The moon soared high up the dark sky, thinly cloaked by ghostly clouds. The wind was moderately chilly but the men gathered around the fire barely felt it.

"The emotional pain cuts deeper than what is physical," Tongjun Linghua said in a grave voice to his fellow officials. "With that simple guiding thought, we know where to attack Chixian Shenzhou."

The men around the fire were murmurring something among themselves while the others stayed silent.

"What exactly is your plan?" One of the officers asked with curiosity.

A slow malevolent smile made its way to Tongjun Linghua's thin lips.

"We will be attacking the village of the Imperial officials instead of just any random village. We will set fire upon their lands - reducing them into ashes; kill their pathetic men; satisfy our carnal desires with their women before killing those bitches; crush their useless children." Tongjun Linghua answered. "And, ultimately, enrich ourselves with the loots."

"Do you know what official to attack first?"

"Yes, of course," Tongjun Linghua smirked confidently, crossing his arms on his chest. "We will attack the Imperial Unit Commander's village instead of advancing further. All we need to do is take the other path of the village that we have just razed; from there, we will advance to the Imperial Unit Commander's village."

"Will it not be hard for us to penetrate the Unit Commander's village considering that we need to climb the perilous Mountain of Dark Skull?" the doubtful officer continued to fire another question.

"Where is your brain residing, Baron Xun Yun?" Tongjun Linghua mocked the officer who questioned him. He had grown irritated of Baron Xun Yun who always try to find an opportunity to oppugn each of his plans. Just because Baron Xun Yun was born with a silver spoon, it did not give him the privilege to act condescendingly towards him. He had to know his place; after all, he was still the Tongjun of this army. "The mountain of Dark Skull is not solely the way to the Unit Commander's village. We can traverse the back of the mountain, follow the river. There is an underground pathway, an abandoned mining site, that will lead us to our target. The Imperial spies will not expect us to go there considering that it is fraught with unimaginable dangers. It was fabled to be the dead miners' ghosts residence - utterly and completely inhabitable."

"Are you insane? Your plan is sublime foolishness - you are sending us straight to our graves!" Baron Xun Yun's eyes flared in indignation at Tongjun Linghua's mordacious words.

Tongjun Linghua sneered contemptuously at Baron Xun Yun before molding his face into an apathetic mask. "Are you afraid of the ghosts, Baron Xun Yun?"

"What kind of foolish question is that?"

Tongjun Linghua ignored Baron Xun Yun and explained his plan further, "Another thing, if we successfully wreck the Unit Commander's village, his attention will be diverted from his Imperial duties to his own personal predicament." His eyes took a darker sinister hue; he said, "I heard he has a daughter, a beautiful girl, maybe we can enjoy her before sending her pretty little head to her worthless father."

"You are brilliant, Tongjun," another officer, named Niu, said in amazement at Tongjun Linghua's plan.

Baron Xun Yun briefly clamped his lips together in disagreement to Niu's flattering words to Tongjun Linghua. He resumed his interrogation, "What exactly is the path that we are going to tread? How feasible is your plan? Are you sure that you are not sending us straight to an ambush?"

"Oh my, Oh my, our Baron Xun Yun is burning with curiosity." Tongjun Linghua said sarcastically with an aloof face before cracking up a false humorous smile. He lightly touched his chin, raising his other brow. "I wonder why."

"I need to know everything so that we can make sure that there are no loopholes! We only have one mission and that is to abduct the princess. The sooner we get the princess and give her to Lord Hsien Mao Dong, the better." Baron Xun Yun raised his voice in irritation, eyeing Tongjun Linghua intensely.

Tongjun Linghua shrugged his shoulders carelessly. He gave Baron Xun Yun an ironic smile. "That is exactly the purpose of this meeting, Baron Xun Yun."

The air between the two officials suddenly became charged as an invisible war rolled between the two.

"Here," Tongjun Linghua said frigidly after mentally battling with Baron Xun Yun. He unrolled a scroll and discussed the path that they would take to arrive to the Unit Commander's village and possible escape routes should the Imperial army try to ambush them and other military tactics.

All of the officers clapped in appreciation except for Baron Xun Yun who still appeared skeptical.

Tongjun Linghua eyed Baron Xun Yun and smiled at him meaningfully. "Oh, seeing that we have laid and discussed the plans, the meeting is adjourned. Let us rest, we have a long way ahead of us."

Baron Xun Yun tried to keep a blank face as he hurriedly scampered to his tent.

Tongjun Linghua silently observed Baron Xun Yun who was shaking with extreme ire as he entered his tent. He clucked his tongue in amusement before smirking. He eyed the dark sky and seriously contemplated against the darkness for a moment. He need to find a way to subdue that irking Baron.

"Niu," Tongjun Linghua called his subordinate who remained beside him.

"Yes, Tongjun?"

"I have noticed someone unusual," Tongjun Linghua started before pausing thoughtfully. He clamped his nosebridge with his fingers and continued, "It bothers me to no end, making my soul feel restless."

"What do you mean, Tongjun? What is it that you notice that bothers you?"

Tongjun Linghua's eyes turned into sharp slits and whispered to Niu, "I want you to kill Baron Xun Yun and, make it appear that he betrayed and left the army."

Niu's eyes widened in surprise. "But he is one of our comrades!"

Tongjun Linghua laughed in amusement before his gaze turned harsh again. "Don't be so naive, Niu. He betrayed his own Emperor! Do you think he can't do the same to Lord Hsien Mao Dong?"

Niu became silent, reflecting on Tongjun Linghua's words. His face creased in bafflement.

"Once a traitor, always a traitor!" Tongjun Linghua tried to persuade the confused Niu. "There is something you need to know - how do you think the Imperial armies know that we will be attacking this village? Aren't you a bit curious at there hasty response? Tell me, Niu! Tell me!" He angrily demanded, his face flustered with anger.

When Niu remained unresponsive, Tongjun Linghua grabbed him by the collar and hissed, "Baron Xun Yun betrayed us! He sent a message to the Imperial armies so that we would all die. If I had not intercepted some of his messages to the Imperial army, you would have not been breathing this air, seeing the moon shone bright against the murky sky nor stood with all your senses intact!"

Niu was flabbergasted by Tongjun Linghua's revelation but contemplated heavily on what the Tongjun told him. There was a great spectacle inside his mind but ultimately, he sighed wearily and stood for what was right to him. "I cannot let that deceitful bastard betray us." His eyes were serious as he held Tongjun Linghua's gaze with his. "I will do as you say and end the traitor Baron Xun Yun's pathetic life"

"Good," Tongjun Lingjua patted Niu patronizingly, seemingly pleased with the latter. "Remember, we are doing this for the glory of Hsien army. What profits our Lord Hsien Mao Dong, profits us, Niu. Never forget that."

°°°°°°°°°°

My dearest Li Lei Shuang,

I am writing this letter to inform you that we will not be seeing each other for sometime as my father forbids me to leave our house for my safety. I may not have personally delivered this letter or informed you but I hope that you won't think that I don't value your presence nor our friendship. I assure you, you will always remain my dearest and beloved best friend.

Don't fear for my safety for I shall very well take care of myself so as not to vex you. I may or may not write letters to you during the time of my absence but I promise you, once the war is over, I shall not write you a letter but personally visit you.

Please don't think anymore of nonsense such as compelling yourself to a marriage to a man like Lord Hsien Mao Dong. You are of pure heart and he is evil; you both just don't complement each other, he will only bring misery not only to you but to the Empire as well.

Stay safe for me and, I will do my best to stay safe and alive for you. I shall see you hopefully soon. Please keep me near your heart as you have always been to my heart.

By the way, with this letter is a silver necklace that looks like a moon, I hope you'll wear it as I have always carried the precious dagger you'd given me.

Your bestfriend,

Yan Mei Ling

Far from what Yan Mei Ling's letter seemed to imply, Li Lei Shuang did not feel any real sense of assurance. What she felt instead was an unusual coldness creeping to her and an inexplicable fear she could not fathom out.

When she held the necklace to her gaze, she saw its pendant took ceaseless turns as the gentle autumn breeze played with it. With every turn of the silver pendant, it created an illusion of light reflected from that of the lanterns hanging from her room's ceiling.

True, the necklace reminded her of the luminous moon as what Yan Mei Ling said in her letter. But the moon only gave out light when it reigned on the night sky; for when the dark wispy clouds began to hover on the vast cimmerian sky, the moon often got shrouded and imprisoned with no light to give during the dead of the night. No matter what her thoughts seemed to tread to, she still wore the necklace around her neck with the pendant placed near her heart; feeling Yan Mei Ling's presence in it.

She took another look at Yan Mei Ling's letter; though the characters were wonderfully written and the words full of exuberance, she felt a dark sense of foreboding. Tears of anguish began to fall from her eyes and, in her heart, she felt a vacancy that was sooner occupied with fear.

She did not want to nor dare to think but it seemed that letter she received from Yan Mei Ling tell her nothing but goodbye.

°°°°°

As the bright afternoon sky faded into grey, a solitary nightingale gracefully perched upon the birch tree's thin trunk in the outer courtyard of the Yans. When the feathery clouds thinly cloaked the crescent moon and silence began to sing, the bird began to hum its sweet melody.

Just in time that the garden frogs' voices joined that of the nightingale in the nocturnal hymn, Yan Mei Ling arrived and called for Yeng who immediately assisted her in changing her clothes.

"Yeng?" Yan Mei Ling called her maidservant's attention as soon as she was done changing into her sleeping robe.

Everything was bathed in darkness but for the table where the lamp lay burning.

"Yes, my lady?"

"I want you to listen very carefully to me," Yan Mei Ling seriously said as she looked into Yeng's eyes. "I have heard that the Hsein clan did not only headed East but in every part of the Empire, at any time, his army will possibly arrive in our village."

"My lady!" Yeng exclaimed in fear. Tears began to form in her eyes.

"Don't cry, Yeng," Yan Mei Ling held her maidservant's hands with that of hers in comfort. "Listen, my father has not returned nor sent me any letter but we cannot wait for his signal. For the safety of the people in the village, we must immediately act before it is too late. Now, go to the village and tell them that my father, the Unit Commander, commands all of them to go to the mountain. You know where Master Tang Jiao Quon is, take them there. Make sure that you bring enough food. Bring everything that is needed."

"What if they won't believe me, my lady?"

"Don't worry, I will be writing a letter with my father's seal, that would be enough to convince all of them."

"But what about you, my lady? Are you not going with us to the mountain?"

Yan Mei Ling smiled but her eyes were blurry. "Don't worry about me, Yeng. I already enlisted myself in the army as Tang Lao Fang, 'The Ninja boy'."

"Oh, my lady," Yeng sobbed frantically. "That is dangerous! What if something bad happens to you? What if your father returns and finds out that everyone in the village are gone, including you?"

"Don't worry about my father's reaction, I have already taken cared of that." Yan Mei Ling paused for a moment, mentally cringing for that small lie, before continuing. "Don't worry about me. I assure you, I will be safe and, I promise to come back to get you and the villagers once the war is over."

"My lady, why can't you just go with us to the mountain?" Yeng tearfully pleaded as she covered her face with her hands.

"I can't," Mei Ling said sadly. "I need to do what is right. It may not be the safest but it is the only sensible thing to do. Oh, Yeng, I have just made the most important decision in my life."

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Author's Note:

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