Xi knocks on my door and opens it when I tell him it is okay. “We killed another one.” He tells me before I get to ask what he is here for. This is the second since the hunters began patrolling the area around the village up towards the mountains. “Thank you, I will notify Ha and Tion at once,” I tell him and rise. “No need, I did so already. But I need to show you something.” He says and comes over to my desk. There he lays gently down a piece of paper. “Found it on his body.” He says and I look it over. It is a message.

“Look in at Rapid, no scouts have returned”

The message says and I smile. “If this is true then we have managed to kill all of them,” I say and look the piece of paper over. It also means the sect is rich if they use paper for this purpose. The paper is even of good quality. “I think it is true Su, this man was far better equipped than any of the others. He died as easily though.” Xi says with a smile on his face. “Well, Tions first fear seems not be coming true if this is the quality of their men we will have no problems finding them off,” I say and Xi nod. “Thank you for this, now let us have a look on the man sent here.”

Walking through the school show me how much has changed since this began. The school feels more settled not only because it has been standing for some time, but because it looks used. There are signs of wear on the walls and I see I need to order a new round of polishing the floors. It is said it will take several years before the building is finished, but I love it. On the walls, we have begun hanging up artwork made by students or villagers. I even meet some girls going to class and tell them there will be a dissection on the way.

“Quiet” Ha says in a stern voice to the room filled with people. It is full and students are hanging over the second set of balconies. We have had to cut extra windows in the room to get enough air into the room. I as the master has floor space beside Tion whom sketches it all down. “Let us begin with the usual. The hands.” Ha says and begins the dissection. In our study of the other bodies the hands have been the most different so now we start there. No cooling or formaldehyde means we only have one shot at a dissection.

“That was very disappointing,” Ha tells me and look over the notes Tion has made on paper from the session. “There was nothing different about this man and the others.” I look at her and shake my head. “That is heartening, there must some part of their early training which leaves their hands in such a state. It must make it harder later to be anything other than a close quarters fighter even if they want to.” I take a sip of the beer Xia has brought us and look over to where she and Tion have their own heads together. “That is true, but I want to see something new.” Ha complains and I laugh when she pouts. “Don’t worry as soon as this fight erupts you will see a lot of new things,” I tell her and sink a bit together. My demeanour might not reveal it, but I am not looking forward to the evening more blood.

After this last scout, there is no new contract with the Tiger Mountain sect. It becomes very quiet and this leaves everyone nervous. As time passes nervousness turns to boredom and pride in having fought the evil sect off. I know that we are not done with the men, but my feelings do not matter much. Xi and the hunters remain vigilant though. With fall comes the Forresters and money. There is trade downriver with Banks and I finally have made inroads in how to produce paper.

It happens the week before founding day. The winter has been hard and only the followers of my Dao in the village are able to traverse the landscape in the worst snow. This is what warns us of the attack. Coming from a direction not usual for them it seems they wanted to surprise us. Luckily for us, Xi did not disregard this and had patrols there as well. Word reaches us in the middle of the night. But we have time to prepare.

“Well, time to wait,” I say and look over the students gathered in the main hall. They are armed, but they are also ready to assist anyone hurt in the fighting to come. “I think we are as ready as we can be,” Ha says and does the same once over I did. “Yes, but the killing is going to kill me,” I say and laughs with as much good humour as I can. The least I can do is to show everyone else that I am not worried. Panic can have more people killed than is necessary. In addition to the shelters and defences built there are also escape routes laid in case of a breach.

Minutes turn into hours and I make certain people are fed and everyone have something to do. I don’t want them to be bored. My surprise is great when the students sit down and play games and make fun while waiting. I even join one with Ha, Tion and an older girl being taught under Ha, Yuan. She is Ha’s apprentice and I have very little to do with her on a daily basis, not like when I lead meditation sessions or teach. Which I admittedly do very little off, I am more the administrator and I have enough of my own thing to do.

When we have quieted down and gotten on other thoughts is when we begin hearing noises outside. There is clashing of metal and once something scrapes the stone with a horrible sound. The wait is over and a battle is upon us. I check that my own equipment is in order and go to link up the medical section with the guards around the building. My role is to bring the wounded back for healing. Tion joins me and two other male students in the same mission. Combat medics I have named us and armed with personal weapons we are neither fighter nor medic, but rather ambulances.