What Lianhua didn't know was that her tribe was in danger. A secret war was being planned by the Shadow Clan to destroy the Azure Moon people and steal the ancient water scroll - a weapon of power.
That night, while she and Wei Shen hid in an abandoned temple, the skies turned red.
Flames could be seen far away.
The Shadow Clan had attacked a border village.
Wei Shen stood up quickly.
"This is war," he said, his voice heavy.
"I must return," Lianhua said, standing too.
But when they both reached the battlefield, chaos was everywhere - fire, arrows, screams.
They fought side by side. She had never seen someone fight like him - strong, controlled, fearless. She didn't ask, but in her heart, she wondered, Who is this man?
And he kept watching her too, proud and worried at the same time.
Chapter Four: The Return and the Silence
Just before sunrise, Lianhua reached the palace.
Covered in blood and dust, her cloak torn, she entered through the side door.
Guards gasped but didn't question.
She was taken straight to the throne room, where the council was in panic.
"Where were you, Lianhua?" her uncle shouted.
"Out," she replied calmly. "Finding truth. And I found war."
They didn't believe her.
But her eyes - full of fire, full of storm - told a story they couldn't ignore.
A week later, the Shadow Clan attacked again - this time with full force.
Wei Shen came with his army, secretly.
He had kept his identity hidden, but now he revealed himself as the Prince of the Golden Phoenix Tribe - a clan so powerful, even the Shadow Clan feared them.
He fought like a god.
So did Lianhua.
They stood on the same battlefield again.
When the war ended, the Shadow Clan was broken. The scroll was safe.
Peace returned.
That night, after the battle, the stars shone like tiny lanterns in the sky.
They rested by a quiet lake. Wei Shen made a small fire. Lianhua sat across from him, silent, arms around her knees. Her hair was loose, her eyes lost in the flames.
"You fight like someone who has something to prove," he said softly.
She didn't look at him. "Maybe I do."
"To whom?"
"To the world. To my people. To myself."
He nodded slowly. The wind was soft. Fireflies danced nearby.
"And you?" she asked after a while. "You fight like someone who's protecting something he cares about."
He smiled faintly. "Maybe I am."
She looked at him now. The firelight touched his face, and she noticed how gentle his eyes were behind the strength.
There was a long pause.
"Do you think we'll remember this night?" she asked, her voice barely a whisper.
Wei Shen looked up at the stars.
"If we forget everything else... I hope we still remember this silence."
She didn't understand what he meant.
Not fully.
But something in her heart ached.
It was like learning something without words.
And when she finally lay down to sleep, she didn't realise he had stayed awake the whole night, just watching over her.
{to be continued...}