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5th Day of the First Month, fourth year of Changxing\nHearing that Master Feng's Nine Classics were nearly complete, I was greatly pleased, and so offered woodblock printing as my congratulations. Who would have thought that, with the wine barely warm in us, that old fellow Feng Dao would drag me off to behold the ten "Sages" of his Inkbound Order, loudly declaring, "All are vessels of state."\nHa. How can a man be so shameless? I may at times scold the three disciples under my roof for being unworthy, but do I truly take them for mere rotten wood?\nMy first disciple, Wanshi, set his heart on taming the waters while still a child. He entered Mohist Hill at four, had mastered the mechanisms of waterworks by eight, and by ten could already point out the oversights of elder masters. Give him a few more years, and when he brings flood and torrent to heel, his name will surely be written in the histories.\nMy second disciple, Qizhe, is keen of mind and sparing of speech, gentle in temper and eager to learn. He has grasped the subtleties of every kind of mechanism, and carries within him the learning of a hundred schools. Given time, once he has truly fused them into one, then among all the bright talents of the Inkbound Order, who could stand above him?\nMy third disciple, Qi Halcyon, is righteous by nature and chivalrous in spirit. At four she laid her foundations, at five she took up the sword, at six she had mastered the sword arts of three schools, and by eight she could wrestle tiger and leopard alike. If the Inkbound Order ever turned its hand to martial training, she would surely stride to their gate with sword in hand and challenge their disciples to test their skill.\nThose ten "Sages" of the Inkbound Order have merely had a few years' head start in drinking the ink of learning. Let that old fellow wait and see. Before long, my three disciples will make their names known under Heaven. And when that day comes, I shall send them to his gate to tug at that grey beard of his.