Madlenkosi slide the ring from the finger of Qiang Hai as he perused it.
"There's nothing good in here..." He said as he tossed it to Song Jiuge.
Song Jiuge immediately tossed it back," Young Lord you did most of the work, the spoils are yours."
BiHua admonished Madlenkosi as she argued, " Young Lord that was absolutely reckless, please don't do such a thing as fight the enemy on your own again."
"Hmm, I could have handled it." He said as he brushed his knuckles.
"No fighting solo!" She was adamant.
"But.." He interjected.
"No! Fighting! Solo!" She clearly stated as she refused to budge.
"Sighs, fine." He acquiescence.
*Ahem*
"The road is up ahead, we should get a move on." Song Jiuge cleared his throat as he changed the subject.
In the blink of an eye 3 days passed as they continued their way through Basilisk Grove.
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Upon leaving Basilisk Grove, the sky was covered by clouds and rain as a luxurious coach was surrounded by a group of men.
As the pitter-patter of rain fell, men cloaked in ash gray robes with bone blades in their hands appeared.
Their eyes were bloodshot and sunken as bony claw-like fingers grasped the ash white bone handle of their blades.
"Who are you and how dare you stop the MO family coach!?" The coachman shouted.
As one of the men who surrounded the stepped forward, he slowly pulled his robe from on his head which revealed a completely pale face.
"Good day, Is Miss Mo on board? We'd like to invite her out.." He said with a raspy voice that sounded like it came from the bowels of hell.
He continued, " Young Master Hong has taken an interest in you and would like to further nurture your good feelings for each other."
As he bowed in the rain, a sinister smile crept across his face as he looked directly at the coach.
The coachman tightly grasped the reins of the cloud-stepping horses. He was Old Su, an elderly man who worked for the Mo family for the majority of his life.
He had watched the young miss grew throughout the years and even treated her like his own granddaughter.
"How dare they try to sully her!" He inwardly raged "What damned young master!?"
After collecting himself, he smiled politely " I'm sorry sir but our young miss is tired from the long trip and won't be able to accept his kind gesture."
The specter-looking man looked up as he stared directly at the coachman, "Oh I wasn't asking...Men!"
The others were ready as they jumped towards the coach with their white bony blades drawn, making a nasty screech as they sliced through the rain droplets.
The Mo family guards leaped forth as they too drew their weapons as the two sides began to clash.
Bodies fell on both sides but the guards were soon at a disadvantage as they were slowly losing their ground.
"Damn it!" A guard shouted as he was struck down.
"Young Miss, Please run! We will do our best to stop these villains!" Old Su said.
Mo LiQiu pulled the coach's curtain as she stepped out with her sword in hand.
Mo LiQiu was a beautiful young lady with a supple olive complexion and wavy dark brown hair that fell like waves over her shoulders.
Her almond-shaped hazelnut eyes glanced over the crowd and her dark green beizi was slowly drenched as she took in everything around her.
"Grandpa Su, I'll never abandon you to die as long as I continue to draw breath," Her eyes filled with tears as she saw Grandpa Su who helped raise her, covered in blood as he fought with all the might he could muster and the guards who served to protect her all these years falling one after the other.
Blood flowed like rivers as bodies littered the muddy ground and Old Su continued to fight valiantly against them despite his age.
The coach was damaged, the guards and horses deceased.
The only one who kept trying to fight on was Old Su. He gritted his teeth as he fought, his hair stuck to his face as the rain got in his eyes.
His breath labored like he was drawing his last. He breathed out more than in and his lower body felt like all the strength had left it.
He felt so powerless even though he tried his best and as his eyes filled with tears, he kneeled.
And as his forehead was placed in the bloody muck beneath him to beg for the young miss, his head was liberated from his shoulders...
Mo LiQiu's eyes were watery as tears stained her face while her hand covered her mouth.
She watched on wishing she could protect him instead but alas she too was powerless to do anything.
As his body fell face down in the blood, mud, and rain, she cried out with all her strength...screaming at the heavens above.
"Heaven's! please, please, please save me! Somebody! Anyone please!" As she keeled over in the rain and mud crying her heart out...
As the men surrounded her, tied her hands with rope as they made her follow behind their horses on foot...
__________________
"Are we going in the right direction?" Li BiHua asked.
"Yes, we'll reach the road n..." Song Jiuge replied as they stepped onto the path that the caravans take, only to step into the way of 9 men donning ash gray robes and with bone blades on their backs.
Madlenkosi walked out of the bush as desperately tried to remove the twigs and leaves from his hair. "Now, If you guys didn't want to detour because of that..."
He looked up and noticed the strange atmosphere as he rolled his eyes in the direction of the horsemen.
As the men stared at the 3 blocking their way, their eyes fell on Li BiHua.
"Boss, even though the Mo family young lady is for the young master, can't we kill the guys and take this one for ourselves?" The second-in-command asked.
Madlenkosi frowned as he looked at them, "Just for that...all of you are dying."
As he noticed the strongest in the group was initial foundation-building, he looked towards the disheveled girl at the back. Her wrists were bound and it was clear she was beaten over the past few days.
Her eyes were empty and as she looked towards him, she mouthed. "Help...Me..."