I heard footsteps thundering down the steps I was under and prayed that the stairs were sturdy enough to hold the weight of 2 guards and breathed a sigh of relief when I saw them running off into the distance . Waiting impatiently for them to get a good distance away I finally came out of my hiding spot . I scurried towards the edge and looked down , climbing down would be a huge risk . I would almost certainly get spotted . Before I could think about what to do I heard a shout and saw 3 guards glaring daggers and running towards me , if looks could kill I ’ d most certainly be dead . I quickly put my foot up on the brick wall and pulled myself up . I grabbed my rope and tied it around my waist . Before I could realise what was happening I felt the weight of the guard smash against me , I lost my footing and fell off the wall . With a horror I realized I was falling straight down to the river . A scream was stuck in my throat , and my body was paralysed with fear . I was falling and falling and falling . My stomach rose to my throat . The wind slapped my face furiously as I fell and knotted up my hair . I looked down at the body of water that was quickly becoming bigger and tried to make myself be in an upright position . But I kept turning sideways , I then tried to go upside down . That for some reason was easier but then I realised that hitting water from a great height is as bad as hitting solid ground and forced myself to be in a standing position . After many struggles I managed and kept my body as straight as possible , keeping my arms by my side and feet together .
Splash ! I crashed into the water . A jolt of pain went through my legs as I hit the water and I screamed in pain only to have my mouth full of water . I frantically swam upwards and reached the surface . I gasped for air like a fish out of water . My legs were burning from the impact and every time I moved it , it felt like thousands of needles were digging into my skin . I clenched my fists in an attempt not to scream and tried to keep my legs as still as possible . I slowly tried to use my arms to pull myself towards the edge of the moat . Then fear creeped through me as I thought of the dangers that lurked in this water . I looked around me and saw no sign of movement , I calmed down a little bit but still tried to move quickly .
The moat was double the height of the wall thus resulting into a longer swim . My legs throbbed with each stroke and I wanted to pass out due to the pain but the fear of drowning and death kept me going . I slowly swam towards the edge , as I became closer I saw them . I saw dozens of people lined up , the Qing Army . I gasped at the amount of people . It was double the amount I had seen from the wall . Did the wretched guards alert them of my presence and cause them to double the security ?
Then I heard a yell . My heart froze up . Had they seen me ? Was this the end of my journey ? Would I be given the same fate as my parents ? However as I watched the soldiers in front of me . I saw a figure in the front row crumple to the ground . Lifeless . The guards around it sprung into action , half of them running into the direction the arrow had come from that killed one of their fellow men . Yes ! This was great ! None of the guards had noticed me at all ! A tiny person sprung out from the line of trees towards the wall and half of the remaining half got into position and instantly shot at the silhouette . I felt a pang of pity for the runner , no one would be able to survive that .
I was right , about a dozen arrows pierced into the man ’ s flesh and I saw the man fall onto his knees then flat onto his face . 2 people dead , in 2 minutes and they would never be remembered . Out of the blue 2 more men ran from the safety of the forest , into a certain death trap . All the guards focused their aim on them but as they shot the 2 men were ready and ducked it . The soldiers tried again but these men seemed like masters at dodging and somehow managed to dodge all of the shots . The guards realized that shooting would get them nowhere and half of them ran off to pursue them . I was extremely fortunate that the guards were distracted and half of them gone due to the disturbance .
By this time I had reached the end of the moat , my entire body was tired and in pain . There was nothing more I wanted to do then just collapse , but I knew what my fate would be if I did . Floating by the edge , I pulled my backpack in front of me . I was surprised that I hadn ’ t found it an issue while swimming . I must have been so tired and focused on the pain and just staying afloat I didn ’ t care about anything else . The soldiers stood about a meter in front of where I currently was , their backs facing me . I grabbed my blowgun and a dozen or so darts . I stuffed them into the blow gun , one dart for each soldier . I had to be quiet , quick and most importantly accurate . If I made one wrong move it would all be over . My plan was to keep shooting into the necks of guards one after another before the others have time to react .
I looked at the sky and saw a daytime moon . It was beautiful , glowing and majestic , white and pure . It seemed like it was fading into the sky . I took a deep breath , aimed , and shot . The dart hit the neck of the first soldier , but I had no time to celebrate the accuracy of my shot . Before he could react I moved on to hit the next soldier , then the