"What happened inside?" Xue hua asked.

"Get on the horse" Jin qing ordered.

"What-"

"Get on the horse" Jin qing repeated with a hard edge to her voice.

The bells inside the fort sounded and Jin qing cursed underneath her breath.

"What- they realized we are gone!"

Shouts erupted from inside the fort and more bells rang.
Xue Hua noticed the blood on her sister's dress.

"Xue Hua get on the horse, now!"

<><><><><>

Jin qing looked back to make sure her sister was still following her. She had chosen to give her sister her own horse so them they wouldn't slow down too much, but now she worried her sister wasn't used to such rough riding.

The moonlight made it hard for her to see, the horse's hoofs pounding on the floor, leaping over any obstacle along the way. They must be in Wei territory again, they have to be, but who knows how far the fort was from the border? Tens of miles? Hundreds of miles?

Jin qing shook her head and breathed in. She was only asleep for an afternoon, no way the Song would have gotten that far in that short amount of time. Besides, she had other things to worry about. She trusted her sister's sense of direction, but how would she know that they were heading into the Wei territory and not deeper into the Song?

The forest flew past her, her horse easily maneuvering between the trees, the hooves pounding on the earth floor. Her sister wasn't too far behind her, trying not to slip from her steed. They must make haste if they want to distance themselves from the soldiers. No doubt war has already been declared, therefore Song soldiers would be free to do what they liked on Wei land, it was wartime after all.

An arrow whizzed by her ear.

She turned back, expecting to see the Song soldiers behind her, but no one was there.

Was she hallucinating? Or could it be someone has an extremely good aim and a good arm? is someone hiding from them? If they are, why hasn't she found out where they are?

It's too dangerous to be running at night. They need to settle and hide somewhere. If only she can locate the lake or the cliffside her sister said she saw...
If she can, she knows exactly where they would be.

The approached a stream with a bridge. She allowed her sister to catch up.

"Why did we stop?"

"Xue Hua, I need you to hide somewhere near here."

"Why? What about you?"

"I'll be fine." Jin qing sighed, "I just need you to be safe, it'll be easier on my mind to know you're hiding somewhere."

"But what about you! You need to hide too!"

"As I said, I'll be fine, I saw something and I want you to be safe." Jin qing assured her. "Hide along somewhere among the stream. Leave the horse here."

Xue Hua slipped off the horse and ran off, following her sister's orders.

Meanwhile, Jin qing rode back toward the direction of the Song. She could have sworn something was on the arrow that was shot towards her, from the short time she saw it, it looked like a note.

Jin qing carefully scanned her surroundings, looking for the arrow. By the base of a tree was the arrow that had nearly hit her, but the shaft was snapped in half and only the point remained. She picked it up and studied the tip of the arrow.

if the little sharp-eyed shooter wanted to retrieve the arrow, they would have taken the entire arrow out, but they didn't.

You can often tell the craftsmanship of the maker by the tip of the arrow and the wood used. And Jin qing rose her eyebrow when she recognized it, and on the bottom was scratched on a few characters, but too damaged to be read. Whoever used this must have used it for a long time.

She held onto it, ready to go and find her sister, only to be interrupted by a shout.

Jin qing cursed under her breath. The Song had caught up.
She looked up and tried to feel and hear the thud of the horse's hooves, trying to count how many there were.

She smiled, nothing she can't handle.

She left her horse and tied him somewhere, and ducked behind a bush, notching an arrow from the bow she had taken earlier.

The Song charged past her, and she fired at the last man. The man grunted and fell off his horse, dead.

By the time the men noticed something was wrong about the number of people they had, Jin qing had already managed to shoot five.

They got off their horse and she almost laughed at their stupidity.

Using the night as a cover, she surprised them with the blade of her knife.
Jin qing stopped thinking, all she needed was speed and stealth. She needed to kill these men quickly before she got hurt. Adrenaline pumped through her veins, barely aware of the screams of the men she murdered.

<>

Breathing heavily, her vision cleared, her eyes adjusted to the carnage she had just caused. Her dress was almost covered in blood, and her knife was still dripping in the liquid of life.

Xue Xian.

Immortal of snow, goddess of blood.
The one who was said to be as pure as snow, but with wrath as thick as blood.

She fell to her knees, her hair tipped with red, face pale.
Her heart raced to catch up with her ragged breath.

She hasn't felt like this for years. She hasn't been in this position for years.

Stumbling onto her feet, she looked up at the moon... or at least tried to.
She was injured, she most defiantly was.

She limped toward the stream in an attempt to at least wash her hair, face and dress so her fainthearted sister won't be worried when she saw her.
She knelt and cupped some water on her hands to wash her hair, using the faint light of the moon to tell her where the bloodstains are. She could tell she was being watched, but as long as they made no threatening moves she won't either.
Perhaps it was the person who shot the arrow, who knows?

Jin qing stood up, looking down at her clothes. It was wet, sure it was, but it was better than before. She found her horse and set out to find her sister.

<><><>

"Second sister! Why is your dress wet!?"

"Oh, it's too dark outside and I fell into the stream." Jin qing lied.

Xue Hua didn't believe it. She knew her sister well enough that the dark wouldn't stop her from being careful. In fact, it would make her even more careful so she doesn't make a mistake. But there must have been a reason why her sister lied, so she wouldn't press.

Jin qing led the two horses in the cave and sat down on the floor, rubbing her eyes. "Do you want to sleep? I'll wake you up in the morning."

"What about you? What about the Song soldiers?"

"The Song is no longer a threat, at least for now. Though we do need to get our rest so we can get to the nearest safe area."

"Why not? Where are we going?"

"If we are where I think we are, it shouldn't be too far away. Hush, go to sleep."

"Jin qing, you sleep first." Xue Hua insisted "You always watched me when I slept in the Song fort, it's my turn now. You said it yourself that the Song isn't a threat to us at the moment, so you should rest."

Jin qing found no fault in her words, and so she let out a huge yawn. "Perhaps you're right. Remember to wake me up if anything happens."

Nothing happened. Xue Hua herself ended up falling asleep after she made sure her sister was sleeping soundly
.
Whatever she did, Xue Hua thought to herself, must have exhausted her.

<>

Meanwhile back in the Wei, Xi Jian paced around in his room.
As far as he was concerned, the Xue xian was captured and her escorts dead. His council, including Xue Xian's father, huddled around him. They have argued for days on the best course of action to rescue her.

Jin qing was right, without her, nothing could be done.

A part of Xi Jian knew not to worry. She was the Xue xian, capable of things men cannot even dare to fathom.

"We should charge into the border, looking for her." One suggested, "It has only been four days, they should still be near the border."

"But our armies are still in disarray! Our best generals are out trying to raise another army and shoring up defenses."

"Then we'll call out to the other countries for allied help before the Song can get to them. I'll say the Qi, They have the best military power after the Great Wei."

"I agree with that idea, but I say we should side with the Zhou. They have the best scholars and military generals, we can use them as strategists in place of the Xue xian. They are known as the sleeping city, after all, they will come to great use later on."

"You're acting like the Xue xian is dead! She is not and therefore we must act as if she is alive!"

"She is in Song territory. Do you really think she is coming back alive?!" The man turned to a Xi Jian "we must not let false hope guide our actions!"

Xi Jian's eyes darted over to Jin Wong's father, who's faced was pale as the snow in the Xue Xian's face.

"Advisor Li." Xi Jian started to say "you know your daughter better than any of us. Do you have faith she'll return alive?"

"Replying to the emperor." He began "I have confidence my daughter will return alive. Knowing her, it will still take a while for her to get back, she prefers to be careful."

"Then we act upon that" Xi Jian stood up and pointed to the Qi kingdom. "A place where a strong military resides is a place where strong leaders are. Send ambassadors over and convince them to join us before the Song gets to them. The war is still early, and as far as we are concerned, the Song has not made any moves for alliances."

"The place most convenient for the Song to ally is the Liang, which fell over a decade ago."  One advisor warned, "that place is now an area off mercenaries and assassins, the birthplace of the child assassin Wu Xin."

Wu xin.
Without a heart.
An assassin deployed by the former empress of the Liang. Feared for her stealth and her success rate of every mission she was deployed in. Responsible for the deaths for hundreds alone and thousands on the battlefield.  

"She was said to be about ten or eleven years of age when the Liang fell. Her body was never found. She should be around twenty now, but we haven't heard from her since the Liang fell." Someone pointed out "She's most likely dead. A killer like her would have an enormous bounty on her head."

"Someone like her?" Xi Jian shook his head, trying to keep his composure "Dead? I doubt it."
He knew all of their eyes were aimed at him- probably very confused about why he even suggested the name infamous especially in the Wei. 


A name the citizens will never forget. 
A name his siblings will never forget. 

"Then perhaps we should make a treaty with the Liang."

"Who would we make a treaty with? They follow no one. We can only hope they don't find child assassin and use her against us."

"Perhaps we can recruit them for ourselves. Clearly the Yu clan is in Song's favor. Do you think we can find Wu Xin and ask her to come to us?" someone asked cautiously "Would she even want to join us...? She knows what she did to this kingdom, even if it was in an accident."

"No one knows where she is, and about whether or not she wants to join... it's worth a try. But the only way to reach to the Liang is through the Song."

Xi Jian was only half-listening to the men blabbering around him. Jin qing was right. Nothing could be done without her. All this- All this would have been so much easier if she was here. Even though Jin qing grew up in the countryside, she must have heard about the atrocities Wu Xin has committed against the Wei... but she would know what to do. She would know what to suggest and how to find her. 

And once they find her, she'll know exactly how to convince the assassin to stay and help them. 
And once Wu Xin finishes her job... well, there's nothing left to do except to kill her. Such a weapon cannot be left alive, and his country will shame him if he doesn't kill her and take revenge while he still had the chance. 

"If you cant manage an empire without me, you don't deserve to be called an Emperor"

Her words echoed inside his head. Perhaps she was right.
The kingdom needed her.
He needed her.
Without her presence of authority, nothing can be done. The only reason why the Wei was so prosperous was because of her hands working the strings, the one behind it all.

"you don't deserve to be called an Emperor"