The pallid sun beat down relentlessly upon the vast plains of Qīng Qiū (青丘).In the distance, three horses were little more than black specks racing across the expanse. Ahead, the mountain defile loomed like a deep, jagged scar.
Hàn Yuè (汉月) no longer had the strength to stay in the saddle; her body swayed like a willow in the wind. Behind her black veil, her face was ashen, a cold sweat drenching her brow. Her vision blurred, and the world spun violently around her. She could endure no more. With a sound more like a whimper than a plea, she cried out:
"Stop… just for a moment, stop!"
The smuggler and the handmaid, panicked, reined in their horses. Hàn Yuè threw herself from the saddle, but her legs gave way on the hard-packed earth, and she stumbled. The handmaid rushed to her side, catching her under the arms. But the moment she touched her lady's icy skin, a shiver ran through her.
"My Lady! You are freezing cold and you are shivering. You have made yourself ill!"
Hàn Yuè closed her eyes, trying to clear the darkness swirling before her.
"Just… just a moment's rest, I'll be fine," she whispered. "Hēiláng (黑狼)… we must reach him soon …"
Her words trailed off as her knees buckled under the weight of her exhaustion. The handmaid caught her before she hit the ground, looking at the smuggler with terror-stricken eyes and pointing toward a nearby rock.
"Help me get her to that rock."
Once they had propped her up against the rock, the handmaid took the waterskin, poured a little water into her palm, and dabbed it onto her lady's parched face and lips. Looking around anxiously, she muttered:
"My God, whatever am I to do now!"
Suddenly, her gaze fixed on the horizon, and the blood turned to ice in her veins. A thick cloud of dust was rising under the midday sun. The dull, rhythmic thrum of galloping hooves vibrated through the ground like a war drum.
The handmaid leapt to her feet, her voice lost in the wind:
"Who… who are they?"
The smuggler's face drained of colour, his eyes widening. "Barbarians!"
The words died in the handmaid's throat. The world spun.
"What?! No, this cannot be…!"
The smuggler didn't hear her; terror had shattered his reason. He scrambled backwards. Without a glance at the two women, he whirled around, lunged for his horse, grabbed the reins, and vaulted into the saddle. The handmaid let out a desperate scream:
"Wait! Damn you, come back and help us!"
But the smuggler, indifferent, kicked his horse hard and bolted into the plains.
Hàn Yuè grabbed the handmaid's hand and spoke in a voice that sounded as if it were coming from the bottom of a well.
"Leave me… save yourself..."
The handmaid shook her head violently.
"No, I won't leave you here like this." With trembling hands, she tried to lift the half-conscious Hàn Yuè, but despite putting every ounce of strength into the effort, she was not strong enough.
The smuggler had barely put any distance between them when one of the barbarians drew his bow and let fly a shaft with lethal precision. It whistled through the air, finding its mark with a sickening thud. The smuggler didn't even have time to scream; he toppled from his saddle like a sack of grain.
In the blink of an eye, towering shadows surrounded Hàn Yuè and her handmaid. The warhorses, their hooves stained crimson, circled them, cutting off any hope of escape.
The handmaid threw herself in front of her mistress, a frail barrier. Her hands shook, but she stood firm. The Chief pointed at the three with a cold gesture:
"Take them."
As the men drew near, the handmaid screamed:
"Don't you dare touch her!" and clutched her mistress.
The lead barbarian shoved the handmaid aside hard. She stumbled, but quickly caught her balance, lunged back at him, and scratched his face so hard her nails left marks in his skin. He froze for a second, then, eyes blazing with rage, he hit her with a heavy blow. The handmaid collapsed to the ground. The brute jumped on her small body and started raining heavy, merciless blows down on her, one after another.
Amidst the chaos, two other barbarians hauled Hàn Yuè to her feet. She shrieked:
"Leave her… you are killing her!"
But it was too late. The barbarian drew a dagger and plunged it into the handmaid with merciless cruelty. Her breath hitched. She reached out a trembling hand one last time toward her Lady, gasping:
"M…my… Lady…" and her eyes closed forever.
With tears blurring Hàn Yuè's vision, she stared at the handmaid's blood-soaked body with a choked, agonizing cry, while her entire body trembled in the barbarians' grip.
The barbarian pulled out his dagger brutally, stood over the corpse, licked the blood off the dagger with relish, and turned toward Hàn Yuè and began to stalk toward her with a sadistic grin.
Suddenly, one of the riders, possessing a sharper gaze than the rest, shouted:
"Hey! Hold on!"
Everyone froze. The Chief turned, bewildered. The rider spurred his horse toward Hàn Yuè, dismounted, and scrutinized her face. Turning to the Chief, he said:
"Chief, I know this girl. She's Liángwáng (良王)'s daughter!"
The Chief's voice boomed across the plain:
"Are you certain?!"
"Yes, Chief. I'm certain. Her name is Hàn Yuè. Liángwáng's eldest child."
One of the men sneered:
"Then let's tear her apart right here and send her head to her father. Let's see how Liángwáng feels when he sees the remains of his darling girl."
The barbarian who had killed the handmaid gave a wicked smirk, pressed his dagger under Hàn Yuè's chin, and tilted her head up.
"It's a shame to end it so soon… We could do much worse to her!"
Suddenly, a roar from the Chief shattered the deadly silence:
"Back off, you stray dog!"
He leapt from his horse, approached with heavy strides, and loomed over Hàn Yuè, staring into her listless eyes. A greedy sneer curled his lips:
"I'm not letting this windfall be ruined by your foolish lusts. This girl is the key to Lán (嵐)'s treasury. With the money her ransom would bring, we could feed our tribes for seven generations."
He looked at his men with contempt.
"The Governor will empty his vaults for this girl. She is worth more to us than ten cities combined."
"Put her on a horse. We are taking her to Sōng Lǐng (松岭) with us." He said.
A rider immediately stepped forward and lifted Hàn Yuè from the ground as if she were a lifeless object. He threw her across the saddle and secured her firmly with a rope passed under the horse's belly. Powerless, Hàn Yuè let her head hang loose, dangling toward the dusty ground.
With a cold, triumphant smile, the tribal Chief ordered them to move out.