While Yinyue and her accompanying group stayed safe within the Qisha village, 01 faced another danger lurking in the other parts of the Black Mountains at nightfall.
What began as a routine return ended up in a bloodshed. 01 took ten men in his group and they headed for Yandi's border pass. They headed out on their horses, riding as fast as they could.
With three hours more on horseback through the forest, they could enter the narrow winding pathway around the Black Mountains into Yandi.
But an ambush happened. Just when he least expected. How could he let his guard down? Evergreen pines grew in that forest, instead of bare trees. The foliage of pines made it a perfect ambush spot.
Over a hundred assassins jumped on them in the forested path. 01 only recalled the blades swung. Bodies fell. The blood scent filling the air. Screams and shouts of men. Then he realised the assailants surrounded him.
All his men died.
The cover of night and the familiarity with the area helped him to throw his attackers off his tail.
Or so he hoped.
01 staggered towards a hiding spot behind the boulder. He continued pressing the stab wound in his abdomen with the remaining strength he could muster. The bleeding needed to stop. Beads of cold sweat broke out on his forehead.
Each step felt heavy. He leaned on his sword for support. Warm, viscous blood spilling into his clothes in the frigid air provided temporary warmth. Soon, the freezing chill set in.
The cold reduced his bleeding. But didn't stop the bleeding. He was leaking blood. The assailant's blade may have a poison to stop clotting.
Distant wolf howls echoed across the valley, followed by a cacophony of nocturnal creatures. The night hunt began. No man or animal spared. With his injuries, he was a prey in his condition.
Chirps, clicks and squeaks of bats flew above, passing shadows camouflaged by the night's blackness. If those bats, wolves or even tigers smelled blood from a distance, they will attack him.
Or worse, reveal his location to his assailants.
He glanced at the shrubs, only seeing their dark outline. If anyone came, they would rustle those branches. His back slid down on the cold rock hard surface until he sat on the ground. He took slow deep breaths while keeping pressure on his still bleeding wound.
Images of the half-masked Simurg leader kept flashing in his mind. However, the Simurg men were not his attackers.
The assailants spoke with a peculiar Dayan accent from the Capital of Huangcheng, and not Yandi. Their moves hinted they, too, like him, trained in the Shadow Pavilion.
01 thought of the mastermind he suspected the most — the seventh prince, Grand Prince Huqi.
Other Grand Princes didn't venture into the Black Mountains. Their territories were far from Yandi. They would have to cross Yandi to enter the Black Mountains.
Only Huqi's territory, further to the northwest, had a large waterway, which drained to the lake in the Black Mountains. Even though the waterway drew territorial disputes from the Xirong, a trading boat could hide over a hundred assassins with ease.
A sudden strong wind brushed past the trees, causing branches to sway and beat their bare branches around. 01 snapped out of his thoughts from the noise and leaned his head against the rocky boulder.
The moon in the skies remained hidden behind the clouds, creating a pitch dark night. His eyes squinted at some shadows moving among the trees, trying to spot any men hidden among those trees, or just tangled branches.
The howling wind masked any unusual sounds in their surroundings — a disadvantage to his hearing.
A hand gripped his shoulders, and he swung around. The figure leaped away from his grasp. 01 frowned as his hand gripped the hilt of his blood-stained sword lying across his lap.
Even the elite assassins of the Shadow Pavilion couldn't creep up on him without making some noise.
The clouds parted, allowing the moonlight to stream through the small gap. The faint light illuminated the hooded figure — a tall hooded man with a silver half mask of a wolf peeping from his hood. Light bounced off the mask, creating a short glimmer before the clouds hid the moon again.
"W-what do you want?" 01 asked while wiping his chapped lips with his sleeve.
The reality of facing his death dawned on him. He was no match for the Simurg leader. Let alone the men arriving behind him, even when in full health.
Questions entered his head. Why did the Simurg enter this area near to the Yandi pass? Did they follow his men and him?
Despite his dread, his hand never left the grip of the sword's hilt. 01 won't wait for death to come.
01 had a firm resolve — pull as many enemies down to accompany him to hell. He lived by the sword and he would die by the sword. Screw them all.
Death would spare him from explaining to Yinyue about his dead men. They died because he didn't pay attention to their surroundings. Now, death didn't feel so bad at all.
The Simurg leader squatted next to him and tilted his head, ignoring the sword on 01's lap. His different coloured eyes stared into 01's.
His gloved hand gripped 01's chin. 01 turned and spat to the side. The leader chuckled.
"Fix him, healer," the Simurg leader ordered in the Xirong language. A hooded man approached, holding something in his hand.
01 squinted. It looked like a bundle.
"I won't be grateful to you…," 01 growled in a low tone at the Simurg leader.
He bent his elbow, ready to strike with his sword.
The Simurg healer exchanged looks with the leader. No words spoken.
01 blinked. Next, he felt a few fast taps on his chest paralysed him. The Simurg leader used acupressure to stop him from moving.
What astounded 01 more was his speed. He barely caught a glimpse of him leaning forward or lifting his arm. Not even a finger.
"Do as I say," The Simurg leader spoke.
An unseen aura of authority radiated from the leader, almost suffocating 01, who coughed.
The healer nodded like an obedient servant and took out a flame stick from his sleeve pocket. A quick puff on the flame stick produced a faint glow, illuminating a small area around them.
01 counted ten masked men around both the leader and the healer. His assailants outnumbered their group.
"You'll attract my attackers!" 01 protested as the healer unpacked the bundle placed next to him.
The Simurg leader shrugged like nothing mattered.
01 widened his eyes in indignation while he struggled to use his internal strength to release the pressure points obstructing his movement. Alas, nothing worked.
"What did you do to me?" 01 asked, his voice growing feeble.
"Too noisy," said the Simurg leader, ignored his question.
Snapping twigs stopped 01 from speaking further. Their faces turned towards the noises in the shrubs. Hands moved towards the sheathed sabres tethered to the side of their black leather waist belts. An unusual bird call resonated through the mountain air.
The men, except their leader, stooped down by the smaller shrubs or rocks.
"Kill them all," the Simurg leader ordered his men in his language. "Leave none alive."
Without a sound, they disappeared into the shrubs, soon accompanied by the clash of blades and men's cries. 01 felt too drowsy to care. His head drooped. The pain in his abdomen seemed to fade along with his consciousness.
"…poison…burn," the frowning healer muttered two words which 01 could understand. The rest sounded like gibberish.
"Do not let him die. Or you'll die."
Last words 01 heard before he passed out.