Blue Dragon Part 30

'She'll sleep very well tonight,' he said with amus.e.m.e.nt, then shared a quick glance with the Dragon. 'Try.'

'Is standing or sitting better?' I said.

'Standing,' John said. 'The chi starts higher.'

I nodded, put out my hands and concentrated. I generated a similar-sized ball of chi to Simone's.

'Can I try to turn it white?' I said. 'Is white chi somehow better?'

'Try,' he said. 'White chi is much more destructive to demons. In all other respects, the colour of the chi makes no difference.'

I nodded again, concentrated and turned the chi white. It was much harder than making it blue; it took a great deal of concentration.

'This is like starting all over again,' I said as I felt the chi trying to move back into my hands.

'Precisely,' John said. 'But it's a useful type of energy to master. Change it back before you drain yourself too much.'

I released the whiteness of the chi. It went black. I held a ball of roiling black energy in my hands.

'I didn't know you could do that,' I said. 'What is black chi good for?'

John was silent. I glanced up and saw his face. It was rigid with restraint.

'Stone, are you awake?' he said.

The stone didn't reply.

'Do not move, Emma,' John said very softly. He gingerly reached out to tap the stone on my finger, carefully not touching the black chi. 'Stone,' he said, his voice quiet and fierce.

'I am looking,' the stone said. 'Hold.'

'Hold very still, Emma,' John said. 'Don't move, physically or mentally.'

'Is this the first time you've seen anything like this?' I said.

John was silent but his face said it all.

'Not yin,' the stone said. 'Hold.'

John raised his hand to the chi and the stone yelped. 'Don't approach it, Turtle! It will harm you!'

'Oh s.h.i.+t,' I said softly, trying to retain my concentration.

'Emma,' the stone said, its voice soft and insistent, 'turn and see if you can move this chi off your hands.'

I did as the stone instructed, turning away from John and moving the chi off my hands. 'It feels like normal chi,' I said. 'I can't feel the unusual colour at all.'

'I wonder what it would do to a demon,' John said.

'Move it back,' the stone said.

I nodded and returned the chi to my hands.

'Do you have a demon jar here, Ah Qing?' John said.

'Of course not,' the Dragon said. 'This resort is thoroughly sealed; no untamed demons in or out.'

'It will have to wait until we're home then,' John said. 'Fascinating. You never cease to amaze me, Emma. The Celestial Masters will all want to see this.'

'Is it demon essence, stone?' I said, trying to control my voice.

'Nope,' the stone said. 'It's definitely black chi. Never heard of it before. Must contact the Hall of Records, Turtle, there may have been other instances.'

'Good idea,' John said.

'Change it back to gold,' the stone said.

I concentrated, and the chi returned to its usual golden colour. I didn't feel the colour change.

'Why could I do that?' I whispered.

'Because you are what you are,' John said.

'And what am I?'

'You are my Lady. Now,' John said, more briskly, 'try moving shen into the chi. Try.'

I concentrated. I left the chi on my hands, moved my awareness to my upper dan tian, found my shen and carefully moved a tiny amount into the chi. The feeling hit me. Part of my awareness was inside the chi; it was as if my Inner Eye had moved into it. I saw my surroundings from two distinctly separate angles.

'Now try moving the chi off your hands, only a short distance,' John said.

I moved the chi off my hands, as he said, and floated it closer to Simone. I saw two images of her: one through my physical eyes and another through my chi.

'Oh my G.o.d, this feels so good,' I whispered. I tried something; I moved the chi higher. Nothing happened, so I carefully moved it level with the treetops. I could see the horizon through my chi. A huge thunderstorm had gathered out to sea; the lightning flashed inside it.

I pulled the chi back down to me and absorbed it. 'Michael should quickly try, and then we should all hurry back to the resort,' I said. 'It'll rain cats and dogs in about twenty minutes.'

'Sooner than that,' John said. 'Try, Michael, but don't hurry; you have all the time in the world. You should be able to master the skill easily. If you're not too drained, Emma, go to one side and practise generating that black chi. I'd like to experiment with it when we return home.'

'Permission to take a look at the black chi,' the Dragon said. He was still in True Form. 'It is fascinating.'

'Good idea,' John said. 'Emma, go to the side, make some and let the Dragon see.'

'He can have a look inside me at the same time,' I said.

'That is not necessary; we have seen all we need to,' John said.

'I want him to,' I said.

'No need, Emma,' John said gently.

'If the Dark Lord objects then I have no option,' the Dragon said. 'I won't go against his wishes.'

'I'm doing it anyway,' I said. 'Come on, Dragon, let's have a look inside this unusually snaky female who can generate black chi.'

The Dragon didn't move.

'Come on,' I said, waving him forward. 'Tell him.'

'Let her,' John said with resignation. 'If that is what she wishes, then I really have no choice.'

The Dragon shook his enormous turquoise head and followed me.

'Look at the black chi now,' John called to us. 'Look inside Emma later, back at the resort. That storm will be here soon and you don't have time.'

'The Dragon can move it away for us,' I said.

'I will keep you dry if we are caught in the storm, but I will not tamper with the forces of nature unless it is absolutely necessary,' the Dragon said.

'Okay,' I said. 'I understand.'

The Dragon returned to his preferred human form: turquoise hair, silken grey robe, serene long face. 'Generate the black chi.'

I held my hands out and put some chi into them, then turned it black. It was easy.

'Not difficult?' the Dragon said, his bright blue eyes focusing on the chi.

'Can he touch it?' I said.

'Yes,' the stone said. 'Such a small amount should be all right for a powerful Shen such as he, at full strength.'

'That stone is quite useful,' the Dragon said, raising his hand to the energy. 'Let me see.' He held his hand above the energy and concentrated. His long turquoise hair floated around his head. He very slowly lowered his hand until it was just above the chi. 'Fascinating.' He quickly dipped his hand in and out of the chi. 'Remarkable.'

'Well?' I said.

'You can release it now. Michael has finished. We should return,' the Dragon said.

'And?'

'To inspection, to touch, to feel, it is perfectly ordinary chi, nothing special about it at all,' the Dragon said, bemused. 'Please invite me along when you throw it at a demon. I would be interested to see what it does.'

I released the chi back into my hands and gasped with shock. I hadn't changed it back to gold and the skin of my hands flashed black for a split second as it went in.

'Oh my, that was good,' the Dragon said, taking my hands and studying them. 'Please do that again.' He glanced up at my face. 'That didn't hurt you in any way, did it?'

'No,' I said. 'It just felt perfectly normal. Are you okay, stone?'

'It felt normal,' the stone said. 'It just looked black. As you say, Lord Qing, most fascinating.'

'Do it again,' the Dragon said, releasing my hands.

I generated chi, turned it black and dropped it into my hands. They flashed black again.

'Try generating black chi right from the start,' John said. He had approached us without me noticing and stood beside the Dragon.

I concentrated, held out my hands and generated a ball of black chi.

'Try moving your shen into it,' John said. 'Just a very small amount. See if you can move your consciousness into it.'

I came around on my bed back in the hotel room with John and Simone holding my hands.

I closed my eyes. 'I really must stop doing this to myself.'

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN.

We waited until the next day for the Dragon to look inside me. John had some indoor things to teach us as well. These required privacy and quiet, so the Dragon chased all the staff out of one of the large function rooms and gave it to us.

The function room was like a ballroom, with a huge chandelier and elegant wallpaper and carpet. We took a corner, and had an area of about five by five metres part.i.tioned off. Chairs had been stacked against one of the walls and John pulled a few down for us to sit in the centre of the room.

John sent Leo, Simone and Michael off to the country club while the Dragon looked inside me. The Dragon sat me in a chair and sat behind me, placing his hands on my shoulders. I relaxed and let him in.

'I am honoured that you permit me to do this when you dislike me so much,' the Dragon said.

'I don't dislike you that much,' I said.

The Dragon didn't reply.

He hunted around inside me, same as John and the Tiger had. I was accustomed to the feeling and stood back to watch as he rummaged around.

'And the Tiger could bring the Serpent out?' the Dragon said.

'Yes,' John said from his chair in front of me. 'He dug his claws into her and dug deep. It came out.'

'Depth. Depth,' the Dragon said softly. 'Depth.'

'Interesting,' John said. 'You seem to become deeper every time one of us looks inside you. The stone was correct.'

'Of course I was,' the stone snapped.

'And I will be astonished,' John said. 'I think I am astonished already, stone.'

'Why will he be astonished?' I said.