The disciples of the Ganlu Escort Agency live in separate quarters. Those in the A-Room practice the first thirty-six forms of the Gu family's saber techniques and receive five taels a month. Those in the C-Room haul cargo at the docks and tend the kitchen fires. No one teaches them any martial arts.
Xu An has spent four years in the C-Room, secretly watching others train and making his own bamboo saber. Ever since the chief escort found him among a pile of corpses, he has been waiting for a chance: the grand examination held once every three years. Pass, and he can enter the B-Room, learn saber techniques, and stop hauling cargo at the docks. Fail, and it's another three years.
He's already waited four years. In three more, he'll be twenty-two.
This year, the rules have changed: teams of five, formed within each room. The C-Room has only four people, not even enough to make a team. With eighty-nine days left on the countdown, a woman carrying a long saber on her back pushes open the side courtyard gate, while a girl clutching copper coins is cornered in an alley by the Black Banner Gang.
Xu An steps in front of the One-Eyed Dragon, bamboo saber in hand.
“This is the Ganlu Escort Agency. You're not taking anyone.”
A lowly servant, a bamboo saber drawn. Eighty-nine days to go from the C-Room to the grand examination arena. This is one test they must pass.
