As nightfall crawled its way over the sky and wholly overtaken the sun. The stars sparked up high with the moon hidden behind dark clouds. The sound of crackling fires and howls of beast making their presence, that they were there.
Meanwhile, two soldiers were forced to stay awake to keep watch for the night by Captain Hu. They were none other than the two soldiers making those comments. As a small punishment, one of the soldiers on night watch duty was one the night previously. He couldn"t keep his eyes open as they were heavily shutting down on him. His head was bobbing up and down, and that was the only way to keep himself awake.
What they didn"t know was that this will be the last time they will become sleepy for the rest of their life. Once the owls stop hooting, they will go into a deep slumber for the rest of their life.
"Argh," the first awaken soldier leaning against the tree grunted. His eyes were closing and kept closing on him. "I am going to take a p.i.s.s."
The second he was away from the light and into the darkness of the forest. A stealthily yet rough hand covered his mouth and without further ado.
"Agh-!"
A red thin, beautiful line appeared on his neck, letting his blood run wildly down his armor.
Inside the carriage closest to the soldiers, two bodies are sleeping soundlessly inside, but one body was missing. The one that never came back after telling Xiong Guang to shut it. In the dead of night, two bodies that were supposed to be asleep were wide awake.
One of the awakened body was rustling through the back of the second carriage. The carriage that held all of the herbs and medicine meant for the front line.
"What do you think you are doing?" A soft, delicate voice growled, pointing a thin yet sharp blade against that person"s neck. "Talk! Who are you!"
"How did you know?" The unknown hungry boy let go of the herbs bundle in his hands and put both of them up.
Xiong Jingfei"s eyes gazed into his without fears, "It wasn"t hard to tell. Your att.i.tude was arrogant for someone begging for food."
The boy grinned, "And who are you fooling that you"re a family of travelers?"
"It doesn"t matter anymore," Xiong Jingfei solemnly replied. "You obviously know the terrain pretty well. We didn"t know there was water near here, but you left on your own to wash my herbs."
The boy began to turn his head to face Xiong Jingfei but stopped when the tipped pierced his skin. A tiny droplet of his blood marked the tip of her blade.
"Move, and I will kill you," Xiong Jingfei said, in a carefully controlled tone. "What do you want? A boy out in the woods by himself without anyone? It is unbelievable."
The boy"s breaths quickened. However, he refused to speak a word of his mission.
"I gave you a chance to leave this evening, but you refused to go. There is something we have that you must want." Xiong Jingfei dug her blade a little deeper into his neck.
The boy laughed, "Then why did you change your mind and let me stay?"
"Who knows what you will bring if I let you go?" Xiong Jingfei narrowed her eyes. "Speak! I will really kill you!"
"Okay! Okay! I want-"
"Agh-!"
Xiong Jingfei turned her head towards the direction of where the group was sleeping. By misjudgment, she lost her focus on her target, and the target did not hesitate to get her back. Hitting the blade out of her hand, he pushed her off the carriage away from him. He jumped down and dashed towards the fire pit that was still bright and crackling.
"Stop him!" Xiong Jingfei screamed at the soldiers up ahead. Getting herself up, she chased after him. His legs were shorter than hers that she was able to tackle him down.
The boy struggled between Xiong Jingfei and trying to get something out of his waist belt. When he got it, quickly, he threw it into the fire pit. A loud screeching noise release was heard and shot itself into the sky. Painting the bright sky red like multiple shootings stars at once.
"A signal..." Xiong Jingfei breathed in, staring up into the sky. The fear she hoped to never happen on this journey was becoming a reality. "It"s a signal!"
"Get ready for an attack!" Captain Hu roared at his soldiers, but the only thing he heard was the scream of someone dying.
Turning around, the second soldier that was supposed to be on night watch was lying in the pit, burning away. The stench of human"s burn was disgusting, and the worst smell he had ever experienced. He was on the verge of puking the food he ate earlier back out.
Captain Hu"s eyes scanned for the other soldier on watch, but he was nowhere to be seen. Since two are missing, there should be a total of six bodies, but more than six human bodies were standing in front of him.
He knew, these weren"t his people.
"Attack!" The unknown attackers shouted.
Those people came charging at them with swords and axes in their hands.
"Be ready to attack and protect!" Captain Hu shouted, lifting the morale of his six soldiers.
He had the lives of his soldiers and three women to protect. He wanted to run to the carriage where the three women were sleeping. But he didn"t have a second to move from his place with two swords attacking him at once.
Seeing what was happening in front of the boy"s eyes, he managed to push off Xiong Jingfei and dashed into the dark forest. Which confused her because she was sure she confusion in his eyes. Aren"t these people attacking them his people?
"Kill everyone and take everything!"
Xiong Jingfei didn"t chase after the escaped boy, but she finally understood who are the people attacking them. "Bandits..."
"Ahhh!"
A high pitch scream was heard inside the carriage Xu Song, and Xiong Guang was sleeping in. Xiong Jingfei quickly hid behind the second carriage.
"Who are you! Don"t hurt me!" Xiong Guang cried, being dragged out of the carriage by her hair.
"Shut up!" The bulky man with an ax in his head screamed at Xiong Guang. He kicked her in the stomach, and she flew down the carriage. Her small body slammed against the hard ground, and only m.u.f.fled sound can be heard from her.
"I will leave on my own!" Xu Song didn"t wait for the bulky man to grab her the hair or arm. She walked down the steps on the carriage on her own. "Guang! You will be alright."
Xu Song held her into a sitting position. She moved the hair out of Xiong Guang"s face and wiped the sweats away. It was too painful for Xiong Guang to reply back, so she only held onto her stomach.
"Take what you want, but leave us alone!" Xu Song screamed. Her heart trembles on the inside. She only hoped her Miss got away and hid somewhere safe. Then it hit her, what if they already got her?
"Heh, Boss, we should bring these beautiful gifts back with us!" A man with a scar across his face grinned ear to ear. He almost couldn"t back his l.u.s.ty eyes staring down at Xu Song. "Boss?"
"I"m here."