Adventures of Fu: In which Fu helps a fox out of a predicament, delivers a message, and doesn't learn a secret technique!

Trigger warning: if you have triggers, stay out. 

For the rest of you, here's the previous episode.

A couple hours later, Fu awoke after he heard a voice in his head. 

"Can you come to help me? Second floor, the door with two guards in front of it...there's sleeping powder in my stuff, you'll find it in the hollowed-out bamboo stalk. Make sure to not inhale it!"

Fu put on his beggar outfit, made his hair less kept, and splashed on his face some alcohol from Black Fox's stash, then started stumbling towards the guards, mumbling incoherently. One of them warned him to stop.
 

"Stop?Me? A-ha-ha! But that's my room!"
 

"No it's not, you drunken sod!"
 

"Eh", Fu stumbled towards them and the wall, leaning on it. "Why so rude, man? I was told my room is on the third floor..."
 

"That's the second floor!"
 

Fu looked surprised.

"What? No! I counted it right!"

The guard just put the spear down, towards Fu's chest. Fu merely leaned his hand on the spear, then suddenly stumbled towards the guys, throwing ample amounts of sleeping powders in their faces!
 

Drop, drop.
 

"Ah...shoulda've let me in!", Fu mumbled.
 

Then he waited for the powder to dissipate, put a cloth over his face, and entered. There was a big black fox in a magical circle, a wizard who started saying a spell, and another guard.
 

Fu rushed by the wizard, then simply put his foot in the circle, and dragged it back across its edge.
 

"Ah", said the naked Black Fox inside, who'd suddenly turned human. "Now we're gonna fight!"
 

And he cracked his knuckles.
Fu simply looked at the wizard, and concentrated on the wrongness of using magic. Surely that spell violated the will of Heavens!
 

And that's how the spell fizzled and died.
(In game terms, Qi Resistance, Fu's approach).

Fu merely smiled. "Care to try again, magorast?"
 

It wasn't necessary. Black Fox had removed the guard already (the guy seldom needs more than a couple strikes, lots of enemies go down to one of his attacks) and struck the wizard in an acupuncture point, rendering him mute. Then taking him out was a matter of leisurely applying pressure to the right spots.

"What happened, Black Fox? And for the grace of Heavens, dress up already!"

The black fox reappeared, jumped out the window, and Black Fox reappeared shortly after.

"Hey, thank you...you really saved my skin in there. I saw them and recognized them, didn't realize they've recognized me, too!" 

"I guess they didn't like you. What did you do?"
 

"Just a chick, and she never mentioned she was going to wed that old guy!", Black Fox pointed at the wizard. "Saved him an unfortunate wedding, I'd say! But I though he'd have forgotten her and remarried..." 

 "Indeed", Fu agreed, not even bothering to comment on Black Fox's behaviour. "If she didn't say a thing, it was her fault. And he should be happy you did her before the wedding, not after! If she'd allowed her to have your ways with her after the marriage, he'd be wearing horns. Doing it before the marriage, you saved him that unfortunate fate. He should really be grateful you prevented him from getting married to an unfaithful wife! Who's to say she'd only allow that to you?"

"Oh...why didn't I think of this argument, back then?", Black Fox mused. "I'll tell him when he wakes up. Now let's move these two", he pointed at the wizard and the guard. "You'd be interested in the boy..."

"I. Don't. Swing. That. Way!"

"...oh no, I mean he's the brother of that gal you wanted to marry. Or have you reconsidered?"

"She's got a brother?"

"...you don't know a lot about her family, I see."

"We kinda met at a short notice", Fu reminded him. It was Black Fox that introduced them, if "introduced" is the right word.

We pushed them through the portal to the Golden Lotus, and much to Fu's amazement, Black Fox woke the guy in question up, and told him that the "missing Emperors" (well, really the Emperor and his half-brother, but they look basically like twins, so we call them this) are with us and not dead. The guy obviously started thinking about switching his allegiances...

But Fu told them good-bye and went away. He had no idea how to impress his possibly-future-brother-in-law, other than by "he works for Black Fox", so he just went to the Beggar's Brotherhood.

I swear, he had every intention to just train calmly to improve his skills!

Well, admittedly he did that. He asked good questions, and got good tips. He even found some applications of the forms, or so he believes...

And concentrating on his footwork, he is really starting to master the use of the staff! Besides, his internal energy keeps improving...

 

In game terms, he did master the 5th level of his style, Bandit Beating Staff, which netted him an advancement in techniques. And guess what, he is now a definite master you don't want to fight, with 106% attack skill...

His defence is much weaker, though.

And all of that happened over the course of a day! It was a nice day, a calm one.
 

He even delivered the chest that the beggar chief in the capital had asked him to get to the blind teacher in Middle City. She thanked him, and started touching the cords it was tied with.
 

"Do you want me to untie them for you, Respected Teacher?"
 

She even stopped in her tracks.

 

"Are you a moron?"
 

"I don't think I am", Fu mused. "But Yanzi says I've got a thick head. What does that have to do with untying the cords for you?"
 

"How do you think I can read a message?"
 

"Special kung-fu technique, I've always assumed?"
 

"Stupid! You have mastered Blind Fighting, you know it doesn't help you read!"
 

"Sure thing, but I always assumed there was an extra-special kung-fu technique that allows that, too?"
 

She sighed.

"No, it's the knots. Different knots at different places have different meanings..."

She started explaining. Fu decided she just doesn't want to teach him this technique, since he can read anyway, and doesn't need it.
 

So he went off to train, because he realized that he didn't indeed need anything like this.

 

Overall, it was a good day!

...and then we got summoned to help! Calmly training to improve one's skills would have to wait, again!

But that is for the next episode!