Under the Bamboo Parasol

Of course, Ru An did indeed make her way to the carriage where the horses were left. She had to make sure that nothing had been stolen.

Along the way, she made her way by the lake that had been glistening in the morning, but by now, it had lost all warmth. She felt as though there was a cold stream of air wanting to enter her body. It had been a while since she had felt this way.

Her thoughts returned to the morning when Madam Lin asked about the fishes that would be willing to eat fresh meat if thrown into the lake because they were so hungry.

Her precise words were: 'If they're starved long enough, will they eat flesh and pick the bones clean?'

At this thought, Ru An felt a chill in her spine, and she quickened up her pace, to the point of nearly running.

As she neared the carriage, she could hear the sounds of rustling about the trees. She could sense those eyes watching her every move, lingering around to catch her off guard.

But she would not allow them to do that.

As she neared the carriage, she heard the sounds of silent hearts beating, speed up, as men dressed in black jumped out in front of her. Their speeds and coordinations matched each other well, as though they had done this countless times before.

Ru An remained calm and collected, yet her eyes narrowed as she looked at the shadows that appeared.

They stood there for a good moment until a gruff voice said: "Little girl, have you seen two men, one of them is wounded."

"Nope." Ru An shook her head without a second thought, as she went forward to get to the carriage.

"Little girl, think carefully." The voice said again and paused as though wanting to scare her, "Or else it may be your head." The figure wrapped in darkness came closer, as though trying to observe her closer, yet it was futile to look through the dark masks of these men. "You know, you have such a pretty face, a pity if it had to be displayed on a spike."

Once the man was done speaking, a stream of laughter echoed into the night.

The laughter and the extra words really threw Ru An off guard, causing her to ponder, were these assassins or common bandits? The way they dressed and moved together suggested they were assassins, yet the way they spoke and laid their plans before a young woman in attempts to scare her suggested the mannerism of bandits.

Ru An was slightly unamused at this point, after listening to that voice.

"Enough!" The shout was enough to spread for miles and miles, full of internal energy that was bursting with anger at the same time.

A chain, it seemed shot out from the girl's sleeve, winding itself around the man who had spoken for the longest time, causing his throat to gurgle incoherently for a few seconds before he toppled over soundlessly.

This action sacred the men in tow as their laughter ceased abruptly.

Ru An stood there perfectly still as though nothing had happened.

Their bodies trembled, yet they knew that there was no backing down at this moment, for they had already angered her to a near brink. But perhaps if they all charged forward, the safety in numbers. Now, how they have regretted that there were only around fifteen men that were in these forests, having ordered the rest of the people

Ru An's emotionless countenance stared at each and every one of the masked faces that were charging towards. Now, it seemed that she was about to be swarmed over by the masses of bugs.

As they came, she readied herself. She had not a sword in hand, while so many were pointed towards her, yet the one thing she did have up her sleeve could easily wipe out so many without discrimination.

As they came, her sleave swung out, the chain could seemingly reach out miles upon miles, and inflicting a severe wound to the necks of her assailants. It seemed that those who met with it had no choice but to meet their deaths.

There was not a single person that survived the onslaught.

Ru An took a deep breath, breathing in the thick scent of copper that currently stifled the air. The sounds of crickets still continued to chirp restlessly.

Her eyes landed upon the bloody mess and slaughter that she had caused, but there was no hint of a tear that could be seen on her delicate face.

She quickly dragged each and every man to the lake she had passed and threw them on to the ice, which quickly gave in and cracked under the tremendous weight of the corpses. Soon sinking to the bottom, never to be seen again.

Before she left, she could already see some of the movement under the water, as the fish swam closer and closer, their silvery scales shone brightly under the moonlight, ever so beautifully, as the small instances of reflected light danced on the thin ice.

The ice would form again the next morning, and no one would ever know what had happened.