With the rising of the sun, a great day was dawning. Not only was this the first day of Spring, but it would be the start of a new age in the land. Ai Xulan, the man thought long dead would now be making his presence known in the world, in a search for those fighters who show promise, to mould them into a great army of assassins, and to train them to be come masters of the fighting arts.

Ai had been awake for several hours, making preparations for his journey across the country. He intended to travel lightly, nothing but a few knives hidden away about his person, and a long staff that would serve well as a walking stick. Of course, however, it was a deadly weapon in his grasp, as were most things.

Inside the temple that he had spent the last fifteen or more years renovating, and restoring to its former glory, Ai allowed the last of the candles to burn down, those that were close to ending anyway, the others he blew out. It was quite a long process, going around all the many rooms, checking the state of the candles. Eventually he finished, and by that point, the sun was about its own height above the horizon.

Making his way through the marble floored corridors, Ai whistled to himself quietly, some ancient tune that was said to bring luck and protection to a house. Ai didn't particularly believe all of that mystic mumbo jumbo, but the tune came to his lips anyway.

Reaching the door after twenty minutes of walking, Ai picked up the long staff, plain, perfectly cylindrical, a pale brown, it looked nothing more than what it was intended to give the appearance of - a basic walking aid.

Donning the green cloak, Ai swung it around himself, pulling the hood over his head, completely covering his face. The only part of his body visible was the hand that grasped the staff. Such was his intention.

The opening in front of the temple was normally a trap of death for those unwanted, glancing over to his left, facing the South for a moment, Ai nodded to the graves of those foolish enough to make attempts at entering his domain. Some fifty yards it stretched, the opening, and ended abruptly in a thick forest. Reaching that point, Ai grabbed a loose piece of rope and pulled it downwards, a few thunks and chings could be heard as the traps were once more set.

Picking up his pace, Ai moved through the forest with a deft agility, seemingly in complete harmony with the pathless, heavily vegetated forest.

His hunt had now began, and he always got his mark.

An sat in the tree munching on the fruit he had stolen from the village. Sighing he cast his brown eyes along the lush green trees that surrounded him, somewhere out here was the ruins of some temple he had heard.

An munched on the orange as he contemplated the possibility that the old man had lied to him about an old temple hidden away in the vast forest, clearly it wouldn’t be the first time anyone lied to him to get rid of him. Licking his lips as the sweet succulent juice of the orange spurted and dripped down his chin, An wiped his face and tossed the now sheen peel to the ground below.

Pulling another orange from the small ruck sack he had, An held the orange orb loosely in his hand as he leaned back against the tree. The cool breeze washed over him, the scent of the woods filled his nostrils. Feeling the slim rays of the sun filter down and warm his arms and face, a content smile flittered across his lips. It was a good day, a day that the elders spoke of in their tales, a day when the messengers of the celestial court came down to bestow fate upon those deemed ready for their destiny.

As he slowly rotated his head around he felt his taut neck muscles strain and stretch as the tension began to ease away. The sound of his neck popping as it released the stress that had crept into his frame made An smile. Exhaling he shot his left arm out and heard the elbow pop, another satisfied smile. Transferring the orange from his right hand to his left he quickly extended the arm and heard another faint pop.

Letting his arms fall to his side, they dangled in space, the brush of the leaves caressed his exposed arms, An was perfectly content now. And that peace and oneness with the celestial order flowed forth from him, every bit of his chi seemed to be aligned with the tree that he lounged in.

The sounds of the birds chirping and singing filled his hearing as he allowed his senses to extend and reach out. Embracing and caressing the world around him, An allowed his senses to seek sounds further out, hearing a squirrel scramble along a branch, dragging a nut in its jaws. Somewhere another animal crinkled some dry leaves as it padded softly along the ground seeking food.

An was home here in the forest, his thoughts of the hidden temple gone, he dropped the unpeeled orange to the ground, sighing he knew he would have to recover the fruit, but not yet. Not yet.

Jiang Jun sat in the dim corner of the drinking house, his eyes already bloodshot from drinking Rice Baijiu the whole night. A half filled bowl sat next to him, as he sat swaying side to side a little. Last night had been the twelfth time he had been rejected as a guard or even as a low level enforcer. Things were looking grim indeed for former chief enforcer.

As his blood shot eyes slowly glanced around the room and fell on a pair of men. They were from the local boss's house, Jun had seen them there last night. High ranking bodyguards of the boss. At first he felt a surge of hope but that came crashing down as they walked towards him, daggers in hand.

Jun clambered to his feet, ready to fight. He leached forward, stumbled and fell. The two killers laughed and boldly walked over to his prostrate form, making jokes about how such a drunkard had thought he was worth of working for their boss.

Jun only smiled to himself. They had fallen for his trap. Jun was a master of Zui Quan, The Drunken First. As the two killers stood over him, still making their jokes, Jun went into action. He surged up, nearly jumping, his big fists clenched. His arms moved like lighting, smashing his fists into the groins of the would be killers.

The two killers didn't make a sound as Jun's fists crushed one of the most sensitive parts of their bodies. One drew in a sharp gasp and fainted, the other just fainted. Jun let them fall to the ground and sat back down next to his bowl of Baijiu.