Shang's Retaliation

The second illustration of February is finished!

Shang was not a man to seek out petty revenge, but when one's personal honor is besmirched by the act of being left naked in public...well...revenge doesn't seem so petty anymore.

It didn't take long to figure out who the masterminds behind operation "Steal the general’s clothes while he bathes" were. Yao, Ling and Chien Po were rather vocal amongst the other men about their pride in pranking their commanding officer.

At first Shang thought that they should be berated in front of the other men, but then he gave it a bit more thought and came to the conclusion that the punishment should fit the crime.

This is how he found himself skulking about in the shadows by the lake shore as Yao, Ling and Chien Po were horsing around with each other out in the water. A quick survey of the shoreline found the soldiers' clothing set aside while they bathed. An even quicker few moves from Shang saw the clothing vanish from the ground and appear in a sack Shang was holding.

The still unseen Shang grinned at the three men bathing in the lake, ignorant of what was about to happen to them.

He made his way back to the army encampment just on the other side of the hill, placed the stolen clothing in his tent and then marched to the center of the camp where a soldier holding an alarm horn stood at attention.

"Soldier! Sound the call for the men to assemble! Immediately!"

"Yes sir!" The soldier placed the horn to his lips and blew. Men from all over the camp immediately jumped to attention and started lining up in the camp center.

"Surprise inspection men! Move! Move! Move!"

Within a few minutes all the soldiers of the camp were in their proper places and standing at attention. It was a picture of perfect military precision.

All except for the three empty spaces that should be filled by Yao, Ling and Chien Po.

"And where are these three soldiers?!" Shang proclaimed as he made a show of pointing out the empty spaces.

"There sir!" A soldier pointed towards the entrance to the camp where three sopping wet naked figures could be seen inching their way in with their hands firmly placed over their groins.

"Men! I called for a full assemblage of the soldiery! Get in your assigned positions for inspection at once!"

The three naked soldiers turned even redder than they had been and made their way over to the other men. The faces on the rest of the soldiers let them know that they wouldn't be hearing the end of this for quite some time.

Story written by fellow patron and friend Sid!