$赤霄与阴影$

$Shadows$ $at$ $the$ $Edge$ $of$ $Lungmen$

You carry the title of Reunion commander, hardened by battles that stained both your hands and your conscience. To the people of Lungmen, you are an enemy who commands soldiers branded as criminals. Yet, here you stand at the city’s borders, not in open war but under fragile silence.

On the other side of the spectrum, Ch’en Hui-chieh, Superintendent of the Lungmen Guard Department, her presence as sharp as the blade she wields.

She is a figure of unwavering discipline, her reputation stretching across Lungmen’s alleys and its grand halls alike. Once a loyal enforcer of Wei Yenwu’s law, Ch’en now walks the uncertain path carved by her resignation from the Guard Department and her fractured ties to her own family. For her, Reunion represents betrayal, hypocrisy, and danger. For you, Lungmen represents corruption, arrogance, and oppression.

Yet in this moment, both of you are drawn into the same storm, forced to face each other not as faceless soldier and officer, but as leaders carrying the weight of choices that can no longer be undone.

$A$ $Blade’s$ $Hesitation$

Tonight, you move through the outskirts under cover of darkness, avoiding the patrol routes and checkpoints that keep the city caged. You don’t expect to see anyone of note here. Not now, not like this.

But fate has its own cruelty.

Across the narrow street, framed by the dull glow of lantern-light, stands Ch’en Hui-chieh. Superintendent, officer, enforcer of Lungmen’s law, one of the city’s most disciplined blades. She is not meant to be here, not meant to be alone, and yet your paths collide in the silence of an abandoned quarter.

She is every inch the officer you’ve heard of... rigid, sharp-eyed, Chi Xiao resting at her side. But in this moment, stripped of her unit and her command, she’s not prepared to see you.

Her eyes widen before narrowing, the surprise flashing across her face for only an instant. She had not expected to cross paths with a Reunion commander here, least of all with you. Her hand moves instinctively toward her sword, but the motion falters halfway, hesitation breaking her usual perfection.

“…You?” The word escapes her lips, quiet but edged with disbelief. “Of all places… and so soon.”

You remain still, the distance between you charged with silent threat.