Our chariot hovered above the skyline of a red-pink dusk. From a distance, I recognized the Independence Hall and Museum of Art. There was no mistaking it. We were in Philadelphia.
As the chariot lowered, the buildings of Philadelphia’s Chinatown came into sight, right over a great green-and-red archway. Night had fallen. The lantern-lit streets teemed with adults and children, the air filled with laughter and chatter.
“The entrance to Diyu must be somewhere around here,” I shouted, staring at the compass in my hand. The arrow spun again, pointing off toward a row of shops on our right. “Keep your eyes peeled.” So close. I was so close to my ancestors—and the memory-restoring elixir.
“What am I looking for?” Jordan yelled back.
Ashley stirred and sat up, blinking at me groggily. “Probably a dirty, run-down, evil-looking building. Teeming with major demon vibes.”
The chariot drifted closer to the ground. We hovered above a black building with an all-too-familiar logo on it. The compass burned so hot in my palm, I almost dropped it.
“Found it! Panda Express,” Jordan reported proudly.
“You think the entrance to Diyu is in a Panda Express?” Ashley raised her eyebrows.
I examined the compass. I held it up so everyone could see that it was pointing right at the restaurant building. “Hold on. You might be on to something.”
“I hope this is the place,” Jordan said wistfully, patting his stomach. “I’m hungry, too. We need some real food.”
“Yeah, so why would we come to Panda Express?” I grumbled.
Jordan urged the stone lions down toward a landing on the street in front of the Panda Express, narrowly dodging oblivious pedestrians who were ambling on the street. I got out of the chariot and jabbed the remote to turn it back into a yuán. Then I stuffed the compass into my pocket, staring up at the tall, ugly, pagoda-shaped building.
“Man, I knew there was something awful about this restaurant chain,” Ashley said as she joined me in front of the entrance. “And I’m not just talking about the orange chicken.”
“I like the orange chicken,” Jordan muttered.
I took a deep breath, as if that would somehow be enough to prepare me to enter Diyu. Then I pulled open the door and was instantly engulfed in a scented wave of fried, greasy, Americanized Chinese food. Yep. Made sense that the demons wanted an entrance to their world here.
Luckily, there was no one else in line. “Can I take your order?” the young cashier asked. His smile was strained, the mark of working in the fast-food industry for too long.
We were supposed to tell the first person we saw that Sun Wukong had sent us. I guess this poor college kid would have to do.
“We were sent by Sun Wukong, the Great Sage, Equal of Heaven, to journey into Diyu and retrieve the Ruyi Jingu Bang,” I announced with as much authority as I could muster. A blond family eating at the nearest table looked up at me, startled. “Oh, and also I’d like to order the beef and broccoli.”
“I want the Beijing beef,” Ashley said quickly.
“Orange chicken for me,” Jordan said.
I blushed as the college kid’s jaw dropped in confusion. If the compass had led us to the wrong place, then we were going to look very stupid in about two seconds.
“Um …,” the cashier said, backing away, probably to do the smart thing and call the police on us. I guess we had the wrong guy after all. The cashier shook his head and mumbled, “Beef and broccoli, Beijing beef, and orange chicken. Got it.”
I looked at Ashley and Jordan, who just shrugged. If nothing else, at least we’d get a greasy meal out of this place. I was dying to eat something other than Choco Pies and dried meat.
Our plates arrived quickly. My stomach growled in hunger. Even though I wasn’t the biggest fan of Panda Express, I had to admit, the scent of beef and broccoli practically had me salivating. The three of us dug into our meals and possibly set a world record by finishing in about two minutes flat. When I looked up, the nearby blond family was gawking at us.
“Nothing to see here, colonizers,” I snapped. They looked away quickly.
After we threw out our empty plates and napkins, we scanned the area for anything out of the ordinary, but no luck.
“Let’s get out of here,” Ashley suggested. “We’re clearly in the wrong place. I mean, Panda Express? Everyone knows Chinese people don’t come here.”
A shadow loomed over our table. The cashier from earlier beckoned for us to follow him.
“This way,” he said and waved us toward a room in the back.
I stared at Ashley, who was still glaring at me as if she thought I’d led us to the wrong place on purpose.
“We’re not even sure we can trust that guy,” she pointed out, not bothering to lower her voice.
Ashley wasn’t wrong, but I didn’t see another option. I shrugged. “If you want to search every building in this Chinatown to find Diyu, then be my guest.” Then I marched after the young man, past a group of screaming children and harried-looking staff.
For a moment, I was afraid Ashley really was going to leave and take Jordan with her. But when I looked back, I found him dutifully trailing after me. Ashley brought up the rear, a guarded expression on her face. She darted her gaze from side to side nervously, as though she’d heard a report of rampaging rhinoceroses in the area.
“In here,” said the cashier, waving us into a room in the back.
I entered. As my eyes adjusted to the dark, I frowned.
“There’s nothing in here,” protested Ashley.
The cashier stomped on the ground—one, two, three, four times. Then a huge crack formed beneath our feet in the middle of the floor.
“Safe travels,” he called.
The three of us tumbled downward into the darkness.
CHAPTER
14
As I fell, a scream rang in my ears. I couldn’t tell if it was my own or if it
