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A man can see without his eyes, but he cannot see without his heart.
Hua Manlou learned this truth after his sense of sight was taken away from him at a young age. But he's for...
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A piece of cloth swept over a long, elegant blade; each strong, heavy stroke of the cloth made the precious steel shine ever so brighter. Although he could not see how bright his sword was, Hua Manlou felt that it was necessary to clean its blade tonight. He could not risk the dullness of rust and dirt tonight, not when there were individuals within his home that he had to protect with the utmost care.
His head suddenly turned towards the door of his room, a guest room he had remained in at the main manor's grounds for the time being. There seemed to be rustling just outside of the door. He set down the cloth quickly, his hand grasping the hilt of the sword as he rushed out between the doors. "Lu Xiaofeng!"
There was no answer to his call.
Cautiously, yet with strength, Hua Manlou stepped down a few steps of stairs, listening for any sound that he heard not moments prior. After tilting his head, he could hear a slight clicking sound, similar to clay pieces. As such, he jumped upwards, the tiles upon the roof having been made out of terracotta dirt -- the clicking sound having been someone's movement on the roof.
Though he managed to reach the rooftop, the intruder was quick, leaping to the adjacent rooftops. Hua Manlou had no choice but to give chase, as he did not recognize the heavy footsteps in front of him. This had to be the iron-boot bandit in front of him. No other explanation would suffice.
Only after leaping to a second, a third rooftop was Hua Manlou even close enough to be able to swing his sword near the intruder. However, although he felt the bandit within arms' distance, the man dodged his sword, escaping by flipping himself off the roof and running into one of the rooms for safety.
Hua Manlou gave chase into the room, sensing the leader of Shaolin sect, the leader of Kunlun sect having fought with him. The bandit must have felt cornered, as he then cut through the window, leaping out of it to escape. "He's here!" Long Fei of Kunlun Sect announced, his body leaning in exhaustion against the table. "Go, he's the iron-boot bandit!"
His suspicions confirmed, Hua Manlou ran out the same way he came, as he knew the window only faced the same direction. The bandit seemed to be unfamiliar with his home, which gave him the advantage. The bandit again went to what would have been the safety of the rooftops, but this time, the leaders of Kongtong and Wudang sects awaited him there, stalling him as Hua Manlou grew closer to catching him.
As promised, the bandit left the rooftops once more, running into yet another room in which Chief Jiang and the leader of Mount Hua awaited.
He pushed open the doors, rushing into the room. Rather than sensing first Chief Jiang, the leader of Iron Sword and the leader of Mount Hua, however, he was greeted with shards of porcelain on the ground, the fine shards clinking oddly against his iron boots. Through his mask, he looked through the holes for his eyes, finding the leader of Mount Hua laying on the ground, in the midst of a pile of porcelain pieces.
