134 Chosen Fate (1/2)
The sound of swords clashing and men's shouts shattered the silence of the night.
It was an ambush!
From inside her tent, Rin heard a soldier shout: ”Protect the commander!”
At that, her expression changed immediately.
Rin darted her eyes around the tent and found a dagger by a pillow. A sharp flash flitted across her eyes as she picked up the weapon and her cloak before quickly rushing out of the tent.
The harsh wind blew, but it was not as cold as the chilling scene before her as the acrid smell of blood permeated the air.
Rin's chilling gaze scanned the battlefield, her sight locked onto the blood-stained corpses of Tuhan soldiers sprawled on the ground.
Their eyes were immobile as their limbs, garish scarlet blood flowing over the frosted white ground.
Dead. They were all dead.
These men…though their time was brief, she regarded them as her companions.
But now…
Rin's eyes flared, the murderous malice flowed unrestrained. Preoccupied with her raging thoughts, Rin suddenly felt a hand grab her collar, knocking her to the snow ground.
Rin twists her head to keep her balance and elbows her attacker in the stomach. In return, the man kicks her hard in the leg, making it go numb and grabs the front of her robe to pull her towards him.
Faced with a black-masked man, Rin's eyes narrowed and she reached for the dagger in her pocket. Before she had the chance to counterattack, the man had already fallen limply onto the ground.
”Right now wouldn't be the wisest time to space out. Don't you agree, little strategist?”
Rin's eyes blinked. She looked up and found Manchu staring down at her. He pushes his hair soaked from the snow out of his clear, blue eyes. Rin glanced at the bloodied sword in his hand and was shocked by his unexpected action.
He saved her.
Manchu quickly bent down to pick up the sword from the corpse below him and handed it to her.
”This will be better to use than that little toothpick you have there.”
Rin stared at the sword expressionlessly. Manchu's brows furrowed slightly as he gave her a skeptical look.
”Do you know how to use it?”
He had only seen her wield a bow, never a sword. Seeing the large sword in the hands of the frail youth, he was doubtful.
The image looked incredibly wrong.
Rin gripped the hilt of the sword in her hands and nodded. A thought suddenly surfaced through her mind, and she frowned.
”Where's Lord An?”
Manchu opened his mouth to speak, but at that moment, as if answering her question, the two heard the sounds of metal clashing together.
Rin shifted her gaze and saw An Sun diving his sword into a man's now limp body. His gaze was ruthless with an exceptionally dangerous aura, creating an oppressive pressure on the battlefield as he fought from left to right.
Manchu and Rin stared at the ruthless man with dull expressions. An Sun's cold murderous eyes spoke for himself.
He seemed fine.
At that moment, Rin marked the blood seeping from An Sun's shoulder and quickly remembered the man was still recuperating from an injury. With this thought, her frown deepened.
Manchu scowled as well, ”That bastard, he's injured yet dares to fight so mercilessly.”
The grip on her sword tightened, the biting cold from her eyes was quickly felt by Manchu who had noticed the youth's aura had turned chilly. Manchu's lips curled into a helpless, intrigued smile.
”While I support the troops, I'm relying on you to protect Sun.”
Rin nodded calmly. ”Yes.”
Manchu smirked. ”Then let's go save him, shall we?”
The moment the words left his mouth, the two advanced toward the man in the center of the battlefield.
…
”Arrrgh!”
An Sun evaded to the side in one fluid motion. His enemy swiveled in his direction, cornering him toward the cliff.
The look in his menacing eyes was a blazing red as he thrust his sword forward, only to be met by An Sun's sword. Both swords met in the air with a resounding 'clang'.
An Sun sneered, ”I have to say I'm a little offended. Is this the best force my brother could send to kill me?”
The man's eyes flashed for a brief moment before his lips curled up mockingly. Without replying, he backed away and advanced toward An Sun again.
An Sun's eyes flashed a trace of boredom at his reaction. He sighed, but a black glow burned in his chilling eyes.
”Tsk, disappointing.”
An Sun swung his sword toward the man and coldly watched as the dismembered head sailed in a sleek arc through the air. The fresh, warm blood splattered onto the white ground.
A sudden ache throbbed in his shoulder, An Sun's brows furrowed in discomfort. He glanced down at the wound on his shoulder and frowned - it seemed to have reopened.
However, without even a chance to recover, another set of men charged toward him. An Sun clicked his tongue and flicked the wet blood off his sword.
”So impatient.” He lowly grumbled.
When An Sun was about to advance, he stopped in his tracks at the sudden appearance of a petite figure in blue robes speeding past him.
At that moment, the figure's blade rushed to the assailants, blood spurting into the ground and heads rolled off their bodies down the mountain cliff.
The speed was too fast, no one could react.
Watching the figure in fronts agile, smooth movements, An Sun's eyes blinked with surprise and relief.
The youth's dark hair was messily scattered and clung to his pale, sweaty, palm-sized face, a faint rosy color on his cheeks.
Rin breathed heavily, her clean gentile voice entering his ears. ”Are you all right, Lord An?”
An Sun stood standing, an immovable mountain, as he raised an eyebrow at the youth.
”You shouldn't be worrying about me…”