"In the forest, we had gone to the temple to pray but bandits chased us and we ran here for cover." The young lady replied courteously.
"Oh, so how did I end up on the ground?" Chow Yi Nuo inquired.
"When we were running, you tripped over, fell and rolled down from that slope." Zhi Meng Yao replied once again.
"So, where are the bandits?" Chow Yi Nuo inquired.
"There they are! Chase them right away!" The both of them heard a hoarse voice shout out from a high point. They tilted their heads slowly and saw the group of bandits dressed in pieces of cloth that seemed to be torn from rags. Their faces had also been covered by the coarse pieces of cloth. However, their swords betrayed their true intentions. The blades had been curved in a way that showed that they were from the mountainsides of Jing Kingdom. Those were no ordinary peasants, they were trained assassins, trained to take the lives of their targets with no single word.
"It's time to die, Zhong Kexin!" One of the men shouted as they ran towards Chow Yi Nuo and Zhi Meng Yao. Chow Yi Nuo tightly gripped Zhi Meng Yao's hand and pulled her as she ran deep into the woods. She had decided that she would have not let herself die once again, she had a mission to complete. At that time,Chow Yi Nuo took to her heels as fast as she could. At one time, she found herself springing as though her creator had placed mechanical springs in her ankle joints.
Chow Yi Nuo ran as fast as her feeble legs could carry her. She ran while sometimes looking backward to see how far the assassins were. No sooner had she gone deeper into the forest than she realised that the assassins were right behind them. Her temper flared like mercury in a clinical thermometer. She decided to fight him furiously and boldly like a soldier in a battlefield. Without delaying, Chow Yi Nuo pushed Zhi Meng Yao behind her and faced the assassins directly. The both of them had been surrounded by the ring of assassins. Without delaying, one of the assassins who seemed like the youngest one leapt for a flying tackle that caught Chow Yi Nuo unaware and as a result, she found herself balancing on one knee. While on knee, she collected him over her shoulders and before he could realise what was happening, she had already flung him into the ground, making him loose balance as he tried to stand up. Dust rose in a cloud. Zhi Meng Yao stood there perplexed, mesmerized, shocked and rooted on the ground with her eyes wide open in astonishment, since when did her weak and feeble miss be that strong? She had always been bullied by her elder sister, Zhong Guiying and that made her life a living hell. She was at least proud of her although their situation was bad enough.
Chow Yi Nuo bit her lip angrily with diabolic lust for violence. As she was still thinking of which technique to apply next, the assassin unleashed heavy blows that made her feel as if her jaws had probably been disconnected. Zhi Meng Yao gasped as she saw what was happening. She drew an audible, shuddery breath. Out of annoyance, she somersaulted and her knees landed on the assassin's mouth. He staggered awkwardly, an indication that he was from drinking a spree.
The two of them pushed each other like antelopes caught in a trap. Chow Yi Nuo engaged her left leg with her right leg and brought the assassin down. She finally resolved to fill his mouth with snow, the assassin shivered due to the coldness in his mouth.