Wednesday, November 30, 2016

MINIONS OF THE TIMELESS MASTER SESSION FOUR: LOST IN THE PALE HILLS OF HAI'AN

This campaign follows a group of characters who went into the Tomb of the Timeless Master and formed a sect there. It is part of a multiverse of campaign, set in world similar but not identical to the one depicted in my other session logs. Here is a link to the previous session log: Session Three. 

Note, the campaign is currently playtesting a module, which is being play tested across my other two campaigns. So some elements are similar. 

TIMELESS MASTER SECT
Sniffle Cheng (Zhen Yuancheng): Leader of the Timeless Master Sect. A scholar and physician, married to Jia, the Snake Goddess. 
Shinda Hogong: A 10 foot tall Juren with a sadistic streak and fondness for gold. He is the son of a brewer and the head instructor of the Timeless Master Disciples. 
Li Bai: Loyal servant of Jia the snake goddess. She has white hair and specializes in weapons like the iron thread.
Jia the Snake Goddess: A snake demon close to transforming fully into a human. She is married to Sniffle Cheng, and her worshippers, local Zun tribesmen, are disciples of the sect. 

THE BANYAN
Sniffles Cheng and Shinda Hogong prepared for their journey to Hai'an, where they were to meet Twin-Fisted Eagle at the Bai-Chuan Inn. They took with them 10 Zun warriors and made their way to Zun City. They chartered a ship, the Dutiful Empress, and gave the Captain a considerable sum, instructing him to provide ample entertainment for the voyage. Shinda emphasized the point, explaining that he expected the best entertainments and that he had dismembered men for failing to do far less. 

Visibly shaken, the captain set about town to find musicians and performers. While they waited, Shinda and Sniffles went to the Hen-Shi Tea House. There Sniffles proposed that his tea was better than the best the establishment had to offer and they made a 1 tael wager. The boss of the Tea House invited Scholar Shen to come and judge the teas. 

Sniffles convinced the boss to use his tea vessel in both cases. His vessel had a switch which contained a hidden compartment of cheap tea. During the match he swapped their High Minded Phoenix Tea, a very expensive type of tea, with the much cheaper, Menglao's Black Tea. Scholar Shen not only declared Sniffle's Jade Flower Tea supreme, he accused the Tea House of cheating its customers by claiming their inferior tea was the much adored High Minded Phoenix Tea. 

Sniffles and Shinda left as arguments broke out in the Tea House and returned to their ship. The ship set off and they were delighted to find musicians, sing-song girls and paper shadow plays entertaining them the entire way. 

Midway through the voyage as they were watching a shadow play that involved four long screen panels, they heard the drone of a strange woodwind. Then the paper shadow puppets dropped and in their place, malicious shadow creatures appeared on the screens, attacking their shadows. One of them cut down Sniffles shadow arms, and he found his real arms were suddenly paralyzed. 
Art by Jackie Musto


Copper Lobster shouted "Its the house of paper shadows! Get off the boat!"

Shinda grabbed their tea vessel, ripped a pillar holding up the hall and ran for the deck, tripping into the river and just barely making it to shore. Sniffles called his warriors. Nine responded. He commanded them to carry him off the ship and to the shore, which they did. 

On the shore they found Copper Lobster and made their way east toward Bai-Chuan Inn. They arrived safely, but Shinda took the warriors to go hunting in the Southern Bamboo Forest for a tiger. 

They searched for a couple of days and found the trail of a white tiger. As they approached, it purred and filled them with lethargy. Still Shinda managed to bash it on the skull a few times, dropping it to the ground. He commanded the men to secure the tiger and return it to the Inn. 

Back at the Inn, Sniffles approached a group of scholars at a table and challenged them to find any piece of medical knowledge he did not know. Sniffles then bragged that he could diagnose any ailment. They spoke politely over tea. He gave them some of his nice tea and the scholar offered up a red frothy tea he claimed came from the Suk region. Sniffles inspected it for poison but it appeared safe so he drank. 

Moments later he started to shake and realized he'd been poisoned. 

The man said "If you can diagnose the poison, I will give you the antidote."

Sniffles thought about it, and realized his symptoms were those of Zhen Bird Venom, so he announced this, and the man provided a bottle of pills to cure him. 

An argument ensued and the scholar grew angry at Sniffle's insults. He stood up and got into a stance, challenging Sniffles Cheng to a fight. 

Acting like he was going to say something, Sniffles surprised the man with a quick tap of his fingers, striking his bladder accupoint, reducing his ability to concentrate, but more importantly, causing him to wet himself. 

Embarrassed, the man pointed and shouted "You! This isn't over."

Sniffles used the moment to rally the crowd against the man. He pointed out that this great scholar challenged him to a fight, but wet his clothes before a single blow was struck. The people roared with laughter and the man fled from the scene. 

An old woman (the same woman Shinda met in Zun city) leaned close to Sniffles and said "That was Nanda, you shouldn't anger Nanda".

They talked. She had skewers filled with candied fruit. She told him he looked like a great sect leader and offered to sell him information. She also offered to poison people for a fee. Eventually he hired her to kill Green Mantis. He also bought some information from her about the Tomb of the Red General. 

THE PALE HILLS
Li Bai was brought before Pale Fox, leader of the Pale Fox Gang. She had an encampment around a hill-cave and inside the cave, was a reception hall. 

Li Bai greeted Pale Fox, who was adorned in jewels and gold. She asked about the whereabouts of Hero Feng. 

Pale Fox stood and shouted "Never speak that name again, or I will take your head."

Li Bai continued, offering an alliance between her people and the Pale Fox Gang. Pale Fox was reluctant but agreed to meet in secret at the Bai Chuan Inn. 

Li Bai continued to press about Hero Feng, and Pale Fox commanded her men to grab her. 

Li Bai fled, running from the caves as the bandits trailed her. She made a mad dash over the hills and escaped, but found herself lost. She wandered the hills for several days. First she came upon a group of four Perfect Heaven Lineage priests. They seemed concerned that she was traveling the hills alone, and the leader told one of his men to accompany her after she told them she was heading to He Dong. The man, Chen, went to escort her, but she unleashed a surprise attack with her fan, pelting them all with debris and wind. They struck at her a couple of times, but she dropped them all fairly quickly. She then killed three of them, bound Chen and took him away. 

She had established in the course of the conversation with them that they were going to Southern Hill Fortress, so she knew they might be allies of Southern Hill Sect. Chen called her a demoness and a wicked woman. He claimed Yellow Mantis was a great and righteous man. She could not stand to hear such lies and slit his throat. 

Li Bai continued her way through the hills, once again getting lost. Eventually she was ambushed by three more Perfect Heaven Lineage priests. They told her they were after the person who killed their sworn brothers (this was several days after her killing the priests). She lied that she was not part of a sect and claimed ignorance. They seemed to believe her, but had enough doubt that they requested she come with them to sort out the matter, as she was the only person they found near the site of the murder. They were going to take her to Southern Hill Fortress. 

She challenged the man to a duel. And she killed him with her rope dart. The other two, shouted and fled to the west. She chased after them and used her Iron Thread to ensure them as they fled, killing each in turn. 

This is where the session ended. 

Monday, November 28, 2016

DISPOSABLE DISCIPLES SESSION 25: THE HEAD OF YELLOW MANTIS

This is a log for my ongoing Disposable Disciples of Bone Kingdom campaign. You can see the previous session HERE. 

Player Characters: 
Shen Chun
Little Bai
Silent Dagger
Ong
Min

Sects: 

The Righteous Outlaws
Calamity Star
Ou Jinghzhu
Tea Master Houzhou

Stone Palace Sect (Also called Golden Way)
A gambling hall and criminal network in Yun Hu. Currently under control of party, with Weeping Lotus managing it. They've absorbed many other sects into this organization including Crocodile Sect, Blades of the Weeping Lotus, Temple of the Jade Mercies, Relentless Corpse Sect and more. 

Members:
Bao Yang (Chief)
Shen Chun (Second Chief)
Weeping Lotus (Right Vanguard)
Feng (Accountant)
Gu (Head Chef)
Little Bai
Min
Scholar Shen (a scholar who has been writing a story about Little Bai's life)

Dancing Scorpions
Criminal network in Yun Hu

Relentless Corpse Sect
Da Mei Mei

Temple of the Jade Mercies (see Stone Palace)
Abbot Wei Zhao
Abbess Bao-Yu
Yao Tu-On
Yao Chun
Yao Ba

Southern Hill Sect
Yellow Mantis
White Chysanthemum
Green Mantis (Dead but important)

Twin-Fisted Eagle Sect
Twin Fisted Eagle
Jade Fist

Bone Breaking Sect
Destroyed and taken over by Drunken Hero Kang

Glorious Death Cult
Led by Supreme Master Tung, who says he is a god of death



SOUTHERN HAI'AN
Silent Dagger, Devil-Faced Toad, Min and Chao continued to drag Yellow Mantis through the southern hills, disguising him so anyone they happened by wouldn't recognize the sect leader. 

As they were traveling, they came across a women in robes and head covering made of wreathed flowers. Seeing that they had an unconscious person in their group, she offered healing. They said he would be fine and she asked them what sect they belonged to. 

Min and Chao said they were from Bone Breaking Sect. The woman noted this was far south from their territory and suggested they make a point of honoring Perennial World sect with a visit the next time they came this far south (it was clear to them they had wandered into the woman's territory). However they left things there and continued on after saying good bye. 

When they reached He Dong, Silent Dagger told the others he had business to tend to and had to leave. The group pressed him for details but he only provided vague statements like " I was given an important task to perform". After Silent Dagger left, Chao announced he intended to leave the group and focus on leading the death cult. He said his good byes and left. 

Devil-Faced Toad agreed to take the head of Yellow Mantis to Stone Palace Sect, so that Min could remain in the south and search for manuals belonging to Mystic Sword Sect. Min had a friend in the area named Ong. She traveled to his home and they exchanged greetings. She told him she was looking for Mystic Sword techniques and he said that the sect was destroyed but he'd heard that the Autumn Killers in Hening used techniques known to belong to the sect. He explained they were contract killers. 

Min was reluctant to deal with such people, so instead decided to make a journey into the Banyan and search the ruins of Mystic Sword Temple. Ong offered to accompany her and they took a boat to Jin-Yu. There they stayed at a humble inn where the food was bad and the accommodations lacked comfort. 

The next day they went to Mystic Sword Temple and found a group of beggars in the courtyard. The beggars stared at them as they approached but allowed them to search around. Min and Ong went into one of the collapsed buildings and searched the rubble. They found a shaft that lead deep into the hill, and down a narrow passage, which opened into a tomb. There they found a manual called "The First Technique of Lady White Blade", which contained a technique called Spearing Blade. There was also a sword that resembled the Immortal Killing Sword except the blade was bright silver and it had the name 'Bao' etched into it. 

They left the tomb and the beggars asked them what they had found. At first they tried to lie, but Min told them they had acquired a sword and manual. 

The leader of the beggars said "If you can get past us, you may keep them both."

Ong used his Swift Pounce of the Cheetah technique to attack the lead beggar, and a fight broke out. They quickly brought down 6 of the 13 beggars with Stone Shattering Finger and the lead beggar said they were free to leave. 

But this was not good enough for Ong. He demanded the beggar teach him a stick technique for their troubles. Outraged, the Beggar planted his feet in the ground and dueled with Ong. 

Ong won the duel, knocking out the beggar. He told the others to drag their leader to Jin-Hu where he could teach his stick technique when he awoke. 


NORTHERN HAI'AN
Little Bai, Shen Chun, Dim-Witted Chen and about 7 disciples (one blinded by a poisoned arrow) traveled to Xuanlu. They had just been to the Tomb of the Red General but they found it too dangerous. 

As they walked, the man they had met outside the temple appeared in their path. He said he wanted to work with them to retrieve the Life Keeping Stone from the tomb. 

Shen Chun listened and asked for details. The man said his name was Brother Wolf, that he and his sister would be willing to work with them to get the stone, then they could have a fair duel for ownership once it was secure. He apparently was doing this behind the back of the old woman he had been with before (see last session log for details). 

The group agreed and they returned to the temple. When they arrived there was a frail woman with two hook swords waiting. Brother Wolf identified her as his sister. 

They went in to the temple together, careful this time. IN the first room they cautiously moved against the wall, then triggered the trap that set the room spinning. This avoided any casualties. Then, they went to the room with the spiked floor and poisoned arrow traps. The traps were triggered anytime someone stepped on the platforms dotting the chamber, so Little Bai used a technique to walk through the air to the other side. The party through him a rope and then everyone climbed across. Two disciples fell to their deaths here but everyone else made it safely across (both Scholar Shen and the blinded disciple had waited outside at the entrance). Dim-Witted Chen remained behind. 

They reached a landing and saw a set of stairs leading up to another chamber. Shen Chun ordered his men to go into the chamber. All the disciples went up into the chamber and said "there are a lot of statues up here". Then there was the sound of grinding stone and steel colliding,followed by the thud of bodies falling to the ground. Shen Chun called to his men but heard no response. 

They approached the chamber cautiously. Inside they saw his men on the ground, dead. They also saw eight statues in rows throughout the chamber. Beyond the statues was a dais with the Life Keeping Stone upon it. The statues were all of Sunan pointing a sword. Three of the swords dripped blood. 

Brother Wolf's sister leapt to the air and flew over the statues. As soon as she did, they moved and raised their swords. They were obviously mechanized but ingeniously engineered enough to anticipate her movement. The statues slashed at her, drawing blood. She somersaulted onto the dais, grabbed the stone and flew back. 

They all headed back over the rope. When they were nearly outside the tomb, Shen Chun noticed that the sister looked unhealthy and her external symptoms matched his man who had been poisoned by one of the darts in the entrance to the tomb. Without taking her pulse, he couldn't be sure of her ailment though. 

When they reached the outside, Little Bai and Brother Wolf dueled for the Life Keeping Stone. It was a close fight. Each time Little Bai used Blade of the Dancing Fox, Brother Wolf did a reverse flip and plunged a sword into this belly. But eventually he was able to overcome this and use the technique effectively, piercing Brother Wolf with his blade enough times to drop him. He stopped short of killing the man.
Jade Priestess 


Brother Wolf nodded to his sister, who handed them the stone. 

They went their separate ways, and the party traveled to Xuanlu where they took a ship to Yun Hu. On the way, Shen Chun was awakened by Dim-Witted Chen in the night. They both saw a metallic mist that swirled into view and materialized before them. It slowly took on the features of Shen Chun, only more manicured and handsome. 

"Give me the Stone and I won't have to kill you", it said. 

Little Bai screamed "Oh no, a ghost, and fled into a nearby alcove. Shen Chun and Dim Witted Chen fought the creature, eventually fending it off. As it moved away from the ship, Dim Witted Chen used Blasting Dragon, scattering it over the river. 

When they reached Stone Palace Sect, the old women with the meat skewers was still there. Shen Chun asked Weeping Lotus about her. He said that he believed she had been poisoning people. 

Shen Chun went to speak with her. As she was about to speak, he swiftly tapped her chest three times, freezing her accupoints and paralyzing her. He then brought her to his reception hall and asked if she had been poisoning people. 

Eventually she said she had, and he told her not to. 

"But I must hone my skills," she protested. 

Shen Chun instructed his disciples to beat her to death (which was easy given her paralyzed state). 

A woman arrived, giving Shen Chun the signal that she was Silent Dagger. 

Meanwhile Little Bai set up a table at the rear of the hall with food and a banner, awaiting people to arrive in response to his posters (which had announced his intention to recruit for a heroic sect). 

At this time, Devil-Faced Toad arrived with the head of Yellow Mantis. This sent cheers up in the hall and Shen Chun proclaimed their victory. 


DEMON MOON CULT
Silent Dagger reached the Demon Moon Cult and asked to speak with their leader. He was granted an audience with Jade Priestess on a Pavilion, surrounded by Demon Moon Cultists. 

He said he brought a gift. When she asked for details, he said he could procure the Thousand Painful Deaths flower and give it to her if she fought with him. 

She told him to come back when he had it, and they would talk. 

"Well I am already here," he said. "So I am going to fight you either way; do you want it to be for the flower or not?"

Jade Priestess assumed a fighting stance.

Silent Dagger opened with Storming Daggers, which Jade Priestess used Deflecting Canopy to avoid. She then attacked him with bright blue claws, but he countered and wounded her. The cultists began to enclose. 

This is where the session ended. 


Wednesday, November 23, 2016

DISPOSABLE DISCIPLES OF BONE KINGDOM SESSION 24: VENTING THE GRUDGE

This is a log for my ongoing Disposable Disciples of Bone Kingdom campaign. You can see the previous session HERE. 

Player Characters: 
Shen Chun
Little Bai
Silent Dagger
Chao Feng
Min

Sects: 

The Righteous Outlaws
Calamity Star
Ou Jinghzhu
Tea Master Houzhou

Stone Palace Sect (Also called Golden Way)
A gambling hall and criminal network in Yun Hu. Currently under control of party, with Weeping Lotus managing it. They've absorbed many other sects into this organization including Crocodile Sect, Blades of the Weeping Lotus, Temple of the Jade Mercies, Relentless Corpse Sect and more. 

Members:
Bao Yang (Chief)
Shen Chun (Second Chief)
Weeping Lotus (Right Vanguard)
Feng (Accountant)
Gu (Head Chef)
Little Bai
Min

Dancing Scorpions
Criminal network in Yun Hu

Relentless Corpse Sect
Da Mei Mei

Temple of the Jade Mercies (see Stone Palace)
Abbot Wei Zhao
Abbess Bao-Yu
Yao Tu-On
Yao Chun
Yao Ba

Southern Hill Sect
Yellow Mantis
White Chysanthemum
Green Mantis (Dead but important)

Twin-Fisted Eagle Sect
Twin Fisted Eagle
Jade Fist

Bone Breaking Sect
Destroyed and taken over by Drunken Hero Kang

Glorious Death Cult
Led by Supreme Master Tung, who says he is a god of death

Chao explained to Shen Chun that he was given the Immortal Killing Sword by agents of the House of Paper Shadows due to a connection with Hidden Arrow (who was somehow more powerful in death). The House of Paper Shadows were allied with Fearless Cat, who was an enemy of the party so this was some cause for concern. He asked permission to give the sword to his master, Tung, and this was granted. 

Chao then went to bring the sword to his master. He presented the sword, which pleased him. Supreme Master Tung gave him a medallion and made him his northern chief. He also gave him a drum, saying when he beat upon it, Death Disciples would arrive. 
Fearless Cat using the Immortal
Killing Sword


Chao then expressed his desire to conquer Bone Breaking Sect and become one of its leaders. In the course of the conversation Chao made it sound as if he wasn't sure whether he was a member of Supreme Master Tung's hierarchy or Bone Kingdom's. This infuriated Supreme Master Tung who only let Chao live because he had brought him such a great gift. Chao apologized and then told Tung about the jade deposit. He revealed its location and Supreme Master Tung said he may be able to find a way to shatter it but it would take time. 

When Chao returned, to Stone Palace the old lady from the Bai Chuan inn arrived, laughing with delight. She told Min, Little Bai and Chao that Yellow Mantis was as good as dead. When they asked for more details she said she had poisoned him and he would die suddenly in the next eight weeks. They were not convinced and the party discussed attacking Yellow Mantis directly. 

Shen Chun summoned everyone and took them to Relentless Corpse Sect to speak with Da Mei Mei*. When they got there, they discovered that Da Mei Mei had turned the Calamity Star sisters and Tea Master Houzou into corpse disciples. She also looked very different and her personality was colder. They could sense she was more powerful. 

She told them that she had heard rumors they killed her sister and asked if these were true. Shen Chun said they were not. She told him she believed he was lying but oddly, didn't feel any anger or desire for revenge. They were useful allies and she wouldn't disrupt their relationship over her sister's death. She did want tribute however, as they had not given any in some time. 

Shen Chun proposed that he and she marry to strengthen their alliance. She said she could accept the offer if he brought her the Life Keeping Stone. Shen Chun agreed and she told him that there was a scholar in Xuanlu named Wang who had studied the object and might know about its location. The party thanked her and departed. 

On the the way they discussed how to deal with Da Mei Mei. 

Shen Chun, Little Bai and Dim-Witted Chen went to Xuanly. Min, Silent Dagger and Chao went to southern Hai'an to get revenge against Southern Hill Sect. 

In Xuanlu they found the residence of Scholar Wang had been invaded by someone. The door was smashed open and Wang was murdered (as was his wife). They did find a book he had been writing and in it, it said that the Life Keeping Stone was most likely the heart of the Dutiful Empress. He guessed that it was located inside the Tomb of the Red General (at the base of Mount Hai'an). The book warned about traps containing a deadly venom. 

They went to the tomb and found a trapped complex. Upon entering the room spun around and flung everyone against a  spiked wall. Then they found a hall where poisoned darts fired from the ground, hitting one of their disciples. After that they found a long hall of tall platforms leading across a spiked pit. As soon as their disciples leapt upon them, arrows fired in a storm. Shen Chun dragged his disciples out and checked their condition. They decided to leave and return. But as they did a man with thick wild hair and an old lady with a guan dao were waiting for them. 

The man told them to hand over the Life Keeping Stone. 

Shen Chun explained that they didn't have it, that the tomb was too dangerous. But he asked for more details. 

The woman said the Life Keeping Stone had to be destroyed, that it was a threat to humanity. Shen Chun said it sounded like a useful weapon. 

"This is unacceptable" said the woman. 

Little Bai said "Granny, I want to test your Kung Fu. Let's fight."

She planted her Guan Dao in the ground and nodded. They faced off. Little Bai unloaded a series of sword strikes but she deflected them and countered with the shaft of her Guan Dao, causing him great pain and making it impossible for him to move. He conceded and acknowledged her superior skills. 

The party departed back to Xuanlu as the two figures watched the leave. 

In Hai'an, Silent Dagger, Min and Chao (along with some of Chao's Death Disciples), snuck into Southern Hill Fortress. They killed guards at the entrance and crawled into the reception hall where they found Yellow Mantis, his wife White Chrysanthemum and 15 southern hill disciples. Seeing that Yellow Mantis and White Chrysanthemum were silently passing time, they launched a surprise attack from the shadows, concentration most of their attacks on White Chrysanthemum (because they had heard of her Head Taking Strike wand were fearful). Min and Silent Dagger used Storming Daggers and killed her quickly. Yellow Mantis and Silent Dagger began to fight, countering each others moves. Frustrated, Yellow Mantis whirled and caused his ropes to whip around like a blade, but the party was able to dodge out of the way. Min and Silent Dagger used the opportunity to land attacks against him. As they did this, Chao concentrated Storm of Arrows upon the disciples (who proved quite tough and long lasting). Finally Silent Dagger used a pressure point technique to immobilize Yellow Mantis. They tied him up and used the threat of his life to escape. 

This is where the session ended. 

Wednesday, November 16, 2016

MINIONS OF THE TIMELESS MASTER SESSION THREE: THE WAR OF SWARMING BEGGARS

This campaign follows a group of characters who went into the Tomb of the Timeless Master and formed a sect there. It is part of a multiverse of campaign, set in world similar but not identical to the one depicted in my other session logs. 

Note, the campaign is currently playtesting a module, which is being play tested across my other two campaigns. So some elements are similar. 

TIMELESS MASTER SECT
Sniffle Cheng (Zhen Yuancheng): Leader of the Timeless Master Sect. A scholar and physician, married to Jia, the Snake Goddess. 
Shinda Hogong: A 10 foot tall Juren with a sadistic streak and fondness for gold. He is the son of a brewer and the head instructor of the Timeless Master Disciples. 
Li Bai: Loyal servant of Jia the snake goddess. She has white hair and specializes in weapons like the iron thread.
Jia the Snake Goddess: A snake demon close to transforming fully into a human. She is married to Sniffle Cheng, and her worshippers, local Zun tribesmen, are disciples of the sect. 

Last session, a member of Southern Hill arrived at the tomb, and presented a statue of Hen-Shi as a gift from her master, Yellow Mantis. Chief Sniffle Cheng was pleased by the gift and accepted it. As she presented it to him, it blew up and killed some of his men. They fought the woman and captured her. In the wake of the attack, they recruited local disciples and a hero from a nearby village named Spider Demon. Then they began making preparations for war with southern hill sect. 

Soon after Tu-On, the son of Twin-Fisted Eagle, arrived and asked for an audience. He explained that his father was also at war with Yellow Mantis. Tu-On had no arms, and told them that Green Mantis, one of Southern Hill's sub chiefs, severed his arms with a stick. Both he and his father desired revenge and sought an alliance with their group. 
The figure on the left is a Juren. 

It should be noted here that the primary purpose of Timeless Master Sect is to provide a place for the unorthodox and for the demons and spirits of the martial world. Sniffle is married to Jia, a snake demon, and one of their members, Shinda Hogong is a Juren. Such creatures are normally reviled. When the woman from Southern Hill sect blew up the statue,  she proclaimed Yellow Mantis' disdain for demons and those who would marry them. 

Li Bai, Spider Demon and Tu-On left for Hai'an to go to Twin-Fisted Eagle Clan's headquarters and solidify the alliance. Sniffle Cheng meditated and made offerings to the Timeless Master, asking for great heroes to join them. Shinda Hogong continued training the disciples and made preparations for a venture for supplies. 

After making an offering, Sniffle Cheng meditated and had a vision of a man in purple robes wandering the River of Swarming Beggars, whose name he knew to be Hero Feng. He dispatched a disciple to carry a message to Li Bai that she was to find this Hero Feng at all costs. 

When Li Bai reached Zun city she took Tu-On to a tea house and fed him a bowl of noodles. As they ate, she sensed the presence of men dressed in green garb, staring hatefully at them. 

One of the men, who was wearing golden robes, walked over and told Tu-On to accompany him outside. When Li Bai resisted, he slammed his fists on the table and said he didn't want to break anything in the tea house. Li Bai noticed Spider Demon was no where to be seen. 

They went outside and lined up for a duel. Li Bai used her iron thread to entangle the leader. The men in green swarmed Tu-On and one of them dug two fingers into his neck. From the roof of the inn, tendrils of silken fabric shot out and entangled the disciples. Li Bai turned to see Spider Demon standing there upon the roof. 

In the end they were victorious and surrounded the man in gold. They offered him mercy but he refused to talk and Li Bai was forced to kill him. 

From there they travelled by ship to Hai'an. They reached Hening and decided to walk through the bamboo forest to the Demon Moon Lands. They made it safely and spoke wit Tun-On's father, Twin-Fisted Eagle. He was eager to go to war with Southern Hill Sect soon. Spider Demon suggested they allow her to infiltrate the enemy, then help him ambush their heroes. 

Twin-Fisted Eagle expressed impatience but agreed to the strategy. He also requested that Chief Sniffle Cheng meet him two weeks at the Bai Chuan Inn. He also explained that they had a battle along the river and lost 25 men recently. 

After the meeting, Twin-Fised Eagle said there was a messenger waiting for Li Bai. The messenger informed her that Sniffle Cheng instructed them to find Hero Feng. Asking around, she learned that Hero Feng was someone who left the region for ten years after losing a bet with Yellow Mantis. He had been required to leave for ten years according to the terms of the bet, and that time was just coming to an end. Tu-On told her that Hero Feng had a lover named Xiang Ai and that she now went by the name Pale Fox. Last he heard she led a group of bandits in the Pale Hills. 

Li Bai traveled south to the Pale Hills on her own. She tracked down a group of bandits and walked into an ambush. They demanded her money, but she resisted and insisted the introduce her to Pale Fox. One of the men leapt down and requested to test her Kung Fu, which she agreed to. They sparred, and both delivered powerful strikes against the other. When she unleashed a gust of wind from her fan, the man backed off and agreed to take her to Pale Fox. 

Back at the Timeless Master sect headquarters, Shinda Hogong went to Zun city. Along the way he got lost but happened upon some of Jia's tribesmen who escorted him safely to the town. There he went to the Banyan Inn and saw an old woman selling candied fruit skewers. He rejected the fruit but paid her for information on the martial world. She told him there was a great battle on the River of Swarming Beggars between Southern Hill Sect and Twin-Fisted Eagle Clan. Shinda Hogong was unimpressed with this information and asked for more, offering her a tael. She told him that she'd heard from a geomancer in Lu Hai who knew the location of the Thousand Painful Deaths Flower. Shinda thanked her then went back to his meal as she approached another table to sell her candied fruit. 

Later that evening a man who had bought skewers from her vomited blood and died. They went to bed and in the morning they purchased supplies: four cows, raw materials for training equipment and some basic training gear. Shinda had decided that the disciples desperately needed to bulk up so he also purchased food items like tofu. 

Meanwhile, Sniffle Cheng decided to go to the nearby villages and talk to the headmen. At one of them, he was told a martial hero had come to them terribly wounded and was being cared for by a local farmer. Sniffled Cheng went to the farmer and found the man. He was unconscious in a stable, with deep wounds in his neck. He had his men cut down some wood and make a stretcher, then carried the man back to the sect where he healed him. 

When the man woke up, he told him his name was Bronze Lobster. He expressed some surprise that Sniffle did not laugh when told his name. He explained that he was wounded by members of Southern Hill sect and that he was seeking revenge after they killed his brother. Seeing that their interests were aligned, Sniffle persuaded the man to join their cause. 

When Shinda Hogong returned, he was introduced to Bronze Lobster and then set to training the men.