Danger

A rain-soaked squirrel scampered up the tree trunk, a pinecone clamped in its mouth. Its beady, black-bean eyes scanned the base of the tree with mild confusion before it lost interest and buried its head into its snack. A pinecone shell fell from mid-air, landing squarely on the head of the lurker hidden beneath the fence.

Lin Yilan’s grip on her gun tightened. She raised her eyes for a fleeting glance, then crouched back down.

A fine, misty rain drifted from the gloomy sky. Her rain-soaked uniform was heavy and uncomfortable, yet it did not affect the steadiness of the hand holding the gun. Her gaze was as steady as her breathing; the young woman executing military orders was now starkly different from the traveler who had stepped off the stagecoach.

This was the slum district of Xiuwa City. Rows of dilapidated, low-roofed houses filled her vision. Dirty curtains of indistinguishable color hung within window frames peeling with paint; rusted iron bars poked out from the walls. Piles of garbage, flowing with sewage, covered the ground, and people could often be seen rummaging through them.

In the distance, thick smoke still billowed from the City Hall, set ablaze by insurgents. The rain cast a veil over the filthy, chaotic environment, blurring everything into a haze. Gunshots rang out intermittently from the crumbling ruins as the vanguard exchanged fire with the rebels. A whistle sounded ten zhang away, and the squad on standby moved out.

Nearby residents had hidden inside their homes after the announcement, leaving the entire area terrifyingly silent. The closest person to her was a young soldier. His posture gripping the gun clearly marked him as a rookie, his nervous face showing an eagerness to take risks and earn merit. She had heard his enthusiastic self-introduction when they collected their gear; he had reported for duty only a week before her.

The slums were the city's blind spot, and even more so, a giant garbage dump filled with all manner of refuse.

The army's search was slow and inefficient. Her soaked uniform clung to her body, the cold dampness unpleasant. Brushing back a stray lock of hair from her forehead, she remained fully alert.

A sense of danger flashed suddenly. She rolled rapidly as a bullet whistled past her ear, several bullet holes embedding themselves in the ground. Her teammates returned fire. After a fierce exchange, the lurker, having exposed his hiding spot, fled under the intense hail of bullets. A soldier gave chase but fell after only a few steps, hit by a sniper's shot. A large pool of blood seeped from his chest; judging by the location of the wound, there was no hope.

Enemies who were armed and familiar with the terrain were extremely difficult to deal with. Limited visibility and defenseless sniper shots scattered the squad. The young soldier beside her was lured into a corner alley. With an internal sigh, Lin Yilan chased after him.

Sure enough, there was an ambush in the alley. The inexperienced recruit was hit in the shoulder and collapsed on the ground, groaning in pain. A boy of seventeen or eighteen dragged the wounded captive toward the end of the alley, while two or three others jumped down from the wall to assist. One of them went to pick up the dropped sidearm, but before he could touch the grip, a sudden pain struck the back of his head, and he instantly passed out.

The man on the left saw his companion collapse suddenly without hearing a gunshot. He stepped forward to support him, only to see a bloodstained stone on the ground. Just as he looked up, another stone flew through the air. He hurriedly dodged, but before he could regain his balance, pain flared at the back of his head, and his vision went black.

The remaining man at the end of the alley heard the noise and turned back, only to find his two companions already down. A figure in uniform stood nearby. He immediately raised his gun, but before he could pull the trigger, he saw a pair of cold green eyes. A fist then landed on his abdomen, and his head cracked against the cold, muddy ground.

Having taken down three enemies, Lin Yilan cautiously probed toward the end of the alley. Outside a dilapidated old house, she heard suppressed groans of pain.

It was an ordinary Imperial civilian residence, divided into two rooms: an outer room for receiving guests and an inner room for sleeping. The boy was cautious, placing the interrogation in the more concealed inner room. Lin Yilan pried open a crack in the window to peek inside.

The severely wounded captive was not tied up. The boy fiercely interrogated him for military intelligence, stabbing the captive's shoulder wound whenever the answer came too slowly. The poor soldier bled all over the floor, his voice hoarse from pain.

The narrow window was impossible to enter through, and the angle was poor for aiming. Lin Yilan’s gaze paused on the enemy’s right hand holding the gun. She assessed the wounded man's situation, then loosened the window latch. Aiming at a rusty iron bucket more than ten meters away, she threw a stone.

The sudden clang nearby startled the person inside.

The boy put down the captive and left the inner room, moving to the door to investigate cautiously. The window opened silently a crack. With a gentle toss, an object arced through the air and landed beside the captive.

The despairing soldier’s eyes widened abruptly. In his dizzy vision, a gun had appeared. With no time to wonder where it came from, he looked around, reached out with his uninjured arm to grab it, and hid the gun at his side.

Lin Yilan watched the boy walk back from the door. She waited patiently for a moment. Soon, she heard a sharp gunshot. After waiting a while longer with no further movement, she slipped inside soundlessly.

Aside from his shoulder, the captured soldier had no new wounds. The gun had fallen by his hand. Due to excessive blood loss and the shock of firing the weapon, he had fallen into a deep coma.

Leaning in the corner of the room, the boy breathed heavily, blood seeping profusely from below his ribs. His trembling hand still gripped the gun. "It's actually a woman..."

The situation had formed a tense standoff. The opponent was barely an adult; Lin Yilan did not want to shoot. "I have no intention of killing. I just want to take my teammate back."

"Even if I die, I'm taking a cushion with me." The boy moved his pale lips, the dripping blood forming a small puddle on the ground. "You and him... just right..."

"Perhaps you should bandage that wound," Lin Yilan reminded him.

"And then you sneak attack me while I'm bandaging?" Hatred surfaced on the boy's childish face. His gaze was somewhat unfocused, and he laughed neurotically. "Trying to kill me isn't that easy. This morning I smashed a noble's leg with a Molotov cocktail. He looked ridiculous on fire, scared out of his wits. They deserve to go to hell, and you too. You're dogs of the nobility... It's a pity I failed, otherwise maybe I could..."

Despite his tough words, the boy obviously still wanted to live. But as the blood continued to flow, he shook more and more violently. In a little while, without any external force, he would pass out from blood loss.

Lin Yilan glanced at the soldier, who was also suffering severe blood loss. If this dragged on, both of them would die.

"Maybe you aren't afraid of death, but I don't want to die with you." She sighed.

"Coward!" The boy cursed and spat, contempt rising in his eyes. "How can the army have such a cowardly, incompetent woman like you?"

"I'm withdrawing. Please don't shoot—" With words of surrender, Lin Yilan dropped her gun.

The boy's focus slackened. Just as he was about to shoot, she lunged forward and slapped the gun out of his hand.

Lin Yilan effortlessly tied up the weak captive and tore a strip of bedsheet to bind the wound on his ribs.

"Shameless whore! Lowly—" The boy shouted abuse.

Lin Yilan did not indulge him. She stuffed a piece of cloth into his mouth, blocking all the vicious words. It was stuffed so full the boy nearly suffocated, leaving him only able to display his rage with spiteful eyes.

The soldier's breathing was extremely weak. Lacking medicine, she could only perform simple bandaging. Lin Yilan pressed the bandage tight, looking up to see the bound boy watching with a very strange gaze, as if gloating. A sudden chill struck her heart. She rolled sideways, dodging a fist by an inch.

Only after springing up did she realize a man had appeared behind her at some point.

With no time to retrieve her gun, she pulled the military knife from her boot to parry. After a few exchanges, the opponent also drew a short knife, and the situation instantly became perilous. The cold blade carried terrifying power. Dodging was difficult in the small room, and before long, her arm was aching.

She couldn't win, and she couldn't run. Against such an opponent, the slightest thought of retreat meant death.

The enemy was blocked by the bed frame, lagging slightly. Seizing the sliver of opportunity, Lin Yilan drove her knife down toward his shoulder and neck. The opponent shifted sideways, causing her strike to miss and embed itself in the wooden door, unable to be pulled out. Knowing she had been tricked, she immediately abandoned the knife, but before she could retract her hand, her arm was seized. A sharp pain struck the back of her neck, and she fell into total darkness.

Her muddled consciousness seemed to float in a void for a long time before suddenly plummeting. Lin Yilan woke up with a start.

It took quite a while to adjust to the pitch-black environment. During her unconsciousness, she seemed to have been moved to a semi-collapsed abandoned house. A slight movement sent pain shooting through her neck. She took a small breath and searched her field of vision for her gun and knife.

"Those things aren't here." A deep male voice suddenly spoke from a dark corner. "You know this is the slums. We're short on everything."

An enemy with absolutely no presence was terrifying. Sweat seeped from Lin Yilan’s back. It took a long moment before she spoke.

"Did you save me? Thank you."

"Thanking me for saving you, or thanking me for not killing you?" The man laughed, thick with mockery.

"Your Excellency must have risked danger to rescue someone from the rebels." Lin Yilan averted her eyes, avoiding the invisible yet oppressive gaze.

The man fell silent for a moment, then said indifferently, "I thought the army was full of idiots. It seems there are exceptions."

The residual dizziness remained. Lin Yilan steadied herself against the wall. "I am grateful, but military discipline requires me to return to my unit. I..."

"You think you can walk out of here?"

"It is truly regrettable. I was knocked unconscious and saw nothing, so I likely cannot repay Your Excellency." Catching a glimpse of a vague shadow, she quickly turned her head away again.

A click sounded in the darkness, and a flame danced to life, revealing a chiseled face. The lines of his mouth seemed curved in a mocking smile. The man carelessly lit a cigarette, halting her slightly shifting steps. "You've seen me now."

"I have a very poor memory." The smell of smoke spread. Lin Yilan held back a cough, her neck injury causing her temples to throb violently.

"First, you're a woman. Second, you didn't kill anyone. So I'm letting you go." The man played with the flint, flicking a piece of iron coated in phosphorus toward her. It glowed with a faint fluorescence in the dark. "Pin this to your left arm. Consider it an exchange for the weapons. Go out through the alley, turn left when you see a white house, and follow the wooden fence. Next time, you won't have such good luck."