Dawn.
The roosters crowed.
Chen Ji woke up beside a stack of firewood.
He smelled alcohol.
Following the scent, he turned and saw two empty wine jars lying on the ground.
He turned again and saw Madam Lu training in the courtyard.
Madam Lu wore black clothes, a black hood, and her feet moved lightly across the green bricks.
Her body spun and shifted, but her steps never left the pattern of the Bagua yin-yang fish diagram.
Soundless.
Chen Ji leaned against the woodpile and looked up. “Why didn’t you wake me to stand watch?”
Aunt Ping answered casually, “Young people can sleep a bit more without harm. When you get old you can’t sleep whenever you want.”
Seeing Chen Ji awake, her Bagua palm stopped restraining itself.
What had been soft and yielding suddenly turned vigorous and strong; each move carried rain and wind.
That drunken Bagua roaming palm somehow gained a few extra measures of freedom and resolution.
She sounded slightly tipsy. “Want to try some fists and feet?”
Chen Ji shook his head. “I only know how to use blades. I’m not good at striking… Is this the walking-post method of your guild?”
Aunt Ping didn’t directly answer.