For some reason, she seemed... different from before.

"I mean it.... Here" she said; she then pulled out a rough cream paper from out nowhere.

"Wait, even if you do have a map like that, why in the world would I accept an offer, from no less you" I asked.

"Oh, I see" she said.

"What..."

"You share the same mentality as the other disciples"

"And what mentality is that?" I asked.

"You all foolishly think that the back walls is a safe place to escape through, don't you" she asked, with her hands behind her back, she walked run about me.

"How… did you" I muttered.

"Ha... and also, you may not know this, but the back walls is everything but safe" she asserted,

"What!"

"Where in the sect, do you think the five elemental illusion array was placed?"

"No….. Way, would the sect go that far?" I said, completely bewildered.

"And also, the array spans approximately five kilometer from the back walls, so won't even be able to get to the walls itself" she added,

"Then, I was just about to walk straight into a trap" I thought

"So now, what do you say about my map" she asked.

"First of all, what sort of a map is it and where did you get it"

"It's a map containing locations within and out the sect, but I can't tell you where I got it" she replied.

"Why"

"That's a trade secret"

"…..fine, then what do you want" I asked.

"Quite simple actually, for you to take me wherever you're going" she stated,

"What! But….. If you leave the sect without proper permission, you will be labeled a traitor as I" I explained,

"I don't care about that," she replied.

"I still can't"

"Why"

"You don't get it, am not going on a casual journey" I further tried to convince her,

"I know"

"You could end up dead" I warned,

"So…"

"Ahhh..."

"You should hurry up with you decision, even with the map, time is of the essence" she said,

"Damn, why can't you just understand?" I thought,

In that moment it came to me.

"Hold on, I could agree now, then ditch her later on" I thought.

"Fine, if you want to die so badly, then I won't stop you"

"Alright, you better not go back on your words, or rather, plan on ditching me, cause if you do, I won't let things slide so easily" she threatened,

"Somehow that sounds like a threat" I thought.

I then took the map, there was a location marked with red, it felt somewhat familiar but I couldn't quite place my finger on it,

"Alright, let's go" she said.

We kept leaping and running past numerous roof tops and after a long while, we were finally there, but then, it was at that very moment it occurred to me.

"Wait a minute, isn't this the main gate" I whispered.

I felt a strong pressure on around my knee,

"shhhh…. Get down, do you want to get caught by the guards" she said, already laying down flat,

I then prone,

"Why the main gate, isn't this more of a suicide than it already is" I whispered,

"Shut up" she replied, in a rather brash tone,

"Huh…"

"The guards patrolling this area are especially perceptive, so just keep it down and wait"

Those words instantly shut me up and for a fact, it felt really strange, I was always the cold and quiet one, but now, it felt as though we had our personalities switched.

We waited and waited, after a while, the guards suddenly vanished.

"Now" she whispered.

We made a dash down the roof, and through the huge gate, we made our escape.

If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.

"What….. Just happened" I asked, completely puzzled,

"Fine, I'll explain, it's been seven years now since when I found out about the illusion array, it felt really strange to me, more like the whole sect had turned into a fortress where you can't get in or out, since then, I began scouting for a way to escape, but, it felt hopeless, night after night I kept looking for loopholes but there were none, well, not till that day when I noticed a constant behavior from the guards at the main gate" she explained.

"…behavior."

"Every morning, by one, they would leave there post, to check the array at the back walls, and within ten minutes they would immediately return" she said,

"Then we have only ten minutes to escape"

"Yes, and that should be enough"

We ran for a long while and finally got to the Kai Bridge,

"Let's hide here" she said,

Hiding amidst the overgrown bushes, I noticed some strange figures coming through the bridge,

"Who are those?" I asked by a whisper,

"I…. don't know" she answered, completely unsure,

We waited for them to walk past by in order to get an opportunity for an escape through the bridge,

They reduced the distance between us with every step, and after a while, they were clearly revealed to us by the illuminating moon light, they were four in number and each had a mask on which barely covered their nose and mouth, as they walked past us I saw something, at first I couldn't believe my eyes, I thought I was hallucinating, but, looking again I still saw it, the word "shadow" clearly written behind there cloth.

I could hardly breathe anymore, I began drifting away from reality with every second that pasted by, and in that instant, I grabbed my katana and was about to get up, but then, I felt a hard jab on around my neck and I blacked out.

Waking up, I was met with pieces of sunlight which slightly blinded my vision, I sat up and l looked around, I was in a forest amidst lots of tress which gave out strange noises as the wind went through their branches.

"So you're awake" I voice echoed,

Looking up, I could see a figure of someone sited on one of the trees; I shielded my eyes slightly with my right hand leaving only a little gap so I won't be affected by direct sunlight.

"Yusa, is that….. You" I asked.

"Yep"

She then dashed down from the tree.

"What happened, I don't…. remember how I got here" I muttered.

"Well that's because I knocked you out" she replied with a smirk.

"You did what!" I yelled.

"Exactly what I said" she replied,

"Wh...why"

"You were about to blow our cover, and obviously I couldn't just let you ruin everything" she said,

"Ohh, that's right, thanks... but wait, did you carry me on your back all the way here" I asked, feeling a bit flustered,

"Absolutely not!" she screamed out,

"Then how did I get here" I asked,

She tithed slightly, folded her arms and said "isn't it obvious, I dragged you all the way here"

"What the hell!"

I looked down and found my cloth in jumbles.

"You… you heartless…..." i raved bitterly,

"I don't care what you think, just because am so cute doesn't mean I would readily distort my figure by carrying someone as dense on my back" she explained,

"And what do you mean by dense" I asked,

"I won't say, anyways get dressed, we have to go now" she replied.

"Your right, the sect would be looking for both of us by now, so where next"

"Somewhere further west, a small town called, Badilled"