The tricksters

Ming-Yue winced in pain as she clutched her head with both of her hands. Her ears buzzed and her head throbbed making her keep her eyes shut strongly as she held herself back from wincing. Then suddenly it all stopped. There was no pain in her head, nor any buzzing. Everything was completely still. With her eyes still closed she took long deep breaths from her nose and let it out slowly through her mouth making a whoosh sound. This was the only calming technique that worked for her during her intense training and without even realizing, she had opted into this technique reflexively. Simple it might be, but it seemed to have worked since the pain and buzzing had stopped. Ming-Yue took a couple more breaths to completely relax and enjoy the cool air that engulfed her sweating skin.

Ah, what a fine and relaxing cool breeze, she thought.

On top of that, she was enjoying the light drizzle that fell on her warm skin, it was very soothing.

'Damn, why have I not bathed in rainwater or played in light drizzles ever since I came back to life?' It was something that she often found enjoyable during the dark times of her previous life. One of those rare things that brought her pleasure and smiles.

She sighed in content as her lips curved upwards.

But then her smile froze halfway through. As if being splashed by freezing cold water filled with ice cubes, her whole body froze.

Wait a minute…

Drizzle????

She recalled that she was inside the cabin beside the fireplace looking through the window. Even if the windows were open, the drizzle would not fall all over her body.

Her eyes opened in a hurry and a gasp escaped her mouth.

Holy! What?!

Everywhere her eyes went, all she could see were trees. Trees and trees filled her vision. She didn't need to be told for her to know that she was inside the Bloodmoon Forest. She was extremely familiar with the border of the forest where she usually trained but looking at the density of the greenery, she knew that she was in the deep end.

She scratched her head and grabbed some of her hair in her palm as her eyebrows twitched. She was inside the dense part of the forest; she was alone and it was nighttime.

'For F**k's sake, I was requested by my teachers to follow these three rules and look at me breaking not only one but all three of them in one day.'

Ming-Yue did not really have to follow those requests because if she really wanted to, no one was in a position to stop her. However, she really respected all her mentors and knew that they would not request something like that if they were not thinking of her well-being and safety. Which is why never broke those requests and followed them. Ming-Yue had a very curious mind, and she was not scared of the forest, but she had to suppress all that for those requests. But now, look at her.

Letting out an exaggeratedly long sigh, she took in her surroundings. She could tell that she was not alone and those beings were not animals or birds. This did not surprise her as she already knew of some unnamed or mysterious creatures that lurked in the forest from the books in the study room of the cabin. Since she had decided to abide by her mentor's requests, she still had to think about some alternatives to feed her curiosity. The so-called creatures did not worry her since there could possibly be three outcomes: either she fights and wins, she is overwhelmed and runs away, or she dies but the third result was not an option. She still had to take revenge and live a happy life so dying was not in her books yet. If she couldn't fight them, she would escape at any cost.

What puzzled her the most was how she ended up here. She had no recollection of it whatsoever. She tried to retrace what happened which could perhaps shed some light on what she would be facing next. Ming-Yue recalled taking the bath, having her delicious food, her tea, observing the forest through the window, then…then what?

What happened after that?

It was as if she had no conscience for a period of time and when she regained it back, she was already here. Her eyes went to her feet, she remembered wearing her home slippers, but now she was wearing her training shoes. But she was still wearing her satin robe that was worn after she came out of her bath and training shoes… Missing consciousness, partial tapping into the subconscious, as if something clicked in her head, a light gleam passed her eyes. You notorious beast!

As if right on cue, five beautiful women walked out from the dark dense trees and surrounded her. Each one of them was like a work of art or a shining piece of fine jade. Adorned with gold, rubies, and whatnot along with the high-quality silk that was wrapped around their bodies gave out the perfect aura of temptresses. Even Ming-Yue, being a woman could not help but be awestruck by their beauty. And these were only the henchmen...err henchwomen. If the underlings were this stunning, how gorgeous would the boss queen be?

Ming-Yue shook her head and took a fighting stance.

"Where is your boss – I mean Queen?" she asked.

-Silence-

*Cough*

"Stop playing and tell me what she wants?"

-Silence-

The women stood still, not moving, nor speaking just like soldiers stood waiting for someone to yell 'Charge'.

Ming-Yue's lips twitched as she stretched out her fingers and cracked her knuckles.

"Very well, then."

Just as she said that a sound of wind chimes was heard and exactly at that point the women pounced.