Something in the paddies over the hill...

Moving as quietly as the gently sucking silt of the paddy field allowed, JaSun climbed onto the small path that wound its way up through the many terraces cut into the hillside, each walled field filled with water and rice plants. His pants clung to his muscular legs as he crept up the path, some instinct urging him to stay low as he neared the top of the hill.

Almost flat on the ground he inched his way forward, raising the brim of his hat to peer over the ridge and down into the terraces on the other side, shielded only by a small fringe of bamboo around the ancestral shrine at the top of the hill.

He had the sense of mind to cover his mouth to stifle the gasp of surprise at the sight that greeted his eyes...