The prisoners knelt in a huddled line, wrists bound, faces streaked with ash and fear. Their armor bore the colors of a minor frontier clan—but the insignias had been scraped away, as if someone didn't want them identified too easily.
Smoke from the dying fires drifted through the air as Jeng Minh approached. General Feng and several officers flanked him, tense and alert.
One of the prisoners lifted his head."My lord… we beg your mercy."
Jeng Minh studied him carefully. He wasn't old—maybe mid-thirties—with the hardened look of someone who had seen too many winters on the battlefield. But his eyes… his eyes were terrified in a way that felt wrong for a mercenary.
"What clan are you from?"
The man swallowed hard. "We… we don't know anymore."
General Feng frowned sharply. "Nonsense. You expect us to believe you lost your clan?"
The prisoner shook his head quickly. "No, my lord. We were taken. Sold. Bought. Our crests burned off. And then—" His voice dropped to a trembling whisper. "Then the man in the white mask came."
A chill crawled up Jeng Minh's spine.
"What did he tell you?" he asked.
"That we were to strike your camp at night." The prisoner shivered violently. "He gave us silver. Enough to feed our families for a year. But he also said… if we failed, our souls would be claimed."
Murmurs spread among the officers.
General Feng scowled. "Empty threats meant to scare desperate men."
But the prisoner looked up with haunted eyes. "No… no, my lord. It wasn't an empty threat. When one of us tried to flee—" He pointed vaguely toward the forest, voice cracking. "He didn't even scream. He simply… fell. As though something gripped his heart from the inside."
The other prisoners nodded frantically.
Jeng Minh felt cold settle deep in his bones.
A force that can kill with a gesture…? Is that what revived Zhou Chen's body?
General Feng pressed on. "Describe the masked man."
The prisoner hesitated. "Tall. Unnaturally so. His voice… echoed. He wore black armor and a white mask. But not like the man tonight. His mask had… horns."
Jeng Minh stiffened.
Not Bai Ye. Someone else.
A second masked faction. Or a rival within the same mysterious order.
Either way, someone wanted Zhou Chen dead—while Bai Ye wanted him alive.
"Why did he want Zhou Chen killed?" Jeng Minh asked quietly.
The prisoners exchanged terrified looks. Finally, the first man whispered:
"He said… 'When the vessel awakens, the chain will break.'He said your death would keep the world safe."
Jeng Minh felt the world tilt beneath him.
Awaken. Vessel. Chain. Break.
Everything echoed Bai Ye's words, but twisted with different intent.
Someone feared him.Someone wanted him ended before he truly began.
General Feng's voice thundered, snapping Jeng Minh back to the moment.
"These men were used. They are not the real enemy." He turned to Jeng Minh. "My lord, what shall we do with them?"
All eyes turned to him—hundreds of soldiers watching, waiting for the Iron Wolf's judgment.
Zhou Chen's reputation whispered in Jeng Minh's ear:
The Iron Wolf shows no mercy.
But Jeng Minh wasn't Zhou Chen.
He had to be better.
"You will release them," Jeng Minh said firmly.
Gasps rippled through the ranks.
General Feng stared, stunned. "My lord—these men attacked our camp!"
"They did what they were forced to do."Jeng Minh stepped closer to the prisoners. "And now they have given us valuable information. If we kill them, we gain nothing. If we let them live, we gain people who may one day speak in our favor."
The prisoners bowed so low their foreheads touched the dirt.
General Feng hesitated—then slowly nodded.
"As you command."
As they were led away, Jeng Minh exhaled shakily. Feng approached him quietly.
"You spared them." His voice was unreadable. "That was… unlike you."
Jeng Minh looked him in the eye. "Perhaps the Zhou Chen you knew died tonight after all."
A dangerous statement. But Feng didn't recoil. Instead, he studied Jeng Minh with newfound calculation.
"Then whoever you are now," Feng said softly, "you are a better lord than the old one."
Before Jeng Minh could respond, a shout came from the eastern watchtower.
"Message! A message from the capital!"
A mounted courier galloped into camp, bearing a sealed scroll with imperial colors.
General Feng took it, eyes widening as he read.
"My lord… the Emperor has summoned you to the capital."
The officers stiffened.
The Emperor never summoned frontier warlords lightly.
Jeng Minh asked, "For what purpose?"
Feng swallowed.
"To answer accusations," he said grimly. "Accusations that you… tried to rebel."
A chill traced down Jeng Minh's spine.
Rebellion? Now? Before he even settled into this body?
From the forest, the wind carried a faint whisper—as if mocking him.
Three moons until Bai Ye returned.A masked enemy who wanted him dead.The Emperor demanding his presence under suspicion of treason.
Whatever game Zhou Chen had been a pawn in…Jeng Minh had just stepped straight into the center of the board.
And every player was already watching him.
The Iron Wolf's vessel had awakened.And the world had noticed.