Chapter 23: Maru Again
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"I'd like some soup," Hao said as the waiter came to his table.

"Okay, anything else?" the waiter asked.

"No," Hao replied.  "That's all."

A few minutes later the waiter returned with Hao's soup.  As he was
eating it, Hao began thinking of what he must do next.  The first thought
that popped into his head was that he must sneak into Figaro and kill
this Edgar person who had attacked Tzen.  But he knew that would be
tough; Figaro was sure to have formidable defenses, and he had heard
there was some powerful source of evil behind Edgar.

As a second thought, Hao decided he would search for Maru, but that would
mean going back to Tzen and starting over and he had already traveled so
far, so Hao was relunctant to do that.

Finally, Hao decided he would goto to Figaro, or at least South Figaro,
to get more information.  Then he would decide what he would do.  So
after finishing his soup, Hao got a room for the night and went upstairs.

At the top of the stairs he turned to the right and heard a door open off
to his left.  Ignoring it, Hao continued down the hall.

"Hao?" a voice said behind him.

"Maru!" he exclaimed as he spun around.  Grabbing her, he hugged her
tight.  "I thought you were dead," he said.

"You can't get rid of me that easy," Maru said with a smile.