshang. He gives Wang and Lee a note to take to his brother, explaining his reasons. The accept reluctantly, insisting on accompanying him at least as far as Seening.

Kourou tells them that the route to Dragon Springs Village is an underground passage that begins at a temple in Seening. He goes on to say that Ryuudou Tsukasa had helped him during the war, showing him that not all Japanese were bad. Hajime begins to think he could have escaped from prison at any time, but had been waiting for them to come.

They pause for a rest in a grassy area (Tsuzuku glad to get the old man off his back at last, Owaru wishing he could find something edible). Unfortunately, their quiet reflections are shattered by the sound of a familiar female laugh. Owaru and Tsuzuku tease Kourou that she's a beautiful woman and he ought to try to get her as his girlfriend. Suddenly she lands in their midst, decked out like a one-woman army.

She decides to attack Owaru and Tsuzuku first for killing her snake. While she advances on them with a wicked morning star (and each tries to get the other to face her), Hajime and Amaru take out her two underlings. [Illustration #4] Tsuzuku manages to get her to wrap the chain of her morning star around herself and then kicks her off the cliff. She laughs on the way down, promising they'll meet again.

Chapter 7: Heat Wave

A bored Lambert Clark urges Mayhew to prove he's more capable than Mr. Townsend by bringing Matsuri to him. Matsuri stews over whether to believe what Clark had told her. He said Kunlong was another name for Dragon Springs Village--along with a version called Senkai, ruled by the goddess Seewammu. Matsuri certainly isn't bored, since the three men with her are teaching her about their various specialties, including self-defense.
When Matsunaga-kun growls and stands guard by Matsuri, they're alerted to an attack. The men get her to retreat, but she runs into Mayhew's sadistic flunky. Just as he's about to rush her, a raven attacks him. With that distraction, plus Mizuchi's crossbow, it buys enough time for hotel security to capture the intruders. Matsuri clobbers Mayhew with a bronze paperweight. Clark, after hearing of the mission's failure, asks Townsend if he knows about the Chinese "fairy queen" Seewammu.
Tokyo is locked in a heat wave, with temperatures of 90F at night and 75% humidity. The blackout continues. First hospitals are in trouble, then by 10:30pm a riot starts. The riot spreads, with fires sprouting up across half the city and phone lines being severed. The Prime Minister's building, with its own generator and wireless phones, is under heavy guard.
They finally manage to get the situation under control, wishing the weather would cool down. The Prime Minister figures he can profit from the deal by putting the blame on the electric company and pushing through projects to build nuclear power plants. The police report that there are signs the whole mess was caused intentionally. Matsuri's mother stays optimistic, saying that even were the campus to burn down, they would still have the land her grandfather started it all with. Her husband will hopefully learn from her example.

Chapter 8: Arrival

Matsuri, knowing Clark was behind the attack, sets off to see him at the Mulligan Far East Corporation building. She and the puppy are escorted to Clark's guest room, whereupon he invites her to attend his wedding in England. She immediately refuses and changes the subject to the Four Sisters' plans to nuke Kunlong. Clark informs her that, though the dragons had destroyed a lot of America's nuclear weapons, there are still plenty remaining.

Matsuri notices that he's starting to speak and act a bit strangely. Matsunaga-kun growls and tries to retreat. Clark drools, his words coming out garbled as he begins to recite the animals of the Chinese zodiac, then the Western zodiac, pointing out that the only animal shared between the two is the bull. [Illustration #5] He transforms in front of her eyes, his head turning into that of a bull, and he says that if dragonkind (Ryuushu) exists in the world, then it's no surprise that cowkind (Gyuushu) does as well.
Matsuri and Matsunaga-kun dash from the room, past Townsend, who had come to see what was going on. (Townsend is shocked speechless by the sight, wondering if DuPon's incestuous marriages had been to keep *that* in the family.) Using tactics that prove she's Owaru's cousin, Matsuri evades Townsend's underlings and escapes to Nijikawa and Mizuchi. (Townsend winds up having to order his men to stop trying to shoot Clark.) Townsend confronts Clark and demands to know what he is, but Clark only answers with "your superior." Matsuri wishes fervently that her cousins will come back soon.
The boys arrive safely in Seening. Kourou reveals that he never actually set foot in Dragon Springs Village--Tsukasa invited him, but Funazu (Kamakura no Gozen) interfered. They head for the temple where the tunnel entrance is, but it turns out to have been rebuilt into an anti-aircraft cannon base surrounded by soldiers. They have no choice but to wait for a good opportunity to present itself.

Chapter 9: The Tale of Chinghai

Lu Tahchee arrives in Seening, but the commander in charge there, Tao Yenfoo, doesn't want to cooperate with him. The boys get a hotel for the night, though without reservations they aren't served supper, so Owaru goes out on the town and wins a load of food in an arm wrestling competition. When Kourou compliments Hajime on what a good job he's doing as head of the household, he replies it's all because he has wonderful brothers, though he's never told them in so many words. He's grateful they all mesh so well.

The boys discuss the philosophical principles upon which their grandfather built his school. Hajime remembers his mother taking him to his first museum when he was a child and the excited feeling he got from seeing the works of ancient people. He can't forgive the Four Sisters for wanting to wipe 5 billion people and all the things they might create from the face of the planet.

They hear a commotion, and Owaru spots one of the prisoners he had freed running from a group of soldiers. He tries to help, but they shoot the prisoner in the back. Owaru is furious, and Amaru plunges in to help him against the soldiers. Hajime yanks them bodily out of the fight and throws them clear, then he and Tsuzuku take over. (Kourou comments that it's a good thing dragons have no interest in ruling the world.) Suddenly, just as Lu Tahchee is happily imagining collecting the reward money, a woman's laughter arises from the ranks.

Natsuko is back with her armor and chainsaws. She beheads Lu Tahchee. Tsuzuku decides it's time to put an end to her once and for all, but his duel is interrupted when Tao Yenfoo fires from a tank at them. (The blast sends Natsuko rolling down the street heading out of town, no one willing to help stop her.) The boys try to lead the tank corps away, but it continues to fire, heedless of the surrounding citizens. It has the misfortune to shoot a chemical factory, making the whole place explode and release toxic fumes. In the middle of the resulting fiery cyclone appears a sight that makes all the spectators pray to whatever gods they believe in. [Illustration #6]

Chapter 10: Sky Road

The emperor has refused to see Seiryuu-ou for ten days already, giving what are obviously excuses. The dragon kings know something's going on that they're not privy to. Kokuryuu-ou asks if the emperor has broken his agreement, but Seiryuu-ou can't answer. If he says a single word that shows distrust in the emperor, the whole clan will be suspected of treason. As far is Kokuryuu-ou is concerned, he doesn't care if they can't live in Tenkai anymore, as long as the four of them are together. They ride in a craft called a "heaven boat" that travels instantaneously across vast distances and arrive at the Quartz Palace. They go inside, past a troop of their guards bearing beam rifles, and meet their other two brothers, who are in full armor.
Seiryuu-ou scolds them for such an aggressive attitude, but they make no move to back down. They're resigned to being kicked out of Tenkai, since it's becoming a place they don't want to live in anyway. Kouryuu-ou insists that all the Gou forces are prepared to follow their leader. Seiryuu-ou maintains that he can't send all his warriors to their deaths simply for a matter of pride. He doesn't want to act without an imperial command, plus he doesn't want to lose the goodwill of Seioubo (the Japanese reading of Seewammu). Just then a subordinate comes in and reports that the Gyuushu are plundering the Keiwaku sector, and the imperial forces are ignoring pleas for help. Seiryuu-ou is torn between his responsibility to protect his clan and his duty to remain loyal to the emperor.
When Amaru awakens, he can feel himself in midair, though he's not afraid. Instead, he rides the wind, his body no longer human. He notices that his other three brothers are also in dragon form. They land, and Wang, Lee, and Kourou go to meet them. Kourou, showing no fear, starts talking to them, telling them to forget about the underground passage and fly to their destination. The Blue Dragon offers him a ride, but he declines, saying his body isn't fit to travel the Sky Road. (He does, however, give the dragon a bag with clothes in it for when they return to human form.) At the Red Dragon's prodding, the Blue Dragon finally takes off. Kourou pockets the note he was going to give his brother ("Heroes don't cease to be when they become old") and they set off for Hong Kong in a car. (With Natsuko running after them...)
The dragons are picked up as unidentified flying objects, but they make short work of the attack sent against them by the Chinese army. They fly off into the mountains, where all radar and satellites lose track of them. In Zurich, the tycoons discuss that Lambert Clark is to become their chairman, whether they like it or not, because of his "holy blood." They figure a time will come when they're no longer needed. They can only do their best until the one who will surpass them appears.
Those waiting in Hong Kong are contacted by Wang and Lee and hear the latest developments. Matsuri wishes she could talk with her cousins directly to tell them what's been going on. The dragons fly through a powerful thunderstorm into high mountains until suddenly they're struck by lightning and tumble from the sky. When they regain consciousness, they're back in human form, uninjured. In the middle of a thick fog, all they can do is get dressed and follow the sound of a stream, hoping it leads them to their goal.