PROLOGUE

Su An Xin was only 5 years old when the rebellious war took place in the capital. Many people fled to Anyang, the town where she lived with her parents. Her Father Su Chen, was appointed Prefect in Anyang. He helped all those who had escaped and gave them shelter and protection. The new Emperor ordered the guards to kill everyone in Anyang, for opposing his Rule.

Soon the soldiers arrived, they killed old and young alike. They set the whole town on fire. Many people including little children died. They slaughtered everyone on the streets. The local guards were not enough to fight against the huge group of soldiers.

Su Chen took his wife and daughter and hid in their house. But the rebels followed them to their hideout. They broke down the gates, killed all the servants who ran for their life. Not even a bird was spared. A servant kneeled on the ground and shouted pleadingly: "Please don't kill me! I know where they are hiding! I'll tell you, please let me go!"

"Oh! Okay then, tell! Where are they?" A man wearing a heavy armor scoffed. He placed his sharp sword on the servant's neck.

"They...They..." He felt the sword piercing his skin. "They are in the study-room!"

General Gang roared loudly. He loved the taste of power in his hands. With one move, the servant's neck was cut in half. He lay there in a pool of his own blood.

Su Chen knew he couldn't escape his fate. So, in order to protect his family, he bravely stood up and went out.

"You only want my head. Here I 'am! Do as you wish! But please, leave them alone." He begged the soldiers.

"The New King has announced that everyone, including YOU and your family must be killed." General Gang scowled.

"Men! Set the house on Fire! Don't let them escape!"

"YES" The soldiers began to set the whole place on fire.

Su An Xin and her mother were hiding behind a large cupboard in the study room.

"Niángqīn (mom), are we going to die?" An Xin asked her mother in a trembling voice.

"No, we won't! Don't be afraid. Mom's here." Liu Li said, tears welling up in her eyes.

Liu Li was crying inside. She heard her husband's last cry before he fell on the floor with a *thud*. She knew they were next. If not for her daughter, she would have joined him in heaven already. But she couldn't leave her daughter all alone in this danger. She tightly hugged An Xin. The blazing fire was eating away all the things inside the room. They didn't dare to make a noise.

The soldiers were searching the other rooms. Suddenly the windows burst open and a young boy with a dagger in his hand, came running towards them. Liu Li was stunned by the sudden motion. She tried to run but she stumbled and fell. An Xin rolled over to the other side.

In a split second, An Xin saw a wooden beam falling over her mother. Her mother got crushed below a huge beam. She ran towards her but was stopped by two powerful hands. She bit him hard to let her go...she begged, but he didn't budge.

"Niangqin!"

"NO! LET ME GO!"

Liu Li felt her bones breaking. She saw her daughter, through her bloody vision, she saw her safe. She smiled a little, through her pain and tears before losing her breath.

('An Xin, wherever you are...be happy and safe. Never ever think of revenge.') She finally closed her eyes and fell into a lifeless body crushed beneath the pillar.

An Xin was pulled away from the scene. Tears fell on her cheeks as she screamed on top of her lungs.

"Niang....!!"

"Mom! Please don't..."

She saw the wooden beams falling and the flames eating away her mother's lifeless body.

After a long run for life, finally they both reached a burned out area. The boy hid behind a tree. He looked back at the little girl. She was lying motionless on his shoulders. Earlier, he had to knock her down to stop her from alerting the rebels. He found an old house nearby, and carried her in.

In the next morning, she woke up to see a torn down house and a weird lady watching her from a corner. The lady had tended to her wounds.

An Xin only remembered one thing, a bleeding hand with a bite mark (her own bite mark), carrying her all the way to this house.

Whether its the effect of the medicine, or her own trauma...but, she didn't remember anything that happened that night except her mother's dead body and that boy's hand.