Warning: Readers discretion as chapter contains some violent scenes. Enjoy!

Grey sky.

Thicker fogs, but crumbling apparitions.

It wasn't that they had mystic powers but they could sense danger in the air, it was almost dusk yet there was mist in the air.

Horses galloped past their post in hurried motions , three men made their way out of the hiding place and into the streets to investigate.

Picking up a shiny dagger made with pure metal, one of them struck down a hooded rider which revealed a matted head of rich brown hue while the rest were allowed to flee.

"Where are you going and why are foreign mercenaries in our city and turf?" the man asked icily with a tone of authority that could not be ignored.

The struck down man found it insane to feel pressured by farmer-like looking men who looked very ordinary, but he found it more strangely unconventional that people other than them who received secret messages and call could detect something as little as mercenaries secretly entering a city.

Who are they?

He ignored his instinct to be humble before them and tried reaching out for his weapon. How it happened he couldn't tell, the only thing he knew was a dagger pinned his hands on the ground as swiftly as possible inflicting pain on him.

Arrrrrrrghhhhhh!

What the hell!

Isn't it inhumane to have such speed?

The next moment, he blabbered away all the Intel he had and the current situation. When the men got all they needed they didn't leave but had one more question for him.

"Who is the target?"

....

Unconsciousness tried slipping into her senses as blows landed on her head, cheeks, stomach and everywhere he could find flesh or bone.

It was freaking freezing with snow dust forming thin ices on human. Biting down on her succulent lips to keep her consciousness, a final jab to her ribs sent her sprawling on the ground.

She tried using her mind to escape the pains by convincing herself it was a mere nightmare she would wake from , but the cruel reality of pain sank into her whole body as her body began to convulse slightly because of the cold and the pain.

But her destiny wasn't meant to be cut short by mere mortals.

As she laid with little or no strength on the frozen ground, she felt another movement from afar. Maybe, heavens are really on her side and has decreed salvation upon her life.

She placed her palms flat and firm on the ground , attentively, she listened. Instantly, she could feel jerky movements that was strangely loud enough to pick out as it's cause was obvious.

Sounds of hurried hoofbeats.

One.

Two.

Three.

Four.

Four riders!

The horses seemed to be pushed against their limits as the distance decreased incredibly fast, the sound louder and the motion on her body jerkier.

One thing was for sure, people are riding towards them with incredibly fast speed, but are they her knights in shinning armors?

An idea came to mind, one that could be a fatal mistake or her salvation.

A wistful smile couldn't help but make its way to her face but her frigid face was too stone-cold.

"I will tell you everything I know!" her limp hands struggled to be raised.

She smirked inwardly when she saw his ecstatic mood but went on anyway, he raised her up like tattered rag then placed his ears fearlessly close to her mouth as she was inaudible. Her quivering lips barely said the words.

"Rest in peace!"

Slash!

The dagger hidden in her boot was raised swiftly to cut him down but missed as it sliced open his robe. She used the strength of mind to make her last defense but her speed was too slow for him who was a well-trained mercenary with years of rugged experience.

Catching up with her trick, he slapped her so hard she fell on her back with a loud thud. With an evil smirk on his ugly face, a sword was raised to finish her off.

Almost instantly, they could hear hoofing beat running down towards them and whooshing sound of arrows raining down on them; men dressed so mysteriously and with a strange insignia came jumping down from their horses, totally disrupting their plan.

From the ground, she coughed out weakly and wrapped her hands around her body in a big hug. Her eyes twitched at the outcome of the whole situation and the mystery of the men who had otherworldly appearances.

Who are these men?

They are not her fiery arrows.

Their moves were uniform like one performing choreography and synonymous with each stroke they made. The mercenaries were butchered like bulls and fell like autumn leaves.

This moves couldn't be seen as simply rolling of dice, especially with their smiling mask which seemed to mock them, it seemed more like an anointing session when people fell with one touch of a priest.

They were having a blast as the odds were in their favor, their leader seemed to be the one sitting on the horse as his disposition told so.

He sat like an alpha leading a pack, at one time, he raised a sword against an assassin who came close to disrespect him sending cold shivers down Myung OK's spine as he did it so heartlessly like one who had no value for life.

Myung OK became really afraid with so many thoughts running through her mind. Her body was really going numb and the pains a little numb too, she knew what exactly was happening to her as she was a physician but didn't want to succ.u.mb to it.

The centre of interest was really the mysterious men and their true motive.

Though, they were aggressively fighting against the assassins, but are they friends or foes?

She gathered herself and tried to sit but it proved difficult, pains shot out from every inch of her jade body making it hard to move, but she knew she had to leave or they might turn against her.

Turning herself over, she tried crawling towards a huge tree frozen with snow but stopped short when something weighed on her legs making her already heavy body heavier.

Someone seemed to have grabbed her.

"Bitch! where do you think you are going?"

The angry man flipped her over like a chicken on grill making her heart sink and tears pour freely.

He raised his sword and spat out disgustingly.

"All through my life as an assassin, I have never met a wicked bitch like you, because of you, I lost fine men!"

In a falsetto, he tried mimicking her words and expression earlier on, "Rest in peace!"

People say, when life hits you; you should gather yourself up and move on, but Myung OK saw no such thing, she only saw herself at the end of the tunnel with no light.

Swish!

The sound came making her full eyes cascade water down the side of her eyes, and her anticipating body rattle in shock; convulsing further in panic.

Wait!

Something wasn't not right!

Where is the pain?

On opening her eyes, she saw the eyes of the man with a scar shocked as it was fully dilated in his socket, a warm viscous liquid trickled on her cold hands creating a feeling of stickiness and sickness .

Looking up with confusion, she saw her assailant falling over her with a blade sticking out of his chest.

Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!

She weakly screamed with a closed eyes as she anticipated the man falling on her, but nothing happened. In bewilderment, she opened her eyes to see the alpha man standing over her with her assailant grabbed in his hands like a piece of junkie.

"He's not allowed to soil you with his filthy body!" he said calmly.

Blackness returned to her sight threatening to envelop her, but in that darkness she saw him slash his throat.

Her head felt light suddenly, subconsciously, she knew she had been lifted up in the arms of someone. The warmth emanating from the thick covering dr.a.p.ed on her created a sense of security; the light smell of herbs which seemed to be one with the clothing calmed down her nerves slipping up the last bit of consciousness she had.

"Finish up from here and return to our old base" the alpha man said to his men as he hurried to his horse. The lady needs an urgent emergency care which shouldn't be delayed.

As he straddled her on his arm while on the horse, seven strange men appeared.

Miss!

Master!

My lady!

All this title was chanted by the men, when he looked down on the woman, he couldn't help but think she was a woman with many secrets.

Jae joon first noticed his lady in the arms of a strange man and ran wildly to rescue her.

"I'm a friend!" he said when a cold blade rested on his napes.

"I won't hurt her, just kill all those men and meet me at Wudong inn. 'Winter in Shu' shall be our code!" He zoomed off immediately.

As he rode, he couldn't help but turn back and observe the new men and was shocked at their martial arts and uniformity.

Are they the legendary assassins?

He looked down on the quiet but ravishing woman in his arms and squinted his eyes.

"How are you affiliated with such power, my Myung OK?"