Li Shuang knew who this person was, despite their few encounters and limited time together. She sensed an inexplicable, hidden connection between them.
On the blood-soaked battlefield, his strong arms enveloped her shoulders, pressing her cheek against his neck. The embrace was so tight, so powerful that Li Shuang felt an odd sense of safety as if she were being possessed and protected.
But this wouldn’t do! She was a general, responsible for the lives of countless soldiers. Behind her lay Deer City and its civilians. How could she indulge in this momentary comfort?
Li Shuang moved to push him away, but before she could, he released her as if sensing her intention.
To her surprise, as she looked up from his embrace, she noticed all the surrounding Western Rong soldiers had frozen, their weapons idle in their hands.
These fierce frontier warriors stared, transfixed, at something. Following their gaze, Li Shuang saw the black-masked man holding aloft a severed head.
The head, with its bearded chin and tiger-skin cap, belonged to the Western Rong leader, Ashina Du.
He had somehow killed the enemy general and claimed his head. But when? Wasn’t he just threatening Li Zhangyi on the city wall moments ago?
His speed… Li Shuang dared not dwell on it.
Like ripples in a pond, an eerie silence spread across the battlefield.
The black-armored man tossed Ashina Du’s head to the ground like discarded trash. “Get lost,” he commanded coldly.
As if obeying his order, drums thundered from the Western Rong camp. Their army began a fighting retreat, eventually withdrawing ten miles away. A Western Rong soldier retrieved Ashina Du’s head.
The once-deafening battlefield fell silent, leaving only carnage behind.
The Long Wind Camp soldiers, like Li Shuang herself, were bewildered by this sudden retreat.
Dazed, she stared at the black-masked man. “Who are you?”
His blood-red eyes reflected her image as he gently touched her blood-stained cheek. “I’m here to protect you.”
Li Shuang stood stunned as he continued, “I wore clothes today, so I’m no longer shameless. Will you marry me now?”
… What?
That was quite a conversational leap!
“You…” Li Shuang began, surprised to find herself laughing. She shook her head, both amused and exasperated. “You can capture an enemy king, yet ask such a question at a time like this… Who are you…”
“General,” Qin Lan and Luo Teng’s voices interrupted from behind.
The black-armored man glanced at them, then looked up at Li Zhangyi, still dumbfounded on the wall. “Do you still want to enter the city?”
Li Shuang hesitated. “Of course, we need to…”
“Very well.”
He picked up a nearby bow and arrow, aimed at Li Zhangyi atop the distant wall, and fired. The arrow whistled through the air. From this distance, they couldn’t hear what happened, but Li Shuang watched as the corpulent Li Zhangyi staggered a few steps before plummeting from the wall.
He died instantly, his skull cracked open – as easily as a child might throw a stone at a stray dog.
Li Shuang was stunned. Qin Lan and Luo Teng, who had just arrived, were equally shocked.
Any martial artist knew that this seemingly effortless shot represented an insurmountable gap in skill.
The black-armored man gently wiped the blood from Li Shuang’s face, his voice carrying a hint of tenderness beneath its robotic loyalty. “Whatever you desire, I’ll remove any obstacle for you, no matter what it is.”
Li Shuang gazed up at him, transfixed by his crimson eyes. On this vast, blood-and-sweat-soaked battlefield, she momentarily lost the composure and quick thinking expected of a general.
“Why?” Li Shuang finally regained her senses in the biting wind. “Why go to such lengths to save and help me? Who are you…” She reached out to remove his mask, but he deftly leaned back, evading her touch.
Seeing this, Qin Lan sprang into action, attempting to subdue the masked man. After just two exchanges, the man used Qin Lan’s force to propel himself away, vanishing into the night as swiftly as the northern wind.
Once again, he departed without a word, leaving behind an air of impenetrable mystery.
Li Shuang stared after him until Qin Lan’s voice brought her back to reality. “General.” She blinked, clearing her throat and surveying her surroundings.
The Long Wind Camp soldiers stood with weapons ready, eyeing her with newfound curiosity.
It was understandable. How could they not be intrigued? A masked man of unknown identity, possessing extraordinary martial skills and ruthless methods, had single-handedly infiltrated the Western Rong camp, decapitated their leader, and forced their retreat.
This mysterious figure had saved her on the battlefield, embraced her, and proposed marriage.
Even Li Shuang herself was intensely curious. How and when had she attracted such a person? Had her memory truly failed her? Had she, like characters in novels, forgotten some crucial past?
“General,” Qin Lan’s voice again drew her back to the present. “We should enter the city now.”
“Oh, right.” Li Shuang ordered the troops to enter.
No one could have predicted that the first battle against the Western Rong would end so bizarrely… Yet even more absurd events were to come…