The night air in the bunkhouse was thick with the smell of blood and medicinal herbs.
Li Wei moved with the precision of a surgeon. He had stripped the stranger's cloak, revealing a lean, wiry frame covered in old scars and fresh wounds. The most severe injury was a deep gash along the ribs—rough, jagged, and clearly made by a rusty blade.
"Hold the lantern closer," Li Wei commanded.
Da Niu trembled as he held the light, his eyes wide as he stared at the bronze tiger token now sitting on the table.
Li Wei ignored the token for the moment. He focused on the wound. He took the curved needle from his Basic Veterinary Kit—intended for cows, but sterilized and sharp enough for human flesh.
"Qin Hu, hold him down. If he wakes up thrashing, he'll tear the stitches."
Qin Hu nodded, placing his heavy hands on the man's shoulders. "He's tough. Look at these old scars. Arrow wounds, saber cuts. This man has lived through a war."
Li Wei worked quickly. The needle pierced the skin, drawing it together. The man groaned, his muscles tensing, but he didn't wake. His body was trained to endure pain even in unconsciousness.
"Who is he, Boss?" Da Niu whispered. "That token…"
"A tiger token," Li Wei said, tying off the final suture. He bandaged the wound with clean linen strips boiled in salt water. "In the Imperial military, that signifies a special rank. Not a common soldier. A hunting captain. Or an executioner."
He cut the thread with a snap.
"He's not a bandit. Bandits don't carry imperial passes. And they don't get attacked by organized groups on the north road unless they crossed the wrong people."
Li Wei stood up, wiping his hands. He looked at the pale face of the stranger.
"He's a magnet for trouble," Li Wei said softly. "And he just stuck that magnet right in the middle of our ranch."
***
**The Scholar's Analysis**
The stranger did not wake until noon the next day.
By then, Li Wei had moved him to a small, windowless storage room in the back of the bunkhouse. It was secure. It had a heavy door.
Li Chen was sitting outside the door, reading a book, acting as a sentry. When the stranger stirred, Chen knocked on the door frame.
Li Wei entered the room.
The stranger was sitting up, one hand instinctively reaching for a weapon that wasn't there. He froze when he saw Li Wei. Then he saw Li Chen in his scholar's robes. The tension in his shoulders dropped a fraction.
"Where… am I?" the man rasped. His voice was dry.
"Cloud Hill Ranch," Li Wei said, handing him a cup of warm water. "Willow Village. You collapsed at my gate last night."
The man drank the water in one gulp. He checked his side, feeling the bandages. "You sewed me up?"
"I'm a vet," Li Wei said calmly. "But a needle is a needle. You would have bled out by morning."
The man let out a dry chuckle. "A vet. Hah. Maybe that's fitting."
He looked at Li Wei, his eyes sharp and assessing. "My token?"
"Safe," Li Wei said. "But I didn't show it to the authorities. Yet."
The man leaned his head back against the wall. "Smart. If you had, you'd be dead. The people who did this to me… they have eyes in the Yamen."
"Who are they?" Li Wei asked.
"Wolves," the man said, his voice turning cold. "The Black Wind Bandits. But they aren't just bandits. They are deserters. Trained soldiers. They operate like an army, but they prey on the people."
He coughed. "My name is Mo Lie. I was a Lieutenant in the Imperial Border Patrol. I retired… or tried to. I've been tracking this group for three years. They slaughtered my squad. I'm the last one."
"A vendetta," Li Wei noted.
"And a duty," Mo Lie said. He looked at Li Wei. "You have a good setup here, kid. The fence, the watchtower, the dog. You're prepared for local thieves. But not for soldiers."
Li Wei didn't deny it. "How many are coming?"
"I led about ten of them into a trap in the hills three days ago," Mo Lie said. "Killed four. Wounded two. But their leader, 'Scorpion,' is smart. He tracked me here. He knows I'm wounded. He'll come to finish the job. And he'll take your village for supplies."
"How long do we have?"
"A day. Maybe two."
Li Wei stood up. He had suspected this, but hearing it confirmed made the danger real.
"Can you fight?"
"Give me a bow," Mo Lie said, his eyes burning. "And I'll kill ten more."
Li Wei nodded. "Rest. I'll bring you food. And we'll talk about weapons."
***
**The Scout**
That afternoon, the unease in the village spiked.
A stranger walked into the village square. He wasn't a villager. He wore dusty traveling clothes and a straw hat pulled low. He carried a long bundle wrapped in cloth that looked suspiciously like a spear.
He walked with a limp, favoring his left leg.
He stopped at the well, looking around.
"Water," he called out to Auntie Wang, who was washing clothes. "And information. I'm looking for a man. Wearing a dark cloak. Riding a lame horse."
Auntie Wang, bless her gossiping heart, didn't notice the danger. "A dark cloak? We haven't seen anyone like that. Just our usual folk."
The stranger's eyes scanned the village. He looked up towards the West Slope. The distance was too great to see details, but he saw the watchtower. He saw the fences.
"Nice hill," he muttered. He turned back to Auntie Wang. "You sure? He's a dangerous criminal. The Magistrate has a bounty on his head."
"A criminal?" Auntie Wang gasped. "Here? We are a peaceful village!"
Li Wei, watching from the top of the hill with a borrowed bow in his hand, felt a chill. The man was lying. There was no bounty. This was a hunter searching for prey.
"Should I shoot him?" Da Niu asked, gripping a spear. "He's in range."
"No," Li Wei said. "If you shoot an unarmed man in the village, the Yamen will hang us, bandits or not. We wait. He's a scout."
The scout drank his water, spat on the ground, and walked back the way he came. He didn't head towards the prefecture city. He headed into the woods to the northwest.
"He's going back to report," Qin Hu said, standing behind them. "They'll come tonight. Or tomorrow at dawn."
"We're not ready," Li Jun said, his face pale. "We have five spears. Three bows. And a handful of farmers who have never held a weapon."
"We have terrain," Li Wei said. "And we have a surprise."
***
**The Trap**
Li Wei called a council of war in the bunkhouse.
Mo Lie was sitting at the table, eating a bowl of thick chicken porridge. He looked stronger, the color returning to his face.
"They will come at night," Mo Lie said, wiping his mouth. "They prefer stealth. They'll scale the fence or break the gate. They won't burn the village immediately—they want the loot and the women first. That gives us an advantage."
"We can't fight them in the open," Li Wei said. "They have numbers and experience."
"Correct," Mo Lie nodded. "We need to funnel them. Make them fight on our terms."
He pointed to Li Wei's map. "Here. The main gate. It's the only easy entrance for a group. If you block it, they'll try the weaker spots on the fence. But they are lazy. They prefer the path of least resistance."
"Can we rig the gate?" Li Wei asked.
"Trip wires," Mo Lie suggested. "Hidden in the grass. Not to kill, but to break their formation. Then, we hit them with range."
"I have three bows," Li Wei said. "And you."
"Make that four," Qin Hu grunted. "I can use a crossbow. I can't run, but I can hold a wall."
"I can shoot," Li Chen said quietly from the corner. Everyone turned. "I practiced archery at the academy. I'm not a soldier, but I can hit a target at thirty paces."
Li Wei looked at his little brother. The scholar was picking up a weapon. The reality of their world was forcing everyone to adapt.
"Good," Li Wei said. "Chen, you take the watchtower. You're the eyes. If you see movement, you ring the gong. Then you shoot."
He turned to Mo Lie. "You're the professional. You command the defense."
Mo Lie looked at the boy—no, the young man—in front of him. He saw the steel in Li Wei's spine.
"I need to know you won't break," Mo Lie said. "When the blood starts flowing, men panic. If you panic, you die."
"I've bled before," Li Wei said, thinking of the surgeries, the blisters, the exhaustion. "I'm not a soldier. But I'm stubborn. This is my land. My family is in that house down there. I won't let them pass."
Mo Lie nodded slowly. "Then let's dig."
***
**The Night Watch**
The sun set, leaving a bloody smear across the sky. The village quieted unnaturally early. The farmers had been warned to bar their doors and extinguish their lights. The Li family women were moved to the safest room in the main house, with Li Qiang guarding the door with a woodcutting axe.
On the hill, the militia gathered.
Li Wei, Li Jun, Da Niu, Qin Hu, Li Chen, and two brave village youths. Seven men.
Mo Lie stood by the gate. He was wearing a leather jerkin Li Wei had bought from the town (intended for a butcher), and he held the best bow. He looked calm, almost bored.
"Quiet," Mo Lie whispered. "No talking. Listen to the wind."
The wind rustled the grass. The Gen II Ryegrass whispered secrets.
*Shhh. Shhh.*
Li Wei crouched behind a water trough near the gate, a spear in his hand. His heart was hammering against his ribs like a trapped bird. He felt the weight of the iron tip. It was cold.
Hours passed. The moon rose, a thin crescent, offering little light.
Li Wei's legs began to cramp. He shifted slightly.
*Crack.*
A twig snapped. Not on the hill. Down below, near the base of the slope.
Li Wei held his breath.
Then, he heard it. The sound of leather on stone. A snort of a horse being stifled. The metallic *clink* of a buckle.
They were here.
Mo Lie held up a hand—*Wait.*
The shadows at the base of the hill seemed to detach themselves from the darkness. Five… ten… fifteen figures. They moved in a loose formation, creeping up the path towards the main gate.
Li Wei saw the glint of steel. Swords. Axes.
*Bandits.*
They reached the gate. A large figure stepped forward—the scout from earlier? No, someone bigger. He held a heavy log, used as a battering ram.
"On three," the bandit leader whispered, barely audible. "One… two…"
*TWANG!*
A bowstring sang from the darkness. It wasn't Mo Lie.
It was Li Chen from the watchtower.
The bandit holding the ram jerked back. An arrow was sprouting from his shoulder. He screamed, dropping the log.
"Attack!" Mo Lie roared.
The silence of the night shattered.
"Release!" Li Wei shouted.
Da Niu and the village youths on the wall threw their weapons—not arrows, but rocks. Heavy stones rained down on the bandits clustered at the gate.
"Fire!" Li Wei commanded.
Li Jun tossed a torch into the brush pile they had soaked in oil near the gate.
*Whoosh!*
A wall of flame erupted, illuminating the night. The bandits, caught in the sudden light and heat, shielded their eyes.
"Now!" Mo Lie stepped out from the shadows. He drew his bow with terrifying speed.
*Thwip. Thwip. Thwip.*
Three bandits fell. Mo Lie didn't miss.
"Spears!" Li Wei yelled, charging forward with Da Niu and Qin Hu.
They formed a line just inside the open gate (the trap was to let them *think* they were breaking in, then hit them at the choke point).
A bandit lunged through the smoke, waving a rusty saber.
Li Wei didn't think. He thrust the spear. The iron tip caught the bandit in the chest. The impact jarred his teeth. The man gasped, staring at Li Wei in shock, and fell.
The first kill.
Li Wei didn't have time to process the horror. Another bandit was there.
Qin Hu, standing like a rock, swung his crutch (which concealed a heavy iron rod). He cracked the bandit's skull with a sickening crunch.
"Hold the line!" Li Wei screamed, his voice cracking. "Hold the line!"
The bandits, expecting sleeping peasants, found a wall of fire, arrows, and desperate iron.
"Retreat! Retreat!" a voice screamed from the darkness.
The bandits turned and scrambled back down the hill, tripping over each other, the rocks falling on them as they fled.
Mo Lie fired two more arrows into the retreating backs, dropping the stragglers.
Silence returned, broken only by the crackling of the fire and the heavy panting of the defenders.
Li Wei stood over the body of the man he had killed. The blood on his spear was black in the firelight. His hands shook uncontrollably.
Mo Lie walked over and put a hand on Li Wei's shoulder.
"First one is the hardest," the hunter said quietly. "But you saved your family. That's the only thing that matters."
Li Wei looked up at the watchtower. Li Chen was standing at the railing, the bow in his hand, staring down at the scene.
"The scholar shot first," Mo Lie noted with a grim smile. "You Li boys… you have guts."
Li Wei swallowed the bile in his throat. He looked at the burning brush pile.
"Check the perimeter," Li Wei ordered, his voice trembling only slightly. "Make sure they're gone. And… bring the bodies inside. We need to check for bounties."
The battle for Cloud Hill was over. But the war for the empire had just knocked on their door.