Night settled upon Forest Depths village as the legion worked to erect a command post amid the still intact buildings. With hollow expressions and whispered words, the remaining villagers thanked them, guiding the haggard legion to make camp inside the town hall. Fan Zhong’s squad was directed to pitch their tents inside the square itself as the headquarters squad worked to set up a meeting chamber to plan the village defense.

Breathing deeply, he could still find the smell of burning wood and spilled blood in the air. It had been a few hours now and the moon was high in the sky, thin wispy clouds obscuring the jewels hidden so far above. Even now smoke still rolled upward from buildings as well as funeral pyres placed about the village square. Many small fires denoted villagers giving burial rites to their loved ones as a roaring inferno sat at the center piled high with the bodies of the mercenaries.

Fan Ping had given the order for the bodies to be burned as battlefields tended to generate negative spirit qi from built-up regret and anger. Given time to fester this would infest the corpses giving rise to blood-sucking zombies and other such abominations. For large numbers of corpses to be buried or left to rot whole required a priest to say burial rights and conduct rituals that would put to rest the leftover emotions after death.

With no such holy man present the only safe option had been to turn the dead mercenaries into ashes, far from their home and loved ones. In a way, Fan Zhong felt that this was a fate they had earned by attacking innocent people. However another part of him knew that no vindication came from this, no one's sadness was cured with more misery. As such, it left him sitting around a campfire with his squad trying to ward off both the cold and bitter feelings with only the cloak around him as protection from either.

Looking up Fan Zhong could see the grimace on the faces of his companions, this had not been the glorious entrance they had hoped to make. Notably, Su Fen and Su Dai were exceptions as they simply stared calmly into the fire, their expressions unreadable. Seeing the pale face of Mo Hui, Fan Zhong tried to stir up conversation and bring a welcome distraction.

“So, junior brother Mo Hui, your family are tailors by trade correct? What's that like? Do you learn about the trade from a young age or did your interest always lie in the martial path?” Fan Zhong asked the younger man with a gentle smile, attempting his best impression of a good-natured senior.

“Ahhh well…” Mo Hui seemed shocked by the question and his face flushed for a moment before he composed himself “I have five older siblings, so the trade work was mostly covered by them. Don’t get me wrong, being around tailors all my life has taught me a thing or two. Mostly though, my bigger build meant that childhood was full of many hours spent hauling large crates full of material around for the family. After my aptitude for the observer corps was determined to be suitable for an outer disciple position the training filled most of my life.”

“Ahh but you certainly had the aptitude for the trade then if your mental focus and acuity were so high at a young age” Su Fen joined the conversation, yawning after his words in the same lazy manner that he always used around the company of those he wasn’t close to.

“Not everyone is so fortunate to be born with all paths under heaven and earth open to them young master Zhong” Zi Bao shot at Fan Zhong with a mock sneer, the long days they had spent together removing most of the bite from the words.

“Hmph, as if your clumsy hands could open such paths. Fairy Zhi at the Soft Moonlight Hall tells me that your rough fingers can’t even open the path to the heavens, junior brother Hui's graceful hands, however… they could ma-” Fan Zhong replied with a sly smile starting to form on his face.

Before he could finish Zi Bao had huffed and threw a rock at him, standing to chase him around in half-hearted anger. Rare laughter filled the small encampment and for a moment the squad forgot about where they were and what troubles the world had brought. Meanwhile, Mo Hui’s face was horrified as red crept up the sides of it.

“Oh?” Su Dai said, spotting her junior’s rising embarrassment “Is junior brother Hui not just new to battle but matters of the night as well? Don’t worry, your bigger sister will take care of you.”

Su Dai winked at Mo Hui from across the fire and Fan Zhong, Zi bao as well as Fan Yong were barely able to contain their laughter. Su Fen’s smile deepened as he lightly swatted Su Dai on the backside with his staff before yawning while lazily saying

“Behave, little sister. Besides, Auntie tells me that you still haven’t chosen a husband so what would you know of such matters? You should be mindful of your mother's aching heart and give her a grandchild quickly so she stops worrying, hmph!” At the end of his words, the stalwart mask of indifferent laziness broke away from Su Fen and he wore the grin of a particularly mischievous child.

Su Dai gasped and gaped with an open mouth at the older warrior before pressing herself up against Mo Hui’s chest and feigning the expression of someone who had been horribly wronged.

“How can you say such hurtful things, senior? Junior brother Mo Hui, quickly, defend my honor before this injustice ruins my purity” With these words she fluttered her lashes at the younger man and giggled.

All of this was slightly too much for Mo Hui and he stumbled backward from the senior observer as if running away from an alien creature. Fan Zhong and Zi Bao caught him before he fell over completely and everyone shared one more round of joyous laughter before continuing the light conversation. They didn’t speak of heavy topics or personal issues nor of the deep mysteries of life, all of them simply spoke of the small things that brought joy from moment to moment.

After all of this Fan Zhong slept more soundly than he had for many nights not dreaming of anything. Morning came all too quickly however and with it assignments for town defense. According to the villagers and preliminary scouts, the enemy was split into three camps. The first was a contingent of Wei clan troops situated directly west of the village, where there was a large clearing that spanned some 10km wide and 9 km away from the village.

At the end of this large clearing were three small hills with around one km in between each with clear prairies stretching behind five-meter crests. The Wei camp was located behind the three hills and was using the clearing between two of them as the main gate to their base. Located south of this encampment was a much larger hill that gently sloped up to crest around 15 meters high.

This marked the separation point between the main Wei camp and the encampment of the outland mercenaries that they had hired. To the north of the village stretching for dozens of km in either direction was a dense forest that was around 5km deep. On the other side of this forest, the clans within the valley loyal to the Wei had their own encampment set up so that if they walked directly through the forest their troops would emerge at the northeastern corner of the village wall.

Early estimates put the Wei troops at around 20 elite main clan soldiers who were mostly serving as officers and field commanders to their subservient forces; info was sparse but it was determined the commander of this unit should be in the master realm. Next up the Wei clan loyalists numbered around 80 and were equally composed of untrained militia and third-grade martial artists with around four elite commanders. Scouting observers had reported that this group definitely had a master realm leader as well with at least three second-grade commanders confirmed.

Lastly, the mercenaries seemed to be the largest group with around 100 of them left. Thankfully most of them seemed to be third-grade martial artists with only around a handful of second and first grade martial artists. Early estimates numbered those above third-grade at only ten with a master realm commander included in that number.

From this, the obvious conclusion was that the Fan clan legion was horribly outnumbered with the enemy possessing an over three to one advantage in the sheer number of soldiers alone. With this, one could assume that if the enemy was allowed to bring their entire force to bear on them in an open confrontation the outcome would be a total defeat for the Fan clan soldiers. All was not lost however as the residents of Forest Depths Village still had members of their guard willing to fight, adding another 20 third-grade martial artists to their forces. Many of the able-bodied villagers also offered to fight for their homes and thus 40 untrained combatants were added to the force.

Combined with this, early engagements had shown the sheer difference in the quality of skill between the Fan clan commanders and the enemy such that each legion member was worth almost double his equal from the opposing side. Add the battle squad formations utilized by each group and the effectiveness of each legion warrior increased further. Still, even with this, an outright engagement with both forces bringing their full might was bound to end up with only a pyrrhic victory at best.

Perhaps this was acceptable for the Wei clan elite who looked to use their people like expendable pawns but Fan Ping had no such idea to use her soldiers like that. As such, it was determined that two squads would guard each gate from the ground while four would spread out along the village wall to act as watchmen. Meanwhile, the remaining three squads would rest and stay in reserve to be deployed where needed.

These three reserve units would rotate with the on-duty ones to make sure that the legion kept up their stamina. Meanwhile, the headquarters squad split to command separate groups with one each for both gates and one for the wall units. Equally, three headquarters officers remained with the reserves with each being assigned a reserve unit that they could quickly lead to reinforce any part of the village.

Fan Ping had also outfitted the 40 untrained villagers with the hunting bows that were stored in their supply wagons. Normally these bows were used to hunt game to supplement food during long marches. Originally they had intended to outfit some of the less experienced legion warriors with them and station them as the wall guards.

However, with so many volunteers it made sense to arm them with a weapon that could be used while keeping them from tripping up allies in battle. Many of the senior soldiers were hesitant about how effective the bows would be as an expert at the second-grade realm or higher could deflect normal arrows. Even highly skilled third-grade martial artists could manage the feat if they had sufficient training and techniques.

These naysayers had relented after a fierce glare from Fan Ping and Fan Shun succinctly explaining to them that the enemy forces were mostly third-grade combatants and even some untrained militia. Although some of them may have the skill to make the arrows harmless with the general lack of skill present among the mercenaries it seemed reasonable that their third-grade warriors were on the weaker side and thus would be hampered by the attacks.

As such, after Su Fen returned from the officers' meeting and relayed this to the squad this information he also informed them that they would be assigned to the western gate, the frontline between them and the enemy. Knowing the danger commander Fan Ping had positioned schedules so that either herself or Fan Shun, as the strongest inside the legion, would be present at this gate at all times. This left the other officers to rotate through the remaining positions but no one argued with the veteran master realm observer.

So it went that on the next morning, amid a slightly cloudy sky with a breeze sending the morning chill along their backs, Fan Zhong’s squad stood at the western gate of Forest Depths Village. Most of the day was quiet and it almost felt familiar to him as memories of long hours spent standing bodyguard with Sir Teng and the auction he had guarded last year stirred. Fan Zhong’s trance was quickly broken as from the far side of the open plain stretching before the western approach of the village loud war horns could be heard.

Row upon row of armored mercenaries crested the horizon accompanied by a small contingent of Wei clan soldiers at the center of the formation. Beside the mercenaries were martial artists in varied color valley clan martial robes that swayed in the wind. Shouts rang out as the enemy started to charge and Fan Shun shouted orders to one of the guards on the wall.

“Enemy attack! Observer Shi Zan, inform the commander. Archers hold fire, Su Fen, and Shen Bo ready your men!” Fan Shun’s commanding voice boomed over the surroundings as each group lined up.

Looking at the oncoming forces, Fan Zhong could see the enemy had brought crude siege ladders made from the nearby forests. They weren’t long however, the wall around Forest Depths Village wasn’t particularly tall at around 12 meters. After all, it had never been built to defend a siege only to keep out wild spirit animals. What caught his eye the most were two contraptions that were being wheeled forward on crude makeshift frames near the center of the approaching group.

Each had a large log tied to an upper bar such that the log could swing freely. On the wood, simple runes were carved that thrummed with some faint force. Fan Zhong was no observer however his newly awakened mental energy keyed him into the presence of imbued qi and energy. Sighing, he realized that these battering rams most likely had some sort of force multiplying formation that would destroy the gates if they were allowed through.

This meant that they couldn’t simply defend the walls and kick down siege ladders. If the Fan clan legion wanted to hold Forest Depths Village at least some number of them would need to directly engage the enemy to stop the battering rams if nothing else.

Time seemed to slow to a crawl in his vision as the enemy approached closer and closer, their flags dancing in the wind to the tune of incoming violence. When the enemy had approached within 200 meters Fan Zhong’s enhanced senses let him see their faces. Old and young, men and women, a vast array of human and half humans stretched out in opposition to the legion soldiers.

As they approached the thunder of marching seemed to drown out all things, the wind, the world, and even Fan Zhong’s own breathing seemed to suffocate under the rumbling of so many feet. From 50 meters he could smell them, a boiling mixture of people who had been forced on a long campaign without the pleasantries of society. Atop the wall, the villagers with bows quivered in fear and some began to nervously look at Fan Shun, eager to loose arrows at the attackers.

“Not yet, hold fire.” Fan Shun’s steady voice radiated calm over the clearing, in the qi infused within Fan Zhong felt the familiar touch of… an observer's techniques?

With no time to process the information, his eyes locked on the approaching enemy as they crossed another 20 meters.

“Fire! Brothers and sisters stand fast, TODAY THE ANCESTORS SMILE ON US!!” Fan Shun roared as he settled into a void gate stance.

Behind Fan Zhong gasps barely registered as movement blurred. His mind faintly registered this as the enemy crashed over them in a wave. Two men in shining metal armor thrust spears at him. Heaven and earth shifting palms flowed from Fan Zhong as he deflected the two attacks in an instant stepping into the guard of the two.

A mace flashed at his head from the side, barely deflected by the thrust of a staff from behind Fan Zhong. Next, his staff crumpled the knee of the attacker to his left, blood sprayed and the spear started falling from the man’s hand. From the back ranks of the enemy, a sword thrust forward, catching the blade on the haft of his staff Fan Zhong pushed outward and spun the weapon on his forearm.

Feeling the flow of combat he conjured the melody of solid beats and shifting undertones. In his mind, the song of the Fan style blared as one attack turned into the next. Two origin palms ended the other spear wielder, a plain-looking woman with auburn hair, and the one on the ground caving their shiny metal helms inward in a spray of blood. Next, a dozen shifting palm strikes of all three variants with receiving palms in between every three or so hits.

Five opponents were thrown off balance, dazed or disarmed with three of them meeting their end from caved-in rib cages and crushed spines. Momentum built as his movement technique added to the growing landslide of Fan Zhong’s onslaught. Suddenly the song seemed to halt and he realized an enemy had blocked his last three blows.

Without warning, his left shoulder was pierced by a sword and a shield hit him in the face. Daggers flashed past him and Su Fen’s snaking viper movements blurred in front of Fan Zhong for just a moment as his opponent was blindsided by the offensive. In the next moment, the older warrior was back to his position in the formation and Fan Zhong’s enemy crumpled to the floor grasping his crushed windpipe.

The battle raged and the song grew deeper, the blazing symbol of Fan clan martial arts shining brighter in Fan Zhong’s mind. Occasionally some would resist but the song knew no end, it would continue after these small lulls with the minor annoyance of some wound on his body. Such things were lost in the trance of shift, shift, origin, shift, receiving, origin, origin. An ever-flowing pattern of techniques played in Fan Zhong’s mind as the shining symbol turned into a sun, then started bleeding.

Roaring with killing intent, Fan Zhong surged forth to claim his prey as the song in his head drove him ever forward, the bleeding sun hungry for more. Suddenly, he was thrown to the ground and found himself staring at the worried face of Fan Shun. Around him, dead bodies littered the clearing with dozens of dead mercenaries and a few of his fellow legion members.

Looking at his positioning Fan Zhong realized that he had run ahead of the gate, breaking formation and chasing the now fleeing enemy. Further, into the field, a group of five legion members stood with Fan Ping's shining commander's crest visible as she stood amidst a broken battering ram, to the side one of her strike team was holding a limp arm.

“Junior warrior Fan Zhong,” Fan Shun’s stern voice was like a bucket of cold water to Fan Zhong’s mental state and he snapped back to reality looking at his once mentor “control yourself, NOW!”

Taking a deep breath, Fan Zhong tried to nod but at that moment he felt intense pain from all over. It was only now that his mind had calmed that he realized there were dozens of wounds across his body. Blood drenched Fan Zhong’s once pristine martial robes and he clenched his teeth in pain, straining to keep the boiling scream from inside.

All the while whispers furrowed into his mind. Small voices that echoed joy at what he’d done, little bits of him that should have been locked in the abyss of his heart. With all of his willpower Fan, Zhong shoved them back down.

Focusing, he reminded himself of memories of joy with his martial techniques. Of the sweeping sands that freed him and how they inspired the shifting melodies of the song. The stalwart peaks that stood in defiance of time formed the solid backbone of the composition.

All of the passion, blood, sweat, and tears that culminated in the symbol of ‘Fan’ that he had drawn raced through his memory. During this time, he couldn’t focus outwardly and only the sensation of being lifted and rushing air reached him. Internally, Fan Zhong continued layering the sincere genuine emotions that he associated with his martial arts cultivation over the song and symbol.

Doing this he realized that it wasn’t that he hated martial arts, far from it. Fan Zhong simply loved the world and his joy came from seeing his martial path through the lens of his worldview. Others may have seen their path differently however, he only gleaned joy from training when he could see the joys of life in a technique.

Cool calm washed over him as that idea formed like a wall between him and the whispering voices. They couldn’t touch him any longer, his path was now as solid as the mountain peaks, as elusive as the shifting sands, and as unstoppable as an avalanche. With trembling gasps, Fan Zhong opened his eyes to see that night had settled above the village square.

Around him were the wounded forms of half a dozen legion warriors and three times that many village volunteers. Sighing he laid back down hoping to sleep, perhaps the enemy had lost heart after the exchange. The next morning he was feeling well enough to return to his unit as they had most of the day scheduled as reserve duty.

From here, Su Fen let him know what had happened during the battle. The enemy had mostly rushed at them head-on with equal numbers assaulting their guard force and using siege ladders to climb the walls. Fan Ping had arrived with the rest of the headquarters unit in tow right before the leading enemies entered combat with their squad.

After that, a bloody battle ensued where the commander cut a path alongside her officers towards the battering rams and managed to take one down. They had met heavy resistance however as the three enemy master realm commanders had met the headquarters unit, heavily injuring the senior observer that usually oversaw the medical station. With their siege engines in jeopardy, the enemy commander called a general retreat, leaving one battering ram behind.

This had been when Fan Zhong rushed after the retreating enemy, bashing two of their skulls in before they pulled away. He had been about to chase them all the way across the field before Fan Shun had stopped him. In the end, 10 village defenders had lost their lives alongside five members of the legion, three warriors, and two observers.

The enemy forces had lost 38 warriors, however, so it was not a profitable engagement for them. At this point Fan Zhong was numb to death, his mind so overloaded with the day that he could barely process what the death of 15 comrades meant let alone start mourning for them. For now, it felt like they could only pray that this engagement had discouraged the enemy of the notation they could take the village.

Come that night when it became apparent that they had not.