"Hah...hah..Yes, I finally did it!" shouted Men Du as he had finally given a good strike to Wan Bo's leg. Of course this was after more than 15 defeats, but it didn't matter anymore to Men Du as he had clearly understood that the young man from the Grey Mist Sect wasn't all talk.

"Brother Wan Bo, it seems I've made a fool of myself. Please forgive me." said Men Du as he bowed in respect. He knew that what he had learned from sparring with Wan Bo was was equivalent to sparring with a master. Of course someone like Men Du hadn't ever sparred with a master, but he knew that the staff skills of this young man we're greater than Zen Ping's.

"You're being too humble." responded Wan Bo as spun the staff in his hand " It's just that I've trained with the staff longer than you, that is all."

"Indeed, even someone blind can see that. Im just wondering how much do I have to train to reach your level?"

"Uhhhh...." muttered Wan Bo as he furrowed his brow's. He seemed to be thinking about the question, but in fact he didn't know. As all the knowledge of the staff came from his demonic master, he didn't really know the right answers. So, as many people do, he guessed it.

"It's hard to say, but at least it should be five years, maybe even six? As the staff is a good foundation for many other weapon's, it's something I've taken my time to train and unravel....." smilingly said Wan Bo who couldn't believe the bullshit he had just spewed, but Men Du and the others completely believed his words.

"I see, you really are a disciple of the Grey Mist Sect. Thank you once again!"

"Ahahaha.....no need, no need. I've also learned from you."

Both of them exchanged pleasantries as they laughed with each other. This little sparring between the two of them had created a small albeit fragile bond of trust, but that's all it mattered. If Qing accepted him , the other members of the defense corp's would follow suit.

This of course didn't go unnoticed by Zen Ping, but he was only slightly interested. The skills of the disciple of the Grey Mist Sect made him wonder if he was some sort of genius as even he who had trained from a young age didn't posses that kind of skill, but he had more important matters to discuss with the leader of the merchant group. He brushed a strand of hair from his sweaty brow , and immediately headed for the big tent in the middle of the camp. The tent was surrounded on all sides by the carriages and was protected by more than ten men of the defense corp's.

"Leader!" saluted respectfully two of the guards protecting the entrance before letting him in. As soon as Zen Ping entered a refreshing smell hit him and the figure of the merchant group leader came into his view.

The leader Fan Chao was slowly smoking something from a green bamboo pipe as the candles all over the tent made it look as if it was outside. Fan Chao was sitting cross legged in a matt and a big table with a detailed map was in front of him. Fan Chao didn't even raise his head as he motioned towards Zen Ping with his hand.

"Come, sit...."

"Sure...."

Both of them spoke short words to each other. It seemed as they didn't respect each other on the outside, but it was the opposite. Zen Ping had saved Fan Chao's life may times, and Fan Chao had helped Zan Ping a lot, so they were quite close.

"Huuuu...." slowly exhaled Fan Chao before he looked at Zen Ping in the eye's " Zen Ping, my friend, it seems that when it rains there is a possibility it'll hail also. Unfortunately this is one of those times.

We're in trouble."

" I guess that the scouts didn't bring good news?"

"Indeed, it's bad news!" said Fan Chao sternly as he moved a wooden horse at a certain point on the map. " Currently our caravan is here, at this village on the border of the Strong Gale Sect, and the Stargazing Sect. We would have passed through here and arrived at the Searing Fist Sect in less than a week, but....the bridge of the river we want to cross has been destroyed." said Fan Chao as he tapped at the cross on the river not far from the wooden horse."

"Hmmm.....is it a coincidence or...

"Unfortunately...

"I see!" said Zen Ping as he sighed. His handsome face appeared distraught and he crossed his hands. " So, I guess this is a tactic of the Stargazing Sect huh? I expected something to happen, but I didn't expect it to happen so quickly. The Rotation of the Sect's is always such a hassle, especially now that the Stargazing Sect is getting to lead."

"Indeed, that's what I also concluded. As the rotation is in less than a month, it's going to stir up the pot, so we have to be careful. The Stargazing Sect maybe the smallest and weakest of the union's sect's, it's also the most eager and dangerous at the moment."

"You're right, but that doesn't really concern a small merchant group such as us. We should be focusing on getting to the Searing Fist Sect, but I guess it's not going to be that easy.

So have you thought about a solution?"

"Not really, I'm currently meditating on it. The most safe and quick solution is to bribe the official of the Stargazing Sect who is controlling the territory of the next bridge over, but if he gets to greedy, we may not gain anything and even suffer a loss. The next best thing is transport the goods by boat first and then the carriages part by part through the river by raft, but it'll take us a long time, maybe two days?

These two options are not that good for us, but there is another way, a dangerous way....huuuuu...." heavily exhaled Fan Chao, filling Zen Ping's vision with smoke.

"You're saying to pass through the Strong Gale Sect's territory aren't you?"

"Indeed....

"It's to dangerous. We may die it they find out what we are really transporting. "

"I know. " said Fan Chao with a sigh "If I don't complete this transaction, I'll forever loose the deal with the Searing Fist Sect. War is eminent, and the Searing Fist Sect is the hungriest of the ten crouching tigers."