A/N - Ok I'm so sorry and I know some of you who have stuck with this book since forever (THANK YOU BTW) are probably sick of my revisions, but I've made yet another huge change to this book that affects pretty much all of the chapters before this one. If you don't want to re-read, I totally get it, so I'll just summarize it as this: I've incorporated a system of magic where the warriors pray to deities for blessings. Also, this whole story takes over the span of 2 weeks (Chinese New Year) and the idea is for Faryn and Alex to get to Peng Lai island for a banquet by Yuan Xiao Jie (the 15th and last day). Ok that's all sorry for all these changes!!

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As I'd predicted, Mao forced Alex and me to clean up the shadow wall Erlang Shen had destroyed. She tried to rope Ye Ye into doing her dirty work, too, but relented after seeing that his cough had worsened. So my grandfather remained inside the shed while we set out to clean up the mess.

Under the light of lanterns leftover from the celebrations, Alex and I swept up the rubble as quickly as we could. There was no salvaging the wall—the warrior god had busted it up badly. Blasted it to smithereens. Until we got an architect up in here, I guess the statues of the deities would have to fend off the evil spirits themselves.

In a state of shock at what happened at Mao's banquet, everyone had gone home pretty early. Well, almost everyone. Wang climbed up the steps toward Alex and me, taking them two at a time. I tried to arrange my face into a friendly smile, or at least an I-don't-hate-your-guts expression, but I probably came off looking like I'd gotten a whiff of a skunk.

"Have you guys seen Wendi Tian?" Wang panted when he reached us at the top of the steps.

"No," I took too much pleasure in saying. I was glad to see that Mao's perfect son looked frazzled. His forehead glistened with sweat, and there was a large brown stain on his shirt.

"Lost your girlfriend, have you?" Alex didn't even bother hiding his glee. He leapt up onto the remaining shadow wall and kicked his feet in the air.

Wang sighed. "She probably thinks we're all nuts. Especially after Erlang Shen visited." He groaned and buried his face in his hands. "That wasn't what I meant when I told her we'd be 'eating food fit for the gods'."

"If I were Wendi, I wouldn't want to see you again," Alex threw in as if to add insult to injury. I cut him a look, letting him know enough was enough.

Wang raised his head and frowned at us. He brushed the back of his head, biting his lip. "Look, I know you guys don't like me. But—"

"Waaaaaaaaaang! Where are you?"

Wang winced as Mao's croon echoed in the otherwise silent courtyard. He glanced toward his house, then back at us. "I just wanted to say—"

"Your precious mama is waiting," Alex said softly. "A good er zi wouldn't make his mother worry. 'Specially not the future master of the Jade Society."

With a scowl, Wang shoved his hands into his pockets. "Let me know if you see Wendi around." He turned and thudded down the steps, his shoulders hunched over.

I raised my eyebrow at Alex, who leapt down from the shadow wall and shrugged at me. I bit back a lecture. It had been pretty satisfying to see Wang out of sorts for once.

Alex was still so hyper from all the sugar he'd eaten at dinner that he couldn't stand still or stop babbling. "Anyway, the Peng Lai island," he gushed, practically dancing with his broom as we made our way down the stone steps. "It exists. I knew it. I just knew it."

"Mm-hmm," I said, barely listening. I kept replaying Erlang Shen's words over and over in my head, remembering how Ye Ye had stared at me during the warrior god's spiel about the slayer of the nian dragon. My fingers tensed around the shaft of my broom. Did my grandfather know it was me? Did I want him to know?

"Ba started his search for the island before we were even born, and now the gods have granted us a quest to find it. This is fate! I bet—" Alex gasped, whirling around and nearly slamming into me. His brown eyes burned bright in the light of the red lanterns. "I bet our father is there, waiting for us."

I was so exhausted I could barely walk straight, much less keep up with Alex's mad theories. "Don't get any idiotic ideas in your head," I said. "We're definitely not going to the island."

He pouted. "What? Why not?"

"Buddy, I can give you, like, eight million reasons why not. We don't have any transportation, we have to take care of Ye Ye—"

But Alex wasn't listening. "Eight," he blurted out, stopping dead in his tracks. I recognized the look on his face. Slack jaw, flared nostrils, raised eyebrows. Either my brother needed to use the toilet, or he'd been struck by a great idea.

It could have been either. Alex ran full speed ahead, shouting and hooting into the still night air. "Eight! That's it!"

"Okay...glad to have helped." I rolled my eyes. Then I froze, mid-step, at the sound of a loud creaking noise behind me. I whirled around to find that the golden temple doors slowly opening—on their own.

My heart stopped beating and dropped into my stomach. "A-Alex?" I called, but there was no response from behind me. My brother had probably skipped all the way back to the shed without noticing that I hadn't followed.

Evil spirits.

I thought of the fact that Erlang Shen had destroyed one of the shadow walls. That the demons were rising in power. My heartbeat thundered in my chest, and my eyes darted to the trees that surrounded the temple, searching for—I don't know—Chinese boogeyman, or something.

A chilly breeze swept through the air, causing the lanterns to dance and the trees to sway. But nothing was there.

Then candlelight flickered on inside the worship hall, lighting up the space in a golden glow. The calm, stony faces of Buddha, Guanyin, Nezha, and warrior protectors stared back at me. Their alters overflowed with food from the offerings of New Year Day: fruits, rice, meat—even Pocky. The gods were a familiar sight, but that did nothing to reassure me or calm my racing heart and sweating palms.

Visits from warrior deities and now possibly Chinese ghosts. I had to be dreaming. I slapped myself and yelped. The pain did not feel like dreaming kind of pain.

Before I regained use of my legs and ran away screaming bloody murder, my eyes fell upon something that hadn't been there earlier this morning: a huge black spear with a wicked blade, encased in glass.

Fenghuang. The spear of the Heaven Breaker.

My breath stilled. All thoughts of evil spirits lifted from my mind. Without thinking about what I was doing, I reached my hands out toward the spear. I didn't care that there was no chance I could lift a weapon that a motorcycle couldn't pull. Fenghuang called out to me.

I walked forward and kneeled before the glass, pressing my fingers into the cool surface. The thin cover wasn't heavy. I lifted it up easily and moved it aside. Trembling, my right hand reached inside and grasped the cool shaft of the spear. Taking a deep breath, I pulled with all my might.

I felt like a toddler trying to lift a barbell weighed down by elephants instead of plates. My muscles strained, and then gave up. I winced and shook out my aching hand.

Guess that meant I wasn't the Heaven Breaker. Knowing the stories of how great Chinese warriors had died—heads lopped off in battle, poisoned by their enemies...I think could live with that.

I started to stand up, and then hesitated. Someone—several someones—had deliberately moved Fenghuang to the worship hall. And what else was there to do in a worship hall, except, well, worship? Pray. I almost rolled my eyes at the idea of it. Praying at a time like this. Ye Ye had raised me well.

The incense flickered in front of the statue of Xi Wangmu, as if it were expecting my prayer. I turned away from Buddha and the other deities and folded my hands in front of the Queen Mother of the West. I pressed them to my forehead and tried to come up with the most official-sounding prayer possible.

Queen Mother of the West, if I am the Heaven Breaker, please grant me the power to wield the Fenghuang.

After I'd bowed my head three times, I looked up to see that the flame from the incense flared even higher. My heart hammered in my chest. I reached again inside the glass case, firmly grasping Fenghuang in my hand. I inhaled and pulled.

This time, the spear came up with my fist, lighter than any of the spears in our training hall. I gasped. I would've dropped it in shock if it weren't stuck to my hand.

"Gods, this isn't happening," I gasped.

The grey spear shook in my hands and began glowing, burning white-hot in my palm. I muffled a scream and looked away from the blinding light.

When the glow faded, I found myself holding a brilliant golden spear. Its shaft molded perfectly to fit into my hands. Chinese characters had been crafted along the base of the spear, and a picture of a red-and-gold bird, a phoenix, wrapped around the length of the shaft. The bladed tip held a small, glittering white crystal.

I whipped my head around to make sure no one had seen what I'd done. The place was empty. "Oh my gods," I whispered, staring up into the faces of the deities, which held none of the answers to the questions that suddenly raced inside my head. "I just...magicked."

"That's quite the pretty weapon you've got there."

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A/N - Ahhhh who does this voice belong to? Friend or foe? We'll find out next update! If you're excited about Faryn's new weapon, don't forget to comment and vote! <3