Upon returning to the kwoon of their allies, the Samurai saw that the whole school was packing up. Master Tai explained it succinctly -- the constables would soon figure out who was responsible for the destruction of Master Yu's kwoon and the death of Master Yu, so it was best for the school to go underground for a year or so. It was apparently a not unusual occurence. Spirits in the kwoon were very high, though -- they had defeated an enemy and gained respect for their master and themselves, and hiding out for a while was not so bad. Master Tai was feeling better. He was now well enough to travel, so the samurai packed up also. By dawn they left the kwoon; the students were already streaming out of the main door, splitting up to stay with family or allies.
The samurai left Naeip'o without problems. The bored guard merely glanced at their papers and let them pass in the cold morning air. The road they took headed up sharply into the mountains that surrounded Naeip'o. The weather was chill enough down by the ocean, but once they gained some distance from the sea and some altitude it was cold indeed. There were lots of people travelling in spite of the weather. Saburo commented as to how they looked like walking bundles of laundry, since they covered themselves in many layers of ragged clothing. After the first mountain pass they came into a high valley. The road from Naeip'o had been dotted with villages every few miles, and this valley was no exception. There was only a single village in this high valley. It had the same architecture as the previous ones, very different from Japanese villages. The houses had sod roofs and solid, heavy walls. This village was different, though -- in the chill wind there were many bright flags and banners flying.
As they approached the village they asked some of the traffic on the road. Apparently it was a festival of sorts -- the last market day before the second half of winter, when the late-winter snows closed the passes until spring.
A bald man stepped out from the crowd as they entered the village. He had been waiting in the thin sunlight out of the wind. As he approached it was clear he was a monk -- he wore simple grey robes and held the buddhist rosary and the begging bowl of a monk. His head was shaven; even his eyebrows were shaven, giving him a very strange, gaunt appearance. He was as tall as Yabu, and nearly as thin.
<Excuse me> No Eyebrows said, <are you from the Eastern Kingdom? Japan?>
The samurai glanced around, expecting attack. Yabu looked at the crowd and examined the monk closely before responding. The last time they had been asked that question, the answer had triggered an immediate assault.
The monk looked quiet and self-effacing, though, and the crowd was moving normally and paying no attention to the strangers in their midst.
<Yes> Yabu said grudgingly, <we are.>
<Ah, good> the monk nodded. <I am a humble practitioner of Gung Fu. It is my aim to test my skills against others, to take their measure and move me further along the path towards perfecting my art. I would like to fight you> he continued politely.
Yabu consulted briefly with Junzo and Saburo while Tai and Hotaru watched the strange grey-clad monk. The situation seemed strange, but they did not seem to be in immediate danger.
<The idea is not impossible,> Yabu said over the noise of the crowd and the chill wind. <If there is an inn in this village, let us go inside and talk about it there.>
The inn was packed, but the samurai managed to find space. No Eyebrows repeated his desire to fight, and mentioned that two travellers had come by the day before. They had said the samurai would be coming, and mentioned that the samurai were very adept fighters.
Only a little bit of questioning made it clear that these two were Iron Ox and Poison Adder. Yabu informed No Eyebrows that these were enemies of theirs, and that they were probably trying to cause trouble. The monk admitted that he suspected that was the case. Although his manner remained polite and self-effacing, he didn't seem to care much what their motivation was -- if the samurai were adept martial artists, he was determined to test his skills against them.
Yabu asked the monk to step aside for a moment, so the samurai could discuss the matter. No Eyebrows bowed and moved away from the table.
"He is a Shaolin monk," Master Tai said worriedly. "A very adept fighter. I have heard of him before -- he is a very dangerous man. He is interested in nothing but perfecting his art. If he thinks we are worth fighting, he will stop at nothing to make it happen."
"It is obviously a delaying tactic," Saburo said. "But I think we should take care of this challenge here where we seem to have some control of the situation."
"I agree," said Yabu with deliberation. "But we must try to avoid delay."
Yabu motioned No Eyebrows back to the table. <Those two who told you about us, have you fought them before?>
No Eyebrows pursed his lips. <I have fought the small one once.>
Yabu smiled. <Ah, so! Well, I tell you then, you have fought only the weaker of the two. Our whole band fought the big one, Iron Ox, for many minutes, using our weapons. I myself hit him a handful of times, wounds that would have killed a dozen men. We all hit him at least once. Yet bleeding buckets of blood, he still managed to fight us off and escape. I have never seen a man as tough as him. If you wish a good opponent, you need look no further than him.>
The monk seemed to take the idea seriously. He nodded thoughtfully, then returned his gaze to the group of samurai. <Have you decided whether or not you will fight me, then?>
Yabu frowned. <We are on a mission, monk. We cannot delay for a fight with you, no matter how important it might be to you. Further, we do not wish one of our number to become badly wounded, delaying us all. We would be willing to fight you if you will agree to a contest without weapons, where neither combatant will attempt to kill or cripple their opponent.>
The grey-clad monk nodded. <That would be acceptable,> he said modestly.
Yabu looked long at him before nodding. <Very well. I will meet you in the morning in front of the inn, in the open square. We will fight, but attempt to avoid serious injury. We will be leaving immediately following the fight.>
<Are you the leader of these men, then?>
Yabu nodded.
<Then I will be pleased to meet you in the morning.> No Eyebrows stood and bowed, then moved out of the inn.
In the morning they fought. No Eyebrows was waiting in the square in front of the inn when Yabu and the others emerged. Yabu passed Hotaru-no-suke his spear and Junzo his swords, then removed his warm outer coat.
"I mislike this, especially as it is forced upon us by our enemies," Yabu said quietly to the others. "I have left my chain on under my tunic as surety against betrayal; it will not slow me. But if this grey monk should desire more than a test of arms, and if he should slay me in despite of his word, ensure that he does not enjoy his triumph."
Junzo nodded.
Yabu moved out to face No Eyebrows, out of reach. They bowed to each other and began. At first they circled, taking each other's measure. No Eyebrows flicked an attacking arm, and Yabu dodged, but the attack was merely a feint to see how he would respond. As they moved the crowd around them quickly became aware that a fight was going on, and in a few moments they stood in a circle of fair-goers, shouting at the unexpected entertainment.
The two fighters started sparring, still very careful. In a flurry of blows Yabu landed the first strike, only partially blocked by No Eyebrow's forearm. The pace of their combat increased. In a blinding series of blows and counterblows they closed and separated, still keeping barely within range. Yabu had never seen a fighter this adept -- one of the monk's blows was so fast that Yabu could barely see it, far too fast to block. Luckily Yabu was being very careful, constantly weaving in and out of range, and he managed to evade the incoming strike.
Yabu snapped another quick hand strike, again partially blocked by his foe's forearm, and took a quick counterstrike in return on his own upper arm. Suddenly his opponent moved like lightning, appearing behind him without the slightest warning. Yabu dove forward instinctively, barely avoiding the kick that passed through the space he had occupied but a moment before. No Eyebrows attempted to press his advantage with a flurry of blows, but Yabu's dance of evasion took him out of reach again and again.
Now No Eyebrows switched techniques. Instead of pressing the attack against Yabu's conservative strategy of evasion and riposte, the monk stood loose-armed, ready, moving into range on soft feet with his balance centered, but not striking. When Yabu threw a blow the bald monk attempted to strike in the same instant. Only a few passes of this new method and Yabu knew he was in trouble -- the monk was as strong as he, and faster and more adept. In a battle of simultaneous blows, Yabu was certain to lose sooner or later.
Yabu leapt to the attack, shouting his warshout. His Kiai could shock and dismay lesser warriors. No Eyebrows was made of sterner stuff, but he was still impressed and disconcerted enough for Yabu to press his attack.
Yabu feinted a long arm blow, triggering a side kick in response, but Yabu's feint slid into a low position, and his counterstrike elbow slammed into No Eyebrow's crotch. Down the monk went, gasping in agony.
Yabu panted, waiting warily as the bald-headed monk recovered enough to kneel, then stand unsteadily. He had no particular confidence that the monk would keep his word that the fight was to test skill, nothing more.
The Shaolin's style had been very different from anything Yabu had seen before, but Yabu had seen enough to know that he had been very lucky. The bald monk was one of the most deadly men Yabu had ever faced, and a more skillful fighter than he was.
But the monk merely bowed, trying to keep his pain from his face, and hobbled away.
Yabu turned to find Saburo and Junzo clapping his shoulders.
The crowd around was loudly yelling, although Yabu hadn't noticed it until now. Money changed hands.
"Well, did you make money?" Yabu asked, smiling with the release of combat.
Saburo laughed. "Hell no! We didn't bet on you! We lost money!" All the samurai broke out in laughter. Master Tai shook his head resignedly.
They left the village immediately, climbing once again into the rocky wasteland of the mountain passes. It was bitterly cold. As they approached the top of the pass, they saw a camp of soldiers huddling around some fires. The soldiers had strange yellow hats, unlike anything the samurai had seen before. They wore cheap scale armour and held odd, awkward polearms that seemed like nothing more than a profusion of blades at the end of a staff. Junzo made a joke about how the foreigners had no sense of style. One of the soldiers left his fire and came down to them when they were spotted. He informed them that the pass was closed -- there was plague in a village on the other side.
The band of samurai headed back, but as soon as they were out of sight of the soldiers they headed up the side of the mountain, detouring around the camp of soldiers. As they struggled to keep warm in the high slopes above the pass Saburo mused out loud that Poison Adder was pretty skilled to be able generate a plague by himself.
A mile or so later they rejoined the road, marching down it to the other side of the pass. They passed several other groups of soldiers, including one that marched past them in the same direction, moving quickly. None of them seemed to bother with a small group of travellers.
The inn at the beginning of the valley was packed with travellers. It quickly became evident that they were staying there, waiting for the pass to open. Soldiers had blocked the pass to Naeip'o because of plague in that direction, the travellers had been told.
"Plagues everywhere, and not a man who is sick," said Saburo.
More soldiers moved in groups around Aoji as they approached, the next day. The samurai avoided Aoji, going around the walled city to reach Master Han's kwoon downriver. Given the number of enemy soldiers about, and the fact that they were clearly up to something, Yabu sent Hotaru ahead as a scout in front of the rest of the party.
With Hotaru's warning they easily avoided another patrol of yellow-hat soldiers. Speaking privately to Yabu, Hotaru mentioned seeing something rather odd -- a figure wearing a white long-sleeved coat, moving behind the patrol, seeming to follow it. The person was an adept climber, swift and quiet-moving.
The samurai took up a position in the woods a half-mile from the complex containing the Falling Leaf kwoon. Hundreds of soldiers surrounded the complex. Yabu spent some time assessing their positions. The soldiers were organized to face inwards, not out. This was a siege. There were bamboo barricades surrounding the kwoon, and a huge tent at a safe distance off to one side. Clearly someone very important and very rich.
"Hotaru-no-suke?"
"Hai, General Yabu." The slight young samurai came forward.
"I think you are the best scout among us," Yabu said. "We need more information, and you are the best suited to get it for us. I will have Master Tai give you a letter of introduction. Your mission is simple -- get inside the complex, and find out what is going on. Tell Master Han that we are out here. Then come back with such news as you may."
"Hai, General Yabu."