"Let's hug it out, b-

[Eilonwy Solstice]

I’m sorry, I didn’t mean it like that.

[Willie Long]

It's okay. Like Shang Li recently pointed out, it's hard to communicate in text.

***
Mark discovered that the rogue scholars had been released from jail and had received permission to excavate a site near the Giza necropolis. Before we left the hotel to go after them, Lo Fung held a special tea ceremony for us. He said it should help protect us from evil spirits. I thought it was odd that he didn't drink any.

We found their dig site, but we were too late. I don't know if it was a mass suicide or what, but the only person alive among the blood-soaked tents was George. He began to rave when he saw us, screaming that he couldn't get the energy to reach spleen city, and calling Mark and I "slaves of that serpent", apparently referring to Fung.

I was doing my best to calm George down when his mummy crawled out of the coffin they'd excavated and attacked.

It looked sort of like a dusty, ancient monkey skeleton with a giant head. It leapt at Fung, but I intercepted it and the struggle was on. It wasn't that strong, but for some reason I couldn't pull it apart. Someone yelled, "I'll get the Wookie, you burn the katani!"

That seemed like a good idea to me, so I tossed it into the campfire. It went up like a torch, but kept attacking. For some reason, the fires didn't feel hot, and I was able to hold it in the fire until it all burned up.

****
Back at the hotel, Fung finished the tea remaining in the black pot while Mark and I packed. We figured it was best to leave before the Egyptian tourism committee found the mess George left for them.

Several almost legal border crossings later, Lo Fung and I were on a plane back to the good old U.S.A.