" *Sniff*... *Sniff*"

The crying sounds forcefully woke her up. Opening her eyes, a dark dull ceiling filled her vision. Blinking a few times, she is sure that this is no dream. Turning her head to the side, Ai Le saw many women like her, either hugging their knees together in one corner or lying on the dirty straw laid on the floor to have a nap.

"Y-you ... You are awake!"

An unknown lady by her side seems happy to know that she is awake. This sentence seems to be a common question every time she open her eyes. The last time it happened was when Zhu Zhu asked her ... Wait ... Zhu Zhu!

Spring up from the ground and sit upright, Ai Le looked around the cell-liked room to find Zhu Zhu. When Ai Le couldn't find a face that resemble like Zhu Zhu, fear filled her as she doesn't want to acknowledge the reality.

"Where is she? Is she here?"

Ai Le grabbed the shoulders of the unknown lady, her anxious state influenced the unknown lady, and she struggled to answer her.

"WHERE IS SHE? I ASKED YOU WHERE IS SHE?"

"YOU THERE, SHUT THE FUCK UP. I WANT SILENCE. ONE MORE WORD I WILL DRAG YOU OUT AND TORTURE YOU TILL YOU CAN'T MOUTH A WORD, DO YOU HEAR ME?"

A mean-looking man, dressed in low-quality cloth that looks like different cloths being stitched into one, came up to the cell and shouted towards Ai Le. He is one of the guards on night shift to make sure these women are behaving properly. After shouting at Ai Le, silence was the answer to his warning. Pleased with his threats, he walked away slowly.

With shaky hands on the shoulders of the unknown woman, Ai Le's face is now stained with tears. Looking at her with desperation of hope, she whispered in a broken voice.

"D-do you know Zhu Zhu?"

The unknown woman looked at this young-looking lady, staring straight into her eyes with emotions that she is very familiar with. Unable to handle the intense feelings of Ai Le, she looked away.

"No, there is no such woman name Zhu Zhu here."

Releasing her grips on the woman, Ai Le slump her shoulder and look downwards with tears flowing non-stop. Teardrops staining the cement floor as she tries to control her crying sound.

Slowly tracking backwards in her memory, she is clear of what had happened.

Everyone died except her. The knights that was supposed to protect her died while fighting. Zhu Zhu, her trustworthy aide, childhood maid, a sister-like companion, died while shielding her from the arrows.

How did this happen?

As she hated how powerless she felt during that situation, Ai Le used her hands to pull her hair with the intention to inflict some pain towards her body as a punishment for her useless self. Still crying silently while inflicting self-pain to herself, the unknown lady grab hold of her wrist and forcefully stop her from doing so.

"Listen. There is no point in hurting yourself right now. What is done, has been done. Now, you need to focus on how to survive and escape."

Ai Le knows that. She knows. She knew what she needs to do and what is the right thing to do. But, she can't help herself. The heart clenching pain in her heart that squeeze her so tightly made her run out of breath. The numbing pain that travels through her blood, her brain and her body. The sadness and unwillingness to accept reality is forcing her to swallow these grievances down her throat. There is nowhere for her to vent her anger and sorrow.

Giving Ai Le some alone time, Ai Le took a spot near the walls and hugged her knees to her chest. Burying her head into her arms to hide her hideous crying face from others. Her mind is spiralling and she felt lost. The scene of the killing replay again and again, each time it replays, the scene gets clearer and clearer, like how Zhu Zhu looked at her when she died.

Then, she starts to think about Jae-in, how can she ask for help from her? That's right! She has the ruby jade pin! Probably she can use them in an appropriate situation, but that will be when she managed to escape from this hell-hole.

Qi Yuan ... Ugh ... Her head starts to hurt again.

Each time she thought of him, an unknown heart pain tighten her chest, making it hard for her to breathe. Unlike the happiness and brimming love she had whenever she thought of him, this time she felt an unknown emotion: Fear.

But, what is she afraid of?

Why did Zhu Zhu reacted so differently when she woke up? The more she questioned, her head gets heavier.

A few hours later, Ai Le regained her sanity. This time, her eyes no longer holds the purity and innocence that she once had. Her white world now is tainted with black dirt and it's slowly swallowing her up.

"Tell me. Tell me everything you know." Ai Le said.

The unknown lady, who chose to sit beside her, look at Ai Le who is hugging her knees while staring into space.

"I don't know where we are but, I know we are in Luo City. You have been unconscious for a week or so, and I was appointed to take care of you. The guys that kidnapped us, I have no idea who they are and who they work for. But, I suspect that they are going to sell us off to brothels or slaves."

"Your name?"

"Zi Ling."

"Thank you. Zi Ling. For taking care of me during the past one week."

"No worries, we are all women, and we need to help one another after facing such an ordeal."

"How did you get caught?"

"I was travelling to Ding City to visit my aunt and stopped by a nearby inn. During that night, someone came into my room and kidnapped me. The next moment I woke up, I am in a wooden carriage filled with ladies like me. Apparently, they have been targeting women from Capital of Kai. You were the last one that they capture, and they threw you to me."

"I see ... "

"You don't look like an ordinary commoner, are you of a higher status?"

"Uh ..."

"S-sorry, because the clothes that you are wearing are expensive cloths and I think you are going to be someone beautiful without those blood stain on your face."

Ai Le carefully touch her face and realized that it was dirty, filled with the dried blood stain on her face, the blood of Zhu Zhu.

"Thank god that you had blood stains on your face, if not you will be the first to be thrown into the depths of hell."

Ai Le kept quiet and pondered over the information received from Zi Ling. Right now, she cannot reveal her real identity as she is not that dumb to trust a stranger's words. However, she cannot deny the favour received from Zi Ling.

"You can call me Xiao Ai. I am not born a lady, just a commoner like you. I was supposed to accompany my Miss to Ding City, probably it's the fate of god, my Missy loves to play pranks, and she forcefully made me dressed up like a lady. Zhu Zhu is my friend, together we served our Miss, that's why I was concern about her safety."

" I see, no worries, I am here and I can protect you!"

Zi Ling smile widely to assure Ai Le while patting her shoulder as a form of promise. Being alone on the battlefield, Ai Le is no longer the innocent flower that believes the flowery words of others. She has a shield and sword, necessary for her to survive in this bloody world of cruelty.

"Of course Sister Zi Ling!"

Ai Le turn her head and gave her the best fake smile ever in her life.