After making arrangements and finalizing the plan to raid the bandit stronghold with her commanders, Li Shuang entrusted Qin Lan to lead the operation. Confident in the Changfeng Army’s capabilities, she had no doubt they would easily overtake the small fortress.
Returning to her tent, Li Shuang handled some routine military matters and penned a letter to her father about Li Ting’s situation, arranging for its delivery to the capital. By the time she finished, the evening had fallen. Exhausted from a sleepless day, she collapsed onto her bed, quickly drifting off.
Though she expected a dreamless sleep, Li Shuang found herself in a vivid dream. A shirtless man wearing a black mask stood silently atop a snow-covered mountain. He embraced her warmly, his lips intimately and dangerously grazing her forehead, cheeks, and lips. In the dream, she wanted to struggle but remained in his arms, unable to leave.
Just as the dream man began to kiss her neck and reach for her clothes, Li Shuang jolted awake.
Opening her eyes, she realized it was midnight. The camp was quiet, her slumber undisturbed. The tent was dark, with unlit candles emphasizing the stark contrast between the cold reality and her fiery dream. She stared blankly for a moment before covering her face with her hands, sighing deeply. She had dreamed… such a thing. She must be… lonely.
As she sat up to get some water, Li Shuang noticed her blanket had indeed been pulled down slightly and her collar loosened. Confused, she wondered if she had undressed herself in her sleep.
Feeling uneasy, she stepped outside. The young guard on duty, who had been dozing, snapped to attention. “General!” he saluted.
Li Shuang studied him. “Did anyone enter my tent earlier?”
The guard blinked in surprise. “No, General. No one has approached your tent.”
Realizing that even the most skilled intruder couldn’t have entered without alerting the guard, Li Shuang accepted that it had just been a dream. She returned to her tent, sighing heavily as she sat on her bed. Perhaps, she thought, she should let her father arrange a marriage for her when she next returned to the capital. It seemed the harsh northern winter had awakened an unexpected spring in her life.
The next morning, Qin Lan reported the complete eradication of the bandits. Li Shuang nodded, her thoughts turning to the mysterious man from the stronghold. Still concerned about how he knew her movements, she recalled a detail – the red marking on his left chest that extended to his eye.
Suddenly remembering where she’d seen a similar pattern, Li Shuang asked Luo Teng, “Where’s that young soldier, Jin’an?”
Confused by her sudden interest, Luo Teng replied, “He’s probably training with the other recruits. Why do you ask, General?”
“Take me to see him,” Li Shuang decided.
At the training grounds, they found Jin’an running laps with older children. While the others were sweating profusely, Jin’an showed no signs of fatigue, his clothes still clean and dry – a sign of well-developed inner energy.
“Jin’an!” Luo Teng called. “Come here. The General wants to see you.”
Even before Luo Teng’s call, Jin’an’s gaze had fixed on Li Shuang. He ran over immediately, his eyes never leaving her.
Amused by his intense focus, Li Shuang crouched to his level. “Do I resemble your mother?”
Jin’an shook his head.
“Then why do you always stare at me like this?”
After a moment’s thought, Jin’an replied, “Because you’re special.”
This was the second time he’d said this. Li Shuang assumed it was gratitude for rescuing him from the wilderness.
She ruffled his hair, an action Jin’an seemed to enjoy immensely. He closed his eyes slightly, relishing her touch.
When she withdrew her hand, Jin’an glanced at it, seeming to restrain himself from reaching out to her. Li Shuang asked, “Do you have a red mark on your chest? I noticed it when we brought you in.”
Jin’an nodded without hesitation. “Do you want to see?”
“Yes,” Li Shuang paused. “Is that all right?”
“You can see anything on me,” Jin’an replied simply.
Taken aback, Li Shuang faltered. Luo Teng interjected, “Watch your mouth, boy! That’s no way to speak to the General!”
“It’s fine,” Li Shuang waved him off, though she felt a bit awkward now. She led Jin’an to a tent and asked him to remove his shirt.
Examining the shirtless boy, Li Shuang noted the flame-like mark on his left chest. The rest of his body was as smooth and unblemished as a child raised in the capital, even more so than her brother Li Ting.
She recalled finding Jin’an in tattered, blood-soaked clothes. Given the absence of scars now, she realized the blood must have been someone else’s. Such severe wounds couldn’t have healed so completely in such a short time.
Her gaze lingered on the chest marking. As she touched it, Jin’an shivered. “Does it hurt?” she asked.
Jin’an shook his head. It didn’t hurt; her touch simply filled him with joy, almost to the point of trembling. He watched as she traced the mark again.
Lowering his gaze, Jin’an’s eyes softened. He loved Li Shuang’s touch. Her fingertips felt like sunlight, dispelling the gloom and painful cold in his heart.
Unaware of Jin’an’s inner thoughts, Li Shuang examined the mark briefly, finding nothing unusual. “Do you remember how you got this mark?” she asked.
As her fingers left his chest, Jin’an felt an undeniable sense of loss. Still, he answered her question: “I don’t remember.”
He remembered nothing – not his name, his origin, his past, or why he ended up in this state. His earliest recollection was running through a frigid forest at night, covered in blood, with a metallic taste in his mouth and an icy chill throughout his body.
Li Shuang pondered this for a moment. If the boy wasn’t lying, he had truly lost his memory. Moreover, the mark on his chest was strikingly similar to the pattern on the mysterious black-armored figure from yesterday. To uncover that person’s identity, it seemed she would have to investigate herself.
After instructing Jin’an to get dressed and return to training, Li Shuang turned to leave the tent. However, Jin’an grabbed the hem of her clothes.
“What is it?” she asked, looking back at him.
“Can I follow you?” he blurted out.
Taken aback, Li Shuang considered his request. “You’re still young. You need to master the basics with the squad leader first.”
“I already know everything,” he replied, his usually expressionless eyes now filled with longing and a hint of pleading. “I can protect you.”
Li Shuang chuckled at his words. Initially inclined to refuse, she reconsidered and, after a moment’s thought, nodded. “All right then.”
Jin’an’s eyes lit up with unexpected hope. “You agree?”
“Yes,” Li Shuang confirmed. “I’ll make the arrangements. From today, you’ll be one of my guards. Pack your belongings today and move into my guards’ tent tomorrow. It’s better this way, considering the conflict with your previous tentmates.”
Jin’an’s face brightened, and he nodded, leaving more eagerly than ever before.
As Jin’an departed, Li Shuang summoned Qin Lan, one of her twelve personal guards from the general’s mansion. These guards were all highly skilled and fiercely loyal. Qin Lan, in particular, had become her deputy over the years, gradually setting aside his role as head of her guard.
Hearing Li Shuang’s plan, Qin Lan was startled. “That child…”
Anticipating his objection, Li Shuang explained, “The other day, when I took ten men to the bandit stronghold, it was a spur-of-the-moment decision. No one outside the camp could have known my whereabouts.”
Qin Lan’s eyes sharpened. “General, do you suspect… that the boy is connected to that mysterious figure?”
Li Shuang nodded. “While we don’t know that person’s intentions or if Jin’an leaked information to them, the similar chest markings and cold resistance suggest a possible connection.”
“Chest?” Qin Lan repeated, causing Li Shuang to realize her slip. She coughed, quickly changing the subject. “In any case, it’s better to keep Jin’an under your watch than let him roam freely among the recruits. The guards’ camp is full of skilled fighters; there’s no need to worry about controlling him.”
Qin Lan clenched his fist but nodded in compliance.
“As for the rest…” Li Shuang mused, “I didn’t think investigating a child’s background was necessary, but now it seems unavoidable.”
She considered that if the red flame mark on the chest and cold resistance weren’t unique to one person, it could indicate the existence of an unknown group or tribe in the northern frontier, one surprisingly well-informed about her Long Feng Camp.
Li Shuang issued an order: “We have no duties this afternoon. I’ll take three soldiers to explore where Jin’an was found. I recall a forest behind that area with some disturbance the night before.”
As Li Shuang prepared to leave with Luo Teng and two other guards, Jin’an intercepted them, clutching his meager belongings.
“Are you leaving the camp?” he asked, his eyes fixed on her.
Before Li Shuang could answer, Luo Teng, already mounted, reprimanded him: “Mind your manners! Does the General need to report her movements to you?”
Jin’an kept his gaze on Li Shuang until she spoke: “We’re patrolling outside the camp. We’ll be back by nightfall.” Only then did he reluctantly lower his eyes, looking dejected.
Surrounded by burly men who viewed her as their commanding officer, Li Shuang was unaccustomed to such dependency. Even Li Ting’s occasional playfulness never resembled this pitiful demeanor. Feeling a twinge of sympathy, she patted Jin’an’s head. His downcast eyes immediately softened. “Go take care of your tasks,” she said gently.
Jin’an nodded, watching in awe as Li Shuang mounted her horse with grace and vigor. Despite his reluctance to see her leave, he couldn’t help but be captivated by her impressive figure.
The group rode swiftly to where Jin’an had been discovered. The once-large bloodstain on the wasteland was now mostly buried by wind and sand, with only a few rusty traces remaining as evidence of Jin’an’s collapse.
Looking up, Li Shuang saw a desolate forest. Although most of the leaves had fallen, the dense trees created an eerie atmosphere. Unable to ride through the forest, she ordered the horses tied to trees outside. Then, following the trail of broken branches, they searched for Jin’an’s path out of the woods.
As they ventured deeper into the dense forest, Luo Teng’s brow furrowed increasingly. Despite his usually rough demeanor, he was skilled in tracking. Upon reaching a chaotic clearing in the heart of the forest, where fallen trees and shattered rocks littered the ground, Luo Teng exclaimed, “By the gods, General… this doesn’t look like damage a small child could cause.”
Amidst the jumble of withered branches, they glimpsed what appeared to be human bones, picked clean by wild animals. As Li Shuang examined these remains, one of her guards called out, “General! There’s an underground chamber entrance here.”
Li Shuang approached the indicated spot. Hidden beneath rocks and broken branches was a stairway leading underground. The interior was pitch black, emitting a nauseating stench of decay.
Blood stains marred the steps, and combined with the foul odor, the scene was enough to make one’s skin crawl.