The forest was deceptively quiet, the kind of silence that carried an undercurrent of tension. Each crunch of fallen leaves beneath their boots felt amplified, every snap of a distant branch like a warning. Hu Jun walked ahead, his crimson eyes scanning the path, while the stranger followed a few paces behind, her presence as steady as a shadow.
The woman hadn't offered her name, and Hu Jun hadn't asked. Her amber gaze and resolute demeanor told him enough—she wasn't here to coddle him or preach redemption. Whatever her intentions, she was testing him, and he wasn't sure he liked it.
"Do you plan to follow me in silence the entire way?" he finally asked, his voice cutting through the stillness.
The woman smirked faintly. "You don't seem like the type who enjoys small talk."
"Small talk isn't going to help you survive out here," he muttered.
"Neither is brooding," she shot back.
Hu Jun glanced over his shoulder, a hint of irritation flickering in his expression. "And yet here you are, tagging along with a 'brooding' monster."
She shrugged, unfazed by his tone. "Maybe I'm curious. Or maybe I think there's more to you than what the stories say."
"Stories," he repeated bitterly, his steps slowing. "What do they say?"
"That you're a force of destruction," she replied without hesitation. "That you've burned villages, crushed armies, and slaughtered anyone who stood in your way."
"Sounds accurate," he said, though his voice was hollow.
"But they also say you used to be different," she continued, her gaze sharp. "That you once fought for people, not against them. That you had a cause worth believing in."
Hu Jun stopped, turning to face her fully. "And you think that man still exists?"
"I don't know," she admitted, meeting his gaze. "But I think you do."
Her words struck a nerve, though he masked it well. He turned away again, resuming his march through the forest. "You don't know anything about me," he said quietly.
"I know enough to see you're carrying a burden," she said, keeping pace. "One that's crushing you."
He said nothing, his grip tightening on the hilt of his sword.
As they continued, the trees began to thin, revealing the charred remains of what had once been a village. Blackened beams jutted from the earth like skeletal fingers, and the acrid scent of smoke lingered in the air, even though the fires had long since died out.
Hu Jun froze, his breath catching. The sight was all too familiar.
"Did you do this?" the woman asked, her voice low.
He didn't answer immediately. His gaze swept over the ruins, the memories clawing at the edges of his mind. "No," he said at last. "But I've seen it before. Too many times."
They moved cautiously through the village, the silence here even more oppressive than the forest. The remnants of lives once lived lay scattered—broken pottery, singed toys, a faded painting of a family that no longer existed.
The woman knelt beside a pile of rubble, her fingers brushing against something half-buried. She pulled it free—a rusted amulet, its surface etched with a symbol Hu Jun recognized instantly.
"The Silver Conclave," he said, his voice tight.
She held it up, her eyes narrowing. "This wasn't just a random attack. They were here."
Hu Jun's jaw clenched. He had no love for the Conclave, not after what they had done to him and countless others. But the sight of this devastation stirred something deeper—a memory of the promises he had once made to protect the innocent, promises he had shattered along the way.
"Why would they attack a village like this?" she asked, rising to her feet.
"To send a message," he said grimly. "Or to cover their tracks."
The woman studied him, her amber eyes searching his face. "What kind of tracks?"
"Whatever they were hiding," he said, stepping forward. "We need to find it."
They began sifting through the wreckage, the woman's sharp eyes scanning every detail while Hu Jun relied on his instincts. It wasn't long before they found something unusual—a section of earth that looked disturbed, as though it had been recently dug up and hastily covered.
Hu Jun drove his sword into the ground, prying it open. Beneath the surface, they found a trapdoor, its edges scorched but intact. He glanced at the woman, who nodded silently.
He pulled it open, revealing a set of stone steps leading into darkness. A faint, acrid smell wafted up—a mix of chemicals and decay.
"Looks like they left in a hurry," the woman said, peering into the gloom.
"Or they didn't expect anyone to find this," Hu Jun replied.
Without hesitation, he descended the stairs, the woman close behind. The air grew colder as they went deeper, the walls damp and uneven. At the bottom, they found a chamber lined with shelves, each one filled with strange vials and scrolls.
Hu Jun picked up a scroll, unrolling it carefully. The text was written in a language he didn't recognize, but the symbols were unmistakable—glyphs of binding, control, and corruption.
"The Conclave's experiments," he muttered, his grip tightening on the parchment.
The woman frowned, picking up a vial filled with a viscous, dark liquid. "What were they doing here?"
"Something they didn't want anyone to find," he said, his voice low.
Before she could respond, a sound echoed from above—a faint shuffle, followed by the creak of the trapdoor.
Hu Jun's eyes met hers, his expression hardening. "We're not alone."
Drawing his sword, he stepped toward the stairs, his every sense on high alert. The woman readied her staff, her posture tense but controlled.
The shadows at the top of the stairs shifted, and a figure appeared—a hooded silhouette with eyes that glowed a sickly green.
"Leaving so soon?" the figure said, its voice cold and mocking.
Hu Jun's grip on his sword tightened, the crimson light of his eyes flaring. "Depends. Are you here to talk or die?"
The figure laughed, a hollow, menacing sound. "I suppose that depends on you, Broken Villain."
The tension in the air was electric, the chamber filled with the promise of violence. Hu Jun took a step forward, the weight of his choices and the fire of his fury fueling him.
"Then let's find out."
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