Su Qi Xue is a young girl living with her younger brother and father in very poor conditions during Tang Dynasty. She works as a gravedigger and one day while moving a body, she finds a suspicious-looking little orb. Later her father sends her to deliver a package to an address and when she arrives, she finds out the place is a brothel and her father has sold her to them in exchange for a bag of rice. She tries to fight her way out and while running away, she interrupts a dance performance for a general who demands to have her. She is taken to his room but before anything can happen, a woman appears and kills the man. She begs the woman to take her with but the woman refuses. Instead, she tells her if she can escape on her own and make it to a specific location before sunset she will take her away. Qi Xue manages to escape using her wits and agility but after a day of struggle and stress, she passes out and falls off the horse, and does not make it to the rendezvous place. She wakes up later and rushes to the location but comes face to face with a group of assassins before getting injured. Taking pity on her, their leader decides to take her away. (Source: Autumn carrot at kisskh)