Jin Mulan was now six months and a week into her pregnancy. The past weeks had been some of the happiest she had ever experienced. Luo He and she often went on long journeys across the realm, seated in a grand carriage escorted by 500 of their finest soldiers.
They passed through lush green valleys where the wind carried the scent of fresh grass, through lively market towns filled with laughter and music, and along quiet lakes that reflected the sky like polished glass. They tasted rare foods, sampled delicacies from distant lands, and examined colorful silks and crafted wares brought by traveling merchants.
Jin Mulan laughed more freely than she had in years. There was a softness to her now, a calm strength. Luo He often found himself watching her in silence the way her eyes lit up at small things, the way her hand would rest gently over her stomach.
"These days" she said once, leaning slightly against him as the carriage rolled forward, "I almost wish time would slow down." Luo He glanced at her, a faint smile forming. "If it did, we would grow careless." She looked at him. "And if it doesn't?"
His expression sharpened slightly. "Then we make use of every moment before it ends." And deep down, he knew this peace would not last. The time came again for Luo He to leave.
Reports had arrived. The remnants of the Xu family had taken refuge under the protection of the ShaMo King a ruler feared not just for his strength, but for his nature. A man driven by greed, power, and the pride of an unconquered land.
His kingdom lay far to the east a vast desert stretching endlessly, nearly 80% sand and barren land. The wind there did not whisper it howled. The sun did not warm it burned. And yet, his people thrived.
They were hardened by the desert. Men with thick beards, rough hands, and unbreakable will. They hunted, fought, and lived in a land where weakness meant death. Though the ShaMo King commanded an army of only 100,000 men, the terrain itself made them nearly impossible to defeat. Western kingdoms had tried and failed. Not because they lacked strength, but because they could not survive the land long enough to fight.
Luo He chose to lead a small force.
Twelve elite men including. A cook and a handful of soldiers. Nothing more.
No banners. No army. Only precision.
"There are no borders guars?" one soldier muttered quietly as they crossed into the desert.
"Only death," another replied under his breath. Luo He walked ahead, unaffected by the heat that pressed down like a weight on the soul. His expression remained calm, unreadable. Behind him, the men endured in silence, though sweat soaked their clothes and the heat clawed at their lungs. They did not complain to him. They knew better.
After days of travel, the endless dunes finally shifted. Shapes appeared in the distance structures carved into the sand itself gleaming in gold. Then she appeared.
The ShaMo King's daughter.
A towering figure. Six foot four. Broad-shouldered, powerful, her presence alone commanding the space around her. She stood firm like a pillar against the desert wind, her long hair tied back, her arms bare, marked with faint scars of past battles. Her eyes locked onto Luo He immediately. Sharp. Suspicious.
Deadly.
"You've come far," she said, her voice steady but edged with threat. "Too far for outsiders." Her hand moved slightly toward the weapon at her side a naginata. "Turn back," she added. "Or you will not leave."
Luo He stepped forward without hesitation. His voice was calm. Controlled. "We come in peace." The wind howled between them.
"We seek no conflict. Only an audience with your father the great Desert King."
She studied him.
Not just his words his stance, his breathing, his eyes. There was no fear.
That alone made him dangerous.
"You speak boldly," she said slowly.
"And you listen well," Luo He replied.
A brief pause. Then unexpectedly she lowered her guard slightly. "Follow me," she said. "If you lie, you die."
They had not gone far when the wind shifted. Then came the sand storm.
A violent sandstorm erupted without warning. The air screamed. Sand tore through the wind like blades, cutting visibility to nothing. Horses panicked, men struggled to keep footing as the ground itself seemed to shift beneath them.
"Hold formation!" Luo He commanded sharply. Even his voice was nearly swallowed by the storm. The princess reacted instantly. "This way!" she shouted. She moved through the storm like she belonged to it, guiding them toward a hidden opening barely visible beneath the swirling sand. A cave.
They rushed inside just as the storm intensified. The difference was immediate. The roar outside became a distant thunder. Inside the air was cooler. Still. Safe.
The cave stretched deeper than expected, narrow at first, then opening into a vast chamber. Torches lined the walls, their flames dancing in the faint currents of air. Carvings marked the stone beasts of the desert, symbols of power, stories etched into rock.
This was not just a shelter. It was a fortress hidden within the land itself.
Luo He's gaze moved slowly, taking everything in. Now he understood.
Why the west had failed. Why this kingdom stood unconquered.
"This is our land," the princess said, watching him closely. "Even the storm fights for us."
Luo He gave a faint nod. "Yes," he said quietly. "And that is why force alone will never defeat you." He turned slightly, his mind already working. This was not a kingdom that could be crushed. It had to be turned. Bent.
Controlled without them realizing it.
"The ShaMo people " Luo He murmured to himself. "They follow strength. But more than that they follow what they believe is right." He looked deeper into the cave, where the path continued further within. "If I defeat their strength, they resist." "If I break their will, they rebel." "But if I guide their belief"
A faint smile appeared. "They will follow on their own."
Behind him, the storm continued to rage.
But inside everything was calm. Calculated. Controlled. Luo He's eyes sharpened. The Xu family was here.
The ShaMo King was here. And this desert this unconquerable land was now part of his battlefield. And Luo He was ready.
The storm outside raged with relentless fury, sand lashing against the cave entrance like sharp needles. The wind carried the scent of hot stone and arid earth, and the sun beyond the dunes glinted faintly through the swirling haze. Luo He adjusted his cloak, the fine dust settling in his hair, and nodded to his twelve men.
"Stay alert. Every step from here counts," he said calmly, his voice slicing through the muffled roar of the sandstorm.
The ShaMo princess, towering and imposing, led them carefully along a narrow passage that twisted and dipped through the dunes. "Few outsiders make it this far," she said, her voice echoing faintly against the stone walls.
"Most who try to cross the desert are lost before nightfall or worse." Luo He gave a faint smile. "We are not most. We are being lead by the princess her self we won't get lost." After what felt like hours, the cave opened into a vast chamber, a natural amphitheater sculpted by wind and time.
Torches flickered along jagged walls, casting long shadows across the sand strewn floor. At its center sat a massive figure, cloaked in deep crimson robes, his presence as commanding as the desert sun itself. The ShaMo King legendary and terrifying leaned slightly forward on a stone throne carved with symbols of sun, sand, and predator beasts.
His eyes, dark and calculating, scanned Luo He's small group. "You are bold," the king's voice rumbled like distant thunder. "To enter my lands with so few men. Few survive the desert alone, yet here you stand. Who are you?"