Zheng Juan wasn’t the favourite person Ku Lo had met by any stretch of the imagination. A question followed question as Zhen Juan grilled Ku Lo’s frail facade of a spy while at times going off-topic, allowing Ku Lo just enough space to calm himself. 

These off-topic conversations concerning the next match in the arena and such were much needed, for Ku Lo became sure that this bandit knew of him being a spy. 

Still, Ku Lo sat with Zheng Juan in the bar, eating eggs and mustard with him. 

“Well, I better get going,” Zheng Juan said, starting to nudge off the chair. 

With the best ‘what a shame’ face on, Ku Lo answered, “That’s a bummer. We could have talked longer. Yet, if you must leave, there’s nothing I can do.”  

“I’m very busy today. A shift at the food bank. If you wish to talk more see you here tomorrow.” 

“Same time?” 

“Sure,” Zheng Juan agreed and left, waving a hand next to his black, shoulder-length hair as a parting gesture. 

The instant Zheng Juan disappeared from sight, Ku Lo took a napkin from the table and swept it across his sweaty face. Seems like there’s no way for me to touch the food supplies today. 

Two other realisations hit his head. Wait?! Will Zheng Juan rat on me? And. I should head back to the rendezvous point. His legs worked on the latter as the mind tried to work out the motives of Zheng Juan. 

Walking to the rendezvous point wasn’t a problem, though the others were already waiting. On the other hand, his mind couldn’t come with a report explaining Zheng Juan. To Ku Lo, the man appeared eerie, aloof, and very strong.

“Hey,” the beer-bellied man whispered.

“Some trouble came my way… let’s leave, now.” Although he couldn’t be certain Zheng Juan was ratting him out this very moment, the possibility of it made him decide they shouldn’t linger here or attempt any covert actions against the High Mountain Bandits. 

Without a further word, the four of them walked back to the gate.  

...

The throat of the monster had been created into a long hallway between the city proper and the gate leading outside. On it was little in terms of extra people, so the notion that a person couldn’t just move out and in came to mind. 

Eyes gazing at the bones from the city’s side of the hallway, Ku Lo and his men pondered an excuse if someone were to ask for permission. They didn’t want to leave this to chance. 

They passed many ideas along the four of them. 

Yet, in the end, they went with a proposition laid by the beer-bellied man which said they’d forgotten their beer at the guard post. The notion was so ingenious that even Ku Lo forgot about his glory hogging and ran along with it. 

“We forgot our drinks,” he told the guard who’d been asking about his day a few hours back. “And as you know-” Hiccup. “The games will continue today.” 

“Oh-” The guard, nodding, began opening the small door embedded into the gate’s corner. “You better hurry then. The Argent versus Riktig match will start soon.” 

“I just hope we still can get front-row seats when we’re back. I want to see blood when The Argent smashes Riktig’s head in.” 

“Blah, the Riktig will win,” said the guard. 

Ku Lo was moving past him already, but the guard’s banter made him turn. “Want to bet on it?” 

The guard took a moment to ponder, “I can throw in a few silvers.” 

“Ten?” Ku Lo took out coins from his pocket. 

For another response to come took a bit more time than last time. “Ten silver coins on Riktig winning the match, I have to believe in my man.” 

“I’ll come and nab these-” He gave the guard his silver coins. “And my winnings of you after tomorrow’s watch duty.” 

The guard chuckled as spies went on to tell everything they’d learned from this hideout never before spotted. 

...

“Those bandits never knew what hit them,” Ku Lo laughed as the group descended a mountainside the guard post couldn’t see because of its terrible placement — it was also the side from which one could view the monster’s jaw if knowing where to look for and had exceptional sight.

“I’m not going to lie,” the beer-bellied man said as he jumped down a cliff Ku Lo had scaled down. “You getting promoted was super fishy at the start, but you’ve really proven yourself. When we get back to the sect, we’ll all be noted by the upper management.” 

The two lanky men were in a jolly mood, too. “My brother and I called bullshit, too.” 

Ku Lo responded with nervous laughter. 

“Don’t sweat about it any more.” One of them placed a hand on Ku Lo’s shoulder. 

However, Ku Lo’s eyes, let alone focus, weren’t on this pat on the back conversation. They were shifted on the High Mountain Bandits hideout’s gate being opened, and it wasn’t just the small door, no… The thirty-meter tall, fifteen-meters wide metal gate creaked open, letting out more and more people. 

“Run!” he shouted, rushing downhill with no care for his ankles. Fuck you, Zheng Juan!

It took a moment before he heard the footsteps of the others behind him on the barren landscape. “”The jig is up!”” they called with different words.

Few steps in, Ku Lo glanced over his shoulder to assess the situation. His fear being it wouldn’t be mere lackeys coming after them, but actual strongmen of the bandits. 

It was a fear well-placed, for while most of the mass of bandits were slower than them — though they were still on the snow, unlike them — some made their way on the snow-covered entrance with speeds exceeding Dai Meifen’s.

It wouldn’t be a stretch either if the champions Argent and Riktig had pursued them because of their espionage setting the hideout into lockdown and so cancelling their match. 

“Captain, should we split up?!” Ku Lo’s team also noted this. 

It was nice of them to call him ‘Captain’, but… — Whatever! Ordering them was his job! “We will not split, we’ll make it through without allowing fate to decide who dies and who lives!” 

“Right!” the three of them sounded excited enough to agree instead of desert, which surprised him. 

It was such a positive he looked at their faces for one more time; however, what he noted shocked him. As amongst his three lackeys, the quieter one of the lanky brothers to be precise had been harassing his classmates and a person he now called Gingg’er. 

The Yin and Yang Sect does hammer their disciples with its ideals of unwavering loyalty to the command structure. Sure, before the recent events, they’d been silently rebellious, but the times were different. 

“We’ll have to lose them fast or risk the whole Seventh Expeditionary Teams death.” 

“Right!” two of them agreed. 

But not the beer-bellied man. “Our information far outstrips theirs!” he began making a strong counter-argument as they leapt from boulder to boulder. “The intel a single one of us has is more than they could have hoped to gather, so I suggest we use them as bait. If our warning of the situation doesn’t reach the sect...”

Ku Lo couldn’t deny this, yet he wouldn’t agree with the man either. Dai Meifen’s, Huang Qingling’s, and Huang Gingge’s lives were much, much more precious to him than the sect.

“What if the Bandit Captain spilt the beans and they have the information, too?” This was the best argument he could return while watching the pursuers closing the distance.

“Maybe not. Are you willing to risk twenty lives over hundreds— no, thousands that might be dead due to that decision!” 

“I am!” he roared to shut their mouths. “I am also your Captain, and I make the final decision! We’ll head towards the river and try to lose them there!”