Shadow Love (Yu Jin Chang An)

Wu Yin took a step forward, his gaze sweeping across the dungeon. "Those who can still move, drag the wounded away," he commanded, the ever-present smile on his face finally fading, replaced by the solemnity befitting a sect leader.

Drawing a steel folding fan from his sleeve, Wu Yin advanced slowly, each step building an oppressive atmosphere that forced the mysterious figure's attention entirely onto him. Meanwhile, those who had managed to rise seized the opportunity to drag the immobile wounded out of harm's way.

"Yu Can, you're being naughty again."

A faint fragrance wafted from Wu Yin's fan. Li Shuang watched quietly as the scent drifted toward the mysterious figure, whose eyes locked onto Wu Yin, his expression seeming to calm slightly. But as Wu Yin drew closer, a sudden glint flashed in those dark crimson pupils.

Li Shuang, with a soldier's keen instinct for killing intent, immediately shouted, "Watch out!"

But it was too late. The iron chains embedded in the wall snapped back from behind Wu Yin, aiming straight for him. Wu Yin's eyes flickered as he dodged swiftly, yet he hadn't anticipated someone nearby helping a wounded comrade stand just then. The chains lashed back viciously toward them.

A direct hit would be fatal.

Without hesitation, Wu Yin hurled his steel fan, barely deflecting the chains' momentum—but it wasn't enough to stop their deadly sweep.

Then, with a sharp clang , an eight-sided longsword unsheathed in a flash of cold light. Li Shuang leaped into the air, her blade piercing through the outermost chain's center. With her full weight driving the sword downward, it embedded deep into the solid stone floor.

Planting a foot on the hilt, she forced the blade a foot deeper, pinning the chain like an iron nail. Not only did this save the two men, but it also immobilized the berserk Gu-man's left arm.

"Oh, General Li, impressive!" Wu Yin clapped leisurely from the sidelines.

Li Shuang ignored him, striding along the chain toward the figure. Wu Yin opened his mouth to warn her, but before he could speak, the figure's other hand moved abruptly. Another chain whipped up from the ground with a metallic clatter, coiling around Li Shuang's waist and yanking her forward. A hand clamped around her throat.

Her face turned a sickly shade of purple in an instant.

As Li Shuang teetered on the brink of having her neck snapped, Wu Yin—now weaponless after his fan had been knocked away—could only watch helplessly. Even he dared not approach recklessly. Desperate, he shouted, "Try calling his name! Maybe you can snap him out of it!"

The Yu Can Gu had originally recognized Li Shuang as its master, but after being separated for so long, it had grown frenzied and unrecognizing. Others' calls would be futile, but if Li Shuang spoke, there might be a chance.

Yet... her mind was blank.

His name?

She didn't even know his name. To this day, his origins remained a mystery. All she remembered was the enigmatic black mask, those clear eyes that always reflected her image, his perpetually burning chest, and the red mark upon it...

A red... mark?

Jin An had one too.

Suddenly, as Li Shuang's breath grew agonizingly thin and all sound faded away, a thread of realization wove through her mind with eerie clarity, connecting the dots at lightning speed.The red mark on her chest, the man who only appeared at night, the overly dependent little boy whose whereabouts were always a mystery, the inexplicably leaked military camp information to a mysterious figure, and the "resurrected" old woman who left the dungeon to search for someone in the camp...

There was no second Jade Silkworm Gu in this world.

He was...

"...Jin An?"

A broken voice squeezed out from her throat, so strained and faint it barely carried, fleeting like a night-blooming cereus. Yet even this nearly inaudible, hoarse sound made those dark red eyes tremble abruptly.

Jin An stiffened, his fingers loosening their grip. The pressure on Li Shuang's neck vanished, and she collapsed to the ground like a ragdoll.

Clutching her throat, she gasped painfully, each breath a desperate struggle that sent searing agony from her throat deep into her chest. She barely had the strength to keep her head up.

Jin An stood frozen beside Li Shuang as the dark red in his eyes gradually receded, though bloodshot veins still webbed them. Only the pitch-black pupils faintly reflected Li Shuang's image.

Curled on the ground, her breathing was terrifyingly loud—rasping like the strained notes of a horsehead fiddle, interspersed with muffled coughs that wrenched the heart.

Jin An didn't move, simply staring at her with a dazed expression.

Seeing this, Wu Yin hesitated. Jin An had already tricked him once with feigned vulnerability before attacking, so this calm might not mean safety. But Li Shuang's survival was imperative—not only was she the only one who might control Jin An, but also because of the fifty thousand troops waiting below South Long Mountain to burn these hills. She had to live.

Badly injured by Jin An, she needed medical attention. Today, she had to be taken away first.

Wu Yin moved cautiously. Jin An paid him no heed, his beast-like eyes fixed blankly on Li Shuang.

Retrieving his tempered steel fan knocked aside earlier by the chains, Wu Yin flicked it open. Three steel needles shot through the air straight for Jin An's heart.

Instinctively, Jin An dodged—stepping back, twisting sideways, turning his head—avoiding all three needles. But as he turned, he heard a sharp "click."

The iron door had been locked from outside. Li Shuang was gone from the floor.

The chains around his neck and ankles still confined him to limited movement.

Yanking the chains, he reached the farthest point toward the door where a wire-mesh window offered a blurred view outside.

"Fetch the healer!" Wu Yin's urgent voice carried through.

Through the mesh, Jin An saw Wu Yin carrying the red-robed, silver-armored woman up the stone steps until they disappeared from sight.

Restlessness.

An unbearable inner turmoil, coupled with inexplicable helplessness and fear.

He paced in circles, chains scraping the ground with chaotic clatter. The dark red had completely faded from his eyes, the flame patterns on his skin retracting toward his chest.

His fingertips still carried her scent.He raised his hand, a few long strands of hair tangled around his fingertips, still carrying a lingering warmth. The sensation evoked an eerie nostalgia in him—he wanted to see that person again, to stay by her side. Jin An paced restlessly in place, craning his neck to peer outside, though there was nothing left to see.

Yet he could still catch her scent, still nearby, still lingering close, not yet gone.

Clutching those strands of hair, Jin An stubbornly stared beyond the iron bars. Unlike his earlier frenzy, his agitation now resembled the grievance and pleading of someone abandoned—like a trapped beast or… a small animal forcibly separated from its owner.

Did he hurt someone? What had he done? No one gave him answers. All he knew was the inexplicable ache and suffocating tightness in his chest.

Who was she? Was she alright?

"Not great."

A wrinkled hand brushed over Li Shuang’s neck. The hunched, ageless medicine woman examined her injury, then gripped her neck and gave it a sharp twist. A crisp crack echoed, followed by Li Shuang’s muffled groan.

"Fetch some wooden planks," the old woman said. "She’ll need to be bound for two or three months. The bone’s badly injured—speaking will be difficult for a while."

Wu Yin exhaled slightly in relief. "As long as she’s alive."

The medicine woman shot him a glance. "Didn’t you say this girl could calm the Jade Silkworm host? How’d she end up like this?" She gestured dismissively to the side, where injured men groaned in pain. "Useless brat."

Wu Yin smiled wryly. "Auntie, how is this my fault?" He glanced at Li Shuang, then toward the wooden hut’s entrance. "I heard the cell’s quiet now. Bringing the general here worked—she called his name, and he settled down immediately. Fully pacifying the Jade Silkworm host is just a matter of time."

Li Shuang lay on the simple wooden bed, listening to their exchange. Though her throat burned too much to speak, her mind raced ceaselessly—but her thoughts were far from Wu Yin’s calculations.

She kept replaying the moment Jin An heard his name—the flicker of emotion in his eyes.

Closing her eyes, she pieced together memories from her time in the northern frontier. Yes, only this explanation could unravel the mysteries surrounding that enigmatic man and Jin An.

Gritting through the pain, she took a deep breath. She had to admit, the revelation struck her hard.

But upon reflection, what troubled her most wasn’t why Jin An had hidden the truth from her. She understood him—his unease, his fear of not knowing why his body was so abnormal. He concealed it because he couldn’t explain, because he dreaded being seen as a monster… or worse, feared she might cast him away.

No, what gnawed at Li Shuang, what she meticulously tallied in her heart, was…

Just how many nights had she slept in Jin An’s arms back in the north?

She…

Those nights when she thought she’d dreamed of being held—had they not been dreams at all?

Li Shuang let out a long sigh.

She’d been taken advantage of, over and over, by a silent, sneaky glutton—completely unaware!