41 Late

Like a flock of crows, dozens of black dressed men magically appeared and rushed into the gathering. The soldiers with their backs straight and swords ready, met the assassins without a second thought about their own lives. Screams of terror soon replaced beautiful music, and the nobles scattered from their tables like cockroaches. Many of the young men took responsibility for their farrier counter parts, and helped protect the women back into the awaiting carriages as the soldiers held back the assassins.

The Empress Dowager was escorted by eight soldiers as soon as the first arrow hit the tree, and her old legs moved virgiously away from the chaos. As for the stunned Yu Chun, she was pulled by the wrist and safely shield by her brother. Yu Xi yanked his sister back into reality and the two ran off to their carriages. While the havoc continued endless, the nobles, the Yu siblings, and the Empress Dowager had no trouble leaving the site. Not a single person from the group of black men chased after those people. Their eyes were just focused on the soldiers and their target, the Empress of Do.

When Mu Qing first saw the arrow flying pass Yu Chun, her body automatically rolled on to her side. On the ground, she heard unsheathing of swords, the clashing of metals, and what seem to be like thousands of feet stomping onto the earth. Gathering herself together, Mu Qing jumped back up and her eyes quickly scanned the area to assess the situation. In what seemed like eternity, from the first arrow to the now, only happened in a matter of seconds.

She was surrounded by a circle of soldiers, each one of them ready for the next foe to come. What she witness next was nothing short of astounding, her two delicate maids were each holding a pair of daggers. Gu Chi and Ke Ying were on the outer edge of the protective circle with their claws bared and taking one assassin down after the next. Arrows suddenly rained down from the sky and the soldiers lifted their shields as an umbrella to block out the violent storm.

Gu Chi let out a breath of relief when she saw Mu Qing standing safely in the middle of the circle. It was in a her moment of distraction that an assassin came from behind with his sword. She flipped up baring her hand on his shoulder, stabbed him in the neck, and then slid the jagged dagger all the way down his torso. She glanced at Ke Ying on her right just in time to see the young girl sliced open a man's knee caps. Their eyes met and both nodded their heads.

Ke Ying suddenly took off, heading towards Mu Qing. She sliced and danced her way through the flock of black men. While they were stronger than her, Ke Ying was more flexible, focused, and faster than what they gave her credit for. It was impossible to fight and kill every last one of the assassins. There were just too many, and both her and Gu Chi were only focused on getting Mu Qing out of here. As for the matter of their lives, they were determined to hand the young Empress back to the Emperor without a single scratch, whether their corpses remained intact or not.

As the archers reloaded, Ke Ying ran straight through the collapsing circle of soldiers. She grabbed the still stunned Mu Qing by the wrist and shouted, "Your Highness, you need to run through the trees and onto a carriage. You have to keep running, even if I'm not behind you, you have to keep running. Don't look back and don't hesitate!"

The two sprinted across the field as arrows started to rain down once more. Ke Ying picked up a shield from a dead soldier and blocked the incoming arrows with Mu Qing safely tucked inside. In the distant, she saw more black men catching up to them. Gu Chi and the rest of the soldiers were barely holding up to these bastards, and that's not mentioning that the assassins had a good level of martial arts that surpassed the common soldier. The only ones that could match up to the men in black were her and Gu Chi.

When the arrows stopped, she pushed the shield into Mu Qing's embrace. Then she shoved the Empress away, turning around to face the oncoming flock of assassins.

She shouted, "Run!"

Mu Qing really was discombobulated. From the sight of the corpses scattered on the ground to the sacrifices of her friends, it was just too much. The thick stench of blood was making her dizzy, and truth be told, her legs were as weak as jelly. However, she kept running, and she didn't look back. Her emotions raged on like a tornado, yet she had no thoughts. Mu Qing was officially on auto pilot.

Another array of arrows came down upon the running Empress, however Mu Qing reacted quick enough to protect herself under the shield once more. Once it was over, she picked up her dress and ran again. She was almost into the woods when her body hit the ground sideways. She clenched her teeth in pain, rolled over, and slowly turned around. Yu Yue clutching onto her bleeding abdomen with an arrow sticking out of it.

In all of the commotion, the young dancer ran with the rest of the nobles towards the carriages. However, she stopped and hid behind a tree when she noticed how none of the assassins were following them. Her eyes were filled with horror when she realized who the target was. Her feet made a mad dash back to the clearing. She had just arrived when she saw an arrow rocketed towards the unassuming Mu Qing. On instinct, her body sprinted towards her friend and pushed the empress away.

Mu Qing stared at the bleeding Yu Yue with disbelief. The young dancer had appeared out of thin air and saved her. Snapping back to reality, her delicate hands quickly teared at her equally delicate dress. Taking the strips of her dress, she applied pressure around the arrow to stop the bleeding. Even in her state of panic, she knew it was unwise to pull that arrow out.

"Yue Yue, you have to hang on. Look at me, and j-just, just hang on," Mu Qing's tears flowed silently down her face.

Using her last ounce of strength, Yu Yue gasped, "Y-you ha-have to r-r-run!" Her eyes immediately closed as soon as the last syllable dropped.

"NO! Open your eyes. Open them, please. Oh dear god, please," tears dropped onto her bloody hands.

Mu Qing heard footsteps approaching her and looked up. She saw a man in black swiftly making his way in her direction. On the left, Ke Ying was holding an injured arm while fighting four men, and Gu Chi was taking on six of them at the same time. All of the twenty soldiers were dead. No one could come rescue her now.

"Kekeke. It's a pleasure to meet Your Highness," the man in black crackled, "Too bad, now it's goodbye."

He raised his sword up, ready to send her down to see King Yama*. Goddamnit! She was completely over this. She refuses to keep on being the victim! Look at how many people have sacrificed their lives for hers! Keep on running? Keep on letting people get killed for her? Hell No. While she is emotionally and physically exhausted, she refuses to let her life end today.

I, Mu Qing, will never be a damsel in distress!

She grabbed the shield beside her and blocked the oncoming swing. Her little body crawled away from Yu Yue to protect her body. Frantically searching for something to hit him with, she crawled to a broken bottle of wine that was thrown around in the chaos. The assassin took a step back from the force of the block and descended upon her again. However this time, she was ready. Her hair was completely out of those beautiful buns and flowed freely in the wind. Her hands were covered with blood, and her eyes wanted some. Her stance was solid, and her face was determined. At least, she died trying.

"Fuck you, bitch," her words were sharp as a knife.

Provoked, he came swinging at her with great neck speed. He swung at her head to cleanly chop it off, however she dodged under it. Then taking her broken bottle, she attempted to stab the man in the thigh. Before it could hit the target though, the man flipped away. He came charging at her again. This time he no longer felt like playing with her. He grabbed her hands, making her drop the bottle. She swung her feet wildly at him, but the man in black locked them with his own.

Then he took his sword and swiftly stabbed her in the abdomen.

Her body was like a kite without its string. She could barely feel the pain when she hit the ground. Her hands clutched onto the wound as darkness clouded her mind. Out of the corner of her eyes, she saw the black man getting ready to swing down his sword of the final cut. She closed her eyes.

Then she felt warm droplets rained down upon her body.

Large hands held her face, wiping away the blood on her eyes. It was a gentle touch, almost as though she was made out of fine glass. She felt a warm breath, and her eyes fluttered.

"You're not allowed to give up."

She knows this voice. Deep, velvety, and cold.

"....You're.... late..."

Everything went black.