Wu Shen ran.

  Each breath burned his lungs, each step sent shockwaves of pain through his battered body. His wounds stung, dirt and sweat mixing into the cuts that covered his arms and legs. The cold night air did nothing to soothe his agony. It only reminded him how alone he was.

  But he didn’t stop. He couldn’t.

  Ba Shu… Yu Lan… I will come back for you.

  The ground beneath his feet was treacherous, uneven with jagged stones. The darkened trees loomed like silent sentinels as he sprinted into the wilderness, each step taking him further from the life he had lost and deeper into the unknown.

  A sharp pain shot through his ribs, forcing him to stumble. He gritted his teeth, pushing forward. Every muscle in his body screamed for him to stop, to collapse, to rest—but he knew the moment he did, he would never get back up again.

  His thoughts raced. Wei wants them alive. He needs them for labor. That means they won’t die—not yet.

  That didn’t mean they weren’t suffering.

  The thought ignited a fury deep inside him, burning hotter than the pain. I will save them. I will destroy Wei.

  But first, he had to survive.

  A rustle in the distance made Wu Shen freeze.

  Two golden eyes glowed in the darkness. A low growl rumbled through the trees.

  A tiger.

  Wu Shen pressed himself against the bark of a tree, barely breathing. The beast prowled forward, sniffing the air, muscles tensed like coiled steel.

  It’s searching for prey.

  His heart pounded. If he moved now, it would be on him in an instant.

  Seconds passed like eternity before the tiger finally turned away, vanishing into the underbrush.

  Wu Shen let out a slow, shaky breath. I can’t stay here.

  His feet carried him higher into the mountains, climbing through thick forest and jagged cliffs. His body ached for rest, but sleep would be a death sentence. He had to find somewhere safe.

  His exhaustion made him careless.

  The first warning was the snap of a branch.

  Then came the deep, guttural growl.

  A bear.

  Wu Shen’s body moved before his mind could catch up. He ran.

  Branches snapped beneath his feet as he weaved through the dense foliage, his breath ragged. The bear was relentless, its roars shaking the very trees around him. Each monstrous step of the beast sent vibrations through the ground, closing the distance between them.

  His lungs burned, his legs screamed, but he forced himself to go faster. In a desperate move, he made a sharp turn around a thick tree, hoping to disorient the beast. The bear skidded, unable to stop its momentum, crashing shoulder-first into the trunk with a thunderous crack.

  For a moment, Wu Shen thought he had a chance—but then pain seared across his back. A heavy claw had grazed him, tearing into his flesh. A strangled cry left his lips, but he couldn’t stop. His vision blurred as warm blood seeped through his clothes.

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  Then, through the trees, he saw it—a glow, flickering in the distance. An opening.

  With the last of his strength, Wu Shen lunged forward. He dived through the gap just as the bear let out another roar, but as soon as it reached the clearing, it froze. The beast let out a low, fearful growl before turning and retreating into the darkness, as if it had sensed something far worse ahead.

  And then… silence.

  Wu Shen lay on his back, gasping for breath. When he finally looked up, his eyes widened.

  He had emerged into a massive clearing. A lake stretched before him, its surface perfectly still, reflecting the moonlight. Across the water, a mountain towered so high it blocked half the sky. Mist curled at its peak, an unnatural stillness hanging over the land.

  Wu Shen’s skin prickled.

  Something greater lurked here.

  Something that even beasts of the forest feared.

  Wu Shen did not leave.

  He couldn’t leave. He had no food, no energy, and nowhere else to go.

  The lake provided fresh water, and the surrounding trees bore fruit. Though it kept him alive, the constant hunger gnawed at him, his body growing weaker from the lack of real sustenance.

  But nothing emerged from the cave.

  At first, he thought it was a lair, a den of something far worse than a bear. But as time passed, doubt crept in.

  Is anything even in there?

  Curiosity gnawed at him.

  On the fifth day, the curiosity finally pushed him to find out.

  The climb was brutal. The rocks were steep, the path treacherous, but Wu Shen forced himself forward. His hands bled from gripping jagged edges, but he didn’t stop. He needed to know.

  At last, he reached the entrance.

  The air inside was thick and heavy, carrying a strange energy he couldn’t name.

  Wu Shen took a cautious step forward.

  The cave was massive—far larger than it had seemed from the outside. Shadows danced along the walls, and in the center, illuminated by a shaft of moonlight, something stirred.

  Wu Shen’s breath caught in his throat.

  A creature unlike anything he had ever seen before.

  It was a beast of impossible grandeur, yet marred by suffering. Its golden-white scales, though still shimmering faintly in the dim light, bore deep scars that traced the passage of time and battles long past. Its massive body lay coiled, its breath slow and labored, every exhale carrying the weight of exhaustion.

  Wu Shen had never seen such a creature before. Its form was unlike any beast he had ever known—its body long and sinuous, more like flowing rivers than rigid muscle. Massive antlers curled like ancient tree branches upon its head, and whiskers as thin as mist danced with each breath. The sheer presence of it made his chest tighten, as if he stood in the presence of something beyond mere life.

  Its massive body remained still, chest rising and falling in deep, labored breaths. Wu Shen, driven by equal parts curiosity and exhaustion, took a cautious step forward.

  The silence was deafening.

  Then, as Wu Shen approached it,

  its eye opened.

  A massive, golden slit locked onto him.

  Its eyes were larger than Wu Shen himself.

  Wu Shen stumbled back, his entire body stiff with fear. The dragon’s presence alone made the cave tremble.

  Then it moved.

  The dragon uncoiled, rising slowly. It sat up, towering over him, and let out a deafening roar.

  The force sent Wu Shen crashing against the cave wall. He gasped as pain shot through his body, coughing up blood. But even through the haze of agony, he saw something.

  It wasn’t just anger.

  It was pain.

  The dragon’s body bore wounds that had never healed. It was suffering.

  Wu Shen coughed, wiping the blood from his lips. His body trembled, not from fear, but from something else. Recognition.

  The dragon roared again, but this time, he did not cower.

  He stepped forward.

  Through the weight of his pain, through the grief in his heart, he looked up at the mighty creature before him and whispered:

  “Are you... lonely?”

  The dragon’s breathing slowed, its golden eye narrowing as if processing the words. The air in the cave grew thick, heavy with something unspoken.

  Wu Shen swallowed hard, his voice trembling. “Are you longing for your people?”

  The dragon did not move, but something in its massive frame shifted—a hesitation, a crack in the fierce exterior it had shown moments before.

  Tears welled in Wu Shen’s eyes. His chest ached, not just from exhaustion, but from something deeper. “I should have stayed… I should have fought harder... I-I don’t know what to do anymore…”

  His voice broke, the weight of grief overwhelming him. His body trembled as sobs escaped his throat, his pain no longer something he could contain. He fell to his knees, fingers gripping the cold stone beneath him.

  Then, something incredible happened.

  The dragon, once roaring with fury, slowly lowered its head. Its breath, warm and strangely comforting, washed over Wu Shen’s face. Its massive snout came closer, closer—until it gently pressed against his forehead.

  A warmth unlike anything Wu Shen had ever known spread through him.

  For the first time in its long existence, the dragon did not stand alone.

  And for the first time in his life, neither did Wu Shen.