The next day, Dacheng's parents dragged him out of bed to go with them to a nearby park for some early morning exercise.
Dacheng didn't hate exercising. But the truth was, with his terrible aim and stout body, he only barely passed his P.E. classes. So, while his parents were jogging, exercising, and trying to socialize with other people, Dacheng just stood around and enjoyed the fresh air.
As he stared into thin air, Dacheng recalled that Japanese people were very superstitious.
To prevent any future misunderstandings, he concluded it was best to reveal his zodiac signs whenever it was convenient. He recalled that he was born under the sign of Aries and in the year of the Fire Pig - both fire signs. It was fun trivia and a perpetual debate topic for his superstitious uncles and aunts.
While walking through the nearby grove and listening to the birds chirping, Dacheng saw the ninja from yesterday.
Sneaking behind the ninja from a safe distance, he reached a small clearing, and then -
Popping sounds filled the air.
Turning around, Dacheng got distracted by the sound of fireworks.
Funny. Dacheng thought. There shouldn't be any matsuri festivals today.
He briefly looked at a brochure he had taken at the airport to confirm his thoughts. But when he turned around again, he found that the ninja he was following had disappeared without a trace. Dacheng sighed and decided to lean on a nearby tree, frustrated by his lack of achievement.
While he was there, he decided to observe the tree he was leaning on.
Time had not been kind to it or what was left of it. The tree was a hollow half-stump with neither leaves nor fruit to show for its age. He put out his hand to feel it.
As he placed his hand on the tree, the unexpected happened - he felt his hand go through the side of the tree, and the rest of him followed.
"Aah!!"
*Bang!*
"... He fell in?!" The ninja Dacheng was chasing appeared from their hiding place in the nearby trees.
"That's one of the seven Devil Storm Clan tunnels leading to Edo Castle…" they observed. "I don't think I can open it now..."
They had no choice but to lean on the tree's stump and stake it out. Who knew? Maybe the young man could make it back out alive.
Meanwhile, Dacheng tried his hardest to stifle a cry of pain as his vision blurred with tears. He got up and winced as he checked his ringing and stinging head for any injuries. Luckily, he found none too serious. Wiping his tears with the back of his hand, he groped around in the dark.
His hands bumped into something sticking out from the wall. Grabbing it and moving it about, he was surprised to see a light suddenly cut through the darkness. The object was a lantern in an unexpected shape - it was shaped like a dragon, with the beam coming out of its mouth.
He shone the lantern upwards to see if he could climb back up, but the ladder was tall, the rungs looked slippery, and he didn't want to risk another fall. He looked around some more. From the looks of things, he had fallen into a tunnel. Its walls were drab and gray, and he didn't want to stay. So he decided to look for another way out.
As Dacheng ran around, water splashing at his feet, some parts of the tunnel he was in rumbled lightly. He guessed that those parts of the tunnel were near the subway.
Dacheng saw a shiny thing on the floor. As he crouched to pick it up, knives noiselessly shot through holes in a nearby wall and embedded themselves in the part of the wall just above Dacheng's head.
A chill went up his spine, but Dacheng ignored it.
Jumping over a deep-looking puddle, Dacheng was unaware of his close brush with death and murmured complaints about the shiny thing not being a coin, tossing it away. He eventually came across the end of the tunnel. Unfortunately, it was a dead-end!