While the merchant hid within the carriage, the mercenaries tried to fight off the Yao. Swords and arrows were flying all over the place, aimed at the greater Yao that appeared in the vicinity. It was one thing against another human beings but regarding these monsters, Yaos, they were quite helpless in the situation.

And although it was nearing morning, but a shroud of darkness still persists. Visibility was low and the Yaos, bolstered by their strengthened bodies and extra physical prowess, presented a challenge for the mercenaries.

"Chief Fan! Your right!" shouted a girl towards the older man who was in the heat of battle against the Yao.

The man was defending against the gigantic monster that appeared out of nowhere.

With only the light from the carriage and nearby lanterns from buildings, he couldn't make out its actual size as he fought the monster, but it felt colossal as the monster loomed in contrast with his own.

The creature extended its razor-sharp claws, aiming to kill the man in a lethal flurry of slashes while its wings flapped menacingly. He knew that it was a Bat Yao, "But that doesn't help at all," thought the man as he tried to attack the monster, but it was clever.

Yao's are not like normal beasts. Absorbing the life force, Qi in its surrounding, they created a core for themselves which allowed them to cultivate, this in turn caused to become

It found a blind spot and attacked the man.

He couldn't dodge it in time.

"I am going to die," he thought but the girl rushed in and managed to defend the attack from one of its claws.

"Thanks, YiGuang! It was a right move to hire you," stated Chief Fan.

Its ears, keen and pointed, twitched with acute sensitivity, finely attuned to capture even the faintest whispers of sound. They stood up and one of its ears turned to the left, as it sensed the movement of another attacker.

Riding a giant Mountain Goat, a tamed beast of Royal Guard; sturdier than a donkey with more agility compared to a horse, with its rider, it ramped into the Bat Yao while the rider slashed the monster.

The Bat Yao was knocked away from the carriage with an injury on its wing.

"Are you alright?" asked the Royal Guard.

YiGuang stared at the Royal Guard who was in front of her. He had grown but she knew who he was. The familiar face was something she didn't forget.

He was a young man slightly older to the girl. Wearing a uniform, she recognised it, he was a guard from the Royal Palace. The Altar and Palace are kept separated but guards often patrol the outer walls of the Altar and she knew him. She saw him before, and that white collar which represents his rank, the guards were separated by three ranks, white, yellow, and red, red being the highest rank.

"It's wrong?" thought the girl.

.

She remembered quite clearly, on that rainy day, when she was twelve. When she tried to run away from the strict etiquette lessons given by the Head Maid, he was the one who caught her.

There are three main gates; the Yellow Gate that leads to the Palace, the Red Gate that separates the Palace and Altar and the Blue Gate, which leads to the outside.

But since she knew that it was the path to the outside world, she tried to sneak out from the Blue Gate. It was her grand escape. She had been planning it for a long time, remembering all the guards patrol times and shifts. All she needed to do was grab the golden time in between to evade all the guards but her plan worked.

She was only a step away from the Blue Gate. Her eyes were prowling for guards when someone suddenly sneaked up from behind her.

He wasn't much bigger than her in size, but he was already a royal guard.

He caught her by the shoulder.

"Who are you?" asked the young guard.

She tried to run away as she was only a few steps away from the Blue Gate, but his grip was strong and tight, she couldn't even escape from his capture.

"Let me go," she repeated while trying to escape him, she struggled aggressively but it was no use, using his other hand, he picked up her collar, lifting her up from the ground. Her toes were flapping around in the air.

"How dare you!" she shouted at the young guard who looked around sixteen. "Do you know who I am?"

"You are one of the Apprentices," said the young guard as he faced her.

She looked at him, the young guard who had eyes that slightly lighter in colour, almost a light brown colour, with a fine nose and thin lips. She remembered the Head Maid Lu saying how that those who had thin lips were insensitive and were generally more indifferent. Her words rung so true at this moment as she stared at his expressionless face.

This is going to be hard. Maybe I can try to act cute.

"Then let me go," said the girl as she pouted pretending to be the nicest angel there is, in the whole palace, no, in the whole State of Zhu.

However, his expression remained cold and stale. It didn't affect him at all.

"No," he said. "It's my duty to bring you to the Master."

"Who? What master?"

"My master, the Head of Royal Guard, BanShan."

What Aunt Lu said is correct. Let's do Plan B.

"No. No. You can't. I will be punished severely," she started to beg.

She was met with a resolute, 'No'.

"Please?" she asked again.

"No."

The girl was upset hearing the only word that kept coming out from his mouth was, 'No'. It made her very frustrated and annoyed. "Fine, if you want to play it hard, then don't say that I didn't warn you. Commencing Plan C," thought the girl as she used her hands and tried to scratch him like a cat, but the young guard was quite calm and didn't retaliate even when thin red scratches appeared on his face.

In her last desperate attempt, she tried to kick his shin which he avoided.

She was finally exhausted.

"Are you calm now?"

"Yes."

"Good," said the young guard as he placed her back on the ground but once her feet touched it, like a dog, she bit his hand, using all the strength she could muster. Leaving deep marks in his skin.

Before he could react, the girl had already started to run. Turning back, she yelled, "You will never catch me, big brother. But now you are the younger brother since I won. Next time, you must call me big brother and I will surely walk pass the Blue Gate."

She remembered how he stood there, staring at he

YiGuang doubted her memory because she was quite young at the time but, "I clearly remember that it's red," thought the girl as she glanced over at the Royal Guard who was wearing a white collar.

"Did he got demoted?" thought YiGuang as she stared at him. But the youngster image she had in her mind was slowly replaced by the person in front of her. Even though it was dim, she could still made out the features of his face.

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New chapter for Retelling of Night. Making some progress.

Hopefully I can write more! And post weekly soon.

P.s What do you think abt this chapter?