The Last Dahlia

009

Yuehwa watched with interest as Baixun single-handedly engaged in combat against the three assailants.

From his performance in the tournament, she had already established that his combat skills were not to be trifled with. However, watching him in action now, she came to realise that what she had seen earlier in the day had just been the tip of the iceberg. Baixun had obviously been holding back during the tournament, and the three assassins that he was entangled with were finding it extremely difficult to make any headway.

Unlike her more fluid style of combat, or Shoya's unpredictable and unorthodox moves, Baixun's strokes were more careful and measured, yet his sword moved with impressive precision. Even now while he was outnumbered, Yuehwa could tell that he still wasn't utilising his full capabilities. It was interesting, very interesting.

Exactly how good is he? she wondered to herself.

Given Shoya's current injuries, would he be able to defeat Baixun? She never had any doubts that the White Scorpion would come up tops in this competition, yet now she wasn't so sure.

It took Baixun less than a fraction of an hour to dispatch his three attackers. The final straw that broke the camel's back was when his sword pierced through the right shoulder of one of the men, just seconds after he had sent another flying against a wall. The three men exchanged glances with one another and decided to beat a hasty retreat.

"You're going to let them go?" Yuehwa opened her mouth to ask as she watched the three men in black vanish into the night.

"What else should I do?" Baixun turned to her and smiled. "Sound the alarm and set the palace guards on them? They'll probably bite their tongues and commit suicide the moment they get caught. By letting them go, at least I can get a message to whoever sent them and he'll know better than to try something so stupid again. Are you alright?"

He walked over to her side, studying her carefully from head to toe just to make sure she hadn't been accidentally injured in the process.

Yuehwa quickly turned to the side, a little embarrassed by the way he was looking at her so intently. "I'm fine, nothing to worry about," she mumbled. She picked up her feet and continued walking. "Do you know who those men were? Why did they want to kill you?"

Baixun shrugged, walking alongside her. "Who knows? Doesn't matter."

"You must have offended many people to be so nonchalant about having masked men chasing after you for your life," Yuehwa replied drily. "Are you some sort of gambler with a mountain of debt so the debtors keep sending people after you?"

Baixun only threw his head back and laughed, but beyond that, he didn't reply. Yuehwa knew that her words were most definitely far from the truth. No debtor would dare send assassins into the palace so casually, if only to kill an ordinary guard. The more she thought about it, the more curious she became. She cast a sideways glance at the man walking beside her, wondering what he was hiding beneath that smiling countenance of his.

"You're a surprisingly calm one," Baixun suddenly remarked. "I would have expected any lady to have started screaming for help after witnessing something like that."

"Why would I need to scream since those men weren't coming after me in the first place? If it was my life that they were after, then perhaps I might have screamed the entire palace down." Yuehwa knew that Baixun was trying to poke holes in her persona once again, and the sense of annoyance began to rise within her once more. "We get assassins in the palace from time to time, it's not the first time I've seen something like that," she fibbed. "I guess I'm lucky that I've escaped unscathed each time."

"I thought the Dahai palace was big, but looks like I was mistaken," Baixun said. "How is it that we're already back at the princess's quarters? Goodnight— You know what's funny? I don't even know your name!"