Shadow Love (Yu Jin Chang An)

The night was as dark as ink. The bandits' stone stronghold was built against the mountain, like a stubborn rock embedded within it.

The men Qin Lan had selected for Li Shuang were all her personal guards. Qin Lan had originally intended to accompany Li Shuang, but she had been left behind to command the Changfeng Camp.

Now, Li Shuang led ten soldiers clad in black night attire, lurking on a hilltop a hundred zhang away from the stronghold. Concealed by the darkness, they observed the situation inside.

In the distance, the main hall of the stone stronghold was brightly lit, but the most heavily guarded area was a small courtyard in the southwest corner. At least five or six guards stood at the entrance alone, with more on the rooftops and walkways—over twenty men in total guarding the tiny courtyard. Each was robust and skilled, wielding tiger-headed broadswords whose edges gleamed so brightly the reflections could be seen even from afar.

Li Shuang had her answer. She was certain that was where the bandits were holding Li Ting.

With a few hand signals, her guards—who had followed her for years—understood her intentions without needing further explanation. Swift as the wind, their figures vanished from the hilltop in an instant.

Upon reaching the stronghold's entrance, the group efficiently snapped the necks of the unprepared gatekeepers without a sound, not even disturbing the flames at the entrance.

The ten men followed Li Shuang's orders: three headed to the main hall to create a diversion, while three others infiltrated the kitchen to set fire to the provisions. As flames erupted, chaos instantly broke out in the east. Meanwhile, Li Shuang led the remaining four straight into the southwest courtyard before the enemy could grasp the situation.

On the battlefield, Li Shuang was mockingly called the Jade-Faced Yama. Though a woman, she showed no hesitation when it came to brutality, matching even the fiercest wolves of the frontier. Now, with the eastern side ablaze, Li Shuang entered the courtyard and immediately cut down the first bandit who charged at her. Blood stained her blade, and against the backdrop of the flames, she truly resembled a Yama from hell—a sight that struck terror into the hearts of onlookers.

She strode straight toward the courtyard's inner building, her guards clashing with the bandits who rushed at them. Li Shuang never glanced aside, her cold blade radiating killing intent as she advanced. None who stood in her path met a good end.

When she reached the small house's door, Li Shuang kicked it open.

And at that very moment!

The door triggered a hidden mechanism, and several poison-tipped arrows with an eerie blue glow shot out from inside. Li Shuang's eyes narrowed, but before she could react, she suddenly felt a tight grip around her waist—someone had pulled her into a scorching embrace.

A series of clattering sounds followed as Li Shuang glimpsed, from the corner of her eye, the incoming arrows being knocked to the ground.

Who had saved her?

Li Shuang froze, pressing her hands against the man's chest to push him away and get a better look at his face. But the moment she exerted force, the arm around her waist tightened like steel, pressing her firmly against his chest. She inhaled deeply, filling her lungs with his masculine scent.

"You—!" In the heart of the bandits' den, there was no room for carelessness. Just as Li Shuang was about to reprimand him, a sharp gust of wind whistled past her ear—an arrow grazing the back of her head.

Had the man not pulled her into that embrace, the arrow would have pierced straight through her skull.

He had saved her.Realizing this, the anger from feeling slighted earlier instantly dissipated. This time, when Li Shuang pushed the man again, he finally loosened his grip slightly, though his hand still lightly supported the small of her back, keeping her within his protective reach.

It was a strange sensation for Li Shuang—this man was overwhelmingly possessive, though she had no idea... why he felt the need to possess her...

"Sir, I don’t believe we’ve met."

Li Shuang looked up to examine him, only to see a face half-covered by a black armored mask. His jawline was sharp, his throat marked by a prominent Adam’s apple, and below that, his bare chest revealed solid, well-defined muscles. On his left pectoral was a vivid flame-like pattern, crimson as blood, stretching upward past his neck and jaw, disappearing beneath his mask. Where his eyes were exposed, Li Shuang saw the fiery pattern finally fade at the corners—yet it seemed to burn directly into his veins, turning his irises a startling shade of red.

And within that scarlet gaze, only her reflection remained.

His palm and chest were scorching hot, far warmer than any normal human’s body temperature. Even in the freezing wilderness beyond the border, he showed no sign of feeling the cold.

This man was truly peculiar.

And... Li Shuang glanced at the broken poison arrows on the ground. Had this man just shattered them barehanded? With internal energy? If so, his mastery of inner cultivation must be extraordinary...

"Who are you?" Li Shuang asked sternly.

Her voice prompted no response from the man before her, but from inside the house came a muffled cry for help—Li Ting’s voice!

Li Shuang immediately turned her head, listening carefully. The sound came from the western side room.

Now was not the time to waste on this mysterious man!

She tightened her grip on her sword and moved to step inside, but the man blocked her path, his voice low. "Stay. Wait for me." With that, his figure blurred—swift as lightning—and before Li Shuang could react, he had already entered the small room.

Though this man had just saved her, Li Shuang had no idea of his true identity. How could she be sure he meant no harm to Li Ting? Ignoring his words, she followed immediately.

Passing the screen in the side room, Li Shuang saw Li Ting bound tightly on a crude bed. The usually well-dressed young master was now filthy and disheveled, his eyes filled with fear and unease.

The man was untying Li Ting, and the moment Li Ting spotted Li Shuang, he seemed to finally relax. His eyes reddened, and though his mouth was still gagged, his muffled cries of "Mm! Ah!" conveyed his overwhelming relief.

Seeing him unharmed, Li Shuang felt a flicker of reassurance.

Once freed, Li Ting immediately spat out the cloth gagging him and scrambled off the bed, heedless of the man’s warning: "Careful." Impatient, he shoved the man aside, stepping onto the bed frame as he cried, "Sis—"

Before he could finish, a sharp crack sounded—the floor beneath Li Ting and the man collapsed without warning.

There was another trap here!Li Shuang watched helplessly as Li Ting and the black-armored man fell unprepared into the trap. Her pupils contracted, and she immediately rushed forward. Just as she reached the edge of the trap, Li Ting was tossed back up like a small toy.

She barely managed to catch him.

"Take him away first."

The voice that emerged from the dark trap was steady and composed.

In the darkness of the night, Li Shuang couldn’t see the situation below. But judging by the calm tone of the man in the trap and the skill he had displayed earlier, escaping shouldn’t be a problem for him. Moreover, Li Ting’s safety was her top priority at the moment.

Weighing the pros and cons, Li Shuang grabbed Li Ting and dragged him out of the house.

Outside, the soldiers in the courtyard had nearly finished subduing the guarding bandits. However, the bandits who had gone east to put out the fire had now realized something was amiss and were gathering forces to head this way.

With a single gesture, Li Shuang signaled the retreat. One of the soldiers immediately pulled out a bamboo tube and launched a bright red signal flare into the air, where it exploded in the cold night.

The dazzling light seemed to snap Li Ting back to his senses. He clutched Li Shuang’s hand, his eyes wide with fear. "Sister! The bottom of that trap was full of sharp blades! That big brother got hurt saving me... I... I don’t know how he is..."

Li Shuang’s expression darkened at his words. She glanced at the four soldiers gathering before her, then looked back toward the house. Without hesitation, she pushed Li Ting into the arms of one of the soldiers. "Take him back."

The soldier obeyed without question. "Understood!"

Tears welled up in Li Ting’s frightened eyes as he cried out, "Sister, what about you—"

"Grow a spine!" Li Shuang shot him a glare. "I’ll deal with you later." With that, she turned and strode back into the small house, leaving Li Ting in the soldiers’ care.

She trusted her soldiers’ abilities—they would surely bring Li Ting safely back to Changfeng Camp. As for the mysterious man in the trap, though his origins were unknown, he had first saved her and then Li Ting. The children of the General’s Manor could not repay kindness with ingratitude.

Li Shuang grabbed a torch from the wall and carried it back into the house. Standing at the edge of the trap, she called out, "Still alive?"

A brief silence followed before a voice responded, "Mn."

"Watch out for the torch." With that, she tossed the torch into the pit. The falling flame illuminated the dark, well-like trap. As the torch landed on the ground, Li Shuang finally saw the situation below. The trap was dug four or five zhang deep into the earth, shaped like a funnel with no footing at the bottom—only upward-pointing spikes, sharp as the teeth of a beast. The walls of the trap were also lined with blades. An ordinary person who fell in would have no chance of survival.

The masked man was currently gripping one of the blades on the wall with his left hand. His palm was cut and bleeding, but that was the least of his worries. His right arm hung limp at his side, and on his back, near his right shoulder blade, a deep gash had split open his flesh. Blood seeped from the wound, which also bore a faint blackish hue—likely from poison on the blade.With his skills, he shouldn't have gotten injured. He must have been scratched when throwing Li Ting up earlier. Li Shuang bit her lip and apologized on her brother's behalf: "I'm sorry. My brother panicked earlier and caused you harm."

The man holding the sharp blade with one hand simply looked up at her above. The firelight flickered in the underground space, reflecting in his red eyes behind the black faceplate with an eerie beauty. Despite the dangerous and awkward situation, he showed no urgency at all, just staring steadily at Li Shuang with a simple gaze, as if merely looking at her was satisfaction enough: "It's nothing."

Li Shuang said no more. Time was pressing. She turned and tore the quilt from the nearby bed, twisting it into a rope. After tying it to the bedpost, she lowered it into the trap: "Hold on, I'll save you."

The man remained silent, watching as Li Shuang grabbed the rope and jumped down. Avoiding the blades on either side, she reached his position. In the gradually narrowing trap, with sharp blades pointing at them from both sides, the two stood pressed together in the midst of danger.