Author Note :Alright! Seems like I've managed to release a new chapter right on Christmas! It's been eight days of school-holiday and those days has given me a significant boost in motivation of writing. With this being the first new story arc I was talking about on the previous author note, it also lent me some extra determination of writing down this chapter.

Right now, the story has achieved 138 Favorites, 125 Follows, 53 Reviews and importantly, has passed 75,000 views! Additionally, I noticed some improvements on the amount of views this story has gained in this month compared to the previous month November. Not only that, but we have also passed the 300,00 word mark as well! As always, you guys are amazing and I would like to give my thanks to those who took their time reading my story and for sticking with this story for all this time.

Well then, let's get this shit started. XD


Chapter 51 : Another Task, Another Trip

It's been exactly three weeks has gone by. The sun had risen out of the horizon, shining it's warm rays through the window of my room. It was quite welcoming and comforting as I woke up from my restful slumber. Today is Friday, and boy I can't wait for the weekends to get started. I slipped into my attire and brushed my teeth before starting the day.

As usual, the echoing metallic morning gong went off as me and the others slid the door open and await for our master to walk by to greet us. We greeted the red panda as he soon returned the greeting to us and as usual again, he told us to head to the Training Hall to hone our skills.

My mind reflected on about not getting rusty wielding the staff which I requested Monkey to help me with maintaining my skills with it. He grinned, wanting to whoop my butt in our upcoming match. We both grabbed a staff for ourselves before engaging each other in combat.

Bek!

Bek!

Bek!

Bek!

I blocked and withstood several strikes from his staff. I spotted an opening and retaliated back with a swift swung to his tibia. Monkey blocked it with his staff and struck me on the side of my ribcage. I recovered from the brief pain before I started sending numerous amount of fierce swings to hit him. I spotted another clear opening on him for a split moment and quickly sent a strong jab to his chest, causing him to lose balance and fall on his butt on the floor while dropping his staff. I chortled as I helped him up from the wooden floor.

"Are you even rusty or what?" Monkey exclaimed, rubbing the area of his sternum.

"Well, I was trying to see if I was rusty or not. I may have done a bit of a lie to you to get you pumped up for this match." I said. A small little scowl formed on the monkey's face, indicating that he did not like it when I lied to him about me being rusty. "If your upset about me lying to you, then I'll make it up to you by fighting you unarmed while you can try whooping me with your staff all you want on our next match." His scowl went away and was shifted to a grin.

"Oh, I will make sure to make the most out of that moment when the time comes."

Our training was interrupted by a distinctive slam of the hall's door. The door was opened and a dark gray goose wearing a yellow golden robe. He seemed to be holding a dark green scroll and is walking his way to the Training Hall. Zeng then approached the senior red panda with a bow.

"Master Shifu, the captain of the Valley's security had requested the presence of the Furious Six and the Dragon Warrior at the Valley's guard post." Zeng spoke, handing the scroll to Shifu. The red panda took it and began reading through it. A short moment later, he handed the scroll back to Zeng before clearing his throat.

"Students, it appears Captain Yun has requested your service. Report to him at his office at once." He announced to us. We stopped our training and what we were doing. We formed a fine line and bowed to him before heading down to the Valley.

After doing some greetings with the people of the Valley, we eventually made it to the guard post. The guards let us in when Tigress showed them the dark green scroll which Zeng gave it to her. We entered and moved through a few hallways and got greeted by some of the guards before we reached the captain's office. A particular cheetah sitting on his desk took notice of our presence.

"You requested for our service, Captain Yun?" Tigress spoke.

"Indeed I have, Master Tigress." Yun replied. "I have a simple task for you all." Tigress motioned for him to continue. "Couple of days ago, the authorities of Guangzhou has been arresting a lot of criminals with the same cases."

"Like what?" Mantis asked.

"Since you masters don't usually go on these kind of investigation missions, does any of you know about opium?" None of us were able to reply to Yun. A bright lamp soon got switched on within Crane.

"I may have heard of a bit of it before in some risky places during one of my solo missions. I heard opium is a type of illegal drug that causes temporary euphoria, relaxation, analgesia and can also be dangerously addictive. That is all I know." Crane explained. Jesus Christ, I never knew that anthropomorphic animals in this world would use drug. Hell, never heard of this 'opium' drug beside marijuana, cocaine, cracks, heroin, purple drank and etc in my previous life in the ghetto parts of New York.

"Well, now that all of you have got a picture of this drug, allow me to continue. A couple of days ago in Guangzhou, many arrests were made due to the criminals or people were using opium. The authorities does not know where in the world do these drugs come from or who is supplying it, but we are suspecting some sort of criminal syndicate is running their dirty business there. The Head of the Guangdong Military decided to sent me a message to request all of you guys to go to Guangzhou and assist them with investigation. Any questions?"

"I do have one." I piped up.

"Okay, what is your question?" Yun said.

"Where is Guangzhou and how far is it?" I asked.

"Give me a moment." Yun bent down and began searching through the cabinets of his desk. He eventually pulled out a rolled-up map.

He rolled the map open, revealing the entire land of China and began tracing it his finger on it. His finger moved and traced itself down to map and stopped around the Guangdong province in the southern part of China before meticulously stopped at its largest and capital city Guangzhou. "From where we are, it will be a four days trip. It's better if you all get going now. Good luck with your mission." We nodded and exited the office, heading back to the Jade Palace to prep up a good amount of essential supplies for the four days trips.

We now got some camping stuff and equipments for our journey in case when we can't find any 'motel' to stay in when night comes. All of those stuff are now being stored in our traveling backpacks and it seems we're pretty much ready now. Shifu eventually found us as we waited for him at the exit entrance of the Hall Of Warrior. We placed our 'hands' on our palms with our head lowered to give him a farewell bow before heading out.


Multiple hours has passed and we are still walking on the dirt path. What makes this even worse is that the damn sun has moved just right above us, emitting it's hot waves on us and it's making everything worse for us. It could be that we are closing in to the end of May to the beginning of June. It is without a doubt summertime will start.

"Gosh, it would be very nice to find some cover." A voice from panda has spoke.

"Or one of us should have brought some umbrellas along the way." A grumpy green bug added.

"Oh come on you guys, it's not really that bad here." Crane joined the conversation. Monkey and Mantis looked at the avian with an 'are you serious?' expression.

"Of course it is not bad for you since you got that wide hat on you." Monkey said.

"Hey wait, where's Viper?" Mantis looked around and couldn't see the green serpent among us.

"I'm right here." Mantis followed the feminine voice and looked to see Viper had carefully wrapped herself around Crane's neck. "I'm just getting myself some shade if you don't mind." Okay, I didn't really expect to see that between the avian and the serpent. They probably may have gotten closer together after that Valentines Day.

"Hey! No fair!" Mantis exclaimed before hopping off from Monkey's shoulder, landing on an unoccupied area on Crane's back as the praying mantis is now shielded from the sun by the wide hat. This made Viper rolled her eyes while Crane let out a sigh. It has got a bit cramped for the green snake. The others would soon then started becoming noisy.

Tigress was the only one in our group that doesn't seem to give any shits about the little squabbling behind her. She just kept walking like nothing is happening or showing any sign that it's affecting her nor the sun as well.

This kinda reminds me of our last mission of us all together when we were to sabotage the main fortress of the Red Fang Army, particularly Tigress with her reserved and stoic attitude among us. Sometimes I really think she needs to loosen up for herself or she won't be able to enjoy her life.

More hours of walking has passed, the sky is turning dark as the sun went slowly down, leaving now total darkness for us. Monkey was quick enough as he searched through his backpack and was able to fish out a lantern and lit it up. We continue walking for about half an hour until we were able to find a nice open area for us to set up our camp for tonight.

Viper and Po were able to fetched the right cooking equipments from Po's backpack as they prepare a light dinner for us. Crane with the assistance of Monkey and Mantis, the three of them were able to set up the small sized tents and made a comfortable campfire with the tinderbox they had in one of their backpacks. Tigress was sitting on a nearby boulder and it appears she is meditating.

During dinner, we sat on hard boulders as 'chairs' while eating the our noodle soups that Viper and Po made. I felt the bones behind my buttocks are feeling uncomfortable, but it was better than sitting on the rigid ground. Eventually, we finished our dinner and my buttocks feels like it is getting used to the hard surface of the boulder. I decided to start a little conversation with Crane and Viper when the others went into their tents to sleep.

"So, since everyone is now sleeping in their tents, tell me how's it going for you two?" I spoke. They both looked at me.

"Oh good, good. Why do you ask?" Viper said.

"I'm just a little curious since I've been seeing you two are getting closer and closer by each days. And I have been thinking, are you two... in a relationship?" Both of their cheeks quickly lit up.

"What! No no no, we're just best friends." Crane immediately started waving his wings and nodding his head horizontally.

"Oh, sorry for embarrassing you two. It's just that you both seemed really darn close together. Like when you let Viper wrap herself around your back to use your wide hat as shade for the sun." After a brief moment of minor awkwardness, the serpent was able to speak.

"Me and Crane also have a question." Viper said. I nodded and let them go on. "Well, we both are curious about something as well. Since you and Tigress are pretty close too, are the two of you... together?" I froze, not moving for a moment before I was able to cope with what she just said.

"What, no we're not!" I nearly raised my voice. "What makes you think me and her are... together?"

"Well for starters, she seems to smile more and even laugh when she is with you. Second, you sometimes drop off your somewhat 'tough-guy' act and tend to more emotional to her. And lastly third, you and her go 'red' sometimes." Crane elaborated casually. I pinched the bridge of my nose while sighing. I then looked at the avian and the serpent's straight into their eyes.

"You two have been spying on us?" I questioned.

"Well... not all of the time." Viper said as she and Crane both gave me a sheepish grin.

"Look, I think you two got it all wrong." I began, disregarding the fact that they both had spied on me and Tigress sometimes. "Me and her are NOT together, even with what you said, we are both just simply best friends."

My mind would soon began to replay some memories ago of me and Tigress bonding together. Like from our sparring matches, hugs and other more 'intimate' moments as this made me dwell out of reality. I later shook my head for a second, confused of why is my head doing this to me. My sudden erratic movements made the avian and the green serpent became concerned about me.

"Hey, are you alright, Lukas?" Crane asked. I take in a deep breath with my eyes closed before responding to him.

"Frankly no, my head has been acting pretty annoying at me for quite some time." I said, stretching the back of my neck while sitting.

"Do you want to share this problem of yours with us?" Viper proposed.

Should I tell them about these weird and strange sensations I've been developing towards Tigress? Actually, this might be a good way for me to start figuring out these odd feelings I'm having for her. I can practically share many things with Crane and Viper since both of them are the most mature people in the group and are pretty understanding, unlike Mantis and Monkey who would use this to ridicule me. Not sure if Po would or not.

"Yeah." I nodded. "In the past few months, I've been having strange sensations towards someone, and these sensations are... well, they feel bizarre and weird, but also tingling and nice at the same time as well." I said. The two of them gave each other a quizzical gazes before making a small nod.

"Okay, and who is this person your feeling strange and tingly for?" Crane asked. I felt my embarrassment has grew to a point where I don't even want to say the person's name. I responded to the avian by pointing my finger towards Tigress's tent. Both of their mouth went ajar a bit before regaining their composure.

"Tigress?" Viper abruptly said. I instantly hushed her by placing my finger on my lip. "From what you have said, these feelings of yours might be that... you like her?" I felt myself becoming flustered by the second she said that.

"What the- No!" I shook my head. "I-I don't 'like like' her." I erratically shot up from my hard boulder seat.

"Woah, relax buddy, there is no need to get so flustered about that. We are not judging you or anything." Crane assured.

"Same here as Crane." Viper joined in. "In fact, I'm actually really glad that you start being more open about romances, particularly when you spent the Valentines Day all alone." Her voice has empathy on it when she brought that up.

"Come on, I don't 'like like' her, she's my best friend and I intent for our relationship to stay that way and nothing more." I waved arm hands defensively. Crane then grinned slyly.

"Well, if you truly do fall for the great Master Tigress one day, please don't hesitate and come speak to us about it." Crane teased, causing Viper to lightly slap him on his wing for teasing me. I felt my cheeks heated up as I turned my face away from them while dispelling out an annoyed groan from his damn teasing comment.

Once us three finished washing the dishes and stored them back in one of our backpacks, the three of us bid each others good night as we headed in each of our own tents to get some shut-eye for tonight.


It's been fifteen days in total of us traveling on foot. All of us woke up in our tents as the sunlight shined through the fabric of our tents. We made some few morning stretches and exercises before we packed our stuff. Because we had ate all the remaining food from those previous three days, it would seem we gotta finish our journey today with empty stomachs, much to Po complaining about not having breakfast but was hushed when we told him to suck it up till we reach Guangdong for some food there.

Several hours later as we kept walking in silence, a very large and enormous city appeared before us from a long distance. I was in complete awe by the size and beauty of the city. It looks like it is literally twenty times the size of the Valley Of Peace. It has bigger and more detailed buildings and has various different structures than the ones from the Valley. This is simply a very remarkable scenery to gaze at.

Some time later, the group was managed to reached the Guangdong province and is making our way to the capital city Guangzhou. Large cities like these has far more different diversity of species than the Valley Of Peace, from rabbits to jaguars and from geese to elephants. All of them are walking around and going on to their business.

There were imperial guards at some important buildings like the bank, the jewelry shops and some were even walking with wealthy and rich individuals, probably are hired bodyguards. The guards looked far better equipped than the ones in the Valley, such as having more variety of weapons, protective armors and gears. They seemed to be quite friendly to us when we arrived and they treated the people of Guangzhou with equal respect and some of them were seen helping out the heavy tasks of the elderly folks.

Our group soon decided to stop by a local restaurant to grab something to eat as Po's complaining about starvation eventually starts having its effects on us all. We sat on a table with six seat while the waiter placed a table and chair that was meant for Mantis's size. Once we made our orders, Tigress suggested we should start discussing about this mission while our orders are still in the making.

"From what I have read from Captain Yun's scroll, he wrote some additional informations about where the cases occurs and where to find the Head of the Guangdong Military." Tigress spoke. "Most of the arrests were made in Tianhe district, so we should be heading there to search for the criminal syndicate there once we meet up and speak with the Head of the Guangdong Military."

"Okay, but where we should find this guy?" Po asked.

"It is not that far, we should be able to reach the main barracks at the center of city in about twenty minutes of walking." Tigress soon rolled up the scroll and placed it back in her backpack.

"Since most of the arrests were made in Tianhe, I bet the place won't be pretty for the eyes." I spoke.

"What makes you think of that?" Mantis asked. I kept quiet for a moment before telling them.

"When I was fifteen, I've seen what drugs do to people and how it can affect the neighborhoods back then in the Western world."

"Like what?" Viper inquired. I took a deep breath, preparing to dwell into some unpleasant memories I had locked up inside of me.

"I've seen a naked man lying unconscious on the slum, completely being wasted by whatever drugs he was taking. The authorities try to help him, but the drug has intoxicated the man's mind to the point where he went all-out ballistic. They tried to handcuff the man, but the drug he took has enhanced his physical strength as he snap off every each handcuffs off of his wrists. This lead up to authorities made the hardest choice but to put him down." The last part has made the group quiet.

Eventually, that entire scene soon start playing inside my mind as the man's screaming was silenced when a loud bang came from the police's handgun. Sirens of ambulance arrived and the paramedics were informed by the policeman that the man was shot dead as they placed the man's lifeless body in a black body bag. That was one of the most unpleasant scene I've seen as a teenager. I eventually snapped back to reality and continued.

"It can also have major effects on even the friendliest neighborhoods, causing domestic violence among families and violences on the streets. The street would be littered with waste and the overall atmosphere itself would darkened considerably." After I've finished, the group continued to remain quiet.

Our orders arrived, ranging from a small bowl of rice with stirred fried tofu to an incredibly large bowl of noodle soup. Once we are done eating and sating our hunger, each of us paid for our meals and head out to the main military barrack.

We are now here. The main barrack was surrounded by tall walls made out of very durable materials. On the crenellations and the battlements on each corner of the tall wall, stood imperial archers up there as they are looking out for any suspicious activities in the city. The two rhino guards stood between the main gate quickly recognized us and opened the big gate for us to enter. One of the high ranking soldiers gestured for us to follow him as he will be leading us to the Head of the Guangdong Military.

The barrack's structure and designs looks very impressive without any intricate and complex details at all. There was an area that we are passing and we could see imperial soldiers without their armor. They seemed to be practicing hand-to-hand combat with each others while being inspected by higher ranked soldiers.

An average height brown she-wolf soldier approached us as she began guiding us to one who runs this whole barrack. We all followed the brown she-wolf as we made a few turns in the hallways before reaching an office. The brown wolf soldier who was guiding us opened the door for us. It was kinda big for an office, both sides of the office has large bookshelf that contains lots of books, scrolls and documents.

At front of us, there was an averagely decorated desk with few piles of papers and scrolls scattered across on the desk's table while some are organized nicely. The desk was occupied by a large and robust hippo, sitting on a large chair. The hippo is donned a dark green sleeved robe with a dark gray sash wrapped around his 'wide' waist.

"Sir, the Furious Six and the Dragon Warrior that you have requested has arrived." The she-wolf soldier spoke before staying beside us.

"Greetings, Furious Six and Dragon Warrior. I am delighted and honored to meet China's most strongest warriors in person. I am General Jianhong, Head of the Guangdong Military." He greeted us as he bowed and we returned the gestures.

"We were summoned when Captain Yun has received your message. We arrived here as soon as possible." Tigress spoke.

"Alright, now you are all here, we should discuss about your task here." Jianhong's voice grew serious. "It all began a few days ago when our imperial guards had detected an awful foul smell coming from the criminals. After they brought the criminals to their cells and questioned them, we have discovered the source of that foul smell was opium. There are significant arrests that were made in Tianhe district, which means that the opium suppliers could running there shady business there. All of you should head there and check things out once you all are ready to head out."

"Excuse me General Jianhong, where can we put our stuff at?" Viper inquired.

"Do not concern, Master Viper, I have already made extra spaces where you all can place down your belongings." The hippo assured. His eyes turned to the brown she-wolf. "Lieutenant, I am assigning you to be the one who is going to lead the Furious Six and the Dragon Warrior throughout this investigation." The she-wolf straightened her posture with a salute.

"Sir, you don't have to worry a thing. I will make sure we won't fail." She spoke with a somewhat 'stereotypical soldier-voice'.

"I know you won't." Jianhong gave her a small smile.

The brown wolf ceased her salute and opened the door for us to exit the general's office.

Arriving at a large spare bedroom of the barrack that the she-wolf lead us to, we entered and place down our traveling backpacks before we start making ourselves a comfortable here. The wide room was pretty normal, having enough beds and other furnitures for us. Once we finished set our stuff in the room, we exit the room and left the barrack to start investigating as soon as possible in the city.


Here we are, Tianhe district. My God, the deeper you went into this part of this district, the more leery the ambient becomes. There were few folks sitting outside of their house using a some sort of a smoking pipe. One of the inhabitants who I believed had deliberately blew a gust of gray smoke as it reached us in less than a second. Without knowing, I accidentally inhaled a portion of the cloud of smoke, causing me to immediately start coughing from the tobacco as I fast walked my way to a clear area while passing the group behind me. Once I managed to catch some fresh air, the group reached me as a large black as a panda paw has placed itself on my shoulder.

"You okay Lukas?" Po asked, a little worried.

"Yeah, I've been through these kind of places before. But still, I really hate the smell of cigarettes." I muttered.

"Cigarett-what?" Po mispronounced, stuttering at the end.

"A thing that somehow became legal to smoke around in my country." I answered. I looked behind me to check on the guys and they too have the same feeling as me as their faces shown signs of displeasure such as Crane had his nose holes covered by his wing to prevent the horrendous smell of tobacco entering inside him. I also saw the same brown she-wolf soldier, who is taking the lead for us.

With her being this close, I can see some extra details. She has red brownish eyes and wore standard dark orange Chinese armor. The armor is light-weighted and has simple designs and patterns. She seemed to be equipped with a sheathed standard-issue dao saber on the side of her waist. I approached her by increasing my walking speed.

"Hey there." I spoke. She replied with silence. "Well, since we are going to work together, mind if you tell us your name." The brown wolf looked at me before sighing.

"It's Jienbei."

"Well that's a nice name. I'm Lukas Gilman by the way-"

"I know your name already along with the rest of the others. I think a Kung Fu master like you should preserve your energy and focuse on this situation rather than socializing at this moment." Her voice filled with slight irritation. Okay, she somehow now starting to get pissy. I then nodded at her sheepishly and start walking a few steps away from her.

All of us stopped once when we made it to the center of Tianhe district. Jienbei suggested that we all should make four group with each has two person. Tigress decided to go with Po, Viper went with Crane, Mantis tagged along with Monkey, leaving me with Jienbei. Since I have no clue of this place, the best thing I could do is to let the brown she-wolf lead the way for us both.

The neighborhood of Tianhe district is getting more uncomfortable and the atmosphere is getting worse from the tobacco smokers and other waste materials. I looked at Jienbei and see that she didn't even fazed a bit to this kind of environment.

"So, I take it that you've been to this place a lot, considering how the smell of tobacco doesn't make you feel like being chocked." I spoke, making a few swivels to look out for any smokers nearby.

"I have been patrolling the ghetto part of Tianhe district for several years when I first join the Military Of Guangdong. Becoming immune to these minor 'obstacles' can help you perform your duty effectively." She said before placing her sight on me. "Keep your eyes peeled for any suspicious activities." I nodded in response.

Both of us continued walking until I've accidentally bumped into someone. The person was about the same size as us, but was fell down to their butt easily after just being lightly bumped at. Me and Jienbei looked at the person who sitting on the ground and it appeared to be a gazelle wearing civilian robes. He seems pretty normal and average, but one thing that was off about this gazelle is that his eyes are bloodshot along with significant dark eye bags and an awful kind of smell coming from his breath, causing me to pinched my nose.

Jienbei seemed to noticed something off about this guy as well. The brown she-wolf grabbed the gazelle by his shoulder with her paws and lifted him up from the ground. She leaned her head near his face and start sniffing him. Her eyes widened before she effortlessly flipped him around and swiftly placed iron cuffs on the gazelle's wrists.

"What the hell are you doing, you fucking bitch!" The gazelle yelled with a slightly slurred and dull voice. Yep, that's definitely the effects of opium.

"Sir, you are under arrest for using illegal substances!" Jienbei responded back with a firm and authoritative voice.

"I don't know what your talking about! Ya better let me go or there will be trouble." He threatened. A growl was then emitted from the brown wolf, silencing the gazelle.

"And you better keep your snout shut or else there will be bigger trouble for you, sir." Jienbei shifted her eyes to me. "Master Lukas, I'll go take this one back to the barrack. Continue searching for anything unusual and I'll be back with you in an hour." She instructed before beginning to walk her way back to the barrack.

Oh no, this is gonna be difficult since the only person who knew this part of the city has now left me for an hour. I might going to get lost for a bit, but that doesn't mean I should not resume my duty. Once I've calmed myself enough, I braced myself and into the ghetto city without any sort of guidance. Let's hope I'll not get mugged since I'm gonna be all alone here.

After multiple hours flew by, I've found nothing weird or odd things going on and decided to take a break from this place. I fast walked my way out of the central part of Tianhe district and made it back to Guangzhou. I wanted to catch some fresher air as I made my way to the Port of Guangzhou. Phew, finally out of that damn dump. Suddenly, I've heard a voice, sounds like it's announcing something in an 'unusual' accent that I've never heard of before.

I followed the odd voice and it had lead me closer to a some sort of a trading port. On the sea water, stood a pretty large stationary wooden boat that has strong European designs. The flag of the boat is pretty simple looking as it only composed of three horizontal stripes of the color light red, white and cyan going from up to down. The large boat already has a fancy plank being placed on the land of the port.

The place also has several wooden stands with various goods and items. As I decided to walk closer to get a better view of this, the place has a good variety of different species and a few of them are wearing clothes that aren't from Chinese origin, but from European origin instead.

Those people were donned in coats and some of their clothings resembled 'suits with ties'. There were also European guards with some are donned in suits of heavy armor while the others wore lighter gears. I could see a handful of Imperial Chinese troops assisting the Europeans troops with their guard duties. I approached one of the wooden stands to check out the stuff they've got. As I approached the counter of the stand, a brown horse wearing a traditional European coat soon saw me.

"Ahh goede middag, meneer." He greeted me with a strong European accent.

"Morning to you as well." I returned the greeting. "So, what kind of place is this and where are you from?" I asked, curiously glancing at the stands for any European goods he has that would catch my interest.

"This place is a trading port." He answered. "Me and my fellow colleagues come from Netherland and we worked for the Dutch East India Company, a type of large company or a mega-corporation that trades and exports various kinds of goods around the entire world."

I resumed looking at the goods that was placed on the stand. There were exotic fruits such as mangoes, bananas, watermelons, pineapples, coconuts and much more. There's also antique European plates and glass wine bottles and many other types of intriguing materials and items. I felt a dry sensational my mouth and lips. I looked at a gleaming mango, it was quite fresh looking and has a good amount of juice in it.

"How much for that mango?" I pointed at the orange fruit.

"That would be four yua-yuan." He stuttered as he mispronounced the Chinese currency 'yuan'. I put my hand in my slacks's pocket to search for some coins. My searching in my baggy pants's pocket was halted as strange figure could seen appearing behind the brown horse. In an instant, the figure take a quick step and next thing is that the figure has already ran off, pushing and shoving away civilians and guards.

"Oh mijn God!" The brown horse yelled. "Niet alweer!" I made quick swivels and saw that some people are push shoved aside and yelling at whoever was pushing them.

There's that thief... !

I placed on a runner's position and quickly break into an accelerating sprint. I carefully ran past multiple groups of people and guards without bumping into any of them. I can now see the same figure running and pushing past people and guards. The thief is only about ten meters away from me.

I increased my running pace and is catching up close to the thief. The sound of yuan coins shaking in a medium sized burlap sack can be heard. When I was sure I'm close enough, I performed a long leap, tackling down the thief as this made the thief dropped the sack of coins. I picked myself up and proceed to subdue the thief by grabbing his wrists from behind and gave the back of their calf a good kick, kicking off their balance. I planted my feet on their back, pushing them as I pinned the thief down to the ground.

I unmasked the thief and it looks to be a lynx cat. The lynx tried to squirm and get his paws free from my hands. I gripped his wrists tight and shouted for the imperial guards to arrive. Before the lynx could be apprehended by imperial guards with cuffs, he began uttering weird stuff.

"No, no, no... I can't live without those stuff." What the hell? And what does he mean by 'those stuff'. "Please, just let me go. I'll die if I don't get a 'sniff' of those stuff." My mind soon clicked as I noticed his eyes were bloodshot. I was able to smelled the same damn horrendous smell from that gazelle which Jienbei has arrested.

My God, he was stealing those money to get more opium...

Eventually, a pair of imperial guards arrived and apprehended the criminal. One of the imperial guard tapped on my shoulder. I turned around and noticed it was Jienbei. She held a small grin on her face.

"Huh, not bad." She spoke. "Strange, I did not except scums like him to appear in this lively area." Her face then grew concern. "This is could be very bad, if we don't find the source of these opium drugs quick enough, they'll bring utter chaos to Guangdong and possibly might spread to other cities as well."

"Have you questioned that gazelle you've arrested a few hours ago?" I asked.

"Yes I did." She responded. "But unfortunately, we couldn't get any new or different answers from him. He kept saying the same things like the other stubborn criminals we've arrested is that the suppliers are dwelling somewhere in center of Tianhe district." Jienbei walked passed me and picked up the sack of money that the lynx had stolen. "Do you know whose these money belong to?"

"It's at the trading port." I pointed at the location of it.

Me and Jienbei leisurely walked to the trading port and approached a certain horse at his stand. At the counter, stood the same Dutch brown horse. He recognized me as he let out a breath of relief when he saw Jienbei with the sack of coins on her paw.

"I believe these money belongs to you." Jienbei spoke, placing the burlap sack of coins on the counter of his table.

"Oh heel erg bedankt, mevrouw." He thanked. "Allow me to repay you for getting the money back to me." The horse opened the bag and search rummaging for some coins. The wolf stopped him as she spoke.

"Actually, it's was him who stopped the thief." Jienbei pointed her paw at me.

"Well, if what she said is true, then what can I repay you in return, meneer?" He asked. I took a moment to think of what I need. An idea came by as a switch was flipped on in my brain.

"How about you can lend me a few of your guys to help us in an investigation." I proposed. The brows of the horse raised themselves up briefly.

"Are you talking about the opium case that the Military Of Guangdong is currently on?"

"Oh, so you know about this already?" Jienbei spoke, surprised that a foreigner knows about this.

"Indeed I have, my money has been stolen like this four times in the past week by those lowlives." A slight anger was attached to his voice. "They kept appearing from my back whenever I dropped my guard and they would always ran off with the all money I've worked for!" He nearly yelled. The horse calmed himself with a deep breath. "Alright, how many of us do you need to be sufficient to assist you on your investigation?"

"I think three is enough." I said.

"Then it shall be done." The horse agreed before lifting and extending out his hoof forward as a sign of cooperation. "My name is Jasmijn Koopman, me and my crew are willing to assist you on your investigation."

"I'm Lukas Gilman. Looking forward to work with you and your crew." I grabbed his hoof and shook it.

"Finally, I can get out of this boring trading port." The horse signed. "I simply cannot wait to begin exploring the Chinese city and see its culture by tomorrow." His voice rapidly grew in excitement. Me and Jienbei soon left the trading port due to nighttime is coming as the light from the sun began to dwindling itself away. Both of us eventually made it back to Main Barrack along with the other guys as well.

Me and Jienbei bid good night to each other as we both parted away. I joined up with the guys and we all walked through a couple of hallways before entering the room where General Jianhong had prepped for us. The room was well-lit with lanterns hanging on the ceiling the moment we entered the room. We all then sat on the floor mattress.

"So, how was today's investigation?" Monkey piped up. Everyone remained quiet, waiting for him to speak since he spoke first.

"We both aren't that lucky today." Mantis answered for Monkey with a bit of low spirit.

"It was okay for us. Me and a Crane were able to catch a criminal who is under the effect of opium." Viper spoke.

"Ours went well as Viper and Crane." Tigress said with the big panda sitting next to her.

"How was yours Lukas?" Po asked.

"The investigation went pretty good, me and Jienbei were able to caught two criminals under the effect of opium. We both also managed to get extra assistance from some Dutch traders." I spoke. Everyone raised their eyebrows.

"Dutch traders?" Crane raised his brow.

"What did you do to get them help us?" Mantis asked.

"Well, I sorta saved their money from a thief. They decided to repay me by lending three of their workers to assist us by tomorrow. They also seemed pretty eager to help out as well, so I believe we can fully trust them." I said.

Later, we've all had an early light dinner meal and went to each of our own bedroom to sleep early. With the Dutch are now willing to help and aid us, there's no doubt that we'll be able to bring down this small, yet wicked criminal syndicate in no time!


Author Note : I hope you enjoyed this chapter. I've written like around 500 words per day for a couple of days. This amount of typing was left me with adequate amount of time to do my own stuff like gaming and drawing, but for the previous two days, I've doubled the effort and wrote about 1k words per day. I was quite invested with the situations that's being going on and I had fun writing them.

The next chapter will certainly get more darker. The feeling of changing the rating for this story from Teen to Mature is without a doubt will skyrocket. Despite that, I still want to ask you guys if I should change it or just leave it at Teen.

If you're liking this story so far, feel free to hit that Follow, Favorite and/or write a Review for the story. Anything form of support is greatly appreciated!

Welp, I guess I'm done for this year 2020 and I will be taking a relaxing break. I will start writing the next one around next year January 2021. Merry Christmas and Happy New Years!