month record rogue 5 5 3

The young man follows the vanguard as it advances, scouting out the whereabouts of their enemy, who often raided Zhoujia Village. The Grandmaster had actually told him to stay in camp to train. After all, he had only just been dispatched to Yumen for 'experience' a few days ago. He did not know where he had plucked the courage from, but he had told the Grandmaster: 'Care to make a wager with me?' A stray boast, for Father is far away in Baizao, and was not there to lecture him... Little did he expect the Grandmaster to actually agree. Was he not as cold and distant as he thought? In the end, the Grandmaster had agreed, saying that if he managed to capture an enemy and bring them back alive, his 'experience' will be considered complete, and he could return to Baizao. He still has cases to complete and criminals to arrest, and did not wish to waste away his years out in this barren desert. Secretly, he hopes that this scouting trip would run into the enemy.

The scouting party quickly finds themselves in desperate combat with their black-hatted foes. By the time the young man snaps out of his reverie, the enemy's blade is just about to hack apart his face. He steps back over and over, doing his best to parry every blow. The vigorous slashing sends vibrations down his hands as their swords clash, and it takes all his strength to keep his weapon from flying out of his grasp. All he can hear is the din of his own battle. There is no time for him to care about friend or foe, or where arrows are being loosed from, or what orders his commander is barking out—He slips, and tumbles to the ground.

Being able to return to camp alive is fortuitous enough. The young man kneels to the ground and vomits, not caring that the Grandmaster is nearby and looking his way. From then on, the only place he can be found is the training grounds, pushing his martial arts training tenfold, no, a hundredfold harder than before—He wants to get rid of that shameful memory. The Grandmaster will occasionally stop by to watch him practice, but never gives him any direction or commentary. Perhaps he is already aware of his skill level, and is sure he'd stay for more 'experience'?

One day, the Grandmaster quietly approaches him as he trains, and asks: 'Our wager, is it still ongoing?' The young man is startled, and the Grandmaster points at his thigh. 'Your stance is off. Start over.' The young man takes a deep breath and swings his sword once more, but he dares not look in the eyes of his teacher. 'Grandmaster... You still believe I can do it?'

The Grandmaster simply says: 'Today, at the Hour of Ssu, we depart for Zhoujia Village.'

Upon hearing the name of the village, the young man's face goes pale. It was exactly on the road back from Zhoujia Village that he met with the enemy, and nearly died. Now, if he goes back there again...