“Two hundred brigands as villagers. Their leader, General Lu. Weapons hidden in water shrine.”

The words were scrawled in haste, the strokes shaky and uneven.

He Lingchuan lifted the note to his nose. A metallic tang pricked his senses. “Blood.”

The message was short, plain, and horrifying. The villagers were impostors. Their leader was called General Lu. The blades were hidden inside the Water Spirit Shrine[1].

Madame Ying gasped, clutching at He Chunhua’s sleeve. “Oh my!”

Her alarm burst forth without disguise.

They truly were quite unlucky. On the one night they stopped to lodge in relative wilderness, they had walked straight into a den of wolves?

The revelation was tumultuous. He Lingchuan glanced at his father and younger brother’s grave expressions, then his eyes gleamed....