He was still pondering when he suddenly heard voices outside, amid the messy footsteps approaching his yard.
Clutching the sword in his hand, he was puzzled. This place had been quiet for a month, why now was trouble arriving?
It seemed not to be trouble, as the raucous voices of the approaching people were those of the drunken and self-aggrandizing kind; one couldn't expect outside disciples to have much restraint - they had only just stepped onto the Daoist path, and the Essence Building through Fasting was somewhat out of reach for Hou Niao at the moment. But in the eyes of true cultivators, these people had yet to truly begin.
With a 'bang', the courtyard door was pushed open violently. It was never meant to keep out thieves anyway, so how could it withstand the drunken force of a cultivator's shove?
