The torchlight flickered violently as the masked figure stood at the edge of the ridge, the wind tearing at the heavy furs wrapped around its shoulders. The soldiers tightened their formation, spears angled forward, but not one dared make the first move. Something about the intruder radiated confidence—a calm that only killers wore comfortably.
Li Wei forced himself to breathe slowly. The figure wasn't a wild tribesman. Its stance was disciplined. Measured. Controlled. And that single sentence had been aimed at him like an arrow:
"Tell the woman in the shadows that I found her… and I found you."
Mei Lin.
Whoever this was, they knew her.
And they feared her… or hated her.
The captain barked, "Identify yourself!"
No response.
The figure tilted its head slightly, as if studying the soldiers like children holding sticks.
"You are not my prey," it said quietly.
Then the masked hunter stepped back.
One step.
Two.
Three.
The soldiers tensed, expecting a retreat.
Instead, the figure simply—
Vanished.
Not into the forest.
Not down the ridge path.
Not behind a rock.
Vanished as if it had melted into the darkness itself.
The captain swore loudly, "Torches higher! Search the ridge!"
Soldiers scattered, scanning every inch of the cliffside. But Li Wei didn't move. He remained rooted to the spot where the figure had stood seconds before. The shape of the prints bothered him… deeply.
They weren't shaped like boots.
Weren't shaped like paw marks.
They were—
Square-edged impressions.
Perfectly spaced.
Deep.
He stooped down, brushing the soil with trembling fingers.
Square.
Geometric.
Unnatural.
The last time he saw marks like these…
They were on the path where the scouts vanished.
His breath hitched.
"Captain," Li Wei said quietly. "Look at this."
The captain hurried over. "Tracks?"
"Not tracks," Li Wei murmured. "Something was… planted here. Or set here."
He pressed deeper. The soil crumbled differently. Too compact. Too precise.
"An object?" the captain guessed.
"Yes," Li Wei whispered. "Something that mimics footsteps. Something heavy. Something deliberately used to confuse scouts."
The captain scowled. "A raider trick?"
Li Wei shook his head. "No. Raiders don't use geometry."
He stood and scanned the forest again. Whoever that masked figure was—they weren't moving like wild tribesmen. They had training. Purpose. And something far beyond ordinary raiding tactics.
The captain snapped, "Double guard shifts! We fall back at first light!"
Li Wei nearly protested. Pulling back might give the enemy the high ground. But the system pulsed in his mind:
[Retreat Recommended]
[Survival Probability: Higher within fortified structures]
He swallowed the protest.
The squad moved quickly, torches raised, weapons ready. Li Wei walked in the middle, guarded by two soldiers—not to protect him, but to ensure he didn't… wander.
The captain's eyes kept darting to him. "That thing spoke to you," he said quietly as they descended. "Why?"
Li Wei swallowed. "I don't know."
The captain's voice dropped even lower. "You're lying."
Li Wei said nothing. The silence was admission enough.
When they reached the base of the ridge, the soldiers' nerves cracked. One vomited from the stress. Another kept muttering prayers. A third wiped sweat from his brow despite the freezing air.
They mounted the horses quickly and rode hard toward the garrison.
By the time the gates slammed shut behind them, the night felt heavier, suffocating, as if something watched from just outside the torchlight.
Mei Lin was waiting.
She stood near the command tent, arms crossed, eyes fixed on him—not the soldiers, not the captain. Him.
The captain marched toward the command tent, shouting, "Commander Feng! We found something—someone—north of the ridge!"
But Mei Lin intercepted Li Wei before he could follow.
"What happened?" she demanded, her voice low and sharp.
Li Wei stared at her, the wind biting his face.
"He said he found you."
Mei Lin froze.
"He said," Li Wei repeated, "to tell the woman in the shadows… that he found you. And he found me."
Mei Lin's mask cracked for the first time. Not with fear.
With rage.
"That masked dog…" she whispered. Her hands curled into fists. "He dares show himself near the ridge?"
"You know him," Li Wei said.
Mei Lin closed her eyes briefly, gathering herself. When she opened them, her gaze hardened into something deadly.
"He is not just an enemy, Li Wei."
She stepped closer.
"He is a traitor of Qin."
Li Wei's eyes widened. "A Qin soldier?"
"Once," she said. "Before he vanished into the frontier. Before he built his own army from deserters, bandits, and lost tribes."
Her voice trembled—not with fear, but fury.
"He calls himself The Hunter-General. A ghost commander. A butcher. The reason Meng Tian needs eyes everywhere."
Li Wei felt his blood go cold.
"And now," she said grimly, "he's marked you."
"Why?" he asked.
Mei Lin whispered the answer like a blade slipping into the dark:
"Because you're valuable."
Li Wei exhaled shakily. Valuable. That word never sounded so dangerous.
"And because," she added softly, "he knows what I truly am."
Li Wei met her eyes. "What are you, Mei Lin?"
She looked at him for a long moment, then sighed.
"A spy," she whispered.
"For Meng Tian."
"And the Hunter-General used to be my mentor."
Li Wei's heart pounded.
The frontier wasn't just dangerous.
It was full of ghosts—and one of them had come for him.
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Teaser:
Mei Lin reveals the truth of the Hunter-General—just as Commander Feng summons Li Wei for a mission that may decide the garrison's fate.
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