Tap, tap, tap...
Footsteps drew closer from the distance.
Huo Zhiyun held the hilt of his sabre, holding his breath and focusing as he waited. Soon, a knock came at the door:
Knock, knock~
"Hero Huo?"
Judging by the voice, it was a girl of fifteen or sixteen. Huo Zhiyun frowned slightly, thinking she was a maid from Wind-Moon House, and asked:
"What is it?"
"Someone outside brought you something. It's a sheet of paper. Would you like to take a look?"
"..."
Doubt flickered in Huo Zhiyun's eyes. After some thought, he went to the door and listened closely. Only after confirming that there was just one person outside did he disengage the mechanism on the door.
Creak~
As the door opened, the plants and nighttime rain outside came into view, along with two figures standing outside.
One was tall and the other short. Both wore blue-green cloaks, with face veils concealing their features.
The person standing before the door was slender, with a five-foot sabre resting on her shoulder, and appeared to be a woman. Beside a pillar to the side stood a man, a sword hanging at his waist. At its hilt was a wheel engraved with the twelve double-hours...
!!
Huo Zhiyun had barely opened the door a crack when his expression changed drastically, and he tried to retreat and draw his sabre.
Shing~
At that very moment, the swordsman, still over ten feet away, had already drawn the sword at his waist. In the blink of an eye, he was right before Huo Zhiyun, the three-foot blade pressed directly against his throat.
Rustle, rustle, rustle~
Inside and outside the room, everything instantly fell deathly silent. Only the rustling of fine rain striking the leaves remained.
Huo Zhiyun froze where he stood, staring at the blade