The gunshot tore through Cassandra Feng's waist, narrowly missing her dantian. Her body—once a great weapon envied by all was now riddled with wounds, her qi reserve damaged and leaking, her strength drained.
She had fought for hours, her impeccable martial skills honed through years of brutal training by her Master and Grandmaster. Yet even she could not endure against hundreds of assassins wielding both ancient techniques and modern weapons who attacks her with the sole mission of taking her life.
Every breath she took burned her lungs. Her throat felt raw and sore. Every movement threatened to split her meridians apart as poisoned blood raged violently within her clashing with her qi and tearing her veins.
A question appeared in her mind. Who could command such great forces? Who could know her body, her immunity, her secrets so well to trap her in such a vicious net?
With her current condition, despite her unparalleled skills and qi cultivation, fighting against the countless assassins was impossible. Her dantian was on the verge of shattering, her qi dispelling, her cultivation dropping down at a speed visible to the eyes, the poison clashing against her organs, her vision started to turn blurred and hazy as she ran forward.
Even the hope of escaping was very slim for Cassandra Feng as she was pursued by countless assassins, tension of them qi cultivators using qi and spirit aura to attack her.
Still, she clung to one faith—that her aloof Master would come. He had to come. She had sent the emergency signal of the Sect, the blare reserved for the deadliest and most urgent situations.
Surely, her Master must be on his way to rescue her.
Staggering through the forest, vision blurring, Cassandra pressed on with sheer will and hope. Her dantian trembled on the verge of collapse as the accumulated qi depleted like sand, her blood stained the earth with every step she took. She couldn't use her qi to run away from her pursuers as the more she use her qi, the faster it depleted and the cracks in her dantian increased.
Her enemies were closing in on her from behind. Ahead of her was a deadly cliff. There was no way out for her. Had she been at the peak of her cultivation, she could have easily jumped off the cliff.
Yet, her pursuers seemed to grasp her skills and cultivation very well to poison her first, rendering her unable to use her qi.
Helplessly, she stumbled, crawled, rolled and ran- until she saw him.
The man she had prayed for, the one she always knew would appear to save her and rescue her.
Standing at the sharp cliff's edge, framed against the beautiful skies, he was magnificent and otherworldly —like an immortal god descended to earth. Long black hair streamed behind him like ink spilled across the heavens, his silky white ancient Chinese robes billowing in the winds with an elegance that defied the chaos behind him and the abyss below.
Sharp nose, coral lips, a sculpted jaw—his beauty struck her with the same force as his cold, fathomless eyes. Eyes that could swallow a soul whole. He looked like an oil painting of a master craftsman.
"Master…" she whispered hoarsely between her bloody lips, stumbling toward him with a smile that defied her bloody and tattered ruined appearance.
For a moment, her heavy, bleeding and aching body felt light.
For a moment, she believed she was saved like always.
Her dull eyes burst into life as countless lights sparkled like starts, the pupils reflecting the otherworldly beauty and presence of the man who turned towards her direction.
But unbeknownst to Cassandra Feng, the immortal- god- like- man clenched his fists inside his flowing sleeve. His gaze—so icy, so unreadable, so frozen—did not soften or thaw like usual.
Instead, with a sudden turn he summoned a torrent of qi so powerful the very air around him quivered and spiralled into a chaos, the surrounding trees uprooted and branches and leaves flew with the debris as the beautiful sky was covered with dark gloomy tornadoes.
The people pursuing behind Cassandra Feng were shocked. Some weak ones were swept into the eye of the storm, their bodies shredding into pieces by the sharp wind blades.
And then, with reddened eyes and clenched jaws he released it.
The blast struck Cassandra Feng's dantian with merciless precision, shattering her golden core.
Cassandra Feng widened her eyes as she spurted out a mouthful of blood, dyeing her body with her blood. Her skin ripped and blood gushed out but her heart hurt even more.
She could not believe it.
For a moment, she thought it was her extremely tensed brain hallucinating.
But the gut wrenching pain of her dantian shattering, her meridians tearing and her body ripping from the chaos of force within made her realize that it was really happening.
Tears streamed down her face as her eyes searched for her beloveds. Yet what met her eyes were not the firm ones which held gentleness, warmth and love for her.
No, his eyes were cold, icy, sharp and unreadable. Tinged with pain.
Why did he looked hurt when he was the one who hurt her?
When he was the one who dashed her hopes!
When he was the one who betrayed her!
Extreme anger, unwillingness and pain of being betrayed by the one she loved and trusted the most welled up in Cassandra Feng.
The betrayal pierced deeper than the shattering of her core. The pain wasn't just physical—it was the realization. No wonder the assassins knew her every move and techniques. No wonder they wielded the extremely rare poisons she could not resist.
Because they were her brothers, her sisters… her fellow disciples. Her family. Her sect members.
Mobilized not by her enemies, but by him.
By her Master. By her lover. By her man.
Her Master had orchestrated her ruin.
Her lover planned her death.
Her knees buckled as she fell weakly on her knees.
Her long silky hair billowing in the wind , the ends tenderly brushing past the strands of the man's hair in a last dance of rites. Bidding farewell even as they tried to cling to each other before the roaring wind separated them, the sharp wind blades slicing off a few strands of hair which fell lifelessly on the ground.
Blood gushed from Cassandra Feng's lips, staining her white ancient Chinese robes which was now stained crimson with her blood. Her robe was a couples outfit, matching with the pristine white ones he was wearing. She embroidered peonies on the sleeves of their robes herself, symbolizing their love.
And wearing their matching lovers outfit, he killed her.
She stared at him, disbelief and unwillingness cracking into agony. "Why, Master?" Her voice was ragged, raw and hoarse like a small pleading beast. It was breaking like her soul. "Why?"
He did not answer. Did not respond.
His face remained a mask of frozen beauty, his silence more devastating than the blow itself.