Hong Chun froze and felt a piercing pain in her back.

Akin to an animal being let go in the wild, her eyes unconsciously became fierce.

The stranger was surprised when she leaped away just in time before the blade could dig any deeper. But soon, he laughed.

He knew the way she dodged earlier was only an involuntary response to the pain she felt.

"Shhh, don't be afraid. This won't hurt at all."

It was obvious he was humoring her. The liquid she felt spreading on her back was proof of how much it hurt.

"Impudent!" An angry voice answered.

This voice was very familiar to Hong Chun.

Old Shang!

The old gatekeeper seemed to have drunk an elixir. He moved as fast as the stranger and met his blade with his own.

Clang! Hiss!

The clashing of two strips of metal meeting disturbed the earlier stillness.

Hong Chun was rooted on the spot.

Her eyes were still working fine, right? That was Old Shang, right? How come his movements didn't reflect his age at all?

The youth battling Old Shang was heaping curses after curses.

No one told him that there was an old dog guarding his prey!

And the old dog didn't look like he had rheumatism at all!

However, only Old Shang himself knew how strained he was.

Every move he made was excruciating. But he had to protect the eldest miss!

"Miss!"

He was alarmed when another man appeared and targeted Hong Chun without delay. However. the youth before him wouldn't let go of the old man easily.

He might be strong when he was young but his old bones couldn't keep up with the high-end techniques he knew.

This confirmed how rusty he was from wasting his time away in Hong fu all these years.

The man going after Hong Chun was silent as he wielded his dagger which proved he was focused on the task.

But she was also quick on her feet, sidestepping most of the swings coming her way.

What the fuck is this?

It looked like the man intended to capture her alive. Because if he planned to kill her, she wouldn't have the opportunity to escape by a hair's breadth every time.

The man also frowned. He thought he was abducting a pampered lady tonight. However, the girl wasn't too inexperienced with this.

Even though her steps weren't excellent, she could read his movements. Advancing and retreating accordingly.

But it was evident that she didn't know martial arts due to her lack of offense. She only wanted to avoid every strike.

Even if it was baffling, how could he let her go?

Soon, Hong Chun's clothes were torn and bloody. Her hair fell on her shoulders, untamed.

"Fuck! This is really irritating! Martial fucking arts!"

The man was taken aback by this outburst of profanity.

He saw her clenching her hand on her hairpin. But what could that dull thing do to a professional assassin like him?

The man became even more relentless.

Hong Chun gritted her teeth. If this was in that place, she could have ended this battle with a bullet to his head.

In this world, she was at a disadvantage against their weird qinggong1. She could barely keep up with the attacks.

But her years of being the deadliest weapon in that place still helped her. It wasn't noticeable but the more she met the stranger's attack head-on, the more she could get used to the fluid motions.

Her brain proved to be worthy of being a continuously learning artificial intelligence.

She winced as she received another slash to her arm.

But her countenance remained mechanically cold except for the creeping madness in her eyes. It was as though she was taken back to those days of macabre.

The assassin finally lost his patience. As long as the girl was breathing, his assignment could be said to be complete.

With force, he planned to let her bleed a little bit more and knock her out.

Hong Chun wasn't prepared for the sudden strike and had no time to evade it.

Her forearm automatically blocked the blade. She inhaled sharply at the hot-white pain but she knew this was a golden chance.

He didn't expect the girl to be unafraid of injuries. His face showed his surprise but it was also the last expression he could have.

The dull hairpin he underestimated moments before was now embedded on his neck.

There were gurgling sounds as he vomited blood on Hong Chun's face.

His eyes seemed to ask her how she was able to use some pointless hair decoration to pierce human skin.

"Fucker, I know nothing about martial arts but it's different if we talk about brute strength." Her voice was hoarse with raw emotions.

Cruel. She twisted the hairpin and stabbed it repeatedly. It was a waste of effort but she had to let go of the waves of fury stifling her.

She just wanted to leave tonight but this proved how naïve her thinking was.

Targeted without even doing anything!

She stayed quiet all these years and this was how the world repaid her?!

Hong Chun wasn't aware of the murderous expression she was making. This was the effect of ignoring her emotions in both of her lives.

All this time, she still believed herself to be the detached cyborg that she was.

But right now, she was so overwhelmed with anger to the point that she totally lost control.

She once told a certain fox that control was the most important thing to her. Because when the said control was gone, she yielded to insanity.

Her sight darted to the fight not far from her. Her neat appearance from earlier vanished and was replaced with an image of a demented murderer.

Old Shang smiled at her, his expression seemed to be swelling with pride despite having his hands full.

Hong Chun had no idea what he was supposed to be proud of.

He was already dying but he still had the time to smile like that.

She raised her foot to take a step but found it unbearable. She could barely even stand from all the shallow slashes she received. The assassin played her like a tiger toying with his prey.

However, it was obvious Old Shang was on the losing side so she wanted to do something to help.

The old man gritted his teeth because the youth seemed to have been injected with chicken blood when he saw his comrade falling at the hands of a simple girl.

The young one had more stamina but Old Shang was sure if they met back in his heyday, this battle wouldn't last long.

His joints cracked at every turn but he ignored the severe pain. His cracked lips bled due to being bitten excessively.

"Hahaha! Old dog, you're strong! But you won't be breathing later."

The stranger became even faster. He held his sword with pride. This was Crimson Trail!

Just like he said, Old Shang didn't last long.

His body couldn't afford the sudden strenuous exercise. And he took the wrong step.

"...Please burn this old one's corpse immediately," were his hurried words directed to his family's eldest miss.

The youth saw his victory.

Hong Chun's eyes widened.

The sword pierced through Old Shang's heart...

"Gak-" But the youth was the one who vomited blood.

Old Shang's blade slashed the lower part of his body, almost cutting him in half.

A feat only those who experienced the most inhuman battles could do.

"Heh... Young-uns are too hot-blooded." The old man spat out a dark red liquid despite trying to chide.

Almost at the same time that Old Shang fell to the ground, Hong Chun's knees buckled.

There was no explanation for how she felt.

She knew this was inevitable.

But still...

She pressed a bloody hand to her empty heart. Was it still beating?

Am I... am I really human?

She spent so much time pretending. This life and the last.

But this time, is it really true?

If not, then what was this choking feeling?

Hong Chun crawled to the old housekeeper, not minding the gore staining her further. She stared at his rather peaceful face.

It seemed he died content. What was he satisfied with?

He left her here.

He might be happy because even in the face of death, he managed to make that unwavering decision to take his enemy with him.

But how about her?

In the end, she didn't even know the reason why he was so damn ready to die. And why he had to protect her like that.

Who are you? That was what she wanted to ask.

But the words escaping her lips were, "Just... who am I?"

Loyalty was still something she couldn't understand.

For once, she wanted to cry. But her eyes were dry.

After quite some time, there seemed to be someone trying to pull her from the ground.

"What in the world are you doing?!" A person hissed from behind her.