Mei-Yi sat in her own posterior shaped indentation in the ground, holding her knees thoughtfully. The rest of the camp was eating lunch cheerfully, but she was exempt since currently she felt more ponderous than boisterous. Mei-Yi still felt awful about Xiang-Ru, and despite cleaning up the mess (with a lot of help from Yong-Liang), she continued to feel the mushy remains on her foot. She always checked as soon as she felt it, but her foot was perfectly clean. The boxer “camp” was no more than a bundle of untidy sleeping bags spread haphazardly throughout the bare ground. The soldiers slept separately in their little clique in tents. The boxers, however, refused to do so, since they had sworn themselves to poverty. Some of them grumbled about this, but none of them actually did anything beyond that. She looked over at the soldiers, who sat far away from the rest of the boxers. They weren’t shunned because they used Western firearms, though. As evil as the foreign devils supposedly were, the boxers reluctantly admitted that they weren’t particularly stupid, especially in the fields of killing things. The soldiers were hated because of how useless they were. The once-proud Chinese army now couldn’t even defend itself against a bunch of drug dealers. If a group of kung-fu zealots has to do the job for you, then there’s a problem. Though obviously it wasn’t their fault as individuals, they still weren’t very popular. This dislike showed in their meals. While the rest of the boxers ate home-cooked meals full of fresh meat and vegetables supplied by local villagers (better for the boxers, sworn protectors of the peasantry, to eat it rather than bandits), the soldiers had to make do with meager half-boiled rice and dried meat rations they had brought themselves, which they carried around in bandoliers. Mei-Yi glanced at the little circle of soldiers, sitting around a tub of rice. Their rifles were leaned against each other to create a sort of conical structure. The trademark queue meandered its way down their backs, and their thick disposition was reminiscent of a rat’s tail. Each had their own little bowl, and fished out of the tub if they needed more. Mei-Yi saw Xiong reach in with his chopsticks, and fiddle around as his compatriots peeked into the tub as well but did not join in. After some time, Xiong managed to pluck out a ball of rice no larger than his fingernail. He raised it to the others, implying if they wanted it he would give it to them. They apparently denied, and he stuck it straight in his mouth instead of his bowl. Then, they simply sat around and chatted, occasionally shooting an envious glance at the boxers. The tub was empty. Mei-Yi decided this would not do, and crawled over to the boxers, simultaneously thinking that she was never going to get used to this. (There was no reason to get up, take one point five steps and then sit back down.) The boxers were far from finished in their meal. The quantity of food, along with Ao Ling’s tragic tale of the foreign devils allowed them to take their time. It seemed the villagers were grateful for justice. 

“Hey, Mei-Yi? Want some?” Yong-Liang raised his bowl of chow mein, while happily stuffing meat into his mouth, but curiously avoiding the vegetables. A nearby villager strained to hold up a large pot full of stir fried beef for her. Mei-Yi smiled warmly, and picked it up with two fingers. She took great care not to press too hard, lest it explode on everyone. She placed it on her palm, and nodded at the villager and then Yong-Liang.

“Thank you, but it’s for the soldiers over there. They look a bit sad.”

Yong-Liang slurped heartily. Even though Mei-Yi’s voice was loud, it wasn’t ear piercingly loud, and still retained her feminine innocence.

“Really? Why don’t they just eat with us then?”

Mei-Yi was confused.

“Wait, are you excluding them or are they excluding you?”

“Neither, probably. Just a little shy, I think.” Yong-Liang shrugged and continued to listen to Ao Ling talk about how the devils had pulled his pigtail out. Though initially it had been a cheerful, casual anecdote, it now became a solemn moment of pondering as Ao Ling became progressively more choked up. Mei-Yi was unfortunately ignorant of this, since she was still feeling incredibly guilty of Xiang-Ru’s murder, er, “execution.”

“Right, well, enjoy your meal.” She crawled over to the soldiers, but not before hearing Li Huang scold Yong-Liang for his dietary habits.

“Yong-Liang, eat those vegetables. Unless you want to get scurvy.”

As she crawled over to the soldiers, they winced backwards subconsciously. She physically saw their faces lose their color. The spearman, Luo-Yang, had been in the middle of cracking a joke with a grin on his face, but as soon as Mei-Yi came over, he stopped and abruptly assumed a neutral, if not frowning, expression. Only Xiong looked normally at her, with a bit of childish naivety.

“What do you want?” This was spoken in a rather aggressive tone by Luo-Yang, but Tong-Pao waved this aggression down with one gnarly hand. Besides the aggression, his voice fluctuated a bit from fear. Mei-yi lied down on her tummy again. She wanted to get to know these soldiers. Also, it was likely they had killed people before, and she needed some reassuring about that. The rest of the boxers had only beaten bandits up, and had never actually killed. (Yet.)

“You guys looked hungry, so I supposed you could use some more food. And, uh, you can join them if you want.” She tilted her hand so that the pot slid down into the reach of the soldiers.

Xue-Yu stood up, and accepted the pot. As opposed to Xiong’s nearly compass-drawn circular face, Luo-Yang had a very lengthy one. His protruding cheekbones were also noticeable. His sharp nose and aquiline features would have made him a quite dashing individual, if not betrayed by his dull eyes. His eyelids were always half closed, which gave him a permanently sleepy or bored expression. His mouth kind of drooped as well, revealing his eye-catching buck teeth.

“Thank you, miss.” Now, he spoke calmly. He handed the pot over to the rest of his compatriots, and took a deep breath. Luo-Yang could not muster the courage to look Mei-Yi in the eye, so instead resolved to look to the side of her head. 

“However, please remember, that we are not boxers. We serve only Her Imperial Highness, and only her, and while out here, we serve Captain Tong-Pao, as he is the giver of Her Majesty’s word.” He spoke this robotically, as if reading from a paper, but this confidence was let down after he gulped nervously after glancing at Mei-Yi breasts that were probably bigger than a junk. “Under the circumstances we are with you, but please do not expect us to bow down to you.” They weren’t actually that keen on serving the Empress, who didn’t even acknowledge their existence, but rather did not trust Mei-Yi’s ability to lead. Due to her size, they assumed she would take the dominant position, and abuse her pedestal. 

“Alright, I’m just trying to be friendly. Can I at least ‘command’ you to talk with me?” Mei-Yi was kind of annoyed at the coldness they displayed, but she reasoned that fighting for a giant woman may be kind of disorienting. Tong-Pao nodded sagely, but still cautiously.

“Okay, so have any of you killed anyone before? Any foreign devils?”

If working for a giant woman was disorienting, then having a giant woman ask you such a blunt question would be too. The soldiers were taken aback, and looked at her in disbelief. Mei-Yi flushed and looked away.

“Sorry, but remember yesterday? That triad gangster, I, well, uh, you know…” she didn’t like the looks they were giving her. “Hey, just because I’m bigger, doesn’t mean I’m not human! I need compassion, not judgement!”

Xue-Yu stood up with his fists sticking firmly behind him, but actually stared directly at her, and made eye contact. He was a meek little man, and looked like he belonged in a library rather than the army. Xue-Yu wore thick spectacles that magnified his elfin eyes many times larger. Though not as old as Li Huang, he had a short moustache that was well-coiffed and organized in two different triangular segments, and had a few grey hairs in his waning queue. Though he seemed frail, he had a Western revolver tucked into his sash.

“Yes, yes I have. For Guan-Yu’s sake, yes. I have killed someone before. If I were you, I would have also done the same thing with the triad gangster. So there. Is that all, or will you ‘command’ us to be your personal boxer pals?” Xue-Yu, like most other non-boxers, spoke in a trembling voice of repressed fear that gave Mei-Yi the dominant position implicitly. But here his voice trembled more in anger than actual fear. Tong-Pao ushered Xue-Yu down with (clearly audible) whispers, but Mei-Yi still felt a little like crying. 

“Why are you being so harsh? I just wanted to talk to you, and you’re insulting me. Seriously, I mean you all no harm. So just calm down, and talk to me, okay?”

Nobody said anything for a few seconds. 

“We’re sorry, Mei-Yi.” Xiong’s quiet voice broke the uncomfortable silence. Xue-Yu did not seem pleased. 

“Sure thing, we can do that.” Tong-Pao quickly interjected to attempt to defuse the situation. He turned to Xue-Yu, who was still looking at Mei-Yi. “Xue-Yu, kindly apologize to her.” 

“I apologize for my rude remarks.” Mei-Yi nodded at him, started to say something, stopped, and then finally decided to commit.

“Actually, can you please tell me why you were so angry at me? I’m genuinely interested.” Xue-Yu paused for a few moments.

“Uh, I’m kind of tired and I’m in a bad mood. Really sorry.” Xue-Yu said, but this time he broke eye contact with Mei-Yi. Mei-Yi doubted that a soldier who had trained for years would not be able to control himself. Plus, if he was really tired, he would not have bothered to say anything at all. He was lying. 

“No, really. I can tell you’re not telling the truth. Please, tell me. I promise to listen.” She tried to give him a kindly, passive look, but you can only look so docile when you’re talking to someone who you could easily fit in your mouth. The rest of the soldiers took this as an opportunity to wolf down the pot of food. 

“Fine, fine. Look, I’m not a big fan of you and your friend’s “kill the foreign devil” slogan thingy.” 

Boxers were known to parade around in towns and cities, preaching the extermination of all foreign devils. In fact, the often recited boxer motto was “support the Qing, slaughter the foreign devils.” At the very least, the more lenient ones wanted all of them out of China.

“Are you a collaborator with them?” 

“No, it’s just, I guess you could say my father was. You remember the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, right?”

Mei-Yi nodded. The Taiping Heavenly Kingdom was essentially a bunch of cultists that banded together under someone who claimed he was Jesus’ little brother. Although most folk dismissed it as a horde of zealots, it was actually an uprising of the mistreated poor, since a simple cult would not have affected all of China. The revolt killed countless millions, and destroyed much of the Middle Kingdom.

“Those religious cultists, right? So why don’t you seem to hate the devils? The Taipings followed a devil religion.” 

“Yes, but my father fought against them. They were terribly cruel, those Taipings.”

“As cruel as the foreigners?”

“Perhaps. They massacred entire villages for not converting to their devil religion. But, that’s not the point. You see, even though we were fighting foreign-corrupted soldiers, my father served under a devil.”

Mei-Yi was surprised. The foreign devils? The people who had taken HER father, destroyed countless villages, and blemished her country with opium, vice and depravity? 

“Wait, so you mean-”

“Let me speak. My father did not follow the devil religion, I can assure you. He hated the foreigners as much as you do, but after he served this particular devil, he changed. He even said this fellow was the most noble man to exist, even if a devil. My father once said that he was a direct blessing from heaven, that he was superior in manners, morals and skill to any foreigner he had ever seen, and he insisted on paying soldiers in full.” Less scrupulous officials (perhaps the magistrate) often pocketed government money that was meant to pay soldiers or paid them much less. Xue-Yu continued.

“His name was Gordon. I heard he died in Sudan somewhere. But you see, this is why I’m the translator.” Mei-Yi guiltily realized she forgot his role and his name entirely actually, but continued listening. “I devoted my life to learning the foreign languages. Not devil languages, mind you, foreign languages. I’ve met a lot of foreigners in my life, and I can tell you this, not all of them are awful. I don’t know what experience you had with them, but they are not all bad. I can tell you that much. Many of my teachers, many of which were like a second father to me, were devils. Which is why I was offended by your “kill all the foreign devils” slogan. But I’m really sorry. Really, I am. I don’t know what you’ve been through with the foreigners, so I was wrong to be so harsh.” 

 Mei-Yi was silent for a bit, since bringing up her experiences with the devils and her father was not pleasant. But she was grateful for Xue-Yu admitting all this and generally warming up to her. Observing this silence, the other soldiers ate somewhat more quietly. 

“Thank you, Xue-Yu. I didn’t know about that. I forgive you. My father was… killed by the foreign devils. I dunno, I just felt so… ...powerless. There was nothing I could have done to stop them.” She narrowed her eyes in contempt. “Now that I have the power to fight back, I certainly shall. We’ll see how they like it. And, uh, thank you for being so honest with me, but I’m not entirely convinced about the foreigners. I guess we’ll have to wait and see.” 

Xue-Yu nodded gravely, and gave her his condolences.

“The thing is, the Middle Kingdom itself is powerless like you were. But the government lacks the resolve to fight back like you do. Our government is full of corruption, focusing more on filling their treasuries than the stomachs of the people. The foreigners simply exploit our weakness, like the cessation of Annam, Port Arthur, Qingdao, Formosa, Korea, Hong Kong, and many others. Cutting up our country like a cake to be served to petulant brats! Believe me, there are evil foreigners, but there are good ones, thank Nuwa. Plus, their technology is intriguing as well. But we can only take the good and leave behind the bad, like… ...opium, and all that.”

Mei-Yi muttered her agreement. Xue-Yu, though still hungry, decided to allow his mates to dig in, as he prepared for another monologue by adjusting his glasses. 

“To be honest, us Imperial soldiers thought you boxers were a bunch of genocidal, backwards robbers that would punish each other for the slightest of misdeeds.”

Mei-Yi interrupted.

“The Society of Righteous Fists fights for justice. We don’t just fight foreign devils, we fight all kinds of evil. We defend villages from bandits, thieves, and other hooligans. We provide what the Qing cannot…... no offense. I’m sure sometimes we’ve gone overboard, but certainly, the Society is an incorruptible force that fights for the people.”

“Yes, YOU certainly do, but what about other sects? The Society is not one giant organization, but rather a loose collection of various militia. And you certainly fight for justice, but others that call themselves boxers may not. They just take advantage of the situation to loot and destroy. Trust me, I know.”

“They’re not boxers, then. They’re simply thieves and thugs pretending to be boxers.” 

“I see now we are mistaken about your ability to lead. I think you have proven yourself to be an exceptionally kind person, indeed. Kindness is an undervalued asset these days, especially in the Imperial court. It’s all backstabbing and poisoning and blaming.” The Qing Imperial Court was not very scrupulous, as evidenced by the magistrate. Xue-Yu was complimented by nods of approval by his fellow soldiers. 

“Sorry about that, Mei-Yi. I can see I judged you wrongly.” Luo-Yang admitted.

“Not a problem. And thank you, Xue-Yu. I won’t keep bothering you, so do enjoy your meal.” beamed Mei-Yi. 

“You’re welcome.” 

Later that day, Mei-Yi trained alone. She wanted to train with the other boxers, but it would be highly impractical to do so. It was strange to practice without Li Huang shouting out the count. She started out with basic punches. Each punch caused a massive gust of wind, which bent and gnarled the miniscule trees. The fluttering of her clothes was also quite noticeable, resonatingly rustling as she turned her hip to accentuate her punches. After that was done, she elected to skip blocking, since there would be nothing to block really. Her toes dug into the ground as she steadied herself for kicking. The soldiers watched with interest. Luo-Yang noticed that Xiong was watching a little too closely. While the others were watching with somewhat passing interest and chatting, Xiong was fixated on the form of Mei-Yi’s well-toned leg.

“Hey, Hui-Liang! You ought to be careful. The boxers say if you lust after a woman too much, your yang will get polluted by yin!” he teased. Yin and yang were the forces apparently responsible for Mei-Yi’s growth. Yang was the masculine one, which the male boxers harnessed with their chastity and thus became invincible to bullets and swords. Female boxers were actually in a different organization due to the stringent chastity rules, and were deemed “Red Lanterns.” (Actually Red Lanterns for young women, Blue Lanterns for middle aged women, and Black Lanterns for elderly women.)

“Shush!” Xiong’s face turned red and he covered it hastily.

“Don’t worry, though! If you train with the boxers, you could perform a ritual for her to like you!” 

Xiong swallowed his annoyance, and instead asked for advice. Despite Luo-Yang sometimes being annoying, he was still his best friend. 

“You think I should talk to her?”

“Not when she’s practicing. Wait for her to take a break or something. I’ll come with you, for moral support.” Xiong nodded gratefully. Mei-Yi was indeed quite pretty. She wore her hair in buns, not out of a want for beauty, but to be pragmatic. Fighting with long, flowing hair would be a disadvantage. (Sometimes, the boxers would tie their queue into a bundle so that it wouldn’t swing around incessantly.) Round eyes peered out from behind strips of shiny black hair. Mei-Yi’s smooth skin underscored her sturdy disposition, though not bulging with muscle. Her peach shaped face was proportionately plump, but not obese. Being overly waifish may have been beautiful to some, but Mei-Yi was a bit chubbier thanks to her priorities not being appearance-related. As such, Mei-Yi had finished off the kicks, and was now going to shadowbox. Though not very logical, (the foreign devils were the same size as her pals) it would be a good exercise to train stamina. Xiong and Luo-Yang approached cautiously, lest one of her exercises accidentally sent them flying. Mei-Yi held her fists up, and began to bounce forwards and backwards. The balls of her feet rolled effortlessly on the ground, scarring the ground immensely. This was to maintain mobility and to be unpredictable. However, this footwork was not meant to actually be an offensive move. Her prancing feet shook the earth so much that Xiong and Luo-Yang toppled over.

“Mei-Yi! Hey! Stop!”

Mei-Yi stopped. She saw them almost immediately, given how much their blue uniforms stood out in the rough grassland. She knelt down as face-to-face as she could and tried to help them up using a finger. This was way too big for them to grab on, but they appreciated the thought.

“Sorry about that. You guys okay?” her eyebrows curled upwards in worry.

“Yeah, no problem.” Luo-Yang answered. This was in stark contrast to his earlier demeanor. Luo-Yang knew when to joke and when to be serious. And this was not a time for the latter. “Hui-Liang here has something he wants to say to yo” Mei-Yi leaned in closer, as Xiong Hui-Liang turned bright red. Mei-Yi covered his view of the horizon and the blue firmament above. 

“Sure, what is it?

“Um… I, uh, just wanted to tell you that, erm, you look, well, uh, pretty today…” Xiong whimpered bashfully. Mei-Yi batted her eyelashes alluringly.

“Really? That’s sweet of you...”

“Yeah, I love your h-” Xiong quickly stopped, and realized that “love” might be too strong a word. Mei-Yi gazed at him, waiting for him to finish his sentence. “Uh, actually, I don’t love you- No, no, I do love you, um, not like that, I don’t love-love you, I just love you like, uh, how I love dumplings, yeah.” Mei-Yi was a little confused, because ‘loving’ her the way he loved dumplings implied he wanted to eat her. However, she could tell he meant well, despite his poor phrasing. 

“Uh, okay. Thank you.”

Xiong tried to end it there, but Luo-Yang patted him on the back and propelled him slightly forwards. “Maybe we should talk sometime? You, um, have time right now?” Xiong blurted out. Mei-Yi remembered something and looked away awkwardly. 

“Sorry, not right now. I have to talk to Ao Ling right now. Don’t worry, we can talk later.” She patted Xiong gently with her pinkie finger, and then strode away rather quickly. 

“I thought she was practicing?” Luo-Yang scrutinized while Xiong dejectedly tried to pull his squashed turban up. It wasn’t that she didn’t like Xiong, it was just that helping someone’s belated family reunion come together seemed more important than curing someone’s boredom. But Xiong didn’t know that.

Li Huang methodically croaked out the count as the boxers punched and kicked in unison. Some of the villagers joined in too, and it wouldn’t be long before they shed their plain colorless tunics for the vivid white surcoats of the boxers. Some of the boxers still wore the archetypical conical straw hat as symbols of their humble origins, but most preferred a crimson headband or just a bare head. Ao Ling had resigned to watching the boxers practice from the sidelines. A local villager’s generosity had solved the issue of his disfigured hair, and he covered it up with a skull cap. But the queue that always stuck out from underneath was still very noticeably missing. Mei-Yi’s presence was also very noticeable, and Ao Ling started quickly after hearing the noisy swishing of grass being flattened by her feet. Realizing it was just Mei-Yi, he scratched a scab under his hat absentmindedly as she lied down with him. Not really ‘with,’ since her face was far from his level. It was more like breast-to-whole-body. But lying down was probably the closet she could get.

“Hello.”

“Hi.” As cordial as Mei-Yi’s voice was, Ao Ling was still intimidated. But his confidence with her had improved significantly since last time, as he was not begging for his life.

“So, not a big fan of martial arts?” 

“No, just been thinking a bit. About my family and such.”

“Hmm. Say, you know where your family is?” 

“I’m afraid not. They’re probably somewhere in this province, but I really don’t know. That son of a bitch magistrate probably fined my estate and evicted them.” he shook his head disdainfully and buried his face in his hands. Though he was exactly not a bodybuilder, Ao Ling still possessed the thick arms and calloused palms of a worker. “And my father’s probably still in America, and he doesn’t know about this, so he’s still sending money to that estate. And his money, which he earned with his sweat and tears is going to that fucking magistrate.” 

“I’m sorry. Do you have a picture of your family? We could track them down that way.”

Ao Ling rubbed his scalp causing his cap to slip off. He took no notice.

“That dumb cunt! I carried a picture of my family and my father with me, but they confiscated it. (As ancient and mystical the Chinese seem, “dumb cunt” is surprisingly common an insult, even today.) I even had my father’s address in America, but that pompous moron even took that. I can’t exactly remember foreign words, can I? Helpless, in both America and my own country!”  He started sobbing quietly. Mei-Yi felt a lot of second hand pain from his helplessness at the situation so she patted him gently on the back with her hand. It was more like hitting, and after one ‘pat’ which had Ao Ling keeling over a little, she stopped, and switched from physical comfort to verbal. 

“Don’t worry. I’ll ‘convince’ the magistrate to return everything. Once the foreigners are expelled from our country, you’ll find your family again. I’ll make that happen. I promise.” 

Ao Ling’s crying subsided for a few seconds, and turned to bubbling anger.

“It’s so goddamned unfair! For Cao Cao’s sake, it’s not fair! These people can just do whatever the hell they want! That magistrate hasn’t worked a day in his life, and yet he can still order everyone around. Those devils, just because our army is useless (the soldiers were out of earshot) the devils get to push us around. Such cruelty!” 

“That’s why the Society of Righteous Fists exists, Ao Ling! We fight for equality, to knock corruption down a peg! You really should try training with Yong-Liang and the others. It’ll take your mind off your family. Plus, you can defend yourself better.”

Although their conversation was sporadically disturbed by Li Huang’s hoarse voice shouting out the counts, it became even more jarring when this stopped. Mei-Yi looked over, cupping her hand around Ao Ling as if to protect him. Three men were now talking to Li Huang. They could not have been villagers, since they were dressed like scholars. Their long smocks stretched down to their knees. Two of them wore glasses, not some cheap kind made locally, but of the noble variety, with gold embellishments. Without warning, they bowed down to him, in the extremely subservient way people were expected to bow to an official. Li Huang escorted them back up, and they talked in harsh whispers. In the meantime, Yong-Liang continued the count. Once Li Huang and the strangers finished, Li Huang gave his staff several sharp taps. As everyone else snapped to attention, Li Huang gestured for them to gather around him.

Mei-Yi picked up the distraught Ao Ling and settled him down in her pocket, since he did not show any intention of listening to what Li Huang had to say. Plus, even though her jacket was imitation silk, it still was comfortable to touch.

Li Huang faced the crowd of boxers, red lanterns, boxers to be, and red lanterns to be, flanked by the strangers. His ancient eyes studied the confident faces of the young men and women in front of him.

“Listen, brothers and sisters! We, the Society Of Righteous And Harmonious Fists, have fought for justice valiantly in the countryside! You already know foreigners control much of China. Foreign soldiers patrol our forts, foriegn warships rest in our ports. Foreign unequal treaties control our very own government. Foreign merchants steal our resources, foreign drugs enslave the people, foreign machines blemish the clear skies with smoke, and foreign gods disturb the spirits of our ancestors. China is a prostate cow. No longer satisfied with her milk, the foreigners are now butchering her for her meat. The Germans have taken Qingdao, the Russians Port Arthur and the British Hong Kong. The French have Guangxi and Annam. The Japanese Formosa and Korea. Is it not a surprise that we, the common people, have risen up in revolt? And worse, the Imperial government is apathetic. Surrounded by an army of eunuchs, servants, and amenities, they ignore the commoners’ plight. Black tidings have reached us, from the capital of our great nation, Beijing! These strangers have risked their lives to inform me. The foreigners have corrupted Beijing, the heart of our country! Sections of our own capital are off limits to us! Foreign armies walk the streets, doing whatever they please! Until now. Now, the Society of Righteous and Harmonious fists will no longer tolerate the crimes against China. They ask us to put down our arms so that they may forgive our crimes against the foreign   devils. Contrariwise, THEY should lay down THEIRS so we might forgive their crimes against China! Tomorrow, we march for Beijing! We shall join our fellow boxers there, root out the foreign devils, and restore glory to the black-headed peoples!” The response to this heartfelt speech was a raucous rumble of cheering. Mei-Yi, remembering what Xue-Yu had said about the foreign devils, clapped loudly, but still conscientiously. She knew the foreigners were destroying her country, and she still held painful memories involving her village. But she kept Xue-Yu’s words in mind. Perhaps the foreign devils would learn that what they were doing was wrong, and rectify themselves. But she knew she could not count on such developments, and would probably have to give them a little reminder.

“But remember! Do not stoop to the level of the foreigners! Do not forget, we are defenders of peace and justice, not just China! Have compassion for the weak! If a devil surrenders, you will give him/her/it mercy! Do not lust after women! Even the slightest amount of yin can corrupt your yang! Resist corruption, even if it is in your favor! If a fellow brother or sister commits wrongs, correct them! Compose yourself in a manner worthy of example and praise! And finally, protect your fellow brothers and sisters with your lives! Now, onto Beijing!”