The doors slowly creaked open, a teenager in the garb of a low-ranked student appearing from behind them. He was angry, though upon seeing Dai Xin he wavered. The man in red took no notice, and clasped his right fist with his left palm before bowing.

"Good afternoon. I am--"

"We heard you the first time!" the youth said. "Do you have any idea how rude it is, to stand at someone's door and bark like a dog?!"

"My apologies." Dai Xin kept his head bowed, a sign the impertinent young man took as weakness. "I knocked, but when no one answered I became impatient. Is the headmaster in?"

"He won't see you!" the student snapped. "You're a fool to challenge us--the Five Wheel Striking Style of Mingdu is famous across the world! The master has no time for such foolishness! Go away and let us train in peace!" Withdrawing, the young man began to close the door...but found he could not budge it. He pushed harder, with both hands. When the door didn't move he looked up at the hinges with a raised eyebrow, but nothing was there that might cause it to stick. He set his shoulder against it and pushed with his whole body. It still didn't move. Then the student looked down--and saw just the toe-edge of Dai Xin's foot set against the corner.

"You--!" he began, but the sound died with a choke. Through the edge of the door, staring right at him through an opening only a few inches wide, Dai Xin's face pressed tight against the other side. In the shadow of the doorway only one eye could be seen, but it burned with an intense and barely subdued rage. The man's mouth was set in a line as grim as death.

"Please open this door, that I may speak with your master." he said in monotone. "If you do not, I shall knock on it once more. My fist is very hard, and this door is very old. I would not want to damage such a sacred place of training."

The young man stepped back from the door, and took off running further into the temple. The doors swung open hard enough to bang against the walls on either side, and Dai Xin stood with hands outstretched. He took a deep breath, folded his hands into his sleeves, and walked through the gates.

On the street below the steps to the training hall, a few passerby had just seen a man--whom some had heard screaming in a voice like a lunatic--apparently force his way into the Mingdu Temple. Some shrugged and went about their business, but others--especially those who were young and enthusiastic about such things--began running and spreading word.

"Someone has challenged the Five Wheels Temple!" they would shout to friends and onlookers. "He said his name was Dai Xin, the one who is rumored to travel Yunshou and take over other schools! There's going to be a fight!" And so the rumors went, spreading quickly, especially in the shops and stalls where there were many ears to hear...