[POV: Sun Jian]
The world as I knew it was divided between sects, royalty, and imperial authority. That was how things had always been. There were rules for everything, and everyone had their place beneath the heavens.
So, when civil war erupted across the Great Feng, I honestly had no idea who I was supposed to point my sword at.
I was the youngest general ever recorded in the history of the country, supposedly awarded that distinction because of my valor and talent. At the same time, I was probably the most foolish general ever recorded in history. While the other generals chose sides and the ministers maneuvered their pieces across the board, I remained neutral throughout the entire civil war.
I chose to serve the throne.
Looking back, I suppose that made me an idiot.
The ministers had been scheming for power all along for a very long time. They had no intention of allowing the royal family to rule independently. Their plan was to support whichever sons of the King of Feng were the most foolish and obedient, place one of them on the throne, and rule the country through their puppet.
I had refused to participate in any of it. Now, I was paying the price. I knelt before the grave of the late king, tears streaming down my face as blood soaked through my clothes.
"I'm sorry, Your Majesty. I'm so sorry."
My voice cracked.
"You saved me when I was nothing but a starving slave. You pulled me out of that camp when I had already been marked for a slow and agonizing death. You gave me a name, a sword, and a place in this country. I swore that I would serve you for the rest of my life."
I pressed my forehead against the cold stone.
"And I couldn't even protect your kingdom."
The words tasted bitter.
The late king had been a great man. He had possessed a vision for the future that was almost laughably ambitious. He wanted to build a world where children like me would never need to be sold by their own parents simply because their families were too poor to survive a famine. He had wanted a country where starving children could grow up to become something more than slaves. I had loved him like a father, but he had also been the father of an entire nation. When he died, the entire country mourned.
While we grieved, the ministers sharpened their knives.
They had waited patiently for the right moment to carve up the kingdom and reap the benefits from the chaos. They treated the late king's death as an opportunity rather than a tragedy, and they were perfectly willing to sacrifice whoever stood between them and power.
I hated them with every bone in my body.
Unfortunately, hatred wasn't going to stop me from bleeding to death.
I finally forced myself upright and sloppily tried to bandage my wound. My hands trembled so badly that I could barely keep hold of the cloth. I had lost far too much blood, and even something as simple as tying a knot had become an exhausting task.
"Let me help."
A gentle voice came from behind me.
Lady Yu Lin, the thirty-seventh concubine of the late king, approached and carefully helped me onto my feet. Despite everything that had happened, she remained remarkably composed. She had always been a virtuous woman, and even now, with the entire kingdom collapsing around us, she seemed more concerned about everyone else than herself.
She placed her babe into my arms. "Hold her while I tend to your wound. That looks deep."
I stared down at the little girl sleeping peacefully against my chest. "She's surprisingly calm."
Yu Lin gave me an amused look before kneeling beside me and beginning to replace my makeshift bandages.
I glanced toward the entrance of the tomb. "I suppose I should compliment the Heavenly Net of those soldiers. Their encirclement was so sloppy that I managed to escape while bleeding from the stomach." I laughed dryly. "I'll have to make sure they train harder after this mess. If this is the standard of the royal army, then we've got bigger problems than the civil war."
To my surprise, Yu Lin smiled. "I admire your optimism."
"Optimism?" I winced as she tightened the bandage. "I'd call it professional criticism."
"Of course."
Another pull made me grit my teeth. Damn, that hurt. The old general was really giving me a run for my money, huh? That old bastard had driven his sword straight into my stomach, yet even he had been too softhearted to finish me off.
Hah.
I'd make him regret that.
"Don't strain yourself so much," Yu Lin said quietly. "You're not merely losing blood, General Sun. You're damaging your life force. If you continue pushing yourself beyond your limits, you may damage your potential as well."
"I'll be fine."
"You're bleeding internally."
"I'll be fine."
"Your face is pale."
"I'll be fine."
"You're barely standing."
"I'll be fine after a good licking." There was a brief silence. I immediately realized how that sounded. "...I meant from a dog."
Yu Lin stared at me.
I coughed awkwardly. "I apologize for my uncouth behavior, My Lady."
To my surprise, she laughed softly. "I forgive you. At this point, I might even permit such vulgarity. I would much rather be a peasant right now."
That made me smile. Unfortunately, the smile faded as I looked toward the grave behind her. There was nothing for us here. "Lady Yu Lin, we need to leave. There is nothing left for us in Feng's royal tomb. If we stay here any longer, they'll eventually find us. Once they do, neither you nor the child will survive."
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I glanced at the sleeping babe in my arms.
"We need to make haste."
The Country of Feng was also known as the Land of Wind. It was a fearsome nation plagued by frequent tornadoes, yet its people were renowned for producing daring sailors who could navigate waters that would make ordinary men turn back.
If we played to the ego of our pursuers, they wouldn't be able to catch us easily.
Even if this was a war, it was still a civil war.
That distinction mattered.
It was why we could resort to seemingly reckless strategies, such as hiding inside a royal tomb just to catch our breath. The ministers were strict about tradition and respected the old customs far too much. They cited tradition whenever it suited them, wielding ancient laws and rituals like weapons during every argument.
I could already imagine what would happen after they finished purging the remaining members of the Feng royal lineage. Those damn ministers would probably turn on each other and tear one another's throats out.
I'd love to watch that happen.
"Lady Yu Lin. We should split up. I'll draw their attention away from you. Take the child and head somewhere safe. I'll buy you time."
I tried to push the babe back into her arms, but she refused to take her.
I frowned. "My Lady?"
She stepped away from me.
I suddenly had a very bad feeling about this.
"We're in the right place," Yu Lin said.
"What?"
She walked around the gravestone behind her, carefully inspecting the stonework. Her fingers brushed along its surface several times before she stopped. When she pressed against a hidden mechanism, a click resounded. A bronze plaque popped loose from the gravestone.
I stared at the engraved character.
'Jin.'
Yu Lin held the plaque in her hand. "Head northwest from here. Go through the rainforest."
"The rainforest?"
"When His Majesty and I toured the western territories, we encountered an eccentric dragon. My husband played a bet with him."
I raised an eyebrow. "Your husband gambled with a dragon?"
"He won."
"Of course he did."
"Since His Majesty won, the dragon gave him this plaque as proof that he owed him a favor."
Yu Lin placed the bronze plaque into my hand. I immediately felt something faint coming from the plaque. It was very faint, but unmistakable. Also, very distinct that I could feel something special from it at the mere touch of the plaque.
"Follow the trace of qi within this plate," she continued. "The dragon promised that whoever carried it would be protected."
"You're giving me the favor." I exhaled, reluctant to continue hearing more of this.
She smiled, glancing at the babe in my arm. "No. I'm giving the favor to my husband's most loyal general. I trust that you will protect the little one."
I clenched my fingers around the bronze plaque and my heart sank. I suddenly understood why she had refused to take her daughter back. "Lady Yu Lin," I called to her softly. "Please don't do this."
She merely smiled, her voice remaining gentle. "Go, General Sun."
“No,” I snapped at her. “There’s no need for you to do something so reckless.”
A dragon protecting us? It could only be the work of providence.
The heavens had not completely abandoned the Land of Wind. With a dragon's protection, Lady Yu Lin and the babe would be safe. Even practitioners of the same tier would find it difficult to contend with a dragon, which possessed significant advantages over ordinary cultivators.
According to the stories, even immortals would find it difficult to catch a dragon once it became serious. "This is incredible," I admitted, staring at the bronze plaque in my hand. "Let's go. I know a few people who still owe me favors—"
"I can't come with you," insisted Lady Yu Lin.
"W-What?"
A commotion suddenly erupted somewhere beyond the tomb. I froze. The voices were distant, but I could clearly feel the dangerous fluctuations of spiritual pressure accompanying them. Whoever was approaching wasn't someone I could defeat in my current condition.
Yu Lin remained strangely calm.
"The old general read us completely," she said, looking toward the entrance. "He moved independently and established a tactical enclosure around us. This is a losing battle. Someone needs to provide a distraction." Her eyes settled on me. "A warrior like you would normally be well suited for that task, but not with your injuries. Besides, your legs would be far more useful running away."
"What are you talking about?"
I stared at her in confusion.
She gave me a cryptic smile. "Listen well, young general. Not everything is as it appears. Even within the courts of self-proclaimed royals, there are hidden battles and secrets that you have no idea have been unfolding for a very long time."
Her spiritual pressure suddenly erupted. My entire body stiffened. ”What...? What is the meaning of this?” The pressure continued rising. I had always thought Lady Yu Lin was merely a mortal woman who had consumed an absurd number of longevity pills to delay her inevitable mortality. Perhaps she had cultivated some basic techniques to preserve her youth, but I had never sensed anything particularly threatening from her.
I had been completely mistaken. Her spiritual pressure climbed until it reached the same level as the old general's. In other words, a Seventh Tier practitioner. A hidden expert was standing right before me and I had no idea.
I was a Sixth Tier practitioner, an Essence Gathering cultivator. At my tier, I had already developed an incredible understanding of the essence that composed the world. I knew better than most how terrifying the difference between tiers could be.
But this...? Wasn't this too much? I didn't think even the old general could conceal his cultivation to this extent. Yet here stood a Seventh Tier practitioner who had spent years pretending to be a weak mortal woman. No. She wasn't even human to begin with.
The woman's appearance began to change. Her black hair transformed into a brilliant golden color, resembling ripe wheat beneath the sunlight. Her ears elongated into long, pointed shapes, and an indescribable presence surrounded her.
She looked nothing like the gentle Lady Yu Lin I had known.
"Her name's Feng Cai," said Lady Yu Lin. “Take care of her.”
I stared at the babe in my arms. "Feng Cai?"
Before I could ask what she meant, she raised one hand and the heavens answered. A terrifying tornado erupted around her. The wind roared with such ferocity that the entire sky seemed to darken. Clouds gathered in an instant, blackening the heavens as lightning flashed within them. Thunder followed moments later, shaking the royal tomb to its foundations. My instincts screamed. I immediately grabbed my sword and shifted into a defensive stance while shielding the babe with my body. Yet the tornado never touched us. It passed around me as though an invisible wall separated us from the storm. Even so, the sheer ferocity of the wind made me flinch.
"Go," Feng Cai said. "I can't keep this up for long."
I wanted to say something or anything. I wanted to ask who she really was. I wanted to know why she had hidden her cultivation for so long. I wanted to understand what kind of secret had been buried beneath the royal court alongside the late king.
But there was no time.
I wished I could have done more. Instead, all I could do was run. I fled with everything I had.
I released my spiritual pressure completely, allowing my qi to surge through my battered body. The pain nearly brought me to my knees, but I forced myself forward. I poured everything I had into my legs, using my spiritual energy to propel myself through the forest.
Behind me, the tornado raged.
Its ferocious qi completely blanketed my own movements, making it nearly impossible for anyone pursuing me to distinguish my spiritual fluctuations from the storm. For once, my injuries were almost useful. When I sensed them, my heart shuddered.
Two more presences had appeared. They were cultivators at the same tier as the old general. Now, three Seventh Tier practitioners were about to face off against a lone Yu Lin.
My grip tightened around the infant in my arms. I wanted to believe Lady Yu Lin would be fine, but a part of me knew I was only lying to myself. So I screamed. I screamed my anger into the heavens as I poured every last bit of strength into my legs. The infant stirred in my arms, and I immediately lowered my voice, shielding her from the wind with my body.
"Don't worry. I won't let anything happen to you."
I gritted my teeth, continued running, and noticed soldiers ahead of me.
Several of them had been stationed along the escape route. They looked toward the raging tornado with expressions of awe and terror.
When they saw me, their faces changed. They had witnessed me fleeing from the tomb. I couldn't leave a single witness behind. My expression hardened. I shifted the infant securely into one arm and drew my sword in a single motion.
"I'm sorry."
I lunged forward. The first soldier didn't even have time to react as my sword swept across his neck. His head separated from his body. I didn't stop. The second soldier raised his weapon, but my sword had already reached him. Another slash and another body fell. I moved through them like a storm, killing every soldier who had seen me escape. There was no room for hesitation. If even one of them reported the direction I had taken, Lady Yu Lin's sacrifice would have been meaningless.
My heart ached with every strike, but I kept running.
I held the infant tightly against my chest and glanced back toward the distant storm. I couldn't see Lady Yu Lin anymore. Only the blackened heavens remained. I clenched my teeth.
"Lady Feng." My voice trembled. I didn't know whether the little one in my arms could hear me, but I swore it anyway. "On my heart, I swear that I will protect you with everything I have. I will live. I will survive. And for the rest of my life, I will dedicate myself to you as your loyal warrior."