In the dead of night, Xun Wei and her team arrived before a fortified city. Tall stone walls loomed in silence, lanterns flickering faintly along the battlements.
Above the gate, a single plaque hung.
[ Song Clan ]
The guards stiffened the instant they saw the approaching figures.
"You there—state your name and—"
The words died in the man's throat.
The crests stitched onto their robes were unmistakable.
Li Clan.
Hostile.
"H–Halt!" one guard barked, though his voice trembled as spears were raised in shaking hands.
Xun Wei continued forward without slowing.
Her gray eyes were visible now—flat, sharp, reflecting the moonlight like cold steel. There was no rage in them. No excitement. Only intent. The kind that had already decided how this would end.
She unsheathed her sword slowly, deliberately, the blade angled down at her side. With a slight twist of her wrist, the steel caught the moon's light and flared brilliantly.
The guards flinched.
