I landed on soft grass after ages of falling. Beside me, Ashley was already on her feet, dusting herself off. No way was I gonna let her beat me. I stood up quickly, too.
“Ow,” moaned Jordan from the ground. “Help me up?” He stretched his hand toward Ashley, who smacked it away. “Gee. Love you, too, sis.”
We were in another cave. Stalactites hung high above our heads. At the exit looked to be the glimmer of a green river and bridge that went over it. I’d never been here before, but somehow, I knew exactly where we were: Diyu.
“Guys, we have to go that wa—” I started.
“This way! Follow me!” Ashley shoved past me and tore off toward the bridge.
Maybe someone should check if Ashley was secretly the god of thunder in disguise, because she was constantly stealing mine.
“This is so trippy,” Jordan murmured as he took in our surroundings.
Ashley turned back and grabbed him by his sleeve, dragging him out of the cave. “Buckle up, gē. Things are about to get a whole lot trippier.”
We headed toward the bridge, which was constructed out of huge gray stones and suspended in midair. It was held up by nothing I could see.
I couldn’t help but shudder. The atmosphere felt full of creepy, dead things. I almost wanted to return to Panda Express. Almost. The urge to complete the quest, and be in the place where my ancestors were, propelled my feet forward.
We walked. And walked. And walked. The bridge seemed impossibly long. I couldn’t see an end to the stretch of gray stones, but I knew my ancestors and the elixir lay somewhere beyond this bridge. That thought gave me the strength to keep going.
“Oh gods, whatever you do, don’t look into the river,” Jordan yelled in a high-pitched voice.
Of course, I looked down and instantly regretted it. The murky green waters were filled with white skeletons. Some were whole bodies that must’ve been recently deceased. Some were just skulls and bones floating separately down the river. I thought I could hear the wails of long-dead souls echoing across the bridge.
“The Bridge of Helplessness,” I blurted. Ye Ye had mentioned this bridge in his nice, cozy bedtime stories about the Underworld.
“Is anything down here alive?” Ashley asked, her voice trembling. For once, she wasn’t oozing confidence. I couldn’t decide if I was gleeful or terrified about what it meant for us all.
“Hurry up, slowpokes!” yelled Jordan from the other end of the bridge. I blinked. When had he gotten there? He waved his arms up and down, like he was trying to flag down a plane. “I’m gonna die of old age before you guys get over here.”
“This would be the place to do it,” Ashley retorted.
My eyes caught sight of figures looming out of the darkness, right behind Jordan. “Look out!” I shouted.
Jordan turned and screamed.
Even though common sense shouted for me to turn back, I ran toward him. A crowd of demons had surrounded Jordan. Some had purple fur, others scaly green skin; some were horned, and some had tall ears. The one thing they had in common was their shiny weapons, like pitchforks and spears, and their glares. Glares that said they’d like nothing better than to run us through with their weapons.
“Who are you, mortals?” snapped an ox-headed demon.
Jordan stumbled backward and almost ran into me.
Since it was clear he wasn’t going to answer, I plastered a smile on my face and summoned all my remaining courage. “Sun Wukong sent us,” I said, my voice miraculously steady. “The Great Sage, Equal of Heaven,” I added, because I could practically hear the arrogant Monkey King scolding me for forgetting his full title.
The ox-head exchanged an indecipherable look with a horse-faced demon. Then they burst out laughing. Not exactly the reaction I’d hoped for.
“Sent here by that idiot monkey? Did you hear that, Horse-Face?” the ox-headed demon roared.
“Sure did, Ox-Head.” Horse-Face chuckled. “ ‘Great Sage, Equal of Heaven.’ Pah!”
I didn’t see what a pair of demons named Ox-Head and Horse-Face found so funny about Sun Wukong’s name, but I decided not to point that out.
“We’re on an urgent mission,” I said, channeling my Oprah voice to sound more important. “Let us through, or … or—you’ll regret it.”
That only made the two demons and their friends howl with laughter.
“You sure showed them, Faryn,” Ashley muttered.
“We can’t let just anybody into Diyu,” said Horse-Face. “Especially not a few upstart mortals. Go back to where you came from.”
“Let the warriors through,” commanded a female voice. “They’re with me.”
The demons murmured and parted a path down the middle of the group for someone to walk through. I thought for a moment that I was dreaming.
The approaching figure looked just like she had on the last day I’d seen her alive. She’d swept her long black hair up into a sleek high ponytail, and she wore faded jeans with an off-shoulder T-shirt. She still carried her sword. Even her glare was as sharp and penetrating as usual. Only difference was that her skin now gave off a slight glow, a sign that she was no longer mortal. Or maybe that she’d really upped her skin-care routine.
It hit me then—of the two warriors who were supposed to join us on the quest, one must’ve been her.
“Faryn Liu,” Moli said, her lips twitching into a slight smile. Her eyes flickered coolly toward the other warriors. She wrinkled her nose. “And … some hobos.”
“What? Hobos?” Ashley shrieked, looking affronted.
I couldn’t believe it. Moli was here, right in front of me, looking even more vibrant than she had in life. The last time I’d seen my friend, she’d been lying on the ground after saving me from a falling chandelier at Peng Lai Island. I stared at Moli, certain that she’d disappear at any moment. “You’re … you’re … you’re al—”
“I’m not alive,” Moli interrupted. The light in her eyes appeared
