Three days have passed since Yuè, Po, and the Furious Five left the Valley of Peace to investigate an attack on Tan Jin City. Looking down at the map, Tigress pointed out to the rest of the group that they were half a day's trip from arriving at the city. "So what's the plan when we get to Tan Jin?" Jian asked as he sharpened his sword on a whetstone he carries with him. "Simple. We're gonna get into the city, find out what's goin' on, find my daughter, and leave. Simple as that." Yuè answered promptly. Tigress scoffed, "That's it? What if we encounter the army the letter talked about?" she asked. Yuè shrugged, "We improvise." he answered vaguely. Tigress had a look of disbelief on her face, "That's it? Improvise?" she asked. Jian chuckled, "Well, that's Yu. Act first, think later." he said as he sheathed his sword.
The warriors walked on for a few hours, Yuè and Jian talking about past jobs and Po asking if they were there yet every other minute. After turning around a bend in the road, the travelers were met with an unexpected delay: a roadblock. Soldiers ranging from komodo dragons to wolves made the ranks of the roadblock. Curious of what was happening, the group proceeded cautiously, Yuè put his hood up and kept his left hand close to the crossbow on his belt, Jian held a throwing knife in his right hand and his it behind his leg, the other weaponless warriors tensed up slightly to ready themselves for conflict. As they approached the obstruction, Yuè carefully scoped out the outpost.
The roadblock was fortified by two watch towers to the left and right, both having a guard equipped with a crossbow. Behind the towers were several tents, sleeping accommodations for the soldiers. As a rough estimate, there were about fifteen to twenty guards in charge of the post. When he finished his observation he subtly relayed the information along to the rest of the party, earning slight nods of understanding from everyone. Tigress was the final one to nod as they approached one of the two guards standing at the entrance of the barricade. "Hey! This road is off limits by order of Warlord Jūnfá! Turn back!" commanded a lynx clad in an iron chestplate, iron pauldrons, leather vambraces, and iron greaves and brandishing a yuncheng. "We're travelers on our way to Tan Jin. Could we please pass?" Tigress asked in an innocent voice. "What business do you have there?" asked the second guard, a large black bear clad in a full iron suit brandishing a large great-hammer. "We're monks. We've heard many tales of the city's magnificent temples and we're on a pilgrimage to see them for ourselves." Crane quickly lied.
The two guards looked at the group dubiously. Inspecting the party closely to see if anything was off. Their eyes looked to the back of the group as they spotted a suspicious hooded figure standing next to an equally suspicious crocodile, both heavily armed, "What about those two?" the lynx asked pointing at the lupine and reptile, "They don't look like monks." Tigress turned to look at Yuè and Jian briefly before turning back to the soldier, "That's because they're our bodyguards. The journey here was so dangerous and we monks are pacifists, so we needed someone to protect us." she lied again. The guards exchanged looks with each other before looking back at the supposed monks, "Well, it doesn't matter if you're monks. This road is blocked for a reason. So it'll be best if you just turn back and head on your way." the bear commanded, pointing at the path in front of them.
"C'mon! You wouldn't deny a few monks their right to pay tribute to the gods would you?" Monkey pleaded. The two guards became agitated, "That's exactly what we're doing. Now turn back before we have a problem!" commanded the lynx in a serious and aggressive tone. Yuè was watching the scene carefully as well as watching the group's surroundings. Suddenly, he got a feeling in his gut that just felt off. He looked around subtly for a moment before his eyes focused on the right guard tower. Time slowed as he focused on the guard, he was a clouded leopard, young and hungry for battle from the looks of it, and he was aiming his crossbow, at head-level, at Tigress. As Yuè focused more with his battle hardened eyes, he could see the cat's finger was squeezing the trigger and was about to fire the bolt at the Furious Five's leader. Grasping for his crossbow, Yuè prepared to fire at the soldier before he could shoot Tigress but he stopped halfway when a glint of iron caught his eye.
A full two seconds passed in that moment. Time began to speed up normally for the wolf when he, and everyone else, heard the young leopard scream in pain. Looking closer Yuè saw a throwing knife lodged in his shoulder, causing blood to spill from the wound and making the soldier fire his weapon into the side of the guard, a black furred wolf, across from him. Yuè turned to Jian, 'Did you?' he mouthed, earning a head shake from the reptile. The guards immediately reacted to the attack, "They're attacking us! Form by rank and ATTACK!" the bear commanded the rest of the camp as he swung his hammer at Tigress who dodged it with a backflip.
Tigress retaliated with a jump kick to the ursine's face, knocking him to the ground. Po came to her side and punched the lynx in the face, instantly knocking him unconscious. The rest of the Five ran between the two warriors into the camp, engaging soldiers as they attacked. Yuè ran towards and climbed up the side of the right guard tower, using his claws to dig into the wooden structure. He inspected the leopard carefully, checking his pulse to see if he was alive and finding his pulse racing. Luckily, the young soldier had fainted from the shock of the blade in him. Carefully removing the knife, Yuè looked at it carefully, noting the pitch-black, spade-shaped blade. He looked down at the camp below to see a lot more than his previous estimate of soldiers fighting the Dragon Warrior and his allies. He even spotted Jian getting in on the action, swinging his dadao and flinging opponents around with his tail swipes.
The floor boards of the tower creaked behind the lupine, causing him to quickly draw his liuyedao from the sheath on his back. He turned to face the potential threat, only to be met with a dagger pressed against his throat and his blade placed on the throat of a familiar brown furred weasel dressed in all black leather armor. "Isn't this a dandy hello." Fan said as she removed the dagger from Yuè's throat, the wolf doing the same. "I certainly didn't expect you to join the party. What are you doing here anyway Fan?" Yuè asked, resting his sword to his side. Fan placed a hand on her hip, "I saw you at 'The Dragon's Maw' and had to know where you and Scales were headed. Then I saw Whiskers here trying to shoot you guys and had to lend a hand." she explained, gesturing to the unconscious soldier on the floor. Yuè looked down at the scene below, several soldiers were lying unconscious on the ground as the warriors began to clear out the camp, "Well, let's not keep everyone waiting." he said with a grin as he hopped over the railing of the watchtower, landing crouched on the ground below with his sword, the dull edge resting on his forearm, in his left hand. Fan jumped down, landing beside him as they ran to join the battle.
Po and Tigress were back-to-back as they battled the soldiers of the outpost. Around them they saw Crane picking guards up from the ground and dropping them on top of crowds of other guards. Monkey was jumping between enemies and taking out large groups with wide swings of a makeshift bo staff made from a long bamboo reed. Mantis couldn't be seen but his work could, many of the soldier were stiffened from his paralyzingly strikes. Viper could be seen swiftly slithering about the battlefield attacking with quick and precise strikes with her tail. Jian was fighting fiercely, swinging his sword to deflect enemy weaponry and using his iron hand to deliver hard-hitting knockout punches. "What set these guys off?" Po asked as he side kicked a wolf soldier, sending him flying. "I don't know? They said that we attacked them." Tigress answered as she deflected a hammer strike and punched the komodo dragon wielding it. Tigress and Po turned to face each other as the panda grabbed the tiger by her hands and swung her in a full circle as she kicked a group of komodo dragons surrounding them. Po let go and Tigress flew forward, spring-boarding off the chest of a heavily armored rhino charging at them and knocking him over.
She landed on all fours and skid back a few feet. When she stood up she found herself backed up to the bear from the front of the roadblock, "Hi there kitty." he said with a sadistic grin as he raised his hammer to smash Tigress. She crossed her arms to block the strike, however, she noticed something was off when it never came. The bear was standing completely still and suddenly fell to his knees, blood began to drip from his nose and the corner of his mouth as he fell on his face with a fleeting gasp. In his back were three iron crossbow bolts penetrating his armor. Tigress looked up from the fallen bear to see Yuè with his crossbow pointed her way, "Don't move." he ordered as he fired another bolt. Tigress flinched slightly when he shot the crossbow. From behind she heard a pained groan and turned to see the bolt sticking out of the neck of a lynx with a niuweidao raised over his head, poised to strike down the tiger. Blood spurted from the wound before the cat fell to the ground. Tigress was stunned for a moment before getting a pat on the shoulder from Yuè, "Now you owe me one." he joked as he quickly moved across the battlefield.
As Yuè ran he slashed at any opposition that met him head on. He was cut off by a wall of soldiers with bows and crossbows led by a wolf. "Well s***." Yuè swore as the opposing wolf ordered the soldiers to fire. Yuè turned his back and fell to his knee, preparing himself for the volley of projectiles to hit him. He heard the thumping sounds of arrows and bolts hitting something solid but realized it wasn't him. He looked up and saw Jian covering him. "I got your back." he said as he and his lupine friend stood up. Yuè looked at the plated armor on the crocodile's back covered with arrows and bolts, "And it looks like they got yours." he joked as he grabbed a bomb from his belt. Yuè tossed the bomb into the crowd of soldiers, who panicked at the small projectile, and turned away to shield his eyes, Jian doing the same. The bomb went off with a loud bang and a bright flash, blinding the soldiers. Yuè and Jian rushed toward the sightless soldiers and began to engage them. Jian picked up the wolf, commanding the soldiers, by the head and slammed him against the ground. Yuè moved to the front of the group and punched a snow leopard in the side of the head. He turned to his right and roundhouse kicked a crocodile, sending him crashing to the ground unconscious. Jian moved in behind Yuè and swung his tail, knocking over three soldiers at once. Yuè jumped over the reptile and threw a sleeping dart into the neck of a tiger, putting him to sleep. After the last soldier fell Yuè and Jian moved on to the next group of soldiers to engage.
Monkey, Mantis, and Crane were fighting fiercely as they became surrounded by a large circle of soldiers, all wielding large swords. Monkey tossed Mantis at a nearby ox as Crane flapped his wings creating a strong gust of wind, knocking down a small group of the soldiers. The ox and several other soldiers fell to ground, stiffened by the insect's pressure point attacks. Monkey grabbed a civet in front of him with his tail and swung him in a circle, sweeping more of the soldiers' feet from under them. Just as the circle of opponents fell more soldiers took their place. "That's the third time! Where do these guys come from?"he asked rhetorically as the three fighters went back-to-back as the circle started to close in on the warriors. Just as a boar was about to strike Monkey he was stopped in his tracks by a needle-like dart piercing the side of his neck, paralyzing him where he stood. Confused by this, Monkey leaned forward and poked the soldier's chest, causing him to fall backwards. Suddenly, a figure cloaked in black jumped in front of the masters and threw several more darts into the necks of the rest of the soldiers in the circle, paralyzing them as well. The soldiers fell over in a domino-like manner as Crane stepped toward the mysterious figure, "That was amazing! Who are you?" he asked. The figure turn to them and smiled brightly, "I'm Fan." the weasel said with a hand on her hip. The three warriors' jaws dropped at the sight of the female warrior. Fan quickly dashed off, knives in hand, toward more soldiers.
The battle was nearly over as enemy forces started dwindling. The soldiers began to retreat from the overwhelming threat. They had numbers but the warriors they faced had more skill. "They're retreating!" Tigress called out to the others. "Let them go! We have what we need!" Yuè called out in response. Po walked over to the lupine, "What do you mean?" he asked. Yuè pointed to a tiger lying on the ground he was standing over. The same tiger he threw a sleeping dart in during the battle. "These guys mentioned some warlord. He is gonna tell us more about 'em." he said pointing at the sleeping cat. Yuè stood up and lightly kicked the soldier in his side, "Wake up sleeping beauty." he taunted as the soldier began to awaken. The tiger slowly began to wake up. His vision was groggy but he could clearly remember the battle he was in and recognized the eight warriors standing around him, more vividly the wolf who was now pointing a crossbow at him. "Wh-Who are you? What do you want?" he asked, his voice shaky and panicked. Jian grabbed the soldier by the scruff of his neck and lifted him off the ground, "We're asking the questions here!" he said in an aggressive tone as he held a dagger to the tiger's throat. Yuè sauntered over to the feline and lightly pressed his crossbow against the cat's chest, "We want to know who Jūnfá is." he said in an intimidating voice. The soldier swallowed hard, "J-Jūnfá is our c-commander. H-he ordered us t-to block off the m-main road to T-Tan Jin City." the soldier stammered. Yuè pushed the crossbow harder into the tiger's chest, the bolt nearly breaking skin, "Why does he want the road to Tan Jin blocked?" he questioned in a more stern voice. The tiger flinched at the iron bolt stabbing him, "He wanted to make sure no one escaped Tan Jin! He's conquered the city and is preparing to move on!" he shouted, "That's all I know! I'm just a grunt, no one tells me anything!" he cried out. Yuè grinned, "Good enough. Drop him." he said, Jian dropping the frightened feline. As soon as the soldier landed he quickly took of toward the entrance of the stronghold.
Tigress walked up behind Yuè and punched him in the shoulder, "Ow! What was that for?" he asked, rubbing his shoulder. "You said there were fifteen or twenty soldiers! That was a small army!" she shouted. Yuè looked at her with agitation, "Yeah, well, my estimate was a bit off then." he said earning another punch to the shoulder.
The others laughed at the wolf and tiger's display and continued on their way to the occupied city. As they walked Yuè began to feel uneasy. The type of uneasiness that comes with a bad memory. His ears were pressed against his skull and his tail was tightly hugging his leg. Viper noticed this out the corner of her eye, "Are you okay Yu? You look a little down." she asked. Yuè jumped slightly at the sudden sound of her voice, "Me? I'm fine just...thinking." he said. "Are you sure you're okay?" Viper pressed. Yuè waved dismissively, "Yeah. I'm fine. Don't worry about me." he said faking a smile. Viper raised an eyeridge at the wolf's odd behavior. Before she could press him further Po called out to the group, "Hey guys, look up at that hill!" he said pointing to the far left of them. Everyone stopped and looked to where the panda was pointing, "It looks like a house. Do you think anyone's living inside?" Monkey asked. Yuè walked past everyone, "Don't know, don't care. We need to keep moving." he said in a perturbed tone. "It wouldn't hurt to look. Besides, if there is anyone in there they should know about what's happening and get to safety." Po said, the members of the Five nodding and agreeing with him. Yuè's fur bristled up and his ears pulled back in anger, "I know whose house it is and trust me, no one lives there! Now let's keep moving!" he shouted. The others looked at him with questionable looks on their faces, "You know who lives there? Don't they deserve to know the situation?" Tigress asked in an appalled voice. Yuè looked down, ears flat and tail sagging, "They already know. Because...that's my house." he said in a dispirited voice. "Why wouldn't you want to see your own home?" Viper asked in a concerned voice. "I...I'll show you." he said as they began to make their way toward the house with Yuè leading the way.