you out of here.”
“Leave it to me,” said Mei. She floated toward the bandits and wagged her fan at them. “You bullies leave my cousin alone,” she said shrilly. “We’ll deal with him. He’s family, after all.”
The toothless bandit frowned. “But he’s an outsider.”
“And King Yama let him stay,” Mei retorted. “If you want Yama to be mad at you, keep threatening to throw the boy into the river.”
The bandits lunged at Mulan anyway, but she countered their attack with her sword. Metal clashed against metal, and a piercing scrape stung the air. With two rapid thrusts, Mulan surprised even herself to see she’d disarmed the ghosts. Their knives clattered at their sides—in pieces.
The bandits backed off, thunderstruck. “You got lucky, outsider.”
“We’ll be watching you.”
Then they plunged down the Mountain of Knives until they were out of sight.
“What are you all looking at?” Liwei barked at the other ghosts. “Go home. The family reunion is over.”
The ghosts grumbled, and some spat on the ground. But to Mulan’s relief, they listened. Away they floated, the majority of them zipping down deeper into Diyu. Jiao, the ghost with the spectacles, was the last to leave. His thin face sagged with disappointment as he watched the bandits retreat to the Mountain of Knives. He sent Mulan a glare, one that promised this wasn’t the end.
She ignored him and turned to Mei, Liwei, and Ren. “Honorable ancestors, thank you for helping us.”
“That was a magnificent display of skill,” Mei purred. “It’s our honor to help family.”
Liwei wasn’t as impressed. “That is, if you really are family.” He hovered around Mulan, examining her as if she were a caterpillar in a jar. “There haven’t been many deaths in the Fa family recently, so my news is years out of date, but I seem to recall Fa Zhou only had that little g—”
Mulan cleared her throat. “Let’s talk on the road,” she said in her best, manliest tone. “Honorable ancestors, I appreciate the chance to speak with you—but Captain Li Shang, his guardian, and I are in a hurry. We need to reach the Gates of Diyu before sunrise so we may return to the living world.”
“Sunrise?” Mei exclaimed. “You should have told us that earlier. You won’t make it to the top before sunrise.” She pulled her hair apart and began to rebraid it. “You might as well stay here with your family and chat.”
Mulan frowned. “I thought you could help us.”
Ren pressed his hands together, looking serene. His robe was worn and tattered; if Mulan were to guess, he’d been a monk while he was alive. But what was a monk doing in the depths of Diyu?
“There’s a shortcut,” he said. “I’ll show it to you.”
The other ancestors glanced at him. “Ren, are you sure that’s a good idea?”
“Of course.” Ren waved off their concerns with bravado.
“What is it?” Shang said.
“Liwei and Mei are simply worried because you’ll have to pass through a few of Diyu’s…unsavory parts.”
“Unsavory?” Shang repeated.
Fa Mei smiled at Shang in a way that made Mulan uncomfortable. “We are in the Underworld, Captain. You didn’t think King Yama would make it easy for you, did you?”
Shang squared his shoulders. “He’s not going to win.” He shot Mulan a determined yet grateful look. “Ping isn’t going to have to stay.”
“That’s not what all the other ghosts think.”
“Enough banter,” said Ren, lifting his cane. “Follow me. Quickly, before the bandits change their minds.”
Mulan, Shang, and ShiShi hurried after Ren. The ghost seemed to take their time constraint seriously, for he barreled across the land, moving far quicker than someone with a cane ought to.
Then again, he was a ghost.
“Where are we going?” Mulan asked. Beyond the plains, there wasn’t much other than a tight cluster of hills; they leaned against each other like sand dunes, so closely knit they choked any view of the horizon. “We need to go up.”
“I know. Patience, young Ping. You’ll see.”
Mulan breathed a sigh and followed. They’d need all the help they could get if they were going to get out of here before sunrise. Their time was already halfway up: the moon was half-bright, half-dark against the velvety sky.
“Isn’t it beautiful?” Mei asked, catching Mulan staring. “Even though living in the Underworld can sometimes be a chore, the view of the moon here’s better than anywhere you’ll find in the real world.”
Mulan couldn’t disagree.
“Don’t lag behind,” Liwei said, pushing past Mei. “That goes for you, too, boy with no name.”
“Why do they keep calling you that?” Shang