The infirmary wing of mount Jinghu was quite, save for the soft click of porcelain and the flicker of robes— simmering somewhere beyond the paper walls. It smelled faintly of those numerous herbs in rows, and clean linen. Lantern light fell soft and golden over gauze and steel.
JiLan sat on the edge of a bed, back straight despite the thick bandages swathing her right shoulder and upper half of her chest. Her simple disciple robes hung slightly askew, revealing the pale skin and surprisingly defined muscles of her uninjured arm. Save for the physician beside her — a slender woman with laughter in her eyes — wrapped a fresh strip around JiLan's shoulder, her fingers brushing against skin that still shimmered faintly with spiritual residue.
"Hold still," the doctor murmured, though her tone was anything but stern. She carefully adjusted the final wrap with her nimble fingers.
"Honestly, miss Lian, the speed at which you're healing is remarkable," the doctor chirped, as she heaved a sigh after finishing. "You heal faster than most beasts I've seen. Are you sure you're human?"
LiuYan smiled faintly, her voice low and amused. "Maybe half. Or maybe...I was a dragon in my last life."
The doctor laughed softly, leaning a little too close. "Then next time, remind me not to test a dragon's patience."
LiuYan tilted her head toward her, her lips quirking into a smirk . "You already have— but, you're still breathing." Her voice dropped to a whisper by the end of the sentence.
The doctor froze for half a heartbeat, then chuckled — half nervous, half charmed. "Flattery might earn you an extra honey cake, but don't think I didn't see you barely wince when I set the bone. Tough one, aren't you?"
That was the moment Lin Yuehan stepped silently through the doorway. Her boots made no sound on the polished floor, but LiuYan's shoulders tensed almost imperceptibly — the barest flicker of awareness that someone strong had entered the room.
" tough? If you say so…" her voice was somewhat flirty. "but I like the sweet plum soup you made last time, more…"
The doctor didn't notice. She was still talking, brushing away a stray lock of LiuYan's hair.
But Yuehan noticed everything. The way the physician's fingers lingered too long. The way LiuYan didn't seem to mind.
Something twisted beneath Yuehan's ribs. A strange, unfamiliar tightness clenched in her chest as she saw the— somewhat way too easy camaraderie between the two.
All she could do was clear out her throat— very loudly. Both women, who were busy flirting, turned. The doctor, however, with that same teasing grin, called out.
"Ah, Yuehan! Come to check on my miraculous patient?"
Yuehan stepped forward, her face impassive, though her eyes briefly — involuntarily — flicked to the pale line of LiuYan's collarbone above the bandage. " Yours?... arguable…" An unwanted scoffed escaped her mouth, without a warning.
"Doctor, I believe the recovery is proceeding well?"
"Perfectly!" the doctor announced, stepping back. "As I was just telling miss Lian, it's astonishing. The bone is already beginning to knit, and the poison is completely purged. She's free to return to her quarters."
Yuehan nodded, her gaze sweeping over LiuYan again, lingering for a fraction of a second on the wound. Her eyes locked on to LiuYan's for a second, sending an unwanted glare. "A miracle indeed," she echoed, her voice flat.
LiuYan tilted her head slightly, her eyebrow raised— that wordless gesture Yuehan just started to recognize—what's your problem?
The doctor checked LiuYan's pulse for the last time. "Don't tear the wound open again, Dragon Girl."
Yuehan's jaw twitched. "Dragon Girl? What the hell?—"
LiuYan laugh at the doctor's words as she slid off the bed, moving with a fluid grace that seemed impossible for someone with such a severe injuries. Yuehan's eyes traced the line of movement as LiuYan rolled her shoulder lightly, testing it.
She moved as if the wound didn't exist.
Yuehan turned her gaze away in annoyance when the doctor helped LiuYan to fix her robes. LiuYan gave the doctor a grateful nod. "I must mention, you have a great build, miss Lian" Yuehan's head snap towards LiuYan when the doctor's words dropped.
LiuYan smiled. "Thank you for your care, Doctor. I'll be on my way" Then, turning to Yuehan, she gave a slight, formal bow. "General." She began to walk towards the door. All Yuehan could do was stare at the direction she left.
The doctor waited until the sound of her footsteps faded, then said, "Just follow her, slowpoke. She can't read your mind, you know."
Yuehan turned, startled, a questioning look on her face.
"What?" the lady doctor grinned, wiping her hands on a cloth. "Don't tell me you don't want to talk to that mysterious, yet beautiful hero who saved your life?"
Yuehan shot her friend a glare that could freeze fire and strode out of the infirmary, following the retreating figure in pale lavender robes.
She walked a few paces behind, lost in thought. The girl – Lian Zhiqiu – was an enigma. The daughter of a merchant? Impossible. Her knowledge, her skill, her chilling composure… and that brief, terrifying flash of utter ruthlessness. Yet, she had taken a blade meant for her. Why? And why did the thought of her joking with another cause such an annoying prickle under her skin?
" Perhaps--- because she isn't the same with me?..." her inner voice answered.
"Are we going to stand like this all night, General?"
Yuehan was so lost in her thoughts , that she didn't even realized that she was standing too close to LiuYan, who had stopped just before the door to her own quarters, waiting.
Yuehan snapped back to herself, feeling heat rise on her cheeks. She looked at LiuYan, who tilted her head again, waiting. She backed away immediately.
"Come in. Unless you plan to keep watching me from the shadows."
Yuehan stiffened, But still stepped forward. LiuYan opened the door, gesturing for her to enter first. Yuehan stepped into the simple, clean room, and LiuYan followed, closing the door behind them. An awkward silence fell.
Inside, the room smelled faintly of sandalwood and cherry blossom. A single candle burned on the low table.
" You surely know how to get your way around with— women…. Don't you?.." The question was something that came involuntarily seeing that look in LiuYan's eyes.
"Pardon me... General Lin, but I can't seems to figure out what you mean--- "
" Dragon girl, great built..." Yuehan's eyes narrowed in unwanted annoyance, eyeing LiuYan up and down. "sweet plum soup... What was that??"
LiuYan's smirk turn into a mocking laugh. " A simple act of novel gesture— can't blame the ladies by the way…. But wait. How does that concern the great lotus general?.."
Yuehan stare at her for a heartbeat before looking away, her cheeks burning under the candlelight.
"How's your wound?" Yuehan asked, ignoring the previous question. Her tone regain the professionalism— though her eyes betrayed the question's weight.
LiuYan looked at her for a moment, a slight smirk playing at her lips. She gestured for her to sit.
"It's fine."
Yuehan hesitated, then sat by the window, watching the faint moonlight spill across the tatami. JiLan moved to the small table where a pitcher of water and cups rested. "Would you care for something to drink?"
"Do you drink?" Yuehan asked, surprised.
JiLan paused. "Not that kind of drink," she clarified, a faint disapproval in her tone. "I find strong spirits cloud the mind. Anything else?"
Yuehan studied her face for a moment, finding only sincerity. "What do you usually drink?."
JiLan turned, holding out the empty cup. "Water. Like a mortal. Do you want some?"
Yuehan's lips curved, barely. " Ok…"
JiLan nodded and poured two cups, her movements smooth and economical despite her injury. She handed one to Yuehan. As their fingers brushed, Yuehan felt another unexpected jolt.
"Doesn't it hurt?" Yuehan asked abruptly, watching LiuYan move her injured arm without a flicker of pain.
JiLan took a sip of water. "With time, you'll learn to manage it." She met Yuehan's gaze. "It's nothing."
Yuehan looked down at her own hands. "How long?"
"How long what, General?"
"How long have you been training?"
JiLan didn't answer immediately. But when Yuehan looked up, she found those unnerving silver eyes already watching her. Yuehan felt a flicker of impatience.
"If you wish to ask something, General," JiLan said softly, "it is more efficient to be direct."
Yuehan sighed, then gestured for JiLan to sit beside her. After a moment's pause, she obeyed.
Yuehan took a breath, meeting the challenge. "How long?" she repeated.
"Since seven."
Seven. Yuehan processed that. She herself had started at five. "Who was your master?"
A faint, nasal laugh escaped JiLan. "Me."
Yuehan's head snapped towards her. JiLan was watching her, a ghost of a smile playing on her lips. "I trained myself" her gaze turn to the window. "Every technique you see… I refined them. Created them." She looked back at Yuehan. "That's why you're here, aren't you? Because you saw patterns that wasn't in your books."
Yuehan was genuinely stunned. "How can you… read people like that?"
"I smell them."
"What—?" Yuehan almost choked.
JiLan laughed — a real laugh this time, warm and unguarded. It was startlingly beautiful. Yuehan felt her cheeks warm again.
"I read patterns. Expressions. Micro-movements. Most people are quite loud in their silence." JiLan turned her gaze back to Yuehan, looking at her up and down. "You, for instance, wear your curiosity like a banner."
Yuehan became flushed again. "So you knew about the test?"
"Partially," JiLan admitted. "But your setup was… obvious."
"What do you mean obvious?—"
" Your spies being wiped out by the Han clan, Intel circles falling, and that duel wielder now….. You got lot in your plates general—"
"You also seem remarkably well-informed about the Han Clan's recent activities," Yuehan pressed, testing her. "For a merchant's daughter."
LiuYan took another sip of water, completely unruffled. "For merchants, Information travels faster than coin. News of border skirmishes travels fast, especially when it disrupts commerce. You'd be surprised how much a silk trader hears."
"Then tell me," Yuehan said, leaning forward slightly. "What do you know of the Phantom General?"
JiLan paused. "The Phantom General? Why would you think I know anything about that person?" She tilted her head, a playful, almost pitying look in her eyes.
Yuehan frowned, thrown off balance by the casual emphasis. " Who doesn't?"
JiLan was quite surprised " How popular is that person in your area — I mean someone like for you to be interested in.... Also what makes you think I'm the same as you...?"
Yuehan didn't gave a direct answer. She didn't has to.
"It's not about any interest. He commands the West. But you-- " yuehan's eyes examined JiLan's for a while. "His tactics… your knowledge… there are-- kind of parallels."
LiuYan set her cup down, her amusement fading into something colder. "Parallels? General Lin, are you suggesting that every competent strategie must have came from the Phantom General? What about General Han?. He's the real leader of the West. Not the phantom general." Her voice was cool, yet it gave off that unnatural murderous aura.
"Or that only a man could possess such skills?... Aren't you woman with all those abilities too…." She shook her head slowly, looking down.
"You spend too much time on this mountain, little general. Being a cavewoman doesn't suit you."
Yuehan's composure finally snapped. The implication, the condescension, the casual dismissive tone—it was too much. "How dare you!" she hissed, rising to her feet, her hand instinctively went to her sword hilt. "You forget your place, disciple!"
Yuehan's breath hitched as LiuYan remained seated, utterly unfazed by her outburst. The woman simply looked up at her, and the amusement in her eyes was replaced by a chilling, absolute stillness. Her voice dropped to a low, dangerous whisper that cut through Yuehan's anger like ice.
"My place?"
LiuYan rose. Not quickly, but with a slow, deliberate grace that was somehow more intimidating than any sudden movement. She didn't raise her voice. She simply closed the distance between them, stepping into Yuehan's personal space until they were impossibly close. Yuehan, startled by the sudden proximity and the sheer, overwhelming presence emanating from the woman before her, instinctively took a step back, bumping against the cool wood of the wall.
LiuYan leaned in, her silver eyes holding Yuehan captive, her breath warm against Yuehan's ear as she whispered, the words both a question and a dismissal.
"Who are you to define it?"
Yuehan froze, her heart hammering against her ribs. The scent of faint plum blossoms and something cold, like winter snow, seemed to emanate from LiuYan. It wasn't threatening, not exactly, but it was absolute... Unyielding.
LiuYan drew back, letting the air breathe again between them. "I fought alongside her at the eastern borders," she said evenly, brushing invisible dust from her sleeve. "That's her, General...The Phantom General-- is a woman, not a man."
The world tilted again for Yuehan. A woman? The legendary, terrifying Phantom General, whose name alone could make demons tremble… was a woman? The strategic analyses she'd read, the reports, the assumptions—all shattered. Her mind raced, trying to recalibrate.
LiuYan turned back, catching the undisguised shock on Yuehan's face. She scoffed softly. "See? I told you. An open book." She said gesturing at Yuehan's face.
Yuehan snapped back to herself, irritation mixing with her confusion. She hated that flicker of embarrassment that rushed up her neck. Why couldn't she hold steady under that gaze?
She looked away, taking another involuntary step back, feeling strangely unable to bear the weight of LiuYan's calm, knowing gaze. "What… what is she, to you?" she asked, her voice tight.
JiLan studied her face carefully, assessing her reaction. "A mentor, of sorts," she replied slowly, choosing her words with precision.
Yuehan looked back at her, sensing an unspoken 'but'. "And?"
A smile ghosted across JiLan's lips, brief and dangerous. "She's like me. She reminds me of my darkest parts. And perhaps… that's where you see similarities."
Yuehan sank back onto the cushion, her mind reeling. Another female General. A mentor who reflected this girl's darkness. It was a plausible explanation, yet it felt incomplete. "Tell me more," she commanded, her curiosity overriding her caution.
JiLan tilted her head, looking down at her, the amusement back in her eyes. "Why would I, General? What makes you think I would share my personal history with you? We are not friends. We barely even know each other."
Yuehan glared, stung by the reminder and the casual dismissal. "You think if you don't tell me, I can't find out for myself?"
JiLan leaned one shoulder against the wall, regarding her with unreadable calm.
"Isn't that why you're here? You couldn't find anything—suspicious."
Yuehan felt a flush of anger and embarrassment rise. She had been played. This woman hadn't just seen through her test; she had anticipated her follow-up too.