knew.
“Follow me,” she said, moving for the door. But as soon as Shang stepped out of the room, the walls let out a terrible shudder, and the ground below shook.
“The tower’s crumbling!” Shang reached to grab Mulan’s arm, but his touch was no more than a shadow. His face twisted with a mix of sadness and frustration, but then he looked at her, jaw set determinedly. “Let’s go.”
Mulan bolted down the stairs, taking two, three steps at a time. She could hear the stones collapsing, as if someone had taken a giant hammer to the roof. The sound thundered around her.
They were maybe twenty steps from the bottom when Mulan spied ShiShi pacing at the entrance. They were almost there.
Then the stairs flattened beneath their feet, and down they slid—just seconds ahead of an avalanche of crumbling stones. They were going to crash into the wall!
They kicked at the ground, trying to slow their fall, but it was in vain.
Seeing they were in danger, ShiShi smashed through the entrance and charged in front of Mulan and Shang, breaking their fall and bearing the falling stones on his back. But before he could snatch Mulan in his teeth and take her outside, the tower floor disappeared.
Into the void the three of them plunged.
And ShiShi’s roar echoed as they fell, deeper and deeper into Diyu.
Mulan held in her scream. She didn’t know how to scream like a man, although she’d mastered talking like one, walking like one, and eating like one. She’d heard Ling and Mushu shriek plenty of times, but never Shang. Shang was always brave; if he felt fear, he used it to find a way to get him and his soldiers out of danger.
So as they fell together down what seemed a never-ending tunnel of darkness and despair, Mulan refused to let this be the moment that revealed her secret, refused to let this be the moment that she gave in to her fear that they all wouldn’t make it back home.
She locked her scream in her gut, clutching her sides and biting her lips.
ShiShi was still roaring. His jade pendant whirled in a flash of green, and he swiped his paws at the air as if wrestling an invisible foe.
Mulan kicked, trying to orient her body so she could see what was beneath her. But she was moving too fast, and the effort only made her dizzy. As they fell deeper into Diyu, she caught a glimpse of different chambers—of roofed houses and burning trees, of craggy wastelands and tempestuous rainstorms. There were whiffs of smoke, the flash of iron chains, and the bloodcurdling screams of ghosts being tortured.
ShiShi landed first, dirt spraying up around him. Shang was next—a silent sprawl, but he groaned, so she knew he was still alive. Well, half-alive.
Mulan braced herself, tucking her head and bending her knees. Her landing was soft—almost cushioned. And furry…
“Get off me!” ShiShi grunted. “Off, off. Now!”
Mulan rolled to the side and got off ShiShi’s back. The lion was half-covered in dirt, and his orange eyes glowed in whatever dark chamber they’d fallen into. It was certainly a very small chamber; there was barely enough room to fit ShiShi and her.
“Shang?” she shouted, looking frantically about them. She pressed her palm against the stony wall encircling the chamber. No, not a chamber—she could see the sky above them, blue and crisp. She and ShiShi were stuck in a well!
“Ping?” Shang called from above.
“I’m here,” she shouted back. “ShiShi is, too!”
Shang peered at them from the top of the well. “Stay there. I’ll find a way to get you out.”
“We’re not staying anywhere,” ShiShi retorted. He flicked his tail against the circular wall, then clawed at the stones as he tried to crawl up. It was no use; he couldn’t climb them. He tumbled down, his enormous body filling the space of the well bottom.
The guardian tried again and again, to no avail. He kicked his back legs, hitting a wooden bucket, which loudly ricocheted off the wall and hit his tail. He growled, clearly exasperated. “Well, this is unpleasant.”
“At least it’s empty,” said Mulan, tapping the dirt with her shoe. “It could be worse.”
ShiShi ground his teeth. “I’m not sure that’s much consolation.”
Mulan examined the stone walls that enclosed them. The rock was slippery, the grout thin. There was no way she would be able to scale it, even with her nimble fingers. “Shang?” she called up toward the opening. “Do you see anything out there?”
Silence. It seemed Shang