Chapter 10: Chapter 10: Assassination
Four shadows with their expert footing, lightly took steps on the wooden floor in the hallway. They had flown over the empty tavern and climbed onto the second floor. Like quiet owls in hunt, they searched through every room without a sound until they landed on the correct one. It was slightly larger than the others, made for two beds, one on each end of the room. The person who found the room signaled the rest of the group and they surrounded it: one outside, three on the inside. The designated person who was supposed to execute this mission came up and poke a tiny hole through the door screen, then slid in a bamboo that was small enough to fit the hole and blew fainting gas into the room where Kun Shang and the rest were sleeping in.
Xiu'er swapped a fly away from her face and shifted in position. As soon as the gas reached her expertly trained nose, her eyes shot open immediately. Knowing that she shouldn't panic, she pretended to stretch and walked over to her brother. Silang had one leg over Kun Shang's abdomen, who was sleeping with his composed body straight and peacefully. She tapped her brother on the shoulder twice before he opened his eyes. As soon as his eyes were open, he recognized the difference in smell too, and was about to get up but his sister put a finger on her lips to shush him.
Knowing exactly what she had in mind, he closed his eyes and went back to sleep. Xiu'er turned around and the corner of her lips were pulled into a sly smile. Even though it was too dark to see her face, the mischievous twinkle in her eyes was obvious.
They were being watched by those who were outside the door. Xiu'er had to act fast in the time interval the assassins looked away to let the drug do its work before they entered. She ran to her bed and grabbed the rope that held up the curtains and took it off. Then, with effective hands she tied the rope from one end of the room to the other in front of the door as a trap. Quickly after that, she jumped in bed next to A'Li and covered herself with the blanket.
The assassins let the gas do its full effect before gently opening the door. The first one to enter saw the rope trap and abruptly stopped his footing in the air.
"Amateurs," he said and stepped over it. The rest followed suit.
All three stepped into the room wearing black clothing that covered up their faces. They saw that the one sleeping on the table wasn't there anymore and looked around the room.
"There is one more," a low voice asked.
The man closest to A'Li looked on the bed and there was a large long bump.
"Over here," he whispered.
A black slimmer body, in what looked to be a woman, walked over to Kun Shang's side. She picked up the sword next to him. After examining it in the moonlight to see if it was what she was looking for, she nodded her head.
"Kill them," she breathed.
The two men raised their swords above their heads and were about to stab Xiu'er and Xiaogua. Suddenly, the window in the room broke open and their fellow henchman who was supposed to guard outside, came flying down. He rolled and dropped dead at their feet. Qingzhao took out her Moon Sabers from behind her and wedged the Sword of the Millennial Gods in their place on her back.
A person dressed in black, cannonball flew and rolled through the broken window to land in a crouched position in front of them. Qingzhao couldn't recognize this person not only because they were covered up, but this person was too fast to be seen. As soon as they landed on the floor, they maneuvered around her men, hitting the acupuncture points to stop their movements. She could tell this person was swift and potentially a proficient martial artist. The person was so fast that all of a sudden, they had frozen her two men and their face seemed to suddenly appear in front of Qingzhao, just a few inches away.
Qingzhao gasped in fright for a split second as she was staring straight into two small slits of a grey stone mask. Before Qingzhao could take a good look at the mask, they locked moves and started the fight. After executing the first few moves, Qingzhao was pushed backwards and almost tripped on the rope trap set up by Xiu'er.
Stupid rope!
Qingzhao moved the fight out of the room. Outside was the hallway and soon after that was the mezzanine (inside balcony) and stairs leading down. As Qingzhao fought with the person in the stone mask, she used her qi to silence her footsteps so as to not wake up anyone. Her opponent was also doing the same as they moved swiftly and silently.
Qingzhao put one of her sabers flat to her back, spun her body horizontally in the air and kicked a leg down. Her opponent ran up against the wall and back-flipped towards the mezzanine. They put one hand on the baluster, pivoted their body at their hand, came around and swung their feet at her. She put the other saber on her back as well to block the kick. It was so strong that she fell forward and had to roll to release the momentum.
This fighting style was different than when she was fighting with Kun Shang. She had a difficult time picking up the fighting style because it was so fast.
Qingzhao put her Moon Sabers behind her and got up and jumped off the mezzanine. Her opponent flicked a needle that hit her veil and loosened the cloth on her face. She landed on a table not far from where she was fighting with Kun Shang earlier today. The cloth that covered her face slowly fell in front of her. The full moon shone bright beans through the window and onto her stature.
She panted and cursed under her breath. She had only lost to one person in her whole life and she was not about to make this her second. She no longer cared if they saw her face or not. She had already got what she came here for, but now she had lost her pride and she needed to get it back.
The person in black was still on the mezzanine. With the distance between them, she could really see the mask more clearly. It had two small slits just for the eyes and no pocket for the nose, so the mask was flat in an eerie way. It had a cold grey-ish white color made from a type of stone, covering the entire face. The mask was a faceless face. The look was almost creepy.
Qingzhao stomped her feet on the table to thrust herself back up to the mezzanine. Out of nowhere, a sword came from her right, making her spin her body in the air to avoid it just in time. The sword dug deep into a pillar, while it's unusual flexibility made a ringing in the air.
"Who dares!?" Qingzhao landed on the ground.
From the direction the sword came, flew in four girls.
CREATORS' THOUGHTS 
Just_Scissors
Just_Scissors The last chapter was cringey, but I loved writing this chapter! Already so much fighting scenes and mysteries. Hehehe
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