Lone Planet
Lush Continent
Hou Kingdom
Cerulean Moon City
12.6 km from Tranquility Conservatory, school for men and women with innate abilities. It has only been at most two hours since their carriage and the servants have traveled from the school when they suddenly met an ambush by armed men in black clothing with their faces covered.
The young mistress peeked from the window as she heard screams and shouts of people around the carriage. Swords drawn, arrows whizzing, and the sounds of flesh being cut could be heard from inside. The 15 year-old trembled in fear. She feared facing death. But more than that, she feared for her father and uncle's lives as they fought with the assassins outside. Yes, assassins. Their skills were too adept for it to be just ordinary bandits.
"Brother! Take Jia'er to safety! We'll cover you!" Her uncle could be heard calling out amidst the clashing of swords.
"But--what about you?!" Her father's voice answered with worry. He would have fought alongside his brother, if not for his daughter inside the carriage.
"Go! Hurry! I'll catch up when we finish them off!" His younger brother urged, proceeding to kill two men in front of him.
Song Xia clenched his fist, praying that his younger brother Song Huo would be alright. He commanded one of the servants to drive the carriage and led them to the direction of the school which is closer than heading towards their residence that is still three hours away. Hoping to seek help from the experts at Tranquility Conservatory, he led half of their people with his daughter in the carriage to that direction.
Song Huo only glanced twice to make sure his brother and his niece were able to escape as he and his men blocked the assassins from following them. Half an hour later, they were finally able to cut down all of them except for one for questioning. But was useless either way since the assassin killed himself to prevent revealing the identity of the person who hired them. Song Huo commanded two of his guards to burn the bodies as he led the rest to the direction of Tranquility Conservatory.
Speeding up with their horses, they heard the sound of swords clashing nearby.
Song Huo trembled in fear for his brother and niece. "Kill those men!"
Weak and wounded on the ground, Song Xia clutched his abdomen that was bleeding profusely. The rest of his body was full of cuts. His kneecaps were crushed, making him unable to get up and run. One of the assassins arrogantly raised a dagger, attempting to strike another lethal blow. But before he could strike down, blood sprayed everywhere, both hands were cut and fell on the ground with a thud.
"Aaaaaghhhh!!!!!!" He wildly screamed in pain and fear as he saw his arms hands-free. He was about to run away when a man in blue clothing with a silver dragon embroidered on the front appeared in front of him. His eyes widened in fear as Song Huo kicked him down. His guards drew their bows and arrows struck those remaining assassins.
"Who sent you?!" His foot came on top of the assassin's back, pushing him harder on the ground.
Blood spewed from the man's mouth. "Ugh! I don't know!!!"
Another kick and Song Huo left him, signalling for his guards to continue the interrogation. Screams from that assassin could be heard as Song Huo bent down to check on his older brother. Song Xia had passed out the moment the assassin was kicked down to the ground by Song Huo, feeling relieved by his younger brother's rescue.
"Brother! I'm here! Brother!" Song Huo shook him awake. The latter's eyes opened and only spoke a few words before fainting again. "Jia.."
Song Huo made sure that he's still breathing and made him swallow a pill before he went towards the carriage to check on his niece. A few of his guards were already bandaging the wounds of the unconscious Song Xia.
"Jia'er.. Are you wounded?" Song Huo called out to his niece but could not hear anything from inside as he approached. He lifted the curtain only to find it empty. His body went cold. 'Where is she?!!'
He hastily searched for her, walking around the carriage. A few bodies were lying lifeless on the road. He prayed that his niece was not one of them.
Their maids usually wore light blue clothing and that day, Song Jia wore light blue clothing with white outerwear. The female bodies on the ground were all wearing light blue.
'Did she get taken away?' Hoping that his thoughts were wrong, he flipped the bodies one by one to check the faces. Only when he reached the last two women who were the farthest away from the carriage did he see his niece who was deathly pale with blood traces from her mouth.
"Jia! Jia! Wake up!" Song Huo shook her, checking for any wounds but he didn't see any. She must have been struck with the palm to either her chest or to her back, injuring her internal organs. As she couldn't be shaken awake, Song Huo took out a medicinal fluid and made her drink it. She didn't become conscious but there was still faint breathing from her.
"Call for doctors! They won't make it if we go to the residence. Find an inn!" He commanded his guards as he brought his niece to his arms and carried her to the carriage, laying her beside her unconscious father. All of the servants died except for the guards that were with him. The remaining assassin have already died from either blood loss or suicide. Their interrogation was for naught.
The carriage's horses have already escaped amidst the chaos. They used two horses from the guards instead to bring the carriage. Another carriage was used to place their servants' dead bodies for proper burial while the bodies of assassins were burned to ashes.
"Second Master, we didn't get any information from the assassin. I failed to follow your order." A guard kowtowed in front of him.
Song Huo waved his hand in dismissal. He didn't have time for this. What's important was for his brother and niece to regain consciousness. Anyway, he already could deduce that those assassins would rather die than divulge any information that would still end their lives and their souls for breaking the contract. At least this way, their souls have another chance at reincarnation.
At an inn within Cerulean Moon City, the bloodied appearance of both father and daughter were brought inside two of the suite rooms. A doctor ran inside with his bag.
Upon glancing at the man, he swiftly gave instructions to some of the helpers at the inn. "Bring buckets of warm water, and several clean towels." Inspecting the man for all of his wounds and injuries, the helpers helped him clean the unconscious man from his bloodied state.
He worked silently, his brows furrowed in concentration as he applied herbs and bandaged the wounds.
"Has he already taken a medicinal pill?" The doctor turned to the intimidating regal man in blue, wiping sweat from his forehead.
"Yes. How is he?" A firm voice came from that man. Nobody could guess the internal turmoil inside him. At this moment, he needed to be the strength of their family and make sound decisions for them.
"He is severely injured. His kneecaps have been broken but this will be fixed. I will give him a pill to help his body produce more blood to recover all of the blood he lost. And another pill to temporarily put him in an unconscious state as he heals to prevent him from exerting effort that would cause his wounds to tear open again. His wounds need to be cleaned and dressed with this herb paste that I have applied." The doctor explained as much as he could given that he was already intimidated by the man in front of him.
"When would he wake up?"
"This.. He would wake up once his internal injuries heal. He would be in constant pain, so give him medicinal fluid for pain relief frequently. As for exactly when, I don't have the answer right now." He was also disappointed that he was unable to heal him quickly.
"Second Master, the doctor said, the young mistress's state is critical." A guard reported to him.
He dismissed the other people in the room except for the guard and the doctor who followed him in. He also dismissed the doctor that attended to his brother.
"Are her internal injuries severe?"
Heaving a sigh of dismay, he told the truth to Song Huo. "It's possible she would never be able to cultivate again. At worst, she would end up dying in a few days' time."