The lingering smoke of the battlefield had not yet fully dispersed. The wind along the desolate highway carried a pungent mix of gunpowder and old blood.
Crimson Nine (Chu Zhaoning) stood by the horse, narrowing her eyes as she watched the beast. It was snorting and panting heavily after the high-speed run with a heavy load. White steam billowed from its nostrils under the moonlight, turning into fleeting mists. Although the ambush had been a success, her brow remained furrowed as she looked at the horse's exhausted state.
"Captain, this horse can't carry the three of us," Blue Five said. She was expertly weaving through the corpses of the assassins, her fingers flicking out to collect scattered silver coins and two high-quality daggers that gleamed with an eerie blue light. She glanced teasingly at the horse and shrugged. "If we all climb on, this horse will go on strike by tomorrow."
Yellow Seven rubbed her injured wrist. Her old ankle injury hadn't healed, making her step slightly unsteady, almost limping. Having just escaped the prison carriage, her face was pale, yet she maintained her elegant, sharp tongue: "If you hide fewer trophies in your pockets, maybe the horse would find its job easier."
Crimson Nine scanned the area. Though the wooden bars of the prison carriage were destroyed, the axle and the trailer frame at the bottom were still intact.
"Blue Five, enough talk. Move. Tear the flatbed frame off the back of that carriage and hitch it to the saddle," Crimson Nine commanded, her voice regaining its decisiveness.
"Roger that!" Blue Five smirked, pulling out a freshly looted blade. With a few quick strokes, she cut away the useless wooden debris, leaving only the flat base. Using the reins and ropes left by the assassins, she tied several sturdy "special ops structural knots," securing the makeshift wooden sled firmly behind the horse.
Thus, a strange sight appeared on the desolate road:
Crimson Nine rode alone in the lead, keeping the horse at a slow, alert pace, ready to charge or fight at any second. Behind her, sitting side-by-side on the makeshift sled, were Blue Five and Yellow Seven.
Yellow Seven leaned against the edge of the frame, letting the night wind toss her hair. She watched the corpses fade into the distance with a profound gaze. Blue Five, meanwhile, was excitedly fiddling with a captured repeating crossbow, muttering to herself, "It's not as comfortable as a sofa, but at least we don't have to walk. Just deal with it, Seven."
"Don't fall asleep. Watch our surroundings," Crimson Nine reminded them without looking back, though her voice held a hint of relief. "Second Brother and Xiao Zhan are waiting."
"Got it, Captain!" Blue Five replied, then leaned toward Yellow Seven, lowering her voice. "Seriously, how did you mess up so bad in Southern Tang? To think you'd trigger this many assassins?"
Yellow Seven looked up at the bright moon, her lips curving into a complex arc. "That story... is probably more complicated than the internal structure of your compound bow."
Meanwhile, in the shadows of a forest several miles away, three men and a child were crammed into a small carriage to escape the freezing wind.
The air inside was thick with the scent of blood and cheap golden-wound salve. Xiao Zhan leaned in the corner, the red rash on his face looking mottled and terrifying under the dim light. His eyes were closed, but his right hand never left his sword hilt. Qi Hao huddled to the side, his small hands gripping the bracer, listening anxiously to the heavy, drum-like breathing of the adults.
Lin Jin, the once-sturdy man of iron, was now as pale as paper, slumped weakly against the thick cushions. His chest was soaked in blood, the dried stains appearing a shocking dark purple. Every breath he took sounded like the straining of a broken bellows.
"Prince Zhan... Young General..." Lin Jin struggled to open his eyes, his voice a whisper that was almost inaudible. "There is something... that has weighed on my heart for a year. If I don't speak today... I fear I won't have another chance."
He suddenly reached out, using the last of his strength to grasp Chu Fengning's (Lin Feng's) hand. His palm was covered in a cold sweat, so frigid it made Chu Fengning's heart shudder.
"The battle at the Eastern Border... the Old General sent you and the Eldest Young Master ahead." Lin Jin coughed violently, a trace of blood leaking from the corner of his mouth. "Before I was knocked unconscious... I heard the commanders of the Eastern Border Army give an order... they said to 'capture' the Eldest and Second Young Masters alive. The moment they secured the targets, they were to retreat immediately..."
The atmosphere in the carriage plunged to freezing point.
"Later, when I woke up, the ground was covered in the bodies of our brothers." A flash of extreme agony crossed Lin Jin's eyes. "I searched through the piles of corpses for survivors, and that's when I found you, barely clinging to life. Perhaps because they had already taken the Eldest Master and thought you were dead, they were in a rush to report to their mastermind and didn't clear the field. That is how I was able to carry you... and escape death."
These words were like a thunderbolt, leaving Chu Fengning's mind a blank. His eldest brother, Chu Yunning, was likely still alive, held captive at the Eastern Border!
"Brother Jin..." Chu Fengning's voice trembled with a mix of fury and confusion. "Why didn't you say this before? This past year... why didn't you speak a single word?"
"If I had... what would it have changed?" Lin Jin gave a desolate smile. "Back then, your injuries hadn't healed, your meridians were damaged... if I had told you the Eldest Master was captured, what would you have done? You would have dragged that broken body to the Eastern Border. That wouldn't be a rescue; it would be suicide."
Lin Jin gripped Chu Fengning's sleeve with a final, desperate resolve. "I did it... to save the Second Master's life. The Chu family... cannot lose its roots."
Xiao Zhan remained silent, but his interlocked fingers were trembling slightly.
"Capture the Eldest Master alive, then retreat immediately..." Xiao Zhan repeated the words in a low voice, a cold light flashing in his eyes. "That wasn't a raid. It was a 'precision hunt' targeting the Chu family heirs. How did the Eastern Border Army know the exact position of the Eldest Master's unit? Second Brother... there is a ghost in the Imperial Court."
The oil lamp flickered violently, illuminating Lin Jin's face—pale as paper, yet wearing a smile of liberation.
"Second Master... I can finally... go see the Old General..." Lin Jin's fingers slowly lost their strength, sliding off the rough fabric of the sleeve and dropping silently onto the cold floor.
His eyes were still fixed toward the Northeast—toward the Great Qi, toward the sands where they had once fought so bloodily.
"Brother Jin? Lin Jin!"
Chu Fengning lunged forward, frantically pressing his hand against the wound on Lin Jin's chest, trying to hold onto the fading warmth. But all he felt was the creeping cold.
Xiao Zhan slowly closed his eyes, his right hand clenching into a fist. He knew that Lin Jin hadn't just been recovering this past year; he had been burning his soul to protect Chu Fengning. Now that the secret was out, the cord that had kept Lin Jin taut had finally snapped.
Qi Hao was so terrified by the sudden presence of death that he shrank further into the corner, tears falling silently onto the bracer.
"Everybody! We're back!"
From outside the carriage came Blue Five's excited shout, followed by the snorting of the horse and the screech of the sled stopping. Crimson Nine jumped down, helping the wounded Yellow Seven toward the carriage. Just as she went to lift the curtain to share the joy of the rescue, she froze.
The stench of death was so thick it couldn't be ignored. The battle-hardened squad sensed something was terribly wrong.
Crimson Nine pulled back the curtain, allowing the moonlight to flood the narrow carriage. She saw her brother, Chu Fengning, kneeling in a pool of blood, his spine bent in a curve of agony. She saw Lin Jin's peaceful but cold body. She saw Xiao Zhan's eyes, filled with both murderous intent and pity.
"Second Brother... what happened?" Crimson Nine's voice was cold and trembling.
"He's gone," Chu Fengning said without looking back, his voice like gravel. "But he left news of our brother. Zhaoning... our Eldest Brother might still be alive. He is in the Eastern Border."
Standing behind Crimson Nine, Yellow Seven watched the tragic scene, her joy of reunion vanishing instantly.
The moonlight was cold as frost. They found a clearing in the backyard of a desolate ancient temple. Using their daggers and hands, they dug a grave and laid the loyal soul who had protected the last of the Chu bloodline to rest. There were no offerings, only a branch of winter plum that Crimson Nine snapped and laid across Lin Jin's cold palm.
Chu Fengning stared at the small mound of earth, the sorrow in his eyes turning into hardened ice: "I will go to the Eastern Border personally. Whether our brother is alive or dead, I will bring him home."
As the moonlight fell upon the ruins of the temple, the young warriors stood around the grave. They knew that from this moment on, their enemy was no longer just the iron cavalry at the border, but the bottomless, dark shadow coming from within their own home.