Author's Note: Annoying how my writing muse is so inconsistent. Apologies for the wait. New month, new chapter and boy do I have an interesting one for you! Don't worry, we'll be back with the five and Po soon but this chapter is important for what comes later. As for what goes on here, well... You'll be seeing an unexpected face here. So, have fun with that. One last thing to note, there are 'some' suggestive themes here, nothing intrusive just very implicit. So... Trigger warning I guess.

Disclaimer: I DO NOT OWN KFP! (Plz, I want it... Pretty plz?)

Enjoy.

Lurking in the Shadows

Whilst his forces feast on their meagre rations, Zhongcheng trudges his way through murky streets paved with snow, his appearance concealed from any prying eyes. It is not only with his black cloak however, underneath it he is completely covered in black clothing, his kung fu shirt and trousers containing no noticeable pattern to speak of. On top of all of this, his face is almost entirely protected by an obsidian demon mask with his dark blue eyes being the only distinct break in his blackened form.

In spite of the mask's limited vision, the wolf looks to several deteriorated buildings with an unimpressed gaze, not at all surprised at the festering corruption present within this village. Somehow, its proximity to Chorh-Gom prison had only inspired more criminals to seek refuge within the village of Fubai, although their operations are run with far more discretion and finesse in comparison with the ruffians that would usually roam around. His gaze soon shifts towards an imperial rhino guard leaving a small, weathered shack, counting the yuan in his hooves with a greedy smile on his face. Zhongcheng looks further inside the hut just as the doors close behind the rhino, managing to catch a glimpse of a crowd of miscreants mixed with imperial guards circling over a beaten and bloodied combatant. Whether he is dead or not barely concerns the wolf at all as the doors finally shut, the uncaring cheers of the deathmatch participants seeping through the cracks of the decayed hut.

To quite a few of the criminals' surprise, a small amount of the prison's guards eagerly participated in their enterprise as long as everyone kept their mouth shut. As for why, well, being stuck in a dank prison in the middle of the Tavan Bogd mountains often leaves much to be desired. Whether it be their pay, the thrill of a good fight or… Other pleasures, they had found the crime infested village to be some sort of perverted paradise. Zhongcheng's ear twitches at the sound of ravenous moans and hitched breathing emanating from a nearby alleyway, eliciting a disgusted grimace from the wolf as his eyes soon focus on the one building that has a modicum of decency. The village inn.

Out of every single structure within this morally desolate place, the inn has to be the best kept place out of all of them. No splinters jutting out of its wooden walls, no holes in the roof and all the windows remain unbroken. This may seem extremely basic, but when put amongst the other shrivelled hovels it is practically a masterpiece. Dark blue eyes look on at the four-story building before they take a quick glance around the snowy village, making sure that no intrigued cretins were keeping watch of him.

After confirming this, Zhongcheng opens the inn's wooden doors, his ears cringing at the creaking hinges. He feels the coldness of the night air dissipate the immediate second he walks inside, his eyes squinting slightly at the nearly blinding yellow flame of the torches lining the lobby walls. After adjusting his eyes to this insanely bright light, he notices the vast emptiness of the lobby. All that lies before him are a few seats, the staircase leading up to the rooms and the reception desk with a black duck dressed in stained maroon robes sleepily slumping on it. "Can I help you, sir?" A drowsy inquiry exits the duck's beak, beckoning the white wolf forward.

Unlike most people, the duck barely bats an eye at the wolf's menacing appearance, only giving his demon mask a half-lidded stare. It wouldn't be his first time dealing with strange looking thugs and in this area, it certainly won't be the last. Though part of the wolf is curious about the duck's lack of concern, he quickly brushes it aside, reminding himself he doesn't have time to waste. "I'm here to meet up with a friend, lives in room 47?" His usually intimidating voice is replaced by a well-mannered, polite timbre as he tries to remove all hostile presence from his person.

Woken up by the mention of the room number, the duck looks upwards in thought until something clicks within his head, "Oh yeah, he said he was expecting someone… It's on the top floor, fourth door on the…" He trails off, his sleep deprived mind briefly lowering his directional capabilities, "Left…? Yeah, fourth door on the left."

Dark blue orbs stare upon the duck in slight uncertainty before the wolf mutters, "Thank you." And makes his way towards the stairs. As he climbs up the hard wooden steps, Zhongcheng takes a passing glance towards the rooms he passes. However, he stops at the second floor, his eyes taken captive by a peculiar sight. Room 28 boarded shut with the sign 'Room not in use, do not enter!' placed on the centre of the door. He inquisitively hums to himself as he thinks back to a conversation he had with Qipian little over a week ago. It's a good thing we attacked when we did, otherwise there'd be rhino guards crawling around this place. Shortly after receiving word of Nuba's defeat and feigned suicide of the rhino guard many had known as Qingyu, the emperor had requested an investigation into the village of Fubai to find out what exactly had happened in there. Fortunately for Zhongcheng, their attacks have provided enough of a diversion to keep the investigation on hold.

After he takes one last look at the white tiger's crime scene, still somewhat annoyed by Qipian's reckless gamble on the clearly incompetent raven but swiftly shrugs it off as he continues upstairs. As he reaches the top floor, dark blue orbs stare down the hallway with ten rooms on each side. Some of the doors look fairly clean, others are completely broken down, the inn owner clearly not bothered by the occasional break in. He makes his way down the hallway; his eyes able to pick out some symbols carved into the doors and walls. Whether it be some juvenile graffiti, clan tags or hearts with lewd suggestions littered alongside them, they grow in number as his eyes trace down the lower end of the hallway.

Using the duck's instructions, the wolf finally reaches the door to room 47, probably the cleanest looking door out of all of them. Zhongcheng lightly knocks on the door with his right knuckle, patiently waiting as his sensitive ears hear the footsteps coming towards the door. Click. As the door lightly creaks open a smidge, a brown eye looks at the black clad wolf through the tiny opening. "About time." A somewhat whiny voice emanates from the room as its inhabitant opens the door to reveal a warthog dressed in crimson loincloth with a green belt and his left tusk cut off at the edge, "What took you so long?" He motions the wolf inside the room before looking around the hallway in case of any potential intruders.

With a slight smile on his face at his comrade's impatience, Zhongcheng simply responds with, "My apologies, Taotie. I had urgent business to attend to." He finally takes off his demon mask as he heads over to the dining table and sits down. Dark blue orbs take in the minimalistic décor of the warthog's room, though this minimalism isn't for style, its simply because it is cheap. The inn keep's greediness accentuates the place as the bed, kitchen supplies and furniture look functional. Not satisfactory but just fundamentally functional. After a good moment of looking through this barely inhabitable place, he looks back to the warthog as he locks the door again and closes all the curtains in the room.

"Fine, but make sure you inform me about this next time. I don't want to postpone production for any longer than I have to." Taotie reprimands the wolf before sitting down opposite him.

"Trust me, neither do I." Zhongcheng takes a deep, calming breath as he wipes the sweat caused by the mask off his face. Whilst it did help in concealing his identity, it sure as hell is miserable to breathe in. "Speaking of which," His face turns serious as he hunches forward in his chair, the wolf's dark blue eyes piercing into the warthog's very being. "How is the production going?"

At the wolf's fearsome inquiry, Taotie's face shifts to a proud smirk, "Splendidly." The wolf commander's eyebrows shoot up in interest at the inventor's answer. It had only been a month since he had first met him, and he has yet to see what the warthog has to offer. In his search for finding the perfect person for this job, Zhongcheng had heard plenty of rumours spread amongst the criminal underworld of Taotie's mechanical expertise. "I have three of your requested weapons ready," Zhongcheng's eyes widen at his statement, impressed by how he had been able to do so in such a short amount of time, "And I believe it should take me around five days to finish all twelve of them." Taotie's smirk widens into a broad grin, the warthog drinking in the white wolf's awed countenance.

His mouth agape, Zhongcheng struggles to find the right way to phrase his surprise, "Five days?" Practically a whisper floats through the air as the wolf thinks upon his good fortune.

Concerned, Taotie's smile fades slightly as his expression shifts in question, "Is that a problem?"

The inventor's genuinely befuddled query snaps the wolf out of his astonishment, allowing his disposition to brighten, "Oh, it is far from a problem, my friend." Zhongcheng's response is accentuated by a toothy grin, the commander's plan blooming even further in his mind.

Reassured about the wolf's response, Taotie's brown eyes lighten up slightly, an inquiry still lingering within. He remains silent, allowing his wolf acquaintance to bathe in his mirth for a moment, "If you just wanted to know about my progress, why not send a messenger? You didn't have to come here yourself." A layer of suspicion slyly slithers its way into his tone, though it doesn't concern the commander wolf at all. If anything, it'd be strange if he wasn't suspicious.

"I'd prefer that I keep this commission under wraps for now. Though I do trust my soldiers, I can't risk any word accidentally getting out in the case that we're compromised." During this explanation, Zhongcheng's dark blue eyes dart across the room and over to the curtains, seemingly piercing through the bland, beige fabric in the search for any potential intruders. Taotie gives a simple nod in response, understanding the importance of secrecy and discretion.

Knock! Knock!

Both men snap their heads over towards the door, neither man expecting any other visitors. Serious blue orbs bore into brown, silently asking the warthog if this was planned but only receiving a paranoid nod in response. Zhongcheng narrows his eyes in speculation, recounting his journey here. There's no way… I know for a fact no one followed me… Right?

Knock! Knock!

They dart their heads over to the door again, the white wolf's sensitive ears picking up impatient pacing coming from outside. Without a moment's hesitation, he puts his demon mask back on and unsheathes a dagger from his side before hiding inside the bathroom. Taking this as his signal, Taotie walks up to the door and opens it warily. His eyes widen immensely at the sight of a female leopard, her arms bare and legs bare up until the thighs. Clinging onto her form is a black Chinese dress, contrasting the abundance of make up on her face and her far from seductive expression. "Um… I'm sorry, madam. I think you have the wrong room." Hiding his annoyance at being interrupted, the warthog tries his best to remain polite to the woman, knowing full well what her 'business' here is.

"Really? I was told to go to room 47." She spits back in an unamused voice, not at all delighted about her time being wasted. "Then again, I was told a buffalo lives here… Not a little creep." Finding it difficult to resist scowling at the loathsome feline, Taotie is fortunately saved by a water buffalo dressed in cheep rags opening the door to room 57.

"Over here, doll!" He calls out to the leopard, who at the sight of her 'customer' immediately puts on her flirtatious act by sauntering over to him. As she steps into the room with feigned elegance, the water buffalo cannot help but to stare at her with a dirty grin. Disgusted at his neighbour's practically public display of salaciousness, Taotie begins to head back inside his room until, "Hey, Taotie. Y'know that um… Wrist… Crossbow… Thing? Do you know when it will be ready?"

With a deep sigh, the warthog only just manages to conceal his irritation as he answers, "Should be finished by tomorrow night, sir." Before heading back into room 47 and closing the door, the water buffalo's thanks seeping through the door's cracks. He rolls his eyes, irritated at the fact he had to act respectful towards such degenerates. However, it would be plain stupid if he straight up insulted his clientele now, wouldn't it?

"My, my Taotie. I didn't think you'd be one to act on your urges." Zhongcheng snidely comments as he moves out of his hiding space, having heard the warthog's ordeal. Only an angered glare is given as a response, causing a small chuckle to ripple from the wolf's throat. "In all seriousness, it's surprising you're able to make so many weapons in such a short amount of time, especially considering how complex my order is."

Upon the wolf's praise, Taotie finds his smile once again as his eyes gain a cocky glint, "Do you want to know how long it took me to make the Jade Palace's training hall?" Dark blue eyes wordlessly ask for an answer to this intriguing question. "A week." He simply answers, the warthog's smile growing with arrogance.

With widened eyes, the wolf is only able to repeat in shock, "A week?"

"Well, there was a week afterwards of testing and adjustments but there were barely any edits, so… Yeah, a week." Taotie brags with a smug expression on his face as he sits back down in his seat.

Releasing an impressed hum, Zhongcheng sheathes his dagger and respectfully bows towards the inventor. "I can see your talents certainly haven't been exaggerated, Taotie. Thank you for your services."

"Oh please, it was a pleasure to work on such a beautiful design… I have to say, lord Shen truly made something remarkable." He shrugs off the wolf's graciousness, happy enough to use his talents on something more than regular armaments. "Now, when are you going to pick up these weapons?" His admittedly excited face soon shifts into a serious expression, the inventor silently planning out a way to deliver his request discreetly.

"It won't be me personally, it'll be a colleague of mine if that's alright with you. Unfortunately, I don't have an exact date or time when they'll arrive but just know they won't be for another week." With this answer, Taotie mindfully nods, wordlessly thanking the wolf for giving him enough time to figure this out properly. "As for your payment," Zhongcheng promptly pulls out a small brown bag before throwing it on the table, "You'll find it's the exact amount we've agreed on." He clarifies as the bag lands on the table with a metallic jingle. "So long, Taotie."

In response, the warthog gives him a small wave, "Good luck with those kung fu masters." Venom infects his timbre as he thinks upon the very red panda who had taken credit for his achievement, a horrific ire coating his blood.

Leaving the warthog to his angered thoughts, Zhongcheng walks out the door as he puts his cloak over his head again. The black demon mask covers his maleficent grin as he leaves the village inn, his plan coming into fruition faster than he had anticipated. Once the white wolf reaches the border of the snowy village of Fubai, he sprints out on all fours, his black clad form blending in with the night's darkened skies as he heads back to his covert forces.

Yep, I've got Taotie. In all honesty, I thought the villain ideas were quite good for LoA (if they were done better) but just know he isn't a 'main villain' here just a side character. As for what he's doing, well, the five and Po are gonna have their hands (paws, scales... Pincers? I dunno) full. I hope you've enjoyed this somewhat short chapter for now and I'll see you next time :)