I was able to slip out of the room easily again the next day. The door was locked and the servants were busy with errands in the house. Using my male form, I went over to the grounds for the tournament. I was able to get past my opponents without breaking a sweat still. They almost died near instantly. I could see that the rowdy crowd was eating it up. I had even killed a member of the Huli clan. He was more than a bit arrogant and charged at me straight on. He must have thought he could be the one to put the flashy commoner in his place. It did not work. That made the crowd go wild. The noble clans were also killing the peasants and commoners without mercy. It was a few more rounds down for me. At the end of the end of the second day of the tournament, I decided to go straight home. As I made my way through an alleyway, my hand went right to my jian and drew it. Several goons were in the alley with a pair of sharp daggers each. I sighed and said "What is this about, guys? You're not the ones I thought would attack." "We are getting revenge on you for your insolence." one said.
There were five of them and they began fighting me. I decided to humor them until I found out who sent them. After killing two of them, I was able to get out that they all were hired by angry Huli clan members. It was a bit sooner than I possibly thought it would happen. That was still fine and I decided to end it all. There was no reason to keep them alive. I killed the third one quickly. Before I could turn to the other two. Another three young man entered the alley. They attacked the assassins and that was the end of them. The three assassins died and I looked at them. They were all wearing light orange armor and using dao to fight. They all smiled and came up to me to check if I was alright. I was cautious as they approached. They were minor members of the Feng Clan. They were Ming Meng and Kun. They were all cousins that were entered in the sword tournament. The oldest of them was Kun at 22. Ming was 18 and Meng was 16 years old. I thanked them and they looked at me closer. Ming just reached for my hair and said "How is it possible to have hair this color? It seems womanly for a fierce warrior."
Meng said "Ming! Stop being so rude to him." He then looked at me and said "You are Dabriel, right? You don't have to let him do that to you." Kun only nodded once and said "I have never seen a foreigner fight so well." I just took the compliment. I bowed at the waist to them. "Thank you for the rescue. I won't forget it." Ming brushed it off and said "There's no need to be so grateful. We would do it for anyone who would be attacked." "We will see you in the later rounds of the tournament." Kun added. I smiled and said "Until then, have a nice evening." I was going to leave when Meng stopped me. They wanted to drink tea with me. I shrugged and followed. They paid for it and I drank it as fast as I could. I then left with a bow. They did not stop me that time. I was late returning to the window and the servants were knocking at the door. I transformed to female form and opened it. "Mistress. I have been knocking on the door for minutes now. Could you not hear me!?" one of the servant asked. They looked a mix of concerned and annoyed. "I'm sorry. I was resting and I must have dozed off to sleep." I replied.
