The command tent blazed with light as Li Wei and Mei Lin rushed toward it. Soldiers clustered outside in tense, whispering knots. Oil lamps flickered violently in the wind, casting twisted shadows across pale faces.
Something was wrong.
Very wrong.
Two guards pushed through the crowd, dragging a man between them—a rider slumped forward, cloak drenched in dark, wet streaks. Blood had soaked through the fabric almost completely.
"Get him inside!" Commander Feng's voice barked from within the tent.
The guards obeyed, half-carrying, half-dragging the wounded messenger. Mei Lin's breath quickened as she recognized the man's crest.
"A courier from the northern relay," she whispered. "He shouldn't even be here tonight…"
Li Wei swallowed hard. "Then something forced him."
Inside the tent, the air reeked of iron and smoke. The courier collapsed to his knees, coughing violently, spattering blood across the dirt. His face was ashen, eyes wide with shock and terror.
Feng knelt beside him. "Speak."
The courier's fingers trembled as he withdrew a crushed piece of leather—stained, torn, nearly shredded. He forced it into Feng's hand with a gasp.
"He… he found us…" the courier choked. "We didn't… we couldn't… Commander—he came himself…"
Feng's jaw tightened. "Who?"
The courier's voice dropped to a hoarse whisper.
"The Hunter-General."
A chill ripped through the entire tent.
"He ambushed the relay post," the courier wheezed. "Not with an army. Alone."
Alone.
Even the hardened officers flinched.
Feng's grip tightened on the leather scrap. "What of the men stationed there?"
The courier's lips trembled. "Dead. All dead. Not a sound. Not a warning. Not a struggle."
Li Wei's pulse hammered. "No survivors?"
The courier shook his head weakly. "Only me… because he let me go."
Feng stilled.
"He… let you go?" Mei Lin repeated slowly, her voice cold as steel.
The courier nodded. Tears mixed with blood on his chin. "He told me… to deliver a message."
Feng leaned in. "What message?"
The courier lifted his trembling gaze and stared directly at Li Wei.
"Tell the stone-builder… that I grow impatient."
The tent erupted into chaos.
General Han swore violently. Officers shouted. A few soldiers stepped instinctively in front of Li Wei, their bodies stiff with fear.
Mei Lin grabbed Li Wei's hand without realizing it.
"He's targeting you openly now."
Feng rose slowly, eyes blazing—not with panic, but fury.
"That monster dares attack my relay—my men—just to send a message?"
The courier coughed again, spitting a trail of red onto Feng's boots.
"He left… something else…" His voice cracked. "Said it was 'a reminder.'"
He opened his palm.
A single object rested in it.
A broken iron shackle—the same design used on Wall slaves.
Li Wei froze.
Mei Lin inhaled sharply. "It's symbolic. He knows your origin."
General Han looked between them, horrified. "He's playing with him. Taunting him."
Li Wei's mind raced. What is he doing? What does he want?
The courier swayed, collapsing completely. A healer rushed forward, pressing cloth to the wound, but Mei Lin shook her head slowly.
"It's too deep. He won't last."
The courier grabbed Li Wei's sleeve weakly. "Don't… open… the door…"
His body went limp.
Dead.
Silence filled the tent—thick, suffocating.
The wind outside howled as if mourning the fallen man.
Commander Feng stood tall, fury trembling under his skin. He turned to his officers.
"Double the night watch. Warn the outer patrols. No man travels alone." He paused, voice hardening. "The Hunter-General has declared war on us."
Han stepped forward. "Commander… if he wanted to kill Li Wei, he would have. Why does he toy with him?"
Feng's gaze fell on Li Wei.
"Because he wants something else. Something bigger."
Mei Lin's voice was barely a whisper. "He wants Li Wei at the door."
Li Wei clenched his jaw. "I'm not going."
Feng exhaled sharply, rubbing the bridge of his nose. "You don't have a choice. If he continues pressuring the garrison—killing scouts, attacking relays—my hand will be forced."
Mei Lin stepped between Feng and Li Wei. "You can't send him there alone! That tunnel was not built for soldiers. It was built for traps, surveillance, and—"
"I know," Feng said quietly.
Mei Lin froze. "Then why—"
"Because," Feng said grimly, "the Hunter-General is escalating faster than I can contain him. If we don't learn what he's building under the ridge, he will bleed this garrison dry from the shadows."
The weight of his words pressed on everyone.
Feng turned to Li Wei.
"You won't go alone. You'll take a strike team. Silent, fast, prepared for anything."
Li Wei's stomach twisted. "Commander—"
"You discovered the entrance," Feng said. "You recognize the patterns. You're the only one who can identify what lies inside."
Mei Lin glared at Feng. "You're pushing him into the Hunter-General's trap."
"There is no other option," Feng snapped. "He's chosen Li Wei. The best we can do is control how that encounter happens."
Silence.
Then Feng added, voice like iron:
"Tomorrow night, Li Wei, you lead a team inside the stone door."
The air seemed to vanish.
Mei Lin went pale.
Li Wei felt the bronze shard pulse violently against his chest.
Tomorrow night.
He was going inside the tunnel.
The system chimed coldly:
[Major Mission Unlocked]
[Enter the Hunter-General's Lair]
[Warning: Mortality Risk Extremely High]
Li Wei closed his eyes.
He had feared this would come.
But not this soon.
Not this brutally.
When he opened his eyes, Mei Lin was staring at him—fear, anger, and something deeper twisting her expression.
"Li Wei," she whispered, "if you step into that tunnel… you may not come back."
He swallowed hard.
"Then I'll just have to return anyway."
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Teaser:
The strike team is formed—and a shocking volunteer joins Li Wei for the descent into the Hunter-General's lair.
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