THE LAST LORD OF THE WASTELAND

THE DOCTOR WHO LIED

The imperial physician was packing his bags when Shen Rui kicked the door open.

Doctor He spun around, his face draining of color. His hands were full of papers, and for a moment he just stared at Shen Rui like a rabbit caught in a snare.

"L-Lord Shen," he stammered. "I was just"

"Leaving?" Shen Rui stepped into the room. "Without saying goodbye? How rude."

The doctor's eyes darted toward the window. Shen Rui followed his gaze and saw the half-open shutters, the packed bag on the bed, the traveling cloak hanging from the chair. The man had been preparing to flee.

"I have urgent business in the provincial capital," Doctor He said, his voice too high, too fast. "A medical conference. Very important."

"Is that so?" Shen Rui moved slowly, deliberately, putting himself between the doctor and the door. "And what about my father? His condition hasn't improved."

The doctor's throat bobbed. "I've done everything I can. The illness is beyond my skill. I recommended the family seek treatment from the capital."

"You recommended arsenic."

The word hung in the air like a blade. Doctor He's face went from pale to ghost-white.

"I don't know what you're talking about," he whispered.

Shen Rui pulled one of the medicine bottles from his belt and held it up. "This came from my father's cabinet. It has your seal on it. And it's laced with arsenic. Small doses. Enough to make a healthy man sick. Enough to kill a weakened one."

The doctor's hands began to shake. "That's not possible. I would never"

"Then explain the symptoms. The muscle wasting. The tremors. The confusion. The seizures." Shen Rui stepped closer. "Those aren't symptoms of a fever. They're symptoms of arsenic poisoning. And you know it."

Doctor He backed away until he hit the wall. His eyes were wild now, darting around the room like a trapped animal.

"You can't prove anything," he said. "I have imperial credentials. I'm protected by"

"By Lord Xuan?" Shen Rui cut him off. "The man who ordered my execution? The man who's been starving this city for two years? Is that your protection?"

The doctor's mouth opened and closed. No sound came out.

Shen Rui grabbed him by the front of his robes and slammed him against the wall. The doctor let out a strangled yelp.

"Listen to me carefully," Shen Rui said, his voice low and dangerous. "My father is dying. My city is starving. And I have had a very, very bad week. So if you don't start telling me the truth right now, I will do things to you that will make you wish the imperial court had cut your throat instead."

The doctor's eyes filled with tears. "Please. I have a family. A wife. Children. If they find out I talked"

"I don't care about your family." Shen Rui's grip tightened. "I care about mine. Now talk."

Doctor He broke. The words spilled out of him like water from a cracked dam.

"It was Lord Xuan," he sobbed. "He sent me here. Told me to monitor your father, to keep him weak but alive. The poison was just enough to confuse him, to make him seem mad. So that no one would believe anything he said."

Shen Rui's blood ran cold. "What was my father trying to say?"

"I don't know. Something about the northern war. About the grain shipments. He found documents, evidence. He was going to take it to the emperor."

"The northern war?" Shen Rui's mind raced. "What about it?"

The doctor shook his head frantically. "I don't know the details. Lord Xuan didn't tell me. He just said to keep the old man quiet until his allies in the capital could"

He stopped. His eyes went wide.

"Until they could what?" Shen Rui demanded.

But the doctor didn't answer. His face had gone strange, his mouth opening and closing like a fish pulled from water.

"What's wrong?" Shen Rui shook him. "What's happening?"

The doctor's hands flew to his throat. He made a choking sound, his eyes bulging. Then blood began to pour from his mouth. Dark, thick blood that ran down his chin and dripped onto the floor.

Shen Rui released him and stumbled back. The doctor collapsed, his body convulsing violently. He clawed at his throat, his heels drumming against the wooden floor.

"Poison," he gasped. "Someone... poisoned..."

His back arched. His eyes rolled up. And then he went still.

Shen Rui stood frozen, staring at the body. His hands were shaking. His heart was pounding so hard he could feel it in his temples.

Someone had gotten to the doctor first. Someone had known he would talk.

"Guard!" Shen Rui shouted.

A soldier appeared in the doorway, his eyes widening at the sight of the corpse. "My lord! What happened?"

"Seal the building," Shen Rui snapped. "No one leaves. No one enters. Find out who had access to this room in the last hour."

The soldier saluted and ran off, shouting orders.

Shen Rui knelt beside the body. The doctor's face was frozen in terror, his lips stained with blood. On his chest, partially hidden by his robes, was a small pin. A silver wolf's head.

Shen Rui's stomach turned.

The Black Wolf.

He had been here. In the manor. Watching. Waiting.

And now the only man who could have told Shen Rui the truth was dead.

Guan Hao appeared in the doorway, his one eye taking in the scene with grim efficiency. "What happened?"

"The doctor was poisoned," Shen Rui said. "He was about to reveal what my father discovered. Then someone killed him."

"Who?"

Shen Rui pointed at the silver pin on the dead man's chest.

Guan Hao's face hardened. "The Black Wolf doesn't make mistakes. If he wanted the doctor dead, the doctor was dead the moment he entered this room."

"He was alive when I got here. I spoke to him."

"Then the Black Wolf was watching. Waiting to see if the doctor would break." Guan Hao's voice was cold. "And when he did, the poison was already in his system. Delayed release. Very sophisticated."

Shen Rui stood up slowly. "So the doctor was dead the moment he decided to talk?"

"More likely the poison was triggered remotely. A small dose of something that would kill only if the victim's heart rate reached a certain level. Fear. Stress. Interrogation." Guan Hao shook his head. "Whoever did this is a professional. They're sending a message."

"What message?"

Guan Hao looked at the body, then at Shen Rui. "That they can reach anyone. Anytime. Even inside your own manor."

Shen Rui felt something cold settle in his chest. The Black Wolf wasn't just an assassin. He was a ghost. And ghosts didn't just kill.

They haunted.

"Search the manor," Shen Rui said quietly. "Find him. I don't care how many soldiers it takes."

Guan Hao nodded and turned to leave. But he paused at the door.

"Lord Shen," he said without looking back. "The doctor mentioned the northern war. That's not a coincidence. Someone has been feeding information to the enemy. Someone inside the empire."

Shen Rui looked at the dead doctor. "I know."

"If your father discovered who it was, then he was poisoned because he got too close to the truth. And you're next."

Shen Rui didn't answer. He was already thinking, already planning. The war was coming. The conspiracy was deeper than he had imagined. And somewhere in the shadows, the Black Wolf was watching.

But he couldn't stop now. Not while his father lay dying. Not while the city starved. Not while the truth was still out there, waiting to be found.

He stepped over the doctor's body and walked out of the room.

The hunt was far from over. It was only beginning.