Sage pondered on his next step while the five youngsters got rowdy. Eventually, he raised his hand, “Enough, enough. Jiyou just took an unnecessary risk, but we were still going to kill him anyway. I never counted on us staying hidden in the first place, all it means is there’s a chance they know we’re coming now. It seems like Abbot Kunga and Bi Hongbing didn’t know what Wu Chang was up to, which is what I thought, but we can’t be sure. We’ll get back to them later. Liu Ao doesn’t seem to have been involved, and we already know his weakness. We’ll just make him apologize in the future or suffer for it.”

Sage took another sip of tea while he thought things over. Then he set the cup back down, “Hmm… Songji. Did you find any news on how well informed that Zhang Tu is?”

“Of course, Big Brother! I met up with the Falconer for Flying Wind Province, he had plenty of information about him. Ahh, about that…”

“I know, I was reestablishing contact with the rest of the network. The War Falcons were all compromised. There were two Falconers in the Jade Horde. One of them ran the War Falcons and the other, Jing Kubi, skimmed the money to run the rest of the network. Jing Kubi died in battle with the ‘War Falconer’. He turned the War Falcons to work for Wu Chang, but he also knew who the other Falconers were. I’m pretty sure Jing Kubi died to protect them, but without Jing Kubi they’ve all been out of touch and forced to fend for themselves. Can you go and round them all up, Songji?”

“Easily, but only after we get revenge.”

“Of course. So, Zhang Tu. You were saying?”

“Right. The only members of the Jade Horde he keeps around are some of the War Falcons for his own Legion. He won’t miss anything big, but there’s no telling how extensive his actual reach is.”

The five youngsters took a moment to look at each other. Then they took turns nodding and finally Tujiu spoke up, “Forget Zhang Tu. We can go after him later.”

Sage could see the resolve in their eyes and he nodded, “You’re right. Silly of me to worry about just one outlier. We will proceed with the first plan then.”

One week later.

City guards lined the battlements to either side of Lionheart Town’s gates. There were other guards down below in charge of entrance fees and checking goods, but those on the walls were responsible for seeing trouble coming. It was for this reason that the guards were the first to notice a group of five young people in the distance. Hundreds of people approached the gates of the city every day, but these five stood out due to their unusual attire. They all wore a set of shoes that none of them had ever seen before, with bright colors, thick soles, and large white cords tied on the front. One woman wore skintight black leather, which they thought would make a courtesan blush. The other had a strange baggy garment on only her upper body and trousers like a man would wear. One of the men wore only a vest on his upper body like a bandit or dock worker, while the last two were dressed like cultivators and wore fighting robes, but their physical features were unusual. One was completely hairless on his head with strange soap bubble-like multi-colored eyes, while the other was abnormally short and small of stature, yet had lips that would look large on a normal sized person.

The first guard to notice the group pointed them out to the others near him. It was their favorite pastime while guarding the wall to observe and comment on the appearance of those who were approaching the gate. Sometimes, when they were really bored, they’d even bet about their origin, or what they might be carrying. At this point, the guards were only chatting about how unusual those five looked. A few minutes later the group had gotten closer and that’s when the guards were shocked by their actions.

When they reached the city gate, the guards on the wall were still looking down to try and get some clues on who the odd ones were. That was when they were rudely included into a loudly shouted conversation without their consent. The guard captain down below suddenly yelled out an order, “Weapons ready!”

The guards on the wall felt like their eyes were bulging out of their heads as they quickly lifted their crossbows from behind them where they were perpetually leaning. Usually, just the sight of many sets of armored shoulders and tasseled helmets would deter any trouble. Only a few times a year would they need to pick up the crossbows, either to show off for their superiors, or when a Demonic Beast lost its mind and tried to rush the city.

What was going on down below?

The guards were confused, but they followed orders, a few dozen crossbows are now pointed down towards the group of five that the guard captain had pointed out. Down below, the soldiers on either side pulled out their sabers and rushed in front of the gate, blocking the path with their large shields. They saw the group of five standing nonchalantly, and the one with the fur collar on his vest stepped forward and raised his voice. Now, it was loud enough for even the men on the walls to hear.

“What did I say? I said: Go and get your pathetic excuse for a City Lord. Bring him over here and ask him to kiss this Grandfather’s feet. Maybe if he does a good enough job cleaning the dirt off my shoes we will spare his life.”

The guards on the wall were doubly surprised. Both by the volume of the youngster’s voice as well as the content of his words. The guard captain down below was thoroughly infuriated and started yelling back at the kid, but those on the wall had no idea what he was saying. The lieutenant on the wall was worried about this getting out of hand so he took the liberty of sending a messenger to the City Lord’s Manor on his own.

A few minutes later, the guard captain was still arguing with the youngster and completely forgetting his position. Even more unfortunate were the dozens of people waiting to enter the city that were stuck there while the argument continued. A message returned from the City Lord’s Manor and the lieutenant on the wall read it and then yelled out his own order from the wall, “Arrest them for disturbing the peace of Lionheart Town!”

The guard captain suddenly realized what he was doing and he waved to the men behind him. He stepped back and looked a bit shaken, as if he’d suddenly just seen a ghost. The lieutenant on the wall shouted to the five youngsters now, “You five! Lie down on the ground and hold your hands out to the side immediately or you shall suffer the consequences.”

The guards on the wall leaned forward to better present their weapons to the group on the ground so they realized what was going to happen to them if they didn’t follow orders at this point. They didn’t seem to care and instead the one who had been talking so far just started laughing. He turned his head to look at the short one and the kid with huge lips stepped forward. A sword suddenly appeared in his hand and the lieutenant gave the order, “Fire!”

The many crossbows twanged as their bolts were launched, but the group of five didn’t seem worried. The one who now had a sword merely swept it slowly in a circular shape in front of himself. At that time a howling wind emerged, bringing with it a flurry of snowflakes, the wind and ice flowing forward and completely disrupting the volley of projectiles and causing all the guards to feel as if they’d just entered a blizzard.

How is that possible, isn’t it the summer?