CHAPTER 12 — WHERE BLOOD REMEMBERS LOVE
1407 Words
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The Forest Becomes a Battlefield
Yanfei and Lian Zhen sprinted through the trees as the thunder of hooves grew louder. Branches whipped past. The air tasted of metal and panic.
Behind them, Rui Shen didn’t chase.
He turned around.
Steel flashed. His body tensed, his eyes darkened, and he stepped into the center of the trail like a man who had nothing left to lose.
The first imperial scout burst into the clearing.
Rui Shen moved.
One heartbeat.
One s***h.
One body dropping.
The forest went still.
Then the horn sounded.
Sharp.
Shrill.
Alarmed.
More soldiers poured forward.
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Yanfei Looks Back — and Breaks Inside
Yanfei tripped slightly as she climbed a slope. Lian Zhen steadied her.
“Don’t look back,” he warned.
She looked back anyway.
She saw Rui Shen alone in the narrowing path — outnumbered, unarmored, but unafraid. She saw him cut through a rider and spin, blocking three more.
She saw him bleed.
Her breath shattered.
He wasn’t hunting her anymore.
He was protecting her.
Lian Zhen dragged her. “Yanfei—if they catch us, it’s over!”
But the image wouldn’t leave her mind.
Why was Rui Shen fighting them?
Why would he protect her… after everything?
Why would he betray the Emperor who raised him?
Because, a small voice whispered in her chest:
He was never the Emperor’s weapon.
He was yours.
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Rui Shen’s War for One Woman
Rui Shen tore a spear from an enemy’s hands and stabbed him backward, gasping for air. Blood splattered across his cheek.
Another arrow whistled toward his chest.
He caught it mid-air.
His hand shook.
“So the Emperor sent hunters too…” he muttered.
“Good.”
More soldiers approached. Rui Shen’s breaths grew ragged.
“None of you…”
He raised his sword.
“…will touch her.”
His legs trembled, but his eyes blazed with feral determination.
He fought not like a general — not with technique or strategy.
He fought like a man burning alive.
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Yanfei Feels a Pain She Doesn’t Understand
Yanfei stumbled, pressing a hand to her chest.
It hurt.
Why did it hurt?
Lian Zhen noticed it. “Yanfei, what’s wrong?”
She shook her head, swallowing hard. “He… he’s fighting them alone.”
Lian Zhen’s jaw tightened. “He chose his fate. You owe him nothing.”
But Yanfei felt tears pricking her eyes.
“He’ll die.”
Lian Zhen exhaled sharply. “If he dies, it’s because he finally picked the right side—too late.”
But Yanfei didn’t move.
She couldn’t.
The forest echoed with clashing steel. Rui Shen’s voice. Shouts. Pain.
Yanfei pressed a trembling hand to her lips.
Why did hearing Rui Shen hurt feel like a knife through her?
Why did she want to run back?
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Rui Shen’s Breaking Point
A spear pierced Rui Shen’s side.
He staggered back, gasping as blood soaked his shirt. His hand clamped over the wound, but his eyes never left the forest path Yanfei escaped through.
Another soldier charged.
Rui Shen gritted his teeth and drove his blade upward, killing him instantly.
But his knees dropped into the mud.
His breath heaved.
He was falling apart.
“Yanfei…” he whispered.
“I can’t lose you. Not again. Not ever.”
His vision darkened.
He forced himself upright.
“I haven’t earned the right to die yet.”
He stepped forward again, swaying but unbroken.
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The Empire’s Elite Arrives
A new group emerged from the trees—armored in black, bearing the crimson insignia of the Emperor.
The Black Talons.
The Emperor’s most ruthless division.
Their leader snarled.
“You’re supposed to hand the traitor over, General Rui Shen, not protect her.”
Rui Shen spit blood onto the ground.
“Not a general anymore,” he growled.
“Just a man who won’t let you touch her.”
The Black Talon leader signaled.
“Kill him.”
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Lian Zhen Drags Yanfei Away
The moment Yanfei heard the name “Black Talons,” her legs shook. They were killers. Executioners. Monsters trained for one purpose.
And Rui Shen was injured, bleeding, alone.
Yanfei stepped forward.
Lian Zhen grabbed her arm harshly. “Yanfei—NO.”
“He’ll die!”
“He chose to stay!”
“He stayed FOR ME!”
Lian Zhen flinched. The pain in her voice was sharp enough to cut him.
“He’s hurt—it’s not a fair fight—”
“Yanfei,” Lian Zhen snapped, gripping her shoulders.
“He is dangerous because he loves you.
They are dangerous because they DON'T.
The rebels are waiting. We need to go.”
Yanfei’s lips trembled.
She shut her eyes.
And the sound of Rui Shen’s scream ripped through the trees.
Her eyes snapped open.
“No—Lian Zhen—please—”
But Lian Zhen pulled her away before she could run toward the voice that was tearing her apart.
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Rui Shen’s Last Stand
Rui Shen collapsed onto one knee, blood pouring down his side as the Black Talons surrounded him.
He fought with the desperation of a dying star — flaring brighter just before burning out.
Steel rang.
Sparks flew.
Bodies fell.
He kicked one attacker back, elbowed another, and used his own pain as fuel.
But there were too many.
A Black Talon commander slashed across his shoulder. Rui Shen growled and retaliated, stabbing through armor, but he staggered.
Someone smashed a spear across his ribs. Bones cracked.
He collapsed again, one hand gripping the dirt, the other his sword.
His hair hung in his face, soaked with blood and sweat.
He exhaled, trembling.
“Yanfei…”
His voice was barely a whisper.
“…please… stay alive.”
A Black Talon raised his sword to deliver the final blow.
Rui Shen lifted his head weakly.
“I’ll… kill you… even if I have to… crawl…”
The executioner sneered.
“Die, traitor.”
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But the Forest Has Its Own Allies
Just as the blade descended—
A volley of arrows whistled through the air.
Six Black Talons fell instantly.
The others turned.
A rebel scouting group emerged from the forest ridge — bows drawn, blades ready.
“Get him away from the traitor girl!”
“Protect our future leader!”
“Shoot them! All of them!”
The Black Talons turned their attention to the rebels.
Rui Shen collapsed onto both knees, coughing blood.
He looked toward the ridge through blurry eyes.
“Yanfei…?”
Was she with them?
Did she send them?
Did she still… care?
He tried to stand, but his legs failed.
His sword slipped from his fingers and fell into the mud.
Darkness crept through his vision.
The battle raged around him — chaos, death, shouts — but all he heard was her voice in his memory.
“Rui Shen… don’t make me fear you.”
He touched the ground with trembling fingers.
“…I’m sorry.”
And then he fell forward, unconscious.
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Yanfei Sees the Smoke
Yanfei and Lian Zhen reached a hill overlooking the forest.
Yanfei gasped.
Below them, smoke rose. Bodies lay scattered. The sound of steel still rang.
Lian Zhen cursed. “The rebels are fighting the Black Talons.”
Yanfei scanned the clearing.
She saw armor.
Horses.
Chaos.
But one detail broke her entirely:
A body lying motionless in the mud.
Dark hair.
Sword fallen beside him.
Surrounded by both imperial and rebel dead.
Yanfei’s body went numb.
“No,” she whispered.
Her breath failed.
“No, no, no—”
She didn’t think.
She didn’t breathe.
She didn’t feel the ground under her feet.
She RAN.
“YANFEI!” Lian Zhen chased after her.
But she was already sprinting down the slope, screaming his name.
“RUI SHEN!”
Her voice echoed through the battlefield — shaking, breaking, desperate.
She didn’t care who heard.
She didn’t care who saw.
She didn’t care that the rebels and Black Talons would kill her on sight.
She ran toward him like her life depended on it.
Because it did.
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The Chapter Ends Here:
Yanfei sliding into the mud beside Rui Shen’s broken body, screaming his name — while arrows fly, rebels shout, and the world explodes around her.
Her hands shaking.
Her heart collapsing.
Her voice cracking.
“Rui Shen… please… open your eyes…”
Everything ends on that breath.
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- Writer
