This is the last chapter I'm going to upload before I go back to my other story for a bit. For some of you, it's going to be an EVIL cliffhanger.

Chapter 3: Tension Rising

Kai Hui was a bit conflicted as to how he should proceed.

He stood atop a balcony, gripping the railing as he watched his men training in the room below. The current hideout of the Lang Qun was an abandoned kung fu academy that was both unknown to most people and several li away from any civilization, Gongmen City included. Their enemies didn't need to know that they were nowhere near the city. Let them search for them in vain. They would come out of hiding again soon enough.

Hui saw some of the wolves below him sparring with each other using swords, spears, and other weapons, while another group was focused purely on kung fu training. He recalled that one of the first things Lord Shen did after his exile was to gather the army together and attempt to teach them all the art of kung fu. Alas, most of the wolves had only gotten enough training in the royal guard to know how to hit things with sharp objects, and they failed spectacularly at learning anything more. The few that did learn ended up with only rudimentary kung fu skills, including the Alpha.

He was the sole exception. He not only learned kung fu, he excelled at it, attaining a level of skill that rivaled Shen himself. Unfortunately, one success in a sea of failures was hardly enough and Shen quickly gave up on the training. He had to shed much of his pride that day when he got down on his paws and knees and begged the warlord to reconsider, but it ultimately paid off when Shen decided that the few wolves who showed potential in kung fu could form a separate unit in his army. Not wanting do deal with them himself anymore, he put Hui in charge of it. The heavy burden of that position didn't even occur to him at the time and he accepted without hesitation.

And now, here he was. He had left Shen and his ideals behind and now sought only what was best for his lupine brethren. He felt a bit guilty that some of those brethren had to be sacrificed this morning, but he needed to gauge just how much of a threat Masters Ox and Croc really were. According to a wolf that he used to secretly spy on the battle, the masters had won, though not without difficulty. That told him that they were a small threat, but a threat nonetheless. If Shen could be defeated by a panda of all things, then he wasn't going to underestimate these two, and he wasn't going to lose any more men to them if he could help it.

They needed to die, sooner rather than later.

It was now the middle of the afternoon as Master Croc walked down the streets of Gongmen City by himself. He disliked the idea of splitting up from Ox at a time like this, but they had a routine to follow. Every day, they would patrol each half of the city, keeping an eye out for trouble. They had the royal guard to do this, but the group of antelopes, while well-meaning, weren't very effective. If they were helpless before Shen's wolves, they had no chance against the Lang Qun.

Reluctantly, they had decided against telling the citizens just how serious this threat really was and had written off this morning's attack as an ordinary bandit raid. They hated lying to the people, but they had enough hardships to deal with already.

"If only Master Rhino were here," Croc heard himself mutter. It wasn't the first time either of them had said that, and it wouldn't do any more good saying it now. Master Rhino wasn't here and they just had to accept that. Given how much of an impact he had made on their lives, that was much easier said than done.

In the midst of his brooding, Croc noticed a small bunny girl running up to him. Just by looking at her clothes, he could tell that she was from one of the poorer districts, perhaps from one of the families whose homes had been destroyed during Shen's attack. The girl smiled sweetly and cupped her paws together. "Master Croc, could you please give me ten yuan for food? Pretty please?

Croc reached into his pouch and pulled out a large, gold coin that he dropped into her paws. "Thanks, Master Croc!" She turned and happily skipped away. Looking out for trouble wasn't the only reason they did this. They also did it for the people who needed their help most during these tough times. Despite the circumstances, he felt better knowing that at least there would be one less starving family in the city.

"So you still got nothing out of them?"

Master Ox was finished with his patrol of the city and had gone to the prison, now that they could use the real one again, to check on the six Lang Qun members they had captured. "I'm afraid not, sir," the guard replied. "Not only have they not given us anything useful, they haven't given us anything at all. They've been completely silent since they were brought in.

He couldn't say he was surprised. Wolves were known for their high degree of loyalty and endurance, these ones probably even more so. They could keep trying all they wanted, but Ox knew they were more likely to stumble across their hideout themselves than get one of them to talk.

It wasn't surprising, but it was still frustrating. Ox turned and slammed his fist into the wall, making the guard jump. It did help him to calm down though. "Alright...thanks anyway." Ox was about to leave when he suddenly got an idea. Maybe there was another way they could get information from them. "Actually, I have a favor to ask you. Go in there and grab me some fur samples from each of them."

"Um...why?"

"Just do it!"

Knowing better then to test Ox's temper, the guard did as he was told. Ox couldn't help but chuckle as he heard a few of the "silent" wolves yelp in pain as their fur was yanked out. A few moments later, the guard returned, the fur collected in a small bowl. "Is this enough?"

"Yeah, it should be plenty," Ox said, taking the bowl from him.

The Lang Qun may not want to talk to them, but prophecies could not keep quiet.

"Sir, our guest has arrived."

Kai Hui looked up from his desk as the wolf appeared at the door to his office. Technically, it was neither his desk, nor his office. They had belonged to the former master of this academy, as was apparent by the plain wooden floor and minimal amount of decoration. He could't complain, all things considered. "Let him in."

The wolf stepped out of the doorway and another person walked in. He wore a large brown cloak and hood that covered almost his entire body. The only part of his face that he could see was a little bit of his muzzle, on which he saw a rather unsettling smirk. "Nice place ya got here," the hooded man said, looking around the room. "Especially for a rental. A good home just doesn't come cheap these days."

"I didn't call you here to make smalltalk."

The man frowned, but only for a second before the smirk came back. "Right, right. Ya wanna talk business." He grabbed the chair in front of Hui's desk and sat himself down. "Okay then, let's talk business."

He was clearly insane, Hui thought, but he had pretty much expected that. Assassins weren't known for being the most stable of individuals. "You've already been informed of your targets, yes?"

"Yup. Masters Storming Ox and Croc of Gongmen City," he recited, leaning back casually in the chair. "Should be a fun challenge."

Hui just nodded. The less time he had to talk to this man, the better. "Good, then let's discuss your price. I believe it was ten-thousand yuan?"

"Uh uh uh," he said, waving his finger at him. "It's ten-thousand yuan each."

He glowered at him. "The Wu Sisters are cheaper."

"Yeah, well the Wu Sisters lost to these guys before they were even masters. That's why ya didn't hire them in the first place, right?" That smirk was suddenly looking a lot more smug then before.

Hui fought back the urge to snarl. He was better than that. "Fine. Twenty-thousand yuan it is, but only if you succeed. You don't get a single fen until they're both dead."

"Ah ha ha ha, fine with me," he laughed, extending a paw over his desk. "Now, shake."

Hui didn't move. "At least have the decency to remove your hood first. I want to know the face of the man I'm hiring."

"Sure." He pulled back his hood, revealing an orange-furred fox with bright, blue eyes. A clump of fur hung from his chin to form a small beard, and of course, the smirk was still there. "Don't ya worry about a thing. Jin the Assassin always hits his mark!"

They shook paws.