Disgraced Consort - Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Unexpected Meeting

The sound of blades clinking against armors is deafening to the ears and went straight to her heart.  The air she breaths in reeks of blood, and blood can be seen flowing from the corridors of the building.

Xi Yan’s hands are ice cold, she has always had phobia for blood ever since she was little.  Everytime she sees blood, her heart will palpitate irregularly.

Standing next to the burning dragon, the fire is reflected in her demon mask, casting a dark shadow.  From afar, a troop of soldiers seem to be making their way to Taiyuan Building, but the hysterical mass who only thinks of running away obstruct their way.  So in the end, the soldiers are stuck at where they are at.

She has no time to think, the place she is at right now isn’t completely safe.

From the hollow burning parts of the dragon, she can see a small alley in front.  As she made that finding, she found out that there are more people wielding swords heading towards her direction.  She did not know who those people are.  Though everything outside the Nalan Residence are new and refreshing at first, it has taken quite an ugly turn of events.

In her 13 years of life, she has rarely leave their residence.

Other than going to the temple every half month for vegetarian diet, she spent most of her days cooped up in Nalan Residence.  Once in a while the second daughter of another minister, Mu Yan, will visit her and they will play together at the back courtyard.

Living such a constricted life, she’d be lying if she says she didn’t hate it.

So that’s why she decided to sneak out and play during the last Spring Festival before she gets married, even begged Bi Luo to take her out.

She just didn’t expect the anticipated night of lantern-filled sky to take such a disastrous turn.

Turns out, life outside the residence isn’t as pretty as she originally thought.

And now, she must think of a way to save her own skin as the sword-wielding people gets closer and closer to her.

The dragon!

She suddenly got an idea!  She cover her own hand with her sleeves to touch the dragon’s handle and uses all her strength to push the dragon to block the way of the people with the swords.

Once successful, she takes her hand off the dragon’s handle and runs off to the small alley in front.  She runs so fast that the sound of winds fills her ear, temporarily blocking the sound of the ongoing fight.

The alley is dark, there is no source of light whatsoever.  The doors on both sides of the alley are tightly shut.

She clumsily made her way into the alley while occasionally glancing backwards, afraid in case if someone is chasing her.

As expected, before she can run too far, there is a dim light from behind the alley while people with swords walks inside to search.

Just in time, she managed to remain undetected.  Though she did not know what those fierce looking people are after, she is convinced they are the type that will not let anything stand in their ways.

Her palms are sweaty but she force herself to calm down and continue to find ways to keep her life.

Dying is not scary, but dying in vain is.

The alley is dark.  Though that is scary in itself, the darkness is also the factor that helps her remains unseen.

Not far away, there is an intersection.  She ran the fastest she can towards that intersection.

As she run to the other direction, she can see bright lights flashing in her eyes.

She actually ended up circling the area and arrives in front of Taiyuan Building.

She do not know whether she should stop, or continue to blindly run.

At that exact moment, she can see the shadow of a person in blue clothes.  It is a man, wearing the Spring Festival’s face mask.  Behind him are the scenes of killing, but with the devil’s mask on his face, he exudes the brilliant aura of a banished immortal.

She blankly stares at him for a moment.

Whilst she was busy staring at him while hesitating, the man rush her.  “Hurry and hide!” he said in a low, husky voice while running.

This man must be one of the common people escaping the killers as well.

During the Spring Festival, people have the choice to cover their face with mask.  If it weren’t for this mask, she don’t know if she can freely walk around like this after leaving her residence.

All these years, her father has been shielding from outsiders, not allowing them to meet her.

She has no idea why he did that.

According to Mother, it’s because she’s from an affluent family.  But then, what about Mu Yan?  As a minister’s daughter, she too is an esteemed lady.

She has always been skeptical about that, but she knows, some questions are not meant to be asked.  All these years, deep inside her chamber, she tries to create her own happiness and never did she ever try to question anything else.

At the current time, she looks around her.  At one side is a garbage disposal place.  There’s no other place to hide, so she unhesitantly leads him there, ignoring the unpleasant odor.  There are a lot of garbage there, and one of them is an unusually large basket.  She takes them and says, “Hurry!”

The masked man accepts the basket, seemingly stunned for a moment before he embrace her waist with his other hand and crouch into the basket with her.  Though this is only a basket, it was pretty big and can fit both of them inside.  Right now, she is dressed as a man, so naturally she has no reservation.

Other than tragic screams from Tai Yuan Building, there are also the sound of people searching the alley, their footsteps gradually getting closer and closer to them.  Once those people reach the end of the alley, they find nothing.

One of them spots the garbage place and head towards it with his sabre.

Xi Yan tries her best to hold her breath.  The man next to her is so quiet she can’t even hear him breathing, but his hand on her waist slowly retreats.  Amidst the dark, she can see the glows of the sabre.

This night, though the moon is up in the sky, it is hidden behind a thick layer of clouds.  It’s brilliant light can’t compare to the glow of the murderer’s sabre.

When her eyes rest on the sabre, she feels fear beyond belief.

But right now, fear cannot solve her problem.

As she sits inside the basket, she tells herself that catastrophe can’t be avoided after all.