The night wind moved through the forest, slipping between the trees and steadily stealing warmth from the three people locked in confrontation.
The word'commander of a thousand' were like a block of ice lodged in Wei's chest.
He stood there for a long time before finally speaking, his voice low.
"Are you sure," he asked,"that he was talking about my father?"
'Cliff Tiger' lifted his head and looked at him.
There was hiding anger, mixed with mockery and a kind of weariness in that look.
The word 'commander of a thousand' now felt like a thin thorn pressed into Wei's mind.
It was not the first time he had heard that title.
Long ago, on a rainy night, his father had once mentioned it in passing while mending a pair of worn leather boots.
He had said that the army of the Great Yuan was not made up only of Mongols.
"There were plenty of Han soldiers too, men of the same stock as us."
Entire units of them, with their own generals,'commanders of a thousand','commanders of a hundred'... ordinary soldiers.
His father's tone back then had been light, almost amused.
He had said those men believed that once they helped the Mongols kill the bad king of the old dynasty, ordinary people would finally live better lives.
But when the blades truly fell, all they gained was a new king.
New taxes.
New forced labor.
And rule even more brutal than before.
His father had let out a cold laugh and said that those Han units were nothing more than hunting dogs carried by hunters.
Dogs that would just as easily tear into the flesh of their own kind.
Wei remembered his father's expression clearly from that moment.
It was not anger.
It was pure scorn.
Wei shook his head without thinking.
"Maybe you were frightened," he said.
"The forest was chaos. What you saw and heard might not have been what you think."
He spoke slowly, as if building a place where his own feet could still stand.
"My father was just a trader."
"He could not have been any commander."
'Cliff Tiger' was silent for a while.
"At first, I thought I had misheard too," he said at last.
"But what the general did afterward was not something you would do in front of an ordinary man."
His gaze drifted, as if returning to a memory he did not want to visit again.
The air seemed to grow colder.
"The general did not try to persuade your father again."
"He did not explain anything."
"He just lifted his hand."
'Cliff Tiger' frowned slightly, as if checking the scene in his mind.
"Then someone carried something out."
"What was it?" Chun asked quietly.
'Cliff Tiger' looked at her.
There was no attempt to build suspense in his eyes. Only hesitation.
"Two warriors," he said."Or what used to be warriors."
"They were burned badly by your father."
Their armor was blackened and warped, flesh fused with iron, like remains kneaded together by fire and then forced back into shape.
"They were placed in front of your father."
"Just placed there."
"Like two ruined logs."
The forest fell silent.
The general looked at your father, and there was even a hint of pride in his voice.
"Come back, Lin."
"I will give you something you would never expect."
'Cliff Tiger' swallowed.
"And then…"
"I did not see what he did."
"I truly did not."
Chun suddenly raised her head.
"What happened?" she asked."What exactly happened?"
'Cliff Tiger''s face had lost all color. His lips were pale, as if he had been running nonstop and never found time to catch his breath from fear.
"I only saw those warriors move closer," he said, fast and unsteady.
"They formed a circle and took off their black robes."
"They were not human."
His throat tightened suddenly.
"Those things had been dead for who knows how long."
"They were like corpses walking."
Wei frowned.
"'Cliff Tiger', do you hear yourself?"
'Cliff Tiger' shook his head hard, as if trying to fling the memory away.
"I did not see them strike."
"I did not even see them touch the bodies."
That sentence made the forest even quieter.
"But then," he continued, his voice dropping, as if afraid of summoning something again.
"I saw one of the burned bodies stand up."
"And then the second one."
Wei's breath stopped for an instant.
He forced his voice steady.
"'Cliff Tiger', were you terrified?"
"Do you understand what you are saying?" Chun interrupted, disbelief plain in her voice.
"I am not lying," the 'Cliff Tiger' shouted.
"The two things that stood up," he said,"they were still wrapped in blackened shells."
His hands shook as he gestured.
"Some of the shells had cracked."
"Some still clung to them."
"Under the cracks," he paused, as if making sure his eyes had not betrayed him.
"There were no bones."
"There was flesh."
"Shriveled."
"Blackened."
He actually started to vomit just from saying it.
"Like dried meat left in the wind."
Chun sucked in a sharp breath and shook her head.
"That is impossible."
"People burned like that…"
But the 'Cliff Tiger' did not look at her.
"Those two bodies were alive again," he said.
"Like something waking up in a coffin."
"Then they opened their eyes."
"The whites were gray."
"But the pupils moved."
Wei felt pressure build at his temples.
The confusion did not fade. It only grew heavier.
This was not simply turning the dead into monsters.
It felt more like denying death itself.
'Cliff Tiger' looked at Wei.
"Your father," he said slowly,"was very calm."
"Or maybe he was stunned. I am not sure."
"He stood there the whole time."
"He did not step back."
"The general did not say anything."
"He only turned and looked at your father."
"He stared at him without a single word."
Wei's fingertips turned cold.
"And my father?" he asked.
"He lowered his head and thought for a long time."
Long enough that the 'Cliff Tiger' believed he would agree.
"But in the end, he still said no."
"I will not join you."
Wei let out a small breath without realizing it, though his chest still felt blocked.
It suddenly occurred to him that the things his father had said in the past might not have been the cold mockery of an outsider.
They might have been the words of someone who had already seen hell.
"The general looked at him for a while," the 'Cliff Tiger' continued.
"Then he smiled."
It was not a pleasant smile.
"He said one thing."
"Lin, do you think saving a few people makes your death worthwhile?"
"You are nowhere near enough in front of me."
Then, from deeper in the forest, someone was dragged out.
"They were not warriors," the 'Cliff Tiger' said.
"They were ordinary people."
"Villagers."
"Some from our village. Some I did not recognize."
He looked straight at Wei.
"Your mother was there too."
"What?" Wei's eyes widened in an instant.