Shadow Love (Yu Jin Chang An)

Li Shuang made the necessary arrangements and discussed the specific methods for the raid on the bandits' stone stronghold with several officers. She then appointed Qin Lan as the main commander to handle the encirclement and suppression. She was well aware of the strength of the Changfeng Battalion and had no worries about failing to capture the small stronghold. Returning to her tent, she dealt with some routine military matters and wrote a letter about Li Ting's situation, sending it back to the capital to inform her father.

By the time she finished all this, it was already evening. Li Shuang rubbed her shoulders and collapsed onto the bed. Having not slept all day, she was utterly exhausted. Closing her eyes, she soon fell into a deep slumber.

She had expected a dreamless sleep, but for some reason, from the moment she closed her eyes, she began dreaming incessantly. In her dreams, there was always a man—bare-chested, wearing a black armored mask, standing silently on a snow-covered mountain peak. He embraced her with a burning passion, his lips brushing against her forehead, cheeks, and lips in a dangerously ambiguous manner.

In the dream, she tried to struggle, yet she remained trapped in his embrace, unable to break free.

Just as the man in her dream kissed her neck and was about to undo her collar, Li Shuang abruptly woke up.

When she opened her eyes, it was already midnight. The Changfeng Battalion was silent, and since she had been asleep, no one had disturbed her. Not even a candle was lit in the tent, and the surrounding darkness and cold only accentuated the fiery heat of her dream. She lay there staring blankly for a while before covering her face with her hands.

She let out a heavy sigh—she had actually had such a dream.

Really...

She must have been lonely.

But when she sat up to drink some water, she noticed that her blanket had indeed been pulled down slightly, and her collar was slightly open. Li Shuang was stunned. Had she really undone her own clothes in her sleep...?

Something felt off. She lifted the thick curtain at the entrance and stepped outside. The soldier on guard duty was a new recruit from that year, dozing off while leaning on his spear. However, the moment Li Shuang stepped out, the soldier immediately snapped awake, straightened up, and saluted her. "General!"

Li Shuang studied him for a moment. "Did anyone come to my tent just now?"

The soldier blinked in confusion. "Reporting to the General, no one was seen approaching the main tent."

No matter how skilled someone was, it would be impossible to enter the tent without alerting the guard stationed right outside. So it really had just been a dream after all.

Li Shuang said nothing more and returned to her tent. Sitting on the bed, she sighed heavily, thinking to herself that perhaps the next time she returned to the capital, she should just let her father arrange a marriage for her. It seemed that in the bitter cold of the northern frontier, she had unwittingly welcomed the spring of her life...

The next morning, when Li Shuang emerged from her tent again, Qin Lan brought news that the bandits had been completely wiped out.

Li Shuang nodded, but her thoughts drifted to the mysterious man she had encountered in the stone stronghold. She still couldn't shake her unease about how he had known her whereabouts. She mulled over the details from the previous day and suddenly recalled the red streaks on his left chest that extended to the corner of his eye.

She had seen a similar pattern somewhere before.

Rubbing her chin in thought, her eyes suddenly lit up. "Where is that soldier, Jin An?" she asked Luo Teng. "Where is he now?"Luo Teng seemed a bit bewildered by her question. "That kid is probably training with the other young recruits right now. Why does the general suddenly ask about him?"

Li Shuang thought for a moment. "Take me to see him."

Luo Teng led Li Shuang to the new recruits' training area. Sure enough, little Jin An was undergoing physical training with a few slightly older boys, running laps around the field. It was unclear how many laps they had completed—the boys ahead were already drenched in sweat, but Jin An followed behind without even a change in his breathing or complexion. While the other boys had stripped to the waist, Jin An still wore a thin layer of clothing, barely sweating, his clothes still clean and neat.

Only someone with profound internal energy could achieve such a feat.

"Hey... Jin An!" Luo Teng called out loudly, waving him over. "Come here, the general wants to see you."

But Jin An had already noticed Li Shuang before Luo Teng called him. His bright eyes were fixed on her, and as soon as Luo Teng shouted, Jin An immediately ran over and stood before Li Shuang, his gaze never straying elsewhere.

Looking into his eyes, Li Shuang felt both helpless and amused. She crouched down to meet his gaze and asked, "Do I look very much like your mother?"

Jin An froze for a moment, then shook his head.

"Then why do you always stare at me like this?"

Jin An thought for a while before answering, "Because you're special."

This seemed to be the second time Jin An had said this to her. Li Shuang assumed it was because she had rescued him from the wilderness, and the boy, out of gratitude, had latched onto her.

She ruffled Jin An's hair.

Being touched by her seemed to bring him immense comfort. Jin An slightly narrowed his eyes, clearly enjoying her touch.

But Li Shuang only ruffled his hair briefly before withdrawing her hand. He glanced at her hand, his lips pressing together as if suppressing the urge to reach out to her. Li Shuang asked, "Do you have a red mark on your chest? I saw it the day I brought you back."

Jin An didn't shy away and nodded. "Do you want to see it?"

"Yes." Then she paused. "Unless... I can't?"

"Everything on me, you can see."

Li Shuang choked on her words, momentarily speechless, while Luo Teng beside her exclaimed, "You little brat, acting shameless again! Who taught you to speak to the general like that?"

"Enough, enough," Li Shuang quickly waved it off. Initially, she thought nothing of checking a child's chest, but now the exchange made her feel somewhat embarrassed. She took Jin An to a tent in the camp and had him remove his upper garment himself.

Li Shuang turned the half-naked Jin An in a circle, observing the flame-shaped mark on the left side of his chest. The rest of his body was as smooth and delicate as any other child's—even more so than Li Ting, who had been raised in the capital.

There wasn't a single scar on him. Li Shuang couldn't help but recall the day she had found him—Jin An had been in tattered clothes, soaked in blood. But now it seemed all that blood must have belonged to others. Otherwise, wounds that bled so profusely couldn't have healed so completely in such a short time, leaving no trace behind.After turning Jin An around, Li Shuang's gaze finally settled on the tattoo over his heart. She reached out and touched it with her fingertips. The moment she made contact with the red mark, she felt Jin An tremble all over.

Li Shuang withdrew her hand. "Does it hurt?"

Jin An shook his head. It didn't hurt. He just felt that Li Shuang's fingertips carried a power—just a light touch was enough to make him so happy it sent shivers through him. He saw Li Shuang raise her hand again, her fingers tracing the mark on his chest.

Jin An lowered his gaze, his eyes soft. He liked Li Shuang's touch.

Her fingertips seemed to carry sunlight, capable of dispelling all the gloom and the biting cold that had nearly frozen his heart.

But Li Shuang couldn't see into Jin An's heart. After tracing the mark on his chest for a while without noticing anything unusual, she asked, "Do you remember how you got this mark?"

As her fingers withdrew, Jin An felt an undeniable sense of loss, but he still answered her question. "I don't remember."

He didn't remember anything—his name, his origins, his past, or why he had become like this. The earliest memory he had was running through the forest on a cold night, covered in blood, his mouth full of the metallic taste of it, his body icy.

Just as I thought, Li Shuang mused. If this boy wasn't lying, then he truly had lost his memory. And the mark on his chest bore an uncanny resemblance to the patterns on that mysterious black-armored man from yesterday. If she wanted to uncover that man's identity, it seemed she would have to investigate herself.

Li Shuang had Jin An put his clothes back on and return to training. As she turned to leave the tent, the hem of her robe was caught by Jin An.

Li Shuang looked back at him. "What is it?"

"Can I follow you?"

The question came out of nowhere. Li Shuang considered it for a moment. "You're still young. You need to train with the drill sergeants first."

"I already know everything." He looked at her, his usually expressionless eyes now filled with longing, even a hint of pleading. "I can protect you."

Li Shuang couldn't help but laugh at that. She had been about to refuse, but after a moment's thought, she surprised herself by nodding. "Alright."

At those two words, the hope that had been absent from Jin An's eyes suddenly flared to life. "You agree?"

"Mm." Li Shuang nodded. "I'll give the orders. Starting today, you'll be one of my personal guards. Go pack your things today. Tomorrow, you'll move into the guards' quarters. It's not like you can stay where you are now—you've already had a falling out with the others in your tent."

Jin An's face lit up. He nodded—this was the most willingly he'd ever left Li Shuang's side.

Watching Jin An leave, Li Shuang pondered for a moment before summoning Qin Lan. All twelve of her personal guards had been brought from the general's residence, each highly skilled and fiercely loyal. Qin Lan was one of them, and also served as her guard captain. Over the years, however, he had taken on the role of her deputy commander, and the title of guard captain had gradually fallen out of use.

Hearing Li Shuang's arrangement, Qin Lan was taken aback. "That child..."

Li Shuang knew Qin Lan would have objections. She cut straight to the point. "The day before yesterday, I took ten men with me to the bandits' stone stronghold. It was a spur-of-the-moment decision. No one outside the camp could have known my movements."Qin Lan's gaze sharpened. "General, are you suspecting... that child has something to do with that mysterious person?"

Li Shuang nodded. "Though we still don't know that person's true intentions, nor can we confirm whether Jin An leaked information to that black-armored man, the markings on their chests and their resistance to cold suggest there might indeed be a connection between them."

"Chest?"

Qin Lan repeated the word. Li Shuang suddenly realized—how had she seen someone's chest in the freezing wilderness? She coughed lightly. "In any case, keeping Jin An under your watch is better than leaving him with the recruits where he can act freely. The personal guard battalion is full of capable men; there's no need to worry about controlling him."

Hearing Li Shuang change the subject, Qin Lan could only clench his fist silently and bow in acknowledgment.

"As for the rest..." Li Shuang pondered for a moment. "I initially thought there was no need to investigate a child's origins, but now it seems we have no choice."

Li Shuang considered that if the red flame markings on the chest and resistance to cold weren't unique to one person, it might mean there was an unknown tribe or clan in the northern frontier—one that was well-informed about her Changfeng Battalion's affairs.

Li Shuang issued her orders. "This afternoon, the camp has no pressing matters. Assign three soldiers to accompany me to scout the place where Jin An was found." She narrowed her eyes, gazing into the distance. "I remember there's a forest behind it, and there was quite a commotion the night before that day."

Li Shuang took Luo Teng and two other personal guards with her. Just as they were about to leave the Changfeng Battalion, Jin An intercepted her, clutching his bedding and meager belongings.

"Are you leaving the camp?" His eyes fixed intently on her.

Before Li Shuang could answer, Luo Teng, already mounted on his horse, scolded him. "No manners! Does the General need to report her movements to you?"

Jin An continued staring at Li Shuang until she finally spoke. "We're patrolling outside the camp. We'll return by nightfall." Only then did he reluctantly lower his gaze, his expression crestfallen.

Li Shuang was surrounded by rugged men—she was their general, and her interactions with them were mostly commands and authority. She had never been relied upon like this before. Even Li Ting, when he occasionally acted spoiled, never looked so pitiful. Seeing Jin An like this softened her heart. She patted his head. Jin An's downcast eyes immediately softened. "Go and take care of your own tasks first."

Jin An could only nod. Watching Li Shuang mount her horse with effortless grace, even though he disliked her leaving, he couldn't help but be mesmerized by her figure.

They rode swiftly, with Li Shuang leading the way straight to the spot where Jin An had been found. The vast stretch of bloodstains from that day had long been buried by wind and sand, leaving only faint rust-colored traces as proof that Jin An had indeed collapsed there.

Li Shuang looked up. Ahead lay a desolate forest, its trees nearly bare of leaves. Yet, the density of the woods cast an eerie gloom. Horses couldn't enter, so Li Shuang ordered the men to tie them to the outer trees. Following the trail of broken branches, she led the group deeper into the forest, retracing Jin An's path from that day.Luo Teng was usually rough and rugged in demeanor, yet he possessed remarkable expertise in tracking and investigation. As he ventured deeper into the dense forest, his frown grew increasingly severe. Upon reaching the heart of the woods and beholding the chaotic scene of toppled trees, Luo Teng gazed at the devastation before him and exclaimed, "Damn it, General... This doesn’t look like the work of a child."

Within a radius of ten zhang, tree trunks lay shattered and massive rocks were split apart. Beneath the tangled mess of withered branches, pale human bones could faintly be seen! Li Shuang was examining the bones, which had been picked clean by wild beasts, when a guard suddenly called out from behind, "General! There’s an underground entrance here."

Li Shuang approached the direction the guard indicated. Hidden beneath rocks and broken branches was a staircase descending into the earth, its depths pitch-black and impossible to see. A putrid stench wafted from within, so foul it made one’s stomach churn.

The steps were stained with blood, mingling with the nauseating odor, creating a sight that sent chills down the spine.