[Dawn, The Day After the Battle]
Village Square and Storehouse
Dawn in Lujing Village no longer smelled of dew and pine. It smelled like a slaughterhouse. The metallic tang of blood, mixed with the acrid stench of bodies being hastily burned in the ditch, hung in the air like a thick blanket.
The farmers, who hadn't slept, moved like the living dead, cleaning up the aftermath of the battle. Their faces were pale, their eyes empty. Victory tasted like ash in their mouths.
In the center of the village square, Long Wei stood. He had not slept. He had been cleaning and maintaining his M4 with pig fat—not ideal, but it was all he had. The weapon now gleamed lethally in the gray morning light.
He watched the "processing" of the spoils of war. Twenty crude steel swords, eleven bows, five terrified horses.
Every time Long Wei walked near, the men would bow their heads and move aside. They didn't dare meet his eyes, as if his gaze alone could freeze their blood.
Chen Fu, now acting as his unofficial lieutenant, approached. He was the only one who dared to look his Commander in the face.
"Commander," he said, his voice hoarse. "Cleanup is done. And..." he pointed to the sealed grain storehouse. "The rat is awake. He's screaming."
"Good," Long Wei said. "Stay outside. Don't let anyone in."
Long Wei walked toward the storehouse. He passed the medicine hut, where he could hear the soft, muffled sobs of Chen Yue. He paused for just a second, hesitating. The door to the hut was closed to him.
He sighed—an almost human display of weakness—then continued on to the storehouse.
[Inside the Grain Storehouse]
The storehouse was dark and smelled of grain dust.
The bandit lieutenant—Hou—was tied to the central support post. His wounded leg was crudely bandaged.
As Long Wei entered, his silhouette blocked the light from the door. Hou began to scream.
"DEMON! YOU'RE A DEMON! STAY AWAY FROM ME! YOU... YOUR THUNDER—"
Long Wei said nothing. He walked slowly and placed a waterskin and a piece of dry cornbread on the floor, just out of Hou's reach.
Hou stopped screaming, his wild eyes fixed on the water. His lips were cracked.
"You're... not... going to kill me?" Hou whispered.
"That... depends... on... your answers," Long Wei said quietly, his voice echoing in the silent room. He sat on a grain sack opposite him.
"Ma Gou," Long Wei began. "He... was a fool. But... he... was organized. He... was not... the real... boss."
Hou's eyes widened. This man, besides being a demon, was smart.
"I... I'll tell you... nothing!" Hou hissed.
Long Wei nodded, as if he expected that. He took out his black combat knife. He didn't threaten. He simply began to clean the dirt from under his fingernails with the razor-sharp tip.
"Ma Gou... and... 35... men... are dead," Long Wei said. "You... are the... only one... alive. You... know... what... that means?"
Hou trembled.
"It... means... your boss... will think... you... betrayed them. That you... stole... the spoils of war. That you... killed Ma Gou... to take... over."
The cold logic hit Hou harder than a fist.
"No! It wasn't me! It was you!" he shrieked.
"Me?" Long Wei pointed to himself. "I... don't... exist. I'm... a 'ghost.' But... you... exist. And... you... are alive. When... they... find you... they... will... skin you... slowly."
"Noooo..." Hou began to sob.
"Unless..." Long Wei stopped cleaning his nails. "You... give me... a reason... to protect you. You... work... for me... now."
Hou looked at the man before him. He had no choice.
"What... what do you want to know?" he whispered, defeated.
"The boss. The real one," Long Wei commanded.
"The Wolf King," Hou blurted out. "We all call him the Wolf King. His real name... no one knows. He... rules... the entire... Black Dragon Mountain Range. He... has... over... 200... men! All of them... brutal veterans!"
Two hundred. A solid number. Dangerous. But manageable.
"Ma Gou... was... one... of four... Branch Chiefs," Hou explained, now desperate to prove his worth. "Our job was to extort the villages in this valley."
"When... do you... report?"
"Every... three... months! At the... change of seasons. We... are supposed to... bring grain, cloth, and... silver... to the Headquarters... at Wolf's Peak."
Long Wei froze. This was the crucial intel. "When... is the... next... tribute?"
Hou thought for a moment, his face pale. "Ma Gou... just... made a drop... three... weeks ago. The... next... one... is... at the... Full Moon Festival... at the end... of summer."
Long Wei did a quick calculation. End of summer. Moon Festival.
"How... long... from... now?"
"About... two months," Hou said.
Long Wei almost smiled. It was a cold, thin smile that terrified Hou even more.
Two months. 60 days.
Not 3 days. 60.
He had bought them time. The time bomb was set, but the fuse was long.
"What... happens... if Ma Gou... doesn't... show up?"
"The Wolf King... will... send... his 'Inspector,'" Hou trembled. "A cruel man named 'Hawk's Eye.' If... he... finds... this village... slaughtered... his men..." Hou didn't need to finish.
"Good," Long Wei said. He stood up. He kicked the waterskin and the bread into Hou's reach. "Eat. You... will teach... my men... how to use... a bow."
He turned and walked out of the storehouse, leaving a very confused Hou behind.
[Outside the Storehouse]
Long Wei emerged into the now-clean square. The sun was up. The entire village seemed to be waiting for him.
Healer Chen, flanked by the other village elders, stepped forward. Their faces were drawn and determined.
"Commander," Healer Chen said. The title was used as a shield. "We... have discussed. We are grateful. You... saved us."
He bowed deeply. "But... you... must... leave."
"Leave?" Chen Fu's voice came from behind Long Wei. He and the young men who had fought last night stood there, their eyes red with exhaustion, but full of fire. "Grandpa Chen, he just saved us!"
"He saved us today!" an elder retorted. "But his 'thunder'... the sound carried to the mountains! Do you think the Wolf King is deaf? You have marked our village for destruction! As long as he is here, we are in danger!"
"We're... in danger... if he... leaves!" shouted Li Er. "Who will lead us when they return?"
The village was split. The terrified elders versus the young men who had now tasted power for the first time.
Long Wei looked across the square. He saw Chen Yue, standing far away by her hut, holding a laundry basket. She was watching him, her eyes full of fear and... something else. Disappointment?
He walked past the elders, ignoring their debate. He walked straight to Chen Yue.
The crowd went silent, watching.
Chen Yue took an involuntary step back as he approached.
"Long-dage..."
Long Wei stopped. He, the military genius, didn't know what to say. He tried to think of something comforting. Something that would fix this.
"You... are safe... now," he said, his voice stiff.
"Safe?" she whispered, tears welling in her eyes. "I... watched you. On the roof. You... were like... a statue. Cold. You... killed... them... and... you... felt... nothing."
"They... were the enemy," Long Wei said, trying to explain. "I... neutralized... the threat."
"'Neutralized'?" She didn't understand the word, but she understood his clinical tone. "They were... human, Long Wei! And you... you... enjoyed it?"
"Not... enjoy," Long Wei tried to argue, now feeling a little nervous. He was not good at this. "It... was a job. It is done." He tried to smile—a horribly awkward, stiff smile. "See? You... are safe. I... am your hero."
It was the wrong word.
Chen Yue flinched as if slapped. "Hero?" a tear fell. "Heroes... aren't terrifying. You... make... people... afraid. You... make... me... afraid."
She turned and ran back into her father's hut, sobbing.
Long Wei stood there, rooted. He could face 200 bandits. But he had just been defeated by one village girl. The rejection stung more than the bullet wound in his shoulder.
He turned, his face hardening back into its cold, command mask. He walked back to the center of the divided village.
He looked at Healer Chen.
"You... are right. I... am dangerous."
The elders nodded.
"But..." he continued, his voice now carrying clearly across the square. "I... just... spoke... with the prisoner."
He told them everything. The Wolf King. 200 bandits. And the two-month window.
The elders' relieved faces turned to ash.
"Two... months..." Healer Chen whispered, horrified. "Then they will come..."
"Yes," Long Wei said. "They... will... come."
He looked at the crowd. "You... have... three... choices."
"One. Ask... me... to leave. I... will... go. In... two... months, the Wolf King... will... send... 200... men. This... village... will... burn. Everyone... dies."
"Two. You... run. You... abandon... your... homes. You... will... die... of cold... or... starvation... in the mountains... before the... first... snow."
He paused, letting the despair sink in.
"Or..." he said, his voice now full of steel. "There... is... a third... choice."
He looked at Chen Fu. He looked at Li Er. He looked at Healer Chen. And his eyes glanced at the hut where Chen Yue was hiding.
"You... stop... being... sheep. You... have... two... months."
"Two months... to turn... this... village... into... a fortress... that even... a demon... would fear. Two months... to train. To forge... steel. To build... walls."
"I... cannot... do it... alone," he said. "I... need... you. I... need... your hands... to build. I... need... your backs... to train. And... I... need... your trust."
He stared straight at Healer Chen. "Do you... want me... to go? Or... do you... want me... to save you... again?"