Following the mirage wave, the rest of the day passed without much incident. Fan Zhong resumed his guard shift with Sir Teng as the merchant saw to his men. He was surprised to see that the sailors also had minimal injuries and that barring a few exceptions, such as the man who was cut in the back of the leg during Fan Zhong's run-up to confront the dastardly fish, most needed little more than a few bandages.

During this time the sailors all conversed with Sir Teng as if he were their father and it gave the entire ordeal the feeling of a family of many sons assuring their father nothing had gone amiss. With both Fan Zhong and Sir Teng’s hearts warmed and minds at ease, they had next gone to the cargo hold to make sure no goods had been damaged. As expected, no mirage carp had managed to flop their way into the cargo and after a quick inspection Fan Zhong was hurriedly following Sir Teng to the helm of the ship with the ladder seemingly in high spirits.

Cool air ran along the deck as they came out from the hold and numerous crew members moved about securing lines while checking on various things all with their bandages worn proudly like trophies. The remainder of Fan Zhong’s shift was spent near the helm at a small table Sir Teng had set up to converse with his helmsman and review documents. At the halfway point of his guard duty, Zi Bao came to cover for his meal period.

Fan Zhong nodded to him in greeting and tried to spark up a small conversation however, the other young man seemed deep in thought, simply waving him away without exchanging a word. When Fan Zhong returned Zi Bao nodded again and departed without even looking at him. Although this was odd, Fan Zhong considered it an improvement over the type of interactions the two normally had. Perhaps facing a battle together as fellow warriors had some effect on his former bully?

Either that or the other young warrior had been pushed to so much exhaustion that he lacked the energy to speak, simply channeling it all to fulfill his guard duties. In any case, Fan Zhong was happy as both options increased the likelihood this assignment would conclude without them wringing each other's throats.

“It seems that Warrior Bao is not in the best of spirits today Warrior Zhong, is something the matter? Perhaps the fare we served upset his stomach or something?” Sir Teng Inquired while shooting Fan Zhong a curious glance.

“Apologies on his behalf Sir Teng, I believe the encounter with the mirage carp simply exhausted him more thoroughly than brother Bao was prepared for. No need to worry, the seniors will monitor him and take appropriate action” Fan Zhong replied with a graceful formal bow while smiling sheepishly.

“Indeed, no offense taken warrior Zhong. I was simply worried for him that is all. Never let it be said that the Teng do not look after those in their employ” Sir Teng replied with a nod of his head before returning to his documents.

With this Fan Zhong resumed his vigilant watch and the evening went by uneventfully. Zi Bao ended up showing up for his shift 30 minutes late and by the time he arrived Fan Zhong was looking around nervously wondering if something had gone wrong.

“Brother Bao! It’s good to see, is everything ok? I expected to see you sooner.” Fan Zhong asked while trying to keep his tone as casual and polite as possible.

“Hmph, some of us haven’t drunk immortal nectar all our lives and have to do this thing called resting junior brother Zhong” Zi Bao replied emphasizing the word junior while irritation brimmed within his barely contained professional tone.

“Hahaha, yes immortal nectar of the gods for all clan warriors. Only the best for our clan warriors I say! Come brother you’ve surely drunk this heavenly concoction before just as I, its name is freedom and we breathe it in by the jug full as long as we uphold the honor of the clan!” Fan Zhong replied jovially while lightly slapping Zi Bao on the back, hoping to cut through the mood of his fellow with an air of camaraderie and brotherhood.

“Why you! Hmph… yes of course brother Zhong, let us enjoy… the freedom of silence as we breathe in the afternoon air.” Zi Bao started to tense as if to attack but seemed to deflate just as fast, seemingly lacking the energy to even be outraged at the playful slap.

Quickly the now resigned Zi Bao fell into a brooding silent mood and Fan Zhong simply allowed the other young man to have his time of silence. Like this, the part hour of his shift passed and Fan Zhong left the helm after giving a bow to Sir Teng. Afterward, before reporting to Fan Shun for training, Fan Zhong rested for the few hours of free time he had simply enjoying the sound of the water rushing by and cool winds blowing over the deck.

Viewing it like this gave him an appreciation for the beauty of open water, this was the first time Fan Zhong had ever been in the inner parts of the flowing grass river. Normally ships that sailed here would stick close to the shore and cross to the other side only in straight shots in predetermined safe areas, moving as fast as possible. This was to avoid the predators that lurked in the deeper waters at the center of the river.

While he was young Fan Zhong had read that most rivers were anywhere from .5 km wide to around 2km at most and as such had little difference between the inner and outer regions. However, the Flowing Grass River was different as it spanned a monstrous 10km at most points and even widened to 12km at some points. As one approached the center of the river the waters simply got deeper and deeper and the Qi that condensed was stronger.

This created a truly unique water environment where qi-rich aquatic life lived and swam through a river that ran through many valleys and plains devoid of such environments. As the depth became shallow and the river thinned out to its banks however the qi was less concentrated and as such, the stronger spirit animals simply avoided the areas close to the shore. That's not to say that they couldn’t go there and in fact, there were many reports of a giant river predator being pushed to shallow waters and causing havoc.

Such things were normally akin to the emergence of beast kings and required the clans and villages to unite and gather forces to kill or drive away the sea monsters. Mostly though they were dealt with by the Wang who specialized in fishing and patrolling these waters and as such had developed many techniques that allowed boats to travel farther in and use the faster waters of the inner river to travel faster. This was the reason why Fan Zhong’s current ship could reach scale and fin village, which was almost as far away as butont which had taken him a month to reach previously by ship, in just three weeks.

For Fan Zhong, this was his first time on a ship that was equipped with talismans to mask them from the predators of the deeper waters and thus could take the faster route. Hence why even though he had traveled by boat before the ‘mirage wave’ had caught him off guard. Talking with some of the crew he had also found out that the merchant ships often took the inner faster routes because despite the danger the profits for making fast shipments were too great to pass up.

In his talks, the piece of information that surprised him the most was that scale and fin village was located on the northern shores of the Flowing Grass River and so was Flowing Arrow City their final destination. Sir Teng had to purchase a ‘Calm waters’ talisman sometime back for a great cost from the wang clan to make a crossing of the river while continuing to travel down it. Apparently, the talisman had originally had five uses; however this crossing was the second to last time it could be used.

According to the sailors the Wang Clan used these talismans frequently to visit the islands and archipelagos that existed in the deeper parts of the river. It was said that since these islands had close proximity to the Qi rich environments that they were true spirit areas that had entire spirit beast ecosystems. With this however these islands produced far more natural treasures than the rest of the valley and were very lucrative to collect although also incredibly dangerous.

The last usage was planned to be used to carry a new shipment to Butont after the ship arrived back in Flowing Arrow City. Doing this would kill two birds with one stone as there Sir Teng could buy another Talisman for river crossings from the Wang clan merchants as well as deliver Fan Shun and his bodyguards back to the side of the river their home was on. From there Fan Zhong and company could arrange transport from Butont to Little Green bamboo Village or move onto the local Fan Clan branch and receive assignments there.

Fan Zhong brimmed with excitement at this idea as his whole life the other shore of the river had been a place only spoken about not seen! Although it was still in the valley his mind viewed it as an exotic location and was elated at the idea of exploring new horizons. By the time the sailors had, with great laughter and a few hearty slaps on the back, told him to bugger off with all his questions Fan Zhong found that it was time to report to Fan Shun for training.

As Fan Zhong made his way over to the cleared portion of the deck that had originally served as an arena for his spar with Zi Bao he spotted Fan Shun off to one side next to a line of woody training dummies. The older man was standing with his sword in the same strange almost ceremonial pose that he had while fighting the mirage carp. With his left hand the older warrior was holding his weapon, still sheathed, in a vertical position in front of his chest with the hand about halfway down the scabbard.

Meanwhile, his right hand gripped the hilt of his sword, which was slightly below the level of his chin, as if to draw it. Slowly as if he was afraid of breaking his own bones Fan Shun drew the sword while his left hand pulled the scabbard down and angled it under his left armpit to give him room to maneuver it. Drawing the sword up slightly as it was being freed from the scabbard the older man then guided it ever so slowly through a graceful arcing diagonal slash that would've bisected the dummy from its right shoulder to the left hip had he put force into it.

In the same slow ceremonial way, the older warrior flicked his wrist snapping the blade outward as if to flick blood off of it before drawing a semi-circle in the air with it by rotating his wrist and bringing his right hand over the sheath which had returned to a vertical position in front of him. Finally, he drew the blade along the mouth of the scabbard until the point rested on the opening and slowly sheathed the sword. With the final clicking noise of the sword's handle meeting, the scabbard Fan Zhong was amazed to see the older warrior in an almost identical position to where he started. In the next moment he almost jumped off the deck when the wooden dummy collapsed to the floor, cut neatly along the line the seemingly slow and powerless attack had drawn.

“Excellent timing junior brother Zhong. I was just finishing up” Fan Shun said while wiping sweat from his brow with a rag “Come let's take a seat and discuss a few things”

Saying this the older man walked to the center of the deck and sat down while letting out a contented sigh. Looking at him more closely Fan Zhong examined his superior. He wore plain cloth pants at the moment and shoes of simple make as well. Corded muscle wound around his limbs giving the impression of a coiled snake that while not large and intimidating could explode with monstrous power. Dirt and sweat ran down his chest and back in equal measure, obvious signs that he had been at this training well before Fan Zhong’s arrival. Nodding and following suit Fan Zhong quickly strode over and sat down a few paces away facing the older man.

“So junior brother Zhong, it would seem that your older brother has been diligent in your instruction. In your movements, well-practiced drills and forms can be seen, combined with that your flexibility is to be praised. At this point, while drilling and stance training will certainly help, and we will do them, be assured, what you most need is… to be sent flying a few thousand times” Fan Shun said with a predatory grin crossing his face.

“ S… Senior, this junior wouldn’t dare question your wisdom; however, elder brother's sagely palms of wisdom have given me the experience of flying high as the birds without much else. Perhaps sparring with opponents closer to my skill level would be better? At Least it would be a novel experience for me at this point” Fan Zhong said as respectfully as he could while trying not to sound too pleading.

“Indeed, if we were fully staffed and I could spare the time of junior brother Bao and myself to supervise your sparring that would probably help the most. However, this is a mission and we must make do with the time we have. Since we cannot use the most quality training for you we must supplement that with quantity” Fan shun replied in a calm and dignified tone as if he wasn’t looking forward to beating Fan Zhong black and blue.

“But you said yourself senior! If I am injured how will my guard shifts and duties be performed? Surely we can… postpone this! Yes, truly circumstances are harsh and unfortunately, we must postpone training. Don’t worry senior this junior will endure not advancing his martial arts for a time being. Besides, isn't the senior's graceful sword far too lofty to apply such a brute force method?” Fan Zhong hurriedly said with a hopeful smile

“Of course, that is why Su Fen and myself are conducting your and junior brother Bao’s training. My graceful sword and his shifting sands style require precise control. Junior, I can assure you this senior's sword is a master class of teaching while not maiming. Also, junior, can I let you in on a secret of the martial path?” Fan Shun’s predatory smile spread wider than Fan Zhong thought possible, he hoped at least it would perhaps then Fn Shun would sprain his face muscles and be unable to ‘train’ him.

“What secret is that Senior?” Fan Zhong replied dejectedly, barely able to keep up his false smile.

“If brute force isn’t working, then you're simply not using enough. Now come, by the time you return home I’ll have you countering sword strikes with shifting palm strikes in your sleep” Fan Shun said and jumped from his sitting position landing in a void gate stance.

Like this life continued aboard Sir Teng’s ship and time seemed to blur by. Fan Zhong was surprised by the effectiveness of the Calm Waters talisman. It was activated to navigate the greatest area of danger allowing them to cross the 3km region that made up the core of the river and under that protection they passed through without seeing or hearing a single sea monster. By the time Fan Zhong knew it, the morning of the fifth day of the third week had arrived.

Some time had passed and he had been standing at the helm guarding Sir Teng for a few hours at this point. Suddenly the merchant let out a sigh and simply stared into the sky for a few moments before pulling a jug of wine up from beside his chair and pouring a bowl of it. His gaze fell on Fan Zhong and he smiled slightly then with a flick of his wrist another bowl sat on the table which was quickly filled from the jug as well.

“Brother Zhong sit, drink. It’s a good day to drink, don't you think, is it alright by the way? We’ve been traveling together for a while now but I know some people prefer formality” saying this he threw his hand up as if in exasperation of all those who preferred to be stuck up and enforce formality.

“Of course Sir Teng, personally I find formality too stifling sometimes, especially at home. It’s always ‘young master this’ or ‘young master that’ as if I lack a name. No brother will do fine if it suits you” Fan Zhong said politely as he sat down at the chair the merchant had pulled up for him.

Warily he picked up the bowl and eyed it. Fan Zhong was not one to say no to drinking and merrymaking however, he was on duty at the moment. Unsure of how to stay professional in the situation he took a small sip and nodded, if Sir Teng wanted him to drink then it was only polite to have a little after all. As he downed the liquid Fan Zhong quickly realized this was no soft palatable wine served in a place like the Soft Moonlight Hall.

Fire seemed to pour down his throat and Fan Zhong struggled to hold down the brew and swallow it as he coughed heavily leaning over the table.

“Hahaha, no more of this ‘sir’ business brother Zhong. Brothers are brothers and see no difference. Besides that ‘five furnaces’ spirit wine probably burned off all your baby stubble and put some real hair on your chest hahaha!” Teng Liang burst out laughing as he spoke, his voice booming over the deck as he struggled to get himself under control.

“B…b… Brother Teng, you say this is ‘spirit wine’? I’ve never heard of such wine within the valley, where did you get it?” Fan Zhong finally managed to breathe after a few moments and gasped his reply between breaths.

“Where indeed,” Teng Liang said as a wistful look came over his eyes, he stared into the sky with longing and sadness “Spirit wine brother Zhong cannot come from one who hasn’t tread far on the Dao of winemaking, such artists rarely end up staying in humble places such as this”

With his last words, Teng Liang seemed to take on a forlorn tone as if he was both talking to Fan Zhong but also himself. Talking about a time that had passed like the changing of the seasons or cycles of the moon, only unlike them this time would never come again. Fan Zhong felt heat flow into all of his limbs as the alcohol worked through him and his vision wobbled a bit. Apprehension seemed to leave his mind and before he knew it the entire bowl was drained, at this point his legs felt like wet noodles and his brain was struggling to filter thoughts from words. Teng Liang still stared into the sky, caught in a world of his own ponderings and musings.

“ ‘Dao’ hmph, what ‘Dao’ is there. Enlightenment, sitting in a cave for umpteenth millions of years. What has anyone ever learned sitting in a cave, do you just wait and the heavens send a spark of knowledge to you in pity.” Fan Zhong, no longer able to keep these thoughts to himself, suddenly spoke.

“Oh, and you're the masterful sage on the topic of ‘Dao’ are you brother Zhong?” Teng Liang broke from his musings and looked at the young man with a wry smile

“Pft, all these sages and scholars say their smart-sounding words. I’ve read them brother Teng and they don’t contain magic. Words that's it, no ‘Eternal Dao’ runes like those you must write for spells, no esoteric truths that shatter the mind of these lowly mortals, just words. Hmph, profound indeed, profound bullshit” Fan Zhong intoned sagely, or in what he thought was a sagely manner.

“I see you must be very learned brother Zhong” Teng Liang, who had much experience speaking the language of drunken men, nodded solemnly in response.

“What is it then, Sir Teng? The ‘Dao’, this profound knowledge, I respect your opinion and surely you have far more experience than me. Inform this ant-like junior, what is ‘Dao’” Fan Zhong burst out invoking the power of youth and arrogance, challenging the knowledge of heaven!

Or so he thought, indeed somewhere during this his thoughts became hazy. There was a brief memory and Sir Teng asked him to… ah yes ‘repeat’! Yes, he had been asked to repeat parts of his question several times. Clearly, Sir Teng was cowed by the great wisdom he was wielding.

“Hmmm, that is a hard one, brother Zhong. ‘Dao’ or path or whatever name you give it is as the name implies someone's way. There is of course the Eternal Dao that is all things, connected in myriad waves and encompassing all of existence but that is far too large a thing for a simple merchant to even imagine. No, when talking of Dao many think of martial paths, such as the Dao of the sword, spear, and bow. I question though, Dao is a path and if it isn’t the grand path then it must be a personal one. So ‘Dao’ is your personal path then that means all paths are part of the grand path. What then makes the path of the swordsman greater than the path of the potter? A swordsman hones his skill, technique, and battle prowess all his life and the potter does the same learning to understand different materials and techniques to make higher quality crafts.”

Teng Liang said pausing to take a long pull from the jug

“And what of the Dao of the merchant, for that path you learn the power of words both spoken and those unspoken. Learn the ebbs and flows of society, seeing the connections between products, people, and work. In this those that bring their bodies, spirits, and minds in harmony progress on their path. The potter, although not practicing the martial path can toughen his body so that he may work longer and practice his technique more, a merchant can travel farther and for more time to meet new clients and discover new routes. Never think brother Zhong that someone who walks a nonmartial path is defenseless for it, that is the height of folly. As all paths are connected, so too can all reach the apex. Then you asked what is ‘profound’ that again is difficult as it means many things to many people. In my years I’ve come to think it is thus, profound is when you find simple words appearing in truths you seek. When you read a piece of simple advice and many years later are waylaid by complex problems. In that moment you find that seemingly innocent advice is at the core of your problem, it is the kernel through which your solution is born. By definition it is that which I cannot put into words, it is the revelation of experience meeting knowledge. The words can be written and many can read them, however only those who have experienced the lesson of the words truly understand. Others simply view the cover of a dense tome. Inside of that revelation perspectives shift and old memories come into play, scenes that you might’ve wished to forget come to mind. You start to see that the lesson was always there and the fool ignoring it was none other than the person who stares back at you in the mirror. Those insights can raise someone high along their path or they can eat away at the soul, devouring until nothing remains.”

Sadness flooded the merchant's expression and for five minutes he stayed silent. Only occasionally drinking from the jug.

“In the end brother Zhong, your path is how you view the world, through the things that are dearest to you. Walk far enough along it and you’ll see the concepts of your path mirrored in everything as the Eternal Dao connects all things. while walking, look around and experience life. When you’ve done that, the profoundness you find will either save or condemn you.”

With these last words Teng Liang took one last pull from the jug and then frowned. He tipped it upside down over the deck and not a single drop fell.

“Dang, look at me getting all sentimental. Anyway, that's just the musing of an old merchant Brother Zhong. Apologies for keeping him so long Senior Warrior Shun, I’ll have one of the boys get him to the cabin. If you could give me a moment alone I’d… appreciate it” Teng Liang motioned with his hand and a pair of crew members lifted Fan Zhong.

The last thing he saw was the jolly old merchant staring somberly into the black night sky where stars shined more beautifully than anything Fan Zhong had ever seen. For Fan Zhong the next few days passed in a blur as his mind pondered the words of Sir Teng. By the time he roused from his musings, loud shouting was coming from the deck as the lookouts signaled that they had finally arrived in Scale and Fin Village.