Dusk bled slowly into the frontier sky, staining the horizon in shades of crimson and iron. As the temperature dropped, the garrison gathered in small, silent clusters—soldiers sharpening blades, workers whispering prayers, officers pacing like caged animals. Word had spread: Li Wei's strike team would enter the Hunter-General's tunnel tonight.
Fear tasted thick in the air.
Li Wei tightened the leather straps on his boots, checked the small toolkit strapped beneath his cloak, and adjusted the rope coil across his shoulder. Zhang approached, adjusting his spear with practiced familiarity.
"You ready?" Zhang asked quietly.
Li Wei exhaled. "No. But we go anyway."
Zhang grinned grimly. "Good. Fear keeps us alive."
Yan Xiu approached next, her armor lighter than the others', her steps nearly silent despite the gravel beneath her feet. She gave Li Wei a curt nod.
"Stay close to me once we're inside," she said. "Tunnels twist. Sounds lie. Darkness plays tricks."
Li Wei studied her expression. "You've been inside places like this before?"
Yan Xiu's eyes flickered—pain tightening her jaw for a brief second. "Enough times to know what death looks like when it waits underground."
Before Li Wei could ask more, Yao and Peng joined them, both tense, both gripping their weapons tightly.
Then Mei Lin emerged from the shadows.
She wore no armor, only her scout cloak, but the hardness in her expression made even Yan Xiu pause. Mei Lin stopped in front of Li Wei.
"I can't follow you inside," she whispered, "but I'm waiting at the ridge. If something goes wrong… if you don't come out in two hours…" Her voice cracked. "I'll go in myself."
Yan Xiu stepped forward sharply. "No. If you enter, he'll sense you. He'll know. You'll trigger every trap designed for his successor."
Mei Lin glared. "I don't care."
Li Wei stepped between them gently. "Both of you. Enough."
He met Mei Lin's eyes. "Two hours. No earlier."
Her lips trembled. "Two hours," she whispered.
Feng and General Han arrived, flanked by high-ranking officers.
"Strike team!" Feng barked. "Follow me."
The March to the Ridge
The walk to the ridge was slow, deliberate, each step weighted with dread. Torches flickered against the rocks, forming tall shadows that seemed to twist and move unnaturally. Soldiers lined the path in silence, saluting the team as they passed.
When they reached the top, the familiar cliff face loomed before them—silent, jagged, and hiding its secret door behind a thin veil of stone.
The wind roared across the ridge like a warning.
Feng turned to the team. "Once you cross this threshold, I can't protect you. The tunnels are not mapped. We don't know how far they go, nor what lies inside."
Han added, "If you see the Hunter-General—retreat. Do not fight him. Survive."
Li Wei swallowed hard. "Understood."
Yan Xiu moved to the stone wall, brushing away the thin layer of dust. "Li Wei."
He stepped beside her.
"Push here," she instructed.
Li Wei pressed his palm to the seam.
The stone slid inward with a grinding sigh, as though exhaling after centuries.
A cold draft rushed out.
Darkness stretched beyond—heavy and thick, swallowing torchlight almost instantly.
Zhang muttered, "Feels like a beast opening its mouth."
Yao lit a small oil lamp and handed another to Peng. Yan Xiu drew two curved daggers from her belt. Li Wei slipped his toolkit and bronze shard into accessible pockets.
Mei Lin stood behind him, fists clenched. "Don't go far inside. The first chamber is a trap-check point. The old Hunter-General built it to filter who was worthy to enter."
"Worthy of what?" Li Wei asked.
Mei Lin's gaze faltered. "Of joining him."
Yan Xiu scoffed. "Then let's not join him."
Feng nodded to the entrance. "Go. And return."
Li Wei inhaled sharply.
Then stepped into the tunnel.
The Depths Open
The moment the team crossed the threshold, the air changed—cooler, denser, almost damp. The walls were unnaturally smooth, carved by skilled hands, not wild tools.
The tunnel angled downward slightly, sloping into darkness. Their footsteps echoed softly, bouncing back in delayed, distorted whispers.
Peng shuddered. "It sounds like someone else is walking behind us."
Yan Xiu whispered, "Echoes lie. Ignore them."
Li Wei scanned the walls, noting faint carvings—symbols etched in deliberate patterns.
"What are these?" he murmured.
Yan Xiu answered, "Warnings. Boundary markings. He used them during training exercises."
Li Wei frowned. "Training?"
"He made assassins here," she said. "And tested them."
Zhang muttered, "We shouldn't be here."
They moved deeper.
Ahead, the tunnel widened into a large chamber.
Li Wei raised his lamp.
A circular room opened around them, the walls lined with wooden beams and broken crates.
Peng whispered, "This must be the entry hall."
Yan Xiu crouched immediately, scanning the floor. "Stop. Don't move."
Everyone froze.
Yao's eyes narrowed. "Traps?"
Yan Xiu nodded. "Pressure plates."
Li Wei stepped closer. "Let me see."
Yan Xiu's gaze hardened. "Don't touch anything."
But Li Wei studied the floor carefully.
The plates were subtle—stone squares slightly misaligned with the others. Trigger mechanisms hidden beneath.
But their pattern wasn't random.
A path emerged through the grid—narrow, winding, but deliberate.
Li Wei whispered, "Someone can pass… if they know the sequence."
Yan Xiu looked impressed. "You see it?"
Li Wei nodded. "A path. A safe one."
Zhang exhaled shakily. "Good. Lead."
Li Wei stepped forward—
—then froze.
Something glimmered on the opposite wall.
A symbol.
Carved deeper than the others.
The same symbol etched into the bronze shard Mei Lin had given him.
Yan Xiu frowned. "What is it?"
Li Wei whispered, "A message."
The symbol represented a phrase he now recognized:
"I am watching."
The oil lamps flickered.
The wind stopped.
And far ahead, deeper in the tunnel, something shifted—
A soft scrape.
A footstep?
A whisper?
Yao whispered, "Someone else is in here."
Yan Xiu's eyes narrowed. "No. Not someone."
She lifted her daggers.
"Several."
Li Wei's pulse hammered.
The Hunter-General knew they were here.
He had been waiting.
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Teaser:
The strike team follows Li Wei's safe route—only to find themselves locked in the Hunter-General's first trial chamber, where the shadows themselves seem to move.
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