Read Eagle for Free Online

wasprobably hiding behind one of the huge roof timbers inside the pit. Ying leaned over the edge of the rooftop to get a better angle of sight into the pit arena, and Tonglong suddenly shouted from the distance, “Straight over your heads, men!”
    Two armed soldiers sprang to life below Ying from inside the temple's front door. Ying jumped to his feet and shoved the
qiang
in his hands into the tattered blanket alongside the other two weapons. The
qiangs
would be useless while he was on the move.
    “There he is!” one of the soldiers shouted from below.
    Click … fizz … BANG!
    A
qiang
ball smashed into a clay roof tile between Ying's feet. He hoisted the
qiangs
over his shoulder and began to run due west along the steep rooftop.
    Click … fizz … BANG!
    A second
qiang
ball whizzed past Ying's ear. He glanced down and saw the soldiers drop their smoking
qiangs.
Rather than reload, they began to chase after him from the ground.
    Ying slowed, allowing the two soldiers to catch up. As they neared, he threw his bundle of
qiangs
to the ground in front of them.
    Click … fizz … BANG!
    One of the
qiangs
triggered on impact, the lead ball lodging itself in the ankle of the first soldier. “Owwwww!” the man howled, and bent over, grabbing his injured leg.
    Ying leaped off the rooftop with his arms spreadwide, coming down hard on the center of the wounded soldier's back.
    “Ooofff,” the man exclaimed as he hit the earth.
    Ying stepped off the soldier, and the man twisted his head up to look at Ying. Ying planted a boot heel into the side of the soldier's head. The man went limp.
    Ying turned to face the second soldier and scowled, curling his lips back over his sharpened teeth. He flicked out his forked tongue.
    The soldier closed his eyes.
    “Look at me!” Ying shrieked.
    Quivering, the soldier opened one eye.
    Ying cocked his right arm back and thrust an eagle-claw fist forward, his fingertips curled in tight against his palm. The soldier had enough sense to jump sideways and turn his head, but he was still too slow. Ying clipped the man behind the ear, and the soldier collapsed in a heap, out cold.
    Ying heard Tonglong shout from the direction of the former fight club, “Surround the temple, men!”
    A war cry erupted from several dozen soldiers, and Ying's carved eyebrows rose up. The men in the pit arena must have come up to ground level. He picked up the bundle of
qiangs
and began to run again. Ying reached the rear corner of the temple and rounded it at top speed.
    He should have known better.
    Ying felt something like a tree trunk slam into his shins, and his legs were suddenly swept out fromunder him. He twisted sideways as he fell and saw his former brother Long catch him by the collar.
    Ying's legs and hip slammed to the ground hard enough to rattle his teeth. However, the rest of his body remained upright, held firm in Long's powerful grasp.
    Ying hadn't run into a tree. Long had kicked his feet out from under him.
    Ying snarled.
    Long cocked his left arm back and formed a fist. He raised the oversized knuckle of his middle finger up, supported the finger with his thumb, and poised it to slam into Ying's face. A dragon fist.
    “Don't make me use this,” Long whispered. “Grab your bundle and follow me. Hurry, if you value your life.”
    Long released Ying's collar and headed toward an open doorway at the rear of the temple.
    Tonglong began to shout from the front of the temple, “Spread out, men! We have him right where we want him!”
    Ying heard boots coming his way. He grabbed the
qiangs
and slipped inside the doorway after Long.

L ong silently closed the door behind Ying and bolted it shut. They were in a large room, dimly lit by the setting sun peeking in through gaps where the building's outer walls met the roofline. Long signaled for Ying to follow him through the shadows.
    “Why are you helping me?” Ying whispered.
    Long didn't reply. He just turned and walked away.
    Ying scowled. He wanted