After the Clear Snow Festival, Lu City seemed to suddenly become desolate. The number of pedestrians on the streets drastically decreased, and overnight snowfall blanketed the city and its outskirts in a vast, cold white landscape.
Following the mysterious man’s attack on the Crown Prince, tension gripped both the City Lord’s mansion and the Changfeng Battalion, intensifying the already serious atmosphere of this border city.
Every soldier in the northern frontier knew the black-armored man’s capabilities. If he truly intended to kill the Crown Prince, even with others present, it would be difficult to stop him.
The City Lord’s mansion enforced strict martial law. Ten personal guards closely protected the Crown Prince whenever he went out.
The timid City Lord, fearing for the Crown Prince’s safety in the northern frontier, knew the mysterious man had special feelings for Li Shuang. He visited the military camp daily, begging Li Shuang to accompany the Crown Prince to the mansion. He almost wanted Li Shuang to move in beside the Crown Prince, acting as his protective charm all day.
Initially concerned, Li Shuang complied with the City Lord’s requests. However, after a few days, she realized the mysterious black-armored man showed no signs of activity. She had people watch Jin’an in the camp, and for these few days, he behaved well. During the day, he trained with the soldiers; at night, he curled up in his blanket to sleep. He no longer sought her out, making this the quietest period since she had brought him back.
Li Shuang thought that her actions protecting Sima Yang that night must have… hurt this overly naive mysterious man.
She had secretly left the military camp at night, finding a quiet pavilion in the city to sit. But the mysterious man no longer appeared by her side at opportune moments as he used to.
Li Shuang sat in the pavilion for half the night, feeling an inexplicable loneliness.
Would that person… never appear by her side again?
He was stubborn. If he had decided that day to no longer concern himself with her, they might never meet again. After all… it had always been the black-armored man who actively sought her out. Even now, she knew nothing of his background or whereabouts, making it impossible for her to find him.
She touched her slightly cool and chapped lips, sighing softly. The warmth from her body dispersed as a white mist. Taking a breath, Li Shuang felt the night growing increasingly cold.
The next day, as usual, the City Lord came to ask Li Shuang to accompany the Crown Prince. She declined, citing busy military affairs. The City Lord left disappointed, and the Crown Prince didn’t send anyone to invite her either. Li Shuang was content with this freedom.
She didn’t want further entanglement with Sima Yang.
She knew Sima Yang had feelings for her. They had met in their youth and grown up together. Unlike other noble ladies, Li Shuang rode horses, practiced archery, studied military texts and laws, and trained in martial arts alongside the sons of aristocrats. As the adopted daughter of the Grand General, her teachers were similar to Sima Yang’s. She spent almost as much time with Sima Yang as his two study companions. Over this long period, Li Shuang naturally admired Sima Yang, but it was only admiration, nothing more.
Sima Yang had established his own Crown Princess, and although he didn’t have many concubines, she had heard he added two or three in recent years.
Since childhood, she had learned warfare from her father, aiming to escape the confines of the general’s mansion’s rear courtyard and avoid the tedious power struggles among concubines. She didn’t want to finally achieve freedom only to fall into another deep pit because of marriage ties.
Moreover, Sima Yang was the current Crown Prince. Barring unforeseen circumstances, he would ascend the throne after the Emperor’s passing. In the future, the struggles behind him would be even bloodier, darker, and dirtier than the battlefield.
Three years ago, Li Shuang knew what she wanted. She also knew what would happen if she continued to stay in the capital. The Crown Prince’s affection for her was welcomed by many, as she was the General’s adopted daughter. She was destined to unite with the Crown Prince to combine imperial and military power.
The position of Empress was certainly not meant for an adopted daughter, but there would be a place for her as a consort. If she bore the Crown Prince’s children in the future, her prospects would be immeasurable.
Her adoptive father might not be happy for her, but the vast interest group behind the General’s mansion would surely rejoice.
Li Shuang disliked being a pawn. She wanted to control her destiny and be the one moving the pieces.
At that time, Li Shuang saw the situation, and Sima Yang saw through her as well. Three years ago, after Sima Yang married the Crown Princess, Li Shuang considered leaving. Sima Yang knew what she feared, but he wouldn’t allow her to be afraid, nor would he let her go. So Sima Yang proposed marrying Li Shuang to the Empress Dowager.
The Empress Dowager was naturally pleased and agreed to Sima Yang’s request, intending to discuss it with the Emperor that night.
Fortunately, Sima Yang’s younger imperial brother overheard the news at the Empress Dowager’s quarters and excitedly ran to tell Li Shuang, who was handling affairs in the palace. Shocked, Li Shuang rushed back to the General’s mansion, begging her father to immediately petition the Emperor. Coincidentally, there was news of conflict in the northern frontier, and Li Shuang implored to be sent to battle. With her father’s request, the Emperor finally agreed to Li Shuang’s deployment.
The news of Li Shuang’s northward journey to Lu City quickly spread throughout the palace. She wasn’t the first female general to go to the battlefield in this dynasty, but her appointment was the fastest. When the Empress Dowager learned of the imperial decree, she set aside the request regarding Sima Yang.
On the day Li Shuang left for the northern frontier, Sima Yang came to see her off. Li Shuang still remembers Sima Yang’s solemn face as he asked, “Am I so unbearable? You’d rather flee to the harsh northern frontier than stay by my side?”
Li Shuang knelt, bowing her head deeply to the ground. “Your Highness’s words are too heavy. I am utterly terrified.”
It was the first time she had responded to Sima Yang in this manner, trying her utmost to distance herself from him. Sima Yang remained silent for a long while before ordering her to rise in a low voice. As she stood up, it was also the first time she saw Sima Yang look at her with disappointment and loneliness:
“I thought you would understand me, that you would be willing to always stand by my side…”
Li Shuang shut out his soft murmur from her heart. She knew she could always be by his side, always accompany him, always regard him as her only one. But Sima Yang’s life was destined to not always be by her side, not always accompany her, not always regard her as his only one.
He had three thousand concubines in his harem and the power of the empire. And she, too, had a place in her heart she wanted to reach.
After that, Li Shuang never returned to the capital.
She thought that after three years, with Sima Yang having children, this unsettling affection would have faded away. She never expected that Sima Yang would request to come to what he called the harsh northern frontier. He even told her that he came here not for the ruler-subject relationship.
This made Li Shuang uneasy. From the day she learned of Sima Yang’s arrival, she secretly decided that unless it was a life-or-death matter, she would never get close to Sima Yang! Never! But who would have thought that such an urgent matter would indeed come up…
Li Shuang sighed. It was truly a case of new love complicating old love, and both withering away.
After Li Shuang stopped going to the City Lord’s mansion, the Crown Prince, aside from his daily routine of touring the military camp and city walls, didn’t bother her much.
Just as Li Shuang was settling down, thinking she could finally have some peace this winter, a soldier on the city wall reported that there had been some activity in the forest dozens of miles outside the former Changfeng Battalion campsite.
Li Shuang took this news seriously.
“What kind of activity?” she asked.
“Although that forest is far from Lu City, on clear days we can see it clearly from a distance. Recently, soldiers have noticed a significant decrease in trees there, obviously due to human cutting.”
Cutting trees? Li Shuang pondered, stroking her chin. “Have you seen anyone transporting the trees away, or building any structures on site? Or any smoke from fires?”
“No, those missing trees seem to have vanished into thin air. We haven’t seen them being transported, nor any construction, nor anyone using them for fires.”
“Send people to investigate,” Li Shuang ordered.
“Yes, ma’am.”
As the soldier left, Li Shuang remembered that the forest was where she had found Jin’an. She had investigated it with Luo Teng and several soldiers, finding an underground stone chamber with carelessly buried bodies. The old woman who had “risen from the dead” and attacked the Changfeng Battalion had likely crawled out from that chamber.
Now there was activity in that forest again?
Were they human, or… were they other “people” from that underground chamber? And if they weren’t transporting the trees, building structures, or using them for fires, what were they cutting the trees for?
Li Shuang sent several people to investigate, not just once, but at different times during the day and night. However, they never saw anyone cutting trees in the forest. Yet the trees continued to decrease gradually. After a few days, due to the reduction in trees, they could even see the bare mountaintop in that direction, but still no sign of people.
The Changfeng Battalion soldiers didn’t think much of it, but among the Lu City garrison, a rumor spread that the area outside Lu City was becoming haunted.
Life after the Clear Snow Festival was extremely boring, and within a few days, the power of the masses had turned the gradually thinning forest into more than ten different versions of ghost stories.
The northern frontier was already cold, and these ghost stories made people feel even colder to their bones. Li Shuang initially ignored these baseless talks, but unexpectedly, the rumors grew stronger, even beginning to shake the morale of the troops… Some said that the ghosts of the Western Rong people killed by the mysterious black-armored man were unwilling to rest and had started haunting the area.
Suddenly, a suppressed, fearful mood pervaded the military camp.
Li Shuang became furious. She found the first person who spread this rumor and severely punished him with several dozen lashes.
However, even more unexpectedly, the next day, the punished soldier was found dead in the snow outside the city.
A night’s heavy snow had almost buried him, leaving only a hand exposed. When he was dug out, life had long since left him. His heart had been ripped out, leaving a terrifyingly empty chest cavity. His face was frozen in horror as if he had witnessed something unspeakably terrifying.
This incident sent shockwaves through the military camp. Rumors spread like wildfire, even reaching the homes of Lu City’s civilians. Every household busied themselves with pasting talismans and drawing charms. Overnight, the once-ordinary Lu City became covered in talismans, creating an eerie atmosphere.
Li Shuang knew the importance of maintaining troop morale. As she was discussing countermeasures with her officers, a messenger from the City Lord’s mansion arrived, summoning her to meet the Crown Prince.
Qin Lan, observing Li Shuang’s expression, volunteered, “General, you’re busy handling military affairs and may not have time to leave. I’ll boldly represent you and meet with the Eastern Palace to hear the Crown Prince’s orders.”
Li Shuang readily agreed, nodding repeatedly, “Excellent, excellent.”
Seeing her reaction, Qin Lan lowered his head slightly, a faint, silent smile tugging at his lips. He was willing to shield her from anything that troubled her.
“I’ll accompany the messenger to the City Lord’s mansion,” Qin Lan said as he withdrew. Just as he was about to leave, Li Shuang called out, “Qin Lan.”
He turned back.
Li Shuang pondered, “If the Crown Prince’s matter is difficult to handle, send someone back to call me.”
Qin Lan’s eyes softened. She was worried the Crown Prince might give him a hard time. Concealing his emotions, he simply bowed and responded, “Understood.”
Qin Lan didn’t stay long at the City Lord’s mansion. Sima Yang didn’t ask why Li Shuang hadn’t come personally. He only mentioned the recent ghost-related rumors in Lu City, without blaming anyone, and instead proposed a solution.
When Li Shuang heard Qin Lan’s report of Sima Yang’s solution, she instinctively frowned but had to listen. “What did the Crown Prince say?”
Qin Lan paused briefly, then said, “The Crown Prince wants you and him to lead a group of personal guards to inspect that desolate forest. To personally quell these rumors.”
Li Shuang fell silent. She couldn’t reason with the superstitious populace, and the fastest way to suppress rumors was indeed to fight superstition with superstition. If she and Sima Yang went there and then spread the news that the Crown Prince’s true dragon aura had dispersed the evil spirits, it would be the quickest method.
Moreover, they could personally investigate the situation. Scouts, after all, were scouts. Their martial arts and agility weren’t comparable to those close to them, and they might have missed some clues.
Sima Yang had proposed a good plan. The only difficulty was that she had to go with him.
“Let’s do it then,” Li Shuang nodded after some thought. At least they would be accompanied by their respective guards. “Qin Lan, have someone make arrangements. The personal guard unit will depart with me tomorrow. Ensure the Crown Prince’s side is fully prepared as well. The most important task of this mission is to protect the Crown Prince.”
Qin Lan bowed his head. “Understood.”
The next day at noon, Li Shuang donned silver armor and military attire, carrying an eight-faced heavy sword. She ordered twelve personal guards to wait quietly before the city wall for Sima Yang. When Sima Yang arrived, he too was in iron armor and military dress. Standing together, they looked exceptionally well-matched in others’ eyes.
Most of the camp came to pay respects to the Crown Prince.
Coincidentally, Lu Xin had come to see Ji Ran that day. Her gaze had been fixed on Ji Ran, but now, with the sun directly overhead reflecting off the snow, Li Shuang and Sima Yang caught her attention.
“Wow,” Lu Xin couldn’t help but exclaim softly, “The General and His Highness look so well-matched.” She shook the small hand she was holding. “Jin’an, don’t you think so?”
Beside her, surrounded by a circle of adults, only little Jin’an stood inside.
He gazed coldly at Li Shuang and Sima Yang in the distance, noticing how their movements as they mounted their horses were almost identical. He remained silent, pulling his hand away from Lu Xin. “I told you, don’t touch me.” He turned his back on everyone, no longer looking at Li Shuang and Sima Yang, and returned to the camp.
Behind him, the soldiers’ mighty cheers filled the sky as they sent Li Shuang and Sima Yang out through the city gates. Jin’an walked to the entrance of the personal guard camp, which was empty. He lay down on his bed, staring up at the tent ceiling.
He didn’t say a word, his eyes showing no emotion.
He had been like this for the past few days, but it seemed no one had noticed, not even Li Shuang had come to ask about him. She liked that Crown Prince. So she wouldn’t pay attention to anything else anymore.
Jin’an had wondered more than once if Li Shuang when she saw that Crown Prince, felt the same way he did when he saw her. Did the whole world lose its color, with only her shining brightly? Did she attract all his attention and thoughts, making him rush towards her like a moth to a flame, heedless of death?
No one knew that in these days when Li Shuang hadn’t seen him, this moth had used even greater effort than flying into a fire to restrain his impulse to approach her, while also enduring pain more excruciating than being burned alive.
She didn’t like him, didn’t need him. These two realizations kept appearing in his mind like a curse, chilling all his passion.
And it wasn’t just his imagination making him feel cold; it was real.
The flame pattern on his chest was cooling, its color fading. Even at night, when he became an adult, if he didn’t hide under the covers, the northern frontier’s cold wind could freeze his limbs. This was a sensation he had never experienced before.
From the day he escaped from that forest, from the moment he met Li Shuang, his heart had always been filled with warmth. Even when exposed to bitter wind and heavy snow, he never felt cold.
But now…
“Commander Luo! Commander Luo!” Suddenly, a soldier’s terrified shout rang out. Jin’an recognized the voice as Wan Changshan’s, one of Li Shuang’s guards.
Why… was his voice here? Hadn’t all the personal guards gone with Li Shuang?
Jin’an turned his head to find the tent pitch black. Had he been lying there so long… long enough for night to fall? Why had he lost all sense of time passing?
“Commander Luo!”
“The General and the Crown Prince have been ambushed! They’ve disappeared!”
Jin’an’s empty pupils slowly contracted upon hearing these words. He flipped over, sitting up abruptly.
The seemingly frozen blood in his chest suddenly surged through his body with his heart’s violent pounding.
He stepped barefoot onto the ground, not feeling the slightest chill. In a flash, he was outside the personal guard camp, grabbing Wan Changshan’s collar mid-stride.
“What did you say?”
Wan Changshan stared at the figure before him in shock.
In his black pupils, illuminated by the camp’s firelight, Jin’an’s current form was reflected. He had transformed into an adult, his eyes blood-red, with flame patterns crawling from his chest to the corners of his eyes. He was still wearing a child’s military uniform, causing many seams to split from his muscles, hanging like tattered cloth on his body.
Wan Changshan gaped at him. “Who… who are you?”
“Who are you!” Luo Teng, hearing the shouts outside, rushed over from his camp. He pointed his large sword at Jin’an, frowning. “The black-armored man?” But Jin’an paid no attention, only gripping Wan Changshan’s collar and asking word by word:
“Where is Li Shuang?”
Reminded of the matter at hand, Wan Changshan immediately turned to Luo Teng, disregarding Jin’an. “Commander Luo! We need reinforcements! The General and the Crown Prince have vanished into the underground stone chamber in that forest!”
Underground stone chamber…
Jin’an released Wan Changshan. Suddenly, chaotic images flooded his mind: someone cutting open his chest to drain blood, him screaming and struggling in agony, insects crawling into his body, bloody battles, and frenzied escapes.
His head felt like it was about to split open, but none of this mattered to Jin’an. He realized the only important thing was that he knew… he knew where that underground stone chamber was!
He knew where Li Shuang was.
He had to save her.
Even if she loved someone else, even if she would draw her sword against him to protect another, even if she never wanted to marry him, never wanted to be with him, or even see him again… he still had to save her!
With all his might, disregarding his own life, he would save her at all costs.
This felt like his mission, his instinct, his only, sole, unshakeable resolve.