Everyone's expression turned somber as they discussed preventive measures. Back outside the temple, a burly man whom Su Xiao would surely recognize organized the refugees as they planned to attack tonight.
"Boss, can we beat them all?
"Are you stupid? We're armed and they have nothing!"
"Don't worry, the plan will be successful"
As he looked at the locked door and remembered that woman inside, a sinister smile formed in his mouth. He had only lost consciousness when she hit and by the time he woke up, the group was gone. With no food, he feed on grasses and flesh to survive. He hated that woman who had destroyed his third leg and swore to humiliate her.
She cared about that crippled man and those children, then he would make her watch as he killed them. Then, feed on their bodies and let those refugees have their way with her body. After discussing and making ideas, they discovered that the only way to escape here was to fight. Mu Wei advised him to tell the exiles to arm their selves with any weapon they could find. Even sticks were considered weapons, because in this fight no one was fighting for anyone.
He nodded, then thanked them and left. Everyone knew what it meant and continued their work. The men went outside to continue training, Bai Ling continued embroiderying and the kids slept with Su Xiao. After seeing that they were asleep, she went back to the kitchen to distract herself in cooking. She mentally went through her space to find any useful stuff for fighting.
She had taught Bai Ling how to make pickled vegetables and she began fond of it. So pickled vegetables were already a done deal. She wanted to make what would be eaten during dinner and her choice was the pheasant chicken that remained. Since they would be leaving, she wanted to kill the the livestock here. She slaughtered the chicken, plucked the feathers and cut the chicken into suitable pieces.
She mixed the soy sauce, ginger, wine and marinated the chicken. She heat the oil in a wok over medium heat and browned the chicken pieces till it was golden. She then added some wine to cover the chicken and simmer. She adjusted the seasoning by adding salt and soy sauce then garnished with scallions. It was already evening so everyone ate and retired to bed.
In the middle of the night, Su Xiao heard faint footsteps and was instantly awake. She cautiously stood up to observe and saw that Mu Wei was already awake and alert. They looked at each other and saw the mutual understanding in each other eyes. Not alerting the enemy, the woke others up and told Li Gu to go tell Lu Dan. Bai Ling was told to guard the kids in one room while they went out. They snuck out and saw the situation outside, the bailiffs guarding the door was already dead and their bodies was been feasted on. Shi Dong almost retched but managed to supress himself.
Mu Wei wanted to comfort Su Xiao but saw she didn't even blink at the situation. He felt relieved and also sad. Just what kind of place did she live before? She met his gaze and nodded at him. He Luo lead the group of refugee men to the Abbot quarters and threw in a candle. Su Xiao immediately shouted for everyone to hold their breath as it was a sleeping incense.
Seeing that they had been exposed, He Luo shouted for them to attack. Blood spilled as knives and sticks clang in the air. The ballifs were being overwhelmed and some had already died. Bodies fell on the ground as the temple tainted red and the walls filled with blood. Su Xiao with the help of the baton she had taken out from her space began a massacre and bodies fell wherever she passed.
She was like a war goddess that descended on earth as her hands welded the weapon with ease. She made a path for the ballifs giving them space to breathe as she continued killing anyone that crossed her path. Mu Wei glanced at her and was in awe. She was not less than him both in accuracy and ruthless. He loved everything about her and even found her hot as she killed people. He couldn't help but wonder if he had lost it.
With his momentarily distraction, someone attempted to sneak attack on him but was met with a chopped head. He Luo looked at the decreasing number of people and felt afraid. He shouted for everyone to retreat but it was already too late. Su Xiao walked slowly to him and he felt his knees weaken. Su Xiao scrunched her nose in disgust as she smelled the foul smell of urine from him. He was such a a coward but still dared to ambush her.
"We met again"
"Please... please...forgive me."
He was already on his knees kowtowing with tears streaming down his face looking pathetic. He crawled to her feet his body trembling as he begged to spare him.
"I was confused and didn't see Mount Tai. Please spare me!"
Su Xiao said nothing but stared at him with silence and indifference. He panicked more and begged almost groveling on his knees. Su Xiao looked at him for a while and said.
"Alright, I will forgive you. Get lost!"
He bowed gratefully and Su Xiao turned around to leave. He stared at her back with a fierce glint and took out a dagger aiming at her back. He screamed and launched at her.
"Go and die!"
"Watch out!"
"Madam, look out!"
Panicked and warning shouts rang behind her. Su Xiao like she had her eyes at her back delivered a swift kick at him. Disabling the weapon from him and placing the dagger at his neck.
"I gave you a chance but you didn't cherish it"
With that she sliced the neck and blood splurted out. His body dropped dead, his eyes still open as if not believing he was actually dead. Su Xiao turned but was met with a tight embrace by Mu Wei. Mu Wei held the woman in his hands tightly, his heart beating fast. He had almost lost her. He shut his eyes and relished in her warmth feeling relieved.
Su Xiao was almost suffocated and had to tap him to release her. He released her but still held her close. Su Xiao knew he was scared and felt warmth in her heart at someone caring about her. She grew up in an orphanage with no parents or siblings and was used to doing things on her own but now she realized she couldn't be careless cause she now had a family.
"I'm okay, Mu Wei"
"That's great!"
The other people gathered around her and expressed genuine concern towards her. She felt happy and responded that she was fine. She wanted to see the children so she turned to Lu Dan who expressed his gratefulness.
"Thank you for saving us all"
"It's nothing"
She left them to clear the bodies and made her way back to the monks quarters. She opened the door and was almost met with Bai Ling attack before she recognized her. The three pounced on her and began crying while she comforted them.