Bloodlust

At dawn, Su Yue was seen sitting on her throne. Her dressing was no different from the one she wore yesterday except that the mask has no gold but plain black. 

She looked at the five subordinates bowing in front of her– Two girls and three boys. One of the girls had a cold face and the other has a cheerful look on her face. She gestured to her right-hand man to come closer. 

Ah Yue Cheng walked to stand beside her and then, she picked up a brush and unhurriedly wrote down some words in three separate papers. 

After writing, Ah Yue Cheng raised the first paper with lots of words on it and started reading aloud,  "Ah Yue Ran, send a declaration of war letter to the poison valley sect. Tell our people there to start making preparations, we shall be attacking them two weeks from now. Secondly, antidotes to the new poison will be handed down soon. When you have been given, take along five antidotes and distribute them to our people in poison valley."

Ah Yue Cheng paused for the cold-faced lady to accept her mission.

Ah Yue Ran who is also known as the fourth sister, stepped forward and bowed. "Yes, master."

Ah Yue Cheng continued to read the message, "Ah Yue You, go and meet our people in northern Wei and collect the information they have gathered over the last month on the royal family." 

Hearing that, Ah Yue Fan abruptly raised his head to look at Su Yue. Her cold and withdrawn aura didn't change even though the corner of her lips were tugging into a smile while her eyes rested on him. 

The fifteen years old boy slowly balled his hands into tight fists and lowered his head to hide his bloodshed eyes. Was the day for his revenge approaching? He thought. 

The cheerful looking Ah Yue You stepped forward and bowed. "Yes, master." 

Once Ah Yue You had stepped back, Ah Cheng started to read the last paragraph, "Ah Yue Fan, go and see how the recruits are faring. Pick out the outstanding ones and let them join the Zhu house." 

Ah Yue Fan bowed, "Yes, master."

The meeting was dismissed after that and Su Yue returned to her room. Getting into her room, she sat by the large bronze mirror and slowly took her mask off. Then she brushed her heavy one-sided bang up to take a good look at her face.

The face staring back at her was so pretty that no one would ever be able to link her to an assassin. Her oval face was as smooth as jade, her heart shaped nude lips were firmly shut as she stared at herself. The eyes that were protected by her double eyelid held so much pain and sorrow that a single life could not be seen in them.

From one side of the mirror, a young girl of fifteen years and a boy of eighteen were holding a little girl of five years old in both hands as the child walk with them in the middle while jumping at intervals.

"Older sister, why do you look like mother and I don't?" The little girl asked, soliciting laughter from the two teenagers.

"You will look like mother too once you have become bigger," The boy answered.

"When I went to buy flowers with brother Bai Lu, I heard some women saying that mother is the prettiest woman in the whole of Hua Xia kingdom, so I want to be the prettiest too," she beamed.

"Of course, our Yue'er will be the prettiest woman in the world!" Her sister chuckled.

Su Yue let go of her hair as she slowly stretched her hand to touch the three people that were happily walking down the street, but the moment her hand came in contact with them, she felt a smooth hard surface instead of a soft fabric. 

She blinked and the images disappeared. She slowly let her hand drop and shut her eyes. It's been twenty years already but the pain felt like it happened yesterday. 

For twenty years, she has been living with nightmares and random imaginations that needed no triggers to appear. 

When her master was still alive, he would force pills down her throat to make her sleep without the fear of having nightmares and to control her random imaginations but, ever since he was murdered, she no longer had anyone to force her to take the pills and for that her problem became worse. 

'Poison valley, wait for my wrath!' she thought as her lifeless eyes suddenly turned sharp with bloodlust.

….

At a forest that was behind the living quarters of the sword of death assassin members, Ah Yue Fan was seen riding a white horse through a pathway with lush bamboo trees on both sides. 

After about the time it took to burn an intense stick, he arrived at a huge black gate. The guards standing on the towers had long seen him coming so Ah Yue Fan didn't have to waste time in the gate. 

Entering the small village with lots of moon gates that housed smaller courtyards, Ah Yue Fan focused his attention on a particular one that was a distance away from the main gate. The guards he passed by bowed to him and he returned their greetings with a beam. 

Everyone knows him to be the most playful member of the Yue house and loves to joke a lot. However, his playfulness didn't cloud their minds to forget that their third brother is more deadlier than his charming smiles.

In addition, they all know that he is the master's most favorite, so no one wants to offend him, even those that don't find him likable. 

Ah Yue Fan rode his white horse towards his destination. Getting to a moon gate that had 'recruits' boldly written on a placard that was stuck to it, he got down and a guard took the reins of his horse from him while Ah Yue Fan walked into the recruit gate.

Ah Yue Fan stood by the gate watching the students fumbling around with herbs and liquid substances that were placed in transparent bottles. The students in plain black uniforms didn't notice him as they were rushing around to finish their assignment.