The ride to the northern ridge was silent—too silent. Even the soldiers who normally barked jokes or muttered curses under their breath kept their eyes fixed ahead, hands gripping their weapons tightly. The sky dimmed to a bruised purple as dusk thickened, and the air grew colder with every hoofbeat.
Li Wei clung to the soldier in front of him, his mind sharpening with each passing moment. The system pulsed faintly, sensing the danger.
[Entering Area: Northern Ridge]
[Warning: Unmapped Threat Detected]
Ahead, torchlight flickered against jagged stone, revealing the silhouette of the watchtower perched at the ridge's edge—a lonely structure clinging to a cliff, one strong gust from collapsing into the abyss.
The small squad halted at its base. The soldier who carried him dismounted and helped Li Wei down.
"This is your post," he said gruffly. "Stay close. Stay alert."
Li Wei nodded.
Together, the group climbed the narrow path leading to the watchtower. The higher they ascended, the more the wind howled like a living thing, carrying the scent of iron and frost.
A soldier swore under his breath. "It's colder than death's door up here."
"Quiet," the captain warned. "Listen."
They paused.
The ridge moaned with the wind…but beneath it, Li Wei sensed something else.
A faint hum. A distant thud. Something irregular. Something that did not belong to the natural world.
At the top, the wooden platform creaked under their weight. The captain signaled for torches to be lit. Their flames barely held against the wind, flickering wildly, casting long shadows across the cliff face.
Li Wei approached the tower's edge. Far below lay trees—silent and unmoving like an ocean of black spears. Somewhere down there… the scouts had vanished.
He examined the ground first.
Not footprints—no human tracks at all.
The soil was disturbed, but not by boots.
Claw marks?
No… too shallow.
Scrapes?
No… too angular.
He crouched, fingertips brushing the earth. It felt… carved.
Like something had been dragged.
A soldier approached. "Find anything?"
"Not yet," Li Wei murmured. "But something happened here."
Something intentional.
He studied the marks again—and his stomach twisted.
They were not dragging marks.
They were patterns.
Repeated, geometric, spaced evenly.
Almost like… a trail left by wheels.
But no cart could reach this height.
No animal-drawn wagon could navigate this ridge.
Unless—
Something moved through the forest below, snapping branches.
Li Wei froze.
A shadow.
Too fast.
Too large.
Too smooth.
Whatever it was didn't move like a beast.
And it didn't move like a man.
The soldiers tightened their formation immediately.
The captain's voice dropped. "Positions! Signal fire ready!"
The youngest soldier scrambled to the beacon at the tower's center—a small stone brazier filled with oil and tinder.
But the wind extinguished the torch he carried.
Li Wei stepped forward. "Shield the flame!"
Four soldiers closed ranks, blocking the wind long enough for the fire to catch. Flames roared to life, sending a bright orange pillar into the night sky.
The signal fire blazed—a warning to the entire northern defense line.
Moments later, movement below stopped.
Not slowed.
Not retreated.
Stopped.
As if… listening.
The wind died.
The torches sputtered.
Even the tower seemed to hold its breath.
Then—
A voice.
Soft.
Mocking.
Human.
From the shadows below:
"Lighting a beacon won't save you."
Li Wei's heart slammed against his ribs.
The soldiers drew weapons instantly, eyes wide. None dared speak, but their fear hung thick in the air.
The voice continued, drifting upward like smoke.
"Your scouts screamed louder than you will."
The captain roared down the ridge, "Show yourself!"
Silence.
Then—
Footsteps.
Slow. Heavy. Coming closer.
Li Wei strained to see—but the trees below remained pitch black.
Mei Lin's warning echoed in his mind:
"Talent attracts attention. And attention this early is dangerous."
Suddenly—
A figure stepped into the faint torchlight at the ridge's edge.
Covered in furs, mask carved like an animal skull, movements controlled and precise. Not a wild raider.
No.
Something far worse.
A war leader.
A hunter of men.
The masked figure raised its head—and Li Wei felt the unmistakable weight of a gaze meant for him.
"You are not one of them," the voice said.
"You're the one I came for."
Li Wei's blood turned to ice.
The soldiers did not hesitate—they lunged forward with spears, forming a defensive arc.
But the masked figure didn't move.
Didn't flinch.
Didn't even raise a weapon.
Instead, it said one chilling sentence:
"Tell the woman in the shadows that I found her… and I found you."
The soldiers tensed.
But Li Wei?
He froze completely.
Because there was only one woman the stranger could be referring to.
Mei Lin.
---
Teaser:
The masked stranger withdraws—but leaves behind a trail that will drag Li Wei deeper into a deadly confrontation with the frontier's true enemy.
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