Volume 2 – Merak Temple"s Rebirth and Sword Mound"s Secret
37 – Prologue, Amid Fire
This may already be another world.
Wailing came from all sides.
A flame tongue floating in the wind grazed the girl"s nose. There was fire rising in the distance.
The fire concealed a ma.s.sacre. The girl faintly smelt a disgusting smell… it was the smell of blood.
The vast mansion was being destroyed.
Everything was fading away. Only the place where the girl stayed was still dragging out its existence.
“… is that person still not willing to let me go?” Looking at the scene in front of her, feeling the invisible death, the girl muttered to herself.
She has expected that there would come such a day, but when things really unfolded before her eyes, she still fell in a state of bewilderment.
The long-lasting happy life has made the girl subconsciously ignore a fact… that she shouldn"t exist. At least, in that person"s mind, she shouldn"t be alive.
Yes, it"s long overdue.
“… Young Miss!” A shout roused the girl back to her senses.
A maid was running towards the rock garden where the girl was located.
The girl hurriedly greeted the other party. Without waiting for the other party to calm her breathing, she eagerly asked: “Where"s father?”
The maid"s face was distorted by fear, her clothes were messy and covered with ashes, and there were some bruises on her face.
In the girl"s memory, this maid who served her looked always composed. But at this time, it felt like that impression was a lie.
“… I, I haven"t, I haven"t seen Master…”
When she heard the answer, the girl felt her heart tighten fiercely.
The girl involuntarily bit her lower lip hard and broke the skin, and a taste instantly overflowed her mouth, a faint fishy taste that could not be dispelled.
“Young Miss, what do we do now?”
“… we can"t wait any longer…”
Otherwise, I will be swallowed up by the flames sweeping through everything.
The girl wasn"t a selfish person. If she could, she would do everything in her power.
But she was a rational person.
She knew that even if she put her life on the line, it won"t be of any use.
… keep on living.
Only if she lives, will there be hope, the hope called “revenge”.
“Young Miss, where is the secret pa.s.sage? We should hurry, the guards can"t hold on for much longer.” The maid looked around and spoke eagerly.
How does she know about the secret pa.s.sage? The girl suddenly looked up and found that the maid"s gaze unnaturally fell on her hand.
Her hand has turned pale because of the force with which she was clenching a long, straight blade.
It was a pure white Hengdao [1].
“…” The girl narrowed her eyes.
Apparently aware that there was something amiss about the girl, the maid asked timidly: “Young, Young Miss?”
“… you mind this blade?”
Although the blade is exquisite, but is it worth minding it?
“It… it"s because I have never seen you hold a blade, Young Miss… so…”
“In this situation?”
In this life-and-death situation.
“I…”
“Forget it.” The girl turned around and immediately heard the sound of a sigh of relief behind her.
“Right, how do you know about the secret pa.s.sage?” With her back facing the maid, the girl asked, pretending not to care.
“I… uh.” Her voice came to an abrupt stop.
With the flash of a blade ray, fair skin was slashed open, and the throat of the maid was cut open.
A fountain of blood shot out and landed on the girl"s pale face and blue dress.
The maid pressed her hands on her neck, but the blood still flowed from between the fingers. She stared at her mistress incredulously and opened her mouth to say something. But what could she say with her throat cut open? She could only make some unintelligible sounds. A look of denouncement and unwillingness in her eyes, her eyes slowly closed.
White clothes, red blood.
Looking at the maid collapsed in a pool of her own blood, the girl lowered her eyes.
In addition to her father, only her and her siblings knew about the secret pa.s.sage.
A maid could not know about this.
“…I already knew… I already knew…”
The girl suddenly felt cold.
She had long expected that even though her father was in a high position and was deeply trusted, but that person would plant spies around him and in his home.
But she didn"t expect that the spy turned out to be her own personal maid – a person who had served her for many years.
“… Nangong Yunyao!”
The girl looked up reflexively and looked in the direction of the voice. There was a black figure at the entrance of the courtyard.
Wrapped in darkness.
The person was covered in black. Only the sinister mask covering his face released a dim golden glow.
State Guard! The girl"s eyes opened wide.
“It"s really you, Nangong Yunyao!” The dark figure sneered, and then rushed towards her.
The girl secretly scolded herself for being careless. Why did I raise my head and look at the other party?
But now wasn"t the time to bother about this. The girl quickly turned around, went around the rock garden, and opened the door of the secret pa.s.sage according to the way her father has taught her.
Following rumbling sounds, a dark stairway appeared in front of her eyes, and the girl ran inside without hesitation.
She must run. If the person from the State Guard catches up with her, only one thing awaits her.
Death.
This person will never let me go!
Since he won"t let me go, then I must keep on living until the moment his blade crashes down on me.
I can"t die – this thought supported the girl to continue forward, supported the girl to not breakdown even if she loses everything.
The footsteps coming from behind her were gradually changing as the person was getting closer.
The girl seemed to feel the aura of death behind her.
In the darkness, she almost fell a few times and hit the wall several times.
The winding secret pa.s.sage seems to be ridiculing the girl, making her suffer.
However, the girl still didn"t give up.
Maybe G.o.d cared for her, as light welcomed her before death caught up with her.
Just as the girl rejoiced…
“…!”
Countless flames came into her view.
The people holding the torches were all wearing masks.
“…” The girl took a step back, but the State Guard who has been chasing her was already eyeing her from behind.
Probably the leader, a person in black slowly stepped out.
“Nangong Yunyao, you have nowhere to run. Give up.”
“…and then what? I still won"t escape death.” As the girl ridiculed, her eyes wandered around and looked for an opportunity.
The silver lining was that these State Guards weren"t cracks. The masks they wore weren"t Ming Huang mask.
Having said that, these people were all martial pract.i.tioners.
“Kill anyone from the Nangong family who resists – this is the order we received.”
“Commander Luo has devoted himself to the Nangong family, he wants…”
Not waiting for the the other party to finish speaking, the girl laughed in spite herself: “To let me go?”
“It seems that there"s nothing to talk about.”
“Indeed!” The girl took a deep breath, “What are you s.p.a.cing there out for? If you don"t come, I will die!”
The girl"s shout alerted the State Guards.
“Be careful! There may be experts.”
The leader shouted, and the State Guards raised their weapons and looked around, alarmed.
Their attention was clearly removed from the girl.
At this time, the girl moved.
She ran to the side. There was rough off-road.
But because of the off-road, there was a chance.
“d.a.m.n! Quick, chase after her!”
When the State Guards reacted, the girl has already reached the end of the road – a bottomless abyss. But there was the sound of running water.
“Fire!”
The girl took a deep breath, and then kicked off the ground.
“Uh!” Before she dropped, a bolt went deep into the girl"s left shoulder.
Pain and the feeling of falling down enveloped her, and she dropped straight down the cliff while drawing a faint blue trail in the air.
[1] – Hengdao (横刀)