In the dark of the night, a burning arrow streaked through the starry sky like a falling star.

When it struck a bale of hay a few feet away from the pair, the burst of flames startled them. The fire grew in mere seconds and smoke started spiralling through the air.

Zhijian cursed under his breath. He grabbed Xiaoyu's arm and they immediately dived for cover underneath the watchtower that was located at the fortress gate.

His eyes searched for the source of the attack. There was movement at the side of the steep mountain – little specks of red. From the same direction, more arrows came raining down on them in bright, fiery orbs; hitting the roofs, the fields, the barns. Everything that the villagers had worked for was slowly being destroyed.

Within minutes, the place was covered in flames. The screams of terror began as people scrambled out of their burning homes and ran for safety.

"What's going on?" Zhijian's face darkened as he kept a lookout for any arrows. "Who's attacking us and why? Why does trouble keep happening one after another today?"

He may not have figured it out yet, but deep down in Xiaoyu's heart, she knew exactly who was capable of planning this attack.

Leader Jiang.

She gasped suddenly, remembering that she was together with Lanying before her sleepwalking started. "My sister! She went to look for the village leader because you guys were taking far too long. We've to go look for her!"

At the thought of her being in danger, Xiaoyu almost ran out but Zhijian wrenched her back into the safety of the watchtower. "No," he insisted. "You stay here, I'll go and bring her. Jiang Yuhan went straight home earlier, so I'm certain he's with his son now."

She gripped his arm tightly, suddenly feeling afraid to be alone. "But–"

"It will only take a few minutes, I promise." His eyes shone with determination. "Stay here and don't go anywhere."

Before she could protest, he was already gone, his absence making fear clutch at her heart. She crouched down on the floor and stayed close to the wooden pillar, watching as the growing flames licked the houses nearby and spread to the surrounding structures.

They shouldn't stay here for too long. When Zhijian would return with her sister, they really needed to leave.

From where she stood, the sight before her was horrendous. Some were struck by the arrows, some tripped over their feet and were run over by the rest of the people behind them.

Xiaoyu's mouth went dry. Watching as bodies fall to the ground, nausea washed over her and she felt sick in her stomach. Knowing that she was the reason why these innocent people were getting hurt didn't help at all.

It was like a vicious cycle; everywhere she went, the people around her would get hurt and her guilt would grow tenfold each time.

She was a walking curse. An abomination that brought harm to others. If the ones closest to her were hurt, what would she do? How could she protect them? How could she defeat Leader Jiang when he had control over her?

The sound of a child wailing jolted her from her thoughts. Her eyes snapped towards the source, noticing a small girl crying for her older brother – a boy who looked no older than eight years old. He laid on the ground, writhing in pain over his bleeding leg. A pitchfork rested by his side, one that was discarded in the midst of this pandemonium, and he had probably tripped over it when they tried to run.

Nobody spared them a glance. They rushed past the children, clearly terrified by the rain of arrows that they couldn't stop to help them. As more bodies fell around them, her fury intensified.

Her hands trembled involuntarily. Her powers ached to be unleashed, to wreak havoc, but the charmed bracelet on her wrist was forbidding her from doing so.

A spine-chilling voice spoke in the back of her mind.

Break it.

Destroy.

Conquer.

And yet, a flash of memory appeared in Xiaoyu's mind. In the courtesan house lying next to Zhijian during their mission. She thought of the past that he had shared with her and his determination to be a demon hunter. To protect the weak.

Rather than destroying things, why not she used her powers to protect innocent humans instead? Just like him.

Fire flooded her veins, red-hot under her skin, running up her arms. She heard something snapped and soon realised that her charmed bracelet fell apart to the ground in broken pieces.

Her powers were freed.

And she was in control of them. She must be.

Despite Zhijian's warning in her mind, Xiaoyu was already up on her feet and running towards the children.

She didn't care if she would be hurt. All she could think of was helping two frightened children. With a wave of her hands, she deflected the next wave of arrows falling from the sky with her telekinesis. Ruining them all.

Dropping to her knees, she took the boy's hands and lifted him into her arms. His younger sister instinctively clutched at her skirt and they scurried for shelter back at the watchtower.

Xiaoyu placed the boy on the dirty ground. His face paled as more blood trickled from the nasty scratches on his leg. She shifted closer to him and reached for his wounds. A cold sweat had broken across his forehead. Even though he winced at the pain, he endured it bravely.

His sister knelt beside him with tears streaming down her cheeks. She was clutching his arm tightly as she watched Xiaoyu work her magical healing on him.

She choked on her tears. "T-t-the monsters are coming. We're going to die here, aren't we?"

Xiaoyu shook her head determinedly. She scooted closer to the children and let them snuggle into her sides for reassurance, patting their backs gently and anxiously looking out for signs of rescue.

It had been ten minutes since the attack started. The flames were growing, the smoke was getting thicker and their visions were blurring. Zhijian said that he was going to come back for her, but where was he exactly at?

He didn't get hurt, did he?

Just as she was about to run back out, he returned. This time, Lanying was by his side, her appearance slightly dishevelled but the most important thing was that she was safe. They had found Jiang Yuhan and their son too; they stood behind them, both looking anxious and unharmed.

Zhijian took one look at Xiaoyu and her new companions, noticing that her charmed bracelet was missing and how she had healed the wounded boy. But he said nothing. Instead, he extracted the crying boy from her and lifted him into his arms.

"Come on," he urged. "We need to get out of here."

Without being asked, she grabbed the remaining child and the group started running towards the nearest exit - the fortress gate. Just like how they had arrived at this village on the first day, they were now using the same route to make their way out of this place safely.

Thankfully, there were two boats left at the dock and they scrambled onto them. As the boats began rowing, Xiaoyu sat at the back and glanced over her shoulder at the burning village, watching as the flames cackled with a ravenous hunger and consumed everything in its path.

And through the thick smoke, a tall figure emerged.

Ambling towards them, the man stopped calmly at the edge of the dock and watched their boats glide away. Xiaoyu squinted her eyes, trying to make out who it was. When she finally caught sight of his face brightly lit by the blaze, she felt her heart stop.

It was Leader Jiang.

He was here. He had come to claim her back.

Zhijian sensed her fear. "What's wrong?" he asked, pulling her shoulder so that she was facing him. "Xiaoyu?"

"I-it's him." Her eyes were wide with fear and her voice trembled as she told him. "He's here. He's right there looking at us–"

When she turned back again, Leader Jiang was gone.

Did she see wrongly? Was it her imagination?

Zhijian frowned at her odd behaviour. He didn't see what she had just witnessed. "No one is standing there," he assured her. "Let's just keep moving for now. We still don't know who's behind this attack and how many of them are waiting for us."

She nodded silently. As the boat meandered through the gorge, they eventually reached another dock at the end of the route. Once they got off, the younger children trembled in fear and clung onto the adults as they walked. Before they could leave through the trail in the forest, their path was blocked.

Demon wolves surrounded them, as if they had been lying in wait for them all this while. Their red, starving eyes were fixed on the humans. Their lips were curled and their fangs were bared, looking ready to pounce on them if they took another step.

"How is this possible?" Zhijian hissed. He handed the boy to Xiaoyu and took a protective stance in front of them, unsheathing his sword at the same time. "I thought we dealt with all of them earlier but are there more of such things here?"

Jiang Yuhan stood at the front with his sword, scanning the pack of wolves quickly and counting seven of them. "Something doesn't feel right about all these attacks happening together," he observed, "but first, let's take the demons out."

"Just this once, I share the same sentiments with you."

"Guys," Lanying whispered anxiously. She clutched Jiang Ming's hand tightly. "Be careful."

Their group consisted of three children, two women and only two men who knew how to fight. The chance of winning was slim but their options were limited. The wolves approached them, growling and waiting for the guys to make a move first. Their eyes watched them intensely, particularly at the children, as they waited.

Everyone held their breath, bracing themselves for the wolves' attack...

...but it never came.

The demons tensed, their ears pricked and alert, before whipping around suddenly for the surprise attack. Shadows emerged from behind the trees, cutting the wolves down swiftly with their swords.

They were Eradicators. And they weren't just from any clan. Leading them at the front was a familiar man that Zhijian knew too well.

Xu Dukai.

The man was a maniac. With an intimidating smile, he leapt from one beast to another, killing them mercilessly and looking every bit excited. Like a child who was determined to win in a sparring competition.

Meanwhile, Zhijian and Xiaoyu watched him fight, gaping at him in both relief and astonishment.

"Zhijian!"

A voice shrilled through the air. As the fight between humans and demons continued, a young, clumsy-looking man scampered through the mess and narrowly swerved a few times to avoid getting hit. When he finally spotted Zhijian, a huge grin form on his face

"Hey!" Jinlong exclaimed loudly. "You little rascal! You're alive!"

He jogged towards them, clearly elated to be reunited with his best friend. He swatted his shoulder hard.

"We finally found you! Did you know how much trouble we went through just to look for you? If you were dead, I would have summoned your soul and tormented you even in your death! Why did you disappear on us? Why didn't you tell us where you were going–"

His eyes fell upon Xiaoyu, who was standing behind Zhijian. He took a good look at her, screamed in surprise, before his eyes rolled back into his head.

And he fainted.