After the Snow Festival, Lu City fell into sudden silence. The bustling streets emptied overnight, and the snow that blanketed the city and its outskirts turned everything into a vast, frozen world of white.
Ever since the mysterious man’s attack on the Crown Prince, both the City Lord’s Manor and the Changfeng Battalion had been gripped by tension. The city, already burdened by the weight of border life, grew even grimmer.
Among the soldiers stationed in the Northern Frontier, everyone knew the power of the black-armored figure. If that man had truly meant to kill the Crown Prince, even with guards nearby, it would have been impossible to stop him.
The City Lord’s Manor tightened its security. Whenever the Crown Prince went out, ten personal guards surrounded him closely, ready to die in his defense.
But the City Lord himself was uneasy. Knowing that the mysterious figure harbored feelings for Li Shuang, he came daily to the military camp, pleading for her to accompany the Crown Prince for protection. He nearly wished she could move into the manor—be his living talisman.
At first, Li Shuang agreed. Her sense of duty wouldn’t allow her to refuse. Yet after a few days of quiet, she noticed that the black-armored man had made no further appearance. She also sent men to keep watch over Jin’an in camp. He trained diligently by day and slept obediently at night, never coming to seek her out. It was the most peaceful period since she had brought him back.
Li Shuang could only think that her defense of Sima Yang that night had wounded the heart of that too-pure young man.
Once, she secretly left the barracks at night and sat alone in a pavilion under the falling snow, waiting. But he never appeared again—not silently behind her, not out of the mist, not at all.
Half the night passed in stillness. For the first time, Li Shuang felt an unfamiliar, hollow ache settle in her chest.
Would he… truly never come again?
That person was one who lived by his principles. If he had decided to turn away from her that night, perhaps there would never be another chance to meet. After all, it had always been he who sought her out. Even now, she knew nothing of his origin or whereabouts—there was no way for her to find him.
Her fingers brushed her cold, slightly chapped lips. She exhaled softly, watching the white mist disperse into the frozen night. The wind grew sharper, the air biting against her skin.
The next morning, as expected, the City Lord came once more, asking her to stay by the Crown Prince’s side. This time, she declined, citing urgent military affairs. The City Lord left disappointed. The Crown Prince sent no summons either.
Li Shuang felt an unspoken relief.
She didn’t want to see Sima Yang too often.
She knew his feelings. Since youth, they had shared lessons, teachers, and long days in the training fields. While noble girls learned embroidery and poetry, Li Shuang rode beside him, drawing bowstrings and reciting military texts. As the adopted daughter of the Great General, she was taught the ways of war, law, and strategy—her time beside the Crown Prince nearly rivaled that of his closest companions.
Yes, she had admired him once. But admiration was not love.
Sima Yang already had a Crown Princess. Though he kept few concubines, she’d heard two or three had been added over the years.
Li Shuang had spent her life escaping the suffocating intrigues of the women’s quarters. Everything she had learned—warfare, discipline, independence—was to free herself from that endless web of schemes. She would not fight her way to freedom only to fall into another trap of palace politics and concubine rivalries.
Besides, Sima Yang was the Crown Prince. When he eventually inherited the throne, the struggles awaiting him would be far bloodier and more treacherous than any battle she’d fought.
Three years ago, Li Shuang had understood all this. She also knew that her connection with the Crown Prince was something others wanted. To the outside world, her union with him would be ideal—binding imperial power and military might into one.
The daughter of a general could never be the principal wife. But as a secondary consort, with royal children, her influence would be unparalleled.
Her father might not have approved, but the entire political faction behind the General’s Manor would have rejoiced.
Yet Li Shuang refused to be anyone’s chess piece. She wanted to hold her own destiny—to be the player, not the pawn.
Three years ago, when Sima Yang married the Crown Princess, she had already decided to leave. He saw through her thoughts and would not allow it. He even went so far as to ask the Empress for permission to take her as a secondary wife.
The Empress was delighted. She had intended to speak with the Emperor that very night.
But Sima Yang’s younger brother overheard the news and, unable to keep it secret, ran to tell Li Shuang.
Li Shuang had been stunned. She immediately rushed home and begged her father to petition the Emperor to send her to the frontlines instead. Coincidentally, there had been disturbances at the Northern border. With her father’s support, the Emperor agreed.
The decree came swiftly. She was to depart for Lu City. Her appointment as a female general was the fastest in the dynasty’s history. The Empress, realizing what had happened, quietly dropped the subject.
On the day of her departure, Sima Yang personally came to see her off. She would never forget how he looked at her then, his tone both hurt and cold:
“Am I so unbearable to you, that you would rather flee to the frozen frontier than remain by my side?”
Li Shuang had bowed deeply, her voice steady. “Your Highness’s words are too heavy. Li Shuang does not dare.”
It was the first time she had ever addressed him so formally. After a long silence, Sima Yang had murmured in a low, desolate voice:
“I thought you would understand me. That you would stay by my side.”
But Li Shuang had closed her heart to those words. She could follow him all her life—but he could never truly walk beside her.
He had the world.
She had her own horizon to reach.
After that day, she never returned to the capital.
She thought that with time, all feelings would fade—that once Sima Yang had heirs and responsibilities, the past would dissolve like snow under the sun. She never expected that three years later, he would come to this desolate frontier, still saying he came not for matters of state, but for her.
It unsettled her deeply. From the moment she heard he was coming, she had vowed never to approach him unless absolutely necessary. Yet fate had a way of drawing old bonds back together.
Li Shuang sighed. New peach blossoms meeting old ones… only to find them already wilted.
After she stopped going to the City Lord’s Manor, Sima Yang kept his distance as well, visiting only the city walls and camps for inspections.
Just as Li Shuang began to believe she could finally enjoy a quiet winter, a soldier burst in with a report.
“General, there’s been movement in the forest several dozen li from the old Changfeng Battalion grounds.”
Li Shuang’s expression turned serious. “What kind of movement?”
“Though it’s far, we can still see it clearly on clear days. The trees there… are vanishing, as if someone’s been cutting them down.”
“Cutting trees?” Li Shuang frowned. “Have you seen anyone transporting them? Building, burning them for fuel?”
“No, General. They just… disappear. There’s no sign of anyone.”
“Send a team to investigate.”
“Yes, General.”
After the messenger left, Li Shuang recalled that forest well—it was where she had first found Jin’an. She had searched there with Luo Teng, finding an underground stone chamber filled with half-buried corpses. The “risen corpse” that attacked the battalion had also crawled out from that very place.
And now, the forest was stirring again.
Who—or what—was cutting down those trees?
She ordered multiple patrols at different hours. Yet every report was the same—no people, no tools, only fewer and fewer trees. Within days, the thinning forest exposed the barren slopes behind it, but still, no one had been seen.
The soldiers of the Changfeng Battalion didn’t think much of it. But among the city’s garrison, whispers began to spread—that the outskirts of Lu City were haunted.
With little to occupy them after the Snow Festival, rumors multiplied like wildfire. Soon, the vanishing forest had turned into ten different ghost stories.
The Northern wind was cold enough; now, even the bravest soldiers felt a chill in their hearts.
At first, Li Shuang dismissed the nonsense. But when the stories began to shake morale—some claiming that the ghosts of Western Rong soldiers, slain by the black-armored man, had risen for revenge—her patience snapped.
She summoned the soldier who first spread the tale and ordered a punishment of several dozen strokes.
However, what no one expected was that the very next day, the soldier who had been punished was found dead in the snow outside the city.
The blizzard overnight had nearly buried him; only a single hand jutted out from the snow. When they dug him out, he had long since stopped breathing. His chest cavity was hollow — the heart had been removed — and his frozen face was twisted in terror, as if he had witnessed something unspeakably horrifying.
The discovery sent shockwaves through the military camp. Rumors spread like wildfire, spilling from the barracks into the homes of Lu City’s civilians. Within a day, every household was pasting talismans and hanging charms for protection. The once-lively city was now draped in paper talismans, fluttering eerily in the wind — turning the streets into a place even colder than before.
Li Shuang knew one thing: the army’s morale must not collapse.
As she discussed countermeasures with her officers, an urgent order arrived from the City Lord’s Manor — the Crown Prince summoned her.
Qin Lan glanced at Li Shuang’s expression and quickly volunteered, “The General is occupied with pressing military affairs. This humble officer will go in her place to receive His Highness’s orders.”
Li Shuang almost sighed in relief. “Excellent, excellent.”
Seeing her reaction, Qin Lan’s lips curved slightly before he bowed his head. He would rather face the Crown Prince’s temper himself than let her be troubled by it.
He clasped his fists. “This subordinate will follow the messenger to the City Lord’s Manor.”
Just as he turned to leave, Li Shuang spoke again.
“Qin Lan.”
He turned back.
“If the Crown Prince’s orders are… difficult to handle,” she said carefully, “send someone for me.”
Qin Lan’s eyes softened — she was worried he might be put in a difficult position. He quickly hid that emotion behind a formal bow. “Yes.”
At the City Lord’s Manor, Sima Yang didn’t question why Li Shuang hadn’t come in person. Instead, he addressed the ghost rumors spreading throughout Lu City. Rather than assigning blame, he offered a solution.
When Qin Lan returned and reported it, Li Shuang frowned but listened quietly.
“What did His Highness suggest?”
“The Crown Prince wishes for the General to accompany him with a team of personal guards to patrol that desolate forest — to personally dispel the rumors.”
Li Shuang was silent for a long moment.
It was indeed the most efficient approach. The people were superstitious — logic wouldn’t sway them. But if the Crown Prince himself ventured into that haunted forest and returned unharmed, the rumors would vanish overnight. And it would also give them a chance to investigate the strange occurrences in person.
It was a sound plan — the only problem was that she would have to go with him.
“…Very well,” Li Shuang finally said. “Prepare the guard unit. We set out at noon tomorrow. And remind everyone — our first duty is to protect the Crown Prince.”
Qin Lan bowed. “Yes.”
The next day, Li Shuang wore silver armor, her eight-sided sword strapped to her back. She led twelve personal guards to the city wall, awaiting Sima Yang’s arrival. When he came, dressed in dark iron armor, the two of them — Crown Prince and General — stood side by side beneath the snow-bright sky, a sight that made soldiers’ hearts burn with pride.
Almost the entire camp had come to send them off.
Among them was Lu Xin, visiting Ji Ran that morning. She had been chatting idly when her gaze was drawn by the gleam of sunlight on silver. Seeing Li Shuang and Sima Yang together, she couldn’t help but whisper, “The General and His Highness… they truly look like a perfect pair.”
She tugged at the small hand beside her. “Don’t you think so, Jin’an?”
Surrounded by towering soldiers, the small figure at her side was the only one who didn’t seem to belong there. Jin’an stared at Li Shuang and Sima Yang, at how easily they moved in unison — and something cold spread in his chest.
He pulled his hand away. “I told you not to touch me.”
Turning away, he ignored the cheering soldiers and walked back toward camp.
Inside his tent, the cheering outside grew faint, replaced by a suffocating silence. He lay on his bed, staring at the fabric ceiling, blank-faced.
He had been like this for days now. No one noticed. Not even Li Shuang had come to see him — not even once.
She liked that Crown Prince.
That was why she no longer saw anyone else.
Jin’an wondered more than once — did she feel for that Crown Prince the same way he felt for her?
That feeling where the rest of the world faded into silence, and only one person’s shadow existed — drawing you toward them like a moth to flame, even knowing it would burn you to ash?
No one knew that during those days she ignored him, he had used every ounce of will to suppress his instinct to go to her. The pain of restraint was worse than dying.
She didn’t like him. She didn’t need him.
Those words looped endlessly in his mind, chilling his blood until even his heart began to freeze.
The flame mark on his chest had grown cold. Its color was fading. At night, unless he hid under thick blankets, the Northern Frontier’s wind could freeze his limbs stiff — something he had never felt before.
From the moment he had escaped that cursed forest, when he met Li Shuang, his blood had always been warm — burning with life even in snow and wind. But now…
A sudden shout pierced the silence.
“Commander Luo! Commander Luo!”
It was Wan Changshan — one of Li Shuang’s guards.
But why was he here? Hadn’t they gone to the forest with Li Shuang?
Jin’an turned his head. The tent was dark — had he been lying there that long? Had night already fallen?
“Commander Luo!”
“The General and Crown Prince were ambushed! They’ve vanished!”
Jin’an’s pupils contracted sharply. He flipped upright.
The frozen blood in his veins surged back to life, pounding with a violent rhythm.
He stepped barefoot onto the icy ground — and felt nothing. In an instant, his figure flashed out of the tent. He seized Wan Changshan by the collar, his voice low and shaking.
“What did you say?”
Wan Changshan stared in shock. The firelight reflected a figure both familiar and terrifying — Jin’an, but grown. His body had changed — eyes burning red, flame-like markings crawling from his heart to his temples. The child’s uniform he still wore split at the seams from muscle and growth, hanging in tatters.
“You—who are you!?” Wan Changshan gasped.
Luo Teng arrived at that moment, sword drawn.
“The Black Armored one!” he shouted. “You—!”
But Jin’an ignored him. His grip tightened on Wan Changshan’s collar, voice low and trembling with fury.
“Where is Li Shuang?”
Wan Changshan, terrified, turned to Luo Teng.
“Commander! The General and the Crown Prince disappeared into the underground stone chamber — that same forest!”
The underground chamber.
Jin’an’s mind exploded with half-buried memories — blood, restraints, the agony of his chest being split open, the echo of his own screams, the feeling of crawling through corpses toward the light…
None of that mattered now. He knew that place.
He knew where she was.
He had to go.
Even if she never loved him. Even if she drew her sword to protect someone else.
Even if she would never stay by his side — never look at him again.
He would still go.
He would save her.
That was his instinct, his curse, his destiny — his only unshakable resolve.
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