1 Prologue

The assassin dashed through the woods, feet whispering almost silently over the forest floor. Her passing barely disturbed the wildlife, and even her breathing, though ragged, was muffled. She glanced to her left, seeing the male figure running next to her, identically silent. Returning her gaze to the front, she leapt over a boulder, biting back a hiss of pain, and continued her sprint.

Torches shone through the darkness of the forest behind them, and muted shouts drifted over the trees. The assassin stumbled, the pain in her side and the burning poison rushing through her blood exacerbated from her leap over the rock. The man by her side stopped, turning back. Without a word, he knelt down with his back to her and his arms held out behind him. The assassin let out the tiniest grunt of dissatisfaction, but she knew they would move faster if she agreed to let him carry her. After all, she was the one holding them back, and right now, their priority was escape and survival, and as much as she hated to admit it, they needed each other in order to accomplish this.

She climbed onto his back, avoiding the crossbow and empty quiver strapped to it, her breath hitching as more blood dribbled down her side and soaked into her clothes. The male stood up quickly, resuming his run. A shout of alarm came from behind them, and a crossbow bolt enveloped in deadly qi whizzed by the assassin's ear. The two of them let out muffled curses, and the man began to swerve, dashing through the trees in a zigzag pattern to make them a harder target.

More bolts hurtled past them, and the man forced his body to increase speed until he was sprinting far more quickly than a mortal's body could, even though he, too, was poisoned. The assassin's long scarlet hair trailed behind them, the ends of her silken mask mixed with the strands. She caught a glimpse of the eerie golden glow to the man's eyes in the dark when he sent half a look behind them. Her own eyes glowed an intense blue, revealing the power behind them. There was a reason the two of them were able to dash so fearlessly over rough terrain on a moonless night. After all, the gifts they had been born with as well as the strength of their cultivation were what made them both so good at their occupations.

She leaned forward to murmur quietly into his ear, "We're coming up on the Yin Hu Cliffs, you know. They're driving us into a corner, and our gifts won't last much longer without qi."

The man nodded slightly, and panted back, "We have no other choice. We'll have to jump and pray we survive."

"Yes. If we do survive, then we will have successfully escaped pursuit....for now, that is."

The man's ragged breathing grew heavier the longer he ran, and when they finally burst from the trees, he was gasping for air. But he continued doggedly onward, his steps never slowing as he sprinted straight for the cliffs about one li away. The pursuers behind them ceased to fire their bows and crossbows, perhaps thinking the two of them no longer had anywhere to run.

The assassin gripped her companion's shoulders as he finally slowed down, just a few feet away from the edge of the cliffs. He let her slip gently to the ground, and she could not help a grunt of pain as she straightened up. Glancing back at their pursuers who were closing in, weapons drawn, she ripped a piece of cloth from her garment, and swallowed a groan as she jerked the material tightly around her side and tied it to stop the bleeding. Glancing up, she saw her companion doing the same for the qi wound on his arm.

The moment he finished binding his wound with the assistance of his teeth, the assassin tugged him to the very edge of the cliff and glanced down. The drop was dizzying, but the water below was not frothy, which indicated—hopefully—that there were no rocks under the water that they could break bones on. They turned back, looking at the familiar faces of their enemies. Smirking, the assassin shouted, "See you again, you dirty traitors!"

And with those words, the two of them jumped off the cliff into the darkness below.