Nope, fourth is skipped, Gold said. Do you want to renumber the floors? We can have the lifts altered.
Not worth the effort, I said. And when we have Western kids coming in, theyll learn that four sounds like death in Cantonese, so its bad luck.
We exited the lift at the fifth floor. The lobby was plain brown tiles, with a single door leading directly ahead.
This will be a training floor, Gold said. Two training rooms, ten by twelve metres each. For large classes of juniors.
We went through the door to a small hallway with two more doors. Gold opened the one on the left and guided us in. There were several workmen still there.
And I said to that fucker, you watch your shit, because if you dont, youll find it shoved up your ass The workman speaking saw us and fell silent.
Theyve nearly finished painting the ceiling, Gold said. After that we can put the mats in, and the lowest ten floors will be ready for the juniors to commence training.
John dropped to one knee and inspected the mats piled in the corner. How many Immortal Masters have returned?
All but three, my Lord, Gold said. They are in the Western Palace, ready to assist in moving the students down here when Bright Mansions is ready.
Are the workmen human? I whispered.
Yes, Gold said. Can you understand them?
What? You mean theyre speaking Cantonese and I can understand them?
Gold grinned. Good. Its working. And its Fukien, not Cantonese.
I had a sudden evil idea, and called out to the workmen. How long before youll finish painting the ceiling?
They stared at me with their mouths open. One of them snapped out of it. About an hour, miss.
Thanks. I turned to Gold. Whats next?
Well meet with Jade in the sixth-floor common room and talk about the budget.
Oh, damn. Budgets.
Miss? one of the workmen called.
I turned back to them. They grinned at me. How come you can understand our dialect?
Magic. I grinned back. Come on, lets talk to Jade and have this over with. I hate dealing with accountants.
After Jade had gone, I tapped the papers into a stack. I need a folder to put all this stuff in.
A black manila folder materialised in front of me. Thanks, Gold.
I leaned on the table and looked at John. Youll need to rewrite the orientation material. The students will probably appreciate some information on the new location, and theyll need help adjusting to life in Hong Kong.
Gold grinned broadly. John glared at him. What? I said. Neither of them spoke.
Youd better tell me before I start shouting, guys.
Gold gestured towards John. John grimaced. Gold has been harassing me to write orientation material for years, and Ive never done it. No time. But nobody else can do it; it has to be me.
Thats his Lordships decision, not mine, Gold said, his boyish face cheeky. I think anybody could do it. But the Dark Lord disagrees.
Im the only one with the expertise to prepare the material, John said. Nobody else has the knowledge to do it. Not even you, Gold.
John, after weve been to Central tomorrow, well sit down together, and you can tell me what you want to say, and Ill write it, I said. We can do it together.
John hesitated, then put his hands out. Oh, all right. Youre the only one with the brains to do it anyway.
Golds face lit up with a wide grin of triumph, making him look even younger, barely out of his teens.
Three days later we sat together in the dining room at the Peak for a follow-up.
Do we have a nomination for a chair for the meeting? Gold said.
No, we dont, I said. And if you pull that voted and seconded and minutes of the last meeting crap ever again, Ill take your head completely off. I dont have timeI have an assignment due next week, and Simones only going to sleep for about half an hour.
John made a soft sound of amusement. I ignored him.
Very well, my Lady, Gold said, unfazed. First matter: housing the Disciples in Happy Valley. About a quarter of the flats are vacant now, but we need to make arrangements for who goes where.
John explained. The barracks on the Mountain housed a large number of juniors together with a senior supervising: standard military style. As they moved up through the ranks they received more private accommodation. We cant do that here; the walls have to stay put, theyre supporting walls.
I flipped through the papers in my black folder. I dont have a copy of the floor plan, Gold. Do you have a spare?
Gold waved one hand and a floor plan appeared in front of me. Thanks. Four three-bedroom, four two-bedroom units to a floor. Thats nineteen to a floor with one supervisor. Too many; we need a common area and some study rooms. I thought for a moment.
You think so? John said.
What well do is give the supervisor one of the three-bedroom units, make the other two bedrooms study areas, and the living room a common room for all of them. I scribbled on the paper in front of me. How many students to a floor?
Seventeen students, one supervisor to a floor, Gold said. Twelve floors will handle two hundred and four. Enough.
Whats the cube root of six thousand, seven hundred and fifty-three? I said.
To how many decimal places?
Ten.
Eighteen point nine zero one six one five one five eight
Stop. How come you can do that?
Do what, my Lady?
Ive noticed that. You can do enormous sums in your head.
Not in my head, and its part of my nature, my Lady. Can we return to the logistics of the accommodation? Id like to finish it before Simone wakes and starts pestering you.
Simone can go to Leo, John said.
Use your super Shen mega-powers, John, and see that Leos taken Monica out to the market, I said. When Simone wakes up shell be right in here annoying us.
Mega-powers. You make me sound like something out of a Japanese superhero show.
You are ten times weirder than anything on those shows, and thats saying something.
You are ten times weirder than anything on those shows, and thats saying something.
Gold grinned. Even the Beetle Boys?
Its close, but even them. I checked my notes. Okay, junior Disciples, twelve floors. How about we give the seniors their own units, or let them share? Is that acceptable?
Quite acceptable, John said. It will be smaller than the Mountain, but thats Hong Kong.
How many floors, Gold?
Probably about ten; plenty of room.
There will still be room for you and Jade? John said.
Yes, my Lord. That leaves the top four floors.
The mortal human Masters can go there, John said. Ill take the walls out; theyre not supporting walls at the top. Well make some big penthouses for them.
Ill get right onto it, Gold said. Ill move in some tame demons to clean up the empty units and prepare them. Next item. He checked the agenda in front of him. Armoury. My Lord?
Thats your area of expertise, John.
John sighed, pulled his glasses off and rubbed his eyes. Only a handful of the most robust Celestial Weapons made it. Some of them are very special. I dont like the idea of them staying on the Mountain without the Celestial Masters to guard them.
Do we have room here for them? I said. The seals are set. The answer is: yes, John said. Gold.
My Lord. Gold nodded and scribbled some notes. He glanced up at John. Seven Stars?
John leaned back. Seven Stars is the most destructive weapon ever forged. But it was forged for me. It will not shine for another. Leave it where it is. Only my most trusted lieutenants have access. It is safe.
Gold was silent for a moment. Then he spoke softly. I really am most profoundly honoured, my Lord.
John waved him down. The forge is undamaged. Gather the forge staff and put them to work. I want them replacing weapons as soon as possible.
Gold nodded and scribbled some more. My Lord.
Also, go shopping for me. Hunt around the Earthly suppliers. I dont want anything too poor in quality, it would be a waste of time teaching with rubbish. See what you can turn up.
My Lord, Ill see what I can do. Ill go to Japan, they have always made quality blades. Dont expect too much though. The art of crafting a fine weapon that isnt a firearm is becoming lost.
I know. Search out the antique weapons markets as well; there are some excellent old blades that could serve us well. We may even be able to pick up some more Masamunesanything from that school would be worth having. Dont worry about the expense, the cost is worth it. If youre not certain about authenticity, let me see the blade. How is work proceeding in Hennessy Road?
Very quickly. The demons work day and night. Only noise restrictions are holding us back.
This really is working out very well.
Four weeks later we met in the new conference room on the ninth floor of Hennessy Road.
Happy Valley, Gold said without any preliminary meeting nonsense. The residents are complaining about the noise of the renovations. They are cancelling their leases and moving out.
Good, I said. Offer the remaining residents a reward to leave.
I already did, Gold said. The building should be ours by September.
That fits perfectly, I said.
We need to employ people to look after the units, Gold said. Cook, clean, things like that. I thought at first the Disciples could do it themselves
Of course they cant, John said. Theyre exhausted at the end of the day. And some of them are studying as well. We cant expect them to cook and clean for themselves on top of that.
The Dark Lord is quite correct, Gold said. So we need to hire people to help out.
You cant employ domestic helpers, I said. It wouldnt work.
Why not? John said.
Have you seen those women on a Sunday in Central? They all meet there. There must be thousands of them
About eighty thousand, last time I counted, Gold said.
You were there on a quiet day, John said.
I continued, ignoring them. And theyre all discussing their employers. Theyd find out in no time flat
About the unusual nature of the residents of Turtles Folly, John said. And how everybody seems able to speak Tagalog, regardless of where theyre from, because of the language charm Gold put in.
Gold and I stared at him, speechless.
Eventually I found my voice. How the hell did you know I call it that?
John took his glasses off and leaned over the table to glare at me. I know everything that happens on my Mountain. He leaned back. I think its a good name for Bright Mansions. Very bad move, buying it at the top of the market like that. Im doing a nice piece of calligraphy. Took me a long time to find a correct translation for the word folly.